A cloaked figure walked the path less taken in the woods. A brave soul withstanding the dangers of the path as well as the deathly cold that has engulfed the land. Peril played among the shadows, frolicking in the darkness while waiting for the next prey to land on its maw and drink the blood of its innocence and stupidity.
A trail of corpses followed her path like the tail of a crimson comet burning across the pitch-black darkness of the sky, unrivaled by all the other light. A weapon with the shape of the crescent moon dripped with blood. The weapon of Death and the blade that reaps the bounty of harvest. There is serenity in death and peace in the unforgiving cold.
Ruby stood alone in a sea of corpses where she herself sailed through by her own doing. Doing this was supposed to make her feel better for her grandpa and grandpa's deaths, but why does it feel so. . . empty. The void in her heart is not yell filled by the reaps of her vengeance, in fact, it seems to exude sadness instead of satisfaction.
The silence is terrifying more than the previous howling of the wolves and their monstrous snarling. With no noise to distract her head, awful thoughts ran through her mind like a barrage of arrows raging to puncture her morality and resolve that she did the right thing. There's also the fear of the unknown things lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce on her. But what beast would try to take on a monster such as her?
She heard a bark from a nearby tree and saw a little wolf cub pawing the face of, probably, its parent. It laid and whimpered on the ground due to despondency. Its whole pack, its family was decimated because of a little girl's whim. She gasped at the heartbreaking sight. Tears started to pour out of her eyes uncontrolled. She knelt on the snow-covered ground and wept on her bloody hands.
She's a monster more than them.
What was she thinking going all the way to do all this monstrosity? What did it give her in return? Nothing. And how does it make her feel? Perhaps a tinge of guilt and depression. Even though they were beasts they still have families and feelings but overall... She feels powerful. If she can achieve a feat such as this, something even the greatest hunters way older than her died trying to do, then what else can she do?
She was alerted by the crunching of footsteps in the snow and the sudden light that flooded her vision. She looked up and saw a golden-haired boy looking curiously at her with his deep amethyst colored eyes.
"What is... A pretty girl like you doing here crying?"
🌹
It was a pleasant day in the afternoon, noble flowers proudly showcase their elegance and beauty while the fantastic butterflies dance about in this garden of tranquility.
Diamond-shaped columns protrude from the ground standing like proud guards that lead the way towards a white limestone gazebo where a heated battle of chess is on its way between a mother and child.
"The Blood Moon Ball is coming up. Have you chosen your dress yet?" Althreya asked as she moved one of her pieces on the board.
"Carmilla and I are still planning on our visit to the fashion designer's store. Hopefully, we find something fitting. But I'm still disappointed about the fact that we're going to a party while other people suffer monster raids. It makes me feel guilty because we can do something about that instead of throwing a ball for the few rich and powerful. I'm better off swinging my scythe instead of my hips for noble bastards to ogle upon." Ruby replied, taking her pawn.
"Well said. I don't consent to it as well but we must establish our position in society if we want them to never cross us. I'm planning on sending you to the party while I stay here and defend our people."
"Then I should be with you." Ruby requested firmly.
"No. You're going. Carmilla needs someone to accompany her. What if one of her other suitors or admirers harass her? In addition, our family needs to at least show ourselves once in a while. The other nobilities might think our absence as an insult or worse, an act of rebellion. We wouldn't want that happening now, would we?"
"Yes. It will be most lonely without your presence, my love." Carmilla added right beside Ruby.
"Fine, very well. I shall 'socialize'." Ruby said with sarcastic gestures.
"Oh, don't be like that. I thought that I'm the introverted one here and you're the extrovert. Aren't you the dazzling sun where the whole solar system revolves around? You have a very magnetic personality you'll do just fine while I'll be the one hiding in the curtains." Carmilla joked making the two other women chuckle.
"I think I fall more on the ambivert type." Ruby mused moving her bishop inside her mother's territory which was easily decimated by the knight.
"Thread carefully from here on my child. Your pieces are in a critical position." Althreya warned.
A contemplative scowl decorated the maiden's usually gentle features. Her hands feel cold even though the sun is burning high while she can't stop perspiring due to the heat but more so on the critical position her pieces are in while her mother has a calm bearing but Ruby cannot help but notice the slight curve of her lips like she has already won. The young maiden gritted her teeth before moving her red knight to eat her mother's blue bishop which in turn was decimated by the blue queen.
"Check." Althreya said grinning deviously at her daughter.
Ruby moved her king to safety in exchange for the life of her pawn. One by one her pieces began to disappear from the board as the blue faction decimated her red soldiers until only six were left on the board composed of one knight, one rook, two pawns, the king, and the queen while her mother still had ten pieces at her disposal. Ruby had a downcast resolution due to this and her mother can't help but tease.
"My child, can you at least put on more of a fight than this? Didn't I raise you to be a fighter as well as a great strategist?" Althreya gloated with fake disappointment.
"You did..." she mumbled with a defeated tone. "And that's why you just lost." Althreya's face fell into confusion and surprise as Ruby smirked at her. The younger blonde moved her pawn to the last tile turning it to a queen cornering the blue king along with her knight and rook.
Althreya searched the board for any way to save her king, to amend her mistake but found none. A huge smile stretched across her lips proud of her daughter. Ruby stood up from her seat and started dancing around joyfully singing about her victory.
"Finally! After 17 years of my existence, I finally beat you at something! I'm a champion! I'm a winner! And that right there is an epic comeback!" Ruby cheered happily while shaking her butt in front of her mother who only shook her head in amusement.
"Excellent move my love. This is really impressive." Carmilla praised as she clapped her elegant hands together, sincerely happy about her fiancée's victory. She went to peck the blonde's cheeks who went to hug her, burying her face in her bosom due to the height difference.
"Did you watch really closely? I was getting destroyed then suddenly I figured out a way to outsmart mom! She was only focused on the big move guys especially my queen which I used to divert her attention from those little guys. And then bam! I won!" Ruby babbled thoroughly overjoyed as Carmilla caressed her golden locks with affection, her heart melting due to the girl's immense adorableness.
"Splendid strategy my dear niece. Such brilliance is clearly the influence of your handsome uncle." Gawain commented assessing the board while rubbing his chin.
"Dear cousin need I remind you that you've never beaten me even once in the game of chess, much more in the game of swords." Althreya reminded with a cocked brow towards the blond male.
"Clearly my offspring inherited her brilliance from me."
"No need to rub it in, my lady. I was merely letting you win because you are my lady." Gawain argued with a fake smile.
"That is such a wonderful match my ladies." Bedivere smiled as he snapped pictures of the scene.
"The photo came out good. I will surely print this so I can add it to your album Lady Ruby."
"Thank you, Sir Bedi!" Ruby beamed before going up to her mother with a proud smile.
"Mom since I won..." Ruby trailed receiving an odd look from the older blonde. "I was wondering if you could let Carmilla and me go to the opera in the Brightlight Capital because she said that there's a new singer that she would like to hear perform. I would like to take my darling to a nice date since our marriage would be near in a few years." Ruby asked, clapping her hand together. Althreya gave her a stern look of distaste and disapproval while Ruby intensified her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine. But try to keep a low profile, okay? The two of you tend to attract a lot of attention." Althreya said giving in. Ruby cheered having a high five with her future wife before hugging her mother.
"Come on Carmilla let's plan our date!" Ruby invited after pulling away from her mother and grabbing her fiancée's hand and dragging her to her room.
Ruby and Carmilla had been engaged while the former is still in her mother's womb and the latter a five-year-old girl. The two were dubbed as the Love Between Sol and Luna since Ruby is a shining beauty of golden features like the bright sunlight of day while Carmilla is an alluring raven-haired with the grace of the pale silver moon. They instantly became best friends when they first met and later on became lovers even though their relationship was frowned upon by society but due to Varsil Karstein's greed, such matter is easily negligible as long as they receive the benefit from the Pendragon House. In addition, the mage Merlin promised a spell capable of producing an heir from the two noble lady's union, a distasteful spell at that but is certainly effective.
"We're finally alone now. And as for your reward... " Carmilla whispered before pushing Ruby on her own bed and crawling on top of her. The blonde runs her hand up her partner's smooth legs lifting her skirt along with it. Carmilla passionately crashed her lips on Ruby's soft pink ones. She soon pulled away to slowly remove her clothes in a teasing manner making the blonde bite her lips in excitement.