The Last Legacy

Chapter 9: Afterlife

I feel a gleam of light thundering at the side of my body. My eyes are burning, my flesh feels like it's about to be incinerated and the raspyness and croakyness of my lips is urging for saliva to form on my mouth. The voices are gone, I can't hear them anymore. I open my eyes slowly, disturbed by the ray of light flashing in between my sockets.
I place my hands in front of my face, trying to block all the sunlight off and wondering where the hell am I.
There is someone in front of me.
I can only see parts of her body; a beautiful black ensemble running through her body, making her seem like such an...an angel.
The wings. They are dancing away in the back of her skin.
I open my eyes wider to make sense of what is going on.
"Am I...dead?"

The woman stands beside me now, her white successive filament falling on her shoulders and penetrating on my sidestep.
"No, dear. You are most definitely not." Her profound tone hits me.
I know that voice.
Mom.
"It's okay, my child. Open your eyes. There's no greater thing that light itself after all."
Reluctantly, I open my eyes and the burnished hits me harder. It discomforts me a bit at first, but then it all feels...calm. Like I can finally feel the warm in my crust and authentically grasp it for the first time since I was born.
"Mother..." my voice breaks after receiving such a surprise into my coating.
"My child..." her hand makes contact with the side of my surface. "I've waited so long to contact you. Your father—"
"Get out." I blurt out.
My mom's face changes outlook. Her hands are no longer touching me, trying to comfort me in the dusk. Because that is all this place is; pure and utter darkness. And that's what I am.
"Dear—"
"You drugged me." I assert, making a stand about my true feelings. "Every day I thought the King was wrong to resent you. But I should've known better."

I remember the day when Father told me the stories about the Citadel finding out Queen Alexandra will conceive their first child. Queen Alexandra, AKA my mother, served with the greatest pact of allegiance and faith. She practiced conveying her hope into other soldiers and mercenaries in our realm. She was completely light...and my father was the opposite. And just like fire and ice; they were perfect for each other...according to the King. Jonas Greyrose was born as the first newborn of King Icarus and his beloved wife, Queen Alexandra. Initially trained to be Red Devil's mighty warrior, Jonas was disciplined to slaughter at the age of four. His first kill was his pet hound. Father made him put a bullet through his capitulum...it marked Jonas for his entire life. That's what mother thought, at least. I was born secondly a few years after that, and Jonas was everything I aspired to be; relentless, potent, compelling, persuasive and substantial. Father favored him out of all his candidates, and the Citadel knew it. But it did not matter because Jonas did everything the Citadel asked and made no questions about it. He was already a fighter without winning the tournament. The Citadel even considered not having a tournament at all and downright choosing him. Nevertheless, the event took place and Jonas yearned for the win. Everyone was afraid of him. I remember sitting on the cathedra boards and chanting his name with millions while I watched everything on the colossal station. Everyone was rooting for him. But then I saw the spark in his eye loosen in just one split second.
And at the time of the execution of a mistress, he hesitated. A feeling he never had indulged or embraced for the sake of the world. Afraid of comprehending and learning what was on the other side of the mirror; love. And so, something happened after that.
I heard whispering coming from the guards and saw the King get up from his throne and directing himself back to the Citadel. Shujinko also following behind. Something was wrong...I knew it.
But I didn't do anything about it.

The next thing I know is Jonas suffering his annihilation fate. He was decomposed from his insides and completely torn apart. The crowd gasped at the sight of Jonas being defeated somehow and by a mysterious source. The fan-favorite was down and in a major turn of events, his beloved went on to win the event.
Part of me always knew he was in love with her. The flicker in his pale azure eyes lingering for something else than everything he ever known. I would never dare to tell Mother about it. Why would I? She would've done the exact same thing she did to me when I grew up. Pill by pill, I was incarcerated into her prison with no keys to escape. I could hear the howling at my expanse but I never dared to interrupt or overhear. But curiosity killed the cat and I heard everything she had to say. She never wanted me. She never wanted Jonas or me, for that matter. She despised us and how we turned out. The lack of humanity and self-centered issues caused her to outrage at Father. I was forced to swallow a large amount of doses after every training I had. Mother had ordered guards day and night to withstand in my room and keep check on me.