Crowned in Flames: The Rise of the Queen

Celebration and Distraction

 Scarlett's long brown hair cascades over her shoulders, her eyes blaze bright with passion, and in front if her is John his eyes scan Scarlett head to toe, and then land her chest and meets her eyes again, "Scarlett..?" Scarlett clears her throat and removes her jacket, and pulls a scarf from her waist revealing her breasts. Scarlett raises her head and makes direct eye contact with Caelum, "Hey ain't that your kid, Caelum." Ryan says lightly punching Caelum's shoulder. Caelum scans the crowd standing up from his chair seeing Edward death staring him down, and then makes eye contact with Sabrina who just smiles awkwardly.

Scarlett and John stand at either end of the arena before James walks down from his spot on the podium where he was judging the fights. Out of nowhere every general and council member is teleported down to where John and Scarlett are, chills run down Scarlett's spine as Caelum lands behind her. They all gather at the other end while John walks over to Scarlett, "What the hell were you thinking." John said to Scarlett, "Actually right now I don't really know." She said, "You better have a very good reason why." Caelum said walking in between before turning around to face Scarlett. "Caelum!" Amelia yelled, "You-I agghhhh. I could strangle you if I could but aghhh. We are gonna have a long talk later." he said gesturing to Scarlet and walking away.

Scarlett started to rub her hands together anxiously, before she took a few steps before she stopped center stage, everyone in the Coliseum averted their gaze to Scarlett, "I didn't join this contest because of selfish reasons, I joined because I need to bring something to the light. The comet that struck ColourKore brought a dangerous threat with it these threats call themselves the Inhumans and they don't wish to bring peace, they have kidnapped my closest friends to me. The power struggle in Crescentia was sparked by them, when they kidnapped the two princesses, they manipulated the stories and caused the battle in Crescentia's Capitol ." Scarlett watched as everyone's face turned to shock as murmurs filled the crowd. Scarlett started to feel an uncertainty fill her chest, before she met Sabrina's eye, Sabrina nodded and pushed her to continue. 

"I have seen this threat face to face and they won't stop until the entire continent is destroyed. I will not stand to see the Kingdoms destroyed, there is a way to stop them we might not know what that is yet. I'm not saying I am the solution, but we need to embrace the idea that this world is changing and to make it work we must make a stand! If we don't start to change we will be wiped out!" Scarlett's voice gained confidence, she turned to face Caelum and the Council, "I don't know what will happen next but I know we need to try before we decide to give up and surrender." Scarlett said before turning to face the exit and walking out of the arena. 

"Caelum, you know her better than anyone. What's your opinion?" Amelia asked, practically everyone in the coliseum was watching, "Scarlett is completely right. She has faced the Inhumans more times than we have ever had. I say to hell with tradition, I say we try this little experiment and hey if it fails, I will go down with Scarlett." Caelum said the council members all stepped away leaving the Generals to each other, "If we are being honest Scarlett has guts, even at boarding school she was like this. It got her in trouble, but her heart is in the right place and her mind is too." Caleb said justifying Scarlett's actions. 

The murmurs in the crowd changed from judgement to agreement, "Scarlett. Scarlett!" chants through the crowd, "Damn Caelum, if I had known she was such a firecracker I would have agreed to letting her in when you asked me." Ryan said walking up to Caelum, Amelia raised her hand and the crowds chanting died down, "The Council has made a decision, Scarlett will be able to join the army to help us combat this new enemy. I know you have your apprehensions but if this fails the Scarlett will face the death sentence and Caelum will face the capital punishment if this experiment fails." Amelia said as the crowds began to cheer. 

*A Few Hours Later*

Caelum was walking around speaking to Ryan about everything that just happened but he was stopped in his tracks by his brother, "Caelum." Edward spoke. "Edward, I was surprised to see you-" "Don't act so surprised Caelum. You are jeopardizing Scarlett's future." Edward continues to speak before Caelum snapped, "Edward. Stop. I don't control her future she controls her own fate, and if you had any respect for that I suggest you back off." Caelum said, walking Edward and continued out to the edge of the village and entered the woods, hearing chatter from John, Ash, Sabrina, and Scarlett. In the small field John and Scarlett were sparring with each other, Caelum leaned against one of the trees watching as Scarlett swiftly pinned John to the ground, she turned her head slightly, "Caelum!" Scarlett jumped.