New chappie! Opal fans, watch out! XP

Kertenkele was thinking. Currently she was in the form of a hummingbird, perched outside one of the palace windows. She needed a way to get to her horrible niece and destroy her. If Kari's precious Raz uncovered her power… It would be the end of her. She had to destroy her; if she did, there would be no heir to the throne. Kari's daughter was still a fragile little mortal, just one drop of poison, a knife to the chest, something. She'd nearly succeeded earlier in destroying her; but those mermaids had dragged her to the surface before she could fully crown. And of course that little nuisance, Zalim, had to work his magic and revive her. She needed a quiet death, that was it. With no one around, no one to come running and find out, go and retrieve Zalim until it was too late.

But how to so it? Obviously she couldn't just go up to her and cut her throat out; she knew of the girl's past. She'd been using telepathy to continue giving orders to her dragons as her spirit and soul slowly became stronger over twenty years. Apparently, the little princess had been raised but at sea with a bench of mortal barbarians that were quite fond of her for whatever reason. The girl had skills; she needed a good approach.

A voice caught her attention. A sweet singing voice, far below her. Just a simple little tune, and she looked, curious and alert. There stood a little rabbit girl, skipping out into the garden and singing to herself, giggling. "Come on Lela, come on!"

Releasing her mental and physical hold on the bird, she stood in her human form on the thin decorative edge. While the bird shook its head in confusion, she pierced its wings with her two finger claws, before promptly snapping its neck and dropping the midnight snack into her mouth, warm meat and that wonderful crunch she liked filling her mouth. "Ah…" how she'd missed being a solid physical form! She'd nearly forgotten the wonderful taste of fresh warm!

"C'mon! Hurry hurry!"

There was a small rabbit kit hurrying out into the luxury garden, followed by a tiny speck of glowing light, presumably one of those annoying little sprites. "We just gotta get Raz a get better present!"

This caught her attention. At first she'd been considering them a snack; sprites were often very sweet in flavor. Lesser magic beings tended to be finger food for the Dragon Queen. But if these little ones were close to her wretched niece…

"Oh I know, I know!" chirped Lela excitedly. "Whaddaya think she'd like Opal?"

"Hm, maybe some lilies… or maybe daffodils!"

"Buttercups?"

"Yeah! And marigolds! Oh! Lilacs!"

"Don' forget the Moonshine Blossoms!"

Confused, the rabbit kit stopped. "The what?"

Kertenkele took the opportunity of mental weakness and thrust herself upon the young mind and body, overtaking it with ease. Shuddering just a moment, feeling a pained gasp escape her surprised host, she took a good mental grip on her brain, and in a second she was staring through the eyes of Opal the bunny.

"The Moonshine!" chimed a voice to her left. She found a sprite on her shoulder, probably about three or four. "The prettiest and mos' magicest flower in the whole garden!"

"Oh, ok!" the change of her voice didn't even phase the Dragon Queen anymore; she'd possessed so many bodies, in just the past few days even, she was completely used to it. Sorting through her host's memories in a millisecond, she gave a perfect little giggle. "Where are they?"

"This way!" the sprite grabbed her finger and began tugging her to the left. After crossing a peach juice river, they came to a glowing bush. 'Opal' couldn't help breathing in shock; these flowers! Only one of the most powerful ingredients for magic, just growing here in a garden, probably planted adjust for that princess to take leisurely strolls in and enjoy?! How dare Zalim?! And she thought he was annoying before? "Aren' they pretty?"

"Beautiful…" she marveled.

Lela smiled giddily, zipping forward and landing in the plush center of one of the flowers, hugging the silky silver petals. "They're perfect! Raz'll love em!"

"I'm sure she will."

…

After Raz came to completely, Zalim decided to stop pushing his luck and put her to bed. She wasn't shy with her complaints of being babied.

"Zalim, Ah'm fine." She coughed, feeling water slosh in her lungs. Great. This meant more pneumonia, she thought bitterly. "Whas that dumb mermai' go' against me anyhow?"

"Ah, darling…" he swallowed. How would she react to this news? "Queen Marissa… is dead."

She jolted a bit, stunned. "Wh- What?" she stuttered, eyes popping wide. She tried to sit up, but upon the sudden wave of nausea, she decided she would listen from her pillow. "How… though' ya'll was immortal."

"We are."

"Then how c'n she be dead?"

"Well…" he struggled to explain it. "It's… hard to put into words. We… can be killed, in a sense. Our souls are suspended from our bodies, seemingly lifeless."

"Mm-Kay…"

"Our souls and essence must gather strength overtime, so that we may rejoin spiritually with our bodies and… return to life, I suppose." She nodded numbly, and he grabbed her hand slowly. "Darling… do you understand?" she nodded again. "Did you really?"

"Not a single word."

"…I thought so." He shook his head. "Well, at any rate, Marissa is dead, and there is no telling for how long. And… ah…"

She rose a brow. "Aye?"

"Someone did it. It was no accidental death; Marissa's beheading was planned."

"By who!"

"That is the problem, dear." He admitted. "They do not know. Some are whispering your name… but the single witness claims to have seen you previously unconscious, and…"

"Yeah?" he shuddered. "Wot?" his face was grim; lips pursed, eyes low and not meeting hers. "What?" she demanded with more force, shaking his arm. "What?"

"He claimed to see…"

"Who?!"

He shuddered again. "Kertenkele."

Raz's eyes widened. "That- tha' mermaid! She mentioned her! Who is she?!"

"She was once a queen of a powerful race, and-" a knock on the door interrupted him. For once, he looked relieved for an interruption.

"Yes?"

"Its us!" called Opal's sweet voice; it relieved Raz to hear it. "We- we brought you a present."

"We'll then c'mon in!"

Giggling, the two girls bounced into the room. Zalim gave them a brief nod before disappearing with a blue flash. Opal grinned up at Raz happily, she and Lela presenting her with all the pretty flowers. Both were grinning giddily, but one for an entirely different reason altogether.

'It won't be long now.' Kertenkele smirked go herself, watching through her host's eyes as her niece went and took the bouquet. 'Won't be long at all…'

Surprise surprise! Another quick update from yours truly! Oh no! Kertenkele's got Opal in her clutches and is advancing on Raz! What will happen? Please review for me!