She was beautiful.
She was gorgeous.
She was elegant.
She was stunning.
That was the problem was it not? It was all in the past.
Her looks no longer made men's eyes fill with lust, or women's eyes fill with envy. No. That was a thing of the past.
Now they scrutinize her. Some gape at her, not with adoration but horror, fear, terror. All of it was the same to her. She had gotten used to it, but there would always be one thing she would never get used to.
Pity.
The four letter word drove her mad. Every single time someone looked at her with it, she felt rage like no other. She wanted to claw their eyes out, scar their face, and dismember their body. Sometimes she did it, the annoyance and wrath pushing her forward, encouraging and guiding her. And when the deed was done, she felt hollow. The anger was short lived each time vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Emptiness. Closely followed by sadness, regret, and worse of all, self-pity.
And this was the stage she was at now. The servant's limbs were being removed from the outside of her room. There was nothing left really of the maid, nothing that could be pieced together. A few fingernails here and a few chunks of skin.
The maid has deserved it, gossiping about her appearance with others. The maid had laughed at what the temptress of Noxus had become. The wretch had dared to compare her hideous complexion with that of General Du Couteau's youngest daughter.
Disgusting.
After all, she was once beautiful. They didn't give out the title of the Temptress of Noxus to just anyone. She was the most beautiful person in the world. No one else could compare to her.
She sighed, her metal claws closing the curtains. The only purpose of light was to see, but she did not want to see herself. Why else would her room be void of mirrors?
She could remember a long time ago, suitors would wait under her window. All of them asking for her hand in marriage in exchange for everything they had. For hours she would tease them, none of them would leave though. She was just that desirable. It did not matter that they had no chance with her, the idea of her in their bed was enough to spur her suitors onward. The ever changing weather in Noxus only made the matter all the more amusing. Her suitors would rather die from heat stroke than leave her window.
They begged and pleaded for her. They wanted her, her looks to be more exact, but her nonetheless.
And was that not what everyone secretly endeavored? To belong. Even the coldest of hearts could not deny that.
At night, her suitors would leave after being shooed away, but would always come back again in the morning to restart the same process.
As repetitive as it had been, the scene never grew old or tiresome.
She was now in the darkness of her room, a darkness she never really left. No one could see her in the darkness and more importantly, she could not see herself. She had not taken her transformationeasily. How could she? And it certainly did not help that she lived in Noxus.
Noxus was a dark place with dread just waiting around each corner. And its citizens were no better.
She had known of course, she was not so blinded by the jewels and dresses of her childhood.
No. She had known that Noxus had a very cruel side to it, but she simply had never experienced it before she returned from Shurima. It made her stronger in a way. She was no longer safely tucked in her little bubble of false illusions.
She could tear a man in half, turn them into stone if she wished. She was more than just some ordinary human. She was part snake. Looks would fade with age, but her newly found power would not. Her claws. Her tail. Her strength. And was that not everything in Noxus? Strength above all else. 'Forever strong' the motto of the Noxian Empire called.
And in a way she was still beautiful. Her skin was smooth as velvet and her face was porcelain and perfect. She blinked at her epiphany.
She was still beautiful.
She was still gorgeous.
She was still elegant.
She was still stunning.
And now she was so much more.
She was deadly now.
She was powerful now.
Not just her appearance changed in Shurima.
The old Cassiopeia was gone, and the new one was so much better.