Hello all!
So this is Chapter Two:) If you got through that slightly choppy first chapter then I applaud you and thank you profusely for this! You are my new favourite person lol.
As you already know, this is a dark!Mel story. It's been very interesting to explore her personality if she had actually started ruling the world with the influence of the demon. Plus exploring the relationship dynamic between Mel and Gyendal in this particular situation has been extremely fun. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Queen of Darkness
Yemite came forward and took the stone back from Mel as Gyendal stepped back and Mel closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and opening them again. Then she turned away from Gyendal and strode towards the stairs, her demon realm-faded red school robes swishing slightly as she tiredly mounted the stairs.
"Before we start anything we need to figure out some clean clothes for you and where you're going to stay. Come to think of it, I need to find out where I'm going to be living as well. I haven't actually left the cathedral once since arriving here, I've just been taking the occasional nap in my chair downstairs."
Gyendal snorted.
"My, you actually sound like you might be dedicated to ruling the world now. Whatever brought around such a transformation?"
Mel stiffened and didn't respond, simply quickened her pace as she went across to the council room where all her paperwork was set up. There was a moment of quiet before Gyendal easily caught up to her side and looked down at her with a hint of amusement.
"So something did happen. Care to share."
"No."
He blinked at her tense tone before raising a brow but mercifully dropping that line of questioning. They descended into the council room where paperwork was piled all over the massive table and scattered around where Mel had been sitting with a open inkwell and quill. She was capping the inkwell when Yemite appeared next to her.
"What next mistress?"
"Where am I going to live down here? And where will he live?"
Yemite started bouncing around her in excitement.
"Oh goodie! I get to show you to your new home! Every since you emerged with the staff and began to put the world takeover in motion we've been gathering together vampire mages and darkling mages and have removed the barrier around your new home!"
"Barrier?"
Yemite nodded.
"It was built when the prophecy first came into existence by the most powerful darklings, vampires and any other being living here in Underfall. Once construction was complete it was sealed to prevent people from trying to enter and cause damage or steal, not to be opened until the fulfiller of the prophecy and their servants and right hand had arrived. There's enough room for everyone you need around you to live in the Citadel with you."
Mel nodded and Yemite led them out of the Cathedral, Mel gaping as the exited the gated in courtyard and stood at the mouth of what had at one time been a dead end path along the cathedral fence. Now it led to foreboding black iron fence with spikes up top, acting as a divide between the main city and the massive black citadel behind the fence, the black spires that stabbed into the sky reminding Mel of the dagger she had tucked into her robe, the needle that she had gotten on the quest for the Death Orb.
"Wow."
"I must admit. That is a highly impressive castle. Too bad it'll be wasted on you." Gyendal said after a moment.
Mel was to awed by the sight in front of her to snark at the Mage next to her. Yemite started walking up to the castle, Mel and Gyendal following at a slightly slower pace as they walked down the path and approached the wide stretch of ground where the massive iron gates sat open. Mel felt almost like a bug as she passed through the gates and approached the foreboding black citadel, taking in how it seemed to absorb every bit of light that touched it, like a pit nothingness.
They entered the castle-like building and Mel walked down a glittering hall, taking in the glowing sconces on the walls as they were led to a ornate set of wooden double doors that Yemite shoved open for Mel and Gyendal.
"This is the throne room." Yemite said, her usual cheery voice quiet.
Mel stopped in the doorway, her eyes widening as she took in the massive room, obsidian and gold with blood red curtains that covered several massive windows on either side of the doorway. Directly across the room on a raised dais sat a black steel throne with gold cushions on the seat and the back, the throne radiating a oppressing aura. There was enough room for a second throne if desired, and without one there was enough room on both sides for someone to comfortably lean on the arms of the throne.
On either side of the dais there were two curving staircases that led up to a balcony above the throne as well as two doorways on either side of the balcony that led elsewhere in the castle.
"Mistress, do you want to be shown around this floor before we go up to where all the bedchambers can be found?"
Mel dragged her eyes from the throne to look over at her loyal servant.
"Let's do the tour first."
Yemite nodded and led Mel and Gyendal through a door in the far right corner away from the dais, showing them the kitchen and the dining hall along with the ballroom, the library, the terrace, and stairs that led to a lower level with a prison and interrogation chambers.
"Where will I do my work?" Mel asked as they reentered the main throne room and they were led to the closest staircase next to the throne dais.
"There's a office in your wing mistress. The guest rooms and the sitting room can be found in to the right." Yemite explained as she pointed to the staircase to their right as they stood facing the throne and the staircase above before they mounted the stairs and entered the left wing.
"Mistress, your bedchambers and bathroom are located on the other side of the door on the far left. Lord Gyendal, your quarters would be located directly across the hall on the right. The door at the very end of the hall leads to the conservatory, the other door on the left side of the hall belongs to me as your personal servant so that if you need something I can get it for you, and the other door on the right side of the hall leads to a joint study with a wall to give almost complete separation. It was designed so that you and your right hand would not need to traverse all over this castle when figuring out business."
Mel grimaced at the thought of being in such close quarters with her once enemy.
"Well let's see my new sleeping quarters." She muttered, pushing forward and opening the door to explore her new room.
Of course in fitting style of a queen the room was more luxurious then anything Mel had ever seen before in her life. Dark purple silk sheets on the bed and shadowy grey walls adorned with paintings of a waterfall from the forest nearby the city of Underfall, as well as a painting of the Darkthrop crest.
The bathroom doors were open and she could see the fixtures from where she stood, her mouth hanging open as she walked fully into the room and turned to where a set of closed doors stood, walking over and pushing them open only to see a walk in closet filled with dark clothing. Standing in the centre of the room stood a form like the ones they had in dress shops the shape of a female adorned in black clothing that almost glowed.
"What is that?"
"Those are the clothes you will wear once you are officially crowned as queen mistress."
Mel approached the clothes, running her hands down the fabric on the strange cloak-like jacket that covered a pitch black dress.
"You say that like I need to be publically coronated." Mel said quietly.
"You do mistress. Before we actual come out of Underfall to present you to your new kingdom you must be fully coronated so that all recognize you as queen down here in Underfall and over in Ged'here. That way you have a solid support system by the time you need to fully take over Aia."
Mel's fingers froze partially down the jacket/cloak and she took a slightly shuddering breath.
"How soon?"
"By the end of the week mistress. I was actually going to be talking to you about that today." Her servant chirped.
Mel nodded and her hand dropped down to her side.
"Alright. Just-...let me take care of a few things before."
"Yes mistress."
Mel was sitting in her new study, enjoying the comfy chair she was able to sit in as she worked at her desk, paperwork sitting in stacks around her on the desk and against the wall separating her work space from the workspace that would belong to Gyendal once he started assuming the responsibility of her right hand to prevent the stacks being knocked over.
As she worked she heard the door to the joint study open and soft steps approach. She didn't bother looking up and she heard the steps stop just behind her.
"Yemite said you wanted me. Tired of the paperwork already after this short time and wanting to dump it all on me?" Gyendal said in a slightly mocking tone.
Mel placed down the quill and stretched before turning to glare up at the Mage.
"You already have paperwork waiting for you on your desk, the things I need not bother doing when I have someone of less authority who can do it for me. But that's not why I called for you, Yemite told me that I will be coronated by the end of the week and when I am crowned I will need to present you as my right hand." Mel said with a sneer.
"You must be crowned as queen in a ceremony? Isn't the fact that you are the fulfillment of the prophecy enough?" Gyendal questioned idly as he leaned up against her desk and picked up a random paper off the closest stack, examining it.
"You would think. But no."
"Well, what do you need me for right now?"
Mel sighed and pushed back her chair before standing.
"I want to present you as a vampire. No need for anyone to question your strength by first presenting you as a human when you are well known as the feared Lord of Twilight. We need to figure out how to turn you without anyone knowing before you are presented to everyone."
Gyendal stood straight.
"Do you know how we can do this?"
Mel stepped around him and started for the doorway, Gyendal coming up to her side.
"I need to figure out how to return you to your vampire state in the easiest and least messy way. The sooner we get all of the side issues taken care of the sooner we can turn our attention to what's been going on on the surface of Aia. So we're going to go to the library in the Cathedral where all the books directly dealing with the prophecy and the power of the staff are stored. We'll find our answers there most likely."
They exited the castle and Gyendal flipped his hood up to hide his face from any of the beings they passed as they hurried to the cathedral and crossed the room to the couple of stairs that led up to where the library was. She stepped gingerly across where the portal to the Demon realm had been and heard Gyendal give a soft huff of amusement behind her.
"Shut up Gyendal. You weren't the one who was shoved unwillingly into something out of most sane people's nightmares."
"I never said a word."
"You didn't have to." Mel muttered as she walked right up to the area of the library that dealt with the Darkthrop Prophecy, the staff, the demon inside, and the supernatural creatures that were directly under her powerwise which would of course be the darklings. Funny enough vampires were also under that qualification.
"I saw a book talking about my abilities as welder of the staff to manipulate the beings within the vampire and the darkling races." Mel said distractedly as her fingers brushed across the spines of the old volumes in the shelf until she stopped on the correct one.
"Here we go..."
She gently flipped through the pages of the ancient book, her fingers taking unusual care as she turned through until she finally found the piece she wanted.
"I assume you found it." Gyendal's cold voice said from next to her, causing Mel to automatically flinch before she shot the Mage a nasty look.
"Yes. Let me see. ok so I can control the weaker vampires by possessing their minds for the weaker ones...I can summon them to me at will...and now we are onto talking about the undead animals which is useless. I must have missed something. Let me see...ahh! Here it is!"
Mel shifted the book before glancing over at Gyendal.
"It says here that I have to take the very essence of a existing vampire using the staff and transfer it into the human I wish to turn... but I have to have spoken or know the vampire in some way in order to be able to locate his or her essence and drain it."
She fell silent as she intently studied the passage referring to that process but found no detailed instructions other then to channel through the staff.
"I'm going to have to find out from Yemite if there are any vampires that have been causing trouble or have stirred up trouble in the past regarding the prophecy. We'll use them."
"Not even in power for a month and you're already fully relying on your servants. How impressive." Gyendal mocked.
Mel shot him a withering look.
"If I wanted a useless mouthpiece I would have clapped Lydia in Mage proof chains and hired her instead of you."
Gyendal smirked and Mel restrained the growing urge to coldclock him with her staff as they descended the stairs into the council room and Mel silently summoned her loyal servant. As they waited Mel thought for a moment about what she might be able to say to get him even just a tiny bit aggravated. It would make her feel significantly better in a rather petty way. Then it dawned on her, the most obvious and easy topic.
"So how is it going to feel walking among the vampires as a lowly human?" Mel finally asked innocently, glancing at him to see his jaw clench.
Gyendal refused to respond to her obviously baiting comment and Mel smirked, satisfied that she had gotten to him.
"You called mistress?"
"Yes. I need to know about any vampires living in Underfall, do you have any troublemakers or vampires that have spoken out against the prophecy in the past?"
Yemite cocked her head in apparent thought.
"Sort of. This vampire supports the prophecy and hasn't caused any problems here, but he was kicked out of Ged'here because he constantly spoke out against the vampire council, especially the leader of the council."
"And who is the leader?"
"I am."
Mel looked over at Gyendal in surprise.
"You lead the council?"
"I did. Obviously I will no longer hold that position." He snapped.
Mel paused before smirking slightly.
"Does he live nearby?"
Yemite nodded.
"Good. Take us to him." Mel ordered.
Yemite nodded and they were quickly led out of the cathedral and into the main city to a small house where Yemite quickly rapped on the door.
"What are you doing Mel?" Gyendal muttered to her, coming up behind her.
"You'll see." Mel murmured.
The door opened and the vampire stared out at Yemite only for his eyes to widen as he looked up to see Mel and Gyendal towering above her, creating a very imposing effect.
"C-come in your majesty. You and your companions are welcome to join me." The vampire stuttered.
Mel blinked before hiding a sneer at the weak and slightly whiny tone of the vampire in front of her. She had barely seen him for a second and she already knew that he was nothing like Te'ijal, Gyendal or even Galahad.
Without a word she and Gyendal who still wore his hood entered the room before with Yemite trailing behind them. Mel stopped a few feet away from the vampire.
"What is your name?"
"Brangor." He said shakily.
"And why are you living in Underfall instead of Ged'here?"
The vampire stood straighter as a slightly pompous expression flickered to life.
"I have been living in Ged'here for over a thousand years and yet it was a upstart little Mage that was able to worm his way into the council and have complete control. The obnoxious Mage views himself as above all and actually dared to speak of using the great prophecy for the gain of himself and vampires, he is nothing but a self intitled prince that relies on flashy tricks and charisma for power!"
Mel raised a brow before giving a snort of laughter.
"Gyendal Ravenfoot right?"
The vampire blinked.
"Yes. How did you know?"
Mel simply stepped aside, watching as Gyendal reached up and flicked the hood back the vampire gasping before staring at Gyendal in shock.
"Y-your a human?!" Then Brangor began to laugh, clutching his middle as great peals of laughter burst free.
"The great Lord of Twilight is a human! This is too good to be true! Did you bring him to me for me to deal with him?" The vampire asked, a massive grin springing to life on his face.
She smirked and held up one hand, the air shimmering before the Staff of Destiny appeared in her grasp.
"No, however your previous statement that it was too good to be true was pretty accurate. Because of me, Gyendal was made human. And now because if a oath, I will be turning him once again so he can serve as my right hand."
Brangor's face underwent a rather comical transformation as he sputtered in outrage.
"Your right hand?! W-what does this have to do with me?!"
Mel's eyes narrowed and her grip on the staff tightened.
"Everything."
In one fluid motion Mel reached up one hand to place it on Gyendal's neck directly over where two white fang scars could be seen, ignoring his flinch and hiss. Her other hand guided the staff out and the point was pressed to the vampires chest as she began to call on her new magic and gave a mighty pull on the staff.
Brangor let out a strangled shout and his body began to spasm as the magic from the staff held him motionless in the air, Mel inhaling sharply as a icy cold sensation flowed through her body and up her arm to Gyendal. He stiffened and Mel closed her eyes as she continued to pull with her magic on the vampire at the end of her staff. Her own arms began to shake and her eyes snapped open as she watched the vampires skin colour until it was a pink colour and his visible fangs retraced before vanishing altogether.
Finally the vampire, now human gave one last spasm before his eyes rolled back up into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. Mel staggered sideways and her hand fell from Gyendal's cold neck to grip the staff as she leaned against it, eyes closed as she took several breaths to try and rid her body of the sudden fatigue.
"Well, I must say that I am greatly pleased by this turn of events." A dark voice purred.
Mel's eyes snapped open at the malevolent purr that she was more then used to hearing, a smooth quality that Te'ijel had also held when she had been a vampire.
Looking up she found herself staring into the blood red orbs of Gyendal Ravenfoot as he grinned, pearly fangs glistening in the light.
"This is like a scene out of one of my nightmares." She muttered before giving her head a brisk shake and turning towards Yemite.
"Lets go. I have some last minute paperwork to finish before the coronation."
Yemite nodded and Mel felt a silent presence come up at her side, making her twitch. Gyendal was now able to be perfectly silent when moving around, that could have some seriously unforeseen downfalls.
Mel stood just back from the doorway that would lead out to the throne room, the winding staircase just outside. Her breathing was slightly accelerated and she ran her hands along the silky fabric of the overpiece of her dress, her hands brushing over the corset piece around her waist as she looked down to see the bottom hem of the underpiece of her dress that just fell to mid thigh. Anywhere else in Aia this would have been scandalously short, but it was clearly acceptable here, and it would certainly make a statement to the people she was going to rule over.
"I can do this..." Mel whispered, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath and let it out, fingers twitching for the familiar and comforting feeling of the hilt dagger that used to be strapped to her side and allowing herself to wish for the freedom that her life as a thief had once granted her.
"Nervous?"
Mel flinched and spun to see Gyendal standing a few feet away, dressed in clothes quite different then his usual red tunic and cloak. Now he was dressed in a black tunic and pants with a fitted red coat overtop, gold and black threading glittering in the light of the hall. His hair was pulled back into a braid at the base of his neck. Taking in his noble appearance Mel couldn't help but be reminded that she was way over her head in a world that she had never even truly witnessed until arriving in Thais.
Irrational anger stirred in her gut at his question, resentment that he had sensed her weakness.
"What does it matter to you?" Mel hissed and a flicker of amusement could be seen in Gyendal's scarlet red eyes.
"It matters that the way you present yourself shall have a large effect on my image and I will not be presented as someone who throws in with the weak."
Mel snarled and stepped forward, her posture challenging.
"Really? Well you should of thought of that before you swore that oath, Lord of Twilight. If I fall, your going down with me."
Gyendal smirked, seeming pleased with himself over something.
"Much better." He murmured, smoothly approaching and turning her back to face the door.
"I do believe that it is time to go."
Mel twitched again but didn't hesitate as she stepped out of the hall and started down the stairs towards where a crowd of creatures were gathered, darklings and imps and vampires and so many more underworld creatures.
Gyendal was just behind her and the two of them dismounted the stairs in silence before walking to the very front of the dais and stopping. Mel's face was blank as she scanned the audience that packed the massive main room before her eyes fixed on the older darkling in front of her that held a gilded box in his hands.
"Mel Darkthrop, you are the fulfiller of the Darkthrop Prophecy, and the new Queen of Underfall. By your hand a dark empire shall rise and right now we shall formally crown you as queen."
The darkling opened the box and Mel stared at the glittering black diamond crown that sat nestled in the crushed velvet cushions. Yemite had been extremely vague about the ceremony so other then knowing she would be crowned and that both she and Gyendal would be introduced with their new titles she knew nothing about the ceremony.
"As queen of the world, none are worthy among your lowly servants to place the crown upon your head that signifies your authority over all. The only one suitable for such a task would be the one of the highest noble position, and the one of the highest authority in the cities your rule will be centred out of. In this situation, I am pleased to preset to your right hand, Lord of Twilight Gyendal Ravenfoot, the crown to place upon your head and mark you as queen of all!"
Mel blinked and glanced sharply over at Gyendal who simply nodded to the darkling and stepped out from where he had been standing at her side, reaching down to grasp the crown before turning to her and meeting her eyes.
Mel knew the next step although she was loathe to do it. But knowing she had no other choice Mel closed her eyes and bowed her head, leaning down as she felt the cool sensation of the crown being placed on her head, nestled in her hair. Once she felt Gyendal remove his hands she straightened, watching as Gyendal stepped back and bowed to her before moving to stand at her side once again.
They then turned and mounted the stairs, Mel walking up to the throne and taking her seat before holding out a hand and summoning the staff to her. She looked out over the crowd with her staff grasped firmly in one hand, pressing the end of the staff harder against the floor then she meant to as she looked out over the beings that now would be officially known as her people. Gyendal stood next to the throne and a hint of a smirk flickered at the corners of his lips as he surveyed the room.
The darkling who had been holding the box turned to face the crowd and Mel saw Yemite scamper up to stand at the bottom of the stairs, not mounting the dais for th official ceremony.
"I now have the great honour and privialge of presenting to you the right hand to the queen, Gyendal Ravenfoot and Mel Darkthrop, Queen of the Dark Empire!"
So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.
