It all began with the end.
The Insomnium ores glittered around her in the damp underground cavern like stars; green, blue, violet and gold. They vibrated with power and emitted a scent much like honey mixed with iron that sat heavily in the lungs. Queen Cecilia took in a breath, her lashes lowered. She would sleep soon. The city was now vacant.
Upon her rocky throne, she closed her eyes and sighed. Her body was already feeling unlike her own. The freckles on her pale, ghostly skin were slowly fading. Her dull, wiry black hair transformed into a shimmering vivid red. Her eyes that were always too narrow, too slanted became wider, became brighter, with fanning lashing both luscious and thick. Queen Cecilia's Avatar was already taking over and soon she would lose her consciousness as well.
But the poison was also eating away at her body, racing against the spread of her disease. It gnawed through her veins, her flesh, her bones, and made her feel faint. The cave rumbled and the lantern she brought down with her clattered to the ground. Darkness would descend any moment now.
At first, she didn't notice the drumming of approaching footsteps. And when she heard his voice she thought she'd been dreaming.
Oh, but that was right. She couldn't dream anymore.
"Your Majesty! Queen Cecilia!" Prince Valentine was always so handsome with blond hair that fell around his face in waves. His right cheek would always dimple with a smile, too charming for her fragile heart. And even now with those blond locks matted to his face, dirty with grime and mud, it couldn't obscure his beauty. Oh, Prince Valentine! How beautiful he was! How he dare to steal Queen Cecilia's heart. A mad giggle was threatening bubble up her lips as she lost herself in his golden eyes.
"Please get a hold of yourself. Your Majesty?" He gripped her arms with enough strength to bruise and shook her, desperate to wake her from the encroaching insanity. But the cavern was already glowing and the magic became oppressively dense.
Just who was he calling Your Majesty? She sat there unmoving and grinned.
"Cecilia, please…" he sunk to his knees and begged her, his hands trailing down to envelop hers, "Please…Don't do this. You don't have to do this."
Her cheeks hurt from smiling. Queen Cecilia wasn't a person who often smiled. She tilted her head at him and spoke with a girlish tone, "What are you talking about?"
A flicker of hope invigorated him, "I'll purify you. You won't become a Nightmare." You don't have to die, he seemed to say.
Oh, this man, so handsome and so stupid. This time, Queen Cecilia couldn't contain her laughter, "No you can't. You've already purified two people this week. Don't be stupid. You'll strain your magic and die."
But he was resolute and held her gaze, fingers wrapping around hers with misplaced hope. And oh his hope was so misplaced! The poor, poor man. "At least let me try. Please, Cecilia."
Why was he saying her name so much? Cecilia didn't like her own name. "You'll die, stupid."
"Let me try," he repeated and rose to his feet. She didn't stop him when his arms reached around her and held her close. He wasn't wearing his armor and she could feel the erratic thumping of his heart against his chest.
Or was that her own heart?
Her lashes fluttered shut. She was so close now, so close to her eternal rest. But a string of magic unraveled from his lips. The spell was weak at first until it grew in strength, weaving with the power of the Insomnium ores around them. The ground was shaking and rumbling.
"Stupid," she muttered, putting her arms around his waist. His magic was tugging and pulling at the vast emptiness within her, prodding and fishing for her corrupted soul.
Stupid Valentine, what was he hoping to find? She chided and berated him in her mind. Stupid Valentine, didn't he know that she was going to die? Did he want to die alongside her?
Stupid, stupid, stupid Valentine. Her fingers curled into his jacket and felt a surge of magic flood within her. The magic was warm and it fought and raged against her sickness. Her eyes became misty and her chest swelled with the sourness of a lime. And that lime sat there in her lungs and grew in size until the pressure was unbearable. Until tears were pushed out and overflowed from her eyes.
Her face contorted and Queen Cecilia sobbed like a baby. She wailed and she cried. Tears streamed down her face and boogers came free from her nose. She cried and she wailed and gripped onto Valentine's body as tight as she could. "I don't want to die! I really don't want to die! I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry!"
A hand caressed her head, fingers wove into her hair. Valentine gritted his teeth and held Cecilia close. There was iron in his mouth and a burn that scorched each nerve from his toes to the ends of his scalp. But he continued to weave his magic, continued to be Cecilia's last beacon of hope.
Oh, but he was stupid, he was.
Cecilia held him to remember his warmth and his shape. And Valentine held her to treasure her and protect her. With a final gasp and wheezing voice, Valentine tied the end of his spell. And for a moment all was still. The air was filled with a deafening white noise.
He pulled Cecilia back. Her visage was already not her own; red hair, red eyes and skin free of her blemishes and her signature freckles. But the pitiful eyes that looked at him seeking salvation and love were undoubtedly hers. He would not forget them. Not even in the next lifetime.
"I love you." And he kissed her like a raven descending upon a final meal.
And she kissed him back like she was taking her first gasp of air. A light engulfed them, a bottomless silence stretched out.
And at that moment Cecilia felt her mind suspend upon a single, curious thought.
Oh, she hated the world. She hated the world she fought for with tooth and nail. She hated the world that she gave her life to, her soul. And what for? Cecilia couldn't remember anymore.
And in that endless moment, the world stopped. Froze. And changed.