• Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde •

It all happened in the dead of the moonless night. It had to - that's exactly how the young Queen had planned it. She had told her courtiers that all she wanted to do was slither into the tyrant's quarters, and slice his throat in his sleep. So quietly, with a cautionary hand on his mouth, so that the Empress beside him would not even stir.

But when she and a few of her compatriots reached the formidable iron gates of the Paláti tis Metensárkosis - Palace of Reincarnation - an army double their size was waiting for them. She knew somebody had snitched, somebody among her courtiers.

The young boy of fifteen that the Queen had placed inside the palace as an infiltrator was gone. All that remained of him was the head that Emperor Laz II picked out of a bucket placed near his feet, holding it up by the hair, while streams of blood still gushed from it.

The Commander of the Queen's army hissed at the spectacle and Jade shut her eyes tight. The Queen had personally promised that boy's mother of his safety.

What would I tell her now? She gritted her teeth.

"May he rest in peace," the tyrant's voice sounded through the empty, silent space between the two armies. "The one who died because of your lack of judgment and pretty commendable courage. You thought you could kill me?"

When Jade did not reply, he continued. "If you're not just a doll in a breastplate, I have a proposition. Return the land you took from me and join my troops as a soldier, and I'll pardon your misdemeanor right this moment."

The air was almost still that night, cold fog curling towards and settling around the monarchs, their troops, and their horses. The cold months would be here in a few days, a week at best and it would snow here. The palace would be white, and a vision to look at, the hundreds of glass paintings on the windows and doors would glitter under the winter Sun.

And Queen Jade would be miles away from here, in her forestside realm with her tall trees and furred beasts and the omnipresent scent of moss, the lilting of cicadas, and showers after showers of rain. At least that's what she had planned.

"The land I took from you is my homerealm," she finally spoke, and with a voice of determination and fearlessness, the voice of her people. "And you were exploiting my people. I have no intention of returning it, let alone join forces with you."

The Emperor sighed. "You are just a doll then, you bitch."

"As much as you're an asshole." She shrugged.

"You know who I am right?" Laz asked again as if giving her another chance.

"I am Laz II, highly favored by the Arcana. Did you come to fight without knowing anything about me? I have deals with both Death and the Devil. You can't kill me and even if you do, I'll just come back."

"We'll see about that, Emperor," Jade's voice rumbled through the still air, not faltering as she unsheathed her newly forged claymore and held it in the air.

On cue, her troops did the same. Laz laughed out, the sound of it coming in bellows, his golden teeth shining in the flames of the nearby lamps. Jade only leered at him, knowing full well that her next words will shut him up.

She said, "If you thought Jan was the only one I infiltrated your staff with, you have to reconsider who the doll with the breastplate actually is. Now!"

Her word was a command. To charge towards the palace, to assassinate the tyrant, to betray fellow soldiers. The last line on Laz's side was formed of Jade's people - invaders. They waited with daggers in hand, and as soon as she cried out, they slashed the throats of the ones standing in front of them.

By the time the soldiers behind Laz had realized what was going on, half their comrades were dead, foreign cavalry was closing in on them from the other side and the Emperor demanded protection. The handful of troopers loyal to Laz surrounded him with their backs towards him.

"Crossbows!" The Commander of Laz's army shrieked at the top of his lungs just in time before the first sword of Jade's army clashed against his. Arrows from bows and crossbows did rain, but who it landed on was unknown.

Queen Jade's green flag ushered into the courtyard, driving her enemies to the wall. Her soldiers spread out, clashing metal with metal, setting as many blue flags as they could see on fire, splitting necks and splattering brains. They were on their feet now, fighting on enemy turf but their blades did not falter.

Having cut down Laz's troops, Jade was now quite at par with him. The Queen was skilled with a sword and strong enough to take down a few seasoned soldiers by herself. When the Emperor threw gnarly comments at her about it not being a woman's place to fight him, it only ignited a sort of darker flame in her, urging her to keep going.

When Laz's blade knocked her helmet off and broke the skin on her cheek, she only hissed but felt no pain. Her adrenaline was surging.

Sillia came back to back with her Queen, offering her shoulder and sword. When the Emperor met eyes with the commander of Jade's army, he displayed another shrewd smirk.

"If it isn't the sister I thought I lost in the Battle of Nokimetsa," he belched.

"The Forest of Soot helped me design the perfect escape, brother. You know I'm not going anywhere until I've avenged Azu," and a swing of her sword was all he got in reply.

Laz blocked Sillia's swing with his longsword. Jade added her claymore in the clash, pressing his weapon down. The lion perched on the hilt came into sight, bringing back a memory she wasn't necessarily fond of.

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Hours before they set out for Eira, on Sillia's request, Jade had reached out to one of the highest Arcanas, The Sun. When the Lion with the flaming mane had appeared in front of her, she had knelt before him and asked for what she had approached him.

"And what will I get in return, Your Highness?" Sol had asked. For every ounce of flamboyance in his appearance, he had one of authority in his voice.

"Something that gives you strength," he had continued, pausing every other moment to think. "Your mother. Give me your mother, Queen Jade, and I'll forge you the strongest sword."

Jade was confused. "My mother is dead. I thought you knew that."

"Give me whatever's left of hers in your heart."

At the end of their conversation, after every plea and bargain had gone south, Jade traded what was most dear to her - all but one memory of her mother - for a double-edged claymore. It was imbued with the power of the Sun to rid the people of earthside of the torment of Emperor Laz II. The Laz-killer.

When she had woken up on earthside, her friends had shifted her to her bed and were waiting in expectation. She only had to draw her hand to her belt to feel the might of the magical sword.

But Jade had no intention of using the weapon to its full potential. She had told Sillia and her courtiers that she intended to do the Emperor in but she kept her real intentions close to her chest. She only wanted to threaten Laz II with a Sun-forged sword, designed to reverse his deal with Death. She never wanted to murder him, to paint her hands redder.

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"It's just us and him now, Jade," Sillia spoke to her Queen, calling her by her name for their relationship was beyond their titles and roles. "You know what you have to do."

They were again back to back with each other. Laz had retreated from defending their blows and all of them only kept their swords raised in anticipation of a move. Jade looked around. The courtyard really was empty, except for themselves, and the few beaten soldiers who had fallen on the cold, stony ground.

"Where are the others?" Jade asked, looking up towards the upper floors of the castle. There was no moon, but the light from the lamps displayed only empty corridors. No archers.

"They have gone inside," Sillia informed her.

"Why?"

"To get the ministers, the Empress, and the Princess."

"That wasn't part of the plan." Jade was exasperated now. She lowered her sword and ran her free hand through the front of her hair.

Jade's chest was heaving with each bated breath she took in preparation for the assassination she had not intended to carry out. Her cheek was leaking blood, her hand trembling with the weight of the enchanted sword. Laz waited with his blade risen. Just in defense. Just watching.

"You think his courtiers and family are any better than this scoundrel? If we have to rinse Laz off the world, we'll have to get rid of all the inhabitants of this castle too."

Jade's eyes wavered. She looked towards the entrance of the edifice and wondered how she could have missed so many people going through it. "We have no time, Jade," Sillia warned again, blocking another strike from her brother. "Let's get this over -."

"Can you take on your brother by yourself, Sillia?" The Queen interrupted her companion. She no longer cared for her own intentions. For the sacrifices that she had made to be where she was, stand where she was standing. Her mind and soul had already run into the castle, waiting for her body to follow.

"Of course," Sillia was quick to reply. "But, what will you do?"

"I'm going in. There's someone I absolutely have to save."

"I understand. Give me the claymore, Jade. It's the only one that can kill him, right? You take mine." Sillia's voice was calm as ever and that put Jade at ease.

They quickly exchanged their weapons before Sillia decided to resume the fight with her brother. The hexed blade was way heavier than she had imagined, so she swung it a few times to get used to it.

Jade plunged the longsword into the sheath dangling at her waist, but a portion of it stuck out. She clutched onto the hilt lest it may fall and ran towards the door to the palace. She bumped against something on her way, but she had no time to look back.

"Now, now, brother, it's just you and I." That was all she heard before she disappeared behind the looming doors. She was confident her compatriot was able enough to take out the tyrant by herself. She knew Sillia's strength and determination were unparalleled. After all, the mission had sprouted from the Commander's brain.

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