Villain

9.The Realization

I stare at the men before me. Dawn could come back any moment. And now the King has something to tell me about my dead mother? "I met your mother a week after I was wed. She was a strange woman, travelling from a far of land, I never learnt where. We spent a single night together and nine months later she showed up heavily pregnant with you," he says. "Eris was furious when she learnt of this, her only consolation that you were not a boy. Your mother died shortly after birthing you, but not before giving you your name," he says. I always assumed my mother was a commoner from the Land of light. "Her magic was unlike anything I had ever seen. She was more powerful than the magic of light and Dark combined," he says, causing my eyes to widen. "That's why she bound my powers," I state , and the King gives me a short nod. I sigh, taking it all in.

Soon someone with a black coat comes in, their features hidden by a black scarf. The shifter, professional teleporters. "Time to go," the voice sounds like nothing in particular, making me question if I heard it at all. The King holds the arm of the shifter before they both disappear in a cloud of smoke. I sit on a chair, my brain whirring with all this information. "Have you any other questions," Prince Lucien asks gently. I nod. "Just one last question. The box cannot be possessed by someone that isn't a blood relation , or permission from the owner, so how did you give me permission to open it," I ask. The Prince smiles at me , and I watch as his face and body changes and he looks just like Dawn.

"I had permission to take the box as my own," I blink at how well he fakes her voice, and soon he changes back to his normal form. Instantly, he looks tired. Glamours drain magic. I nod at the Prince. "I will go to my room," I tell him. He nods, understanding that I need space. I lock myself in my room, my thoughts running a hundred miles ahead of me. My heart races as I process what just happened. I remind myself to breathe. I find it hard to believe the Prince and the King, and who would blame me? It was so much and so suddenly. Surely if it were that important I would have known sooner.

Surely if the Prince was my perfect half , I would have known sooner. Surely if the Queen hated me so, she would have killed me instead of training me to kill. But perhaps she reveled in that control. Her bitter, jealous heart vowed to break me for the mistakes of my parents. I know that is plausible, the Queen is insane. I hear Dawn humming and I consider the Princes words about her. As willing as I am to accept everything else, I will never see Dawn as evil. He doesn't know her like I do. The Queen is just influencing her.

Who wouldn't do anything to please their parents? Despite myself, I still find myself seeking approval from the people who ruined my life, so why would it be different for Dawn whose soul purpose is to please others and make them happy, and bring light into the world? The Kingdoms being misjudged is another thing weighing heavily on my mind but I have to think about it. With their corruption, willingness to kill and superficial standards , the Kingdom of Light is no better than the Kingdom of Darkness that trains every able body to kill and use their power for their own gain.

These people kill their own kind for their benefit and backstabbing is common amongst them. Both Kingdoms are tainted by Darkness. Is it so far gone that there is no hope for true Light to be brought into the Kingdoms? They will massacre each other. A pit forms in my stomach. Dawn could have been a show of peace, instead she is being manipulated to start a war. The Queen of Light is pulling all the strings in the Kingdom of Light, and despite not having the throne, Prince Lucien controls the Kingdom of Darkness, and neither will rest till they destroy the other.

Even Lucien seeks to use me against the Queen, the same way she tried to use me against him. They do not care how many lives are lost. They do not care about the bloodshed or how many innocent lives they ruin. Their games have ruined my life and corrupted Dawn. i think back to the stories. The Land was riddled with monsters, creatures of the dark that terrorized the people within. Two brothers decided to form an army to battle these beasts. Thousands of lives were lost. The younger of the two had had enough.

Summoning a force he didn't understand, he slayed every single monster, bringing peace to the lands. The Victory was short lived. he slayed the survivors of the war, claiming they had been infected by the darkness. He killed men and women, only leaving children unharmed. His older brother was horrified. He used his magic to craft a box in which he could trap the darkness that had infected his brother and lead him to madness. The younger brother died a year later, the stories saying that he could not live with his guilt after creating his Kingdom of Darkness, and took his own life.

I now know that is not the whole story. That the box in the story was a rune box, that the elder brother siphoned the youngers powers, killing the younger brother in the process. His greed for power infected his land, the Kingdom of Light with a terrible darkness. Both lands are cursed. Infected with darkness that is spreading further and further, settling its claws into even the purest of souls. It does not matter which side wins the war, not if in the end, we all lose. There has to be another way.

A way to restore the balance between good and evil, between darkness and light. Perhaps we should move to a land that was not so infected with darkness and monsters, but neither kingdom will agree to that. Inter being formed was our only hope of salvation. If I side with the Prince I will be helping a bad situation get worse. Eventually everybody will be turned against one another and kill each other. There will be no survivors. There is no winning this battle. At least not by a war between the Kingdoms.

I have been forced into a life of Darkness. Of bloodshed and hatred. The self loathing, the lack of full human emotion that comes with it. It is not something I would wish upon my greatest enemy. Even I feel the suffocating darkness. This war will only make things worse. Soon there will be no land to fight over. No people left to fight. They will become the monsters from the stories without even realizing it. How can no body else see there is so much more at stake here? My door flies of its hinges, a bright light flooding my room.

Dawn marches in, her face red with anger. "Why do you ruin everything," she yells at me, and I stare simply shocked at her actions. What had I done now ? "You really thought you could fool me with those flowers," she shouts. "Or with this," she throws the necklace the Prince gave her onto my bed. "Princess," I begin, but she shoots a ball of light through the wall next to me. "Quiet," she orders. I listen to her command, trying my best to hold back from hurting her. "It isn't enough is it," Dawn states.

"That you're fathers favorite? The glorious first born. Or that my mother obsesses over you more than she cares about me," she says and I stare, She knows? "Innocent ,useless Dawn. That's what you all think," she is screaming now, blasting more objects apart in my room. "Well I know everything ! I know were half sisters and I know you kill. I was fine with you always stealing away the attention from anyone that looked my way," Dawn is seething and I listen in pure disbelief.

"Mother tried to charm me into not liking him, but I do Cel. And you stole him from me," Dawn yells. "Who," I ask to humor her, surprised she thinks I am the one who has everything that she wants. Is she crazy? She has everything, she always has. "Lucien," she spits out his name. "I love him," she says boldly. I shake my head. "You know that isn't true. How on earth do you see me as the favorite when the Queen would see me for dead? When father barely acknowledges me. You have everything, you always have. How is that not enough," my voice calm as I question her delusions.

She sneers in my face. "hes just using you. he loves me. Once he gets what he wants hell throw you away, just like everyone else," she hisses, her words filled with pure hatred. I stare at Dawn , barely recognizing the girl in front of me. Taking my silence as a win, dawn walks away grinning. Her actions have confirmed what I have been thinking. I have to fix this.