NASTY MAJESTY

okay, talk about creepy.  that face is something to haunt nightmares, solely from those glowing eyes. those are eyes, right? hm. whatever the case, it doesn’t leave anything but an ominous feeling crawling within. in spite of this, what she says… strikes less terror in geno’s heart than that of the apparent seaside kingdom. it is a threatening tale, for sure, but the vague bravado is a little familiar.

❝ hah! you know… you sound a lot like an old flame of mine, ❞ pun entirely intended. the wariness in his eyes doesn’t leave, but a twinkle of amusement peeks through it. ❝ reigns of terror, fear to everyone, blah blah. i’ve heard it all already. ❞

he gives a chuckle… but quick enough to cause whiplash, his mirth distorts into a steely frown. striking red eyes belies the gentle burgundy he usually wears. no amount of cute theatrics will take away his concerns, after all. that’s a fool’s mistake that he has admittedly made before.

❝ —— but how about we stop playing games? ❞ boldly, he tries to look directly into those terrifying eyes of hers. ❝ i’d only hope that you’re just talking yourself up, because we don’t take too kindly to antagonizing innocent people. ❞ the latch hiding his right arm gun undoes itself with a click. ❝ so how about we get to the point, eh? ❞

There was no sign of fear on the Queen’s face as Geno pulled his arm gun out. To her, this was just another fool that wanted to defy her. They were a dime a dozen, and she was talented in making sure that they perished in the most painful of ways. 

“You dare raise your weapon to me? After all I’ve done for you...” 

It’s been a while since she’s had a chance to fight. If she was honest, she’s missed this feeling. And so, she summoned a series of Dead Hands, horrific groaning heard as if they appeared to rise from the very shadows themselves. 

The demon is about to say something, as if to taunt them for even considering such a thing possible, but then something changed. Her point of view was different, as if seeing it from her vessel once again.

But that couldn't be right... the princess was nowhere to be seen. And any attempts to lash out at the anon as she had previously planned to was pointless, as she could no longer summon the powerful magic that she used to terrorize the world.

It was exactly as the anon had said: she had become a human.

❝ well, i ought to be, ❞  geno assures her with a loft of the brow. with momentary pause, he wrestles with the decision to expand further on her suspicions… but he reaches the conclusion that it might already be clear. besides, perhaps with some extension of identity, he can sooner come to an understanding of her, for better or for worse. ❝ a star spirit would need to be. ❞

that being said, her darkly majesty herself is also leaving him bread crumbs. the morsels aren’t quite enough to piece together a solid answer, so there is really nothing left but to follow them. with a cant of his head and stroke of his chin, he wonders if he could manage a glimpse at her eyes… if she has any at all.

❝ the first thing i know about a thousand years ago is that i was born around then. otherwise, i’ve heard plenty of stories from many eras around the cosmos, so—— you’re going to have to be a little more specific about that, i’m afraid. ❞

The grin on her face widened as she realized more about Geno’s situation. Trying to look under her hair would reveal glowing lights where eyes would be. Or was that just part of her body? It was hard to tell. 

She should quit while she’s ahead, sure... but she’s always enjoyed a good game of cat and mouse. And if she can give him something to work with... then this could be more interesting for her. 

“ My, my, my… what do we have here? ” a spectacle, a spectacle; Dimentio struggles for once to recount a name of importance. The magician’s mask is a countenance of comedy, his smile unwavering as he scans the form of the one before him. His senses are acute, yet muddled. He doesn’t quite know the kind of magic before him, although familiar… he really has gotten rusty, hasn’t he? Dimentio hovers there ambiently, a hand pushed against his mask as he decides to engage in conversation.

“ That was not a rhetoric, by the way. It is a form of a genuine question: who are you? ”

“Who am I? Who am I? My, I’m hearing that question quite a bit these days aren’t I?” 

Was the world trying to erase all history pertaining to her? Or did they simply forget, deciding to feign ignorance to what happened? That won’t do. She’ll have to fix this in the near future. 

It would be fine to reveal herself to this person, she felt. After all, it was plain as day that he wasn’t part of the those who come from the stars. 

❝ in— a manner of speaking! ❞  an attempt at finding familiarity is lost, and with it comes the instinct to behave more guarded. if she isn’t of vanda, then… to be perfectly honest, geno is lost. alas, the beings of shadow are of an older tale, a good thousand years back —— coincidentally around the time he was born. a fledgling star child, it’s no wonder he’d never been shouldered with that knowledge whilst the incident was still fresh. the grand stars hadn’t a reason to inform him, either. why would they? he hadn’t a need to be involved.

and so, here is geno before the shadow queen, her foul majesty herself, entirely unaware of the circumstances behind her. his body had reacted violently to the presence of darkness before, yet the newness of her power to his senses doesn’t sway him in either direction. friend or foe? no clue. if she were of the same guard as culex, then he would perhaps be inclined to believe in the former, but even then…

“perhaps in another time, another game, we may have been mortal enemies… Let us part as comrades in arms.”

it’s on such shaky ground that he hasn’t an idea of what to make of it.

❝ then may i ask where you are from? ❞ brows lift inquisitively, fingers stroking at his chin. examining her form, he tries to find anything he can relate to past experience, but he’s floundering for such a thing now. 

❝ i surely thought you were from vanda. then again, if you were, ❞ he mutters, softer this time, mainly to himself, ❝ then how would you be here? ❞ it isn’t as though culex was capable of crossing into their dimension, after all.

“You are wise. Indeed, if I was from Vanda I wouldn’t have the power to appear in such a dimension.” 

The Queen was more than happy to stay vague about her origins. The less that the people of the stars knew about the people of the shadows, the better. It would cause trouble if she wanted to strike again in the near future. 

Perhaps Geno will put the pieces together about what kind of being she is; for now though, it seemed as though he was oblivious. Did they not spread her tale these days?

likewise, he could feel  some kind of unknown energy pulsating from this being, but whether it was inherently dark or not was tough to determine. something was… off, but not immediately triggering his fight-or-flight (which, let’s be real, ends up being mostly fight). in terms of looks, however, something else kind of tipped him off. that sickly purple shade was something he’d… seen before?

❝ i am a visitor from above, ❞ came a simple, somewhat vague answer. just in case, geno decided to tread lightly, squinting as if to make heads-or-tails of her. ❝ but you… you look like you’re from… vanda? ❞

Well, that certainly was a first. She’s been called many things upon a person’s first sight of her. A demon, a monster... they were right to think these things, of course. 

But to claim she’s from Vanda? Oh, that’s a new one. Attempting to hide the fact that she was caught off-guard, the Queen speaks. 

“I am not from such a place. I hail from somewhere else entirely, though the fact that you have knowledge of such a place is... interesting.” 

A pause. If this being claimed to be from above, then she’d need to be careful. Though she was surprised; they had knowledge about Vanda of all places, but not of her? 

The Queen would certainly take advantage of it.