/you, could you take a look at me?/ am i bad, am i bad, am i bad, am i really that bad?/ ooh, whatever you think of me/ if you were in my shoes/ you'd see i wear the same size as you/
-laplace's angel(hurt people? hurt people!), will wood
Their citizens didn't seem particularly excited about the announcement.
They hadn't yet revealed the purpose of their assembly, but nine people stood on a wooden platform constructed in the town square, having been originally used for the Science Expo. Y/n had found it gathering dust in storage and managed to get it out for further use.
On the stage, organized symmetrically, were Y/n, Varian, the Saporians, and the king and queen. The king and queen stood in front, Andrew on one side, Varian and Y/n on the other, with the four remaining Saporians lined up behind them.
They'd decided to make their announcement in the town square, rather than the palace. They needed to make sure that everyone heard what was coming next.
"Citizens of New Saporia," began the king, looking out over the nervous crowd assembled before the stage, "a new law has been drafted. As of this moment, your citizenship of this kingdom is not guaranteed."
He stepped forwards. "In order to retain your citizenship in this kingdom, each and every one of you must fulfill a daily quota. This quota will consist of a mineral found in New Saporia's mines. My advisor, Varian, will explain the details."
Varian gave Y/n a reassuring grin before he stepped up to the front of the stage.
It was easy to see how the crowd's mood changed from confused to furious when Varian took the stage, but no one could say a word with all the Saporians behind him- and, credit where credit was due, Varian could be plenty scary on his own.
"These minerals can be easily identified by a faintly luminescent, pale green appearance." Varian announced, pulling one such mineral from the pocket of his coat and holding it out. "They are crystalline, and resemble a gemstone in structure."
He put the mineral back in his coat. "They're plenty abundant in the kingdom's mines. Each and every one of you will need to harvest two barrel's worth of the mineral per day."
A collective murmur of disbelief went through the crowd, and Y/n frowned. They'd done the calculations- if their experiments worked, that was how much of the mineral they'd need to fully disperse the new compound through the kingdom. It really wasn't worth complaining over- their citizens wouldn't need to do it for long, anyway.
"The products can be taken to the castle and received by the king's advisors." he stated, staring straight ahead. "If this quota isn't reached..." Varian hesitated, his voice trailing off as his eyes flitted over to Andrew.
"Um. Reach it." he finished, and quickly returned to Y/n's side.
"...Yes." The king concluded with a confused look at Varian. "This quota will be enforced, for the good of New Saporia."
He gave a somewhat confused smile to the crowd. "I trust that you have the capabilities to support our kingdom. Good day to you all."
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Y/n had been delighted to discover that (H/n) was still alive and well when she returned from her months on the run.
The creature, despite her fiery demeanor, seemed to have missed her princess.
Now, Y/n rode on her back across the kingdom's gleaming ivory bridge, crossing the gap from the mainland to the island where the palace had been built.
Most of the group had elected to return in a carriage- Y/n, however, had missed the feeling of traveling on horseback, even if only for a short distance.
She'd been staring to her left at the ocean for most of the ride crossing the bridge. Now, though, she pulled (H/n) to a halt as she saw the purple carriage ahead of her slow to a stop.
The door swung open, and Andrew stepped out. Like the rest of the Saporians, he was now outfitted with the alchemical spheres that Varian had been preparing, along with the rest of his weapons.
Y/n's grip tightened slightly on her reins. She hadn't forgotten what Varian had said- or, rather, implied- about Andrew. She still fully intended to have that talk with him later- apparently, it wasn't clear to him that hurting Varian would very quickly land him on the wrong side of Y/n's new wand.
He closed the door behind him, and the carriage waited, Andrew leaning by the railing of the bridge.
"Hey, kid!" he called out. "Wait up. We need to talk."
Cautiously, Y/n slipped out of her saddle, black boots landing silently on the white stone of the bridge. She rested one hand on (H/n)'s neck, like she was grounding herself. "Yeah?"
Andrew pulled his sword from its sheath and held it up to the sunlight, apparently checking his reflection in the blade.
"So, if we're talking about you and your boyfriend-"
"We're not a thing." Y/n interrupted quickly. Andrew raised his eyebrows, making an "I'll wait" face before he continued.
"I feel pretty safe saying that you're the scarier one. Half the kingdom thinks you're a ghost, after all, and the other half has seen you with that wand and assumed the rest."
Y/n frowned. Scary wasn't quite what she wanted, but if it got her acknowledged, she'd take what she could get. "How is this relevant?"
Andrew tilted his sword back outwards, away from his face. "It's relevant because Maisie's reported hearing some rumors from the townsfolk. Apparently, they're not too happy with what we're doing here."
His eyes narrowed. "There's talk of a revolution. Of people organizing, making a force to get your sister back."
Her eyes widened in horror. Sure, it was a reasonable response for the citizens, but this could take everything from Y/n. In fact, it'd make it much worse.
Her castle may be made of sand, but that didn't mean she could let it fall.
Andrew turned to her, any trace of friendliness gone from his features. "I want you to take care of it. Do what you have to. In fact, try to find an excuse to use those chemicals of yours. The amber would be best."
Y/n paused, the tiniest bit of conflict stirring in her heart. Maybe they were trying to overthrow the new system, but these were still her people, weren't they?
"...Is hurting them really necessary?" she asked hesitantly.
Andrew's voice went deathly quiet, his sword going still in his hand. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, just-" Y/n began to stutter. "The whole point of synthesizing the gas is so that they'll all forget about what we did, so if we could just wait a little longer, maybe using the amber isn't really necessary-"
"Listen here, kid." he said, his voice cold and cruel. His grip tightened on the sword. "If we say you need to use that amber on someone, you're going to use it."
Come on, Y/n, where's your spine?!
She straightened up. She was not letting this guy push her around.
"No." she reinforced. "You promised that no one would be harmed, so I'm not harming them. I have the Wand of Oblivium for a reason. I'm not going to hurt my own people when I could erase their memories just as easily."
Andrew stepped forwards threateningly, and Y/n took an instinctive step back, her hand finding the railing of the bridge.
"I'm not sure why my point isn't getting through to you." he snarled, raising his sword. "You have a job to do, if you haven't forgotten."
Y/n opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get a word out, Andrew's sword was at her throat.
She gulped, seeing the stone railing at her back, the water hundreds of feet below, and a very pointy sword on the other side.
Not very good options.
"So here's what you're going to do." Andrew said. "You're going to find that revolution, and you're going to take care of it. Understood?"
Y/n stared up at him coldly. It didn't seem far-fetched at all that he might have made similar threats to Varian. The thought made her furious.
Still, at the moment, there wasn't much she could do.
"Fine." she forced out. She'd deal with the revolution... but not Andrew's way.
Forgetting would be enough.
A second later, the cold steel was gone from her throat, and Andrew was climbing back into the carriage.
"Come back when you're done. Saporia's counting on you."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Y/n alone on the ivory bridge.
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Y/n had tied (H/n) to a post near the bridge. As much as she loved the horse, it made getting around quietly just the slightest bit harder.
For hours now, she'd been wandering through back alleys and behind buildings, on the lookout for anyone that looked suspicious. Barely any people were in the village, though, the vast majority of them either in the mines or hidden away in their homes.
The sun had set, and the world was gently covered in a blanket of darkness as Y/n continued her search. She seemed to wake up a little bit when the sun was gone, and now she just strolled down the main streets- no one was out to see her, anyway.
Thick fog coated the village, blurring her vision and turning simple streets into roads to the unknown.
Her coat was pulled tightly around her, muting the glow from her chemical compounds. Moonlight glinted on her golden streak as her boots clicked on the cobblestone.
She peered through the fog, searching every shadow for a sign of movement, a footstep, a voice in the blackness. A few oil streetlamps illuminated the roads at sparse intervals, occasionally interrupting the black with spots of golden light, breaking up the abyss and casting twisted shadows that warped familiar buildings into something unknown. The color reminded her faintly of the amber that lingered in Old Corona, and she felt her stomach twist.
Distracted by the momentary feeling, Y/n almost didn't notice the spray of pebbles skittering across the road in the shadows ahead of her.
Her head snapped up.
"Who's there?" she called out. Her hand instinctively went to her compounds, but she quickly reconsidered and pulled the Wand of Oblivium from her belt instead. She was not handling this Andrew's way.
Y/n gripped the wooden wand tightly in both hands, brandishing it in front of her like a child holding a sword for the first time.
"Who's there?" she repeated, trying to aim the wand at where the movement had come from, lost in the fog.
Why were her hands shaking?
Slowly, painstakingly, a person emerged from the fog, stepping into the glow of a streetlight as it illuminated their frame. Y/n's breath caught in her throat as the person's face was revealed, cast in long shadows by the lamp.
"Xavier?"
The blacksmith looked down at Y/n. She expected him to look angry, or scared, like every single other person in the whole kingdom- but he didn't. He looked... disappointed.
"Princess." he greeted in his deep voice. "It's been far too long."
And suddenly, Y/n was overwhelmed with grief- a feeling of loss for the way things used to be. She'd changed so much. Two years ago, she would've been visiting him in his forge between her lessons, eagerly listening to whatever legend was coming next. Now, she was a monster, a ghost, an avenger who'd come to slay the witch who'd wronged her and take her kingdom back.
Because that's what she was. She was still the hero of the story. No matter what she'd needed to do.
"You're part of it, aren't you?" Y/n managed to choke out. "The revolution."
Xavier sighed, like a teacher whose student had failed to pick up on an important lesson. "Y/n, you've heard enough of my stories to know."
His gray eyes met Y/n's own. "Where there is evil... good will always rise up against it."
Y/n stopped. Her arms lowered as she stared at Xavier, horrified, no longer aiming her wand.
"Evil?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "I'm not- I'm not..."
No. She was the good guy. She was the hero. She was still the hero.
Right?
"Princess." Xavier asked gently. "Look at what you've done. Look at your people."
He paused. "Look at what you've done to the only people who you ever wanted the approval of."
The wand fell to the ground, clattering on the stone street.
"I don't..." Y/n trailed off.
Was she the bad guy? The villain, the witch? The one who was willing to erase a kingdom's memories because of a grudge?
No! She couldn't be!
Because if you're the villain, that means you were wrong this whole time, and that means your sister was the hero all along.
It means that even after all she's done, all her lies, all her betrayal, all her broken promises, she's still the hero of this story.
"Y/n." he said gently. "Has this-" he gestured around at the deserted town- "has this made you happy?"
"I-"
"And I don't mean if he's made you happy." he interrupted. "Taking your kingdom back, claiming your crown, getting revenge on those who wronged you. Has it healed the hole in your heart?"
She was silent for a long time.
"No. No, it... it hasn't." she whispered. "I don't know why. It should have made the hurt go away. It should have made it all better, but it... didn't."
Xavier gave her a long look. "Then this isn't the path to your healing."
Y/n knelt down and picked up the wand off the stone, tucking it back into her belt.
"They want me to hurt you." she told him, refusing to meet the blacksmith's eyes. "Find the revolution. Make sure you pay."
"Is that what you want?"
She waited a long moment before responding. "No."
Y/n took a deep breath, still avoiding Xavier's gaze. "Go. Please. You were the only one who remembered me. I haven't forgotten that. You don't have to be a part of this."
"Princess, if you remember me at all, you know that I cannot do that. Not when Corona's people need help."
He didn't leave. The only sound on the street was the gentle whistling of the wind and the sounds of crickets chirping in the darkness.
"Do you remember the last story I told you, Y/n?" Xavier asked gently.
Her voice was barely audible as she responded. "Queen Evelyn."
Xavier nodded. "I want you to remember that everyone in the story had their reasons. Every single person had a reason for what they were doing... and every single one thought that they were the hero."
Y/n was silent as Xavier waited patiently for a response. She finally looked up and met his gaze, reduced from anger to despair.
"Who am I, Xavier?"
The blacksmith didn't respond, and desperation began to creep from Y/n's voice.
"Who am I? Am I Evelyn? Am I the witch? Am I the good guy? You know! I know you do! I need to know, please!"
Xavier didn't say a word, and Y/n, the avenging princess, the ghost story, was reduced to nothing more than a scared child as she begged for an answer.
"Evelyn, or the witch, Xavier! Tell me! Please, I-I need to know! Please! I need to know!"
He turned to leave, but gazed back at Y/n before he disappeared into the fog.
"Just remember one thing, Y/n."
He met her eyes. "History repeats itself."
Xavier disappeared into the darkness, and Y/n heard his final words echo through the fog that surrounded her.
"So don't let it."
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we're back, at long last!
finals are done, thankfully, and we're back on a regular writing schedule. thank you all for your patience- we can't wait to get back into it!
thanks for reading!
-leviathan and yuki