/Immortal/
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.
i
Quinella's earliest memory was of Them.
Mother and Father had been people of high status. They had taken pride in themselves and their titles and, most of all, of Quinella.
She had been Their gem, Their treasure that They would never let go.
"You will be beautiful," They had told her. "You will be beautiful and strong and one day, you will rule the world."
She had believed Them.
They were Mother and Father, after all.
They were Mother and Father, and thus, the authority.
But she hated Them.
Not for the fact that They had told her that she would rule the world. That was forgivable, commendable, even. But They had told her, ordered her, not to kill her fellow humans.
Mother and Father had told her that it was forbidden, that she was not to do it.
She had never hated anyone that strongly throughout her entire life.
Quinella took savage delight in watching the kintobi foxes around her village burn and bleed and die.
The thermal arrow pierced their flesh and the corpse – for it was already a corpse in her eyes – smoked. And the blood, oh the blood, flowed out of them in great rivulets as they were slowly consumed by the flames. Her last sight of them was always of their eyes, wide and scared and innocent. The ashes were gone before they had even finished burning.
Quinella could only laugh.
She smiled, a crazed light in her eyes.
Killing innocent animals was great fun.
But, she contemplated as she checked her «Stacia Window» and made a dissatisfied sound in back of her throat, killing humans would be much more enjoyable.
Her mind automatically rejected the thought, and her contemplation turned bitter.
Although They had given her the task of «sacred arts research», all Mother and Father seemed to do was hinder her.
It was only the orders of Mother and Father that kept her from all that she had ever wished to have
For she wished to increase her «system access authority» more quickly, of course. But more importantly, she wished to watch people die.
She always made sure there was no blood on her nightgown before returning to her bed.
Mother and Father would punish her if they saw.
ii
The storm had been an object of wonder; of rain and wind and thunder.
When it was over, the townspeople had prostrated themselves at her feet.
"It's a miracle," they had praised. "Quinella has predicted the storm!"
But most prevalent had been the acknowledgment that she had truly been blessed by Stacia.
She had smiled sweetly at the time. Quinella could not kill the people, but she could use them.
"That is true," she had stated. "I have been blessed. And to bring about greater miracles, we must build a tower in Stacia's name."
The townspeople had rejoiced in this promise of greater magic, of Stacia's continued blessing. They had believed, and so a tower of pristine white marble had been erected in the middle of the town.
"I am the start of a new way of life," she declared when it was finished. "I am the axiom."
She smirked.
So mote it be.
Quinella was beautiful.
Father loved her.
Mother loved her.
She was a child sent by the gods. Stacia had blessed her.
The townspeople worshiped her, and Quinella, with her ethereal beauty, could only smile, her bewitching eyes hiding the beginnings of madness.
I am in control, she smiled. I am the authority.
Not Them. Not Mother and Father.
And yet she still could not kill her subjects.
It had been forbidden.
iii
Quinella smiled in vindictive glee.
She was the ruler of the Underworld. She had carried out Their orders by becoming the highest minister of the Axiom Church.
She had been freed from yet another restraining bond that They had placed upon her, but there was still one more left.
Her gaze was fixed upon the second clause of her beloved Taboo Index.
One may not murder another.
So innocuous, so intuitive, and so utterly ruthless.
One may not murder another.
One may not increase their «system access authority».
One may not surpass their ruler, their highest minister.
One may not surpass Quinella.
And for a moment, Quinella felt as if the world was just right. Just right and utterly perfect.
But then it all fell apart.
I may not murder another.
I may not increase my «system access authority».
I may not climb any higher than I am now.
I may not defy Mother and Father.
The smile disappeared from her face and a scream of incoherent rage echoed off the spotless white marble of the Axiom Church's highest tower.
iv
Quinella had once believed that there were two higher authorities she always had to obey.
Them, and death itself.
But Mother and Father had passed and death had been conquered, yet she still couldn't raise a hand against her people with the intent to kill.
The once beautiful Quinella sneered, the expression twisting her face into that of a demon.
She was the highest minister, the immortal ruler of the land, and yet she still had to bow down to the authority of Mother and Father.
Quinella had never enjoyed obeisance.
Too bad she was destined to always be under its thrall.
AN: Just as I very much liked Azula's character, Quinella's character, or what little we currently know about it, intrigues me. This is my take on it. It doesn't really show anything but what we already know, but... well. I managed to work in a pretty severe inferiority complex, but that's about it.
The title "Immortal" can refer to either the immortality of Quinella, the immortality of her inferiority complex, the immortality of the fact that you could not kill fellow humans, etc, etc.
I'm using words that are capitalized (Mother, Father, Them) for her parents because it is reminiscent of how God is capitalized. It symbolizes how she still stands below them.
'Axiom', as defined in the first sentence in the article on Wikipedia, is a starting point in reasoning. On dictionary. com, however, it is a self-evident truth that requires no proof. In this story, Quinella utilizes the Wikipedia definition to name her new church, but the definition from dictionary. com is definitely an underlying meaning.
I'm working under the assumption that even with control of the system on the same level as Cardinal, she cannot change her own appearance. I base this on the fact that even after she assumed complete control of the Underworld, she has not shown herself to her subjects.
Constructive criticism, please?
~Anivla01