The Evanent

Preface: Atticus

I can't get it out of my head, it just keeps replaying itself over and over, was it really so quiet you could hear the clang of metal hitting ground, did it all truly happen in slow motion, was I really frozen in terror, unable to save my late father, or did I just imagine all of it? How is it that the sound of his crown falling to the ground keeps me up at night? This has to be a dream, it just has to be! He can't be dead, he just can't be! He's supposed to be invulnerable, he's supposed to be around forever! If that were true, would you be dressed in your funeral clothes? Would you be staring into the extremely reddened face of his killer?

With that realization, I snapped back to my reality. A reality where my father, my king, is dead. A reality where I am next in line. A reality where my father's killer, the horribly wretched Sun Queen, Erza, came to visit on the night of his burial.

"You shouldn't be here." I exclaimed, she was sitting on the edge of my bed, the fiery tones of her skin tight outfit clashed with the soft calming blues of the room.

"Calm down, General. I know today is a day of no war. I'm simply here to offer my condolences to the family. By the way, how is the royal family?" Her face showed true sincerity, but knowing the Queen since birth, I picked up on some hidden features. Not many could catch it, but she wears a smirk in those amber eyes.

She knows very well how the royal family is doing and she knows she did a good job at tearing us down. "We're coping, but it can only get better from here."

She snickered from under her breath, "Yeah we'll see about that, General."

"It's King to you."

"Not just yet, General. Not until the coronation, which I don't intend on letting happen." As she stands, I realize just how much she towers over me when she wears heels, if she hadn't worn them, we would be about the same height, but you never see her without them. "Today may be a day of no war, General, but don't think that we won't go back to our battle tomorrow. My troops are primed and ready to take down a kingdom with no king. A kingdom with no king is a vulnerable one and with the eclipse only a month away, I intend to attack that vulnerability. Do you really think that you can mourn, get your troops back in line, become king and defeat us before this month is up?" With a skeptics look plastered on her face, she elegantly sat on the arm of a deep purple chair and laughed. "We will be victorious!"

"I don't need to be King for my people to respect me. Unlike you, my people are loyal to actions and those behind them, not a word. They would follow me whether I am labeled King or General." I expected this to hit her close to home, but all it did was make her chuckle more.

"If your people were so loyal to you, then how am I here? You sure as hell didn't invite me so who did?" After a moments pause, she continued with a sigh, "You don't get it do you? You have a rat!"

She was right, the royal family, on both the Sun and Moon, couldn't physically show up on each other's kingdom. It had to be telepathically, but I didn't call her over or answer to a request, so who did? "How are you gonna rule a kingdom of rats, General?" She laughed.

"The same way you rule your kingdom of pests, you old hag." That smacked the grin right off of her smug little face.

"You have guts, I like that. I would have loved to take you down as King, but, I guess this will have to do." She stood, walking back to me. Each clank from her metal tipped heels brought me back to that moment when my father's crown rolled across the battle field. "Enjoy this down time while you still have it." Her red manicured fingers made their slow ascend down to my cheek; but I intercepted her hand before she could find her destination.

A sour look stitched into her features, her amber eyes disappeared in the shadow of her ginger eyebrows, her pumpkin tinted lips puckered and with her other hand, she flipped her copper toned hair out of her face. "You're going to have a rough, tiring month." She ripped her hand out of mine, "Offer my pity to the family."

"Not a chance."

She smirked one more time before muttering, "Until tomorrow, General."

I just managed to call out "Goodbye, Hag," before she completely vanished, leaving me, again to my thoughts and the calming tones that could do nothing for me now. Without realizing what I was doing, I threw a vase at the wall, where it shattered into bits, and sat on the soft purple bed to enjoy my first day off in years.