“There are many ways to control the narrative during a hostile takeover. One such manner, as was done to Her Royal Highness, Serena Kanki, is to make her the mastermind who needed to die. I will never forget the way her eyes blazed with loathing and how she fought until the very end. She burned with the wrath of collapsing stars, bringing them down all around her in the process. It still sends shivers down my spine at remembering the clear disinterest in the way she treated us after the reveal. Centuries of trust, love, and friendship were all destroyed in a handful of hours. Sometimes, I question if it was worth it. I comfort myself with knowing she will return and all will be well once again.” ~ The Dark Truth

Serena had often helped devise ways to get information from unwilling people. She never expected to be on the receiving end.

She was alive, even as the rest of her kind was eliminated because she was too vita to lose. If she died, so did centuries of information. It would take far too long to reclaim it. It was only logical. Unfortunately, people didn’t operate on logic as much as she would like. If they did, things would be far easier to predict and plan for. But it would be rather boring too.

Drops of water fell on her face signaled the attempt at using some kind of water torture. Based on how it seemed to work on the other survivors, it would be a continuous session of drowning the person before pulling them back.

Interesting tactic to use on a Corpseborn but ineffectual. Those who are become one from a stillborn birth have either the original soul leave and another enter or have the original soul return to the body. Either way, the result was the same.

Being both living and dead, mortal and magical, Serena’s physical body was different compared to almost any other being. She yawned, leaning back on the cot, and closed her eyes. Another few hours of sleep would be nice.

“Be a dear and wake me up when you're done.”

The door to the rather clean and tidy torture room opened and low and behold the traitorous spawns of the void were there to greet her. She had expected as much from Senku and Loras. Given the fleeting rumors of them wandering around, and the sudden victories of the so-called revolution, they had to be involved. It was surprising to see Theodora there.

“You are being held prisoner because-”

“I thought I was in a spa,” Serena interrupted, glancing at the hooded burly man. She had some dealings with him, at her brother’s behest, so it was easy to tell who the human was. “Logan, do me a favor and stylize my hair when you are done.” She tugged at the chains, binding her to the cot. “I’m a bit tied up at the moment.”

Theodora’s perfect smile cracked as agitation entered her eyes. “You are to be tortured to acquire information.”

Serena rolled her eyes. “Whatever happened to asking nicely? I see manners couldn’t be taught to you even after decades. What a shame for the celestial line to fall to such a base lineage.”

Senku chuckled, and even Loras was amused, so whatever was going on, they didn’t have hard feelings toward her. The feeling wasn’t mutual. No, she ached to tear them apart. They let her be harmed and demeaned her. No doubt they intended to use her for something.

“You’re an evil, cruel bitch!” Theodora screamed furiously.

Serena didn’t even pay attention to the woman. She let her arms drop to hang off the cot and barely gave the two men any attention. It pleased her that this bothered them enough to shift awkwardly and glance at each other. She might have been bloody but she was not broken. She would not willingly bow to those she once loved. For the first time in her existence, Serena finally understood what it was like to have a cold, dead heart.

“How could you kill your own clan?! You must suffer the same fate!”

Serena looked at Theodora with a somewhat blurred vision. Even her kind of healing took time and energy to do, and she had been restoring her body as much as she could during her few breaks.

Loras, who had been watching the situation, approached Theodora. He grabbed her by the shoulder and said, “Calm down, Theo.”

“How can I be calm? She killed our father!”

“Rena is our sister, Theo. There must be a misunderstanding.”

Theodora fell to her knees and began to cry.

Serena clapped her hands with dispassion. The clinking of the metal cuffs echoed in the room. “What a marvelous play. You should all be actors. But who is the star of this show?” Her words were playful, contrasting her treatment and her environment. “I would imagine you are trying to get me to confess to some ghastly deed.”

First, I will be blamed for murdering our kin, making me a criminal and a kinslayer. And then a series of accusations will follow one after another. Well, if they used their brains. Serena could already tell that Loras and Senku were behind the focus on the being gathered here.

History had shifted, as she feared, and Serena could already feel reality stretching and warping. Many other dimensions had long fallen and been disconnected. She didn’t know if it was due to the deicide done by the others, or the multiverse trembling in fear of what was to come. Frankly, it didn’t matter.

The only thing that mattered was her fate.

“Do you have anything to say about this?” Loras questioned, his voice soft.

Serena gave him a dry smile.

What the hell was he thinking?

She had no intention of denying that she was evil. But being treated like an idiot made her laugh.

“Loras, you know what kind of person I am, don’t you? If I had wanted to take over the empire, I would have just needed to hurry grandfather along. I was the Crown Princess, and the next in line.”

What good would it do to kill outsiders in such a careless way if the ruler was still on the throne? If she had come up with a plan, she would have killed them all without anyone knowing.

What good are excuses and explanations at this point? You three have had already decided to kill me.

No matter what she did, Serena had no way of surviving.

“You three now carry the Celestial Empire on your shoulders, so you should kick the habit of blaming others for everything. That’s my last piece of advice.”

Senku turned to Logan and ordered him to take her to an isolation cell where the fun would really begin.

Serena was pretty sure that true torture was being denied something to stimulate the mind.

The guards had strapped her to a wall, with about five feet of chain for her limbs. Serena had become rather familiar with the chill of the room. The lightweight gown provided the former princess with modesty but there were far worse things than to feel the chilling cold on her bare skin.

The first thing they did was remove her tongue. There was a healer that made sure she wouldn’t die and another mage who ensured she couldn’t heal. It was a smart decision in her mind, as she could theoretically control them or other things. She would have even praised them if they didn’t take her fucking tongue.

That alone was far more insulting than being labeled a traitor.

To add further insult to one who had already fallen so low, she had been forced to wear a spiked mask. It was a beautiful object made to resemble a skull. On the inside were two spikes where the eyeholes were.

In the span of a few seconds, Serena was aware of what they were for. The sound of squishing eyeballs haunted her to this moment, and the blood and flesh had been wiped roughly away. Pain shot through her body with every little move she made, and her head was foggy. She was pretty sure that fever was growing

During her punishment, which she hoped and prayed were due to the desires of Theodora than her brother and friend, Serena thought on her past.

She had been trained to put her kin, her race, and the empire above all else. As long as they survived, the empire did and with it the balance.

That’s what Serena had heard all her life, and she was about ready to tear existence a new one herself.

“Be good to your kin. It’s all thanks to us that you’re still alive,” her father told her when she was a child. “Since you were born, unpleasant rumors have spread about you.”

Father’s words always ended like this.

Serena could not remember being loved by anyone other than Loras and Senku. Nor did she remember being happy outside of them and a few other relationships.

Serena was no fool. She knew that her family’s kindness would never be to her. But the desire to be loved that had been planted in her since her childhood was hard to control. She found it easy to invent reasons to justify it.

They were linked by blood ties. With that in mind, Serena did anything to better the empire.

It was all for the sake of ascending to the throne to bring a better world. To perhaps even be loved and cared for. Even though she knew it was an excuse, she committed many crimes with ease.

She felt that after all, she had done for her kin, at least whoever would rule over the ashes of reality would let her live in peace.

But Serena knew too much. So her loved ones cut out her tongue so she couldn’t speak and she hoped it was an oversight they didn’t cut off her arms as well.

Metallic footsteps echoed in the corridor leading to her cell.

The cell door opened, and Serena lifted her head in acknowledgment.

“It has been decided that you will be burned at the stake. A rather barbaric way to end one of royal blood but fitting for a heathen and kinslayer,” a man said with disgust.

Burned alive was better than withering away, and it would be a fine spectacle for the others.

How long has it been since I was locked up in this dungeon?

The cell had been a lightless pit, and with her eyesight taken, it only further removed her sense of time.

Once a day, or so she believed, someone would bring her food. They had to remove the mask and personally help her eat, but it was one of the few times that being what she was saved her. At first, she was half unconscious because of the wounds from the torture. Now, the bleeding stopped and the wounds healed a bit, but the pain was terrible because of the aftermath.

Her shoulders felt like they were about to tear, and the lower portion of her bloody body was covered in bruises.

She was cold, but she did not know if it was because the prison was cold or because her blood was not circulating properly in her body.

Even the warmth of the sun did nothing for her. The damnation of the crowd who believed the filthy lies her loved ones spread of her haunted her. Rotten food, blunt items, and even rocks were tossed at her as she was dragged by the guards to her death. Her resistances had long been nullified by the extreme pain she was constantly in. It was only her willpower that prevented her from acknowledging her weakness.

She was soon strapped onto some kind of construct. Her arms were raised above and off to the side of her head, and her legs were also tied to the same length. The scent of some kind of oil tickled her nose, and Serena knew it would be a marvelous bonfire. If she didn’t melt away due to the heat, her body would be torn apart due to gravity.

It was kind of hilarious, at least to her. She had done everything she could to keep her people and their legacy alive. In the end, it was all for naught.

The flames of judgment, at least in the eyes of the onlookers, began with a single spark. It soon spread throughout the bottommost layer of logs, and already the smoke was bothering her.

Perhaps it was desperation or a hallucination, but she could have sworn she heard someone ask her something. It took a few more moments of straining to hear beyond the jeers, her groans, and the crackling flames.

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”

Serena could already tell her day was going to get even more messed up.