Maria's waking eyes were forced into the past, wracking her body with grief. But it was not all that she saw. Through the eyes of her kin she saw the world outside her tower.

The Honour guard that had taken over the square, the remaining soldiery, cleaning the devastation they caused and trying to recover their comrades.

The mass graves dug for their fallen comrades, and the feeding grounds for her kin of the corpses of her enemies.

And Elaine, standing guard at the tower's entrance, ever-covered in a web of threads.

Through the whirlpool of memories echoed a voice, bringing a moment of calm into Maria's thoughts.

'My queen, your subjects are awaiting you.'

Yggdrasil's words were answered by a hiss of her master as her body revulsed at the intrusion.

'Get out of my head, I know they are.'

Her words bought Maria a few moments of silence, before Yggdrasil's voice returned.

'They are lost without you, my queen. They desire to know and carry out your will. Is that not befitting a queen, rather than to wallow in solace?"

'And what would you know of any of that! Of what I lost, what I had to give up, for nothing!'

'Nothing? Your enemies are vanquished, your rivals are gone, you yourself have grown more powerful than any in your line could have dreamt of. Is this not a victory?'

'NO!'

The fury returned will to her body. Maria rose up, staring around the room with her mouth agape, baring her fangs.

'Sin is gone, Armoire is gone, my Eli, my dear Eli, gone! My own body, you can see it, do not even dare to pretend not to! I am an abomination, this hunger, the thoughts, all of it. What is the point in winning if it cost me everything I wanted to cherish? What is the point in ruling if I have to do so alone?!'

Nothing followed. Maria was left once more to the torrent of memories, yet before she could drown herself in them once more, the eyes of her kin alerted their master of a colour outside, alien to the surroundings. Gold.

Why were any of them still alive?

The queen burst out of the darkness of the tower onto the plaza as a twisted reflection. Most of her clothes had been torn in her grief, replaced with a coat of scales, her hands and feet turned to claws, as monstrous as the sharp rows of fangs her lips could no longer hide.

Elaine, the monsters and soldiery alike cranked their necks to look up to her, and a roar of excitement echoed across the city as her kin beheld their queen.

Most of this Maria did not recognise herself, as her eyes were fixed on the stain that had sparked her into action.

Surrounded by Menagerie's beast soldiers Stood two rows of paladins, disarmed and disarmoured. Even in their common clothes they were unmistakable, even down to their faces each was a spitting image of the other.

'Menagerie.'

The beast scurried and squirmed at the mental call, wringing her hands she approached Maria.

"Do you have any reason why I should not have you killed for bringing my enemies here?"

"Because, my master, my queen, I do not bring you enemies! These here held out in a pocket, but when they learned of their defeat they sought terms of surrender, and, and what is more, my master, they seek to take up arms for you!"

Menagerie crumbled under the stare of her master, forced onto her knees until her head was pressing onto the ground.

"Your audacity is appaling, Menagerie, that you think I would do anything with the murderers of my wife than slaughter them!"

Even in her rage, Maria noticed a hint of movement in the corner of her eye, one of the prisoners taking a step forward. Her kin moved as one, and they were surrounded by drawn blades and claws, shallow scratches covering their face.

With the blood dripping down their face they lowered their head and gaze before speaking.

"I understand your pain, your majesty. Your rage at the crimes committed by my comrades. For their sins to pass unto us we accept. All we ask is that we may atone with our lives instead of our deaths."

The monsters surrounding the paladin began to tremble and shake, a few of their claws digging deeper into the paladin, surrounding them in a cacophony of hisses and howls. Their queen stood unmoving.

"From the day I took up the mantle of my family you have stood against me, paladin. What fool would I be to trust you, after everything you have done, with this ocean of blood between us?" Maria's words further incensed her kin around the plaza and their guttural roaring.

The paladin rose their hand and was narrowly pierced by a blade for the gesture, and wiped the hair out of their face.

"I am Sir Lios, standing in place of Sir Jeren, who stood in place of Sir Celin. Before your line turned on the holy alliance, Sir Celin was a fierce ally of your ancestors. Their betrayal forced Sir Celin's hand, for the oath of a paladin is first to their chapter, then High Master Hertiria, and finally their personal beliefs. Our High Master lies shattered, I am the highest ranking of my chapter that has survived."

Lios knelt down, and the horde around him made way, their jittering calming as Maria beheld them.

"We have lost, your Highness. But our desire to return the world to glory remains. And it is evident that the one who will decide what this may be shall be you. Our secrets, assets, castles and resources are yours, if you would allow us to repent and atone in your name."

Maria's shoulders relaxed, and she stepped forward. Menagerie scurried out of the way as her master approached Lios. Her right arm trembled and her claws lengthened.

"You will repent. And you will not be forgiven. Until the world bows to my banner, until the stars bend to my will, until the suns of the galaxy burn out and die, I will not forget, I will not forgive."

She struck out with her right, tearing four deep wounds across Lios' flawless features. They stood still, now staring up to Maria.

"But you will serve. You will serve, fight and die, that one day your deeds may be as great as your mountain of sins. That is my decree."

'Menagerie.'

At the call the beast leapt to her feet, staring up at her master. "Your will?"

"Deal with them. Figure out what they're good for, and what you may get out of them for our troops. Then get back to work, your performance in this battle was miserable." Maria walked past her beast, and gave her one last withering glare.

"I will not tolerate another failure of this size."

Without a look back she made her way past the tower, towards the beating black heart of the city, her hands clenched to fists, claws digging into flesh.

'Tetra, Elaine. Follow.'

The two beasts arrived at her side before reaching Yggdrasil, silently with bowed heads they followed behind their queen.

Even now Yggdrasil was still growing. Maria could see the roots growing thicker, if a lot less violently than before. The great white tree towered across the city, with even their greatest spires stopping at half of her height.

'My queen arrives before her humble servant.'

Though the voice was only within her mind, it's intensity still had Maria shake.

'The seal. Have you finally broken it?'

'My roots are coiled around it in total, my queen. at your command it shall be no more.'

The ground trembled and shook, throwing Maria off balance. She looked around, and finally noticed the countless rifts and cracks that had followed Yggdrasil's expanse.

'Why are you waiting on it, why not break it the moment you could?'

Silence. Elaine and Tetra shared a glimpse at each other, both trembling in the presence of their master.

'My queen.' Yggdrasil's voice shaking. 'I am not sure if it is wise. If you could see and feel it like I do. It is ancient, my Queen, older than this very place.'

Maria shook her head, her growling inner voice causing her beasts behind her to jerk back and hold onto each other.

'It is what needs to be done to reconnect the worlds, yes?'

'Yes, my queen.'

'And it is the only way that I may bring the full force of my kin into the world, yes?'

'That is true, my queen, but the consequence-.'

'Then do it!' Maria stomped her foot on the ground, shattering the rock underneath and sending her beasts stumbling backward. 'I did not lose everything only to hesitate at the last step. Break it, this is an order!'

The great figure of Yggdrasil squirmed high above, a pained expression on her face. Trembling she folded her hands together in prayer, and parted her lips.

"Thyen."

The word echoed across the city. The great towers collapsed in on themselves, their rubble sinking into the ground in massive holes that slowly filled with pools of black blood.

"Ghurrr."

The second word washed across the city, and with it left the light. The white of the rock making up the city peeled off into a storm of dust, before it disappeared, leaving only darkness behind.

"My beloved master, perhaps Yggdrasil was right!" Elaine stepped forward, her hand outstretched, only to scurry and hide behind Tetra after a glare of Maria.

"Ujion."

The third word ran across the city and far beyond it, to the great stale ocean. Waves began to form, reaching the shore as a great black platform rose up out of the blood in a circle, tall spiked pillars emitting a sickly red light.

"Phameon."

The fourth word was followed by the sound of shattered glass, a deafening noise that was followed by a great tear appearing in the sky above them. Through it Maria could see the earth.

"Esxinz."

The fifth word caused the tear to widen and shake, the view of the earth becoming clearer as it spun across it's axis, a rotation in a few moments. She could truly see everything.

See how oceans turned black, how deserts spread before her very eyes, how endless green was swallowed by flame, how great volcanoes erupted and covered the skies in ash.

Yggdrasil fell silent, her great head leaning downward. With both dead eyes she stared at Maria.

'It is done, my queen. The two are one again. I wished, I wished to tell you.'

Her words no longer registered with Maria. She only stared at the world in the sky, brought to ruin.

'What, did we just do?'

'The collision of this world and the other, was not possible in a clean way. I wished to tell our great sister this, but she would not listen. The two became too different, too repulsive of one another. A world breathing with magic, one where most of it is forgotten. The outcome would be catastrophe, it had to be.'

Elaine and Tetra crawled to their master's side, and Maria leaned on them for support.

'Is everyone, are they all dead?'

Yggdrasil shook her head. 'Many will be. A decimation, maybe worse. But your subjects still draw breath, my queen. And I fear they will need your leadership now more than ever before.'

Maria gritted her teeth as she stared at the ruined planet and the great fires reflected in her eyes.

And yet, a part of her felt nothing but glee at the destruction she witnessed, that she had caused.

For a few brief moments, her hunger dissipated.