Blood dripped idly from the wound on Arianna's shoulder as she was pushed to the ground, the chains on her shackles wrenching her arms to one side as her face hit the floor. Her curls spilled across the carpet, the dark green a sharp contrast to the golden thread. Her once beautiful mane no longer shimmered like precious emeralds, now the mop on her head looked like old leaves, damp, dirty, and molding where they fell. She bit her lip to suppress an involuntary cry from her treatment.

Arianna may have had nothing except the rough hempen shift she wore, but she would never allow them to take her dignity. They could whip her, starve her, and keep her from basic hygiene, but she remained unbroken. It was with that knowledge that even as her blood soaked into the beautiful golden carpets, she still forced herself to her knees, her spine straight, and shoulders back. The only sound she could hear past the pounding of her heart was the clanking of a length of chain being pulled taught as she struggled to move her head and torso from the floor. She wore her prisoner's garb and chains as though she were a queen dressed in the finest silk and gems. She should have been.

The young woman had no energy left for shame, her eyes reflecting nothing but contempt as they finally met the gaze of the man sitting in front of her. His deep blue eyes twinkled, filled with malice and joviality in equal measure. As he swirled his wine, Alekai Vallenris gave a sickening smile appreciating the sight of his once betrothed panting from the exertion of remaining upright on the floor below him.

"I see," He began, turning his head slightly away from her when he could not stifle his laughter. Taking a sip from his chalice, he started once more. "I see that my dear Arianna has finally been shown her place in the world." He said with a chuckle, gazing over the collected nobles who had been sitting in silence. He cleared his throat pointedly until uncomfortable laughter filled the assembly hall. Pleased to have elicited what he deemed the correct response, he swirled his chalice once more, before abruptly throwing its contents on the lady before him.

Arianna's baleful glare was not lessened by the laughter, nor was it drowned by the wine now dripping down her skin. Still, she held her tongue, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her succumb to base instincts. She simply blinked slowly, uncaring of the alcohol burning her eyes. She was already seeing red regardless.

Even without saying a word, the eyes of everyone in the room turned to the fallen noble, her presence pervasive and demanding. So much so that no one except Arianna got to enjoy the look on Emperor Alekai's face as his fingers went white on his goblet, expression tightening just as much.

It was apparent to Arianna that this was without a doubt the most infuriating choice she could have made. He had always loathed to be dismissed. Stifling a chuckle of her own, she looked him straight in the eyes, darted her tongue out, and licked away a drip of wine from her lips. Her lips curled momentarily in a smile, as though she enjoyed it.

Placing his goblet down with more than a little too much force, the Emperor smiled again, though it was considerably less believable now. "Poor little useless Arianna." He said with feigned sweetness. "You really thought you were destined for something better."

He flicked his hand in a motion so quick that Arianna was entirely unprepared, even as the golden cup sailed through the air at her. Without control, she flinched back from the projectile, even as it flew over her without touching a hair on her head. Alekai started into a new round of laughter at that, pleased to break her composure.

"I will give you, disgusting wench, permission to speak in my presence, so tell me. Do you know what crimes you have committed?" He cooed, as though speaking to an infant.

She had no desire to answer at all, she knew she would die regardless- but with a motion from the Emperor, the guard standing directly behind her cracked a whip against her spine.

Arianna inhaled sharply, fingers digging into her thighs to control her response to the pain. The fire in her eyes only burned brighter as she met Alekai's eyes once more. "I fell in love with a huge As-" The chain to her collar was yanked on before she could finish her sentence, throttling her for a moment.

Taking a moment to allow her to pitifully right herself again, the Emperor tapped his long elegant fingers on the arm of his throne. "I should have remembered how stupid you are, but I suppose I deluded myself into thinking you were some form of clever."

With slack being given to her again, Arianna gave the guards one careful look before scrambling as far forward as she could and spitting at the emperor, landing a nice big lump of bloody phlegm on the shin of his pants. It was more than worth the pain she received from being dragged back this time. She coughed a laugh as she gathered back the breath she had knocked out of her.

"You DARE-" He began, standing to his full height. He towered over her, even as he strode down the stairs from his throne to kick her in the stomach.

Laughing even more as she landed on her side, Arianna smiled. "You have nothing left to control me. Do you really think your little whip does anything to me? I am in more pain from breathing. So yes. I dare. What? Are you going to kill me for it?" She cackled, pushing herself up on her elbows even as he kicked her over again.

He repeated the cycle a few more times, kicking her, she would try to push herself up again, and he would kick her again.

The assembly of nobles was dead silent, uncertain of what they were supposed to do.

Despite the apparent cruelty, they were all aware of the type of criminal who was being sentenced today. Arianna Rosales. The Empire's greatest villain. A classic story of a jealous woman who had gone too far to eliminate those she deemed competition.

The story of her poisoning the Empire's Saint had spread throughout the citizens like a plague. No one knew exactly what poison it was, or how it had happened, but it was not even the first such tale to be known. Arianna Rosales had burned the Saint and then locked her in a cupboard to die. The witch had destroyed the presents the Emperor had given the other woman. That was only the physical damage she had done, everyone had seen Arianna berating Saint Seren as well.

Of course, stories were quick to blow out of proportion, and so it had never become common knowledge that the alleged poisoning had less to do with attempted murder and more about slipping a laxative into a cookie to prevent the Saint from being able to attend a Ball. Nor that the traumatizing burns were actually just the result of Arianna pouring a cold cup of tea on the other woman. Ariana would admit to destroying presents, would even admit to locking the woman in her room for an afternoon, but she was malicious, not cruel.

Even in the depths of her obsessive adoration for the Emperor, Arianna had no need to injure a woman for the sole crime of being beautiful. A daughter of Rosales, Arianna was plenty beautiful in her own right, regardless of how many shades darker her skin was. Besides, she had been rightfully engaged to Alekai, since long before he had ascended to the throne.

It seemed many people had forgotten that Arianna was not the interloper in the relationship, but rather the woman scorned.

To Arianna, it said plenty that Saint Seren was not present for Arianna's 'Trial.'

It was a laughable proceeding, being used as little more than a chance to spread more of the Emperor's propaganda. As though executing his ex-fiance was in any way a solution to the many problems plaguing the country.

Almost as if he had deposed the only person who had paid attention to their lessons on how to lead a country, and had been ignoring her input for long before that.

As Arianna was finally upright once more, the Emperor ripped a pristine white glove off of his hand, revealing pale and soft skin that certainly spoke to how he was raised. He smiled, the cruelty inherent to him visible in how he bared his teeth. "You are right. I had forgotten your useless mana sickness. Remind me, you have too much, right?" He glanced across the nobles, pleased to see them watching his every move, as though he was the hero of this show.

Alekai leaned towards her and whispered to Arianna "Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have even more?" Before he put her hand on her bare shoulder and channeled his own mana into her poor abused body.

At first, Arianna bit her lip to stifle her voice, but as the power built further, she was not able to fight off a scream at the sensation, feeling as though her entire body was filled with lightning. He pulled his fingers away long enough for her to catch her breath before he repeated the action. Arianna's skin was littered with lines of mana attempting to escape her by any means possible- and doing nothing but building pressure inside of her blocked mana paths. Even when she ran out of air to howl in pain, she was unable to stifle the whimpers as she was beginning to be torn apart from within.

Pleased at last, the Emperor snapped his fingers for a washcloth for his hand while returning to his throne. He carefully wiped the skin that had touched his pitiful crown princess before he pulled his glove back on.

No longer able to right herself, Arianna lay on her side, whimpering with each breath, hoping beyond hope that he would order her execution to begin soon. Not that she would be able to notice- She had no concept of time anymore, only of agony. Boiling tears of anger dripped down her skin, only to evaporate from the heat of the mana inside her. She cursed everything she could. Everyone she could. They were all to blame in her eyes. They had to be. Anger was her only escape.

Above all others though, she knew that the person she hated the most sat on the throne before her. She had forgiven his straying, he was the Emperor, and she did not dare to express her fury- but at this moment the mana inside her did not burn as much as her anger at him did. She had trusted him. She had supported him. She had given everything she could to keep him on the throne and to give him the love of his citizens.

This was the repayment he gave her.

Arianna didn't know how much time passed as the nobles attempted to listen to the 'evidence' against her over the sound of her suffering. She was hardly aware enough to notice little more than the slam of the door opening and the sounds of three voices raised in anger. It was only when the pure white gown of Saint Seren fluttered past her eyes, and a pair of kind, and blessedly cool, hands grabbed her shoulders, that she truly processed the addition of others in the room. The chains on her dropped to the floor as metal crashed against metal behind her.

She tried to force her eyes open widely, confused when they met a pair of irises the same distinct shade of gold as her own. This pair was set in a face that was freshly washed, free of burning mana veins, and much paler than her own. Arianna opened her mouth and attempted to speak, unaware that she had continued screaming long after she stopped noticing it herself. "Lucia?" She managed to croak, confusion present in how her face contorted, even as the pain finally started to lessen.

Managing to suck in a desperate and full breath, Arianna glanced around as the world began to reform into normalcy. This time, her gaze fell on where Lucia was desperately siphoning mana from inside her sister. "Why?" She asked softly. Arianna's question was more than clear to anyone with a mind, and Lucia had always been intelligent. Why would Lucia do what amounted to treason for Arianna?

Lucia set her jaw stubbornly. "What?" She demanded Haughtily. "Are you the only one allowed to anger the Imperial family? Well too damn bad. Theo and I are not giving you up." Despite the pressure in her chest lessening, Arianna was still dependent on her sister to hold her upright. "Seren came to get us. She never wanted this, and she knew that we had been kept in the dark intentionally."

The tears that fell from Arianna's eyes now came from the grateful disbelief she found herself in, sobbing into her sister's arms.

It was in that state, Lucia draining every bit of mana that she could from Arianna, and supporting them both that the Emperor called out to his guards. "Shoot them!" He yelled.

Arianna watched as an arrow sprouted from her estranged sister's back as the two of them fell to the ground. Then two more. Her tears turned agonizing again as she watched Lucia begin to resemble a porcupine. "No. No!" She screamed with all that was left of her voice. "You do not get to care about me only to die." Her voice was paper thin, but even the hard of hearing could have heard the anguish in her voice. Her sister's support failing, Arianna landed hard on her back. She gave no notice of the rug against the lashes on her skin, and instead attempted to channel every drop of mana she could into her sister.

It was a futile effort. Arianna had never been able to move mana of her own control, and so she was left with little more than clutching her sister's hands and crying. "Take my mana. All of it. Please, Lucia. Use that stupid restoration magic you are so proud of. Please!"

Lucia laughed, blood speckling her lips as she did. "Even until the end, you loathe me, huh?"

Arianna shook Lucia, even knowing it was a bad idea with how injured her sister was. Even knowing that it amounted to little more than nudges from how injured Arianna was. "Your magic is incredible and you know it, so PLEASE!" Arianna wailed. "Please." She tried again, whispering it.

Lucia was panting, her lungs filling with blood and making breathing impossible. "I do not know what it will do." She huffed, forcing her head up off Arianna's chest long enough to look her sister in the eyes. She laughed again, wasting her air, but seeing the resolve in Arianna's eyes amused her still. "And you do not care. Fine." She grinned.

Lucia increased the pace with which she drained the mana out of Arianna. A great magic sigil formed on the ground beneath the two of them, growing until it expanded well past the edges of the room.

Only for it to begin to flicker as they reached the end of what Lucia could pull from her sister, all but the root of mana inside Arianna's body. Lucia looked apologetically at Arianna and moved as though she would let go of the magic- only for Arianna to grab Lucia's hand and smile. She laid her sister's hand over Arianna's own heart and pressed down. "Rip it out."

The two met eyes for one final moment, silently promising to remember the other if she died, even as Lucia's fingers clawed into Arianna's skin and tore the mana straight from her flesh.

The light of the magic sigil grew until it almost blinded them, both keeping the other in their vision, refusing to miss a single moment of their sister if all else failed. Arianna watched as Lucia's eyes fell closed mere seconds before her own consciousness failed, clutching her sister's bloody hand as tight as she was able.

Lucia had always been proud to be blessed with restoration magic. Arianna had always been furiously jealous, her own mana doing nothing but causing her constant pain. The greatest magic happened when Lucia worked in concert with her sister, Arianna acting as a power source to fuel the restoration.

For perhaps the first time ever, Arianna gave her mana freely to Lucia, hoping that her sister would at least be able to restore her own body and survive. Lucia took the mana, hoping that she would at least be able to restore her sister to healthy enough that she could run.

Maybe it was Lucia's pure love for her sister that caused it. Maybe it was Arianna's first selfless thought that gave the final push.

Regardless, when Arianna opened her eyes, the pain remained, but the ceiling above her was no longer the cold assembly hall but was instead the flower-covered pink canopy she had demanded to have over her bed... as a child.

Despite herself, Arianna began cackling again, tears flowing down her cheeks, emotions confused but resolving themselves. She was in pain, she was furious, she was sad, she was happy, but most importantly- She was alive. And based on how she could hear Lucia shrieking her name in the hallway, she was not alone.

Her foolish sister had managed to do more than restore wounded women to a previous state. Lucia had managed to restore the world.

Arianna had never been more proud of her sister.