Trial One~Time
Not long into Sheila's reign as queen, Li had organized and was now leading a revolt. Sheila fought valiantly but was struck down by Li. As Li stood over her limp body, she looked up to address the people.
"Oh this is so pitiful! Our Queen was once hailed as a mighty Dragon Goddess! Her light shone for all to see as master of the flow of time itself, but she was lead a stray by an evil man! He used the great faith she had so she would follow the new deity known as Salem! But we will create a new, pure world, free from the destiny that is governed by this false God!"
Li leaned down so Sheila could hear her. "You can drop dead without worries your majesty."
Li turned, a deranged smile played at her lips. "I will inherit the Queen's will! I will lead us to victory!"
Li's followers cheered and she left with them, believing she had killed Sheila. When Enu arrived he was astonished at the damage Li had caused. He rushed to Sheila and cradled her decrepit body.
"I'm sorry...I didn't make it in time..." Enu spoke through tears.
Sheila forced herself to speak. "I'm sorry. I wanted to protect everyone but in the end...it still ended up like this. I will not be there....but the child that Salem left with me is still alive."
With her remaining strength, she used her magic to remove her child from her womb. She encased it in an orb of magic designed to freeze the time around it and entrust it to Enu. Her body then began to break away into the little orbs of shi.
"Wait! Sheila! What is the child's name!"
With her last breath she was able to utter her child's name for the first and last time.
"Illya."
•~•~•~•~•~•
A great battle ensued as ancient forces of the land rose, finding their instability as a ripe opportunity to seize power. This would send the land of begining, known as Aruma An into a spiral of a never ending war. As their land fell through endless dimensions and Li's forces battled with them, it caused severe damage to the land and it's people. It was a war that had come to be known as the "Hundred Year War" by the people of Aruma An and the world as they knew it was destroyed by it.
Enu however, was able to escape with the child with the help of the djins who were still loyal to Salem. Enu used his power to create a palace in a celestial void similar to where he had lost his best friend and King. In this palace, the fetus would grow. In his rush to escape, he managed to take what was left of Sheila's body with him. Using the shi from the void he was able to breath life back into her body and place the child back into her so she may give birth to it.
When the remains of Aruma An had fallen far enough and no longer slipped through endless dimensions, he erected hundreds of sacred shrines that served as entry ways to allow his fellow djins to follow them to this new world. Unfortunately they weren't the only ones able to follow them. Aruma An was destroyed but Li had found a way to preserve her cult and follow Enu through the rifts he opened. Sheila would have just enough time to be taken in by her father, the King and founder of the Haan Empire and soon after that she would give birth to Illya. The day of her birth, Sheila would be assassinated by Li. It would be an event that haunted Illya well into adulthood. The questions and experiences she never got to share with her mother would always follow her.
Sheila had allowed herself to be subjugated to the will of this family so that their power could one day help her child, but now with her out of the way, Illya would grow up to be the target of their abuse. Her wings would be torn off by those jealous of it's beauty. Acid would be poured down her throat by those jealous of her voice. She would be beaten and abused. She would struggle to gain power for herself, she'd work herself to the bone only to be stolen away and used as some kind of doll for pleasure and when the damage was already done, she'd have to start all over again.
Her years of abuse would lead her down a path of vengeance but through her countless hardships she would grow to realize the complexities of "human" nature and she would come to have many of the same ideals her father once had. er unusual upbringing resulted in there being times where her sweet and gentle nature would fade away and be replaced with an extremely crazed and frightful one that had many cruel tendencies. The young girl was plagued by a sea of trauma, but she would also grow to be an extremely beautiful young goddess with a strong will and even stronger heart.
Just like her father, she was favored by the shi and had many of the same opinions as he once did. She would go on to conquer a country plagued by an unremorseful tyrant and become its Queen, later becoming an Empress of a powerful and prosperous empire. She would then marry a man who could tame her devilish nature and she would be the mother of six beautiful children.
And so she lived her life believing that the only way to truly get revenge was to show them how happy she could be despite all the things they put her trough.
•~•~•~•~•~•
In a once dreaded part of the world, there existed a country by the sea, now known as Solaria. It was a land of vibrant diversity where it's citizens lived in peace as equals. It was a fiery land of volcanic canyons with surprisingly habitable temperatures. Along side its smoldering land were cooler waters that lead into an exquisite hot springs and several geyser plains. Far atop the volcanic mountain was a palace where a just and righteous Queen lived. Her reign extended to the many grasslands and mountainous regions outside of the country. She was loved by her people and even those from other lands sang her praises.
Her name was Illya.
One morning, deep within the geyser plains, Illya was sat on an old throne that once belonged to a proud mermaid deity of the land. The handmaids of this mermaid deity often came to visit. Some even chose to stay and live there after Illya liberated the land. The previous ruler was a demonic general who hypnotized and enslaved the beings of the land. When Illya freed them, The guardian Queen of the mermaids, Wahine hi'u i'a, gave Illya her throne to use as a place of relaxation when ruling became too taxing. She has since left and now resides in Meer, a sea kingdom to the west of Solaria.
It was a land of fire and water. The two seemingly opposing elements would provide Illya and her husband with the perfect home, what with him being the son of a water nymph and she a dragon. She sat on the throne conversing with the mermaids when one of her guards, Luke rushed onto the rocky platform on which the throne was located.
"Pardon the intrusion my lady but there seems to be a problem in the forest."
A sigh escaped her lips as she sat up. "What is it Luke?"
"We have received word of a suspicious group of people near the Forest of Flames. Scouts say they look to have traveled across the sea from Myahm Agana."
Illya waved dismissively. "Leave them be. Cahris will deal with them."
Cahris was the divine beast that resided in the Forest of Flames, a place of everlasting fire. She was a beautiful centaur with glowing golden eyes and fiery hair. She watched over the denizens of the forest and was very particular with who was allowed to enter.
Luke averted his eyes. "About that...it seems they've managed to sneak by her. They're headed for the Ashen Crater."
Illya sighed. "Taking the road less traveled eh? That is suspicious."
She stood up and sauntered off the platform, deciding to investigate this "suspicious group" herself.
•~•~•~•~•~•
Angry chatter could be heard from behind the trees along with the crunching of burnt leaves.
A male's voice echoed through the forest."Ugh. It's so hot!" beads of sweat rolled off of his forehead ans his clothes stuck uncomfortably to his body, doing nothing to soothe his irritation.
"We're almost out of the forest. Just hold on a little while longer," responded a woman.
Just as she said, they made it out of the forest and into an opening. There was a somewhat broken path that lead towards the village of Solaria. Next to the path was a colossal crater that generated an updraft of hot air that reached miles into the sky. It was notably cooler here as the crater was sucking up all the hot air.
"It's cooler in this area? Kaito make a note of that!" The woman trekked on.
Kaito groaned and pulled out his notepad. "Can't we just leave? We've gotten far enough Tekina!"
She turned around with her hands on her hips. "What are you talking about! This place is finally free of all those monsters! This is our chance to explore and research it!"
Kaito flipped his notepad shut and pointed behind her. "What's that then?"
Tekina turned slowly to see that a massive monster made of volcanic rock was looming over her. the monster's glowing eyes seemed bore holes into her skull as it loomed ominously, causing her to take a few cautious steps back. slowly but surely it turned away and continued going about it's day. She released the breath she was holding in and looked back at Kaito.
"See. They won't hurt us if we don't do anything to threaten them!"
Kaito followed her along the path. "That's not what they were like before. As much as I love seeing you in those shorts, I still don't trust this."
She swatted him on the shoulder and continued walking. "They were being manipulated by an evil demon before. Now they aren't."
"True. Now they have an unpredictable mad Queen." Kaito's sarcastic remark made Tekina roll her eyes.
He sighed as she didn't seem to be phased. "Have you heard the stories about her? I've heard rumors of how she burnt down an entire fleet of Enerian ships when their king refused to help her and of how she locked people away and let them starve to death when they supposedly upset her AND when she violently slaughtered the nobles in the country of Aiyn. No one has every heard from those places since. I wonder why. Oh that's right! IT'S BECAUSE THOSE COUNTRIES DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE!"
"So what's your point?"
"My point is that if we get caught snooping around here we'll be executed by a some crazy lady."
Tekina stopped and spun to face Kaito. "Okay calm down! First, we're not snooping around! We're here for scientific purposes and second, how can she be a tyrant when everywhere else we've visited, we've heard nothing but good things about her! Don't make assumptions based on a few rumors! If we are spotted then we'll just explain tha-"
A loud crash of boulders heading towards them interrupted Tekina. Their hearts stutter in shock as they stumble back, narrowly dodging the first few. It wasn't long before they were being bombarded with a whole slew of boulders, the volcanic rock sending sparks flying as it crashed into the ground and tumbled towards them. Tekina quickly grounded herself. The boulders in front of her became encased in a faint blue glow as she used her telekinesis to throw the boulders away from them and towards the crater. Kaito put his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"What the hell was that?"
Tekina brushed some of her scarlet hair out of her face. "I don't know. We shou-"
She was once again interrupted by a sinister, velvety laugh.
"It seems you aren't normal humans after all."
The pair whipped around to meet the source of the sonorous voice, only to greeted with Illya's menacing gaze.
"What business do you have in Solaria?"
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