[Center][h1][color=crimson]A Brighter Future[/color][/h1][/center] [hr] Nallan burned. Embers rose into the night like the souls of the dead. Brother fought brother in streets that ran thick with blood while the women and children wept for the lost, cowering behind walls. The age of expansion had come to a violent end and at the center of it all, was one frozen soul. Chains dangled loosely from her wrists, ankles and neck. Now broken from the ground that once held her as she strode through the corpse littered halls of Nalla's palace. Vampire had fought vampire here in a grisly display of strength. That same strength, her own power, now coursed through her veins, burning the toxin away that had dulled her senses and muddied her head for days. Many of the faces she passed were familiar to her and it only served to anger her more. When she rounded the final corridor on the path to the throne room, she came face to face with the living. They stood in front of the door, dozens of Eresa's fighters. And the Zuanwan beauty stood at the center, tall and proud as ever. She had truly grown into a magnificent person. From lowly servant to leader of a rebellion and Keeah had watched it all. When they saw her, many gave hushed whispers and vile glances but it was Eresa who rushed to her, face lighting up as they caught each other's eyes. Selmi followed after her mistress and Eresa embraced her with a hushed breath. Keeah slowly lifted her arms and returned it. "I didn't think you would come." Eresa said, pulling back and moving the hair out of Keeah's face. "I couldn't let you go alone… She could kill you Eresa, all of you. I'll fight her… Alone." Keeah whispered, voice still raw and hoarse. Eresa frowned, shaking her head. " You're in no condition Keeah! Besides this is my fight. For a brighter future for us all. I have to face her for what she's done. For what she's done to us." Eresa said with brimming anger to her voice. Keeah took her hand and placed a few kisses on it. "Eresa…” she murmured, before freezing Eresa’s legs and arms in place. There came a look of surprise on the shorter woman’s face, then anger. Keeah could not bare to see it so she instead turned to the other rebels as they came at her and froze them in place as well, one by one. Eresa pleaded with her from behind, but Keeah did not look back. They would break the ice in time but it would be enough to see this job done once and for all. So Keeah made her way to the throne doors and battered them open and sealed the ay behind her. [hr] “So you’ve come to kill me at last, Keeah? I should have known…” Nalla whispered, leaning forward on her throne, hands propping her chin up as she surveyed her would be killer. The girl looked atrocious but she had put her through a lot, hadn’t she? She watched as Keeah looked at the emptiness around them before her cold gaze fell upon her. She shivered. “I must admit,” Nalla began again, “I did not expect you to be capable of walking, nonetheless of using your powers. I thought myself so careful, so… Smart. I see I was wrong, in the end. About you… About everything.” She sat back and sighed as Keeah stopped at the end of the stairs. Nalla could still hear her city burning and her people screaming but she had been deceived, in the end… “This ends now… Nalla. No more lies, no more killings, no more.” Keeah spat at her. Nala blinked, remembering the poor broken thing that had arrived at her doorstep over three decades ago. How much she had grown. “It’s already ended, Keeah. My people betrayed me. You betrayed me. Even… She… Betrayed me... “ It still stung. There was a reason it all came crashing down. She clutched at the dim necklace that used to bring her power. She ripped it off and threw it down the steps. It shattered like her heart. “You and Eresa have made sure that I and my reign are over. Poisoned as I have poisoned. Hopefully she can control them. Slave turned ruler… Stories will be written about her… How she toppled a tyrant queen. You and I will be forgotten of course. For in the end, my dear Keeah, we were always just tools for others.” “Speak for yourself Nalla! I stopped being a tool the moment you turned me into a vampire. I became my own being.” Keeah’s anger was evident in her voice but she stood with conviction. “You make it sound like you didn’t want to be one. When in fact you wanted to fit in. Wanting is a drug, Keeah. The most dangerous one of all. You asked me, remember?” Nalla asked. Keeah lurched forward. “That was before I knew about your mind tricks! How you became an object of desire in our heads, how we had to always be around you! How we had to get our fix from those words! You manipulated me! You used me and I hate you for it!” Nalla tilted her head and leaned forward again, raising an eyebrow as her fists became clenched. “Yes, I can see that hatred. You used it to escape and even know you use it to fuel you. I suppose this is what I deserve for playing God all these years. All I wanted to do was create beauty but instead I nurtured monsters that resent me.” A laugh escaped her lips as her brow furrowed. “ME!” She yelled, “Who gave you EVERYTHING!” She stood up, grabbing her blade in hand. “I COULD HAVE MADE YOU A SLAVE! I COULD HAVE MADE YOU MY WHORE! BUT I GAVE YOU ALL I COULD! AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?” She shouted down at Keeah, who’s face hardened. “WITHOUT ME YOU ARE NOTHING KEEAH! NONE OF YOU ARE! I AM QUEEN! AND IF I AM TO DIE TODAY THEN I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!” From her crown came the shadowy hands of a thousand souls, and they went for Keeah, who erupted a wall of ice and sent it hurtling at her. Nalla cursed and jumped out of the way with speed, landing down on the floor beside the tall throne. Her hands still fought Keeah, each one attempting to grab the girl and they were falling in droves as Keeah cut them down. Nalla grimaced and charged her. She was upon the girl of ice in an instant and slammed her blade into a wall of ice, shattering it and nicking Keeah in her left arm. The girl’s eyes widened and she jumped back, sending an icicle at Nalla, who sliced it down the middle. The two spikes collided into the ceiling like thunder, making part of the roof collapse. Nalla dodged but slipped on a patch of ice and slid into a pillar with such force that it broke it, causing more of the roof to collapse. Nalla managed to get to her feet and dodge the rocks as they fell, watching as Keeah did the same. Keeah shot more icicles at her and Nalla spun in the air, feeling their wind as they flew past her. She then lurched forward and brought her blade down upon Keeah, who summoned a blade of ice to block her. Nalla gritted her teeth as the two came to a stand still. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t let Euonymia leave. That damn Sylphi girl… Always so defiant!” Nalla summoned a shadow hand that punched Keeah in the stomach, catching her off guard. It was enough for Nalla to shatter her blade but before she could strike the girl, her skin hardened to ice and Nalla’s blade bounced off, the momentum carrying her off balance. Keeah then punched Nalla in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She crumpled and felt her crown ripped from her head before she could react. She growled like an animal and leapt away. Nalla watched as Keeah encased her crown and ice and sent it hurtling out of the broken roof. Rage took her and she flung herself at Keeah once more. The two collided and much of Keeah’s armor cracked as they fell onto the stone. Nalla used her blade to stab at the girl and she punctured her arm again, driving it in deep. Keeah screamed and Nalla laughed but was quickly thrown off as Keeah summoned a pillar of ice that acted like a ram. It hit Nalla on the side and sent her tumbling. She lost her grip on the sword and with a ragged breath began to rise again. They both did. Keeah pulled the sword out of her and threw it to the ground, her arm going limp. Nalla knew something had broken inside her, for she found it hard to breathe but she would not yield not yet. Not even as the sun began to rise. “Nymi… Was a free soul.” Keeah said. “She was everything you are not. Caring. Loving. Kind and gentle. How she could be born in such a place is defiance itself. You will never know those things for you are incapable. You’re the monster you accuse me of being and you cannot be allowed to live. To spread your corruption.” A blade of ice formed in her good hand. Nalla began to laugh between the pain. “Oh my dear sweet Keeah. So Naive. I’ve always known, deep down, what I am. But what are you if not a monster? Come… Let’s find out…” She put her arms around her back and pulled an ebony dagger from her cloth. Then with a smile, she sprang forward and went for Keeah’s neck. Before the blade entered the girl’s neck, a spike of ice burst from the ground and penetrated her stomach, suspending her in the air. With a gurgle of blood, she dropped her dagger. Nalla looked at Keeah again, their eyes connected and she knew her time had come. But she had one last trick, didn’t she? She spoke the words and Keeah froze before crumpling, her face becoming flushed as she writhed in ecstasy. Though Neiya had taken some of her gifts, she had left the one most precious to her. With the last of her strength, Nalla broke the ice that held her aloft and tumbled to the ground with half the spike still inside her. She grabbed her dagger and clawed her way over to Keeah’s body. As she pulled herself on top of her, Keeah could do nothing but watch her in a daze. Nalla coughed. “Perhaps… You won’t find out… After all.” She placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead then brought the dagger to Keeah’s throat. “Farewell… Keeah of the North.” Instead, she was ripped from Keeah by and then a strong arm found itself around her neck. She looked up to see Eresa and her eyes bulged. She tried to say something but it was useless. There was a sickly crack, her body went limp and then Ekh-Rus claimed her. [hr] After the rebellion had ended, a time of unsure peace fell across Nallan’s old kingdom as the rebuilding began again. Tired of the uncertainty of monarchy a bold new plan was enacted to promote new policy by the voices of the people and thus, Eresa was elected to be the leader of the Republic of Eres. Though it was frightening, it was also exciting. This did not come without time however as many of the common folk had grown accustomed to the rule of Nalla and it took years to break down the old ways so the new could flourish. In those fledgling years, Keeah was sent out to stop the last of Nalla’s vampire guards from wreaking havoc on their neighbors in the gardens, and Keeah pondered those words of Nalla. What was she? What was going to do? Was she just a tool? When this task was done she returned to Eres and settled down with Eresa and a small harem of followers. The two lived in peace until they grew tired of that life and moved on to different things. Together as always and in time, Keeah realized she did know what she was but the question of being a tool, would haunt her forever... The Republic of Eres grew prosperous in time and was a relative success. Nalla was remembered as she said, a tyrant queen and her depictions were brought down and her mark outlawed. The statue in the center of the city was finally brought down too, after years of arguing. Though people now saw Nalla as a tyrant, they still feared angering her spirit. A spirit that now existed only in memory… Soon to fade altogether. [Hider=Summary] The final accounts of my heroes, Nalla and Keeah. Suffice to say one gets a happy ending and the other doesn't. Thanks for reading their posts you special person you. [/hider]