"Master, hang on!" Serena shouted to her King, rushing along side the stretcher Ash was carried on as he entered the emergency room go Hau Oli General.
"I'm sorry, my Queen, but you must stay outside the operating room!" The doctor warned the woman. "The man is severely injured! It'll be a miracle if he survives!"
"No..!" Serena said in panic.
As the doors to the operating room closed before her, Serena was left pacing back and forth in the hallway for hours as she and the other slave sisters who soon followed her finally arrived.
"My Queen, what's the situation?" Annabel asked Serena.
"They're trying to save Ash as we speak." Serena said with shaky breath. "Bonnie and Solana are being checked on a well, but the doctors have told me their injuries are very minor. Just some head trauma from hitting the ground headfirst."
"What happened was no mere accident." Annabel said to Serena. "After putting out the fire and searching through the debris, we found traces of a very potent bomb that was somehow smuggled into what looks to be the plane's fuel tank."
"How is such a thing even possible?!" Serena asked Annabel a question she had no answer to.
"I don't know." Annabel said, trying to remain as calm about the situation as possible. "But when it comes down to it, there's no denying that this was an assassination attempt on our beloved Master."
"I'm not gonna forgive them!" Serena growled, her fists clenched in rage as tears poured down her face. "I'm gonna destroy each and every one of those heathens!"
"I agree with you wholeheartedly, my Queen, but a calm mind is what you need for the other slave girls." Annabel reminded her superior. "They're waiting for you in the main lobby. Now that our Owner is in a position where he can't give us commands, it'll have to be you who guides our harem in these trying times."
"Me, lead the harem?!" Serena said in shock. "I've always been a submissive though! I've never been good on giving orders!"
"Nonsense!" Annabel said back to her. "Back a little while ago when some of our latest slaves were captured, you took to the stage on Providence and gave them their instruction to their new positions no problem. You've got this, my sister!"
After giving the prospect of leading her slave sisters all by herself, thinking of how her Master would feel about it, Serena paused to think. She knew how he saw how loyal she was toward her Owner. He'd know that someone's guiding hand was needed to control and use her Dominator's flock. She could not fail him now.
"Very well, I shall lead us then." Serena said. "Take me to our sex slaves. I need to address their concerns."
"Yes, my Queen!" Annabel bowed to her superior, leading her to the main lobby.
Upon entering the room, the two noticed that hospital staff had already vacated the room for their purposes only. After seeing that every single one of Ash's slaves had gathered to the hospital on emergency, Serena began to speak.
"We're all here then? Good." Serena began to say. "As most of you all know, our Lord and Master has just been badly harmed in an attempt on his life. I'm confident in my husband that he will pull through for our sakes, but until he recovers, I shall lead us in the coming times."
"What shall we do, my Queen?" Malva asked the young woman.
"I will ensure that any of our Master's plans of conquest are a guaranteed success." Serena replied. "That means more warships in our harbors, more cannons on our shorelines, and more people to serve in our Grand Army!"
"We shall intend to heavily fortify, then?" Cynthia asked.
"Not only that, but heavily militarize in general." Serena responded. "I want an army my Master can be proud of. Those heathens on the other side of the ocean threatened the man who gave us eternal pleasure and paradise. I will not let them end that for us!"
"What does that mean then?" Nessa asked her Mistress.
"As of this moment, I will decree that we are no longer mere Kings of Queens of Alola." Serena replied. "I shall be known as the Empress of Fire from now on! I shall make our new titles known to everyone, including our enemies! I will show them my fiery rage that will burn their cities and homes to the ground! And in time, the ashes of my flames shall give rise to our Emperor of Ash, a name befitting of his own name as well as his own desire of revenge!"
After hearing their Queen adorn the new title of Empress, all of the slave women in the room took a knee before her in submission.
"All hail the Empress of Flame!" They chanted. "All hail the Emperor of Ash!"
"Our first order of business is repairing the hanger and salvaging slave sister Skyla's plane from the wreckage." Serena commanded. "We will need a plane in the skies in the coming battle. Skyla, I command you to train another one of your slave sisters on how to pilot the War Thunder airship!"
"Yes, my Empress!" Skyla bowed submissively.
"We only have about a week left until storm season has ended, slaves!" Serena warned the group. "So get to it!"
"Yes, our Mistress!!" The group chanted once more, bolting out the front hospital doors to get to work quickly.
"I'm surprised at how commanding you are, my Queen." Annabel gasped. "It's kinda hot seeing this side of you..!"
"That's Empress now, slave." Serena reminded the violet haired woman, pinning her to the wall. "And don't you forget it."
"Yes, my Empress..!" Annabel moaned, blushing as Serena's face got closer to her own.
"Taking command of my slaves like this turns me on so damn much!" Serena said to her underling. "But I don't intend to use you like the piece of fuck meat that you are until I hear that our Master is ok. Until then, I want you to keep pining for your Empress."
"Yes, my Mistress..!" Annabel moaned, her miniskirt and panties getting wet in excitement.
After retaining their composure, Serena and Annabel turned to the door behind them opening, the head doctor entering the room.
"Ah, hello, my Queen." The doctor said with a bow.
"It's Empress now." Serena said to the man. "But that isn't important right now. Is my husband okay?"
"We've stabilized his condition, however he has been substantially injured." The doctor informed the duo. "As of about five minutes ago, we were able to remove the shrapnel that impacted his body, but there are still concerns toward his health."
"Like what?!" Serena asked in concern.
After hearing this request, the man pulled out an X-ray of Ash's spine.
"If I could direct you to this image we took of our King here, it shows damage from a piece of shrapnel that lodged in his back." The doctor informed them. "We don't know how it got there, since he was clearly facing the explosive head on, but we theorize that a piece of metal ricocheted off the ground and into his back. Judging by the damage, we fear that he may be paralyzed from the waist down."
"Are you saying he's not able to walk?" Serena said in worry.
"It's fine, my Mistress." Annabel told Serena. "If we bring Ash the Vigor Stone, that could repair the damage."
"I should only say it's a theory of ours, simply because of our other bad news." The doctor told the two. "The man is currently comatose at this moment. The shock to his organs was very traumatic for the body, I'm sure. As of this moment, we're watching him intensely.
Just before Serena was about to burst into tears, the doctor cheered her up.
"Don't worry, my Empress. Your husband is not ready to leave us yet, I'm sure of it." The doctor told the woman. "After all, he is our King and Champion after all! He knows just how much we all love and need him, especially when our people are preparing for war."
Turning to Annabel, Serena gave another decree.
"Having a team of our slave women sent back here to the hospital." Serena ordered her underling. "I want our own personal bodyguards watching our Master's hospital room twenty four-seven."
"Yes, my Empress!" Annabel obeyed. "I'll make ourselves a security team once when get back to base."
After leaving the hospital and taking a boat back to the Island of Providence, Annabel temporarily departed from his Mistress to assemble a team of elite security guards.
Comprised of Bea, Nessa, Korrina, Hilda, Rosa, and Elesa, each of these six women were now tasked with the order of standing guard of their Master's hospital room, with two women selected to guard the door every eight hours before moving to the next group.
After Korrina and Elesa took the first watch, departing from the island and back to the hospital, Annabel returned to Serena's company inside Ash's private manor. Upon entering the King's private quarters, Annabel saw Serena closing the hidden safe that contained their Dominator's precious Stones of Power.
"How could things go so wrong so quickly?" Serena asked Annabel, already aware of the woman's presence in the room.
"We're not out for the count yet." Annabel told her Mistress.
"How do you mean?" Serena asked the violet haired woman.
"Think about it." Annabel began to explain. "We can make our enemies believe our Master to be dead. We can use this to our advantage and allow our enemies to get arrogant."
"I see what you mean!" Serena realized. "If we bring our Master his Vigor Stone, he can heal himself and hide himself away for a perfect sneak attack with his titan of earth."
"Precisely." Annabel said, turning to leave the room. "All we need is a way for our Dominator to use his Stone's power while comatose."
Taking the Vigor Stone from the safe, Serena and Annabel once again departed to Ash's hospital room with the help of Sabrina's teleportation. Upon entering the room, Serena placed the glowing artifact atop Ash's unconscious body, its glow permeating through the room.
In the depths of his slumber, Ash heard the same voice from before, calling to him the the black abyss of oblivion.
"Oh, Chosen One." The voice called out. "You are at death's door, and yet you still cling to your life. Your creed. Even now, the allies you've broken to serve you attempt every option they can to save your life."
In his numb state, Ash could only listen to the voice in his head as blackness consumed all else, completely unable to respond.
"Fear not, for you are sorely needed in this world." The voice affirmed. "To lose your life here would undo all of my own work to see history's flow toward's this moment. I shall grant you a mended body, overflowing with life energies. Use the powers of nature itself as you please, for you will need these newfound gifts to protect your sacred land."
As the voice finished saying this, the black abyss became flush with light. Ash's projection of his Aura was standing in a mysterious realm. A familiar scenery Ash had seen in a dream before.
Rainbow colored light visible as far as Ash could see, with white lights dotting his every direction. But Ash could better comprehend what these lights were, for they were no mere lights. They were Ultra Wormholes, opening into other worlds, other dimensions.
And right there, at the center of it all, was the giant golden egg, as large and as bright as the sun. However, much like before, Ash didn't need to look away to take in its splendor. From the center of the egg was the very same crack from the dream before, a singular golden, glowing eye peeking from the fissure.
"This is my place of origin. This world between worlds is a place where my power seeps into every known conceivable thing in this vast multiverse." The voice described, its source now seeming to come from the egg. "If fate is how I've ordained it, then you shall soon have a body strong enough to reach this realm on a physical level rather than on a spiritual. Now! Claim your right as the Human God of your world, and return to me once you have obtained the last Stone of Power! You will know the way to reach me once that task has been fulfilled. Go now, and prove to your world your strength of will to see your goal through!"
Upon hearing this decree, Ash's woke from his coma, his wounds fading away.
"Master?!" Serena gasped in shock.
"You're up already?!" Annabel said in equal astonishment. "But we just got here!"
"There's no time for questions like that, my slaves." Ash said, throwing the bedsheets off his chiseled body to step out of bed. "We've got more training to do."