by Terra Snover
“Yes, my Queen.” Alexander’s tone was a bit indignant, but he still bowed so at least he was showing me a modicum of respect unlike some people I know; my eyes moved over to Leon with that thought. “Now get back to it, Alexander.” And I turned on my heels and moved out of the workshop and started to my throne room. I didn’t check to see if Leon and Amber were following, but I did hear the tapping of two sets of feet on the floor behind me so I assumed that they were there.
When we entered the throne room, the moonlight was shining behind the large stained glass windows that sat behind the thrones. Most of the windows were just pretty designs, but the one that laid behind my throne was a huge depiction of me, arms spread open, as if I was welcoming those who entered into my embrace. My silver hair blowing in all directions, and above it my flaming crown with a jemstone of blood red in its center. Each piece of glass lovingly put into place to make a beautiful work of art.
I moved to my large throne made of silver and fine red cloth and took a seat. I pulled the Fae up to eye level and read her name tag, ‘N3-1077, Badger Jesterfrost’. Badger Jesterfrost? I let out a slight sigh, AO always gave the dumbest names. “Little creature, who are you? Where do you come from?”
“My name is Noneya Business from Gota’hell.” She then gave another unfriendly hand gesture.
“Spunky thing, isn’t she?” Amber took a step closer and leaned in and gave a smile. “I’m sorry about what has happened to you, little friend. It must have been bad. But you’re safe with us here. So help us and we’ll help you.”
“Oh, thank you sooooo much! I’m soooo happy for your kindness. In fact, I have a gift for you.” She then put her hands under her little dress, pulled down her knickers, lifted her dress and mooned Amber. I watched the little creature in total disbelief. Badger then slapped her ass a few times and proceeded to fall on the bottom of the jar, giggling hysterically. I had never met a Fae but I heard they could be a pain in the ass, and this one was proving that to be true. I glared at Badger and pulled her closer to my face.
“CREATURE, I’M THE RED QUEEN, RULER OF THE RED EMPIRE! YOU WILL GIVE ME RESPECT OR I WILL END YOU!” I used my loudest and scariest voice, maybe this would get her talking. At the very least, she stopped laughing and pushed herself away from me, clinking on the other end of the jar. “So, are you going to talk or are we going to need to introduce you to my chef’s frying pan? I’ve never had Fae for dinner but there is a first time for everything.” I sold my bluff off by licking my lips.
“Oh, I… Oh, man! I’m Badger and… I’m sorry but I forgot what else you wanted to know,” she rambled.
“Where do you come from?” Leon added quickly.
“I’m from the Wilds,” Badger responded. This little thing is from the Wilds? I was shocked.
“How did you get into that machine?” Leon asked.
“I don’t really know, last thing I remember was murdering some Heros for entering my part of the forest and suddenly everything went spinny, then dark. Next thing I knew, I was being zapped by something. Like for a LONG time I was being zapped.” She shuddered. I felt for her, it must have been hard being continually used as a battery like she had been. “Then suddenly, it stopped and I was not being zapped. Next thing I knew, the stupid four eyes put me in this damn jar!” She made the shape of glasses with her hands, referring to Alexander, seeing as he was the only one with glasses.
“So, you have no alliance or knowledge of who or why Oracle attacked us?” I squinted at Badger, giving her my most fierce expression.
“No, I don’t even know where here is.” Badger shook her head emphatically.
“Sigh, yet another thing that went nowhere,” Amber sighed.
“Not exactly. She says she’s from the Wilds, the same place the metal from the air ships came from, meaning we have a lead.” Leon stroked his beard as he talked.
“Well, we know one thing, she’s not going to help much more.” Talking to Badger was a dead end. I tossed the jar over to Amber. “Do what you want with her.”
“Oh, alright.” She immediately pulled the top off the jar and as soon as she did that Badger darted from the top. “See ya, losers!” the Fae shouted as she flew up to the top of the room.
“Maybe you should have let her out outside?” Leon said, watching Badger dart around the ceiling.
“Crap…” Amber moaned and put her hand to her face. She had just let out an annoying Fae into my castle to cause all kinds of havoc. I let out a small sigh and looked at Leon. “I want you to talk to more of the Fae and see if you can’t figure anything out.”
“Shouldn't be a problem.” He said that, but Leon looked displeased at the thought of dealing with Fae. His displeasure lifted my heart even higher. I would say my mood went from extremely pissed to annoyed.
“There are a lot of Fae to talk to, so you better get on it so it doesn’t take years.” I chuckled, now was my revenge for him being a total ass.
“As you wish,” he grumbled and turned away from me. He started to exit the room but I called out to him before he left.
“And after you are done talking to them, make sure they aren't just let loose on the grounds.” I didn’t want a castle full of these things.
“As you wish,” he shouted back to me, sounding more and more annoyed. The door slammed as he left, leaving only Amber and myself.
“Var…” Amber started, but a moment later she shook her head and said, “Nevermind.”
“Nope, what’s wrong?”
“You and Leon, I never understood what happened with you two.”
“Oh, that.” I crossed my arms. “He couldn't keep up with us so he had to go.” That wasn’t the full truth. Really, he left because he thought I was becoming a monster, or evil, or whatever, and he didn’t want to be a part of it. So he left. Truth be told, he was right. I was becoming a different person; well, more to the point, I was becoming a better person. Amber stared into my eyes, it felt like she was searching for the words I wasn't saying. “Var, is that all?”
“Truly, he couldn't handle being one of my Hands, he didn’t like what we were doing, so now he’s not in that position of power anymore.”
“Okay.” She didn’t sound like she believed me. “Anyway, I’m going to leave you now. I need to talk to Milly about the people she’s choosing to spend time with and the age gap between them.” Amber turned and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts, well, mostly alone. Badger was bouncing around the ceiling, randomly cursing and giggling.
I pondered for a long while, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. We had Oracle who somehow got her hands on Fae-powered robots that attacked the Empire, built from the rune metal of the First Ones. Then there was the fact, for some reason, that all stopped working at the same time. If they kept going they could have done massive damage to us. I shook my head. I was missing something because as this stands it made no sense. I leaned back in my throne and let out a long sigh. “What are you missing, Var?” I asked myself.
“Good looks, a brain maybe!” I heard Badger’s voice call from somewhere in the room. I frowned and leaned back in my seat. There was an answer to this puzzle, I just had to figure it all out.
Chapter 7
The Cool Thing
The cold rain hit the window of my bedroom, making plinking sounds with each heavy droplet. I watched a drip slowly slide down the glass until it reached the bottom and vanished from sight. My eyes focused on the stream of people leaving my house. Everyone slowly exited from the main entrance. All dressed in black. I never understood why people dressed in black for a funeral, it seemed odd to me there was a dress code for such an event. But I guess that traditions like that were hard to shake. A figure caught my eye. It was my friend Astrid; so she had come to the funeral. I didn’t see her there, but truth be told I wasn’t paying attention during the service and I went right up to my room and was actively trying to not be a part of this in any way. Astrid turned to look back at the house. She saw me and gave a slow wa
ve before getting into the car that was pulling up. I gave a small wave back. She put her hand over her heart and then pointed at me. I started to tear up; damn it, this was why I was ignoring everything today. I didn’t want to feel anything, and interacting with anyone was a surefire way to get the emotions going. Astrid gave one last small smile and wave as she got into the car. I watched as the black car pulled into the fog and rain. Damn, had everyone programmed their rides to be black today? I looked at the long line of auto cars queuing up, and indeed every last one was black, so even the cars had to stick to a dress code. This entire thing was so dumb.
I let out a sigh and I pulled off my dress and got into my ratty oversized t-shirt I had been wearing as a nightgown for the last eight years. It had a picture of a wall socket and a plug in the socket with the words, ‘Porno nach der Roboterapokalypse’ which translated to ‘porn after the robot apocalypse’. It wasn’t until recently that I really got the joke. Papa had gotten this for Momma as a joke gift from one of his trips to Germany. She hated it and tossed it out, but I thought the German was cool and I fished it out of the trash. Papa thought it was funny as hell whenever he saw me dressed in it so I kept putting it on.
I moved back to the window and watched as the last of our guests got into their black cars and drove away, their red taillights fading into the misty rain. I was glad that the whole thing was over, well, the people leaving anyway, this whole messed up situation was never going to be over. As soon as that thought crossed my mind there was a soft knock at my door. “Hi kiddo, can I come in?” Papa asked, opening the door ever so slightly.
“If I said no would you go away?” I continued to watch as everyone was getting picked up by their auto cars.
“I… Well, do you want to be alone?”
I had mixed feelings about talking to him. His presence was reassuring but at the same time I didn’t want to deal with anything right now. “You can come in,” I told him after a minute of weighing my options.
“How are you holding up?”
“Fine,” I lied.
“I see.” He paused and I could hear him stroking his bushy beard. “Bestemor was asking about you, wanting to know if you wanted to spend a bit of time with her? It may be good if you get away from everything, you know-”
I cut him off, “So, I’m getting punished for what mom did? Send the problem child away?!”
“Kiddo, that’s the last thing we are doing, we just thought that-”
“Thought what?! Spending some time in the city would pacify me, make me forget what I saw?” I cut him off again. Don’t get me wrong I liked spending time with Bestemor, and I liked going to Oslo, but there was no way I would forget all this shit wherever I was.
“Kiddo...” He paused and frowned, shook his head and stood there, not saying anything. I also chose to say nothing. The only sound was the heavy rain beating on the roof and window. After a bit, I heard him turn and slowly start to walk out of my room.
“Papa,” I said as I heard the door start to creak closed.
“Yeah, kiddo?”
“I’m sorry, I just…” I trailed off, fighting off tears. My memory flashed to Momma... no, Momma’s body in the bathtub, pale and white surrounded by the red water. The memory sent a shiver down my spine and threatened to make me burst into tears. I held back the explosion of emotions and kept talking, “I have been having a hard time, you know, with...” I trailed off once again.
“Yeah.” I heard pain in his voice, but that was to be expected, he did just lose his wife after all. There was another long pause. “Kiddo, I know you are probably getting tired of hearing this, but you know this wasn’t your fault, right?”
“Yeah, I know,” I lied. Momma’s note made it clear that it was all, in fact, my fault. But then again, I was the only one that knew about the note. I had hidden it away when I found it on the sink next to her. She didn’t say she did it because of me exactly, but because of the choices I made on the day Ella passed. If I would have been a better sister, both Ella and Momma would be here. If I would have made better choices, our family would still be complete. “Okay kiddo, I’ll leave you alone. If you need anything I’ll be downstairs.” Papa started to close the door again.
“I won't.” Moments later I heard the door click shut. I took a peek to the door and frowned. My eyes drifted over to the spot where Ella’s bed once was, right across the room from mine. The glow in the dark star stickers she had placed over her bed still stuck on the ceiling. This house was full of ghosts for me. Memories that once brought me joy now brought me nothing but pain and sorrow. I felt so empty, like someone scooped every last bit of me out and tossed it. I signed and placed my cheek on the cold window. The heat from my breath caused the glass to fog with every exhale.
I felt a cold hand touch my other cheek. “What are you doing?” Hell’a asked as she sat in the bumped out window seat next to me. Her bony frame pressing against mine.
“Watching the rain.” I peeked over to see Hell’a as she drew herself ever closer into me. Damn, another memory had taken me. This was disconcerting. I let out a sigh and asked Hell’a, “What are you doing here?”
“Do I need a reason to come see my betrothed?”
“No, but knowing you, it’s never anything as simple as that.”
“Ha, it seems you know me too well.” She let out a small laugh and placed her chin on my shoulder. “I have come to sleep with you.” She pecked me on the cheek and her cold lips sent a shiver down my spine. “I don’t know about you but it has been an extremely long day for me. I could use some time to rest with you, my beloved.”
“Right,” I mused. When she said sleep she wanted to continue to speak, or do something in the Nothing. Whatever she wanted to do in there I was game, after the day filled with Leon and Fae, I could use something to blow off some steam. Hell’a took me by the hand and helped me out of the bump window. “Woah, sexy!” Badger shouted from somewhere above.
“What was that?” Hell’a scanned for the source of the call but couldn't seem to find it.
“I have found that it’s best to ignore it,” I grumbled. Badger had decided that it would be fun to follow me around all evening making unwelcome comments.
“Ignore what? What was that?”
“Badger the Fae.” I glowered. “Like I said, best to ignore her.”
“Alright.” Hell’a seemed confused and started to open her mouth to speak again but I cut her off.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” I pulled on her hand and we moved down the halls to my room. But on the way, something caught my eye. Next to the painting of Drac, the King and I, was a new painting of Hell’a. I stop and stare; the painting depicts Hell’a dressed in an elegant white dress that clings to her every curve- well, the dress was mostly white. There were drips of scarlet red blood that were dripping down her chin to her the white fabric at her bosom. There were several Vampires behind her all bowing to her. “Hell’a, what’s this doing here?” I eyed her.
“Oh, I thought now that I was joining the family I should be included in the Zargronith paintings, once we are wed we can commission a new painting of us to replace this one. Now, let’s not get distracted to the task at hand.” She pulled me the remainder of the way to the bedroom.
As soon as the bedroom door was closed, off went Hell’a’s dress. I disrobed as she slid into bed with me close behind her. I got the normal prompt asking me if I wanted to sleep and as soon as I said yes I found myself in the Nothing, Hell’a standing beside me.
“So, I have been pondering how we can train you with this new power of yours,” she said immediately.
“Who cares about that?” I moved closer into her and wrapped my hands around her, firmly grabbing her butt.
“As much as I would enjoy that, we have better things to do right now.” She grabbed my hands and moved them to my side.
“Better?” I frowned.
“Well, more pressing.” She smiled. “The day after tomorrow, the Alliance Race Expansion is d
ropping, and more than likely some story changes the GMs have decided not to inform us of. I don’t know about you, but I would like to have an ace in the hole if we need it.”
“Sigh, fine, let’s try your idea, but if it doesn’t work we are going to have some fun.” I put my hands on my hips and tilted my head.
“Deal.” Hell’a smiled at me. “So, if you have admin powers you should be able to make something that you as an N0 normally couldn't make.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, you know we can spawn simple things, like food, or rewards for players, but it’s always something that fits within the game and story.”
“Yeah.”
“But what about something that has nothing to do with anything and doesn’t fit in the story?”
“Like what?” I didn’t quite understand what Hell’a was asking of me.
“Something random.” She paused to think for a few moments. “A box.”
“Hell’a, we make boxes all the time. You know a box of possessions or what have you.”
“No, not a story box, but a plain white cube. Nothing we would ever see in AO, something with zero point and would be very out of place in the world.”
“And how do I make this box?”
“No idea, you are the one with the power.” Hell’a shrugged.
“Sigh, okay, whatever you say.” I closed my eyes and thought to myself about a cube. But nothing happened. I whispered, “Box.” But nothing happened. I kept trying all manner of things to make a box but nothing was working. After what seemed like hours, Hell’a spoke. “Alright, maybe we are going about this the wrong way.”