There was mist in her eyes.

Deep blue dived out of the smoke, piercing through the dark alley. There was no one in sight to remember her warning stares, to want the future the way she did. Her mind illuminated the city lights, with each shade crafting the world's history. She had always known who she was, and for what purpose. Her queen would be the one she had discovered in the pictures she had seen, someday hoping to stand in the shade of her crown.

"For the love of the Queen, Elaine, will you please stop staring!?" Naisa squeaked with that annoyingly high-pitched voice of hers. She grabbed the lower part of the timid girl's dress. "You are scaring the passers-by, you freak!"

Elaine didn't reply. In her eyes lived a portion of the future she knew her princess could not understand. That was why, in her dreams, she pledged allegiance to a different queen.

"When are we getting there?" Naisa asked the coachman. “I can’t stand this small space! And with her! Will you take responsibility if she strangles me?” She yelled at the poor Crystalian driving them.

He murmured something and yelled at his horses in return, bruising their backs with his whip. Elaine only watched the sun rise in the distance and color the sky. She didn’t mind Naisa or her rambling, as long as she was given the chance to live and help her ancient queen. As they were about to leave the city behind completely, they saw Isaac pacing back and forth in the middle of the road. The carriage stopped and he froze when Elaine stuck her head out of the window and then jumped out. Elaine walked up to Isaac and bowed.

“What are you doing?” she asked, too confused to control her expression. “Are you insane?! Someone could have run you over!” She kept turning around after every word to make sure Naisa wasn’t close enough to hear.

“Oh, hello,” he replied forlornly, looking behind Elaine and towards the carriage. “Is she inside?”

“What do you think?”

She put her arms around his neck, only for him to remove them and walk right past her and into the carriage. Elaine stood outside for a moment before following him as if nothing had happened. Naisa blushed deeply when Isaac appeared, but he kept ignoring her as much as his royal brain allowed. They travelled like that for some time before Naisa decided to yell at the coachman again.

“I told you to hurry up, you common…” She had caught Isaac’s attention, so she stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat. “What are you doing here so early in the morning, Isaac?” Naisa asked Isaac a little louder as her fan was covering her face.

“I am going to see Diane,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the forest around them.

Naisa laughed, her eyes scanning every inch of Isaac’s body.

“You really picked a wonderful time to come for a visit,” Isaac commented, for the first time looking at Naisa.

“Well, we have been invited. By Diane, personally.”

“They are executing queen Maria today.”

The carriage came to a halt. Naisa’s scream terrified the horses so much they refused to keep going for another hour. During that time, the princess of Aquarius kept on uttering such descriptive curses and cried so much Isaac wanted to jump out of the carriage and walk the rest of the way. ‘This is how they are welcoming me’ was to be heard every second or so. Luckily, Isaac’s presence made the horses calmer as time went on and after an hour, they were finally able to continue on. Elaine enjoyed the emptiness that surrounded Diane's castle. The morning was fresh, with raindrops occasionally dirtying the widow Elaine was leaning against. The forests and meadows all blended in her blue eyes, just like she had expected them to. Sometimes she dreamt of salvation, sometimes of death. She hated waking up from the life she would soon get to enjoy.

“And what exactly did Maria Hunster do?” asked Naisa, somehow triumphally once the castle was within reach.

“Conspire against the crown, apparently” was Isaac’s answer. He had no intention of talking about it anymore, even though he knew all the gory details of his best friend’s mother’s fate.

Naisa smiled. “What did she do this time, Elaine? Don’t tell me she advised her daughter to run for her life?”

Elaine bowed her head. “Nothing for you to be concerned with, my queen. I am simply getting rid of obstacles.”

Isaac looked at Elaine. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“She made a deal with Him behind my back. Can you imagine what could have happened if I found out too late?”

“Enlighten me,” Isaac inquired with his arms crossed. “It’s not like the two of you are working towards a different goal.”

“What He and I do is none of you concern. Maria Hunster stuck her nose where she shouldn’t have and now she is paying for it. And deservingly so.” Elaine tilted her head, completely forgetting Naisa’s presence. “You’ve been strange lately.”

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Naisa put her hand on his knee. “Maybe he’s lonely.”

“Maybe,” he replied.

It was noon when they arrived. When their carriage stopped before the entrance, one of Diane's maids ran towards it and offered Naisa her hand as she was getting out. The princess ignored the gesture, sure that the places that that peasant's hand had touched would humble her skin beyond repair.

“Get lost!” Naisa yelled with pure disgust coloring her every gesture.

The cold air twisted Elaine’s gray hair. She could hear yelling from inside the castle.

So, it has begun. What a pity!

“Elaine?” Isaac called out softly. “Do you think we should wait outside?”

“No,” she replied immediately. “We should go in. They need us.”

“I am not going in, you freak!” Naisa yelled and slapped Elaine on the cheek more to humiliate than hurt her.

Elaine held it in, like she did every day. “Would Your Majesty like to go back to Aquarius, then? And cause a scandal?”

“Me? Cause a scandal?! That insolent wench is the one causing a scandal! Inviting me to visit on the day of her mother’s execution! Is she insane or what!” Naisa went on flapping her fan excessively even though it was December and the world was covered in frost.

“You were the one who chose the date, Your Majesty,” Elaine replied.

Isaac was already waiting in front of the door. “If she won’t come in,” he told Elaine, “let the two of us go.”

“Over my dead body!” Naisa gasped and pushed Elaine to the side. “Move, peasant!”

The princess of Aquarius then pushed the door open without hesitation and, as the smell of blood and vomit hit her perfect face, turned around and attempted to run towards the carriage, screaming. Elaine caught her by the waist and stopped her from reaching it.

“You said you would go in.”

Terrified by Elaine’s empty smile and hollow eyes, Naisa could only squeal and turn back. Isaac could feel his feet become wet. When he looked down, he saw a little red river flowing towards the outside. There were people running around and yelling, some trying to push him aside and escape. He spread out his hands to stop them; as no one dared touch him, he managed to keep the chaos inside the castle. He turned around to listen to Elaine’s orders, but she stayed silent looking at the petrified Thomas Hammer. Diane was there too but incompletely, like she had left a portion of herself in her room, in Carcer, or in Lewtown. Queen Maria was lying on the floor, beheaded. Her blood reached even the diamond chandelier. The three walked in, one of them unwillingly, and closed the door behind them, so no sound could escape the castle walls.

“Order!” the prince yelled and pushed through the crowd to reach his friends.

Diane only noticed their presence upon hearing Isaac’s voice. She noticed Thomas Hammer kneeling before her mother. But she only saw Maria’s legs because her own body was turned slightly to the left, towards the exit.

“Would someone, please, cover her up?” she asked no one, as her voice was so faint it got ripped apart by all the yelling.

What were they yelling, anyway? They were dissatisfied. They wanted Diane to do it.

“Breathe,” Elaine suddenly said in Diane’s ear. “You’re not breathing.”

“Ah, yes,” Diane let out.

“You did well.”

Whether it was the Judge or an Aquarian maid speaking, Diane was not sure. Either way, that lack of empathy in the Aquarian’s eyes reminded Diane that the world would not come crushing down under the weight of her misery. She had tried to stop time before, and now she was here, standing in the pool of her mother’s blood. The cruel awakening she had been waiting for came a little too late; or maybe it was the sight of Maria’s head that pulled Diane’s walls down long enough for it to sneak into her space. Diane and Elaine both knew what was to come. One had seen it in her dreams, the other in nightmares. Their ancient parents had vowed to sincerity the two now had to fulfill. It all came down to the game Diane was too confidently playing.

“What do I do now?” Diane asked, for the first time looking away from her mother and Thomas Hammer who was now being carried off somewhere by Isaac. In an instant, the very instant her eyes found her mother’s empty ones, for real this time, Diane felt complete serenity. The space and time were all empty. There was no reason to wreck her head against the ghostly walls anymore.

She had nothing left to lose.

“I though you had a plan,” Elaine replied.

The clock of their future froze. The walls of the room turned grim. Elaine narrowed her eyebrows. In the dark room, the eyes of the savior shone too brightly. Their paths had been marked by threads of golden hair only the Judge was able to discern. And the princess was running ahead of time.

“This is what happens when you have plans without me, Your Majesty,” Elaine whispered. “Make sure it never happens again.”

Diane smiled at her from above; so small she looked now, no better than an ant. “And if it does?” She was facing the Judge now, her beautiful eyes flooded by tranquility. “I know about the past. I don’t need you anymore. But you need me. I will give you a chance to convince me.”

Elaine took a step back; he eyes wandered around the room, looking for Isaac and Thomas to aid the stopping of this sudden madness. But they were both gone. It was just the two of them, royals, and a bloody floor. Elaine wanted Diane to break into too many pieces to ever be whole again. The princess had lost so much, so…

Why? Why does she seem so nonchalant? What will it take to get you where I want you, Diane Hunster? How much more do I have to do for you to hate me with all that you have? I have lied, schemed, killed, all so that you would conform to Her rules.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I wouldn’t know for sure. But what I am certain of is that, for the first time since I was six years old, I am not afraid of you. As per my mother’s wish, I will let you tell me the truth. No lies, no tricks, no games,” Diane replied. “This is your last chance.” She smiled and put her hand on top of Elaine’s head. “Make sure you don’t regret it.”

She could feel Elaine’s soft hair caressing her hand as she was leaving the spectacle. There were still many people in castle, waiting for the banquet. She ignored them, the sound of her shoes occupying her mind. Only when she was alone, all alone, in a long, long hallway did the chilly air that was seeping through the holes in the windows trace her bare hands, and her world finally came crashing down.