. . .
During a dull, dark, and soundless night, the clouds hung oppressively low over the city of Destia. A faint smell of wet stone mingled with the moist air, intensifying the night's eerie chill.
My eldest brother and I stood atop a circle of stone, our feet feeling the cold, rough surface, surrounded by the silent silhouettes of town towers and houses.
The distant howl of the wind carried the faintest rustle of leaves, a whisper cutting through the stillness, making the scene even more haunting.
My young little eyes noticed a wall of gray and lavender clouds rushing westward unto the sea. It was an uncommon occurrence. My father said it only happened when the Queen of Destia was around.
All at once, the moon arose through a thin, ghastly mist. Its light shone down on a strange girl with long cyan hair, standing on a peculiar circular podium.
The people in the crowd gazed up at her, their heads turning with fear and curiosity. The girl tottered left and right, deliberately swinging her strange purple wand into the air.
"Hmm, so sad. Super sad. One of my test monkeys didn't like what I was doing." Her voice was high-pitched and almost singsong, making her words even more unsettling.
Her expressions and movements were so outward and strange to me that I almost considered her a creature of some kind. Her eyes gleamed with a twisted delight, and she moved with an erratic, practically dance-like motion, as if reveling in the chaos she was creating.
But after she flailed her arms and staff into the air, hearing the children's cries echo before her, the strange girl leaned over and asked the audience, her smile wide and unnerving.
"So… who should my next test monkey be?" She said as she watched the crowd around her quiver in terror.
Immediately, all cowered and hid behind each other. They gulped down breaths of fear as they watched the girl drag her hawkish gaze.
None wanted to ever serve as this girl's test monkey. The iciness and the sinking feeling in their hearts produced an unredeemed dreariness at the thought of being picked from this crowd.
"No. Please, Queen of Destia. Stop this madness! You have killed… so many."
The cyan-haired girl immediately reeled back from the crowd and cocked a brow in surprise, scanning the audience as she tried to identify who had spoken.
Although I couldn't see his entire body, I recognized the blonde-haired man by the intensity of the girl's gaze at him.
"Oh, a silly man dares to question my actions?" I've heard. "How so intrusive of you!"
Without thought, the Queen of Destia snapped her fingers and allowed a distinct lavender light to shine down on the trembling man.
"I must say. You surprised me, silly silly man. You should take that as a compliment! Ha ha! Those were just goofy, tiny accidents. They hadn't done any harm."
After a soundless reply was made from the audience, the Queen of Destia shrugged her shoulders and sighed gloomily. The moment was so quiet that I couldn't have even heard my brother breathe.
I almost flinched at her sudden, aggravated screams.
"Boring. Boring. Boring! All of you are boring!" She screamed as she pulled off a ridiculous stunt, jumping backward. "I'm craving for action. Anything to satisfy me!"
Suddenly, her eyes crossed to the blonde-haired man with a deceiving smile. The lavender luminance glowed brighter as she pointed her staff at him.
"Hmm, la la la. Ummm, you! Yeah, you! Amuse me, trembling one. I'm bored and can't handle the boresome atmosphere any longer! Try to surprise me. After all, that IS what this nation stands for."
Immediately, all eyes, including mine, cruised the blonde-haired figure as the purple light consumed him.
Anxiously, they looked back and forth across the area until, finally, the same lavender beam shone on what… looked like a diving board that scaled even the clouds.
A faint silhouette stood there.
Not too tall, not too short, he crouched and hung onto the object for dear life. Though he was far away, his screams echoed across the entire city and nation. I tried to cover my eyes with my tiny hands. It was terrifying.
And to the Queen of Destia's sick amusement, she applauded and complimented him.
"Yes. Now, THIS is interesting." She said with a strangely innocent-like smile. "A poor man guilty of his complaints to me, standing proudly at the nation's greatest diving board up in the smiling sky."
Then I heard the people of Destia scream at their Queen in shocked protest.
"You're Insane!" A young woman fearfully screamed from the crowd with a piercing voice.
"There's no water there!" Screamed another with a tightened throat.
"He's about to die!"
" What in the world are you doing?!"
"Get back down here! You have nothing left to lose!
It happened so quickly.
Without warning, the lavender light burst forth from the Queen of Destia and forced the man closer with its forced lightning bolts.
The only thing visible to them was the figure clinging desperately to the diving board. There was nothing but solid brick below the diving board.
"Ha ha ha! This is fun, very fun indeed~."
"I don't want to die." The man screamed as the Queen of Destia laughed to herself, holding out her arm with a malicious smile on her face.
"Ooh, don't worry about dear silly you now. Amuse the audience!"
The Queen of Destia clapped her hands, and the audience was suddenly thrown into silence.
All eyes were directed at the man hanging upside down on the diving board. His eyes met those of the people below the platform, and tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Please… please save me…"
The air became thick with tension; the crowd could sense that something was about to happen. After I heard a loud clap across the city after the figure was struck and forced off the diving board, the nation exploded with shrieks and screams.
"HE'S DEAD!"
"I... I can't believe my eyes!"
"You're a monster."
A sea of people surged forward and surrounded the platform. Everyone was talking in fear.
"Did he jump, or was he pushed?"
The Queen was amused by their reactions, clapping along as she noticed all their stunned faces.
"Now... now... who else wants to amuse the nation? I love this!" She blurted with a laugh. "You're all such a delight~!"
Her laughter was infectious. Soon, the crowd went wild over it. She was like a child playing some game to entertain herself—except this game involved death. Even my innocent self would have never found this amusing.
When I thought it was over, the Queen of Destia turned around and faced the audience again.
With a wave of her hand, a lavender beam shot and landed on my brother and me.
I had never seen my brother so terrified in my life. It's as if his whole face was frozen.
While the crowd watched, Jal leaned over to me and whispered as I felt the warmth of the purple light burn me.
"Sis, don't... move."
Although I hadn't known what had happened, I followed my brother's lead and remained still. Not long after, I saw The Queen of Destia standing in a triangular pose and speaking to the crowd.
"What do you wish to be entertained with, my people? What would make you scream with awe and fascination? This, perhaps? I adore the petrified faces of shock you made when you saw that." The Queen asked with a piercing laugh. "Come now..."
My brother never wanted to die. Even if we fought all the time when we were tiny, he would never allow me to leave his side.
"Please, do NOT include my little sister in this." He whispered to the cyan-haired girl as he tightly grasped me. Jal's voice escalated the more the raindrops hit me; I could remember it being so trembling that it made me shiver.
"SHE'S TOO YOUNG, okay?! We have a family. Our mother and father are locked up in prison for a minor law you made. We just needed food! Please..."
My brother tried not to tear up in front of the crowd, kneeling on the ground as silence surrounded him.
"Just take me. Not my sister. There's a life she hasn't yet had. The possibilities for her are endless."
I could never believe her response. The previous Queen of Destia was so heartless, stealing my parents away after trying to steal just a loaf of bread for us to eat.
But it wasn't just pain that filled me; there was an internal war raging within me. Anger and helplessness intermingled, forming a heavy cloud that never left my mind.
Every day, I struggled with the guilt of not being able to do anything, a feeling that gnawed at my conscience tirelessly.
Her methods of surprise deluded her, and her interest was directed to suffering rather than amusement.
Even in moments of quiet, the rage against her felt like a fire that neither faded nor dimmed.
To this day, I could never forgive her for what she had done to my family. I hope to god she is dead now.