This is a bunch of drabble-ish pieces that I had strung together for a Queen ask blog. This is my head canon for the events that preceded the game. Enjoy.

I don't own OFF or any of its characters

From darkness they were borne. The desolate void. Vader Eloha could not remember a time before the void, though she knew it had existed. She did not linger on these thoughts. No, she merely held the child to her chest and looked lovingly into his large eyes. With a contented sigh she hugged him close and felt his shaky breaths. His safety was paramount. She noticed the other figure beside her, a tall man with dark hair in a baseball uniform. Warmth filled her completely in the darkness as he joined the embrace, strong arms surrounding her and Hugo. His malady would be overcome by love.

Their love.

His hand slid from her arm, up to her cheek. Perfection. Her strong Batter would protect their kingdom at all cost. She, his exquisite Queen would rule with motherly grace and dignity. Together they would build a world of realized dreams and benevolent guardians to enact their will.

…

The morning filled their bedchamber with dappled light that danced on the walls. The Batter reached for the familiar warmth of his bride as she sat down on the bed beside him.

"I brought you coffee, my love," She cooed, holding out a second cup "Our sweetheart is still sleeping peacefully." With a grateful smile he sat himself up, letting the covers fall from him. He reached out, caressing her cheek and brought her close for a kiss. He could taste the sweetness of her coffee on her lips. She always used so much sugar. He came away from the kiss with reluctance, now holding the cup she'd made for him. The acrid flavor burned as is went down, but it was satisfying. Black as the night sky, just like he liked it.

Setting down his cup and saucer on the nightstand he shifted his focus back to his wife. She mimicked his actions, setting her cup next to his and slid her arms around his shoulders. No words were needed as their foreheads touched gently. His hands fingered the hem of her nightgown, slowly working it up over her head, cherishing every inch of her shadowy skin. She melted into him. Stripped of all barriers, they reaffirmed the depth of their love.

…

They sit by the plastic shoreline, taking in the early afternoon. Hugo fusses in her lap, "I wanna play!" He demands with finality. She sighs and checks him over. He hadn't had an attack all day, but she wasn't about to take the chance.

"Don't overexert yourself, Love." She chides as the child bounds off to play. She sighs, looking toward her husband " Am I being overprotective?"

"Not at all." Her husband reassures her as he adjusts his cap. He'd been resistant to taking Hugo out, but had given in "I'll go down and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." He smiles confidently and places a kiss on his wife's head before grabbing a mitt and ball. His add-ons glowed around him in a warm halo. She smiled at his contrasting simplicity to her intricacy. She watched them for a time. Batter would pitch him the ball, gently of course, and Hugo would throw it back. He seemed to be gaining strength she noted with motherly pride. As the sky started to turn darker she watched her husband throw the ball once more, but this time, Hugo missed. He turned and ambled off to catch up with it. There was a sudden drop in her stomach as his form doubled over a few feet from the ball, and the sound of wet, haggard coughs and gasps filled the air.

Batter reached him before her, sweeping him up into his arms. His coughs subsided after what felt like hours, but with it it took Hugo's consciousness.

"This was a bad idea." Accused her husband, glaring at her. She clenched tightly, her breath shaky with both ire and distress.

"He's not completely better yet, but he's making progress!" She argued, but the conversation was already over.

"No," He combated, holding a hand to the child's cold sweaty forehead, "His impurity is spreading." She swallowed any words she might have had for him. She knew he was unwilling to listen and she didn't know what to say. He'd never looked at her like that before. He led the way back to The Room holding onto Hugo tightly as the tension in the air. She wrapped an arm around herself. It must have grown later than she'd noticed for there to be such a chill in the air.

Purify, purity, purification… Those words haunted her. He could talk of nothing more. Gone were the soft gazes between them, replaced with icy piety. A glacier had forced its way between them and try as she might the frozen tundra of holiness between them was far too vast for her words to reach across. When has she seen him last? It could have been hours? Days? Months? What had they last talked about? It took her far longer than she'd wished to remember.

"The specters are growing more hostile." He'd stated. No forewarning, just a statement, as if he'd been commenting on the weather.

"What makes you say that my love? " She asked, this conversation already draining her of patience.

"The attacks… His attacks… They're more frequent, more intense. Unless we begin purifying these lands, our world will-"

She cut him off with a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, "Hush, my love. Let's not talk of such dark things." There was only the sound of her spoon tinkling like laughter against her mug. "I put in extra sugar just for you." She beamed and turned to go to her seat.

CRASH

She flinched and looked toward the ground when the coffee was soaking rapidly into the hem of her once pristine gown. She can feel it scalding her toes but she doesn't react.

"I don't take sugar in my coffee."

She can do nothing as she hears his footsteps retreat into oblivion. Between quiet sobs, she begins to pick up the shattered remains of his mug. She is as helpless to stop the seeping coldness in her heart as she is the rapidly cooling coffee blackening her dress.

…

She was so busy preparing and planning to celebrate her beloved Hugo's birthday. She'd made such a marvelous cake, large enough to satiate the entirety of her 3rd Zone; A most generous act of benevolence from sweet Enoch. The finest literary presents from dear Japhet; So many stories to read to her sweet child and creator. Kindly Dedan was to take him to ride on the pedalos. Hugo had never been, his father much too busy purifying to take him and she unable to leave her post. His party would be the most magnificent in all their history. There was no way he could feel his illness with such splendor all around. She'd put so much into making everything perfect. Perhaps she could even coerce that masked merchantman to open his amusement park for their celebration. She sighed, feeling the full weight of rigorous planning on her shoulders. Thoughts of her husband soured her mood with emptiness of abandonment and filled her with discontent. Their last interaction had not been an amicable one, filled with name calling and blaming. Yet, through all of this, she could not find it within her to hate him. In her heart she knew he was only concerned about Hugo and their kingdom. What she could not accept were his methods. He'd taken to carrying his bat at all times and more and more she noticed him preferring his beastly form.

She longed for the simple days when their kingdom was new. Their first night together, his gentle caress and ghosting of his breath against her skin. He'd been so nervous and afraid he would break her. She assured him otherwise, joining them as husband and wife. The sweet friction of their love fueled them through the night. Many languid mornings after were saturated with the smell of rich coffee and the glow of their love. When had they lost that? When had their affections waned, only to be replaced by callous indifference? She would have moved heaven and hell for him to gaze at her like that once more, like she was her whole world. The monster his human-like façade hid from their subjects had never scared her until now. His demons had perfectly compatible with hers in the beginning, but more and more it seemed that they were at odds. He'd never been away for so long.

An abrupt feeling of complete wrongness took over her entire being. "Hugo," she panted as she sprinted to his room. The door was slightly ajar, she heard shuffling. She burst in, out of breath and seething with righteous maternal fury.

There he stood, unguarded and undisguised. His maw inches away from their creator-child. Hugo was fast asleep, dreaming sweet dreams. The Batter looked upon her unapologetically. She could see it in his eyes, a lust for blood far stronger than any he'd ever held for her. She was upon him in a flash, tentacles working around his joints to immobilize him. She dragged him out of the room through sheer force of willpower. He struggled valiantly, but her wrath was stronger.

"This is a necessary evil!" He thundered, thrashing about, "He is impure!" Clawed hands dug deeply into her flesh. She was beyond pain. With a great heave she flung him against the wall of the hallway. It wasn't enough to truly damage him, but provided ample distraction for her to constrict his airways and wrap around his daggered maw. "Our world is dying," he strained, "Whether you accept it or not, your kingdom is falling apart…"

"NO!" She shrieked instantly, "OUR KINGDOM IS PERFECT! HUGO WILL RECOVER AND WE WILL CELEBRATE FOR YEARS TO COME! THE PARTY WILL BE SPLENDID!" The words were ash in her mouth as she said them. It didn't have to come to this… How could things have gone so wrong? Her grip slackened ever so slightly and he began to reach up to her. Had he finally seen her way? Had her tender, doting King come back to to her? Her eyes met his, searching for some sign of the man she loved with all her being.

She saw no such man. His eyes were full of icy judgment.

He watched her face contort into something more beast-like than he'd ever mustered. Before he could take his chance, her grip increased 10 fold. His world faded to black, punctuated by her sobs and finally a ringing silence.

…

When consciousness finally came to him, the coldness of paralysis gripped him, followed immediately by blinding pain. Cold eyes stared at the woman he'd once called his wife.

"I couldn't do it…" She choked,

A puppet? His eyes insinuated. She had turned him into a marionette, strung together with his own nerves, incapable of autonomy.

"I lack the power to destroy you…" Shuttered breaths punctuated her words "Emotional or physical… I doubt I'll ever know for sure." Her voice was a whisper, but clear and smooth. She dipped her head next to his, her breath a gossamer breeze over his pale skin. It mimicked the intimacy they had lost so long ago. The act felt threatening now, a fulfilled promise of retaliation. Both knew this was the eye of their storm, the last reprieve before final destruction.

"You drove me to this… " Her voice dripping with venom. "I gave you everything! I loved you and you abandoned me!" She accused in an unholy shriek. She shook with unbridled rage, but her eyes were filled with the deepest sorrow. As she regained her composure she swallowed her emotion. The ice in her heart had finally solidified. What had been done could not be taken back. She stepped forward to seal their fates.

"I leave you to the void… " The pregnant pause before their final kiss was toxic, her face slowly becoming one with his, "and pray that your pleas go unanswered …" The kiss ended, leaving both parties colder than they had ever felt. She thrust his body into the ravenous darkness tears unshed. There were simply none left. She could not bear to watch as his body disappeared into the void.