The moonlight illuminates the barren land as the young women approach a candle-lit cave at the bottom of the canyon with apprehension. For every step she took, her heartbeat echoed louder, and her grip on the legendary sword became tighter.
With each gradual descent into the abyss, she could see her target clearer, and feel her body becoming tenser. She thought it was out of fear, after all, the figure awaiting her is the most infamous woman in the known world.
In reality, it was excitement that is coursing through her veins. The source of the world’s suffering, completely unguarded and oblivious to her arrival. She could almost smell the flowers in her home again.
When she finally reaches the bottom of the canyon, she nervously uses magic to check if there is anything that could make even the tiniest amount of sound. There is nothing that could ruin her assassination attempt except herself.
As the light in the abyss becomes larger and brighter, she raises her sword and pumps it full of magic to its limit. She’ll cut the entire canyon in half if it means her success will be guaranteed.
Right as she was about to swing her sword and smite the great evil, a loud clap echoed from the shallow cave and into the canyon. It startled the young woman, and she trips on her leg in an attempt to hide back into the shadow.
The figure in the cave nonchalantly takes a sip from her cup and speaks.
“Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?”
The young hero re-established her composure and prepares to strike again, despite already being found out.
The weary voice continues, “I made enough tea for the both of us. Come, no need to be shy.” The figure’s shadow signals her to come into the cave with a finger.
“YOU WILL NOT TRICK ME, DEMON! I WILL KILL YOU, AND BRING PEACE BACK INTO THE WORLD!”
“Jeez, are you so eager to fight off a horde of monsters in this canyon, in the middle of the night? Uous will be disappointed if he learns you didn’t pay attention to his lectures.”
“How did you-”
“Please, who do you take me for? Come now, the tea’s getting cold. Doubt me if you want, but there’s no poison in it. It would spoil the taste.”
The young hero stands there awkwardly, not knowing if she should strike or accept the invitation. She never would have thought the great Demon Queen would sound so….unexpectedly friendly.
The figure visibly sighs, “Suit yourself if you want to stand there all night. I’m going to sleep now, goodnight.” The shadow on the wall reaches for the candle.
Before any words could escape her mouth, she rushes towards the cave and turns back to see a beautiful woman grinning softly, with her back against the wall. Her casual clothing and crimson cloak remains its sturdy look despite the worn out appearance.
The hero’s eyes widen, her sword pointing at the villain, trembling.
“How DARE YOU MIMIC LADY PATRICIA’S APPEARANCE-”
“You didn’t learn a damned thing from Uous. Did you sense any magic around me right now?” She circles her hand around her face.
And indeed, her magic perception confirms what the Demon Queen says is true. But-
“I-I don’t believe you! You must have used some kind of ultimate magic to-”
“Three, two, seven, five, nine, nine, four, six, eight, eight, six, zero, one.”
Demon Queen Patricia takes another sip as the young hero falls onto her knees and plunges her sword into the ground. She can feel her mind shattering into tiny little pieces at the revelation that her hero is not only alive, but also the ultimate villain.
The older woman gently pats her shoulder and gestures to her to take a seat opposite to her, with a cup of tea sitting on a makeshift table.
“Whenever I’m under stress, this tea helps to soothe my mind and heart. I recommend you give it a try as well.”
The young hero reluctantly stands up, sheaths her sword, and plops down on her designated seat. She holds up the tea, gives it a sniff, before taking a sip. Her eyes widened again.
“Pretty good right, Hero Kylie?”
“Are you really the Demon Queen, Lady Patricia?”
The older woman scoffs a little, annoying the hero.
“Of all the questions you could ask. Try again, Kylie. You can do better. You have to be.” A glimpse of bitterness accompanies the last sentence.
The hero stops herself right before her angry words escape her mouth and instead swallows it back down with another sip of tea. She composes herself, contemplates, and opens her mouth again.
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“Why, Lady Patricia? If you really are her.”
The hero of ages past stares out the cave, looking at the glimmering stars.
“As you may have guessed, I am an immortal. A curse bestowed upon me when I killed the Demon King on behalf of the hero. None of us wanted this burden, but someone had to do it.”
“The time I have obtained allowed me to witness the consequences of our actions that outlasted any mortal lives. I had time to visit all the people we helped in our journey, as well as reflecting on all the demons we killed in the pursuit of peace.”
She draws her attention back to the young woman.
“We had made mistakes during our journey. Saving the world doesn’t absolve the pain we have accidentally caused. So, I persisted. I never stopped trying to save all I can. I had to live up to my own title. ‘The Optimistic Mage’, the one that never gave up, even when the Hero wavers. For four hundred years, I dare not rest because I felt an obligation as the Hero’s partner to continue helping people, long after I have made up for our mistakes. I want to see the world become a better place. I swore to make my curse a blessing.”
She closes her eyes, takes a sip, and opens them again.
“I imagined you have helped quite a number of people since you started your journey, yes?”
“I did. I protected a lot of them from the demons,” She answered scornfully.
“Contrary to what you might believe, demons are not a hive mind. I do not control what each individual demon does. But that’s beside the point. Have you ever thought about the people you saved? What are they doing, what have they become?”
“Sometimes. I-”
“What do you think will happen to the people and places you helped in 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years after you lent your hand to them? You say you have helped people, but do you truly understand what it meant to ‘help’ people, and not individuals who were lucky enough to cross your path?”
“I...I don’t...” She shakes her head violently before stopping, “You didn’t answer my question Lady Patricia! Why did you become the Demon Queen?! You said you tried to help people for four hundred years, so why did you help the demons to rebuild their army and cause chaos?! Why?!” Some of the tea sloshes out of her cup.
“Be mindful of your tea, my dear. They aren’t easy to come by.” The older woman takes another sip.
Kylie really wants to smash the cup against the wall, but begrudgingly finishes the tea before placing the cup down on the table.
“Have you heard of the Hotawn village?”
“I’m starting to doubt if you really are Lady Patricia, even if you know the numbers. Uous always described you as impatient.” The Hero grits her teeth.
But the Demon Queen simply raises her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
She sighs in annoyance, “Yes, I heard of it. Uous talked about it before. It was where the Hero proposed to you, and that it was destroyed even before the ‘Demon Queen’ started gathering armies again.”
Lady Patricia smiles bitterly.
“It was where our party officially started our journey when we defended the village against an incursion by the Demon King’s army. We defended it again when we returned there to mourn the death of one of our companions. Me and Uous defended it for the third time after the Hero had passed. I did my best, again and again, defending not only that village, but other places we have protected before, on top of the new ones I visited.”
“Despite my best efforts, Hotawn was burned to the ground when I was assisting a new group of heroes fighting off against a new threat. My home, the only living reminder I had left of my love, burnt to ashes.”
The young hero’s gaze at her idol softens.
“The fairytales you have listened to before often tell the story of heroic individuals, setting off on a journey to ‘do the right thing’ and ‘saving people’. Those were the stories I listened to when I was a child as well, and that was what we did. Yet, it never occurred to us that it was always about defeating evil, instead of changing the structure of the world that allows evil to exist and grow.”
“When I stood among the soot, I realized a second time why legends have described immortality as a curse. Not because of the loss of my home, but because I realized, at that moment, it was as if we were never here at all to protect this village. All our efforts to protect this place vanished in an instant.”
The tired, old woman looks down on the table and finishes her tea. Kylie feels like she should comfort her, yet not knowing how to do so.
“I’m tired of it, girl. I have spent hundreds of years helping many people and places, holding on to the belief that I can save all those who suffer. Instead, I was only delaying the inevitable. We only treated the symptoms, not the root of the problem.”
“I had seen enough of the cycle of suffering. As powerful as I may be, I am no god. So, I decided to do something different. My plans may draw some blood now, but in a hundred years' time, you will start to see the fruits of my labor-”
"Then you're no different from those bastards who claim what they’re doing to be 'a greater good' while sacrificing innocent people-"
“I can practically imagine Uous’s face when he is training you. Have you not listened to a thing I said? Or did Uous conveniently forget to tell you that we murdered more demons than we can count in our attempt to kill the Demon King?”
“Those demons weren’t innocent!” The hero rises up.
“And those who died during my plan are? Were you aware that the demons who bear the insignia of the Demon Queen Army only attacked soldiers and never anyone else?”
“You started the war! The demons that bear your ‘Demon Queen’ insignia invaded the capital city and threatened all humankind!”
Lady Patricia shakes her head disappointingly and lets out a deep sigh, “You remind me too much of my husband. Both of you, so easily misled by your burning passion to jump to conclusion,” She says mockingly, “The demons didn’t ‘invade’ the capital city. They were ambassadors sent by me in an attempt to avoid a war. Whether or not the humans killed them as an act of malice or simply out of irrational fear towards anything that doesn’t look like them is something we will never know. I doubt the soldiers who killed them will ever tell the truth.”
Kylie’s jaw hangs open, completely stunned and unable to refute her supposed enemy.
“If you help me, Hero Kylie, we could minimize any casualties as I enact my plan to establish a true long-lasting peace. I do not wish to shed any more blood, but I will if I am forced to.” The older woman picks up the cups and quickly washes and dries them with magic.
“I will return to my castle tomorrow. If you wish to know more, you and your comrades that are hiding on top of the canyon can join me tomorrow morning. Oh, and don’t even bother trying to kill me. I know you don’t have the bow. I would’ve sensed it kilometers away. I quite like my current clothes. Alright, see you~”
“Bow-?”
The Demon Queen snaps her finger, teleporting the Hero and her equipment to the precise location of where her comrades are hiding instantly. She yawns, casts a defensive shield, puts out the fire, before lying down on her makeshift bed, and sleeps.