In the Golden Light - A Justice League AU

Chapter 38 - The Rightful Heir

{Warning: This chapter contains extreme scenes of gore and death. Read at your own discretion.}

It all came down to this moment.

Lazuli was circling one of the two best friends she made in her life. Someone who she had considered to be a close friend. Someone she was able to confide everything with to. But it was all wasted; it was all a lie, spun carefully by manipulative paws operating behind closed doors. The poison had seeped into the throne room, and by the time Lazuli had figured it out, it was too late.

A memory flashed.

5 year old Lazuli blinked as she met a newborn Oraca, her eyes wide. She approached the little pup gently alongside her father. The newborn yawned and cooed in a baby tone, raising its tiny paws up to repeatedly touch Lazuli's face. The princess didn't wanna laugh out of fear she would scare the infant, but she smiled, letting her little tail wag.

That newborn was now towering above her, claws dug into her flesh and drawing blood. She raised a paw to deliver a killing strike, but Lazuli jerked away once she struck, kicking Oraca's stomach. The young teen rolled on the ground with a grunt, shakily getting to her paws and laughing maniacally. Her eyes lit aglow in a deep red haze, causing Lazuli to flinch. The aura. She knew what that meant.

She has chaos magic.

"Foolish princess," she said in a strange, deep voice as the princess rubbed her head, her eyes shining brighter. "You should have accepted your fate of dying in my paws the same way Heelburn and Zako did."

"Ahhh. Ow, ow.. Z-Zako?" What did he have to do with what happened to her? Lazuli blinked, confused and getting delirious. What was she saying? Shaking her head, she raised to her hind legs as soon as Oraca lunged at her with outstretched paws. She caught her in mid air and was sent flying for a bit, tumbling into the rebellion. Oraca then sunk her teeth into the princess's neck and began to shake her.

In the midst of trying to save herself, Lazuli caught a glance of her parents and the others diving in to try and save her, only to be stopped by the rebellion. She was sent back to the sounds of teeth snapping and flesh being ripped. With blurring vision, she raised her paws one last time and lashed them behind her. She managed to get Oraca in the face, causing her to let go of her.

Blood welled around her neck, dripping down from the side. Lazuli inhaled deeply and coughed, breaths ragged. She put a paw to her neck and examined it, seeing her own freshly spilt blood ooze between her toe beans. She turned around to Oraca, who was licking herself clean. Her eyes shone brighter as the chaos magic blazed out. The princess felt a stab between her eyes, her limbs trembling at the presence. She took a step back, groaning and pressing on her head. So that's why she was so strong; someone had definitely granted her magic before the coup, the same magic that plagued her family, as Lazuli vaguely recalled never seeing her friend possess any sort of magical abilities.

But who? Who did she deal with?

The teen smiled again, and her body shook in laughter.

"Oh that's right~ I didn't tell you," she began, "but I killed Zako way before the coup. We had a running in when he was going to visit you and unfortunately learned too much from me after I tried to convince him to join us. It's a shame, because I really enjoyed him~ I'm sure you did as well. You know, he really loved you. Too bad he's now dead. Whoops. I guess true love doesn't win at all."

"What.....," Lazuli breathed out.

"Oh. Don't worry; I made sure he died a very quick death~" She looked to her claws with a smirk. "By quick, I mean screw up the injury purposefully in order for him to suffer and assess what he did wrong."

It finally settled in, and Lazuli let her ears fall. "You....... Killed........ Zako......"

Oraca tossed her head back, pupils shrunken, jaws parted wide open as she emitted a hearty laughter. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HIS DEATH WAS SIMPLY SATISFYING!! Served the traitor right! I do hope Heelburn said hi to Zako for me as I told him before I killed him. But now, things will be much complete once I eliminate you along with your family and everyone else loyal to you!"

So that's what she had said to Heelburn that made the guard completely shocked.

She was talking about his dead son in his face.

Talking as the murderer herself!

In those moments where she was assessing her pain and also the fact her best friend was killed by Oraca, her former friend, Zako's former friend, she froze completely. Her eyes went wide, and she stared at the ground. She was tackled and pinned to the ground. Her eyes met with Oraca's deep blue irises and deep red sclera, pupils completely shrunken as it darted up and down. The pain was becoming unbearable--

The pain was gone.

Lazuli's heart didn't stop.

Nothing stopped.

Instead, something snapped.

Something she herself doesn't know what.

---

Ultramine was having a standoff with the guard he had appointed years ago and the traitor that kidnapped his parents.

"After all these years," he muttered. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why?'" Starshern repeated. "Don't you get it? Your family has torn Atlantis from the moment the monarchy was established. Your ancestors, Zudok and Ragol. Especially Ragol! They cursed Atlantis, plagued it, plagued the whole world! We wouldn't be suffering if it wasn't for your family!"

"What lies has Suizul fed you while I put you on jail duty?" Ultramine growled.

"They weren't lies." As if on command, the Atlantean traitor lunged onto the King's back, pinning him down with his paws. The King struggled, looking back at the treacherous Atlantean. His sclera was bathed in a deep red. "They're all facts, and you know that."

"Magic-" Ultramine breathed out.

"You're getting a bit old for the throne, huh?" Suizul asked, digging his claws into his back.

"I'm not old, I'm not referring to normal magic anyway," Ultramine retaliated by twisting his upper half around and lashing his claws across Suizul's face. He kicked him away and got to his paws. "You...You have dark magic, the one created by Ragol...by Sollar. No citizen is supposed to have it other than the Royal Family. Only rogue, offending sorcerers and sorcereresses possess the casted rippling effect of Ragol's chaos to deal out this magic to regular citizens. Who gave you this sort of witchcraft?"

"Like we'd ever tell you who~" Starshern taunted, her eyes too alit.

Being surrounded by the chaos magic that ran in his blood caused Ultramine to feel a stabbing pressure in between his eyes. He rubbed his head, groaning. He could hear Suizul and Starshern's chuckle amidst his pain. He raised his head up at them, snarling. He couldn't fight back, no matter how badly he wanted to; his limbs felt heavy. He collapsed, shaky.

"The King's weak. Now is your chance, Starshern," Suizul said with a sly tone. "Kill him. Kill the bastard of Ragol! Kill him now while magic is in our presence to our advantage!"

The King looked up at Starshern, growling. She flexed her paw, grinning. "It's about time to end the Royal Family once and for all."

Before she could deal the final blow, she had looked up and froze, staring ahead of the King. Her jaw was agape, and she dropped her paw down in shock. Ultramine found strength to look back, and found his sight greeted to a horrific sight.

His daughter ripped her claws through Oraca from her throat down to her stomach, disemboweling her. An excessive amount of blood gushed and pooled down the stairs, alongside innards, staining the carpet around the throne. Ultramine got to his paws as soon as the aura died down and, running while Starshern and Suizul were distracted, tackling away an Atlantean that was holding Aquamarine down.

"Aquamarine, dear! You have to stop Lazuli!" he shouted to her. "NOW! Before the magic.... That dark chaos magic, begins to corrupt her soul! Or worse! Kills her!"

"What?" Aquamarine asked, looking at where Ultramine pointed. Her ears drooped immediately, and she ran off to their daughter. "Clams and pearls! Lazuli!"

Lazuli jerked her head up, sharp teeth bared, and Ultramine saw it. The one thing he had hoped his daughter would never have to possess: chaos magic. Dark, cursed magic. A red aura floated from her pupils.  

She had been affected.

Aquamarine had flinched and she was trying to calm her down. Lazuli snapped, and she shoved her mother away, continuing to rip Oraca's guts out. Everyone who could hear the carnage watched in horror. The young teen let out a horrific gurgle, desperately clawing to free herself. Ultramine knew it would be too late to save the young teen; Lazuli completely disemboweled her, ripping away her intestines and other internal organs. Oraca rolled to her gutless stomach, sides heavily rising up and down rapidly before they slowed. She appeared desperate though she made no attempt even though she could try. She must know herself she couldn't be saved. In one final groan, her head hung limp and her dark blue eyes faded away underneath her sinking eyelids. Once her eyes were closed, there was no more life left.

Lazuli kicked her corpse and watched it tumble down the stairs, the body landing awkwardly. The death of the young Atlantean had stopped both groups, their battle caught in a frozen standstill as Starshern bolted her way to her niece. Lazuli turned her attention to Starshern and was prepared to have Starshern suffer the same fate Oraca did, but Aquamarine stepped in and force tackled Lazuli away, pinning her and calling out to restrain Starshern and the rest of the rebels.

"This fight is over," she declared. "Arrest them all!"

Ultramine quickly rushed over to their daughter and inspected her; he saw the red mist fade from her eyes and the emerald color returned to normal. The princess was confused and sick, trying to rub her head only to realize she was restrained.

"Huh? What...what happened?" Lazuli asked weakly.

"You helped us win, my little gemstone," Ultramine replied. "You...saved us all, and most importantly: saved Atlantis." He nodded to Aquamarine. "You can let go of her, dear. She's fine. I don't sense it anymore."
Her mother eased up the weight she was forcing onto her, and Lazuli got to her paws, confused.
"Sense what?" She was confused. "I did..?" It wasn't until she began rubbing her head that she stared down and saw the now drying blood staining her claws. She raised an eyebrow at her father before following his gaze and seeing the lifeless body of her former friend in an odd position, completely disemboweled and laying in a large pool of blood. Her eyes went wide at the sight of her dead body. I... Did I do that? she thought, staring at her claws. She lowered her head, taking a deep breath in.

I did...

Her parents consoled her as she felt tears run down. She didn't understand why she began to cry. She killed a criminal. But why did it still hurt? She rubbed her eyes, sniffing.

"Your Majesty, what shall we do with the traitors?" Jazaner asked Ultramine. Lazuli looked to the line of traitors restrained in front of them before back at her father. He looked emotionless, his frown twitching as he prevented himself from showing his teeth. He consulted in silence to Aquamarine, who then looked at Lazuli with determination.

"Why don't you ask her?" Ultramine answered, directing his gaze at Lazuli.

The princess twitched her nose. "M-Me?" Lazuli was dumbfounded. "But, dad, I'm the princess-"

"No longer. Atlantis is saved once again, our time of reign is over. Atlantis needs a new King and Queen."

She couldn't believe her ears; was she ascending to the throne already? Her tears were gone. I thought I was reclaiming Atlantis for my parents to rightfully take back... She blinked, muddled, and looked at Jazaner, who redirected his question.

"What shall we do to these traitors, Queen Lazuli?"

*Queen Lazuli, how fancy is that! I'm Queen! This can't be real! Okay okay, keep it cool. The time for celebration comes later.*

She stood tall and declared in a strong tone, "See to it all of them are executed tomorrow."

Jazaner bowed, and, with the help of the others, directed them all to the prison. Something wasn't right though; she narrowed her eyes at Starshern, feeling a minor stab between her eyes. She never felt this before, and she knew it could mean one thing.

Magic.

"Oh no, no. Wait," she directed to Jazaner, who paused everyone. She headed up to Starshern, paws flexing. "She's a special one. No ordinary execution will kill her. Keep her locked away in our special cell until I find a way to kill her." She looked to Suizul as well when she felt the same energy from him. "Same with this one."

"You're sparing me?" Starshern taunted. "Thought you wanted me dead, princess, after all I've done to you."

"Oh I do want you dead, Starshern." Lazuli did her best to keep her temper. "But I will take care of you myself. Along with Suizul."

"You're making a big mistake not to kill us right away, princess," Suizul chimed in. "We will strike again. You wait and see."

"That's Queen to you traitors." She nodded to Jazaner. "Take them away."

"Yes, your Majesty."

The two glared as they were herded away with the rest of the traitors.

Lazuli could not believe it. Her first direct order as Queen! And her father had allowed her the freedom to speak her mind instead of shoving her in the dark! It was all she thought about ever since the age of 13. All she dreamed of. But...

"Am I really the new Queen?" she asked Ultramine.

"Indeed." He raised his head high. "You've proven yourself worthy today. It's about time Atlantis has a new, young leader to help guide it back on the right path."

If I'm Queen... "Does this mean...?"

That certain shine in Ultramine's eyes proved her right. Lazuli felt herself standing tall in excitement.

Goldwath is the new King.


{To be continued...}