The cognate Empress

Chapter 12. The shortest reign

In the guardians' chamber

"Your highness, what do you mean?" Tristitia asked confused, Nova's words did not make any sense. What was she trying to convey to him by saying if something made you sad, you only needed to right it? If it was that easy, the guardians wouldn't have had millenniums with seeing each other just two at a time, and this only if they were lucky.

"It is just as I said." Nova did not bother explaining more, and simply moved away from Tristitia, separating herself until she reached a few feet away. In this time, Tristitia did not follow her, because of his absent-mindedness, even though as a guardian he was supposed to be her shadow.

But his inaction was perfect for Nova, who had already made up her mind for the matter that would follow. She did not need anyone contradicting her decision.

Taking a deep breath, as if to steady herself, Nova filled her lungs with air, and as she exhaled deeply, her alien form reappeared taking away Nova's human characteristics.

The scale like shapes replaced the nude colored skin, her eyes took on their golden hue, her ears grew pointer, and the butterfly like eyelashes elongated themselves in a matter of moments. Half a second later, on her already patterned skin, black tattoos appeared all around, and the large crystal between her eyebrows shone in a black colored light.

By this time, Tristitia noticed her movements, and her transformation. But he could not be bothered to notice the nostalgic black color of the first cognate empress, as he observed the unusualness of the situation. Nova should have been quite exhausted already to attempt to transform herself in her natural form, just from performing his awakening alone. Lena at that time had even collapsed in his hands, and only woken up several days later.

"Your highness?" He called, as a bad feeling enveloped his heart. What did the empress want to accomplish by reverting to her alien form? She would do this only if she needed a massive amount of power, an energy so strong that could be exerted only at the cost of her own life.

It was akin to releasing the limiter that could stop her from killing herself in the process, the restriction that would minimize the use of her power up until it was capable of affecting her body irreversibly. Such a power would only be needed right now to awaken more guardians, it was required because once the tombs would start opening up they would start sucking even her life force away to complete the awakening, regardless of her will. As such, subconsciously he could tell just what she planned to do, but even though he could see it with his own eyes he did not dare believe she was really attempting to do it.

Nova no longer replied to his words, no matter how much Tristitia called, and even approached her. Her face was only concentrated looking towards her arm, as her long black nail swiftly slashed once more the barely healed hand. Clawing fiercer than when she had cut her palm to wake up Tristitia, blood immediately starting to flow on her skin mixing with the black tatoo. It was apparent she had been a bit too thorough in assuring the crimson liquid was enough for seven individuals.

"Don't!" The guardian called out shaken, feeling his heart beat out of his chest, but it was already too late.

Black vines exited from the wounded arm, seven of them curling from the black tattoo. Extending themselves slowly on the crimson dyed hand, the black threads were soon coated in bright red blood. Their movement were unhurried at first, just how like a snake would slowly slither away on the ground, coiling themselves until they reached her slender fingers before they vanished in thin air, only to reappear in front of all the tombs, in the next second.

The black threads which had moved at an inhuman speed still attached to her hand, slammed against the other six tombs, dying the names of the guardians in red. Many unlocking sounds quickly resounded in response to Nova's power not a second later, after a brief moment in which the characters written on each tomb lighted itself up, as if even the names of the guardians were returning to life, alongside their bearers.