image [https://i.imgur.com/8dqkSjP.png]
On the top floor of Castle de Belouis’ library, Solana was laying down on a table while multiple pages deep in a tragic romance novel. Having now spent many days here, she was beyond hooked as each moment in the story kept escalating to new heights.
“I can’t believe Prince Rovo would lie like that again! He knows that the princess would accept his flaws regardless of how bad his situation is!! Gah, how dare he make her cry!” She loudly muttered, trying to make sense of the character's motivations.
However, before she could find out what happened next, a voice called for her from the first floor.
“Lady Solana, are you there?” They asked.
Solana shifted her weight on the table and peaked her head over the edge of the nearby banister. She looked down to see Nadine staring up at her with a warm smile.
“Yes?” Solana replied, wondering what this woman wanted.
“Her Majesty has requested that I bring you to her office. Will you please come down and I shall escort you.” Nadine asked with a humble bow.
“Oh, sure. One sec!”
Solana closed her book and with a single, swift leap, she jumped from the fourth floor to the bottom. The motion was absolutely effortless and elegant as she landed, not even remotely disturbing the marble tile beneath her feet.
“Oh my, are you okay!?” Nadine asked with great shock.
The concern on Nadine’s face was more than justified, especially after seeing someone drop from such a massive height and be completely unscathed.
“Never been better. Now, what does Azhane want? She’s disturbing my reading time.” Solana wondered while she stretched her arms above her head.
‘Just who is this woman? And to refer to Her Majesty so casually.’
Nadine brushed aside the apparent disrespect and continued to be a good host. She smiled and motioned for her to follow, guiding them through the door and down the hall.
After navigating through the castle and ascending the many steps, the two reached Azhane’s office. Before Nadine could respectfully knock, Solana stepped forward and opened the door without a care in the world.
Nadine was dumbfounded by what she just witnessed, having never seen such rude behavior before. She followed behind Solana and quickly bowed her head, hoping Azhane would look past what had just happened.
“Hey Azhane, can you make this quick? I was just getting to the good part of my book before you interrupted me.” Solana pouted, announcing her presence with a confident aura as she entered the room.
“Oh, sorry. This shouldn’t take long, I just want you to meet a few people. Come in and take a seat.” Azhane replied with a smile, pointing towards the couch when she got to her feet.
Solana nodded and sat down, crossing her arms and legs while she patiently waited for this meeting to begin. The moment Azhane took a seat on the opposite couch, a knock was heard at the door. She permitted Nadine to open the door, allowing Zalthia and Graymoor to enter.
They took their seats next to Azhane and stared at Solana, sizing her up and wondering if she really was who she said she was. They immediately took note of her pale skin, gray eyes, and sharper than usual teeth.
“Alright, now that everyone is here. I want you all to meet Solana, the Boundless Queen. Solana, this is my sister Zalthia and my fiance, Graymoor Penult.” Azhane introduced, wasting no time.
Before Solana could even reply, Zalthia posed a question.
“Sorry if this comes off as too forward, but if you are indeed the Boundless Queen, what are your intentions here? Are you hoping to overthrow our nation from the inside?” She asked while glaring with her red eyes.
Solana simply smiled before entertaining a reply.
“Goodness child, are you always this uptight? Must be exhausting.” Solana said with a soft chuckle.
“Relax, I’ve no interest in overthrowing anything and to be honest, I don’t even have a plan for what I want to do with my new lease on life. I’m only here because Azhane was kind enough to open up her home to me when I had nowhere else to go.”
Once Zalthia heard this and sensed that there was no hostility coming from this woman, her harsh expression softened and she breathed a small sigh.
“I see… But I am curious about something. You say that you’re the Boundless Queen, but your features and Core Energy output seem significantly less pronounced than the other Boundless we’ve seen and fought against. I assumed that the highest power within your race would look the part, but your presence seems so much weaker.” Graymoor chimed in, still feeling quite skeptical of her.
After a brief moment of silence, Solana burst out laughing. She gripped her stomach and flopped onto her side, kicking her legs into the air as she squealed at the top of her lungs. Zalthia, Azhane, and Graymoor were taken aback by her unending laughter, wondering what was so funny.
“Ohhh my goodness, you humans really are something! You seriously just said that with a straight face! Oh my!”
Solana continued to laugh as she slowly collected herself, wiping the tears from her face.
“I was simply suppressing myself out of respect to Azhane, but if you’re really that curious about my power, I’ll happily oblige. Just say the word.” Solana said with a cheeky smirk.
Graymoor and Zalthia looked at each other before turning their heads towards Azhane. She gave them a firm nod, prompting everyone to shift their gaze back to Solana.
Solana closed her eyes and took a short breath. Within seconds, an explosion of Core Energy blasted out of her. The amount of power surging from her body was sickening as it filled the room with terrifying amounts of pressure. It was abundantly clear that she was well within Calamity Class, having Core Energy amounts on par with Azhane.
However, even though her power was tremendous, the most interesting thing during this display was Solana’s sudden physical transformation. A single thin, black line raced down from her left eye to her jaw and along her arms, splitting off into perpendicular directions.
Solana’s perfectly cut bangs were pushed aside by two large, black horns that branched up and backwards. Even her teeth grew longer and sharper, having an eerie vampiric quality to them. Zalthia, Graymoor, and Nadine were in absolute shock as they struggled to comprehend her immense Core Energy and transformation.
‘What the hell! I can’t believe Azhane would allow someone so dangerous to stay here amongst our people.’
Zalthia grimaced from the sheer pressure permeating from Solana, growing more worried with each passing second.
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Just as fast as things started, Solana’s transformation was fully complete. She slowly opened her eyes, revealing incredibly pale and opaque gray irises that glowed subtly. The very sight of them sent shivers down their spines, rendering the group speechless. Solana looked at Zalthia directly and spoke a very simple request. However, her voice was grizzly and weighted with power.
“Go stand in the corner.” She demanded.
Immediately, Zalthia lost complete control of her body as she quickly stood from the couch.
“What!?! Why is my body moving on its own!?” Zalthia exclaimed, not understanding why she was heeding this demand without any question or hesitance.
As she made her way across the room, Solana glanced over at Nadine and spoke again.
“Dance.”
Nadine threw her hands up and started to do a little jig, shifting her hips from side to side at a fairly consistent rhythm. Despite her old age, Nadine was dancing the night away with all of her might.
“My Lady, what is happening!?!” She yelled as her body spun and moved to a nonexistent beat.
Graymoor looked around at his peers and without a single moment of hesitation, he hopped in front of Azhane and assumed a protective stance. Graymoor summoned forth his Manifest, Illusion Hand, and glared at Solana, warning her to stand down.
“Graymoor, you don’t have to protect me. You’re in no-” Azhane said before getting cut off.
“Don’t worry, my love. I’ll keep you safe from this woman.” He sharply replied as he activated his illusionist ability, hoping to confuse Solana long enough for him to escort Azhane to safety.
However, once the room shifted and flexed, his illusion was broken and rendered completely useless.
‘Did my ability just get canceled?!’That’s impossible!’
Graymoor couldn’t believe that his skill, which had given many Vestas' tremendous issues, was disrupted so effortlessly. He focused his gaze upon her and noticed a bone ladened tiara now resting upon Solana’s head. The single skull sitting at the center of the tiara unhinged its jaw and began glowing an ominous black.
Solana got to her feet and slowly approached Graymoor. He quickly attempted to reactivate his illusion, but unfortunately, it failed every time.
As she drew closer to him, he gripped the handle of Illusion Hand and pointed the blade forward. Graymoor was fully prepared to fight her with his natural sword abilities, showing why he was appointed as one of the Blade Monarchs.
Solana simply reached her hand out and placed it upon the edge of his Manifest, applying very slight pressure with her grip. Illusion Hand began to glow black and with a single squeeze of Solana’s fingers, Graymoor’s Manifest shattered and dematerialized.
‘W-What…’
His eyes went wide as he witnessed his weapon disappear right before him. In all his years as a Vesta, he had never experienced anything even remotely close to this kind of ability.
Solana slowly brought her hand closer to his face, raising it upwards with immaculate levels of grace and elegance. Graymoor, frozen with fear, stood his ground and awaited his inevitable demise. The tension rose to terrifying levels as he felt the warmth of her hand approaching. The anticipation was killing him until suddenly, he felt a light finger flick on his forehead.
“Oh my, you should see the look on your face right now. Absolutely priceless!” Solana said with a heavy laugh, making fun of the justified fear plastered across his face.
She quickly shifted back to normal, causing her Boundless features to fade away and her Core Energy to cease. Solana’s playful chuckle continued until she looked over at Azhane.
“Are you done yet?” Azhane asked, growing tired of the theatrics.
“Aww you’re no fun. But alright, I guess I’ll finish up.” Solana replied with a pout, crossing her arms as she plopped back into her seat on the couch.
“Release.”
Immediately, Zalthia and Nadine regained control of their bodies. Nadine dropped to the floor and struggled to catch her breath after dancing for so long. Zalthia stepped back from the corner and quickly turned around, her expression filled with great anger.
“The hell did you do to us!?!” She yelled at Solana, slamming her hand on Azhane’s desk.
“Woah, that looked like it hurt.” Solana sarcastically quipped.
“Answer the question!”
Zalthia was fed up at this point, having never felt so used and taken advantage of before.
“Alright, alright. It was just a little show of my abilities.” Solana replied with a nonchalant tone, not seeing what the big deal was.
“Little show?? You literally just took over our minds and forced us to do something against our wills! Do you not realize how dangerous that is?!” Zalthia exclaimed.
“Took over your minds? Child, I did no such thing. My ability is much more akin to physical control and domination.”
Solana simply crossed her legs, preparing herself to explain further.
“My ability allows me to take control of Core Energy and turn it into my own, causing the original owner to become a pawn of mine. As long as the subject has Core Energy and is significantly weaker than me, whatever I command will overwrite their own desires and take priority. Unless you’re deaf and blind, every request I make becomes law until I say otherwise.”
The room went silent with shock as they realized what she was saying.
“That’s absurd. How many people can you command at any given time?” Zalthia asked, eager to learn as much as she could in case this were to become an issue in the future.
“Enough to get the job done.” Solana playfully smirked, opting to remain as vague as possible.
Zalthia scowled at the response, growing more impatient and irritated by the second. Before she could give Solana a piece of her mind, Graymoor chimed in.
“Okay, but what about my abilities? You somehow canceled them without saying a single word. What else are you hiding?” He asked with a cautious, yet intrigued expression.
“Oh, that was just my Manifest saying hello. It likes to assert its dominance whenever another Manifest is present, show them who’s boss and what not. Kind of an asshole move, huh?” Solana chuckled again, finding this whole conversation to be quite amusing.
“But, what do you mea-”
Graymoor wanted to know more, but Solana raised her finger to her mouth and made a shushing noise.
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and spell out every aspect of my abilities. Use your brains and do some deductive reasoning or something. The fact that I’ve even told you this much should be more than enough for you all to trust me.” She calmly said, growing a little tired of this meeting.
“Enough to trust you?? How do we trust someone that can effortlessly force their will upon others? Your literal presence is a threat! You can’t be serious!” Zalthia swiftly interjected, showing a very uncharacteristic side to herself.
“I’m dead serious. I could have easily kept all of this to myself and wreaked absolute havoc on everyone in this castle. However, out of respect for Azhane, I have fully cooperated and kept things friendly.” Solana replied, shifting her posture to better face Zalthia.
“And I fully plan on keeping it that way, but little girl, if you keep pressing me, I have no problem changing my mind…”
Solana shot a terrifying glare at Zalthia, piercing her very soul with how deadly her eyes looked.
‘What the hell is wrong with me? Why does this woman get under my skin so much? Get it together, Zalthia!’
She flinched and slowly stepped back, trying her best to regain her usual rock solid composure. As Solana continued to glare, Azhane finally decided to speak up and quell the tension. She clapped her hands together and cleared her throat.
“Alright, I think that’s enough. Zalthia, Graymoor, are you all convinced now? Satisfied?” She asked with a light-hearted tone.
The two slightly hesitated before nodding their heads, accepting that Solana was in fact the Boundless Queen and currently not a threat to them.
“Good. And Solana, you need to be nicer to my sister. I don’t appreciate you calling her a little girl.”
“Tch, she started it.” Solana pouted and looked the other way, turning her nose up like a child.
Azhane’s Core Energy began to rise to dangerous levels as she tapped her foot on the floor, losing her patience with Solana’s lack of cooperation. Solana rolled her eyes once she noticed the deadly pressure building up. She sighed heavily before looking in Zalthia’s direction.
“Geez okayyyy, I’m sorry for calling you little or whatever…” Solana forcefully muttered, crossing her arms aggressively.
Zalthia was dumbfounded by the apology, shocked to see someone as powerful as this woman acting in such a childish manner. Zalthia contemplated a few responses before settling on something simple.
“Sure… Apology accepted.”
“Great! See how easy that was? Now that we’re all fully acquainted, let’s continue to get along from this day forward. Okay?”
Azhane smiled warmly as she looked at everyone present in the room. Zalthia, Graymoor, Nadine, and Solana eventually nodded and agreed to keep things civil between them.
Once everything was settled, Solana slowly raised her hand. Azhane’s eyebrow furrowed with confusion, wondering what she was doing.
“Uh, yes, Sola?” She asked with a curious tone.
“Can I go back to the library now? I need to know what happens next in Elegance & Endearing - Volume 5.” Solana replied, feeling eager to continue her literary pleasure.
“Uhh, yeah. You can go.”
“Finally! Now if you’ll excuse me. Oh and if you need me, don’t. I’m busy.”
Solana stood from the couch and stretched her arms above her head, letting out a big yawn in the process. She quickly made her way to the door and exited the room.
“She’s uhh, quite the character, huh? Now I see what you mean by her being different.” Graymoor said while getting to his feet.
“Yeah she’s a character alright… I’m sorry, but I still don’t trust her. You all can feel however you want, but I’ll remain skeptical until she shows me otherwise.” Zalthia added, walking over to the door and opening it slightly.
Before exiting, she looked over her shoulder towards Azhane.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, sis…”
The sound of the door closing echoed across the room as Azhane contemplated Zalthia’s statement. Graymoor and Nadine remained silent, wondering if Solana was going to be a reliable ally or a terrifyingly dangerous foe.