Chapter forty seven

I never wanted this.

"Mom!"

A weak laugh escaped Marianna's blood coated lips at her youngest son's strained voice. He sounded so hurt, so broken and shocked. She couldn't see him. She didn't want to. To see the pain in his expression, the tears and physical injuries she'd inflicted- it would crush her. She'd rather ignore his cries, to keep the image of his smiling face in her mind uncorrupted by sadness, even if it was a lie.

I did all of this to see him smile, yet I caused him so much pain...

"Mom!"

Alex used to call her name and laugh, running away from her but always glancing back with a grin on his face to see if she was chasing after him. His bright, close-eyed, smile warmed Marianna's heart. After a while she'd catch up to him, snatching him up and attacking him with tickles that made him squirm happily.

Now, all she could imagine was herself snatching up her staff and using magic that wasn't hers, casting her son cross the room and likely breaking some bones as well as his heart.

Marianna stretched out a hand, reaching for the bright image of her and her son, growing desperate as the memory faded, blood splattering the image like paint carelessly tossed at a canvas. No...wait! Her world faded to black, Marianna numb to everything except the pain in her abdomen. She cringed, Oh, right...I'm dying. She could feel her physical body being lowered to the ground, presumably by King Sinbad. Her thoughts shifted:

I wonder...what will Alexandros think when he finds out? She knew Leonidas and Annalena would come clean with everything once they were found out. Oh, how Marianna hoped they would be spared. They were good kids- all of them. And Alexandros was a good father.

When Marianna was a teen, just a young princess learning the ropes of how to rule and the responsibilities she'd have to carry in the future, she'd spotted him in the gardens, plucking flowers from their bushes and arranging them into a small bouquet.

Alexandros was a potential suitor for Princess Marianna, one that strayed from his mentor and the king's watchful eyes to add a personal flare to his arranged first meeting with Marianna. Little did he know the princess herself had discovered him before his mentor, scaring him half to death and causing him to drop the flowers as she politely greeted him.

"Y-You! Princess, you shouldn't be here! Your father-" Young King Alexandros stammered, at the time not even considered a prince.

Marianna shrugged lightly, crouching to gather the flowers, "He won't mind. I'm sure he's busy talking with your...teacher, correct?"

Alexandros dropped to his knees, "Princess, don't trouble yourself with this, it was my mistake. Please, you mustn't lower yourself like this..." The ginger haired teen trailed off, his eyes meeting Marianna's. She raised a pale blonde eyebrow at him, blue eyes narrowing. "I-I'm sorry...did I say something wrong?"

"No," Marianna shook her head, standing with the small bouquet in hand, "you followed your script just right, actually."

"My...script?" Alexandros looked up at her, head tilted to the side in confusion.

Marianna chuckled, offering him a hand, "Stand. There's no reason to lower yourself for me." She smiled as Alexandros hesitantly took her hand, pulling him to his feet before mentioning, "I'm not sure I caught your name?"

"Oh! It's Alexandros. Alexandros Apostolos."

"Hm..."

"You don't...like it?" Alexandros wondered, scratching the back of his neck, looking down at the short princess with eyebrows raised in concern.

"No, no, I do," Marianna assured. "It's just...flashy. I wasn't sure if that was really your style."

"Flashy..." Alexandros echoed, thinking the word and its meaning over. "Would you mind if I were flashy?"

"I suppose not," Marianna laughed again, "but you're not getting ahead of yourself, are you? It's not up to me to choose, after all. It's my father's decision."

"Hasn't every suitor so far been sent away by you? That's why I'm here, there's practically no one else."

Marianna turned away, deciding to head back to her father and Alexandros' mentor for their meeting, finally. "That's true, though I have a different feeling about you, Alex. Follow me, we should head back."

Blush coated Alexandros' cheeks and the tips of his ears. He'd never heard someone shorten his name like that, nevermind the fact that his gaze had fallen below the golden tips of Marianna's hair, which flowed freely down to the middle of her back, accentuated by the deep blue of her elegant gown. Marianna knew he was admiring her. She stopped walking suddenly, turning back to Alexandros, tossing her hair over her shoulder dramatically. "Are you coming or not?"

"Of course!"

It wasn't more than a few weeks after their first meeting that Alexandros and Marianna were married, just a few more before the king of Askal fell ill.

The announcement of her father's sickness was crushing to Marianna. She'd already lost her mother and siblings to a plague that had swept the land several years prior, she didn't want to lose him too. She found herself falling into a sea of depression and anxiety, with only Alexandros as an anchor, though he was just as scared; his parents had died during the plague as well.

Marianna's father didn't survive the illness, despite how hard the country's medics tried. She was crowned queen of Askal at the young age of nineteen, with her king, Alexandros, at her side.

Things were fine for the first few years of Marianna and Alexandros' ruling. Eventually they learned to move on from their hardships and were the typical young, happy, and in love couple. Although they were frequently stressed with their new jobs, they didn't wait long to have their first child, Leonidas. Just four years later, when the kingdom was more established, they had another, Annalena. In another four, Alexandros Jr. After their third child, Marianna and Alexandros decided to take a break and focus on their duties, the twins not coming for another eleven years.

Before the twins were born, and up to the year they turned four, everything was going according to plan. The country -although still small,- was flourishing, Alexandros' plans for the economy being put into play while Marianna took strides to end slavery, the children successful in their classes and training.

Well, most of them were.

Alexandros Jr. never had a strong immune system. He nearly died at birth when his heart stopped beating, and throughout his childhood he was constantly stuck inside with anything from the common cold to full-blown illnesses.

One particular ailment struck him when he was fifteen years old. It was previously unheard of by Askal's medics and magicians, none of them able to do anything to cure it, nevermind slow its progress.

Fear and depression swiftly took hold of Marianna, pulling her into their cold embrace once again. But she refused to let yet another family member succumb to illness, and so began her search for a cure.

No one within the country could do anything, she knew that. She searched farther. Neighboring countries refused to help for one reason or another. Reim, Sasan, Heliohapt- no one would help. Weeks passed, the sickness slowly spreading, growing stronger and more immune to Askalian magician's attempts to heal Alex in time with Marianna's desperation.

It wasn't fair, Marianna thought. No one could help? No one? Surely a large and powerful country like Reim could assist them. Surely a country known for their life magic like Heliohapt would be able to cure him. Was Askal doomed to suffer casualties due to illness forever? Was that why no country dared help them? Did the leaders of these countries know this, and thus avoided transmitting whatever bacteria Askal was infected with to their people?

Almost all of Askal's neighbors were a part of the same alliance, Marianna realized. Her thoughts were spiraling out of control, the hours she spent sat beside Alex's bed leaving her plenty of time to dig too deep into others' actions. The leader of the Seven Seas Alliance, Marianna decided, knew of Askal's sickly past, maybe he had even caused it. Whatever the case, he refused to aid them in their time of need, meaning he must wish for their country to suffer and perish. He was at fault for this. Sinbad was at fault.

One day, a dark magician entered the country, several strange, masked people at his side. They headed straight for the capitol, letting themselves into the castle without permission nor care.

"Excuse me," Queen Marianna called when she spotted them. She had been on her way to the kitchen, checking to see if dinner was prepared and if so she'd return to Alex and feed him. "What do you think you're doing? The castle is off limits to commoners."

"Well, I'm no commoner," The black haired magician assured, strolling up to the queen. "I'm the great magi, Judar!"

"Magi...?" Marianna echoed, narrowing her eyes. "There's no way. Why would you be here? In Askal?"

"It's true! This country is pretty worthless with all it's gross plagues and all that- completely a waste of my time," Judar "agreed", "but I believe I might actually find a King's Candidate here!"

"Who?"

"Hey, mom, Alex is- who...are these people?" Leonidas approached his mother from behind, innocent-yet-wary eyes landing on Judar and the masked people behind him.

"Leonidas!" Marianna turned to her son to explain, "This is...Judar. He's a magi."

"Hey! It's you!" Judar grinned, pushing past Marianna to inspect Leonidas further.

"It's...me?" Leonidas frowned, looking down at Judar. "How are you a magi? You look the same age as my brother, and he's fifteen."

"I'm sixteen," Judar informed. "And you're gonna be my next King's Candidate."

"And what if I refuse?"

"W-Wait," Marianna interrupted, "if you're a magi, is there any chance you could heal my son? He's sick, and our mages don't know how to help him."

"I'm sure one of these guys could," Judar shrugged apathetically, jerking a finger behind him. "But I won't tell 'em to unless he agrees to capture a dungeon with me."

Marianna looked to Leonidas. She didn't need to say a word.

"Okay, sure," Leonidas agreed easily. "It's a win-win for us anyway. Alex gets better and I get a metal vessel! Why wouldn't I agree?"

Judar smiled again, "Let's get going, then!" He grabbed Leonidas' arm, pulling him away.

"Shouldn't you heal Alexandros first? How long will you be, anyway? He may not survive while you're gone!" Marianna objected, making Judar pause reluctantly.

"We won't be long," Judar shrugged. He knew dungeons took an immeasurable amount of time- anywhere from weeks to months just for one. He gestured to the masked people, "They'll stay back and make sure he stays alive."

"Alright..." Marianna complied, as she had no choice. A magi knew far more about dungeons than she did, and she wouldn't doubt the words of someone so important. "Leon, tell your siblings and father where you're going, and please...stay alive." She looked to Judar, "You'll...protect him, right, Judar?"

"Oh, yea, 'course," Judar emptily promised, walking away with Leonidas at his side.

~

Author's Note-

I was inspired by Hamilton while writing part of this because Dear Theodosia was playing T_T I hope that helped convey motherly love thing... I wouldn't know from experience- I'm not a mother lmao. the song is at the top of the chapter if you want~ (prepare for feels tho)

edit: (there's also another hidden Hamilton reference in here haha. it's not a big one but if you can find it tell me~) 

Also Judar's never been in this story, not even mentioned, which was a tragedy, so I fixed that ;) We don't really know how his personality was at like 16 so in the future when SnB's updated that far (if it even will) it might be inaccurate, but, really, how much could he have changed in just those 4 years?