MY QUEEN
Chapter 2: Nemesis
By MargaritaDaemonelix
They say that, after death, the soul becomes a star in the sky until it is ready to be born again. On the night a soul comes down to earth, a shooting star streaks the sky, and a new life is born.
Not all are born into peace, however.
Some are born to be weapons, tools of war. Some never live to see their true potential. Some… Some choose to save and kill, all at once.
Those are the truly brave.
"Her majesty on deck!"
An armada of Nasod warriors saluted as their captain walked between their lines, a lithe figure in a gothic black dress. The glowing blue El gem on her forehead indicated that this was no common Nasod, and her regal posture and serene expression only carried her nobility further.
This was Queen Eve, ruler of Altera, and the rightful queen of the Nasod race in these tumultuous times. Hamel had recently been swarmed by demons, and because of an alliance one of Eve's predecessors had made, she would need to help. Her own kind was struggling as the situation was, but under her command, they would thrive just fine.
"I am aware that the Hamel army is struggling to hold their own in the siege they are undergoing," she said delicately, her silver hair swaying in the wind, "and that they require our assistance. However, as the rulers of Hamel have not openly requested any reinforcements, the Nasod race of Altera will not be sending any. Thank you."
Turning around, Eve walked smoothly to her executive suite aboard the Circuit, her royal airship. It was how life went, she thought. Help did not come unless you said you needed it.
Her royal drones, Nike and Eris, floated behind her, awaiting her command. "Nike, tell whomever is at the helm that I desire rest in my sleeping quarters," she said loudly. Her white drone zipped away to relay the message. Sighing, Eve patted Eris on the head. "Please go open my wardrobe," she told the black drone, who chirped affectionately and flew off.
Eve glided smoothly into her room, Eris and Nike back from their errands. Her personal closet was opened, spewing out a good amount of steam, and as she gazed at the suit of armor inside, Eve couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride.
It was mandatory for a Nasod queen to have a coat of armor, but Eve refused at all costs to wear it in public. She prefered wearing her black gothic dress that she'd worn since the last ruler, King Benzene, had named her his successor, nearly a decade ago. She'd been a tiny Nasod when he'd first found her, wandering away from the nursery to sit by the Core, the mother of all Nasod, telling it about what she'd do to keep the demons away from Hamel when she was older. That was how King Benzene had found her, mumbling to the Core, half-asleep and lost.
Yet these days, she almost liked her armor better.
She shrugged off her black dress, pulling on a slimming white shirt and shorts edged with pink. Her drones brought to her the black metal pieces that she'd come to love and loath, and a delicate smile graced her lips as she assembled her alternate identity.
No one ever dared anger the queen of Altera these days, for those that did were dead within a week. Rumours from the bars in Altera and the nearby Feita was that Eve had an assassin working directly for her, a royal Nasod who had renounced her bloodline to satisfy her bloodlust. They called her Nemesis, queen of the Alteran Underworld.
Eve almost laughed as she thought about that. They were almost right, really. Just a little bit off.
Eve herself was Nemesis. In broad daylight, she'd play the innocent queen of Altera. When the stars came out, she became the queen of destruction. No one suspected a thing. Nothing at all.
When she was bored during the day, she'd plan out her night, where she'd go, which bars she'd hit, and who she'd kill. Her last mission had involved bringing someone's warm liver to someone else in a clear plastic baggie(which was admittedly gross) but the pay had been good. Eve needed the funds.
Of course it would all come down to the money in the end. Eve calmly sat at her vanity and let her drones comb out her hair and attach her flower clips to her lapels. Somehow, they reminded her of someone, someone she might have known a long time ago.
As pristine as always, Eve stood up, letting her windswept silver hair flow. For the heck of it, she let the blades on her back loose, remembering the time she'd accidentally done that while signing a peace treaty with the queen of the kingdom of… Was it the queen of Lurensia? Eve herself wasn't sure anymore. The world was so wide, and so troubled.
A flick of her hand was all Eve needed to call Nike and Eris to attention. Her personal window opened as she activated the hoverdrive installed in her feet, ready to go.
"Hello, world. Full Generate Mode, start."
"Good evening, sir, and what may I serve you?"
"A honey mead on the rocks, thanks."
The barkeep turned aside to pour the drink as Chung rummaged the pockets of his armor for some change to pay for it. He really didn't want to have to buy the stupid drink, but he couldn't just sit in the middle of the tavern and not order anything. It didn't seem right, not for an assassin.
The barkeep came back with the mead. "Here you go, sir," he said as Chung dropped a handful of coins on the bar and slid them over. Times were getting desperate, but nothing hit the spot like an iced honey mead. "Say, I heard a wolf howl tonight."
Chung twitched an eyebrow. That was code for… Someone had a job for him. "Are you positive?" He asked. "There aren't wolves living natively in Hamel."
The man smiled. "I am positive. Trust me. I have the recording upstairs."
Taking a sip of his drink, Chung followed the man up the stairs behind the bar. "Nice working with ya, mister Silent Wolf," smirked the barkeep. "This one wanted to stay downstairs. Nearly chopped mah head off trying to."
Chung waved it off, taking another sip of his mead. "Nothing I can't handle."
He opened the door. Inside, sitting at a lonely table was a young woman with dark skin, vibrant violet eyes, and cotton candy pink hair. "Good evening, mister Deadly Chaser," she said quietly. "Name," replied Chung bluntly, enjoying his drink. It was always unfortunate to let a mug of good mead go to waste, no matter how urgent the situation.
The woman smirked. "My name is Kaeli," she said, sipping her own mug of hard beverage. "Recently, someone killed the lord I work for."
Chung sighed. "You folks really need to stop underestimating my talents," he muttered. Kaeli shook her head. "I believe that someone was the famed assassin, Nemesis."
She smiled sheepishly as Chung squinted at her, trying to comprehend the sheer gah of the situation. "You're asking me to kill the second most feared assassin in the underworld," he clarified. Kaeli nodded. "That is why I turned to you to kill her. They say the Deadly Chaser never misses his target. Don't make me doubt them."
She stood up, pulling a suitcase onto the table. "This is merely a twentieth of what I will be paying you," she said. Inside lay five hundred thousand Elrios Dollars. Chung grunted, but inside, he was jumping a little. A million ED was going to be good for Hamel's war. "I will confirm with you when I have her head," he said, picking up the suitcase. "Please do," whispered Kaeli, one of her hands snaking up Chung's shoulder. "I think we'd all sleep a little easier knowing Nemesis is dead."
… Was she trying to seduce him? Chung grunted again. "Good evening, miss," he said, tearing himself away from the clingy woman and striding over to the window. Pulling it open, he slipped out before the woman could say anything.
Her violet eyes gleaming, Kaeli removed her hood, revealing a pair of pointy ears characteristic to elves-in her case, dark elves. "Oh yes," she cackled into her beer, "I think we'd all sleep a little easier knowing the two greatest threats to our reign are dead."
"Don't kill me," squeaked a young Phoru as a slim dark shadow hovered over it. The ghost of a smile appeared on Eve's lips. "No, I will not," she said, "but I do require information."
The Phoru nodded. "Anything, miss Nemesis!" It squeaked. "Indeed. Do you happen to know where the corrupted ruler of Elder is?" She hummed. Again, the terrified Phoru nodded. "He lives in the big castle, but he has a giant laboratory underground."
Eve raised an eyebrow, one of her few displays of emotion. "Elaborate," she pressed. "Eek! I mean, we Phoru think he's trying to replicate Nasod technology," stuttered the creature.
This was getting old. Eve drew a spear that she herself had designed and created, pointing it at the Phoru. This was true Nasod technology. "Please tell me where this laboratory is. I wish to find it."
Suddenly, she was being tossed into the air as a stranger in a suit of white armor launched her up with a giant white cannon. "Are you okay, Phoru?" Asked the stranger, a male voice flowing out of his faceguard. "Yes," squeaked the Phoru. "Please save me from Nemesis, mister Deadly Chaser!"
Ah. So this was the assassin the commoners often hired-the Deadly Chaser. Some said he had a giant cannon, some said he wielded a pair of lightning-fast pistols. Eve smirked. She could take him on, any day. Most of these "assassin battles" weren't even a challenge to her.
The intricate white cannon dropped beside her. "Well, if it isn't Nemesis," said the voice again, echoing within the visor. Eve glared at him. "I would not be saying such things if I were you, mister Deadly Chaser," she said in complete monotone, something she'd picked up over time.
"Oh? And why so?" This male assassin didn't seem surprised. Eve suddenly lashed out, having stored her console beside her and typed like crazy when he wasn't looking. The strange man found himself being assaulted by a storm of metal shards.
"Because I say so," said Eve, now standing up and fully equipped with her entire arsenal. Nike and Eris floated beside her, while a fan of her Nasod spears flowed behind her like a peacock's tail. She could almost see the assassin she was meant to face trembling at the sight of her glory.
But he didn't. Instead, the stranger simply dropped his massive cannon, letting it roll into a bush, and pulled out the two silver pistols that so many claimed he fought with. "I'm assuming you're declaring war?" He teased.
Eve didn't wait to speak. She immediately launched herself into an all-out attack, aiming for the other assassin's heart. Her spears disappeared, only to be replaced by a giant atomic blaster. "Your call," she said as she let loose the plasma bullets she'd created and loaded in. The other ran around and shot individual bullets at her, trying to find some weakness in her defenses.
When a single bullet made it through Eve's drones and hit her armor, it left Eve surprised and a little dent in her armor. "Atomic Shield," she muttered under her breath. To the man's surprise, none of his next twenty bullets went through, and ended up being absorbed into the shield that Eve had called her drones to create. "I think this has gone on long enough," she said, pulling out a giant spear that she'd attached explosives to and jumping into the air. Once she was directly above the Deadly Chaser, she tossed the Judgement spear at him as hard as she could.
The spear exploded in front of his face, sending him flying back. When the dust cleared, Eve was standing with a foot on his chest, a normal spear in hand. "Let's see who you really are," she sneered, lifting his faceguard with the spear. She almost gasped.
Lying on the ground below her was a shota. A mildly tall and darned hot shota, but nonetheless a shota. Eve could see her reflection in his blue eyes, dotted with paw print-shaped pupils. Two locks of his near-golden hair were stained a darker brown at the tips, as if they were ears.
In all, Eve couldn't kill this adorable shota. She could drain some information out of him first-that would teach him to try and play an adult's game.
"Which way, young Phoru?"
"This! This! Oh my El, officer, Nemesis-san and the Deadly Chaser are fighting each other!"
Eve immediately let her grip on the shota go. "We will meet again, Deadly Chaser," she said simply before activating a cloaking system and disappearing into the night. The other assassin put his gear back on and grabbed his cannon, and hid in a tree until the officers and the Phoru left.
Chuckling to himself, Chung pulled up the mental image he now had of Nemesis. "Well played, Nasod. It's an adult's game I'm playing, alright."
With that in mind, he jumped out of the tree, ready to find the nearest Cobo teleportation centre and get back to Hamel.
"Father!" Complained Chung as a servant combed his ever unruly hair, intending to brush it down completely. "Yes, Chung?" Smirked the king of Hamel, calmly watching his son's torture. "Do I really have to attend this ball?"
The king suddenly looked stern. "Chung," he said solemnly, "the young queen of Altera is attending this ball. Perhaps the connections between our kingdoms in the demon war will result in a marriage between the two of you. She is about your age, is she not?"
"FATHER!" Shrieked Chung, red all over. The servant behind him finished his hair, and, in retaliation, he shook it out, running out of the dressing room to hide in his own.
If Nemesis was really under the queen of Altera's rule, he did not want to meet the queen, much less marry her! It was too dangerous, and it would interfere with his double life as the indestructible Deadly Chaser of Hamel. Chung couldn't imagine a life without being the Deadly Chaser.
A herald blew a trumpet somewhere in the castle. "PRESENTING HER MAJESTY, QUEEN EVE OF ALTERA!"
Someone knocked on the door. "Your majesty, Prince Seiker," said one of the servants, "it's time to go. Your father awaits, and so does the queen of Altera."
Chung took in a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."
Eve stood as stiffly as ever as she addressed the king of Hamel calmly. "I will assist your kingdom in any way possible," she said in the same monotone she'd addressed the Deadly Chaser in. "As long as both our kingdoms can survive, I will do all in my power to help, even if it means I will need to fight in person. I have no fear of the battlefield."
That last part came out a little more naturally than she'd wanted, but the king chuckled in agreement, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I do thank you very much, Queen Eve, for assisting Hamel and all of Senace," he said. "However, now is not the time to be talking about war. Now, we enjoy life and dance, while there is still the chance to."
He clapped his hands together twice. "Music!"
Lively music, inspired by the neighbouring kingdom of Sander, began to play. "Queen Eve, may I introduce you to my son, Prince Chung Seiker," said King Seiker, pulling Chung in front of him and effectively turning the young man bright red again. Chung bowed awkwardly, not daring to look the young queen in the face. "Milady," he stuttered, not noticing the way that Eve stared at his blonde hair and the so-called "ear-tips" that were so familiar to her.
"Prince Seiker," said Eve, curtsying politely. At the king and prince's stunned expressions, she blinked innocently. "I am a guest here, and I must not take advantage of your hospitality."
Chung looked her over and nearly choked. The queen in front of him was a dead ringer for the assassin that had tried to kill him last night. She even wore the same little white ribbon flower on her shoulder. Yet the more he looked at her, the more he found different. Nemesis had differently shaped sound receivers-they were white and round, with pink lines-whereas Eve's were conical, black, and striped with golden plating. Her hair flowed straight down her back, unlike Nemesis, who-
Well, Nemesis' hair was all tangled up in those blades of hers. It was impossible to tell.
At the same time, Eve was examining Chung, seeing the same reflective blue eyes that seemed to have paw prints on them. His blonde hair was as unruly as the previous night, albeit it seemed a little more… Dressed. Eve could see that once he was out of his armor, he wasn't really as tall as she'd thought he was, but his ivory suit helped boost his height a little. He was wearing the same red-lined blue scarf that he'd worn the previous night, and Eve found no reason to believe that the two were not one and the same. It was uncanny.
Chung swallowed down any fear of the destructive assassin he had, and smiled winningly at Eve. "May I have this dance, milady?"
Eve blinked again, processing the request. He was asking her to dance? The poor boy. He must have been out of his mind.
"Yes, please," she said before she'd actually thought about what to say. Chung picked her hand up delicately, and they began to dance.
It was quite unlike any other dance she'd ever been to. The smooth music seemed to echo in the back of her mind as Chung spun her around, his hands warm and gentle. Was he really the Deadly Chaser? It didn't seem like it. Eve felt like she was floating on a cloud. Everything was… Peaceful.
Eve remembered her advisers telling that the king of Hamel might try to request a marriage between her and the prince. For a moment, she tried to imagine what life married to this blonde teen would be like. Would she have to abandon her identity as Nemesis? Would he refuse because she was Nemesis? Or would a client simply request his death, and leave her torn with guilt?
Chung watched in horror as Eve slipped out of his arms and crumpled to the ground. "Oh my El, your majesty!" He yelled, trying to clear the area to bring Eve aside. "Prince Seiker, I am alright," whispered Eve drowsily as Chung picked her up, intending to bring her to her royal suite. However, his clumsy hand brushed by her sound receptacle, and knocked the black cone off.
Underneath all along was the sound receiver that Chung attributed to Nemesis. Eve looked mortified. "Your majesty, I-" She tried to say, picking up the black cone and reattaching it underneath her hair. Chung now realized that he was holding a ticking time bomb in his arms, but he had to get her to somewhere she could rest.
"Will you be alright, Queen Eve?" He asked gently, avoiding her gaze. Eve nodded. "I will be alright. Thank you, Prince Seiker."
She made a movement that said please let go of me, and Chung, not wanting to face her wrath, set her down softly. "I am sorry if I caused you any trouble," said Eve, bowing. Chung waved it off. "It's alright. I deal with a lot more trouble than-"
Suddenly, a shadow zipped across the room, slashing part of Chung's suit. When it tried to draw its blade across Eve's chest, however, the metal screeched. "Keke… Hello, young prince of Hamel," said a voice that Chung found all too familiar.
"Kaeli," he growled. The dark elf stepped out of the shadows, her ears now fully visible. "I knew I shouldn't have taken that job from you. You tried to set me up to kill Eve," realized Chung. "Like I said, it'd be great for everyone if Nemesis was gone," recalled Kaeli, "but you know what would be better? If the Deadly Chaser and Nemesis were both gone."
Eve glared at the dark elf. "Kaeli Camdyn," she identified, "leader of the dark elves, who support the demons. Prince Seiker, I believe you have taken a job from the wrong type of client."
"The intention was for the two of you to meet in combat," snickered Kaeli, her blades flashing again, "and kill each other. Then we wouldn't have a Hamel Prince or Altera Queen to worry about."
Eve pulled up a console and summoned Eris and Nike, while Chung pulled his two Silver Shooters from nowhere. "You'll pay for this," he snarled, launching a pair of bullets at Kaeli, who flipped away with surprising grace. Eve had surrounded herself and Chung in that shield made of spinning drones again, pulling out her atomic blaster again. "PLASMA!" She yelled, firing.
Yet Kaeli seemed to escape from this attack as well. "In here!" She yelled at nothing in particular. Suddenly, a wave of dark elves seemingly dropped out of the sky, dispelling Eve's shield.
"Dammit," said Chung, realizing there was no way out. The two of them were badly outnumbered, and any movement they made would be disastrous. "Eve?"
The Nasod Queen, however, was already typing away on her console. "Chung, lock and load," she said simply, hoping he would understand her request. He did, drawing power from the Guardian Stone he wore and pulling his Destroyer from virtually thin air.
Eve had opened an entire black hole behind her, some of her weapons popping up from nowhere. "Activate battle command: LUNATIC SCUD," she hummed. "Let's go! OUTRAGE STRIKE!" Yelled Chung, firing a barrage of lock-on missiles as Eve let her entire arsenal go loose.
Everything was really bright for a few moments.
When the light cleared, the room had practically been obliterated. Thank the El lady we aren't in the ballroom, thought Chung. The dust cleared to reveal a single figure, coughing and hacking up blood on the floor- Kaeli.
Chung walked up to her calmly. "Just end it," she choked, turning to spit up another pool of dark liquid. As pristine as ever, Chung drew his Silver Shooter, pointed it at her head, and fired.
The once beautiful room was quiet.
Eve looked Chung in the eye. "I believe we work together much better than against each other," she began, a little hesitant. "So would you consider working with me?"
Chung smirked. "The Deadly Chaser and Nemesis, working together? Jeez, you're going to kill all the competition out there, aren't you?" He joked. Eve tilted her head. "I meant no-"
"It's alright," laughed Chung, holding out his hand. "From now on, we're a team."
Eve met his paw-print gaze, holding her own golden stare.
Help doesn't come unless you ask for it.
And she shook his hand. "A team."