Story:Kings of Strife/Part 47

Part Forty-Seven
At the end, when she stopped feeling his hands on her and his member inside of her, when the sun shone through the closed windows and she shivered despite the sticky, sweaty heat, Rosaria Hyusei blamed herself for everything.

Her mother, her father, her brother. Hers, yet she had no possession of them. None of them, not anymore. They were all gone.

Her father was dead, him and her mother both. Where her mother had passed peacefully, in her bed, with a smile, her father had died a ruthless, brutal death. She had been forced to watch it, helplessly, with tears overflowing from every one of her holes. She had not been tied up, but she could not move, and she could not scream. Her father did not scream either, but he stared at her, and she could see his soul screaming. As he was being beaten and torn apart by axe and hammer both, she could not tell if he was screaming at her or at Vik, or even in mourning for their mother. He had never stopped mourning her, not even as his head was bashed open by the obsidian intruder into their lives.

After he had lost all of the blood he had to give, Rosaria’s father still stared at her, though one of his eyes had fallen out into his lap. He stared at her with eyes of void, and he no longer screamed, but Rosaria swore she could hear him screaming still, louder than ever, inside of her head. She shivered, and when the beating was over, she started to crawl towards him. Moaning as she did so, feeling her body lose its blood just as fast as her father’s corpse did, the Nneonian teenager shivered. Her hands hovered over her father’s broken corpse, but she could not bring herself to touch him or even close his eye sockets to bring him peace. She could not bear to get any of his blood on her, no, not his blood.

Vinum Hyusei had never known peace, not a day in his life.

Her beloved older brother had left in the middle of the night, despite his promise to her. She had expected that, somewhat, but the fact that reality was just as harsh and crippling as it was in her worst nightmares brought pain to her gut. Vik had known war, just like her father did, and now they were both gone. “There were four of us,” she muttered, shaking strongly, as she stared at her father’s one remaining eye, unblinking. “Two of peace and two of war. Now there is only one. Vik is gone. Father is gone. Vik is gone. Mother is gone. Father is gone. Vik is gone. Mother…”

Her father’s murderer had grabbed her by her hair then, lifting her and forcing her to stand upright. “There are no more of you,” he had whispered into her ear, his smile palpable in his words. “You’re all a family of blind, idealistic fools. I want you to beg me for forgiveness, for all of your family’s mistakes.”

“What have we done?” she whimpered. “What were our mistakes?”

He never answered her.

Days had passed, she thought, though it could have been only hours. Rosaria did not want to know how long she was ripped apart and rebuilt by the blond man, or how many times he forced himself inside of her. Blood spilled from the pain and the wounds he inflicted on her, but it was not her blood. ‘It can’t be mine,’ she thought distantly to herself, ‘I am of peace.’ On the rare occasions she opened her eyes, she would look over herself and find that she could no longer recognize her body. It scarred and bled like a battlefield, living and dying over and over again, pulsating with ruin. ‘Is this my peace?’

Face down, supine, arms spread-eagle, legs in the air. She felt immense yet miniscule, a dancer trapped beneath the world and a lake of ice. He never allowed her to be still, and always told her to be quiet, but he did not have to. She did not scream. ‘I am of peace.’

She felt blind. All she could see were her father’s eyes, and Vik’s eyepatch, covering the same eye that had fallen out of her father’s crushed skull. In between sessions, the blond man would look at her with his golden eyes that shone like flashlights, or an animal’s in the dark. They were so bright, so hypnotizing, that she felt as if she was completely under his power, as if he was robbing her of agency or sight. ‘Peace is blind. I am blind. I am peace. Now there is only one…’

Whenever he spoke to her, she felt as if she was shedding skin.

The sun shone brightly on her torn, naked flesh, and she shivered. No one had been inside of her longer, deeper, or harder than him, and she had no one else, so she began to look only at him. He wore all black, always, and he always smiled at her, but she never smiled again. He blinded her so many times that she began to see only him, and her father, and Vik’s back. ‘No more peace… No more war… No more peace… No more future…’

Days had passed inside of her mind, and years had passed inside of her body, but the sun only rose once before the man with shining eyes forced her to stand in front of him. She was naked, and bleeding, and crying, but she did not feel shame in front of him anymore. He was the only one who had seen her like this, and he was the only one left in their house now.

“I have a mission for you, my sweet nothing. But first, a question. What is left here?” he asked her, with a tight smile.

The Hyusei house had been trashed by the man in black. After Vik left, the man went on a rampage, laughing aloud as he smashed book cases, threw chairs, broke glasses, and overturned tables. He slit the throats of Marzia and Dvarn, the two maids who had served in the Hyusei mansion for as long as Rosaria had been alive. Her father’s corpse was still in the same place, staring into the peace he never knew. She had changed into an insect, and he had crushed her until she evolved.

“There is nothing here,” she said, her unruly and curly black hair dancing on her shoulders and in front of her eyes. “None of peace and none of war. Only pain.”

The man’s smile widened. “Do you remember what I said I wanted of you?”

“Yes,” she said with a light, frightened nod. “Forgive me. Forgive us. Please forgive us for our ignorance.”

“You understood!” The man stood to his full height, towering over her in height and body size, and laughed. “You all have such incredible potential. It’s truly a shame that you were all just so foolish.” He put his hands around her neck again, those huge, calloused hands.

Her body embraced his touch now, completely used to the pain it brought her, even accepting it. With his hands guiding her, she struggled to breathe and looked up to him, right into his bright eyes. The blindness rolled over her again like a tide, and a tear fell from one of her eyes, though she was not sorrowful. She was not joyful. She simply was not.

“Your wretch of a brother took his Crystal right out from beneath my nose. All the while I was searching for it, and he had it the entire time. Your mule of a father was too stupid to play along with what I planned for him, and strove to rule with his own measly ambitions. Your whore of a mother couldn’t even live long enough to be manipulated. But you… You’ll fulfill your duty, won’t you, my little nothing?”

Another tear burst from her eyes, and she started to choke outright as his grip tightened around her throat. “You are all that is left. Forgive me for my ignorance, pain… my peace…”

He smiled and leaned his face close to hers, enough for his long nose to touch her tears and smell the salt within them. “I knew I would enjoy breaking you, and you haven’t disappointed me.” With a flaring of his nostrils, he tightened his grip around her throat once more, causing Rosaria to lose all breathe and gasp for air. Her face began to lose its color. “You and your entire family have never known the truth of this world. There is no justice, no real war, no real peace… Only power. I am power. Do you understand?”

The girl’s eyes started to lose consciousness and their luster, so the Knight let go of her dark, bruised neck. She collapsed to the ground, supine, and her body frantically gasped for air. As she did so, she shook, convulsing. The Knight looked over her with a smile, and bit his lip. “I will make him understand.”

*****

“Jolynus is dead, there isn’t a replacement for Garland yet, we’ve lost our number one public enemy in a prison break, that damned Mortisian princess is still alive, she has my son, and you’re going to tell me that you still haven’t found that fucking Crystal?”

“…Yes, Lord Maebyss, you’re correct. My agent has lost his lead.”

“That much is clear, Castion, considering the Crystal you were in charge of retrieving has been directly linked to the breakout of my nation’s number one enemy. The same enemy that stole my country’s Crystal and has escaped with it once again. All of this because you couldn’t locate one man and one trinket.”

“You’re correct, Lord Maebyss. Trust me, our nation grieves for all of its mistakes…”

“I’m going to need more than your grief, Castion. That stubborn woman has my son, and every Crystal so far is unaccounted for. Have you forgotten that it was Inusia that ensured your nation’s survival and continued existence? Have you forgotten what you swore, and what you owe me?”

Castion Immanuel, the Revulcia of the young nation of Galgria, sighed and bit his lip. “No, Lord Maebyss. I will never forget the debts my nation owes. Never in my life.”

“Then you’d best act, and fast. She has my son!” The long-distance encrypted Datalog call clicked audibly to an end, and the oppressive voice of Inusian High Lord General Maebysss faded.

‘And you have mine.’ One son and four daughters, made property of Inusian High Lord General Maebyss five years ago, when Castion received the title of Revulcia after the previous revolution leader died in battle. The fledgling territory of Galgria had been in civil war with its parent county Nneoh for fifteen grueling years by then, and Castion knew that it would not be able to hold its ground for much longer. As soon as he had received the title and authority of Revulcia, Castion had made contact with Inusia, the world’s superpower, and accepted any demands they had, all in the hopes of bringing his nation peace and independence.

Castion Immanuel regretted that action every day since then. ‘I will regret it for the rest of my life.’ His son, his daughters, the pride and power of his nation, its very purpose, all of it was property of Inusia, for now and for all time. That was the price to pay for independence – his future, and the true independence of his nation. ‘We went from being Nneonian puppets to being Inusian puppets. Just a transfer of masters.’

The skinny Galgrian in a dark business suit sighed and sat down in the large chair of his expansive office. The world had been changing for months, and his life had become hell once again, ever since the onset of winter. With the outbreak of three Crystals, the destruction of Shorica and Mortis, and the rumored movements of the surviving princess of Mortis – the same one who had taken hold of Shorica’s ashes – it looked like war was brewing in the world again, despite the Revulcia’s efforts to stop it. ‘That is my real job. I cannot let peace be tarnished in this world or my nation’s soil, not again. Not ever again.’

A knock reverberated through his heavy wooden door, and Castion looked up from the untouched glass of water sitting on his desk. “Come in,” he said in a sharp command with a Traditional Nneonian accent. On his command, the door to his office opened and a chubby man in a suit walked in, holding a thick envelope nervously to his broad chest.

Castion stood, smiling at his secretary and attempting to wipe the stress off his youthful face. “Ah, Oscar. How are the talks going with the Otnaki?”

“Very good, sir. We have the approval of the People’s Empire faction to move forward with Phases 6 and 7, and our off-shore production factories have yet to be detected by Inusian inspectors. In fact, the report I left on your desk yesterday outlined how they are actually a week or two ahead of schedule.”

“Glorious,” Castion said with a tight smile. He rubbed his hands in front of him, heavy in thought. “Is my appointment with Tundrag still on for tonight?”

“Ah, no sir,” the secretary said with a frown. “Sir Tundrag actually called your office to say that he and his sons would be here by tonight, to meet in person.”

“In person?” Castion looked up and back down, biting his lip as he did so. “I know Trizus, that fool of an Elder, couldn’t have detected the Empire’s movements. Could there be Inusian spies sniffing about?” He stood in thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Either way, meeting in person will be just fine. Fit them into my schedule whenever you can, Oscar.” He turned towards the large window in his office, crossing his arms and turning his back on his secretary. An affirmative “Yes, sir,” rang through the office before Castion turned again, halting his secretary’s retreat.

“Have you heard anything from – "

“Worry not,” a new voice said from behind the door. The heavy wooden barrier opened slowly, to the surprise of Oscar, and a figure dressed completely in black stepped inside the large office with a lopsided smile and shades on his face. “I am here to report, my Revulcia.”

“…Kaiser?” Castion looked to the massive man in black standing in his doorway and frowned, his mood palpably dropping. “Leave us, Oscar. Thank you.”

“Yes, sir.” The secretary left, avoiding eye contact with the man towering above him. As the overweight secretary fled the room, the blond man ‘Kaiser’ held the door open behind him, and a thin woman in matching all black walked in lithely. Though her eyes were pointed directly to the ground, they notably shone a bright golden. Once she stood inside the office, Kaiser pulled the door closed and looked to the Revulcia with a smile.

“Where in the eight hells have you been, Kaiser? Why haven’t you made a report in days, and what have I told you about bringing your concubines to my building?!” Revulcia Castion was normally a pious, peace-loving man, but Kaiser brought out an anger the Revulcia did not normally know he had.

“There have been a few unexpected developments, and I felt they could best be made in person.” As an afterthought, the man nodded at the skinny girl beside him. “This one is more than just a whore, and she’s to serve a specific purpose in the coming weeks. Don’t worry, I’ll take complete responsibility.”

“That’s not the point! Inusia’s been breathing down my spine to find that Crystal, and now you’re here instead of out in Nneoh doing just that! Do you know that each of the three Crystal holders are alive and unaccounted for? Do you understand what kind of retribution this nation could face if we don’t do what we’re told for now?”

The smile melted off Kaiser’s face, and the blond man adjusted the thick black sunglasses on his wide face. “I do, actually. That’s what I came here to talk about.”

“Well make it quick,” Castion said as he adjusted his tie, as skinny and visually unimpressive as he was. “I have a meeting with the Tundrags of Otnak tonight, in person. I still have to arrange a meeting place.”

“I know about that. I arranged for them to come in person. In fact, that’s part of what I have to tell you, Revulcia – there is a real war coming, and unless you take advantage of it to strike at Inusia, there will be no other chance to keep your nation alive and achieve full independence.”

This gave Castion enough for pause. He looked up to black-clad Kaiser slowly, his mouth a thin, tentative line. “War? What do you mean war? Are there other factions besides us?”

“Yes, one you know of already – the forces of Vainia, the princess from Mortis. I’m sure you know she recently announced that she was alive, and that she would wage war on Inusia. No, the whole world.”

“Y…yes, of course I know. Lord Maebyss told me himself. But she’s declared war at least three times now, and with her home country devastated by that awful Inusian attack, there’s no way she has the strength or the gall to attack again. Even if she had a Crystal…”

“She has more than that. Vainia has two Crystals.”

The Revulcia was unable to speak.

Kaiser continued, and the dark-skinned girl beside him sat down quietly. “I wasn’t able to find the Crystal in Nneoh before it was stolen from me and fled the country, but my sources have told me that she means what she says this time. Vainia’s army will march on Inusia, and soon.”

“But… but she can’t win.” Castion could not help but sit in his creaking high seat, his hands folding to rest in front of his mouth. “She has to know that. Her army will be destroyed before it even gets past Morshia. She has no navy, no airships, no allies…”

“She has two Crystals,” Kaiser repeated. He took a step towards the Revulcia’s large desk, his black-gloved hands folded behind his back. “We have no idea what sort of power that gives her. Even if her army is miniscule, the power she has will be enough to give Inusia pause. And if she somehow recruits the other two Crystal holders, it is possible that she will even summon all of Inusia’s attention. Stopping her will be a priority, and it will be a bloody one.”

“So Inusia will be forced to meet her in a war, after all… It will be in Inusia, thanks be to God, but knowing their tactics…” The Revulcia’s face darkened and his hands twisted into fists.

“That’s right. They will without a doubt call upon all of the nations within the World Government – every able nation – to send in troops, so that the rebellion can be stamped out quickly.”

“Just like what they did five years ago…” The Revulcia sniffed and struggled to keep his eyes from dropping any frustrated, melancholy tears. ‘Just like what they did when they stole my son from me.’

“War is inevitable, it seems. However, my Revulcia…”

It took the lean executive a moment to grab onto that which the agent in black had implied, and when he did, his countenance darkened even further. “While Inusia is distracted and our troops are in the country… we must act. This war is the only chance we’ve got to strike at Inusia – and bring down the World Government.”

The People’s Empire was a secret faction originating in Otnak in response to the incompetence of Elder Trizus, its borderline dictator and leader of the Senate of Elders – all appointed by Inusia, to act in Inusian benefit in the name of the World Government. The People’s Empire existed in order to sever ties with Inusia, topple its empire existing in the name of a “democratic World Government”, and to bring autonomy back to the people of Otnak and its outlying territories. Four years ago, when under some of the harshest demands requested by Inusia and the oppressive World Government, Revulcia Castion had been approached by Neils Tundrag, leader of the People’s Empire faction, with an offer of alliance.

Ever since then, the two nations had been secretly plotting a plan to cut ties with the World Government and exist with true autonomy.

The cause had been close to collapsing more than a few times. The only other nation they had felt safe about recruiting was Shorica – and that was done mere weeks before Phenicks was wiped off the face of the earth, along with the representatives that were going to discuss the alliance with Castion during the World Government summit months ago. The royalty of Mortis were too fearfully loyal to Inusia to make any moves against them, the Norzavi and Honrisian representatives were too distant or compliant with the Government to be of any use, and Castion refused to work with General Garland – even if it was for peace.

Though he was forced to oppose the revolution of Vainia Sestrum of Mortis, by principle of his compliance with the World Government, Revulcia Castion found it as the answer to his years of prayer. The world was changing, and this was his chance to partake in it. This was his chance to finally bring peace and autonomy to his nation.

“Tundrag and I have much to discuss,” the Revulcia finally said, after minutes of thought. He looked up to Kaiser, his agent, and stood purposefully. “That is your report, then?”

Kaiser nodded. “Indeed. Shall I get to work informing the factories in the Broken Isles to start sending all machines, artillery, and war machines?”

“Indeed. And thank you, Kaiser. Though you have failed me in one area… you have brought me valuable information, yet again. Your sources have incredibly foresight as always.”

“Anything for peace,” the tall man in black said. He nodded with a smile and started to leave the room, motioning at the thin girl standing silently by the door to follow him. As she opened the door and Kaiser left the office, he found himself grinning uncontrollably. “You too will soon understand,” he whispered to himself, not audible for anyone but himself and his companion to hear.

...End of Part Forty-Seven.

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