A/N: may or may not have cried writing this. I think it's one thing to think, "gee, I'll destroy Ilium. That will make for an interesting story line." - but then to sit down and write it...I'm a monster.
Ch. 10 – To Live
The rattle of a snare drum accompanied Helena's footfalls as step by weary step she made her way up a set of wet, stone stairs. Salt spray stung her face, though not from the ocean nor from tears. It came from her own execution fountain.
It had been repaired since the Straw Hats had been there last. Beautiful and pristine it stood, despite the current destruction in the rest of the city. There, surrounded by statues of her own, silent gods, Helena resigned herself to the end.
The fire hadn't consumed all of the city, which remained ablaze, nor had it yet reached the palace or the execution plaza in front of it. There were more survivors than Helena had dared to hope. Covered in blood and soot, wearing weary, devastated expressions, they had been rounded up to watch the World Government's triumph. They wailed when they saw her take her place upon a wooden platform, suspended above a large, salt water tank.
"Sun Queen!"
"Daughter of Zeus!"
They cried, extending hands that would never reach her.
Akainu had claimed the capitol as conquered though the night, nor the battle, had yet come to a conclusion. Some of her people still fought on outside the ruined walls, too stubborn to accept defeat. They didn't stop, though all of their leaders, including Lieutenant General Achilles, stood awaiting execution following their king and queen.
Helena met his tearful gaze. He'd always been an emotional man, though a skilled fighter, and loyal through and through. Beside him stood Menelaus and her other lieutenants, including Andromache and the nursemaid unit, all likewise bound. They had been captured not an hour prior, trying to rescue Kuina (and subsequently Helena and Cygnus) from the palace rooftop.
Cipher Pol agents, now all wearing wooden masks to hide their identities, guarded her steps. She thought it insulting, but not entirely unfitting, that they'd chosen traditional masks from her own ruined country. Calypso even dared to wear Zeus' face. – She felt the gods betrayal as much or more than Cipher Pol's, why not have Zeus lord over her like he always had?
Still trussed up for the party like herself, her father limped his way to another platform beside her. Pale from loss of blood, though his wound had received basic first aid, he barely managed to hold himself upright, and Helena couldn't help but remember his previous frailty. He turned his nose up to help from a marine, however, determined to face the end with dignity.
The King and Queen still wore their crowns, and Helena her chains of office. Cipher Pol was even so confident in their defeat, they'd left their swords strapped to them in mockery. They'd bound their hands in front now; switching their bonds out with sea prism handcuffs like the kind Ilium would use to execute pirates.
Kuina had fallen asleep cradled in the arms of a marine. Though also dressed up in her crown and finery, the princess had been cut free from her ribbon cocoon. Helena found it comforting to discover that the little green fox toy her father had given her had been bound inside the ribbon with her. She clutched it now, tear-stained cheeks pressed to it.
Looking uncomfortable with his duty, the marine walked ceremoniously up to the platform and placed the child in Helena's arms. The hand off couldn't exactly happen smoothly, what with Helena's arms bound, and it jostled Kuina awake.
"Mama," Kuina whimpered in the fountain's spray. "I cold."
"I know, Kuina Bee. We'll go home soon."
Kuina nuzzled into her. "Want Papa," she said.
"Me too," Helena murmured.
"Queen Helena du Cygnus…" Fleet Admiral Sakasuki started.
"It's de Zoro," Helena cut him off. She stared proudly down her nose at the man who had caused her family so much grief. She owed him no respect, and would show him none. "If you're going to murder me like you murdered my mother, get it right."
"Queen Helena de Zoro," the man corrected, an amused smile on his lined face. Comfortable in his triumph, he didn't argue. "King Cygnus de Leda, Princess Kuina du Helena et Zoro. For crimes of open rebellion against the World Government, and for posing a danger to the world at large, you who remain of the line of Prometheus have been sentenced to drown until dead. How do you plead?"
"Guilty," Helena and Cygnus replied solidly at once.
The people wailed in protest, but fell silent at a fiery glance from Akainu. They had all seen this man incinerate anyone in his path after all.
"As it is rumored that one of you will become immortal at the death of the other two, the last to drown will live out his or her deathless days in Impel Down," the Fleet Admiral went on. "Have you any final requests."
Cygnus looked the man in the eye. "Let my people live freely under your government's rule," he proclaimed, voice strong despite his pallor.
Akainu said nothing affirming this. He turned to Helena. "And you?" he asked.
She turned her gaze to Monte Bags. He'd foregone a mask, and proudly donned the white suit of a Cipher Pol chief. - Someone who rarely performed field work and nearing his own retirement had no reason to keep his face hidden.
"Bags," Helena growled. The name ripped out of her before she calmed her anger to go on with her request: "You know our customs. Many have lost their lives tonight. Please ensure that they receive proper burial so that their souls do not wander."
She saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes. Removing the bubble pipe from his mouth, he gave a small nod. "Like it's my job," he assured her, sounding perfectly sincere for once.
"Nothing will remain of your culture after tonight," Akainu put in unhelpfully. "It inspires rebellion and is a threat to the rest of the world's peace. As we speak, your annuls are being set aflame within the palace." Helena could see smoke curling above her home. She had thought it just a residual of the flames within the city, but now she knew the palace too would burn. "The temples of your gods will be thrown down. – your sacred groves turned to ash."
Coincidentally as he said it, she saw flames start up within the Grove of Kings. These had not come from the battle. They had been set intentionally by the marines, just like the ones in her ancestral home.
Her son's grave…
She may have deserved to die for her negligence. The gods deserved to have their temples thrown down for their pettiness. But her son, her mother, the kings and queens who had ruled before her, the warriors who had died in defense of their home did not deserve such dishonor.
Helena had silenced her fears, had bit back as much emotion as she could to put on a strong face for her people. But something about this final cruelty forced a few tears out; tears that she couldn't wipe away.
Her daughter's hands reached up to her cheeks.
"It ok, mama," Kuina reassured her. "We go home soon."
Akainu lifted a hand into the air. "Let justice be served," he said, letting it fall.
Masked cipher pol agents pulled the levers with a creak that resonated over the rush of the fountain's waters. The wooden platform disappeared beneath the feet of the doomed royal family. Her people screamed, but all went silent for Helena as she hit the frigid water.
She'd only had half a second to react, but thankfully she'd always had excellent reflexes. Dropping Kuina just as they fell, she managed to get a grip over the girl's mouth and nose, holding them closed with bound and battleworn hands.
The queen's eyes flew open against the water's sting. She gazed through the bluish haze, across to the other tank, where she met her father's eyes.
Not once had he chided her in all of their captivity. Not once in all of this, when she most deserved it, had he criticized any of the poor choices she had made to bring them here. He should hate her, but she saw nothing but heartbreaking love in those sharp, intelligent eyes. And she knew they were united in this final decision at least.
They nodded toward one another, and against all natural instinct, both forced a breath.
As the water rushed into her lungs, Helena had an inexplicable amount of time to remember. She remembered the fluffy, grey owl that had brought her her first wooden sword as a child. – remembered challenging Mihawk at the age of ten. – remembered bowing before a statue of Athena within her temple at fifteen. She remembered every word of her vow, and every implication to follow.
She remembered the long hours of training, her year of military service under General Hector. She remembered Troy, her second big defeat against the world's greatest swordsman, the loss of her child, her war with the gods. She remembered taking on her peoples' pain. Funny that the woman who had once healed her nation had now brought upon it its destruction.
Through it all, she remembered Zoro. –the man who had lit a fire in her to try to make something of her country that it could never become. Yet she still believed in him above any other. It was her trust in him that allowed her to take that deadly breath, knowing that though in so doing she and her father condemned Kuina to live, it wouldn't be in the cruel confines of Impel Down. Roronoa Zoro and his captain surely would not stand for it.
Live, Helena thought to Kuina. Your father will find you soon. You'll get to go out to sea with him, just like you wanted.
The world started to fade. Helena heard the voice of her own mother, calling her to rest. She could feel the pomegranate blossom forming on her hand. Golden light flashed beneath her eyelids, and she managed to open them just long enough for a glimpse of Kuina as the struggling child momentarily lit up like an angel in confirmation of her chosen immortality. Helena hadn't known something like that would happen, but it brought her immense comfort to see some kind of outward manifestation.
Hades stood before her within the tank. He reached out both hands to her, placing another pomegranate blossom against her stomach. A token for her lost Telemachus, perhaps? This too brought her comfort. Of all the gods, Hades now appeared the most merciful. He alone had not abandoned the royal family in their final hour.
Her thoughts quieted. Her vision turned black.
She didn't see, or hear, or otherwise sense the sudden enormous tree root that smashed through her tank and all the tanks beside her, sending a wave of ocean water into the unsuspecting crowd. She didn't see the six agents of Cipher Pol 4 momentarily trapped, hand and foot, in a tangle of tree branches. And she didn't see Akainu, though powerful, super human, and unyielding, somehow caught completely by surprise as water from the broken fountain enveloped him. A cocoon of branches formed around him, trapping him within a large well of the sea water and leaving him paralyzed even as the rest of the water drained downhill from the plaza.
When she finally coughed the water from her lungs, she did see General Hector standing over her in full tree mode, eyes wild with sylvan rage as his spear wreaked havoc on the marines in the plaza. Andromache leaned over her, apparently prepared to pump her chest some more. Astayanax likewise saw to her father, who had just taken a great gasp of air.
Another nursemaid, a priestess by the name of Epiphany, cradled the wailing Kuina against her. The rest of the unit soon surrounded her, cooing over her as they tried to calm her. One, an Amazonian spear-bearer named Camilla, removed her cape and wrapped the girl in it for warmth.
"Bring her to me," Helena choked. The unit complied, and Helena noticed for the first time that all their shackles had been removed, turned to pebbles by a girl from the captured crowd with stone coated hands.
She didn't have time to wonder how Raqueline du Agamemnon still lived. Helena simply hugged her daughter to her with tears of relief in her eyes.
"Mama, why you hurt my nose!" Kuina demanded. "Want Papa, you meanie."
Helena didn't answer.
"We don't have much time, your Majesty," Andromache informed her, taking a knife at last to Helena's twice-cursed sleeves. "What are your orders?"
Helena embraced her daughter the more tightly now that her arms had their full range back, then handed her over to the Lieutenant of the Nursemaid unit. "Code Black," she said, voice strong, commanding and steady despite an aching heart. "You know what you need to do."
Andromache nodded. In a matter of seconds, she, Astayanax, and the rest of the Nursemaid Unit had disappeared with Kuina in tow. Helena commanded her aching heart to be still. – this was quite probably the last she would see of her daughter, but it was for everyone's own good.
She turned to Hector, who had just cleared the plaza of marines and civilians alike, using a circular wall of wooden limbs to push everyone away from Akainu's woven imprisonment.
It had started to leak sea water. It wouldn't hold him for long.
However, in gathering Helena's official for execution, Akainu had set things up perfectly for her to hold a quick council of war.
"General, report," she barked.
"Robertus de Gloriadne has used his Ink Alpha power to teleport as many of the new recruits and Spathen Pikemen into the city," he replied from where he still towered in tree mode above her. "Most of them are fighting the malacoda now. He is the reason I am here."
"He's alive?" Helena sputtered. "Can he teleport the civilians out of here?"
Hector's great wooden head creaked as he shook it. "He is heavily injured, and the power is draining him quickly. I also have my doubts he'll be able to bring any more of our reserves here. It's quite a distance."
"What other options do we have? Do any of our Sea Prism units still stand?"
Achilles came to her side. "No, my queen," he replied, pounding a fist to his chest in salute. "Our heaviest hitting sea prism weapons have been sabotaged. Many of the armor and spears were also switched out for normal steel and iron."
"Diddy," Helena growled, but then went on. "Every soldier worth his salt should still have his own sea stone dagger at least."
"Aye, my queen," Achilles replied. "Those still work, but getting close enough to use them against a Shichibukai is a real trick. And then there's Mihawk…"
"Let me handle him," Helena said, mouth set in a grim line. She wasn't sure she was ready for a rematch, but it looked like one was coming whether she wanted it or not.
"With all due respect, Majesty," Hector cut in, "You've lost to him before."
Achilles, Raqueline, and the Lieutenants gasped. "So the rumor is true. It was Mihawk who gave you that scar," Raqueline observed.
Helena took a deep breath, then looked Hector in the eye. "I never said I needed to win this time, General," she said calmly.
"But Majesty, what of the God Powers?" Hector asked. "Surely your vendetta against the gods isn't worth…"
Cygnus sighed. "The gods have abandoned us, General," he put in, still pale and trembling from cold and blood loss. Helena had not forgotten his presence once through all of this, but her worry for her city took precedence, at least in this short moment they had to plan. "The Sybil is dead. We are completely outgunned without the gods and our sea prism."
"Are you suggesting we surrender?" Hector demanded.
"Not surrender," Helena corrected him, then turned her gaze to the rest of her military leaders. "Escape. We need a chance to regroup. Your orders are to get the civilians out and then flee."
Everyone but her father stared at her in surprise. She didn't have time to go on. "General, I need you to get my father to safety. He, Kuina, and I need to split up."
Before Hector could answer, they heard a loud hissing noise. Akainu's woven prison had started to steam.
"Hector," Helena said, looking him in the eye. "I wish to address my people one final time."
"Final?"
"The captain goes down with the ship, General," she told them all, getting to her feet. She drew her seastone dagger, cutting a slit into each side of her dress so she finally could take a proper stance. She kicked off her high heeled shoes and drew Peleus. "It's my fault we're in this mess. But don't worry. I prefer this by far to drowning like a criminal. I'll make sure they bleed for what they've done to my kingdom."
"But Majesty…"
"Now, General," Helena insisted. "There isn't time."
Hector bit back a protest. Taking his great woven spear, he disengaged it from the forest of destruction around them. Helena knew he had crafted the great weapon himself, twisting different types of tree branches into it so that he had access to their various properties.
One branch he had included in particular, not for its strength or power, but for its symbolism. The laurel tree had always represented Ilium's royalty.
But the Pomegranate had always represented noble death.
Laurel and Pomegranate wrapped around Helena, pushing her up above the sylvan walls surrounding the circular execution square. Blossoms, lavender and crimson flew through the air, swirling with the embers of the burning city as the flames drew closer to the plaza from all sides.
Well, Hector always had had a nice flare for the dramatic.
Standing atop her woven, wooden platform, she could again see the crowd who had come to see her execution. They stood pressed against the outer walls of Hector's small forest, fighting the marines in their midst. The fighting stopped when they saw her, and a hush washed over all in time for her to speak.
"My people!" Helena cried. Her ruined golden dress, her crown, her chains caught the light of the conflagration, making her glow almost like she had once done when she'd donned Apollo's mask. Only this time she lacked the power to save them:
"Heed the words of your Queen!" she cried, "Do not expect the gods to save us. All but Death has abandoned the royal family now. The city has fallen, but Ilium will not, nor will she ever, so long as you draw breath! Ilium is not her walls, nor her palace. Ilium is her people! Forget her annals and groves, her history survives through you! Heed my last command! You are to flee. Flee to the countryside, to our neighboring islands, to the forest. Go wherever you need to go to survive, but survive."
She raised Peleus above her head, every muscle of her body tense with emotion. The same intensity found its way out of her mouth as she cried:
"I command you to live!"
The forest beneath her burst into flames, punctuating her command with instant fear. A moment later, the Fleet Admiral stood at her level, balanced atop a burning hill of lava.
"A fitting final speech, Your Majesty," he snarled. "I command you to die!"