Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 51: Juliet's Rage

The image of the assault imprinted in her mind, a hot poker branding her. Rage filled her, a new and righteous rage. It bled from her head to her chest then down her legs. Was this her own emotion? She could not tell. Kyria had been inside her moments ago. Staircases materialized before her. There was no way to know if she was going in the right direction, but it did not matter. As long as she was moving she was getting closer to Dee, and this thought pushed her past her human limit.

The world tilted. The argument which made them so distant from each other shrank until it was forgotten. Juliet had been helpless against the Kyrion might, barely more than a trinket inside the Queen's hand. New knowledge filled her with a deep regret. She felt her partner's loneliness, the bulwark against the ocean tide. Dee was also thrust into this unimaginable responsibility. She wanted to save her people. She wanted a lull to the fighting. Kyria controlled Dee, controlled everyone. Like Juliet, the Ruler was a pawn to get to the ultimate and selfish goal. Love inside the void of the universe, two planet-beings in one planet.

How could a Kyrion, a being who only spoke the language of violence, create peace? Juliet knew her place now. She must show that there is another way, to show that violence is nothing more than a distraction from generations of trauma. Kyrions spent the entirety of their species-hood being crafted into perfection. Now, on an alien planet they faced the consequences of acting like gods. Juliet would face this consequence as well. There was too much power in her being. In that moment, however, she could only think of watching Dee's life finally disappear into the ocean.

She burst down a door. It was the highest she could find. It was empty except for a tiny bed and a small writing desk. Her lungs struggled, filled with rocks and dirt. Each time she inhaled, there was a rattle that foretold an imminent ending. Maybe Kyria lied to her, telling her of the power to enact a placebo effect.

The rage howled at the idea of dying before getting to Dee. The vision inside her head was slowly disappearing. For all she knew, Dee's life had ended. Even so, she must at least see the body.

She flew down stairs, skipping as many as she could at one time. The labyrinth continued. The very next set of stairs that led upwards, she scrambled toward. Speech fluttered in her ear, Kyrion hisses and clicks.

She understood it.

The Ruler has had dominion over Kyria long enough. It is time to have a chosen leader, just as the humans elected to do many years ago, the usurpers hissed.

What do the Kyrions know of choosing? Kyria has always chosen for us. It shall remain so, Dee's voice was dignified.

You truly think any of your demented half-spring will have Kyria's blessing? Where is Kyria? She will be annihilated in two moments and we shall end you with her.

My offspring will command even more respect than me. You are correct, I am a relic of the old times, but they will understand that ruling a planet does not mean murder.

Death does not become you. It makes you weak. We were right, you are nothing but a façade, human-fucker. How silly of you to think we would let an outcast like you reproduce.

Three more staircases.

The room was up the tallest column of the castle. The door was splayed wide open, outside sunshine filling the spire with light. Juliet realized she had been clambering through complete darkness until now. The participants were so engrossed in their regicide that they scarcely noticed her.

She screamed again, summoning the new power inside her. The energies of the traitors filled her nostrils with the scent of dry cinnamon. They pulsated with excitement. She wanted them gone, she wanted them pulverized. The walls of the castle creaked uncharacteristically.