Stefan XIII
"Why?" croaked Stefan, staring down at his brother's corpse. The blood still ran hot from his body.
Lucia dropped the sword. "You did not see how he treated me during the time you were gone. Your brother was a monster."
The bastard looked up at Lucia. "Get. Out."
The woman in white nodded, and walked away from Stefan. She left the way they had snuck in.
Guy and Lugh walked to Stefan's side. The youngest brother fell to his knees beside Heath's body. He said nothing, and only stared into the open eyes of his eldest brother.
"She had no right to do that," hissed Stefan, his anger shaking him.
Guy nodded. "No, she didn't. But she did, and we need to figure out what to do now."
"Aren't you at all affected by your own brother dying?" Stefan nearly yelled.
The Reinheart shrugged. "Heath was never kind to me. And I never cared much for him in return. So no, I don't care that he's dead."
Stefan hung his head, and said nothing.
"The Thoradians will have been preparing to attack ever since they heard Heath killed Cecilia. We must have a leader that will stop them," Guy explained, not sparing a glimpse for the dead sibling.
"You? You're the eldest?" Stefan murmured.
"No, I am not."
Stefan blinked, and looked at his half-brother.
"You, Stefan."
"I'm no Emperor," he immediately protested.
"Father had me promise to advise and stand by the Emperor or Empress. I never did that for Cecilia or Heath. Maybe that's why things went as they did." Guy sighed. "I would make a terrible Emperor. I'm a fighter, not a thinker.
"You are though, Stefan. And the people would follow you, if we make you a Reinheart in name."
Stefan shook his head. "I'm not a leader."
Guy flung his hands up. "I'm certainly not! And Lugh is far too young. You're the only option, Stefan!"
"Fuck!" screamed the bastard. He did not care if anyone heard him. "I'm not a Reinheart! I'm a Thornwood. I will not rule."
Guy crossed his arms. "Tell me who should rule instead. Give me one name."
Stefan opened his mouth. Not one name came out.
His father's words mocked him: Promise me you'll make sure this Empire stands.
The bastard's resolve snapped. "If you will have me rule this empire…I will do it on my own terms as Stefan Thornwood. Understood?"
Guy nodded. "I wouldn't try to stop you."
[Much Later]
"Wait outside," Stefan murmured to his guards. Anna and Haar saluted, and stepped out of the room.
Emperor Thornwood crossed the room, and went out onto the balcony. Looking out into the night, Lucia stood gazing out across the ocean.
"Congratulations," she said. "Emperor is a far higher title than bastard."
The green haired man frowned. "You know that's not why I did it."
"And you've heard enough to know why I killed Heath," Lucia shot back.
Stefan nodded. "We've both changed."
"Yes, we have." Lucia made no further effort to broach the topic.
The Emperor leaned against the railing of the balcony. "You are no longer the woman I once knew."
"I would say the same of you," Lucia returned.
"I suppose this is what falling out of love is like." Stefan's words were not easy to force out.
Lucia nodded. "It seems we are in agreement there."
"That should make it easier." His tone said that it wasn't.
The white clad woman patted him on the back. "I think we can salvage our friendship. But that's a talk for another night. You were just crowned, after all."
"The only thing I'm looking forward to at that party is making Guy dance with Mistine," grumbled Stefan.
Lucia laughed. "I as well. Go. You wouldn't want to be absent for too long."
Stefan nodded. As he turned to leave, he spoke one last time. "For what it's worth…I enjoyed the time we spent together."
"As did I."
The Emperor left, returning to the people that were now his duty. Lucia lingered, not leaving the balcony the entire night.
Author Notes: Wow, that's it. The end. Ta-da!
Usually, I spend a bunch of time here talking about what I don't like with the story at hand. But I'm really not in the mood to do that, as I am proud of what I did in this story. I would like to hear your thoughts in reviews, though. Please call me out on what I struggled on. Though a stray compliment here or there is never unappreciated.
Credits
-Those Who Followed,
Earliest to Latest-
Hammershlag
The Reader II
The Erudite
PixelSaber
potatoman098
CitizenOfHedwigpolis
RoyaltyJunk5
Irene T447
Traive
-Those Who Favorited,
Earliest to Latest-
Hammershlag
The Reader II
potatoman098
RoyaltyJunk5
Irene T447
Mark-Kris Robin Lancer
Fuzzie Wuzzy
-To Those Who Reviewed,
I'd Be Nothing Without You-
Acqua Sole
Hammershlag
The Erudite
Pixelsaber
potatoman098
Irene T447
Traive
Mark-Kris Robin Lancer
And a special thank you to The Erudite and Hammershlag. You two are what keep me going when I start to lose focus. I can't thank you enough.
Thank you all for helping me out on this journey. I know it was far from a conventional fic from me, as it was less than half as long as my typical long stories. Still, it was a much needed experiment for my writing.
This was posted on December 23, which is the anniversary of the day I started writing. This makes 4 years even that I've been writing. It's certainly been fun. Feel free to check out the nine other updates I'm posting today.
Now for my future plans, that's more unclear. I have a story idea, and I'm excited about it, but it's…unconventional. I need to really plan it out, and decide whether I'm really ready to write it yet. Until then, I'm going to finish up my other stories that need to be wrapped up. After those finish, I'm going to take on writing some longer oneshots with the goal of improving my writing technique. Hopefully by the time summer comes around, I'll be ready for writing the next big story. I also want to see what Mobile!FE is, and if I can use any part of it.
But, there is a project I will be working on in that time before then. It might be the first time I get legitimately published, which is extremely exciting for me. If you like my work, I'm sure you'll enjoy it should all things go well! I will keep you all posted!
Thank you all again! Until next time!