Writer's Notes: I suppose this chapter marks of the end of the supporting character cast…I can't think of anyone else who would have deep feelings for Devourlord Revya...aside from hatred. Thorndyke, Galahad, Penn, Juno, Tricia, Kanan, Grunzford, Levin, Odie, Pinot, Agrippa, Cuthbert, Euphoria, Endorph, Layna…they're all too insane to write something or just…were too minor to have any feelings of love or friendship toward the Devourlord. Maybe Kanan, but…she's (or he?) to…I dunno, just hard to write. :'D

The again I do have two more characters; now I just need to figure out the order of which chapter comes first…ah well.

Anyway, onwards.

I feel like the characters get more OOC as I write. :C

Diness

Being a queen is hard.

It's even harder when you don't have many people to rely on. I mean, when I was twelve, I relied on Dio for everything. He was kind of like a father. No, not even that...he was the lifeline, and I was constantly drowning. If he left, it was disastrous. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to live if Dio wasn't there telling me how I should do something.

Then there was the day the Devourlord came to Orviska. I started running until I tripped on my gown. A skinny, young girl with red hair and eyes looked down at me, and I angrily looked back up at her, demanding answers.

"Nnng…Perfect timing, servant! Where'd Dio go? I was told the Master of Death was attacking, so I was trying to escape. But… Gestahl wouldn't move anymore. Where should I escape to?"

I didn't know she would be the Master of Death's container. I never kept track of my servants.

But she questioned me, and I told her exactly who I was.

"Might you be…the Queen?"

"That's right. Queen Diness of Orviska! Didn't you recognize me? Wait… you're not a servant?"

"Hehe, nope. Master of Death, at your service!" It was a male voice this time, coming from the girl's body. I refused to believe it, so I questioned her.

"What? A skinny little thing like you?"

"Yeah, that's right."

It was her own voice this time. But at her answer, I panicked, calling for Dio, questioning the world on what I should do. She decided to take me with her, as a hostage. The Death God was pleased. I resisted as much as I could, but honestly, what could I do? I lost my will quickly. And, stupidly, I told them most of what I knew about Gestahl when they found him knocked out.

They easily manipulated him.

Later, the girl…took a nap. And somehow, Gig…took her over momentarily.

They next time she opened her eyes, Orviska was completely gone.

I could do nothing but cry. And I did nothing but cry. The redhead complained about how noisy it was, and I was afraid that she was going to kill me. So I shut up immediately but continued to whimper more quietly.

Blood. So much blood. When they were gone for battle and I was left alone in the castle (except for the servants she had dominated) I allowed myself to sob openly. She would return with everyone else—Lobo, Shauna, Galahad, Thorndyke, Kanan, Tricia—covered in blood. I only learned their real names later, while I was in the castle, I only identified them by hair color or personality. It was terrifying, especially seeing Thorndyke, previously so honorable, so insane and bloodlusting. The Devourlord was always scary. She didn't see much importance in me, and I was so very glad.

Then there was the day she brought back Dio. She had dominated him. I couldn't have been more happy.

"! Dio! Dio! You've come to rescue me! Oh, I knew you wouldn't let me down!"

Diness, you silly girl, if he was dominated and brought back to the castle, didn't that mean he was caught? But I was younger then, too dependent on anyone else that wasn't me. Of course, I was shattered at his response.

"Your Majesty…I'm deeply sorry. But current circumstances prevent me from liberating you right at this moment…"

"N-no! You have to help! I've been waiting… you were my only hope! You have to rescue me! I have faith in you…" I could feel the walls of hope crumbling down around me, it was like I was drowning even though the hand of life was right in front of me.

"That I cannot help you wounds me deeply. I don't blame you if you consider me a failure."

I was crying again. How could this have happened? I'd been waiting for Dio to save me, but even though he was here now, he was unable to do anything. While Dio walked away, Lobo stepped in front of me, taking a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke in my face. I coughed and spluttered as he spoke with his somewhat raspy voice from all the cigarettes he smoked.

"Faith, huh? That takes me back. There was a time when I actually knew what faith felt like. But you should've abandoned that emotion long ago, child queen. If you never learn anything again, remember that humans always betray."

Betray. It was like a new word I'd never heard before.

Of course I'd heard it before. But it was like the word 'flabbergasted'. You knew what it meant, but you never really used it in regular conversation.

"Be…tray?"

The gears in my mind were turning. Putting themselves into place.

The other red-haired woman stepped into place besides Lobo. The gypsy, the one who played the mother role in the castle. She bent town, towering over me since I was so short.

"Hey, Queenie." She began in that voice of hers, sort of cold, sort of husky. "You really shouldn't wait around for others to save you. Like they say, a fire never puts itself out. Women like us have to take control of our own lives. That's how I survived as long as I did. But scared little girls like you, who just hide in the corner and cry… I can't stand cowards like that."

Somewhat amazed at her short life story, all I said was "A-Ah…"

Then, the crazy Thorndyke walked past, laughing.

"Be strong, girl! The only person you can ever rely on is yourself! A weak spirit will eventually reveal a flaw and lead to total failure! Haha!"

I watched as his figure continued farther down the corridor. The castle was so changed I couldn't figure out what the original paths and rooms were anymore.

"Weak…spirit?" I whispered.

There was a pause as they let me contemplate.

"Then… what should I do?"

Everyone else cleared away as the most intimidating figure stepped before me. The Devourlord herself. She looked down at me, red eyes boring into mine. I stared back, waiting for her words, transfixed by her eyes. All was deadly silent until she spoke with that voice; cold, cool, slightly sarcastic, confident, with a hint of deceiving, innocent girlishness.

"Do whatever you want."

I couldn't define the emotion in her voice. It was almost tender, as if she was trying to comfort a small, crying girl. Which I was. But this was the Devourlord. There was a smirk in her voice, a sort of…evil confidence…

But with her words, everything seemed to click into place, everything made sense, I felt…free. It was a revelation, a light in the dark world, even though it was she who had made everything dark in the first place.

Of course I cried. I sank to my knees and cried at her feet, while she watched. I don't know what sort of expression she had on. I was too busy sobbing.

"B-But…when they told me I had to be Queen…I didn't want to. They said I couldn't say no…cuz there wasn't anyone else to do it! Th-they just forced me… and I didn't wanna… but I didn't know what to do!"

The Devourlord might have looked at the gypsy to do something. She might have felt annoyed by my tears. So Shauna spoke again.

"Hmph. Enough with the self-pity. What good will your tears bring?"

I hiccupped a few times, swiping at the water running from by eyes. I looked up at the two women (Lobo had left, and Gig was silent) and hiccupped some more.

"I-is it scary? I mean, will it be scary? I don't like scary?" My voice was so thin, watery, and weak compared to the two before me.

The Devourlord laughed, and the other redhead rolled her eyes, turning towards the way she came.

"Well, independence never scared me. But for you? Who knows. But the rest is up to you. I'm going back to check on Trish, who actually needs someone to take care of her."

She left me alone with the Devourlord, who was still leaning against the wall.

"So, Queenie?" I jumped at the sarcastic, deep male voice of Gig. "Watcha gonna do?"

"I…I don't know…" I whispered, looking up at her (them?).

She smiled, something that looked pleasant on the outside but would be better defined as an evil smirk.

"Listen, child queen. You can't do anything here. This world is mine. But hey. I'll let you have free reign. This used to be yours afterall. Practice. There's still some maggots around you can play with. I don't need them. Start with Dio. Like I said. Do whatever you want. Just don't mess with me or get in my way, and you'll live."

She walked away without another glance back.

She spoke with confidence. With the air of something like royalty…with the air of a Devourlord.

It wasn't just her strength people feared or admired.

It was her overall being.

"Yes, yes, I will approve of the proposed law…Zazana? No! Do they think me an infant? This is absurd; this is obviously trying to scam us of our supplies! No, tell them we refuse the trade unless they offer something more reasonable and less insulting!"

The Queen sat at her desk, which was covered with papers, stamps, inks, and pens. She was a bit older now; taller, more developed, more mature, and more dignified. She hadn't shed a single tear or thrown a single tantrum since she was put into position of Queen again, surprising Dio and everyone else in the country.

They thought she had finally woken up and decided what was important after the world was left in ruins by the Devourlord. But she would never tell them the truth, although Dio probably had figured it out seeing as he was a prisoner for a while as well.

She didn't change by her own will or whatever, it was that red-haired monster that changed her, ironically, in a good way. It wasn't until a year or so after she was sealed away that Diness realized this. She was still a wimp when Dio had saved her from the castle, and didn't think once about the Devourlord or any of the lessons she had learned in the castle, but once she was forced to be Queen again, memories began to return to her.

The Devourlord's words echoed in her mind. "Do whatever you want."

Diness took the advice of 'practice', going around and trying to order people around, but she was still rather timid and failed continuously. Eventually, when she Devourlord discovered this, she took an hour or so of her free time to train the weak-hearted girl. Maybe it was because the strong woman couldn't stand seeing such a weak Queen who was supposed to hold power look so pathetic. Plus, she was the ruler here and a little girl couldn't do anything if she did manage to be Queenly, anyway. Full confidence.

But at that time, Diness was still scared. She played along so she wouldn't have to spend time alone with the redhaired monster again, ordering the cooks to prepare something for her when she had already eaten an hour ago, ordering someone to fetch her some clothing, etc etc. Of course, she dropped the act when she was saved. But she also discovered in the year after the sealing that she hadn't been playing, she had been serious and confident about giving her demands.

Although she had let herself be bullied into being the Queen again, she somewhat accepted it. She agreed that the world needed help and decided she would aid in giving it. Especially Orviska, her home; it had been completely and utterly changed since the Devourlord decided to make her empire here. She wanted it back. And she would have to use her power as a Queen to change the place she loved.

Change.

Of course, she started out rather shakily, she was stressed beyond her wits and she cried quite a few times when she was alone to keep up a strong front. She rejected Dio, telling him that she would learn to do this by herself. He complied.

Two years after the Devourlord's sealing, small changes began to happen. And then, as more time passed, bigger ones, until the land of Orviska began to look more like its previous state. The citizens were amazed that the previous crybaby could do such a thing; those who tried to take advantage of her were sorely disappointed for she could see through their scams.

Taking a short break from her work, Diness looked around the throne room, which still held some of the Devourlord's changes. She kept them there on purpose; others thought it was to remind her of the Devourlord's monstrosities and to motivate her, but no, it was to remind Diness of everything the Devourlord taught her.

The Devourlord was, in essence, her idol and her teacher.

No one knew that the way Diness ruled now would have been how the Devourlord ruled had the world not betrayed her to turn her into what everyone called a monstrosity by their own hands.