King Corythia paced back and forth in her garden. Within it was stone columns, which at their tips had the carved faces of her family’s fallen enemies. She paid particular fondness to the scowling elven face of her greatest enemy, the Priest Queen, La. It was after her colony that the garden was modeled. It was called Opar, and it was a colony of Atlantis. But, its inhabitants felt that it was new and better than its parent nation. It formed its class of priests and even became one with a few of the local tribes. Opar became for all the world to see, its entity, distinct from Atlantis. That was something that the royals of Atlantis could not tolerate. Corythia herself oversaw the death of Opar herself when she was just a kingling. She was well into her teens when she met La, who had fled from the ruin of Opar. Years following that, La’s head was severed from her torso with a heavy Xiphos. She’d come into the garden with its maze of nearly extinct plants to look up at the face of La. Knowing that she had bested her and that her land was now a flattened expanse, not even fit for growing wild plants.
The night sky stretched over out. With the way it was structured, half of the city was beneath the water, reflecting the night sky. One could go for a swim and imagine that they were submerged in an ocean of starlight. The city below was dark. They'd received communications that their march into France was unsuccessful, but it was no matter. Granted, she wasn't overly fond of the idea of French farmers being able to hack up her boys, but she also considered it a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. Her mind was solely focused on the stars in the night sky, as a great jet of light cut through it and slammed into the ocean, splashing water that did not carry with it the heat of the impact. It hissed and whipped as the lightbulb shattered, cooling the water as it boiled off.
The object floated to the surface and gave off a cool magenta light. She stared at it for a moment. It seemed from initial observation to be something like polished white and grey ceramic. Like a Chinese vase. She couldn't place where on it the light was coming from. It seemed from an initial standpoint that the light was a part of it in some nebulous way. It was as if the object was made of light. Corythia walked over to it and knelt, running her hand over the smooth surface. It was cool to the touch, like marble. Slowly the object began to change, melted, in a way. Warp into the shape of a humanoid. The area that she thought of as the face turned into the likeness of La, all sharp features and pointed ears.
The thing rose and pulled itself up and into the garden, standing like a strange statue.
Corythia stood and walked back a few steps, her hand going to the sword at her side.
The doppelganger of her fallen foe did nothing.
“What are you?” Corythia asked.
“I am La,” The thing said, its voice like nails on a chalkboard.
“You’re not La. She is dead," Corythia said.
“I am her essence. Her will. Her hatred,” The thing said.
"Are you then? Then surely, you would recognize my face."
"I do not,” it said.
Corythia nodded, "I am Corythia of Atlantis. I was your King for a time when you ruled over Opar. You were killed by the bastard French when they set their sights on our colony."
"Ah yes. I remember you now." it said, its voice taking on a more familiar tone. "What am I to do?"
"Get revenge for us. Get revenge for Opar. You are reborn as a colorful, beautiful simulacrum. Go fuck up France for your King, La." Corythia said.
The thing that thought itself was La smiled then, a cruel smile. "With pleasure," it said, before turning and stalking off into the night.
"Oh, and La?" she said.
It turned to face her, "If you should find someone claiming to have been loyal to Opar, trust me when I say that they mean to re-kill you. Almost all of the surviving loyalists only did so in service to France. But do not feel too bad, they’re savages who barely think."
The thing nodded, "I understand."
"Good," Corythia said. "Now go."
The thing turned and walked away, disappearing into the night.
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