Midnight approached as the seaside courtyard of the BloodStar Castle filled with those invited to witness the Warlord ceremony.
The courtyard was illuminated by the light of a full moon overhead, and the gentle waves of the ocean could be heard and seen as they crashed against the cliffside. The courtyard was private and seldom used as it was historically a ceremonial courtyard for important rites of passage such as this one.
The courtyard had a pathway leading from the castle steps to a square pyramid with a flat square top platform where the ceremony took place. The pathway was lined by torch bearing soldiers of the empire. Flanking each row of soldiers were the exclusive invited guests from around the empire.
Atop the pyramid stood Empress Victoria in ceremonial robes. A stone altar stood opposite the steps leading up the pyramid. The altar had two prisoners suspended in air with their hands and feet stretched outwards by chains keeping their bodies taught.
Victoria stood next to a stone table atop the pyramid with a red and gold ornate box. The pyramidal structure was approximately 10 feet tall allowing the guests to view the majority of what took place atop the platform.
Victoria stepped forward and addressed the crowd, “Thank you for attending this historic event this late evening. As the clock strikes midnight, we will commence the ceremony. In the meantime, I will bring you all up to date on current events.”
She began to pace the altar back and forth as she began, “As you all know, Xenia and Nero lost the battle of Houston. Nero stands here tonight as a crowning jewel of our empire. He is the longest reigning Gladiator Champion in modern history, and he will continue to serve in that capacity. Any country who dares to attack us knows they will have to first overcome Nero’s might.”
She pointed to Nero standing guard at the castle steps on the far end of the courtyard from the pyramid structure. The crowd nodded in agreement. Victoria continued, “Nero will continue to serve as the high-ranking warrior to the Warlord crowned here tonight. Many of you may be curious just who the Warlord will be if not Nero?”
The bell tower interrupted her speech as it struck midnight, and the bell began to toll. Victoria halted her speech and merely pointed with her finger directly at the castle doors which swung open. Three attendants unfurled a sacred crimson carpet over the steps, and a figure slowly emerged from the dark doorway.
Xenia had rehearsed the entirety of the ceremony in secret earlier, and she began to step down the steps as the crowd gasped in shock and disbelief.
She wore her new Warlord armored outfit. Her crimson combat boots, crimson armored metal pleated skirt with gold accents, crimson leather tunic, and crimson chest armor half-plate covering her chest. Her head was adorned with a shallow crown of ruby jewels, and she wore a crimson cape that flowed behind her as she walked gracefully down the steps.
Whispers ran abound throughout the crowd, “She lives!”… “Xenia BloodStar is alive!?”… “She was proclaimed dead!”…
The crowd was ecstatic with joy as their heir to the throne was revealed to be alive. Save for two people… King Ramses and Queen Zara who sat in their own despair and disbelief as they tried to convince themselves their eyes were playing tricks on them. However, no matter how hard they strained their eyes… Xenia was alive!
Xenia started on the pathway between the torches held by soldiers, and Nero followed closely behind her. He drew his sword imbued with red ki and followed her closely until she reached the steps of the pyramid. As she ascended, Nero took a knee and bowed his head at the foot of the pyramid.
Xenia reached the top platform of the pyramid and faced her mother and bowed her head and knelt.
Victoria faced the crowd and yelled, “Your heir to the empire! Xenia Victoria BloodStar lives! Stronger, wiser, more determined than ever! She will lead our forces into battle against the Holy Light Empire once again!”
The crowd cheered with teary eyed faces. Their own savior had just come back from the dead to lead their empire to glory.
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Victoria turned to face Xenia and shouted, “Rise Xenia BloodStar, and show your people your might! Show them you are worthy of leading our forces where you have failed once before.”
Constance had placed several container ships of homeless people from the United States just off the coast for the occasion, and just as was rehearsed, Xenia planned to make a beautiful BloodStar with the captive population in the ships.
Xenia stood and began to focus. Her aura began to grow by leaps and bounds. A truly frightening power. Were it not controlled, it would have obliterated the courtyard and everyone in it save for Nero and Victoria.
Then as the aura began to slow, Xenia’s hair turned from black to a crimson red to match her armored outfit. Her ki aura began to grow exponentially once again shooting to unheard of heights. Then the sound of human flesh tearing, rending, and popping all at once reached the courtyard. The unreal noise was followed by the sight of thousands of gallons of blood collecting into a BloodStar in the sky over the castle.
Then Xenia moved her hands like the flow of water and spread the sphere into a thin translucent layer in the sky filtering the moonlight. The courtyard was now drenched in a blood red tint with the massive formation of blood overhead.
The guests looked on in awe of her might. It was clear for everyone to see that her strength, focus, and power had risen by several orders of magnitude. Their hope and optimism for the coming war swelled with her aura.
Xenia then faced Victoria and knelt once more as she held the blood in the sky. Victoria shouted, “Crimson blood-red hair. Grace the undead heir. Once fallen in a dark hour. Rise with unmatched power!”
The crowd cheered, and Victoria continued, “Xenia Victoria BloodStar! Heir to the BloodStar Empire and heir to the bloodline power! I hereby anoint you with the title of Warlord! With your title, you gain supreme authority abroad in times of war. Your authority at home will be second only to my own. And with your title, I also bestow upon you a family heirloom not used since it was wielded by me during the Great War.”
Victoria reached for the gold and crimson box atop the pyramid and slowly opened it. She withdrew a shiny black obsidian hilt of a sword with no blade. The hilt was a slender and uniform cylinder with no hilt guards. It shone with a black luster as an unremarkable shiny cylinder.
Victoria grabbed the jet-black obsidian hilt and announced, “Devoid of blood, this hilt has no power. Give it blood and give it life! Hold out your hand, Xenia BloodStar!
Xenia held both hands out in the supine position with her palms facing upwards. Victoria took a small red dagger from her robes and sliced deeply across both of Xenia’s palms. Xenia was unmoved by the pain.
Victoria took the obsidian hilt and laid it in Xenia’s cut palms. The hilt began to absorb her blood. Then it actively began to pull blood from her body and into the obsidian cylinder hilt. Just as the flow of blood turned to a torrent, the flow suddenly stopped.
Victoria looked to Xenia and announced, “Now Xenia BloodStar! If you accept your title, then rise and execute these prisoners with your new blade to accept your title!”
Xenia had been informed of the history of the blade hilt that she now held in her hands. She had been informed of its immense power and ability to harness and amplify ki. She stood and faced the crowd, “With my own blood, I bring life to our empire’s blade. BloodBane!”
She then channeled her aura into the hilt and the blade sprang to life. A column of ki-infused blood instantly manifested from the hilt as a 4-foot-long cylinder with a diameter matching that of the hilt. The crimson column of blood glowed with a vibrant red from the ki pulsating through it. The blood and ki sword was as powerful as the user’s ki making this sword one of the strongest weapons on the planet.
She walked over to the first prisoner suspended by the taught chains. She expertly swung the blade twirling it in front and behind her body until the speed of the blade created a whirling red shadow that glowed in the wake of the blade. Suddenly, Xenia performed a horizontal strike severing the prisoner’s body into two separate pieces at his torso.
The prisoner screamed in excruciating pain for a moment until the blood flowing from his severed torso left him dead in mere seconds. Xenia’s boots were covered in blood as she stepped to the next prisoner.
She once again swung the blade in impressive fashion leaving a glowing after trail in its wake. She then performed a swift, flawless uppercut. The blade moved as if it had met no resistance as it swung up vertically through the midline of the prisoner melting flesh and bone as it made contact.
The two halves of the prisoner, left and right, fell lifeless suspended by the chains as blood splattered across Xenia’s face and armor. She then turned and stood by her mother at the front of the pyramid.
Victoria grabbed Xenia’s hand and held it up as she yelled, “Cheer your new Warlord! Warlord Xenia Victoria BloodStar!!”
The crowd cheered with mighty roars as the ground began to quake underneath their feet from the ovation. Xenia represented the future of their empire, and they knew their future of prosperity had just been secured with her newfound strength.
The red tint of the courtyard gave her a menacing and deadly appearance as she stood over her citizens with a look of authority and determination.
The crowd began to chant, “War-Lord! War-Lord! War-Lord! War-Lord!” Xenia stepped down the steps of the altar and marched back into the castle as she thought to herself, “They love me. As they should. As all should. And all will.”