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“Haaa!!!” Olivia swung her curved blade in a downward strike.
And then again, turning the downward slash into a thrust, and then an outward swing. Birds chirped and flew away from the trees after hearing Olivia shout with full passion.
“Hyaa—” And then she lost her balance.
“Woah there,” her instructor said, catching Olivia before she fell.
Olivia remains there, suspended in her instructor's arms, feeling warmth creep up her face.
“A-Ah…” Olivia said, righting herself. She brushed off her chest.
“Your footwork is the basis of your form,” the instructor said, as she stepped away.
Olivia followed along as her instructor lowered her center of gravity- making her even shorter than she already was- and then held her arms out, and moved her body to demonstrate today’s exercise.
“Anya-dono,” Olivia said with a slight bow.
“Just call me ‘Anya’,” the woman said, “We’ve been training for two months, after all.”
Olivia’s face lit up. “Wha— do you mean… You and me are getting closer!?”
“Well… I don’t deny it…” Anya looked to the side, “I mean, technically, yes-”
“Eek!” Olivia ran up to try to hug her mentor-
Who effortlessly sidestepped the hug, and hooked her leg against Olivia’s leg to flip Olivia on her back. “Not close enough for that though.”
Olivia smirked, from where she lay on the ground. “Not yet~”
Anya signed and looked to her feet, and when she held out her hand to help Olivia to her feet, Anya was smiling, gently.
Olivia brushed herself off and stepped back and formally bowed, “Thank you for accepting me as your student,”
“Ah,” Anya looked to the side and rubbed the back of her head. “I’m just doing my job as your instructor.”
Olivia went back to practice her swordwork, still she felt excited during her training with Anya. “For real, thank you for taking me on as your student!” Olivia said as she swung her sword. “I know you weren’t even on the palace’s list of retired knights, so I was surprised when you even accepted me!”
“I’m,” Anya began, “Extremely retired. My blade is sheathed for a good reason.”
Olivia opened her mouth, to ask the obvious follow up question-
But Anya pre-empted her. “Can we focus on our training, shall we?”
“Ah, sorry Anya…” once again Olivia swung her curved blade. “But still, it's a little weird calling your name directly…”
Anya immediately replied, “Then I will call you a youngling from now on.”
“EHHHHH!!?? Anya-dono, that’s not fair!!”
Anya just grinned at Olivia's reaction.
Day after day, week after week passed. Olivia got better and better at swordplay, but there was one thing left she had yet to practice…
“So, when am I going to get to sword fight you?” Olivia said, in between practice swings,
“Never,” Anya said stoically. She corrected Olivia’s stance.
“E-Ehhhh!!?? But… I have a cool sword!”
“Yes, you showed me,” Anya said, “But even that point is moot because if we were to spar, we’d be using practice swords.”
“Ehh—”
“I am your fundamentals teacher, you might seek someone at the academy for the finer points,” Anya said.
Olivia frowned, reflexively.
“You’re training to be a knight, after all,” Anya said. “I can teach you footwork and stance and how to swing your arms in a way that won’t exhaust you, but if you’re going to be swordfighting, you’ll need other instructors. Besides, it's not good to only have one teacher anyway.”
Olivia looked down, a little dejectedly. “But… Anya-Dono~~”
“There’s three senior knights in the garrison, as well as ten who are deployed to guard the royal family,” Anya said. “The drill instructor is in charge of the hundred or so garrison force here, and there’s a few notable retired knights who’ve taken residence in the city.”
“... Like you,” Olivia said.
“And…” Anya looked to the ground, “if you really did want a better instructor, you might move to a city closer to the front lines. They say it's safer here, but if you truly are set on becoming a knight, then this is not the best place.”
“But none of the other cities have a teacher, a mentor like you, Anya,” Olivia said pensively.
“Sure they do,” Anya replied.
“I mean exactly like you,” Olivia said.
Anya grimaced, and then sighed, and looked down. And when she looked up, she had a soft smile. “I guess that’s, technically, true…”
Anya had Olivia do a few more practice exercises, correcting her form, sword grip, and stances. They kept practicing and practicing until the end of the day, Olivia was mimicking Anya’s motions, doing her best to learn…
Another month passed, training every day, every night. Anya never had a training schedule, but Olivia would just show up whenever she could, and Anya, somehow, was never busy, and was always willing to help her train.
And sometimes, maybe, when she should have taken a rest day instead.
Olivia collapsed to the ground, “Aha… I’m so beat…”
“You're learning quite fast,” Anya walks over, right over Olivia’s form. Her shadow fell over Olivia’s face.
Olivia gasped for breath, and looked up at her teacher framed by the sun, “Hehe, it’s all because of you!”
“Well, I think you’ve done some good work,” Anya said soothingly. Then she raised her hand to help Olivia stand up, Olivia immediately grabbed her hand and pulled herself to her feet.
Not long after, Olivia's stomach rumbled loudly. Olivia became very embarrassed, “A-Aha… sorry Anya…”
“Well…” Anya began. She looked thoughtful. “A good warrior makes sure to keep herself energized. And the sun is already setting. So, how about we find a place for dinner,” Anya said.
“A-Ah, really!??” Olivia said. She felt her face heat up, but she managed a nod.
…..
They walked into the city, taking in the rustic architecture and busy streets and the distant landmark view of the royal palace.
“There’s so many good restaurants in the city,” Olivia said.
“Many of them are made by retirees,” Anya replied. “This is a popular retirement spot, and the royal family lives here so there’s always visitors.”
“I’m sure being away from the Empire helps, too.” Olivia said.
“But it's just luck that it was,” Anya said. “The palace is here because of the core leyline of wind, so the royal family can protect and direct its magic. That we’re far away from any nation we’re at war with is geopolitical coincidence,”
“I see…” Olivia nodded, pretending to listen.
And they walked along some more.
“Oh! This place,” Olivia pointed, " I eat there all the time!”
Anya chuckled, “Sounds good to me.”
The two of them immediately walked into the diner.
“It's on me,” Olivia said. “Just order anything you want!”
“Hmm, I don't have much of an appetite,” Anya said.
“Ehhh you sure?” Olivia asked in concern.
Anya nodded “Just order me a coffee. After all, you're the one who sounds hungrier after our training. And go order first, I can wait”
Olivia frowned, she couldn't bear it if she was the only one eating alone. “Waitress!”
The waitress came over to Olivia’s seat, “Yes milady?”
“I want to order a Korean barbecue platter, and then a chocolate cake, and a milkshake—” Olivia looked at Anya for a moment, “—A cup of coffee and a Tiramisu for my teacher.”
“Wait, Olivia—”
“Like I said, it’s on me, don’t worry,” Olivia winked.
After a moment, their food and drink finally arrived. Anya begrudgingly accepted what Olivia had ordered for her. Olivia immediately gobbled up her food.
“Hey, Olivia. Why do you insist on becoming a knight?” Anya asked curiously.
“Oh, ah… I always wanted to be a knight because… “ She chewed some of her food, “At first… I always thought it was cool. All the swordplay, how they look so sweet in their armor and capes… it’s really cool!”
Anya scrunched her mouth to the side.
“But, as I grew older,” Olivia said, “I liked the idea that I could be strong enough to protect the people I care about.”
Anya stared into her coffee upon hearing that.
“And training is fun!” Olivia said with sparkles in her eyes.
Anya looked scrunched her mouth to the side. “I guess I can understand that.”
“How about you?” Olivia said between bites of her food “What made you become a knight, Anya?”
Anya looked at her cup of coffee, “Peace,” Anya said.
“Oh, like, you retired here to enjoy the peaceful life in the capital?”
“No,” Anya said, “I mean, complete, universal peace.”
“But the free cities are in fundamental opposition to the Empire,” Olivia began.
“Yeah,” Anya said, “We’re not going to be able to achieve peace without a significant change in the status quo.”
“Oh? Is that why you’re training knights~” Olivia said.
“Well,” Anya said, “Maybe. But you're the only one I'm teaching.”
“So, you’re not necessarily working for your dream,” Olivia said.
“Guess not,” Anya said, “Maybe I'm just getting by.”
Olivia reached her hand out.
Anya looked at Olivia’s hand, and then at her food, and then at Olivia's face.
Olivia gave her best reassuring smile.
And then Anya reached out, to squeeze Olivia’s hand, once. Anya then grabbed her fork, and took a bite of her Tiramisu.
“Or, maybe~” Olivia smirked, “You think that I’m the future of the free cities and training me is enough to change the balance of power enough for us to win!”
Anya blinked, then she chuckled. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if you surpass the greatest knights of the free cities,” Anya said.
“Oh, I could never be better than you, Anya-dono~” Olivia winked.
Day after day, Olivia diligently practiced every day with Anya, persistently improving.
“Haaa!!!” Olivia swung her broadsword.
And then again, turning the downward slash into a thrust, and then an outward swing.
“Hyaa—” And then she lost her balance.
“Woah there,” her instructor said, catching Olivia’s hand and pulling it before she fell.
Olivia remained there, suspended- in her instructor's arms, feeling warmth creep up her face. She could feel Anya’s heartbeat, even-.
“A-Ah…” Olivia said, righting herself. She brushed off her chest.
Anya released her grasp without saying a word, “Don’t forget what I’ve taught you.”
Olivia followed along as her instructor lowered her center of gravity- making her even shorter than she already was- and then held her arms out, and moved her body to demonstrate today’s exercise.
“I have to admit, your progression has been quite impressive,” Anya said. “Pretty sure you will become a great knight.”
Olivia smiled and she went back to her training.
“Also hey,” Olivia said as she swung her blade. “Tomorrow I will have the knight academy’s entrance exam… so I will do my best! For you!”
Anya looked down. “I know you will-”
“Anyway- “ Olivia threw a training sword towards Anya. “Think fast!”
Anya swiftly caught the sword by the hilt.
With a surprise attack, Olivia lunged, swinging her sword, “Too slow!”
Anya leaped back, dodging Olivia’s sword. “Olivia what are you—”
“En guarde!” Olivia swung her sword again, at Anya’s torso.
And this time Anya had to parry the sword-
“Aha,” Olivia said, “My form is good, but I never learned how to actually spar-”
Anya frowned, “Olivia—”
Olivia became more excited. She took a stance and lunged at Anya again.
Anya stepped forward, parrying Olivia’s sword at the base in a way that caused it to fall out of her hand.
“That’s enough!” Anya shouted.
Anya pushed Olivia’s chest while catching her foot with the sword, sending Olivia plummeting backward.
And the next thing Olivia knew, she was staring at the tip of a wooden training sword.
“Woah!!” Olivia said, “When are you going to teach me how to do that?”
Anya blinked, and took a step backward. She threw the sword to the ground. “Never.”
“C’mon— that was really cool!” Olivia said excitedly.
But Anya looked angrier than Olivia had ever seen her. “I told you I don’t want to fight anymore!”
“Ah-” Olivia stepped back, “I’m sorry-”
Anya shot one last glare at Olivia,
And she walked away.
It was another week before Olivia found the courage to approach Anya’s cottage.
She rocked on her feet, twice, at the front of the door, before lifting her hand up to knock-
And the door opened.
“Eek!” Olivia said
“Yes?” Anya said. Her face was passive.
“Anya!!!” Olivia began, then she covered her mouth with her hands. After a moment, she pulled her hands away. “So, I got accepted into the academy..”
“That’s amazing!” Anya said. She smiled-
But Olivia looked into Anya’s face and saw a forlorn look-
“Oh! Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe,” Olivia said, “And- and there’s other people who will actually spar with me, don't worry-”
Anya blinked, and then her smile returned, “Oh, yeah- I know…”
Anya looked into the distance, wordlessly.
“Are you okay?” Olivia said. She tilted her head to the side.
“Oh! Yeah, yeah,” Anya said. “And I know you’ll be safely under the tutelage of the palace guard for three years, yeah- “
“If I don’t finish early!” Olivia said.
Anya smiled again, “Yeah….”
And again Anya was silent, for a while, looking off into the distance-
“And-” Olivia bit her lip, “I'm sorry! For what happened last time-”
“Oh?”
Olivia bowed, as low as she could. “I- I know you said you don’t want to fight anymore, and I disrespected that- and, and and--”
Olivia felt Anya’s hand reach down, to cup her cheek, and tilt her head up to make eye contact.
“I'm sorry for reacting the way I did,” Anya said, "I've tried not to fight again for as long as I can, but I guess, I always knew it was inevitable."
And in two years and nine months, Olivia managed to pass the knight acceptance test.
As was customary, a small ceremony was put on in the palace throne room, and Olivia got officially knighted by the queen in front of the princess and the other resident knights and a small contingent of the nobility.
Anya sat in the back, gazing upon her one and only student becoming a knight. She smiled, but Olivia thought there was still a look of sadness in her eyes.
…..
After the ceremony, Olivia went to meet Anya outside of the throne room.
“Well I guess… my work is done here,” Anya said. “You have achieved your dream of being a knight.”
“Oh, don’t you want to mingle with the other Knights? Maybe some of the retirees?” Olivia said.
Anya looked to the side, “I don’t know any of them…”
“Oh, but maybe they’d know you?”
Anya smirked, forlornly, “I would hope not.”
“Well, then, maybe you could meet something new?
“Maybe,” Anya said. She then turned to Olivia. “So, you’re off on your assignment right after this?”
“Yeah!” Olivia said. “I'm very excited!!!- “
“So this is the last time we’ll see each other…” Anya said.
“Well,” Olivia said, “I'm sure I can stop by and visit sometime.”
Anya looked at the ground. “Maybe, yeah.”
“Well then,” Olivia held Anya’s hand, “it's a promise.”
Anya held Olivia's hand, very tight, as if she didn't want to let go of Olivia. She was very warm.
“Ah,” Olivia said in surprise. “Anya?”
Anya pulled Olivia down into a hug.
“I’m,” Anya said and her voice cracked. “So very happy for you. I'm so happy to see my only student make it this far.”
“Hey,” Olivia said, “I promise I'll come back to you.” Olivia returned Anya's hug, and their feelings drowned in one warm embrace.
The next day, Olivia woke up to realize the sky was on fire.
Like, not literally- not, the whole sky, but the leylines were clearly leaking some kind of chaotic magic that sent red tendrils through the sky, and the sun was blotted out, slightly bathing the city in sunset red
“An attack?” Olivia said, as she immediately grabbed her sword and ran from the barracks into the palace.
The corpses of the palace guard were littered along the pathway to the throne room, “Oh Goddess…”
Olivia ran over to the body of the nearest guard to check for signs of life, but the guard was cut clean through. The other guards too, were dead, slain in seemingly one stroke and a single set of bloody footprints lead towards the throne room.
Olivia ran after them, slamming against the door, and she stumbled in-
And the queen was ran through.
A knight, in a hooded faceplate with a gas mask, and a cape in the colors of the empire, removed a black sword from the queen’s chest. The queen crumpled to the ground.
Olivia saw the young princess cornered in the room, scared and helpless.
“Hey!” Olivia rushed forward with her sword drawn, to stand between the princess and the invader.
And the invader turns to her, but pauses, strangely.
Olivia pushes the princess to run from the throne room, “Run! Now!”
And the invader stepped forward, after the princess, but then stopped once Olivia moved forward.
Olivia took a breath, with herself at the ready, she lunged.
The invader leaped back, dodging Olivia’s sword.
Olivia swiftly righted her stance, to turn to the invader again, and slash at her torso-
And this time the invader had to parry the sword.
But then on Olivia’s next swing, the invader parried Olivia’s sword at the base in a way that caused it to fall out of her hand.
And then pushed Olivia’s chest while catching her foot with the sword, sending Olivia plummeting backward.
And as soon as Olivia regained her senses, she looked up at the enemy knight.
"...Anya!??" Olivia said.
The invader paused.
Olivia grabbed her sword from the ground and jumped to her feet, “That’s you isn’t it?!”
Olivia lunged again, with all her focus, and after a whirlwind clash, Olivia managed to crack the invader’s mask.
And when they separated, the knight’s mask fell to the side, to reveal her face.
Anya grimaced, in a mix of rage and sorrow.
“Walk away, Olivia,” Anya intoned.
"What- No! You can't - you can't expect me to do that!"
"What are you even doing here?" Anya said, her voice low and -scared?- but she swung her sword, causing Olivia's sword to fall behind her. "Aren't you supposed to be on your assignment?"
"I was assigned here," Olivia grit her teeth, "it was supposed to be a surprise!"
Anya exhaled, and Olivia heard the pain in her voice. "I guess this was always inevitable, wasn't it?..."
"'Inevitable?" Olivia repeated. She took a step back, towards where her sword fell- "You mean- you were planning this, the whole time?!?"
“Walk away, Olivia... please…” Anya intoned, "This- you can still escape-"
"No!" Olivia screamed, running backwards until she found her sword. She raised her sword again, "You attacked our city! You killed the queen! You killed everyone!"
Anya looked like she was choking back a sob. "Please. Olivia, you don’t understand… just… I can pretend I never saw you, if you just walk away, and hide until we’re finished.”
"All this time, you said you didn't want to fight… that was a lie!" Olivia yells as she starts to shed a tear. "You… You…"
“It's complicated,” Anya said. “You… don’t understand…”
“Then make me understand! Stop this, and then…" Olivia grimaced, "You said your dream was to achieve peace, right? We can build that together!"
Anya made a grimace. “I can’t…”
“Why not?”
“You don’t understand!” Anya said. “Didn’t they teach you that a good knight obeys orders?”
“Then,” Olivia held her sword, “I… I have to stop you!!”
And Olivia lunged with her sword, careful to avoid the reversals Anya had previously used on her, she managed not to be thrown to the ground after Anya's subsequent parries.
And Olivia gained ground, pushing her teacher back.
And after one hard thump—
Olivia noticed a sharp pain in her chest-
“A-Ah,” Olivia said, to the thin black sword sticking through her chest, and she coughed up blood from her mouth.
Anya blinked, and looked down at what she had done.
Anya stepped back, but Olivia stepped forward, to close the distance between them-
“H-Heh, I wanted to protect the people I loved,” Olivia said. She felt a trickle of blood drip from her mouth. “But you can protect yourself just fine, can’t you?”
Anya’s mouth opened, but she said nothing.
Olivia tried to smile to reassure her, but the pain was starting to sink in, “Then… whatever it is you needed to do... Just, live your life, for your peace… for you…"
With her hand covered by her own blood, Olivia reached out to cup Anya’s cheek and tilt her head up to make eye contact. Anya stared into her, distraught, with regretful eyes.
"You don't ever have to regret everything you’ve done,” Olivia said. “I will always love you…" Olivia gives her last smile.
And as the world went dark, Olivia’s last thought was to hope that Anya would be okay…
“She’s awake!” a woman’s voice came.
Olivia realized she was awake, and took a moment to try to open her eyes. She was in a room in the palace? Judging by the architecture, though, it wasn't a room. There was a magic circle around her, lying on the ground. When she looked at her hand, it was thin and desiccated and stitched together along the middle.
“Ah!” Olivia said, and her voice was raspier than she remembered.
“It's okay, it’s okay, I’m here for you,” the woman’s voice came again.
But Olivia was distracted because at that moment she remembered.
“Anya…” Olivia whispered.
She looked down at her stomach, at the cloth covering where she had been run through-
“Yes, you did get stabbed there,” the woman said, and now she was kneeling right beside her. “It took a while to get you back on your feet, yes.”
Olivia blinked, and she realized her eyes seemed rather dry. “Back on my feet? From being… dead?”
“Yes,” The woman looked to the side. “It took a while to learn the spell, but I brought you back.”
Olivia looked down at her hand again, and at the stitches that ran along it. “So, what, I'm some sort of… zombie?”
“You could say that, yes.”
“Isn’t that a violation of the magical code?”
“Well…” The woman bit her lower lip, “Let’s say we are in a very, yes, desperate situation. So I pulled some strings, yes.”
Olivia looked down at her body again, and tried moving her limbs, experimentally. She seemed lighter, but more sluggish, as if she was having to relearn how to move.
“So uh…” the woman said, to the ground. She laughed, awkwardly, twice “I don't know if you remember me…?”
Olivia turned to the woman.
“But you saved my life, ah, so, I’m very grateful,“ she had blue eyes and long platinum blond hair, tied into a side ponytail, and was dressed like a peahen in a blue and white dress.
“Royalty?” Olivia said, “Are you a cousin of the queen or something?”
“I…” The woman looked down. “Am the princess actually. The name is Pavoila Reine, it's nice to meet you, Ser Olivia.”
“Whaaaa—” Olivia said, “Wait wait wait, aren’t you like, 13???”
“That’s…” the princess grimaced. “What I meant when I said, it took a while to get you back on your feet. It’s been five years after that incident happened—”
“WAIT WHAT!?” Olivia yelled as the reality of that statement hit her. “... FIVE YEARS!?”
“Anyway!” the princess clapped her hands together, three times, “Royal Knight Olivia! We need your help. Do you accept it?”
“I…” Olivia said. She looked around, “I guess… anything I was already doing, would have wrapped up, and I have nothing planned with my new unlife.
Reine clapped her hands again. “Good! Because, the core wind leyline is collapsing and I need your help trying to find the focusing crystal so we can restabilize it.”
Olivia blinked at Reine, “The what?”
“The, ah…” Reine said. “Back when you single handedly defeated the Empire’s strike team-”
“I did what now?”
“Remember? When you…” Reine looked at the ground, forlornly, “Sacrificed your life, defeating the sleeper agents who infiltrated the city and then killed the entire garrison and- and the queen.”
Olivia blinked. “I… am sorry, I'm trying to remember that but I can’t—”
She remembered Anya, though that her teacher must have come to the capital specifically to do what they had tried to do to the leyline, that day.
“Well, memory loss might be a side effect of the spell, hmm…” Reine looked concerned.
And Olivia shared that concern, since she certainly had someone she wanted to remember.
”So the Empire agents,” Olivia asked curiously, “took a part of the leyline?”
“Well, it appears one of them escaped,” Reine said, “It looked like their original goal was to corrupt the magic, but with all but one of them slain the final invader decided to steal our method of control over it instead. My best guess is they couldn’t finish the ritual alone….”
That seemed to make sense, from what Olivia knew of magic.
“We already searched the city over the past few years, and since we don’t have a wizard capable of forging a new one of the strength needed for a primal leyline, we need to get the original one back, yes. And I can't just stand still and let it happen," Reine mused to the air.
Olivia nodded.
Reine turned to Olivia, “Since you’re the only one who might have seen her face, I need your help. Our primary suspect is a woman named-”
“Anya…” Olivia said, “Anya Melfissa…”
“Yes, actually…” Reine said. “I'm impressed!”
Olivia gave her best reassuring smile. “I guess it was a good thing you brought me for this mission!”
“Yes!” Reine said, “So, If you need to make any preparations, you should do so. And!” Reine ran over to the wall, where she picked up a pack, “I made some preparations myself, if you'd like, and… and I also recovered your sword.”
Olivia looked at the straight black blade her queen was presenting her.
“That's… not my sword,” Olivia said.
Reine tilted her head to the side. “It’s not? It was found next to your body.”
“Was there a curved blade near me?”
“Curved blade?” Reine tilted her head to the other side. “We didn’t find any keris at the site, should we get you a new one from the blacksmith?”
Olivia looked back at the blade. And then realized, that in all likelihood, the last time it was used, it was to kill her…
Anya’s sword…
“Well, it must just be memory loss, right?” Olivia took the sword and hefted it in her hands...
It was surprisingly heavy, but Olivia was sure she’d get used to its weight soon enough.
Olivia turned to Reine. “Lead the way, my queen.”
-OOO-
Anya stared at the corpse of her student. She touched the bloodied part of her cheek...
And as she stared, at some point, the rest of the sleeper agents appeared.
“Good work Anya, we've killed all their soldiers,” said the commander.
“Yeah!! Now we can finally get out of this damn city!”
“Not before we enjoy the spoils, though!”
“I think we have a night of drinking and fun ahead of us!”
Anya didn't speak. She continued to stare at Olivia’s corpse, somehow peaceful in death-
One of the knights approached Anya and tapped her on the shoulder, “Fantastic work, with this all of our enemies will know what is the truth of ‘peace’ itself—”
Anya frowned, then suddenly…
Slash!
The knight who had tapped her fell backwards, blood spraying from her neck.
Anya raised her head in anger and vengeance, and another empire knight fell under her sword.
The third knight managed to draw his weapon before being swiftly cut down.
“You traitor!” the knight commander yelled, drawing his sword upon realizing what was happening.
And the remaining knights almost put up a fight, but quick as lightning, Anya cut them down, leaving only the knight commander.
The commander fell down and slowly crawled back with eyes full of fear. “You… you make us delay the attack by three years and you do this!?”
Anya threw her sword to the feet of the knight commander, impaling it blade down. She glared, wordlessly, menacingly.
“You… you know what your orders are!” The commander said.
Anya didn't care what the commander said, she marched forward.
With no choice, the commander lunged.
Anya stepped back, dodging the first attack, and then again Anya lunged back, twisting the commander’s arm and then catching his leg to send him to the ground.
The commander’s sword clattered to the ground, as well as its owner.
“Y-You…” The commander stammered, “W-Why you—-”
Anya retrieved the commander’s sword from the ground, and approached her last connection to the Empire, “I told you I didn't want to fight anymore.”
SPLAT
And the last knight's body slumped against the ground.
And shakily, Anya stumbled back over to Olivia’s body-
She collapsed to her knees.
“AAAUUGHHHHHHHHH!” Anya screamed, at the world- at herself-
And the scream continued, turning into an uncontrollable sobbing, before petering out into silence..
“I'm sorry…” Anya whispered. She lay her sword in Olivia’s lifeless hands, and grabbed Olivia’s family sword from the ground…
Anya made her way to the throne, where the leyline’s focusing crystal was slowly being corrupted. Anya broke the runic circle with her fist, making a burst of magical energy around a small, golden-clad crystal the size of her hand.
She plucked the crystal from its perch and stuffed it into her pocket.
And she walked away.
……
….
Young Reine managed to get out of the throne room, then she ran down the stairs, but she heard the sound of the knights' footsteps approaching. She hid behind the table and waited for them to pass.
"What should I do..." she said, fearfully.
Obviously, the smart thing to do would be to run, but she felt bad about leaving Olivia fighting alone...
After a while, young Reine found the bravery to move from her hiding space. With her bravery, and foolhardiness, she followed their footsteps, since they seemed to lead toward the throne room.
She had just seen her mother die, and her kingdom attacked, but she knew that if the empire got a hole in the leyline everything would get much worse, and she had to do something. Maybe she could at least spy on what they were doing, and fix it afterwards.
And Reine found herself again at the throne room. She peeked through the cracks in the door, and she saw no movement. She tried to listen for any motion, but all she heard was silence.
Reine slowly entered the room.
“Oh….” Reine covered her mouth with her hands.
They were all dead…
There were ten bodies, and since there were at least ten invaders who came to corrupt the leyline at the beginning, that meant that one of them had gotten away.
Reine glanced over to the throne, the leyline, it sort of looked okay, right?
But more importantly, Reine made her way to the corpse of her savior, strangely peaceful in repose. She held back tears as she kneeled beside Olivia.
“Thank you, my brave knight,” Reine whispered. “You saved us. You saved us all…”
And after Reine offered her thanks, she stood up.
“I think, I know what I should do next,” Reine addressed the empty, bloodied throne room, the body of her mother and the locus of magic, and the corpse of her savior, and herself.
“As a princess, as the new queen, for this city… for my hero…" Reine declared, "I will not stand still!”