The competition info is at the end of the chapter. Enjoy lovelies!
~
Sophie lounged in the sun, wiggling her toes and stretching out.
"You always act like a cat in the sun whenever we come to the beach." Maria smiled. Sophie glanced over to her aunt, reading a fashion history book for her newest line.

Sophie shrugged, "It makes me so sleepy and happy to be in the sun. What can I say?"

"Why don't you go join the boys in surfing?" Maria proposed. Sophie slid off her sunglasses to stare at the horror happening before her. Nour, Alexios, Ruy, and Alvar had managed to strap two surfboards together and were launching full speed towards the shore. Alexios was at the front, lying down like a dolphin hopping the waves. Ruy was atop him with his foot on Alexios's head, trying to keep his balance as Alvar grappled onto him for sweet life. Nour sat on the last board, legs crossed, perfectly balanced and dodging Alvar and Ruy's flailing limbs. They hit a bump over a small wave, and Alvar screamed, grabbing both of Ruy's legs. Sophie's boyfriend wobbled and cursed at his best friend, trying to kick him off before losing his balance and bringing the whole surfing contraption down with him.

Sophie and Maria cringed as the surfboards, and the boys with them, were eaten by a wave. The boards flew in two different directions, and all of them popped up in different parts of the ocean. Alexios washed-up up the shore in front of them, spitting out sand. Ruy and Alvar popped up a good ten feet away, the two wrestling while Ruy yelled about his best friend being a coward. Nour just wordlessly shook out his hair and swam towards their boards.

"I'm good." Sophie sighed.

Maria scoffed, "Yeah, never mind."

Mansi and Maha waved as they approached, holding up the tray of drinks.

"Yesss." Sophie giggled as Mansi handed her the strawberry daiquiri with an extra shot of rum. Hell yes.

Ruy grumbled about Alvar, striding past Mansi and snapping, "Your fiancé is an idiot!"

Mansi raised a brow, "Yeah, I already knew that."

Sophie felt a shadow over her washing out her perfect sun, and she peeked open an eye. Ruy stood over her, sopping wet with a curious smile.

Sophie just closed her eye, "If you keep smiling like that, the Inner Circle might get the wrong idea. They might even think we like each other."

Ruy snorted, shaking his hair like a dog and spraying Sophie with saltwater. Sophie sprung up and pushed back her sunglasses in shock, and her boyfriend plopped down in the sand next to her, "Well, they would be wrong anyway. I think it's pretty clear we more than like each other." He teased. Sophie rolled her eyes.

"So, you are enjoying the beach?"

Ruy smiled, this time even wider. Sophie swore it made the sun brighter.

"How can I not? I was never allowed to do anything but train in the Neverseen. Now I have you guys." He nudged her shoulder with his own,

"Now I have you."

Sophie pushed her sunglasses back over her face, fighting her smile (and losing), "I think you make the beach much more fun, too. Now lay down and enjoy the sun, Smolder. Help me finish my drink."

Sophie wiggled her toes again, but instead of feeling the sun on her feet, she felt the wet soles of her boots. Where did the sun go? Where did Ruy go?
Sophie opened her eyes and immensely jammed them back closed. Her entire body felt like it had been stretched and pulled like taffy. Her eyes were full of grit and sand. She was soaking wet, her cream shirt sticking to her body and purple bustier beneath. Her gauntlets were strewn about the sand nearby, along with the res too her weapons that were on her belt. Her hair had come undone from it's braid.
Removing the sand from her eyes, she forced her eyes open and stared at the beach. Ruy wasn't lounging next to her, nor Maria. But about 20 feet away was Kassandra, her white hair draped over her body and sticking to her skin.
That memory of the day on the beach, when was that? It had to be only a few days after Alvar proposed to Mansi, if Sophie remember correctly. When things were simpler.
Sophie gasped, hauling herself onto her feet and sprinting towards the old queen. Her shoulder and ribs barked in pain, but nothing Sophie hadn't felt before.

Sophie pushed back the white hair sticking to Kassandra's face and propped her up. The black veins now took over two-thirds of the queen's body, not half. And they were spreading.

"Kassandra? Kassandra, wake up!"Sophie whispered, gently shaking her aunt. Sophie placed her ear against Kassandra's chest, listening to the faint heartbeat. Kassandra's heartbeat was already slow because of Mephala, but this? You could barely hear anything.

Kassandra whimpered in her niece's arms. She muttered nonsense, a few words and phrases like manatee, hunting with that bonehead, Kynareth, Thekeres, his promise, tomato salad with balsamic on the side. Sophie couldn't make it all out, but she would've been confused even when she wasn't washed up on a beach with a minor concussion.

She heard a gentle coo from the forest and a familiar dragon slithered out from the tree cover. Ricin's scales sheened with saltwater. His wings dragged beside him, almost tiredly.

"You were following us." Sophie sighed, pushing herself to her feet. Her dragon had hated how busy it was in that little valley. It used to just be him, Sophie, and Lilac in the Morretti villa outside Renisanca. Now, he had no more rafters to nap in or wild to hunt in the nearby woods. He had become sad recently, Sophie realized. She was considering trying to find a herd for Ricin to integrate into. It was cruel to expect him to live in a cramped valley with many smelly soldiers with her.

Sophie pressed her forehead against his snout, a little moment that showed their love, "Thank you."

Ricin whimpered, showing his strained wing. He dove into the water to scoop her and Kassandra out of those waves.
Sophie froze at the sound of stomping metal, rowdy voices approaching. No one can see Ricin, no one.

"Shift!" Sophie hissed to Ricin, turning to Kassandra, heaving the tired queen to her feet. Ricin spun in a circle, his claws scraping at the ground as he pawed it.

"What's wrong, boy? Shift!" Sophie begged. Ricin snorted out a warm breath, slumping a bit. Was he too tired?

"Can you hide in the trees?" Sophie asked. Ricin tried to shuffle back into the forest, hiding behind some bushes that didn't hide his spiky tail and spine, nor hid bright red eyes.

The stomping was getting louder, and Sophie tried to walk towards the forest to get to cover, but her leg cried in pain. Sophie tumbled to the ground, with Kassandra dropping beside her.

Ricin whined, quickly scrambling over to her. Sophie pushed his nose away, "No, hide!"

Ricin shook off her hand, gently grabbing the back of her shirt to try and drag her into the forest with him. Sophie forced herself out of his grip and looked at him in desperation. She gently grazed a hand over his head before whispering, "Run, Ricin."

(Sibylline original work! Ya'll got something fully colored and finished this time, lol)
Ricin's red eyes sizzled with desperation, but he turned around and slithered into the forest.
Sophie knew where they were. There was a medic in the village of Megara not too far from here. But how does one heal a thousand-year-old queen inhabited by an evil god?

"Well if it isn't our lucky day?" Sophie froze at the sound of armor. Peeling through the forest, too many guards for her to fight off even when she was at her best.

"The Lost Morretti and her bitch aunt." Sophie didn't hide her shock. They knew who Kassandra was to her?

They smiled, realizing they had gotten under her skin. And just to add insult to injury, the main soldier turned to two lackeys,

"I heard roaring before, and I saw that beast of hers in the skies be the one to save her. It has to be around here somewhere."

"No!" Sophie fought back to her feet, fighting back as two soldiers grabbed her arms and dragged her away from the forest, kicking and screaming. She watched as the soldiers descended into the dark forest, following the tracks of her dear dragon companion.

Sophie had never been more humiliated in her entire life. She was still in her ratty clothes, shoved into a bronze cage that glowed with red energy, keeping her fully encased. They dragged her on a wagon through the center of Renisanca towards the jail. The soldiers that found her were cackling and yelling for people to exit their homes. Inalia wasn't like it used to be. With the Assassins gone, the Senate had taken full bloody control. There was no true justice anymore. Corrupt politicians got out scot-free while the working class was crushed beneath their polished shoes on the trip up the ladder of power.

But Sophie wasn't even stopping them when she was in Inalia full time. They were too big, too powerful.

The citizens of Inalia gaped as she remained in the cage like a wild animal on display in a zoo. Sophie was propped up against the edge of the cage, her blonde hair draped over her face to try and hide her face in shame. She could break out now if she had the energy. Sleep kept sweeping over her, jerking her awake and asleep. Maybe she hit her head a little too hard during that crash.

"Look at your Assassin Queen!" The soldiers called through the streets. Some people booed, some cheered, but most were just silent. Mostly out of shock to see that she was still alive. This was not how she wanted to return to Inalia.

"Stare in awe of your precious Keeper!"

Sophie took a shaky breath, refusing to look up at the people lining the streets. They took Kassandra from her, and she had no idea where Alexios was. Did he survive the crash? Was he dead, speared in the remnants of their ship?

Sophie heard the grand creaking of gates and peeked through the strands of her hair. Her neck ached, even raising her head to stare as she entered the grand senate courtyard.

Once upon a time, she was here to negotiate with Vincenzo Esposita. It was all just a cover to get him out of his office long enough so Ruy and Kylo could secure the location of the stolen assassins. It was only four years ago, but it felt like thousands.
Sophie finally rose her head as her cage swung open, and two new soldiers gestured for her to leave. Not Esposita soldiers, but Neverseen.

Civilians clamored at the gate, watching as the hair shifted from her face revealing her scar and brown eyes.

"It truly is her,"

"She looks awful- look at that scar torn through her eye!"

Sophie tuned out the chatter, being dragged out by the soldiers. She hung between them as they dragged her towards cells.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to force the sleepiness and paint away before steeling her focus.

She yanked her arm out of the soldier's grip, her fist crackling with lightning as she launched a bolt at his face. The other soldier tried to grab both her hands, but she yanked her other hand out of his grasp and flipped him over on his back.

"She's fighting us, we need backup!" The second soldier clamored to his feet to chase after her.

The sewers. If she gets to the sewers, Sophie could escape as she did last time in this courtyard.
Five more soldiers burst out from the wall doors lining the senate building. One was slightly faster than the others, lunging and bringing Sophie to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Sophie screamed, kicking the soldier off. The soldier flew off, but two more soldiers took his place.

The civilians at the gates began to get rowdy, "Don't treat the royals like that!"

"She is our true queen! Don't hurt her!"

The soldiers tuned them out, all of them piling on her. Sophie watched as the biggest soldier pulled out extra bulky cuffs that flickered with energy. Energy and technology that she recognized. Those cuffs looked exactly like Dex's ability restricter from so many years ago. How did they replicate his technology?

The soldiers shoved her face against the cobbled ground, ignoring her kicking and screaming as they locked those cuffs around her wrists.
Almost instantly, a wash of pain radiated from her wrists. She felt lightning and storms flitter from her veins, her telepathy flittering to nothing but loose strands of meek power.
Suddenly, she was completely out of energy and stamina, despite her extensive training. The soldiers hauled her to her feet, easily wrangling her towards the cells.

Sophie's eyes widened when she passed the threshold of the lower building, the civilians crying her name as the metal door slammed behind her.

Sorry this is late, I was busy being tired and depressed.
Remember to say thank you to Knowledge bear, btw. I was wondering if you guys wanna do a Q & A with Knowledge bear and I? Since the story is so new, I promise you we will answer every single question we get. Knowledge bear is more than a beta reader, but he is also one of my closest friends, dnd master, and writer himself who has inspired a lot of the plot in the newest book! I'm also doing a small competition! Whoever comments the most questions for me and Knowledge bear, they get either a free art commission OR an AAD universe one shot of their choosing!

If you wanna leave questions for either me or Knowledge bear, comment it here!

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_Sibylline_