Indeed, the lurking wolf girl had plenty to be concerned about since the little girl dressed as if she was a cosplayer is the most potent aethereal user in the world and commands the most dominant squad known as the Crux Nexus.

When you have 100 years to live or even less than that, how can you dictate it into a story? As many others are lucky enough to live for 100 years, Lycka Benibara has lived more than that and still going strong in her prime. Both figuratively and literally. Starting out at a young age as a nurse in the 1900s, she always wanted to help the sick and help others achieve greatness. To her, that was her calling.

In a series of fortunate in unfortunate events, she had seen many of her friends become overwhelmed by the vices and illnesses that were crippling the world. At age 18, the heavens anointed her as the new Aethereal Queen without even being a part of the Crux Nexus to everyone’s shock. Using her position, she can finally help others who can’t help themselves.

Even though she is a Queen in the eyes of the heavens, Lycka Benibara is not from royalty and is not afraid to either show it with her bratty and childish attitude at times. Lycka always wanted to help the everyday people, even at the ire of her former colleagues and many monarchs who have real Royal blood in their veins in their point of view. During her time as the Aethereal Queen, she had learned from many others how to govern and rule as a monarch while keeping herself grounded.

She was on her way to do some sightseeing on her own to kill some time for flight until an unexpected phone call from her smartphone appeared. When she answered, she did not know who the woman was. She sounded so different yet so familiar. The mysterious caller named Aurora Rose wanted to meet up with her for lunch. She seemed sincere, so Lycka relented and agreed.

The place that they wanted to meet out for lunch, The Island Grill at Lancaster London, was a bit extravagant for Lycka’s taste. Even for the person who wanted to meet up with her, and she was royalty herself. However, Aurora Rose was not the kind of woman who loved fancy things anyway. She was more down-to-earth and more casual.

Lycka made a note of it, “This is a… Beautiful and fancy setting.”

Aurora Rose nodded as it made her a little bit nervous, “Y-yeah, I… I wanted to go to a coffee shop and talk, but Noel made the reservations. When you discovered who I really was, she wanted to go all out in the last minute…” Her majesty blushed in embarrassment.

Noel Moon, her royal advisor, even helped her dressed up in a long black and red robe with an attached hood, dark silver center panel with lace-up detail, and long frilled sleeves with thigh-high boots. The wolf kemonomimi had her long reddish-brown hair done in a high ponytail and was wearing an aurora-patterned bow.

Lycka giggled, “It was sweet of her. Moreover, it is happy to see you alive and well. You look so… different. You even feel different… I want to say you are a different person, but there’s something about you that screams… nostalgia.”

This put a faint smile on Aurora Rose, “Physically, yes, but I don’t think I changed that much…”

“Of course, you have! In and out. I couldn’t put my finger on it before, but it’s there,” Lycka sincerely confirmed. “When people change, they do not really feel it. It just grows with them. That is the positive side of change. The beneficial side of change. It feels natural.”

Aurora Rose blushed at the fact, twirling her hair, “I guess it does feel natural to me. I do have many stories to tell you. I mean, the events that occurred were so brutal. Nevertheless, in a way, I had to confront all of that and to face who I had become. I have not really done any of that in the past. The old me just brushed it off or buried it inside, not really understanding why it happened…”

“No time like the present, huh, your Majesty?” Lycka teased as Aurora Rose shook her head and disagreement.

“Please, don’t call me that. You’re the handful of people in this world who don’t have to call me that.”

“Do you have any names?”

Being taken aback by Lycka’s starkness, Aurora Rose quasi-defended herself, “Well, you want me to drop bombs, you for one. Even my two special people in the world… Mi querida y mi hijita...”

“Your Majesty…” Lycka wondered.

Aurora Rose slowly sighed at the thought, “I know what you are thinking. It’s painfully obvious I was the one at fault… I wanted to rudder the ship that already sunk to the bottom of the ocean. I realized that…”

Lycka sat back in her chair, “Last time I checked, you guys never liked each other… And he enjoyed destroying you back then…”

“I never hated him. Yes, I hated how complacent and docile he was, but he had his reasons. Reasons I’d never really understood after talking to him. Monsters are created, they are not born,” Aurora Rose substantially defended. “And as for destroying me, he only destroyed what he hated the most that was a part of me. Nothing more…”

“Well, that’s fantastic. Because now, your former team wants his nuts on a silver platter,” Lycka berated as Aurora Rose giggles.

“He’s gotten better… I guess you can say it’s an improvement for the better…” Aurora Rose blushed in embarrassment.

“And what makes you so sure he won’t go after anyone else in the syndicate again?” Lycka asked.

That was the question of her Majesty’s mind. All this time and all these years, her lover was a punching bag both figuratively and literally to everyone. Although it was a minor issue, it was still too scarring for her never to pursue a relationship with anyone.

Aurora Rose chose her words carefully, “Because if he wanted to kill everyone out of revenge, it already would have been done…”

Lycka shook her head in disgust when Aurora Rose continued, “Years ago, it was evident, I was very conflicted about everything. I took an interest in him. He was the one I went to when I was in trouble with everyone. I gave them words of comfort, always bent his ear to my problems… I could have ended up like many others who fell into darkness if it was not for him. He saved my life many times, he gave me advice, he made me into a better operative, and I was not even thankful for it. I felt the only way that I would be grateful for his hard work was to become this ‘líder militar glorificado.’ Nevertheless, there was so much going on with me. I just closed everybody out.”

Lycka shook her head and disagreement, “Sometimes it’s best to close most people out.”

“Yeah, because it worked so well in the past. Ignoring and shunning not the ones who hurt you in the past, whether deliberate or by accident,” Aurora Rose counterpointed. “Regardless of how you thought about them, I did not like him because of what I did wrong, and he did not deserve that. We never actually talked about it, back in the day out off embarrassment. And on that day, when I started talking to him again and forced to work with him, I did not even say I was sorry for what I did. He ended up apologizing first. Like it was his fault. In the end, not only we burned that bridge, we buried it.”

“Your Majesty, you weren’t the one who did that to him, and there was never really a bridge to burn between the two of them,” Lycka clarified. “They didn’t care about each other. He showed no remorse about Natalia.”

Her Majesty scoffed at the idea, “Clearly, his uncle and his two friends used that to get to us. I saw it in his eyes that day. Soulless… Lifeless… He wasn’t enjoying himself…”

“Bĕhēmōt Firas is the reason why the Oleander Syndicate is no longer standing. Walter Dunne and Tsubaki Camellia just gave him a simple push,” Lycka reminded. “There’s a reason why the Oleander Syndicate are no longer respected by their peers. Moreover, he has turned the syndicate into a subculture in a section of a Hot Topic store.”

“There’s a reason why everything has changed. Because it had to change,” Aurora Rose rebutted.

“Bĕhēmōt took a mirror to all of them and made everyone in the syndicate see exactly who they were. And when we looked at the reflection staring back at us, none of us didn’t like what we had seen,” Lycka concluded.

Aurora Rose was a bit vexed by Lycka using her husband’s birth name Bĕhēmōt in such a sarcastic manner, “Trust me, the Holy Mother has broken many people we thought were unbreakable and untouchable as well. One of the reasons she excelled in your organization.” Aurora Rose shot back as Lycka scowled. “But looking back at it, Natalia was a glorified ideal. The biggest coward who was always acting tough,” Aurora Rose admitted.

“That was harsh, your Majesty. Yes, she did have her moments. Still… what your husband Bĕhēmōt did to ‘Natalia,’ I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemies. But then again, they were not the elite. They were just manufactured monsters, killing people with no rhyme or reason why?” Lycka sadly agreed.

“And that is the reason why my husband exposed the truth about Natalia and the syndicate,” Aurora Rose reaffirmed. “They were victims who bought into an idea they thought was just, and they paid for it. But they don’t have to be monsters anymore. Evil is a state of mind. The term monster is nothing more than a word in a dictionary. Because I have learned more about myself in five years than I ever did in my entire lifetime. Am I pissed off about that, you damn right I am?

“Do I… want to do something about it? Yes. Nevertheless, coming full circle is the defining point I am making to you, Lycka. Life will always find a way, and I know that in my heart, I have found another way. Whether if they join me or not, I do not blame them. After all this time and after all these years, I would not start over either. I would take it as it is and call it ‘life.’ But as one thing that hasn’t really changed with me: I do not do well with people stepping all over me and get away with it. There is another way, and I will show everybody that.”

It was indeed a beautiful and inspiring speech about self-improvement, but it scared Lycka a little on what Aurora Rose was going to plan next, “And what are you insinuating, your Majesty,” Lycka asked.

“I’m talking about starting over. Really starting over. Not just putting the past behind us. I am talking about confronting who we were and what we were. Finally, facing the truth about ourselves,” Aurora Rose proudly answered with conviction.

Even though it sounded good on paper and during a speech. Lycka had her doubts, “that is never going to happen, your Majesty. Because when two people have two different opinions and the free will to enforce those beliefs, there’ll always be conflict.”

“That’s true. Not everyone wants conflict anymore. You think people like Zayne intend to live in a world with conflict because that is the way things are? Of course, not. They have proven there is always another way to do things,” Aurora Rose argued.

It did sound too good to be true. However, it was not the first time that Lycka heard this before, and she was hoping for her sake, it will be the last, “I… I don’t know…”

Aurora Rose rested her hand on Lycka’s, “I don’t want an answer now. I am just giving them something to think about... You know, it’s been a while since I have thought about anything so clearly before. I find it quite liberating and rewarding.”

“First time for everything,” Lycka teased Aurora Rose blushed in embarrassment.

“That’s ‘your Majesty’ to you.”

“Now, you want to be honored. So, hypocritical,” Lycka comically insulted, but then she got serious. “Your Majesty, are… is he ever coming back?”

Aurora Rose paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to answer. They were brief, “In time, Lycka. All in due time.”

Lycka could not help thinking about Aurora Rose’s words. Aurora Rose knew what she wanted, and that was to never experience something like the Holy Fire Bombing again. Sadly, even she made up her mind what she really wanted, it does not mean it is unanimous.

A couple of hours later, Lycka left the restaurant and went to her own car. The white-haired wolf girl waited till the Lycka got in her car as she went inside the passenger’s side with a 9mm handgun.

Lycka was naturally stunned by this, “Hey, you get the hell out of here!”

“Took me a while to find you,” the wolf girl heckled. “You’re still alive after all.”

“And what if I am?!” Lycka stammered.

“Never mind that! Just drive!” The wolf girl demanded as Lycka drives off from the restaurant.

Later that night, the same wolf girl retires to her own apartment and is ambushed when she gets inside. For hours, she is beaten and tortured. Defiant in telling them anything.

“She already knows… You motherfuckers are already dead…” The white-haired wolf girl gurgled as she looks up to see a familiar face, and it’s not surprising who is behind this torture. “I regret nothing, you fucking loser…”

Having no remorse, the mastermind of this torture breaks the wolf girl’s neck, leaving her body tied to the chair.

The next morning a group of people dressed in black and black ski masks enters the flat. They cut the restraints off of the wolf girl, take a few pictures, realigned her neck and spinal cord, so it didn’t look broken, grabbed a shotgun, and made it look like she shot herself. They even left a suicide note: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."