A Daughter's Betrayal

The Emperor sat on his throne and stared at the door. He’d sent the letters out a few hours ago, but there was still no one here. I can’t believe we’re even at this point, I can still remember when most of them were children. This room was so much smaller then… haha, though I guess it was massive for them. Lilinoe also said she’d be arriving soon, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, “Enter” he said, his voice booming through the room. The handle turned a second later, and tendrils of mist creeped through the side. The Emperor’s smile began to rise, his eyes glimmering with hope. As it opened fully, he caught a glimpse of long, black hair and… green eyes? His expression faltered for a moment, but he quickly caught himself. It’s not her… not yet at least.

The woman spoke up as she approached, “Your Majesty, it’s been a while.”

The Emperor smiled brightly, “Kassandra! I’m surprised you’re the first to arrive. I thought you were your mother for a second there.”

Kassandra let out a light chuckle, “I’m guessing I disappointed you quite a bit then.”

“I… yes, but it’s not your fault. Anyways, have you heard from any of your siblings?” He asked.

Kassandra closed the door as she fully walked in, “I haven’t yet, but I imagine they’re all at least on their way.”

She really does look like Lilinoe, if not for her eyes, it might not’ve even noticed the difference. Even her aura feels like Lilinoe’s: dark, hazy, and all-encompassing.

“So, what is this meeting about, Stepfather?” Kassandra asked, moving forwards until she was just in front of the opposite end of the table.

“Oh, not much. Our bordering nations have been getting more aggressive; pillaging, killing our diplomats, and all the other things they think can stop us.” The Emperor sighed, “It really is pitiful if you think about it.”

Kassandra moved slowly around the table, “Why not go down and stop them yourself? I doubt they’d challenge the might of the Golden Emperor. Plus, it might give our own people a morale boost.”

The Emperor sighed again, “That’s what all my advisors have been telling me. I agree that it would work, but… is it the right solution? We should be trying to work with the other kingdoms, not fighting against them.”

Kassandra continued moving closer, “Even if those kingdoms attack and threaten to hurt our people? I understand you want peace, Stepfather, but there’re limits. I could go over there now and teach them a lesson, if you’d like.” He could see the hints of a smile forming at the ends of her lips. She never was one for peace.

“That’s really not necessary, it’ll take more than a few raids to do us in. I’ll keep your idea in mind, but I want to hear everyone else’s first. There are… other things I need to speak will you all about.” Kassandra seemed to perk up at this.

“From the way you’re talking about it, I’m guessing it’s pretty important.” She said, now fully stopped about ¾ around the table.

“It… could be important. It’s more of a precaution than anything. Still, if everything goes well, none of you will have to worry about it.” With a flick of his wrist, golden light appeared on various runes engraved in the walls, including the large rune at the back of his chair.

Kassandra smiled at this and touched the back of her own chair. A cloud of mist popped behind it and filled the rune. The Emperor frowned as he looked around at the other runes. There were 27 in total, but only 2 were filled. He scratched his chin in confusion, “They should be here by now. Was my message sent properly?”

“I received it properly, but one of the servants could’ve messed up the others.”

The Emperor sighed, “You’re probably right. It’s just been so long since I’ve seen any of you, even your Mother. 25 children and I can’t manage to see them for more than a decennial meeting.”

Kassandra frowned at this, “I… the Mist Kingdom is so busy lately. Every time Mother returns here, something catastrophic happens back in the Mist. I can’t speak for most of us, but for those in the Mist, we’re just trying to hold it together.”

The Emperor looked straight at her, “It’s not your fault, Kassandra. I understand you and your siblings’ need to support Lilinoe. I just wish things were simpler, that I could see my children without a terrible danger interrupting us.” He bowed his head at his own words.

“Stepfather, if I may?” Kassandra asked, her voice quivering just a bit.

The Emperor looked up and smiled weakly, “Of course.”

She started moving forwards again, though much slower this time. “We’ve experienced our time with you already, me and my full siblings less than the others, but still. I can understand your loneliness, but you set us off to do great things. You chose to put us out there and trust us with our own destinies. It can be hard for us too, but that’s the point. Let us become our greatest selves… even if you aren’t there to see it.”

The Emperor just stared on for a moment, “I… see. I hadn’t thought of it in that way yet.”

She makes a good point, I did set them out. I expected greatness out of each and every one of them without me by their side. The fact that she feels lonely too… I think I understand it now.

“Thank you, Kassandra. Truly, you’ve helped me gain a new perspective on the matter. Though I can’t say it will be easy to remain here alone.”

A small smile began to grow on Kassandra’s face, but disappeared just as quickly, “I can’t imagine it is, being all alone. Anyways, you’re sure you can’t tell me a bit about this great gathering?”

The Emperor frowned, then sighed, “Unfortunately no, I need the entire family here for this. I know I said it’ll most likely be nothing, but on the off chance it isn’t, I want everyone to understand me fully.”

Kassandra stopped again, this time only 2 chairs down from him, “I understand that whatever it is you’re talking about is important, but what difference does it make? Whether I know now or in a few hours, won’t I find out all the same?”

The Emperor’s brow furrowed, “Kassandra, this is not a discussion. This information is incredibly secretive and if a single word got out, both Kingdoms would go up in flames. I trust you, I really do, but it has to be everyone or none of you.”

“Alright, I understand… Stepfather.” Kassandra said, a slight grimace forming on her face. The Emperor turned to stare out the window, gazing out into the bright morning sky beyond. The sun was glistening today, like a ripe strawberry just waiting to be harvested. The Emperor smiled at the thought. A noise shook him out of it though, and he turned back quickly.

“Oh, sorry about that.” Kassandra looked at the Emperor with a look of slight embarrassment on her face. He could see that she’d begun writing, but had dropped her quill. It was quite the old quill though, at least to him. It didn’t look at all different from a regular will, but there was just something about it.

The Emperor picked it up without thinking, “Do you notice anything weird about this quill?” He asked Kassandra.

She stared back at him in confusion, “I… oh, right! I infused it with some magic so I could control it, that’s probably why it feels weird.”

The Emperor stared at it for a second longer, but handed it back to Kassandra.

“That explains it. I guess not all your mana feels exactly like your mother’s.” He turned back to the window. Getting startled by a quill of all things? And from Kassandra? Oh Lilinoe, I wish you were here to assuage my worries.

He turned back slowly, “Kassandra, will you-” An icy, stabbing pain interrupted his thoughts. The Emperor’s head shot downwards to the source of the pain. Embedded in his chest was a strange, curved dagger with multiple blades shaped like mist tendrils. The blade itself was semi-translucent, and for a moment, the Emperor couldn’t tell if it was real or not. A sudden realization dawned upon him and his head shot up. There, standing directly in front of him, was Kassandra. Her left hand was wrapped tight around the handle, while her right clutched the chair’s armrest.

“W-what is the meaning of this, Kassandra? Remove this-” Before he could continue, Kassandra turned the knife hard. The Emperor screamed out in pain and tried to reach for the blade. My arms! I can’t move my arms! He could only watch as Kassandra continued twisting the dagger, completing a full rotation before finally stopping. Green mist instantly began to pour out from the circle, slowly moving to cover the area around where he’d been stabbed.

“This will take a while, but it shouldn’t be painful. Once the mist fully covers you, you’ll die.” Kassandra’s voice was calm and calculated as she spoke, but started to break at the end, “I’m… sorry. This was the best way I could think to do it.”

“Do what? This dagger can’t kill me. I don’t know how you’ve managed to immobilize me, but we both know nothing on this planet can kill me.” The Emperor responded, though a small doubt wormed in his mind.

“This isn’t something from this world though… it’s probably quite familiar to you and Mother though.” Kassandra stared the Emperor dead in the eyes as she spoke the last line.

The Emperor’s eyes went wide and his whole body tensed, “You mean… but how did you? We’ve kept the others too weak to accommodate hosts. There’s no way you’ve found one that could grant you this much power.”

A smile almost began creeping across Kassandra’s face, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“I guess I could’ve said that more clearly… this one’s the most familiar to Mother. A being even you wouldn’t know about.”

The Emperor scanned Kassandra's face desperately for any sign of a bluff or just a missed word. There was nothing, not even the slightest crack in her face. The Emperor’s throat caught for a moment before he spoke, “Your father’s companion… but how? Did it somehow corrupt your mother?”

Kassandra grimaced, “Mother… had no part in this. She had no idea this was even happening, I-” The Emperor watched as a bright green light enveloped Kassandra.

“Kassandra! What’s happening?” he called out, his eyes now filled with worry.

Her head twitched to the side as she spoke, “Nothing’s wrong. In fact, I’d say everything’s going just right… for me. With your influence now gone, I can finally start my ascension.”

The Emperor stared at Kassandra in horror, “You- this isn’t you Kassandra! I don’t care what that despicable being told you, this isn’t the right choice. You’ll get the power, you’ll be able to shape the world in your image, but you won’t retain yourself. I can already see it in your eyes, he’ll completely corrupt you if you’re not careful.”

A grimace flashed across her face, but was quickly replaced by a sadistic smile, “He’ll corrupt me? That’s a small price to pay for being this powerful. You’ve ruined both our Kingdoms with your own attempts to avoid corruption. It’s pointless to fight the inevitable… but accepting and embracing it?” Kassandra laughed maniacally, “I’ll be far more powerful than both you and Mother. I can actually change this world instead of wandering about speaking of peace.”

Damn it, that thing’s already corrupting her. Everything she’s saying is a brutally twisted version of her ideology. If it’s true that she found her father’s God, the change she’s speaking of will only bring death and destruction to this world.

The Emperor was starting to feel his strength drain, the slowly moving fog seemed to suck his very life out as it moved. His entire left arm was encased, and looked more like that of a corpse.

“The change you want to bring, is it really worth all of this? Is it worth killing me of all people? Is it worth dealing a wound so great your own Mother might hate you?”

Kassandra seemed to think about it, and for a second, the Emperor caught a glimpse of the woman he knew. A look of sadness masked in pure belief in her actions. A single tear formed in her eye, but as soon as it fell, the mask dropped. Her eyes glowed green once more and her sadistic smile reappeared.

“Does any of that really matter, Stepfather? By killing you, I take out 2 birds with 1 stone. You’ll be too dead to stop me, and Mother, haha! Mother will be too consumed by grief to even consider fighting me. I’ll create a new world order, one where all know their place and actions aren’t misguided by compassion or thoughts of peace.”

All the Emperor could do was stare at his stepdaughter in horror.

There’s nothing I can do now, not in this state. Even if I was able to move properly, could I really kill her? Even with the that thing’s corruption, she’s still ther-

Kassandra let out a maniac laugh, “Oh, and by the way, the old me’s gone now. That tear was basically her last message. Guess it doesn’t matter too much though, you’re getting pretty close to death now.

The Emperor could feel it in his heart, the mist had covered most of his body, and it seemed to move faster the more it covered. The only things still in somewhat usable condition were his right arm and most of his face.

I have no choice then. I don’t know what will happen when I die, but I can’t let Kassandra run free after I'm gone. My children, I leave this grave error of mine to you… forgive me, Lilinoe.

He took one last look at Kassandra and sighed, “I’m sorry I didn’t do more for you, Kassandra. I truly thought of you as my own daughter.”

For a split second, he could almost see Kassandra in there. Through the green fog and manic eyes, he could see her, crying. The Emperor smiled.

Goodbye Kassandra. They will put you to rest, I’m sure of it. Don’t cry anymore.

With that, he poured all of his remaining strength into his right arm. He pushed it out just in front of her and shot a bright, golden light from his palm. The light exploded through the room, nearly blinding the Emperor himself.

When it cleared, his arm fell, the momentary strength disappearing in an instant. The Emperor got a good look at the mark he’d left on her, a sun, encased with a dark fog. He smiled once more, looking at Kassandra not with pity, but with hope in his eyes.

Kassandra growled at him, “What have you done?! What sort of curse have you afflicted me with?”

“It’s no curse, Kassandra. Just an assurance that you won’t harm your siblings while they try to help you.” The Emperor responded, his smile growing even wider as he spoke.

Kassandra boiled, and green fog began to grow around the area, “Ugh, it doesn’t matter. You and Mother will both be out of commission either way, my rule is secured.”

The Emperor just smiled, but even doing that was getting to be too much. He could feel his consciousness slipping, the last bits of life within him were leaving.

This seemed to enrage Kassandra even more, but she didn’t move, not a single inch closer. The Emperor couldn’t tell what she was thinking, the one thing he did know was that Kassandra was still in there. She’d never be able to go back to normal, but there was enough left of her to honor one last oath.

The Emperor smiled weakly one last time, “Order and strength, Kassandra. Order and stren-”

His mouth stopped moving at the last word, and as his eyes closed, the Emperor took one last look at his daughter, and faded away.