Chapter Text
20 years until The Fuckening.
The Dragon Queen of Domino.
That’s what her allies call the mighty Queen Marion Infernium, the monarch of Domino. She loves that name, she adores it to be honest with herself. It causes her enemies to cower in fear of her shadow, her allies to not test her will, and those closest to her to feel protected. Yet sometimes, that nickname comes with a small price to pay. As being a ruthless tactician in battle, a feared soldier in her army, and amongst other details, Marion is now the mother of a small baby girl who can barely talk and walk in the same breath. Her name was Daphne.
Daphne was adorable, weak, and almost the absolute opposite of her mother. Her fuzz of orange hair was pastel in color as it continued to grow with a rosy blush always flushing her cheeks. By the Dragon, that look itself somehow made it to Marion’s weaknesses. Another being her husband, Oritel Religio-Infernium. Marion still wonders how he’s still alive after all these years, even with her birthright in his hands to protect him. He’s a tolerable fighter and can barely handle the magic of his own, but yet he has a sort of calm that mesmerizes her. Like water dousing a flame, he was always there to not let her go over the edge and cools her off after a heated debate. Oritel, she realized a long time ago, was something she needed but never thought about having and she was grateful for him to be by her side.
Marion’s wandering thoughts about her small family seemed to wind her up in the Royal Gardens. The smell of brightly bloomed flowers covered in fresh dew of the morning caused her to smile softly at the relaxing sight. Heading down a long flight of white marbled stairs led the queen to small natural fences of flowers and fauna from different planets collected as gifts from both allies and past lovers of Domino’s queens. Moonlight Lilies from Solaria were the newest edition to the collection, being a gift from King Radius and Queen Luna for Daphne. They were still sitting in the small marble vase covered in sun and moon decorations. Marion sighed, how forgetful of her to leave them out here like this. Rolling up her tightly knit sheer sleeves, Marion grabbed the vase and started to parade around the garden to find a good spot for the lilies.
The Queen soon stops at a small empty spot that situated between some smaller flowers and ferns, thinking that they complimented the light blue of the lilies perfectly. She puts down the vase and gathers the puffy skirt of her dress, tying it in a loose knot behind her in order to get more flexibility. Potting the plant didn’t take too long after kneeling down as with a snap of her fingers emerald green energy sparkled and glowed around a lump of dirt, floating it to the paved ground while simultaneously gently placing the lily into the fresh hole.
“There, perfect spot hm?” Marion mumbles as she contemplates her work, taking the vase into a free hand. The other waved once more, the same green magic filling the hole with dirt and softly compacting it around the flower. Yet unbeknownst to her, a small creature clad in a bright blue puffy dress was aiming for her backside, arms outstretched for its attack.
“BAH!” The tiny creature squeaked as she grabbed Marion’s waist from behind. Marion yelped in response, her eyes widened as two ram-like horns, its ends seemingly dipped in green magic, materialized on either side of her head in bursts of flames. The vase in her hands slipped out, her hands still conformed in its shape as it fell towards the ground before another hand was able to quickly reach in and grab it almost an inch off the ground.
“Oh! Be careful there!” The voice said cheerfully before chuckling as they put the vase back on the bench beside her, showing his crimson red dress shirt. It seems Oritel has also joined in the onslaught. The tiny creature, which revealed itself as it climbed towards the front of Marion to be Daphne, giggled as she daintily sat on her mother’s lap.
The horns placed on Marion’s head faded away as quickly as they appeared, a soft smile appearing on the Dragon Queen’s face as she held Daphne in her lap with her hand going through the tangled mess of soft creamsicle orange curls.
“Hello there, little one. You gave me quite a scare.” Marion spoke softly to the tiny Daphne in front of her which made Daphne smile even more with glee. Marion scooped her daughter in one hand before undoing the knotted dress behind her and getting up. The dark blue-green dress falls into its natural shape, a small train of fabric falling suit as she adjusts into a more comfortable position.
“I see she isn’t asleep,” Marion starts, looking towards Daphne with a small smile before looking down at Oritel with a teasing smirk. “Now how could that be after I believe I put her in but an hour ago?”
“Ah w-well, she wasn’t asleep when I went to check on her so I just took her with me to go see her Uncle Hagen.” Oritel scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, his other hand occupied in Daphne’s grip. “She was very interested in his metal bird.”
“Mmmm...I hope Hagen didn’t mind?”
“Of course not, he loves it when she’s there, almost acts like a different person.”
The two started to walk around the garden with Daphne busy occupying herself with her mother’s fiery orange hair. As they rounded the corner in a small courtyard of different colors of roses, Marion continued.
“Faragonda and Griffon want to visit next week, they apparently both have reports from their travels to the western kingdoms, but of course want to see Daphne.”
“How is it out there? I honestly didn't think the Ancestrals would move out that far.”
“I don’t know the specifics, but apparently there we some attacks on outlying villages, probably to gather more minions.” Marion sighed softly, adjusting her handle of Daphne before looking back towards Oritel who was pinching his nose in frustration.
“By the dragon…Do you think it will ever end?” Oritel asked in a slightly doubting tone. They had a daughter now, someone who could be used against them or be more at risk with the witches out there terrorizing the Magic Dimension. How much more can they take? Will Daphne be able to handle the responsibilities of being both queen and holder of the Dragon Flame? If they die-
Marion’s hand squeezed her husband’s shoulder, causing him to quickly whip his gaze towards her. Marion’s face looked serious and sad, almost as if she was about to break into tears. Oritel’s eyes widened a bit, he forgot about Marion’s aura-sensing abilities, she was feeling all the pain, worry, and most importantly: fear. They both felt the fear of losing their daughter from the war she was born into and it was heart-wrenching. Now they knew; they had another purpose to fight the Ancestral Witches and it was the small babbling child in the Dragon Queen’s arms.