A/N: Never before did I think I'd write, but I thought I'd try it out. Turns out it's pretty fun. Any tips and helpful stuff is greatly appreciated; I would like to keep improving my work, and any advice is welcome. I'll write a few more chapters, and if it turns out it doesn't put people to sleep, I'll keep going.

Disclaimer: I do not own SG Interactive, KoG, GC, or any of that funny stuff. If I did, I would have broken the game ^w^

Enjoy~

Prologue: End of the Five Year War

How could I let this happen?

This single thought swam through her mind as she, Anyu, queen of Kanavan, briskly marched the vast and lavish hallway towards her adviser's residence. It was past midnight, and the brilliant light of the full moon shone down into the windows, casting long streaks of darkness from the pillars in the hall. Anyu clicked her tongue in annoyance as she slowed down once more for the six members of the royal guard to catch up- her lavishly decorated pink satin dress and thin rapier was less of a hindrance to quick movement than their thick navy blue cloth and steel armor and heavy weapons. Normally, such security would be deemed paranoid and unnecessary, but this was a time of war. Every shadow was an enemy, an invisible assassin patiently biding their time for a vulnerable moment, a summoned monster stalking its prey from the cover of night; it was their duty to protect the queen from such threats or give her time to escape.

Anyu was not paying heed to any of that. She was still trying to comprehend what had happened. A short while ago, she was pouring through reports of the war as usual, comprehending figures of casualties, supplies, weapons, and able-bodied men ready to fight. A messenger reported in and dropped upon her desk a mountain of additional documents and pictures, products of imprinting what the kingdom's magicians saw and reported into rolls of paper through magic. She scarcely cared then; after five years of witnessing the bloodshed and carnage left by combat, even by another's eyes, it became more of a tedious chore and less of an emotional trial.

For the glory of Kanavan, she reminded herself at the time, accepting these as necessary losses for... what was it again? She had forgotten the reason for this war, but it was highly recommended by her most trusted adviser, Hoff. Whatever he said was good advice, so she took it to heart. Was it not also for the glory of Kanavan? That is more than enough reason, she deemed. More than enough reason. The queen resumed the never-ending task of finishing paperwork and examining photos.

As her magenta eyes swiftly scanned the scene in a particular picture, a pang of uneasiness struck her. She looked at the picture again. Once more, she was hit by that uneasy feeling. Dismissing it for the time being, she resumed her work. As time passed, she could not shake the feeling off; on the contrary, it gnawed at the back of her mind even more, demanding her full, undivided, and immediate attention.

Surrendering to her curiosity, she pulled the picture out again. Carefully inspecting the bodies that littered the blood-soaked ground, she realized one looked familiar. Anyu now recognized her earlier sense of apprehension; it was the feeling of losing something important, something that could never be replaced. Finding a familiar face was not a novel concept; Anyu had already seen the mangled corpses of acquaintances from previous battles. She had also accepted their losses. It was all for the glory of Kanavan. This one, however, was different. This person was from Serdin, the enemy kingdom.

Beautifully embroidered plate armor, gold trim and ruby decorations, the likes of which only a Serdin noble could have. Long, flowing turquoise hair, carefully tied to avoid obscuring vision in battle, now splayed in all directions, stained in reddish-brown, the helmet once guarding it from mud and blood located a few feet away. Once glimmering eyes the color of clearest sky, filled to the brim with compassion and curiosity, now dull half-orbs of lifelessness. A deathly pallor had replaced previously healthy and pink skin. Blood seeped from the figure's mouth and numerous wounds: a gash in the side, an arrow to the left shoulder, broken shaft still protruding from the injury, various cuts and scrapes, and the deathblow - a giant, roughly diamond-shaped hole in the chest, the results of being impaled by a glaive.

It was Enna, Queen of Serdin. However, it was not the death of the enemy queen that troubled her. It was the death of Enna, the girl she once had fond memories of before the war, the one she befriended on an education exchange trip, the one who she laughed and cried with for years before the kingdoms sealed their borders, the one who she shared her private secrets and troubles with before she cut off all ties with her. She was one of her closest - no...

My best friend, Anyu realized in horror. The situation dawning upon her, she screamed, the tormented screech of one who woke from their stupor to realize the sins they have committed. In that instant, everything she had done, every reason Hoff had given, all reassurances to herself that this war was necessary, dissipated, overwhelmed by a surge of grief, confusion, and anger. How had she been such a fool for so long? What possibly caused her to embark on this gods-forsaken campaign? Who even suggested it was a remotely decent idea?

Hence her current task: to find and confront her adviser.

As the queen snapped back to reality with a jerk, her guards had just finished reporting, "Your Majesty, Hoff is nowhere within his chambers. It seems likely he is fleeing the kingdom. "

"I see." With a furious huff, Anyu spun around, her wavy golden hair fanning out and following in suit. She started heading back towards the throne room, her guards in tow. She would have to assemble the Kanavan Trackers, she thought, and track down that traitorous man. Something about this seemed off, though. What had caused Hoff to do something of this magnitude? To the best of Anyu's knowledge, Hoff had no quarrel with the kingdom or the citizens within. On the contrary, the aging man dedicated himself to serving the people, doing his best to ensure a fair trial and judgement, and maintaining the life quality of Kanavan.

I suppose I'll have to question him about this as well before executing him, she furiously muttered to herself. The members of the guard glanced at each other with uncertainty and concern. Never before had they seen their queen so agitated and furious, and no one was willing to ask for what reason, for fear of risking her wrath. Not soon enough for both Anyu and her guards, the throne room's giant doors came into view. Hurriedly, the guards opened the doors for the queen to enter. Instead of entering, though, she simply stood there, gaping with wide eyes at something in the torchlit chamber.

There, standing in the middle of the room, casually admiring the throne, donning a robe of jet black, hands behind his back, stood a middle-aged, average built, balding man. The lights from the torches danced upon his head as he continued to stare in the opposite direction. He paid no heed to the opening gate. In fact, it was as if he did not acknowledge their entrance in the first place. Slowly, he began to turn until his face was in view, revealing flinty eyes, a deep scowl, and a curly beard that was a couple of inches long. The man and Anyu glared at each other for a few seconds, neither speaking nor breaking eye contact.

"Hoff," Anyu finally seethed. Hoff merely sneered and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I did not expect the Queen of Serdin to so willingly to risk her life. I certainly did not think that you were to break my possession spell just because you saw her dead with the other trash."

"Silence, traitor!" screamed Anyu. "They were our people, our friends, our comrades! You used to side with the people and demand justice at all times, one of your most defining traits! What changed, Hoff?!"

"It was all for the glory of Kanavan," Hoff calmly replied, as if he was explaining some difficult, yet obvious concept to a mere child. "I...could not stand how complacent and lazy the people of both kingdoms had become. The nobles were so becoming so fat and greedy, I thought a war would be able to trim some of the scum off our nobility as well. Besides, how else does one gain glory than through constant warfare? I was helping our kingdom live up to its motto."

"And for that reason, you have bewitched me into starting these five years of hell?!"

"Bewitched you? I simply gave you the suggestion that a war with Serdin was necessary. I am not the law. I simply give advice. You heeded it and forged this war with your own hands. Your orders were the cause of Enna's death. How am I to blame?"

Anyu flipped her hair back before replying, "Do not try to use sweet words to coat your excuses, Hoff! We are both well aware that you used magic to coerce me into this. And with such an excuse too..." Her face wrinkled into one of disgust for a moment before continuing. "What is the real reason you started this war?"

At this question, Hoff suddenly lost the calm facade he maintained. His eyes flashed dangerously with unrestrained rage, his unconcerned smile contorted into a snarl, and Anyu swore she saw veins start bulging from his temples.

"To show you that humanity is WEAK." He rasped.

That single statement shocked Anyu almost more than anything so far. It was not because of the reason; it was how he emphasized that last word with such spite and contempt. "...What?"

"Humanity is so easy to deceive. A single word from someone they trust, and they all are willing to march to their deaths. Hatred and prejudice fester in your minds, deeming anything not human a threat to your race and an excuse to eliminate it! A cancer to the world, taking everything for your own and leaving nothing behind! One for one, you are all cowards, only capable of doing anything by being dead weight to those who are remotely skilled! And the way you humans turn on each other so easily MAKES ME SICK!"

Hoff's voice had slowly risen from a hoarse whisper to shouting at the top of his lungs during his monologue. Never once did he pause to breathe. By the end, he was literally spitting the words out, red eyes twitching and glowing with a raging inferno. Anyu observed Hoff's continuing oration in slight astonishment. Never had Hoff lost his temper like this. Never had Hoff been so enraged at the flaws of humans, or denounce them as if he were not a human.

And Hoff certainly did not have glowing, red eyes.

"You," Anyu whispered after the man finished his rant, clutching his knees, out of breath, "You are not Hoff. Who...no...what are you?"

When the false adviser finished recovering and lifted his head to look back at his audience, an almost inhuman smile graced his face. When he next spoke, it was a woman's voice, soothing and soft as silk, words as sweet as honey, but with untold malice concealed within.

"Well, it seems I have been found out."

With those words, a gust of wind blew in through the open doors. The wind quickly escalated into a swirling maelström indoors, scattering furniture like twigs in a storm and extinguishing the flames on the wall. Anyu and her guards were quickly thrown to the ground, battered and disoriented. The whirlwind wrapped around the fake Hoff, who was grinning as the howling wind caused flakes of ash to fall from him, revealing a woman of long, wavy violet-blue hair that reached her waist, eyes of ruby dipped in blood, and skin white as frost. She wore a dress the color of amethyst, trimmed with gold, scarlet, and black. Earrings of cyan crystal, a twisted, torn cloak of black and red, and gloves with golden claw tips further accentuated the look of evil. Finally, from a portal summoned to the right of the mystery woman, a staff of ebony, impaled the ground, thrumming with ancient, dark, and forgotten power.

"Indeed, I am not your adviser. I...liberated him from the confines of this world. As for who I am, I am Ka..." The witch stopped herself, then mockingly pondered how to properly introduce herself.

"Ah yes, this sounds better," she mused. "I am the demon that feeds off of humanity's hatred. I am the commander of the Dark Army, ready to send this continent into eternal strife. I am the Queen of Darkness." The Queen of Darkness then graciously bowed while Anyu and her troupe unsteadily climbed back to their feet.

"My name is Kaze'aze. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Now then, I believe I will be taking my leave. I have overstayed my welcome." With an innocent smile, Kaze'aze lightly brushed her robes of any imaginary dust with the back of her hand. She then reached for her staff, still attached firmly to the ground, and began delicately examining the elegant carving of the winged dragon on its tip, forever guarding the pulsating, purple orb clutched in its claws. "However, you," she nodded at Anyu, "seem to have something to say to me."

By now, the queen and her guard had recovered from the earlier indoor storm that the witch had wrought. With balled fists and shaking with anger, Anyu responded through gritted teeth, "Do not think that you will simply walk away after what you have done. Guards! Execute this witch at once! She has done untold damage to both our fair kingdom and Serdin! We cannot have her escape!" With that, Anyu brought out her rapier and pointed it at an amused Kaze'aze. She yelled, "with me!" and ran to face her foe.

Inspired and with renewed determination, the six guard members hoisted their weapons in a battle cry and charged the lone witch alongside their queen. Each soldier was a master of their respective weapons, having trained with them since they were ten, and most of them were also adept at various forms of magic. Each one had earned medals and honors, commending their bravery, leadership, and fierce loyalty to their queen. With them, Anyu felt safe and was confident that with an amount of effort, they could restrain and kill the Queen of Darkness.

With a yawn and a dismissive flick of her wrist, Kaze'aze flung a magical ring at the group, abruptly stopping them in their tracks. As they fought against the arcane bonds, the guards who attempted to use magic found that no words of power would escape their throat, thoughts of casting became muddled and confused, and they were unable to draw on their mana, the energy source of all their magic.

As she watched the members of Kanavan silently struggle, Kaze'aze snickered, "You have probably noticed that you cannot use magic while ensnared in that spell. Leave it to Serdin, the Kingdom of Magic, to invent such marvelous ways to restrain people." She quickly started mumbling another spell, the words inaudible even in the silence. With a grand, horizontal sweep of the ebony staff, five of the six guards yelled in surprise and fear as slowly but steadily, their clothes and body stiffened and hardened into stone, their heads petrified last.

Once the spell finished, Kaze'aze strode towards her pieces of work, ignoring the expressions of horror on the queen and guard. She began appraising her statues' quality. The spell had preserved every intricate detail, down to the slightest wrinkle of cloth, a scar on skin, a dent in armor. "So beautiful... too bad about the face, though. I wish they did not look like snakes attacked them," she observed, all the while slowly developing a grin of malicious intent. "I suppose I will have to dispose of them."

Shoving her staff once more into the floor, she reached for the nearest statue's head, tilting the petrified guard as she whispered in his ear, "Farewell." Suddenly and with a laughter of insanity, the Queen of Darkness slammed the statue on the royal floor with all her might. With a resounding crack, what was once a man shattered into a shower of chunks of stone, fragments of rock, and fine dust. Anything deemed too large was then blasted by bolts of magic until it was a more appealing size. While the dust settled on the damaged floor and carpets, and Anyu and the remaining guard silently gaped at the remains of their comrade, Kaze'aze continued to cackle to the sky, as if challenging the gods to intervene and save her victims from such a demise.

She then repeated the same brutal process to the other four sculptures while giggling dementedly.

Anyu watched on in horror as her guards shattered, one by one, to the mad queen. Mixed emotions of anger, fear, and revulsion threatened to upset her stomach, but she forced the feelings down as she attempted to calmly think of a way out. The spell was still holding strong, and an inquisitive look at her last guard answered her other question: he still could not use magic to free them. Bowing her head in defeat, she resigned herself to being Kaze'aze's prisoner a little longer. How did I attract such a powerful magician? And a mad one at that. The more she pondered the situation, the more confusing it became. Serdin would have been a far greater choice if she wanted to learn forbidden magic, and it seemed she already had extensive knowledge on their spell collection. With her power, she could easily have overwhelmed the Kanavan royalty and seized power on her own already. Was her reason really simply to send humanity into despair? She must have a motive...

"What caused you to do this?" Anyu croaked, surprising herself with the loudness of her voice. No response.

She pressed on. "You must have a reason to waste so much energy simply to cause mayhem." Silence.

When Anyu looked up from the prolonged quiet, she saw Kaze'aze staring at her seriously, her demented mirth having faded. When the woman next spoke, all previous triumph and smug confidence disappeared, replaced with a serious and jaded voice full of malevolence.

"Revenge on Kanavan."

Anyu shook her head, not comprehending. "Revenge for what?"

Kaze'aze started pacing around the two. "I was once human."

"You... were human?" Anyu asked in astonishment.

"Shocking, I know," the witch snickered. "Once, I was like you. I had dreams. I had goals and aspirations. I had friends. However, all that changed when I protected what I held dear. I, cursed to becoming a demon by a human, lost everything that I worked for. I had witnesses about what transpired, and even they betrayed me to prejudice. Those who I thought were my friends abandoned me, exiled me. I will not forget, and I will not forgive. I, created by humans and forged by your hatred and xenophobia, will be your end."

Suddenly, the demoness reached for the bound guard's sword. With a practiced motion, as if she were an expert swordsman as well as a master mage, she thrust the blade into the last guard's heart. With a spray of blood and scream of immense pain, the guard violently shook against his ethereal chains. He then ceased moving, still standing from the binding, blood pouring from the wound. It was only then that, with a snap of her fingers, was the spell allowed to break, letting the corpse slide to the ground, a dark puddle growing beneath it.

Anyu was also released, but she too collapsed to the ground, too shocked with the recent death she had just witnessed to run. As she looked up to the heavens for guidance, she saw only the Queen of Darkness, shrouded in night, sprayed in blood, gleaming red eyes and white teeth in a demented half-smile, dripping sword held high for its last kill. So this is how it ends. She thought. I will see you soon, Enna. Please forgive me for everything; deceived I may have been, but it was still my command that killed you, and I ask for your forgiveness. And Karina...I hope to see you too, whether you're with Enna or still in this world. Forgive me for not being there when you needed me. I believed and still believe you. She closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of cold steel.

It did not come.

She maintained her posture, steeling her nerves to not break down or beg for her life. After all, none of her guard did, so how could she, figurehead of the kingdom? She kept still, refusing to give the mad witch the pleasure of seeing her cringing.

The blade still did not fall.

Anyu heard the clatter of steel, Kaze'aze having thrown the sword toward her right. It slid, drawing lazy arcs of blood across the white marble floor, ending abruptly when the hilt met the wall.

"I have wasted too much time. Your guards...they are approaching," Kaze'aze mumbled. Without delay, she strode over the shattered rocks, past the shocked queen.

Anyu wailed. "You are...just going to let me live? After these men died to protect me? You would dare waste their sacrifice?!"

Kaze'aze stopped and turned her head to meet her fellow queen's eyes. "Yes. Not because of any mercy for you or disrespect to them, but so you will live with the knowledge that your existence has caused the death of many. With this, there will be no glory left in Kanavan, Serdin, or any small town in between, only despair." As she spoke, a portal of black opened in front of her. Anyu could see faint traces of form: moving figures, a tower, and in the distance, two massive spires jutting out of the forsaken earth, purple-black and of alien proportions.

"Farewell, Anyu, Queen of Kanavan. May you always have peace of mind. May your swords be forever sharp. And may you bring glory to Kanavan." Contemptuously reciting the kingdom's blessing, she broke into a peal of cruel laughter. The Queen of Darkness bowed, sharply turned on her heel, and sauntered into the portal, which promptly vanished, leaving nothing behind.

All was silent.

Shortly after the disappearence of the portal, the captain of the royal guard, along with reinforcements just arriving from the front line, rounded the corner panting, and caught glimpse of the throne room. They did not expect to find destroyed furniture, shattered statues, a dead man, and the queen, sprawled on the ground, staring at space, as if it possessed an unknown threat.

"Ronan." The queen's voice was soft and sounded so fragile, it would break in the slightest wind.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty!" The captain replied with a start.

"Send an emissary to Serdin announcing a ceasefire and asking for their coöperation. Tell them I will personally meet with them to negotiate a peace. Also, assemble the Kanavan Trackers, but tell them to meet with me first thing in the morning. I will give them their assignment myself."

"As you wish, Your Majesty, but shouldn't we prot-"

"No. I wish for solitude. The threat has abated, so send your troops to assemble the Trackers. I will be fine."

"...as you wish, Your Majesty." Reluctantly, Ronan sent his troops to carry out their orders, then with a second glance behind his shoulder, went to carry out his.

Once more, all was silent.

When everyone had left, Anyu reached to her side pocket and rummaged out a small hand mirror. The image the mirror brought to her was almost unrecognizable. Her beautifully kept hair was now a tangled, blond bird's nest. Her pink dress, a product of one of Kanavan's finest tailors, now ripped and torn, reduced to a gown of rags. And her eyes... once serious, yet kind sparkling magenta eyes full of determination, had become tired, dull pink spheres of grief and sorrow. So much has happened, and it's all my fault. How could I let this come to pass? So many dead, and so many more injured. How can I face the people of Kanavan again? The distressed queen wallowed in dismal introspection for seconds, then minutes, then hours.

No...

Anyu would not let this break her. She would not let despair consume her spirit; doing so would be to disrespect the deaths of Enna and the others that fell. She had to keep going, to make right what went terribly wrong, to remember her mistakes and make sure she never made them again. The dead deserved that much, at least. She shakily got off the ground and gazed once more upward, past the ceiling and into the heavens, a rekindled fire of determination in her heart. This will forever wear down upon my heart, she thought, but I will simply gain the strength to shoulder this burden. Kaze'aze is right, in a way. There is no glory in Kanavan, not anymore. That is not to say there will never be glory here ever again, however. We can rebuild. We can persevere. We will overcome.

As the Queen of Kanavan reached a balcony, she noticed the first rays of light above the scarred and battered plains. A bittersweet smile slowly made its way on her face as she stared at the sunrise. It was a new day, a new start. She swore to bring honor back to her fair kingdom, and to bring the Dark Queen Kaze'aze down to her knees.

For a lasting peace! For the end of hatred! For the glory of Kanavan!

Hope you liked it so far!

Please R&R~