Chapter Thirty-two
In the chamber of royals that should only be used in emergencies, countless ancient fairy nobility gathered underneath the false stars from as far back as the first day. At the center of the circular chamber that served as the podium, two fairies stood back to back. They were of a decrepit constitution as shown by their need to utilize aids that drew in fresh natural energy to soothe their withering supplies which was so artfully secured to their backs. Still though, they being the seniors commanded a great deal of power and sway over the younger populace as the ones who remember all the tragedies of the fairy people. From behind an abyssal black veil, their voices boomed out with an earth shaking delivery that quite literally rocked the building's foundations.
"My fellows! I've called the great houses here today in order to tell you of yet another of our many blunders as the shepherds of these lands."
Unrest voiced itselfed in hushed conversation amongst various factions inside the chamber.
"We've allowed the seed of destruction to flourish within our final bastion! And the architect who cultivated the seed is none other than the so-called "Arch-Magus" Tryamon, Herald of our doom! She has brought a child of demons into our home and is currently raising them to eradicate us all, with finality!"
The unrest grew in volume all around the chamber at the uttered words, in particular, a group of nobles who had grown to enjoy the many and varied creations of Tryamon stumbled amongst themselves to find the courage to rebuttal. They always knew that the one time lover of the king was a chaser of taboo items, but because Tryamon had created marvels they had overlooked it.
One of the younger members of the faction in line with Tryamon stood up from their seat, speaking with their youthful Naivete.
"Those are truly harsh words to extol during such a gathering! Especially given that the predictions of you seers have become faulty in recent years! I refuse to be blinded by the old guard attempting to hold influen-"
"SILENCE FOOL SPIRITED CHILD." Shouted the seers.
"You, a fairy born under the false sky created by the Herald, have no voice here."
Enraged by such a demeaning statement, the young one shouted out in rebellion.. Or rather, they tried to.
Unknowingly to them, the lower portion of their face had crumbled, falling to the floor. Naturally alarmed, the youngling reached down beneath the view of onlookers behind the wooden aisle to pick themselves up.
"Now then… There are still things that we can do, all that is required is that we act in unison…"
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~This is all… madness…~
"My Queen! Please…! You must listen to our pleas! The King has gone mad with his whimsy! You must do something to stop him!"
~Truly, madness…~
The Queen looked down at the gathering of fairy nobility before her with loathsome annoyance from atop her obsidian throne whose juxtaposition was evident when compared to her lovers shining Ivory-esque one. Her eyes appraised both them and their claims with equal consideration still. They had, afterall, fought their way past her guardsman for this unsanctioned audience.
The unease grew amongst the gathered, with the seers themselves, shrouded in true black aether, falling to their knees.
"Please…! Your Majesty, Queen Titania…! This is the will of your people…!"
The Queen covered her face with her right hand, closing her eyes in contemplation as she leisurely took their plea's on her throne, legs crossed over one another. Beneath her elaborately decorated alabaster ball gown, her Skin gave way to its truest, void black form. Her white irises expanded until her eyes were left with the appearance of an equally voided white.
Her Audience trembled, some in joy, others in terror, for their very lustre and essence was being drained by simply being in close proximity to the Queens true state.
"This… This is the Visage of the true ruler of our kind…!" Said one of the seers heads as it crumbled into dust from the pressure. It wasn't the only one. One after another the elders' forms turned from flesh to rock and then finally to dust while the young ones simply had their true forms ripped into reality.
The dust from the elders and seer pooled beneath the feet of Queen Titania. There, the dust turned liquid and began to bubble violently.
"I have synthesized your wants in accordance with my will."
Her voice was cold and alien in its delivery. Completely absent from any form of ego. In this moment she was more than just the venerated Queen of Fairies. She had become Absolute.
"Rejoice, for I, The right half of the Arbiter, actualized your wishes in this… faux-reality."
The hand that had been covering her face extended out with languid elegance, pointing towards the false stars above through the hole in the ceiling of the throne room.
"If it is your wish to venture under the stars again, then take this blessing and do what is necessary."
The false sky opened up for but a moment, revealing its truth only to those within the confines of the palace hall. Like viscous ichor dripping from the wound of god, the black void oozed down into the palace through the stargazing hole in the ceiling at a gravity defying crawl. With only the younger of the nobility remaining amongst the unsynthesized, none but the seer knew what was happening.
"Your grace…! Thank you for your blessing!"
In a fit of awe, the seer's knees gave out, causing them to fall to the ground. Naturally to any elder witnessing the birth of a new fairy of prophecy, they took the opportunity to repeatedly worship the absolute one and their benevolent decision.
~You should not be thanking me…~
The ichor poured down into the remains of the synthesized and began to crackle violently, sucking the color from its surroundings. The eyes of the fairy queen were averted during the process, for she could not bear to witness the sorrow of it all, regardless of it being her duty as the right half of the Arbiter.
There, in the place where once the synthesized had pooled, a small abyssal black crystal sparkling with specs of its previous amalgam about the size of a human hand hovered above the ground, bobbing up and down ever so slightly.
The Queen's skin slowly returned to its inert, flesh-like state. Though her eyes moved behind her lids, she refrained still from opening them. Instead, she extended out her hand, beckoning the remaining audience to go forth from her presence out into the world.
"Leave now."
The remnants of the presenting intruders dumbly looked between one another before gracelessly turning their backs to their one true monarch. Of course, they didn't dare leave the crystal; their now eldest leading the way whilst cradling the crystal in their arms like a newborn child.
As the echoes of the unwanted faded from the Queen's ears, she felt her consciousness beginning to fade into the depths from which her power harkened. Its reverberations being so intense that she nearly fell from her throne on high. She held her hand to her forehead, wearily appraising herself.
"It seems… that I've stretched myself a bit too much…"
With what little strength she had left before her trip into communion, she sat herself upright once more, hands resting in her lap, so that should her people visit her, they would see their Queen dignified, and at peace.