[Warning: Some content might be upsetting to viewers.]
Aefia sat at her resting area. Her eyes tracked a chess piece as she moved it forward to one corner of the board. Her finger mindlessly fumbling with another one as she changed every single rule of the game. Then slowly, she leaned backwards on the armchair and tilted her head off the headrest. Blindly pulling a pawn above her face, directly at her sight.
Her hand stayed outstretched high above her, while her fingers fumbled and turned the King piece side to side. Her garnet eyes stayed glassy as she pulled it back down to her side and let out a sigh.
Aefia's eyes tracked the ceiling as she dove deep into her thoughts. It wasn't like she didn't understand why Victoria was so eager to pull her down... However, she didn't understand that when the Guardians came together to protect this planet... When did that unity break?
How she heard it before, there were no Eclipse and Rise. There were no 'villains' and 'victims'. Just a tiny society who decided to find power sources and use it to protect the population from any sorts of harm. And now... Thousands of years later, there is corruption.
There is war. There is blood-shed. There is rivalry.
She read stories like this a lot of times. Anything involving politics was her favorite. Especially ones with historical figures like Emperors, Kings, Dukes. Simply put, anything that involves rivalry with the throne.
But seeing it up close, it made her mind go down a baseless pool. Politics can seem very small... But dig too deep and you will never find your start. Dig to low, you don't know what is going one. A small speck of dust can someday be the reason an entire nation falls.
Truly... The depth and the risk is what keeps Aefia interested all the time. Even when she was at the Empire—living as the commoner Crown Princess who would return the stolen throne back to the public—she sometimes liked to get herself involved into the issues with the simple motivation of wanting to know which party wins and what way.
Maybe not the party. But the way it was done always captivated her the worst way possible.
Like there was this one game—that she came to know of while staying at the palace—where elders would create rules that would determine the future Emperor or Empress of the Smod Empire.
What first started as a simple plan, slowly grew large to the point that the entire game was alter banned.
Back in the days, Emperors would marry three to five wives just to show-off or sometimes, to get more male heirs even when they had sufficient. And each wife would have two children each.
So automatically, the pressure of getting the throne was going to be immense. At the end, when the seat remained unassigned, the elders came up with a simple plan.
No one knew if they were simply drunk or thinking belittled... They suggested that all children be put into a quiet and empty distant palace with a dagger each and only one horse in front of the gate to return back and claim the throne... And inside the palace, the children were asked to kill each other and the surviving one would get the title.
The problem wasn't the children's envy... It was the mothers'.
By day, they would be comparing themselves with the other wives and by night, they would be polishing blades and hand it to their children no matter of age. Added to it like a cherry on top of cream... The mothers would pressure the receiving child until at one moment, they would end up killing their mothers after killing their sibling.
The elders initially just wanted to have a real-life show to entertain themselves, then suggested it to the public—who immediately took the advice that elders were wise and encouraged them to proceed—and this game came true.
This is what they meant by 'even a joke is a statement in politics'.
The rules were simple, yet intricate.
Each sibling will be put to rooms keeping them incredibly far from each other. Once the individual bells rung, the child would walk out of their room. There was a pattern, and no one knew who walked out first or last. They will be asked to navigate paths in which would lay many mysteries they needed to solve. If they didn't walk out of the palace with that final answer, they wouldn't get the throne. When one sibling died, they will not only be disqualified, but they will also take their family down with them. One could work together as a team, but only one could take the throne. There was no escaping the palace. There was no helping the other to leave alive.
These were all the rules. And they were created to tie the children's hands and force them to participate and move on with the game without even a thought of giving up.
What made it more disgusting was—that if you truly loved your sibling, you will regret even being born as an 'Imperial Highness' And even if the children were a toddler walking around... There was no mercy.
During the game itself, each siblings trueself would come out. And the location where the game took place would later be called 'The Palace of Emotions'. Just because many types of feelings would come out if you played the game and walked down the same path as those competitors.
Betrayal and greed would already be present.
Then there was... Extreme annoyance, paranoia, intense anxiousity, feeling of eyes watching you from every direction, feeling depressed, feeling the weight of expectation and the fate of your family. Feeling intense disgust and need for revenge if you could, a desperate fight for life, a moment of feeling like too much is happening for you to cope up with. An agonizing tearing sensation in your chest when you realized you killed your favourite sibling or they were killed by someone else.
When Aefia was reading that part of history... She was extremely angered.
Yes, people back then just loved to see blood splattered around... But this wasn't doing any of them justice or good for the Empire.
But it didn't end there.
Because... While those killing happened in between greedy and sensitive family members... There was always this strategist who planned everything from the start to win the game.
That one true politician who would later prove absolutely worthy of running the Empire.
Because among all that chaos, they found out a number of loopholes that guaranteed their own survival and revenge at the same time.
The rules tied down the players... But the rules didn't say that the players couldn't persuade the elders to play on it. Also... The rules didn't say that the players couldn't stay hidden somewhere safe til the end of the game.
So keeping that in mind, you could probably say that the elders would be shown the dirt-shine of the throne and told, "you deserve it more than me. And besides... I don't have a willingness to be an emperor. So why not you play for me?"
Or if they were being too stubborn, a simple talk of positiveness and complimenting them would do the work.
Then all the player had to do was dress up as one of the elders while the elders dressed up as the player and they both head out. As an elder, the participant would have knights and escorts who protected them as he saved the kids and moved them away.
If someone tried to intervene, just say, "as an elder... I change the rules and acting merciful". In the meantime, the elders would get killed and the last standing person would claim the throne.
That was how the game ended and three times later, it was banned for its casualties.
It seemed to be true that ones who are meant to be monarchs will always know how to save himself and his people no matter how hard the situation was.
That was that...
And now it is Victoria.
"Well the monarch reminds me of someone very familiar." A voice chimed in from one corner for the room. By the pitch of it, she knew it was a woman. But she didn't know who it was.
Her eyes immediately moved from the ceiling to her door, where a woman with pretty white-feathered wings and eyes the colour of space walked in. Her footsteps left behind stars that floated, then snapped into a miniature supernova.
Every Guardians had a unique footprint. Aefia's was a tiny red flower that bloomed, withered and snapped. Erebus's was an angry lion chasing behind a mouse that stuck to his shoes. Victoria's was a seed that grew into a small plant them snapped into thin air. Justice's was the eleventh tarot card that snapped into the floor then disappeared. Aefia didn't know why, but that message seemed to be unclear to her.
Startled, Aefia immediately straightened up. "Oh! What brings you here all so sudden? Sovereign Pandora?" She spoke respectfully, although it didn't quite come out the way she predicted it to be.
"Please refrain from calling me that. I am stationed below you now." Pandora answered while walking to over to sit on the armchair opposite to Aefia. "Besides... Your thoughts are quiet loud."
"I was saying all that out loud?!" She looked at the woman with widened eyes as a flush crept up her face. "I am so sorry! I didn't know."
"Don't be. I am certain you were thinking of something that connects to reality."
"How?" Aefia furrowed her brows as she watched her clear the chessboard. Pointing to play a round with her, which then Aefia placed back the king piece.
"The elder is Victoria. The children forced into this game are the Guardians. The first Aethalgard is the public and you are the monarch."
"Me? The monarch?"
"I heard everything from Matthew." Pandora spoke while rearranging the pieces. "I heard how Victoria threatened you, cornered you, framed you and now is trying to remove you. And I decided, I will help you for it."
"Oh. But isn't it risky for you to join me? You just recovered."
"You and I both share a common enemy. Victoria. Who do you think allowed this corruption to happen and who do you think is using the most of my magic?"
"I see..."
"Besides, you were trying to take revenge for Seraphina, weren't you?" She finally moved her first piece, holding out her palm to sign Aefia to move hers.
"Yes." She answered while pulling out her pawn.
"Do you want to know something? You probably know about her youngers days... But do you know her daily life?" She smirked while moving another piece. "While she was busy with work... Someone else was busy blocking her path and trying to tease her."
"Who?" She let out a smile.
"Well... You haven't met my brother. There is a reason he doesn't want to meet you either." Pandora moved her knight. "You look like the previous Guardian of Death. And he is scared to face you since he used to have feelings for her."
Aefia gaped in surprise before leaning forward on her elbow. "No really? Did he ever make the move?"
"No. I must say... He is stupid." Pandora laughed.
"Yeah. Not being disrespectful but... Was he that into her that he completely forgot about it? He had so many years. But wait—when did he start falling for her?"
"Pretty young. Seven I think."
"Yeah he is dumb." Aefia smiled while moving her bishop. "Hah... That was a breather." She looked down at the board.
"Although I wasn't close to Seraphina... I know a part of her story." Pandora finally added while moving her queen. "If you want... You can listen while we play this round."
"Sure. It's not like I won't need it in the future." She remarked while focusing on her castle.
"The reason why Silence was so after the 'Elemental Absorption' magic that you have," Pandora begun. "Is that with it removed, she can finally claim the seat of the third Aethalgard."
Aefia blinked her eyes with a questioned gaze.
"I know it seems odd, but her mother used her entire life force and magic into creating a spell that reflected anyone else from claiming the throne other then Seraphina and her bloodline."
"Oh. So whenever someone tried to claim the title by doing that blood-sacrifice... That spell would immediately absorb their magic instead of granting them more power." Aefia gasped. "Wait. Does that mean I am Seraphina's bloodline and Silence knew about it. So she immediately returned my powers to me after understanding that the title is unclaimable."
She tapped her finger to her chin while folding her arms. In her mind, she was imagining her biological parents' face. "No that isn't right. I look almost nothing like my mother. But I am not adopted either. Or maybe I picked up a very rare Guardian's power somewhere along and now I am allowed this throne. However, that does explain why Victoria is so desperate to kick me out if I am her bloodline... But it seems to get cut-off somewhere along!"
Pandora stared with disbelieve at the "start of an era". Her eyes nearly buldged out as she watched her stand up and pace the room while trying to find out how she ended up looking like Seraphina.
"Or maybe! I was a tiny baby and Seraphina blessed me with her magic and now I am here!" She finally concluded, looking at the woman still sitting down. "What do you think?"
"..."
Pandora slowly stood up to place a hand on Aefia's shoulder, patting it while forcing her to sit back down. "Aefia... Take a rest, your disorder is acting up. Besides... You can find the truth if you ask my brother. He knows what happened since he controls the time in this realm. So if she went missing, blessed you or even had you, my brother will let you know.
"But for now, you need to calm down and let out a deep breathe. I know you are stressed but that only makes things worse if you are trying to poke at a dough while it turns into a bread. If you need help, I am here. But don't overwhelm yourself.
"And besides... I know you enjoy it better after you solve the mystery by yourself. So let's be patient and move step-by-step. Then we will know who you truly are."