𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞!𝐚𝐮) 𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙

CH. 64 ~ Battle of Fists

"Hello, Sun-Mi," Queen Lee's venomous voice echoes through the throne room, only her throne being left in there. "I knew you would return to me."

The words send a chill down my spine for some reason. I don't quite understand what it is that unsettles me, whether is the poise with which she addresses me or the fact that she looks older and much frailer than I remember. She looks starved, her eyes have sunken into their sockets and her cheeks hollow.

Even still, she sits on her stupid throne with that condescending posture I remember oh-so clearly, one that she would use to look down on me anytime I was in her presence.

But today, as I stand before her in this very instance with the only Uhreia at my side, the effect of that posture is minimal. It no longer has the potency it did before.

"Hello," I answer her, reserving all the curses and things I wish to say to her. All the stuff I wish to spit in her face and all the harm I wish to bring upon her.

The queen just smiles, clearly amused by my lack of reaction to her words. She crosses her legs, sitting back on her chair and letting her dark, emerald-green gown cascade around her elegantly, the only composed detail on her character.

Everything else, from her hair to her face seem jumbled up. She somehow seems messy.

"I expected to see more of your little friends," She tries to make small talk, looking over and studying Uhreia who doesn't break even the slightest under Queen Lee's gaze. "But you only brought one. How sad." The queen pretends to pout which makes me scoff.

"You've never cared," I seethe, stopping myself when I realize that I'm giving her what she wants by showing her my anger.

In reality, I didn't bring anyone else with me because I wanted to minimize who would get hurt. I can't even think about getting any other crewmate injured, much less murdered on my behalf. If there were a way for me to fix this whole dilemma by myself, I would've risked everything to do it.

"Mm, I guess you're right. I don't see the need to care for a lowly creature like you anyways." The witch shrugs, looking around aimlessly before her eyes land on the botanist right next to me.

Uhreia glares at her with a stare of a thousand daggers, looking ready to pounce and rip her face off. This amuses the queen, entertaining her long enough to shift her focus onto the botanist.

"And you? Are you one of her little crappy friends?" Both Uhreia and I are aware that she is doing this to get us pissed of whether she admits it or not. After all, it's the negative emotions that fuel her cursed magic.

"Crappy, you say. Bold of you to say something like that when you decided to commit a mass genocide because you couldn't handle the fact that your magic type isn't accepted and ours is," Uhreia snaps back at the Queen, an intriguing sight for her. Here at the castle no one ever talks back to her. I was the only one who would ever dare to do that but not as boldly as the botanist is doing at this moment.

"Genocide? Genocide is when human beings are killed. You scum aren't even animals in my eyes. There's no point in letting parasitic things like you live." The botanist looks like she's about to pounce on Queen Lee and I'm afraid I'll have to hold her back, but luckily she suppresses her anger.

"We are not scum. And if anything that would mean you too are a parasitic creature because although you don't want to admit it, you also hold magic."

"Uh-uh, not magic. Cursed magic. There's a difference." Queen Lee corrects Uhreia as she gets up from her throne, beginning to pace around as she explains to us what she means. "You see, while your people were allowed to live freely with your magic a long time ago, my bloodline was hunted down to near extinction. We were seen as threats, as less than. I'm only giving you all a taste of your own medicine."