Called a Queen 'till Kingdom Fall

Chapter 3

With her hands shoved in her pockets, Silvia trudged down the road, her mind still spinning from the argument she had with Nanami and Kiyo. She remembered the look of rage on Nanami's face when she talked about killing her mom.

"How could someone have that little empathy," Silvia thought to herself. She kicked a pebbled and watched it scatter across the barren road. It was still early in the morning, and there weren't that many cars out yet.

"Give it a couple of hours," Silvia said aloud. She continued walking, not knowing where she was going. Her mind kept drifting back to the argument. It shouldn't have phased her that she got into an argument about what the next step should have been. Having those arguments was part of the job and part of the trade. It made busting crime easier. Being able to argue with your team meant you all had a clear head about what might need to happen in the future. But arguing with Nanami was different. It made Silvia upset in a way no one else had ever made her upset. Nanami just knew how to cut to her insides and get under her skin. Despite that, Silvia still knew Nanami had the best in her heart.

"She did help calm Kiyo down, after all. And she treats you as her friend most of the time," Silvia thought. She didn't know if Nanami liked her. It seemed like she did. But she had a difficult time accepting Nanami. They varied so much, especially in the value of human life. Nanami had almost no regard for it.

"If someone is going to try and hurt or kill me, they should expect me to kill them in return," Silvia remembered Nanami saying once. But Silvia knew that isn't the way things should be. Unless it was necessary, she wouldn't kill someone. And then there was Kiyo who wouldn't kill a scorpion if it was actively trying to sting her. Silvia smiled at the thought of Kiyo. Nanami being there for her also made her smile. Kiyo was like their younger sister. Despite her being closer to Nanami, all of them cared about each other deeply. It broke Silvia's heart to place them under her mind's control. She thought about them hard and issued her command to them. Their eyes changed color to match hers- one red and one yellow. After she told them the command, they just went limp. Their eyes closed and they crumpled to the ground. It hurt Silvia's heart. She didn't want to see her friends suffer more than they had to.

"They are going to kill me when they remember what happened," Silvia said. The guilt tried to eat away at her before she shoved it away.

"Gotta stay focused," she reminded herself. A loud noise from the building next to her caught her attention. It was a brick apartment-style building. Graffiti covered its walls, making it look less than appealing. Silvia heard a crash inside followed by yelling. And more yelling. Cries rang out from inside, and Silvia knew she had to step in. She walked into the central building and found the door the people were in.

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"Apartment 101" she read aloud. The noises were even louder from the inside. Crashing and screaming were all Silvia could hear. As loudly as she could, Silvia banged on the door.

"Hey, is everything okay in there," Silvia yelled. The sound of running feet approached. The door quickly swung open to reveal a disheveled woman. Makeup ran down her face, her hair was all over, and she had a split lip.

"P-please help me," she sobbed.

"What's going on," Silvia asked, trying to remain calm.

"M-my psycho ex i-is tryna ki-ill me!" Silvia looked inside. Footsteps sounded like they were retreating somewhere.
"Don't worry ma'am. I'll stop him. Call the police and try to get yourself to safety." She nodded briefly and Silvia charged into the place. There was broken glass and furniture everywhere. Holes lined the tan-colored walls in the shapes of fists, and blood was on the carpeting. Hastily, Silvia made her way toward the back of the apartment to find the stairs. There was a staircase down into what Silvia assumed was the basement. A door covered it. Grabbing the sword from her back, Silvia stabbed through the wooden door and slipped inside the dark room. It smelled of must and chemicals. The ceiling was low, just above her head. As Silvia stepped off the stairs, she felt a little puddle of water at her ankle.