“My eyes see all, yet my eyes see nothing. I'm the second most powerful person in this world, yet I'm nought but a caged dove. These crimson ties grow tighter.”

(«^») Aurora Faelina

8E/438Y/10M/85D 6:00 AM

The next day I was to attend a ball. Seemingly, there was a birthday to celebrate, and the entire military district was to be turned into celebration grounds. Although I still wasn't allowed to leave Fort Charm. I was also supposed to give a speech that day. Officially I was ‘Heiress Ciana XII’. The public was never informed of my real name, which was, in full, Aurora La’Fey Ciana Dalia Faelina ‘The Bringer of Nature's Light’. By law every child had to be given a title relevant to their name. My mother was an Archfaery and my father was a Seraph. My last name, Faelina is just derived from the word fae which is the word that describes the nature elements in our tongue. Aurora refers to the auroras you see at the tropics, the northern and southern lights. And Ciana just means light. Dalia means fate or luck. I'm not sure where that fits in the whole bringing of nature's light deal.

So, I woke up, and did my daily routine of arguing that I could take care of myself until my caretakers gave up, bathing, dressing up in clothes I abhorred, and going to breakfast with twelve high nobles that made up the Alexandrian council, and my mother. And my father was notably absent, as he always was. I sat on the opposite end of the table of my mother. The sides were reserved for the nobles.

And of course, Bradwr sat closest to my mother. “The best of mornings to you, my queen.” He showed up last, and gave her a bow. Although I could feel the wink he wanted to give her. In some alternate timeline he finally grew the balls to do it in front of me. And in that time line he's currently being brutally stabbed and murdered with a spoon.

I might be a nice, shy, quiet girl most of the time, but around these people all I could feel was hate for them. Especially Bradwr. I knew he wanted to be king. I knew he wanted my mother to cast out my father and let this man in power. She would too if it wasn't illegal and cause an outrage. But currently they were trying to fix that by getting The Council of Nines to allow the new legislation to be passed. They were oh so close. And the moment it happened, and he replaced my father I would kill him. No hesitation. From the moment I met him I saw choices he was thinking of. The other timelines where he didn't play ‘Nice Uncle Bradwr’. I've seen futures where he kills me. Abuses me. Rapes me. I knew exactly what kind of monster he was, and I'd be damned if I let him live.

“To you as well, darling!” My mother blushed at his words.

I hated her too. I had to live with her being toyed around by these twelve bastards.

I'm sorry for the language, but I just have this need to express how much I hated these people. My father, knowing he could never win this war, had locked himself in the MED section of Fort Charm. Far from the royalty chambers. The MED or Magical Experimentation and Development section was military only, but him being king, was an obvious exception. On a few occasions he's visited me. At one point he gave me a Luna Charm. One of the very few gifts I've ever received in my life. He was a good man. Loving. He understood my situation. Although he rarely spoke.

Bradwr and my mother continued flirting. It had gotten so much worse over the years. It felt like sandpaper being drilled on my ear drums. I couldn't take it. I finished my food quickly, and stood up, “Excuse me. I'll be heading back to my quarters now. Call me when the speech is due, yes?”

(«^») Iris Exurrana

8:59 AM

I woke to a letter landing on my face. “The fuck? It's only been a da-” I stopped when I realized the envelope wasn't pink. No, it was actually parchment, not normal paper. I opened it, and read it out loud.

“‘Bounty notice. Ciana the twelfth, Ciana the eleventh, Drowlin the eleventh. Reward 500,000,000?!” I yelled that last bit. “‘Supplies have been left next to your door. You know what to do.’ Signed simply by the Von, huh? Odd that they wouldn't get A to contract me. I guess they need this done quickly… Still… I've never killed royalty before… nobles, yeah, but the heir to the throne..? They aren't warriors. This will be easy, but I doubt even the Von’s protection could guarantee my safety if I pulled an assassination this big. But my name in the Undercommon would be huge. I'll be rich too. Besides, the Von aren't monsters like in the fairy tales. They wouldn't have me kill someone if it wasn't for a really good reason.” I thought about it for a moment more, “Fuck it. I'm already being hunted down. This can't make that any worse.”

I went downstairs to find a large case containing an absolutely enormous sniper rifle, as well as a potion, and two curious vials, with a note.

The heiress and her family will be giving a speech for the high noble Bradwr's birthday at 18:00 midnight. There will be a massive celebration in the military district. This rifle can handle a mile without any trouble. There are coordinates on the back. This potion will make sure you don't miss. The two vials teleport the holder to the other vial, but they only work once. All it should take is a single shot. We've included a training rifle under the real deal. You know what to do.

“Yeah, yeah. I've never used a sniper rifle before though… hopefully I can get some meaningful training in…”

I went down the basement of the tower which included an old, broken down shooting range and spent eight solid hours with the thing. I still didn't feel as comfortable with it as my fists or a blade, but it was enough. I went up into the market district to find it closed down. Even A was gone for the celebration. “Must be a pretty big event. Lucky bastard. I've never even heard the words ‘happy birthday’" Except from Aurora. She had memorized my birthday, and sent me a letter on time every year for three years. Of course I did the same for her.

I took a train down to coordinates. It was a tall business building, but it was closed down for the celebration. There were a few security guards, but getting in places where I shouldn't be unnoticed was something I'd done for years. I made my way to the top of the building, and set up the rifle. I had to put it together because it was so large. The pieces fit in the case much easier than the thing fully put together. The barrel itself was four inches wide, an inch thick, and five feet long. The bullets were two inches wide. It had a silencer, but it was small, so it was probably magical. After I set it up facing the place the heiress would be speaking, I put the vial behind it and pocketed the other. I then ran at full speed across the rooftop and activated my gift. This particular gift locked anything’s momentum if you've been wondering. It's very handy if you use it right. After I was sufficiently far enough away from the building, I dropped, but before I could pick up too much speed I activated the gift again, to drop slowly.

And I made it to the ground unharmed.

(«^») Aurora Faelina

6:12 PM

I was imprisoned, as usual, in Fort Charm. Rarely had I ever seen the outside world. I only knew Exana through maps, and geography lessons. But the Fort was lovely, and lively that day. So I tried my best to enjoy myself. And by enjoy myself, I mean training with Miss Lotfi.

Clack CLACK This time I was more aggressive. I parried much harder and took very calculated swings at her when she got defensive. I hit a few times, but her total defense was impeccable even when she was going easy on me so I had to get lucky. Clack clack More, more! This time I parried her practice sword to the side, and sidestepped. I then grabbed her wooden sword’s blade, and pushed the wooden dagger at her throat, barely touching it before she caught it.

She grinned and stepped back a little, “You show great promise, Aurora. You're getting better everyday.” She ruffled my hair a little.

“Thank you, Miss Lotfi.”

“Anoh,” A shy voice interrupted us, “Mom..?”

Miss Lotfi turned to a girl wearing very dark brown leathers, with dark eyes and hair, a rapier at her hip. “Yes, dear?”

“You have a letter from a ‘friend’...” Ryder quietly passed Miss Lotfi a piece of parchment.

“Thank you, Ryder. Why don't you spar with Aurora here while I read this and write a response. More training is never a bad thing, especially for a warrior like you.”

Ryder looked hesitant, “Isn't she the heiress..?”

“Yes, but she carries the blood of a Yurriana.” A love shatterer? Is that a family name? I've never heard of them… Ryder’s face went from that of a hesitant, shy look to a look of understanding. And somewhere under there, there was ferocity. “Oughta’ girl.” She then tossed Ryder a practice rapier.

Ryder looked at me, and gave me a proper Yn Dyrian bow, “Bete mylis ye nylis, nis?”

“For honor and strength.” I held my dagger out in front of me preparing for an assault. Ryder gave me an innocent smile as I started seeing two of her. Both standing really close to each other, but they mirrored each other’s movements. “You have a peculiar gift.” I went for slash across her neck, but she dodged it easily. As she stepped seemingly both left and right, her double disappeared and she struck my shoulder. We went back and forth like this a few times but it was clear who the winner was. I gave her a small nod, “You're good. Better than me at least.”

She rubbed her fingers along the practice rapier, “You need to improve quite a bit. But remember that we always need to improve. For never having been in a real fight before you have decent technique. Keep at it.” She put the practice sword away and walked out of the room. I looked over to Miss Lotfi who was sealing a letter in an envelope with a hard look on her face. “Miss Lotfi what could ever be the matter?”

“Just some personal business, Aurora. I'm sorry, but I need to leave. Stay safe, alright?” She started walking out of the sparring room.

“Of course… it's not like there's much danger here in the Fort.” She turned around and gave me a worried look, then hurried off. Is something going on..?

I wandered the halls of Fort Charm trying to distract myself from the weirdness of everything that was going on.

(«^») Iris Exurrana

16:04

The festivities were nice. I didn't give a single fuck about whoever’s birthday it was, but this massive celebration was amazing. They only ever held events like this for royalty birthdays, and important national holidays. So I enjoyed myself. I played some games that were set up. I even won thirty k over a couple of those games. I could've won 100 k if I didn't get cocky and challenge a few people who were notably famous for being really good at those games, but, hey, at least I didn't lose money.

As I was walking through the crowd a familiar face appeared at my side. Green eyes, short, straight, white hair. A little shorter than me. “Yo.”

“Hey Raisa.”

“What are you doing out here? Never took you for the partying type. You're usually only at one because of your job.”

“I never go to parties because I don't have time for them.” I walked over to one of Vaeri’s stands, “How many rations are you carrying right now?”

He looked at me, perplexed, “A little over 5,000.”

“I'll take 10 days worth.”

“That'll run you 10,000 vials.” I put my pouch of winnings on the scale, did the usual.

Raisa looked at me, “So, what makes you have time for this?”

“Work.”

“Of course. You might as well be a fully fledged member at this point.”

“Why?”

“Half your life is working for them. So, why not?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I walked. Raisa started walking backwards with her hands behind her head, “Maybe I'm just scared of the dedication that comes attached to it.”

“You're already dedicated. More so than most members.”

I shrugged again, “Maybe one day.”

We continued walking, playing games, and trying food. Although the food nearly made me sick. It was far too rich for someone who's survived on rations for twenty years. Eventually Raisa left to do her own thing, and I had to do mine. I used the vial and teleported back to the rifle. I laid down and focused on the tower they said she'd appear on. The scope was powerful enough that even from a mile away, I could see it clearly. There were still people around the building celebrating. In fact the entire military district was filled. Just miles upon miles of people.

But I wasn't there to awe at the sheer number of people, and the size of the city.

I was there to kill someone.

It wouldn't be the first I had assassinated someone. I'd done it before, I'll do it again. I trusted the Von to give me targets this world could do without. And so I did what they said.

The heiress, queen, and king appeared at the top of the tower. I focused on the heiress first. I slowed my breathing. I took my time making sure the shot was perfect. I listened to the speech a little.

And I pulled the trigger.

(«^») Aurora Faelina

17:50

I was standing just before the exit to the top of the tower I was supposed to give my speech from. I hated every word of it but I had no choice. My father, Haelys had to join as well. And of course he didn't want to be there either. However my mother was as giddy as could be. My father took me to the side, away from my mother, “Aurora this is gonna sound weird, but things are going to change soon. I want you to take these, and keep them on you.”

“Father, what do you mean..?”

“Quiet. I can't explain right now. This amulet function like armor. This is a dagger made from Exana steel. It's lightly enchanted too. And finally this pouch has enough vials to last you three months if you spend it carefully. Don't ask any questions I don't have time to explain right now.” He led me back up the stairs, and onto the top of the tower. I was given a microphone and a piece of paper to read off.

“Welcome good people of Alexandria. Today we come together to celebrate one of the greatest men to live in our day. The high noble Bra-" I saw it. I saw it coming. I stopped talking. And the crowd started whispering.

In that moment I had a choice. I could make my mother go away and live with the fact that it was my fault she died. Or I could save all three of us.

I chose the former.

I might be a kind, quiet girl but it needed to end. I couldn't stand looking at what my mother had turned Alexandria into over her long rule. I couldn't stand what my family had done to it. So I decided to end it, right then and there. I waited for a little over a minute, then ‘accidentally’ dropped the microphone, and made a gesture while holding my symbol of Yofiel. I then muttered a quick chant, and grabbed the hands of both my mother and father. And as soon as it would hit I teleported my mother where I was standing and my father and I back a little bit. I then ran with him inside of the Fort.

As soon as I did so I heard screams outside of the Fort. I ran straight to my room with my father. And collapsed as soon as I got inside.

(«^») General Reje Karyk, earlier that day

Something was definitely off. Something had been bothering me since I held that birthday party for my daughter. One of my servants had been hurt, my keys went missing, and that Levy girl was something off too. I asked my wife about her and she said she didn't know anything about a girl named Levy.

This all made me very suspicious. And I decided to act on suspicion alone. I asked one of my female servants, Raelin, a girl with white hair and red eyes. She was obviously a lacuna due to those fox ears, and tail of hers. She had been extremely anxious ever since the party, and after a lot of pressure she cracked.

“There was a woman… Black hair, black eyes… she was using contacts to change the color of her eyes… she said she wouldn't kill me if I just went along with whatever she said…”

“Iris? The Blood Charmer has told me about her. She's the reason I'm out here in the first place.”

I took out my Veil and messaged my wife.

My wife had faked her death long ago, and became a part of the Von to help our efforts against Alexandria. I simply said, “Iris is alive. Get her to enact PROJECT NEW DAWN under the guise of the Von’s plans. After it's done, find her, and capture her. Bring her to me.”

That's how all of this happened. Plans were good to have, but they never were executed as expected. The reason I did this was because if Iris killed the heir the Von would leave her without protection.

Easy prey.

But later that night somehow the heiress and her father survived. So we had to think of a new plan. Then there was Bradwr and The Fox People to worry about. We could still capture Iris, but taking out the queen alone was no way to win a four way a game of chess.

(«^») Iris Exurrana

8E/438Y/10M/86D 18:01 AM

It was a set up.

It was a fucking set up.

I should've known when A wasn't that one that contracted me. But me being the dumbass that I am didn't think twice.

As soon as the heiress miraculously survived, and her mother took the bullet instead, the heiress and her father ran inside of the Fort and I couldn't shoot again. To make things better, when I tried running, I got knocked out by a sleep spell.

Fucken’ sleep spells. I hate ‘em. All they've caused is grief in these stories.

(«^») Aurora Faelina

2:09 AM

As soon as I got into my bed I cried myself to sleep. I wasn't able to handle what I had just done. Could I really be a warrior if I couldn't the the life of someone I hated without having an emotional breakdown?

After what felt like minutes of sleeping I was hastily shook awake by a quiet but worried Yalina. “Aurora… Aurora..! Wake up..!”

“Yeah..?” I sat up and looked at her with dead eyes.

“You need to leave…”

“What, why..?”

“I don't even have to explain why I don't have time to explain. This letter explains everything. I'm sending you to a friend's house. From there you need to read the letter and do what it says. Got it?”

“What about father, is he okay?”

“He's gone too. He should be fine. I've packed your things, now get dressed and follow me. And remember. You're not Aurora, or Ciana XII anymore. Not for now at least. I barely trust who I'm leaving you with, so you need to keep your identity a secret.”

“I… anoh… okay…”

I did as she said, and we started running out of the Fort. As soon as we got outside, the first thing I noticed was the dead streets. Usually they were lively every hour of every day, but I guess the assassination attempt forced a temporary curfew. We ran to a nearby train, and made our way into the residential district.

I couldn't help but be awed at the city. I'd never actually left Fort Charm and been in the city. This was my first time experiencing it. It took everything I had to contain the mix of emotions that made want to laugh and cry at the same time.

After the better part of an hour we made it to a small house. Not bad looking, just humble and small. Miss Lotfi went to the door and knocked three times.

An old lady answered the door. She wasn't terribly aged, but you could tell her years were getting up there. “Miss Lotfi how could I be of service at this late hour?”

“I need you to hold on this one for a while. Remember, we made an agreement?”

“Ah, yes. I apologize, it's very late, and I need my rest.”

“It's fine.” Miss Lotfi looked at me, “Go on.” She gave me a pat on the back, and I took a tentative step in the door.

“C'mon I don't bite!” The older woman gave me an innocent smile. I walked inside and took a deep breath. I sat on her couch and started drifting off while they talked.

I would regret that.