ᴡᴍᴍᴀᴘ: ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ

Burn it.

Claude clutches his chest as he struggles to breathe, the dark mana swarming to his heart, his veins pulsing a dark, ugly red as he spits out a single word. "You." 

"Me." 

Even to the end, he doesn't plead for his life, doesn't call her by the name his love had named her. And she doesn't care for it anymore. Why should she- when she has come this far?

Claude de Alger Obelia falls easily. Almost too easily, and as her allies rally to her surge of blue mana, she stares down at his crumpled corpse, and crouches to brush his hair off his forehead. Her father..was it? He should have acted like one then. 

A small spark flickers and his body erupts into blue flames, and she leaves it behind, burning to embers. Cheers erupt at the sight of their emperor going up in flames, and they follow her lead past the golden gates.

Her hair is loose around her shoulders, the blue ribbon that tied it up fluttering onto the ground as she looks up at the Emerald Palace. Her army having stormed the palace just minutes before, the sound of screams and yelling coming from the inner chambers. 

She steps through those doors, the doors she had never been allowed to pass, even though she had the same right to. But only a certain princess was allowed to reside her. 

The lovely princess.

Her eyes gaze upon a weeping girl, her eyes of gem blue, and tears dripping down her fair cheeks. "Why- why are you doing this? Where's father? Answer me!!!" 

Ah, the lovely princess who had everything. The love of her father, love of the citizens, the people around her, and facing the one who had none of that- of course she wouldn't ask her what had possessed her to do such a treacherous act. She was innocent until the end.. so be it.

Her hand gestured, and her guards detached from her sides to grab the girl by her arms. "Unhand me! Where are you taking me?! Did you not hear me to stop!? Father- father, help me!!!" 

Her distraught wails finally fade into the distance as the palace was left empty, save a few corpses here and there. Her blue heels sunk into the soft carpeting, the way she scraped her fingernails against the wallpaper, the golden decorations, so unlike the Ruby Palace..and she hated it all.

As her fingertips smoothed themselves against the golden lamps that flared along the corridor, they burst from their glass encased prisons and trickle down the beautiful wallpaper, and the gold melts from the heat. 

She stands amongst the gold flames with a touch of azure to their tips, and all she can feel is a dark, dark satisfaction within her core.

She steps out of her heels, leaving them in the middle of the hallway as she ventures further into the palace. To its very heart. Jewels glitter from the ceilings, from chests that spill into the other rooms, and dresses as far as the eye could see.

 Useless. Useless. Useless.

 But it was only useless to her because she had never been able to touch such expensive things. Even now.

She touches the pale blue fabric that she had somehow managed to procure, the ribbon around her waist, an ornament that threaded down with the robin's egg colored silk. It had been so meaningful, but when she saw the dress with dark red ribbons and fancy blue, white embroidery, it paled in comparison to it. 

The heat reaches her back as she flings open a window, the sound of windows shattering behind her because of the staggering temperatures within the enclosed space.

It was time.

As she fell out of the window, her mana cushioned her fall and she lands gracefully, the perfect posture that could hold books on top of her head should she feel like it. Not that anybody had bothered to check. She never had any teachers. 

Nobody ever came around to the Ruby Palace. She shuts her eyes as her mana shields her against the secondary explosion, the entire palace crumbling into the flames as she breathes in the smell of ashes and smoke. Soot dusted her hair and she lets out a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

The mages look at her in confusion and she chuckles, wiping away tears as she shakes her head at them. "It's nothing. Is she there now?" They bow to her as she walks past them before they return to burning the Emerald Palace to the ground. Just the way she wished. What a gorgeous sight it was. It would forever be in her dreams.

She pauses before a door and her lips quirk up involuntarily before pushing them open. Her guards salute her, and they stand off to the side as she kneels before the older. 

"How are you feeling?" Her tone could pass off as questioning, warm, docile, but anyone with eyes could tell she was none of that, not at the moment anyway.

"Is that even a question? You- you killed father!? My, my home- the palace, y-you burned it?! What are you thinking?!" 

She tilts her head as she supports her chin on her palm, answering the older girl. "I'm doing what has to be done. This is only a formality, and it'll be over soon. For both of us." 

The brunette gasps, and looks at her through angry tears as the younger dusts off her dress and stands up once more. "Get comfortable. This is your new home now."

She leaves her there, screaming insults at her as she collapses onto the floor in shock. Of course she would. Her beloved father had been murdered in cold blood, her home was destroyed, she- the loved princess of the land, was relocated to a desolate palace with nary a maid nor her favorite things. 

Abandoned. Just like she should be. Just like she should have been since the very beginning. Not her. It should never have been her in the Ruby Palace.

She doesn't change as she watches the doors before her open, a nervous priest standing at the top of the steps. She bows her head before him as his words get smoother with every sentence, and when the bell of the capital tolls, there on the throne, sits a new ruler of the Empire.

And her name is Athanasia.