12. T H E E M P R E S S
The world was a vision of chrome, caught in between two halves of solid and liquid.
The sandy white beach was crystal white, as were the crashing waves. The molten sun was colourless, and it beat down bleached rays on palm trees, which looked like chiseled silver figurines. Mira's body too, seemed to be crafted of crystal.
The Empress' time in the Magic Mirror had been rather exciting. For the last two months she had spent hours watching the future, and Mira. She was seen less and less in her own time, choosing to delve into the tomorrows. The woman had learned that she could see vague glimpses of the future. A few snippets here, a few seconds there, to piece together the puzzle of what would occur. However, what she had not expected, was the addictive manner in which she would watch present time, and its unfolding.
Now, The Empress stood like a ghost on the beach and watched Mira, who was oblivious of her, completely unaware of The Empress' unseen presence.
The girl cupped a fistful of sand and watched it get carried away by the wind. Her voice came out slightly muffled, but no doubt The Empress heard it.
"The island, it's sinking." Mira's voice was riddled with panic and yet the softness of her cadence disgusted the woman.
The Empress walked the distance between them, and peered over the girl's shoulder, into the hole.
"Ah, oh dear." The Empress hummed. Water began to seep in the sand, the liquid pulled at the small sediments creating a sinkhole. "You're not wrong about that." The Empress surveyed the landscape then looked at Mira's worried face. "I'd say, you have a week at most, before you go under."
Mira turned to look for her fairy friend who had drunkenly flown away. The Empress watched as the girl ran into the glassy foliage, disappearing a few seconds later.
"Glorious day, glorious day." The Empress' ghostly body drifted to the lonely umbrella and white sheet. She had spent enough time in the mirror to know more of Mira. "She's afraid of the water, and she has no boat." The woman sat down stretching her long legs out. Although, she could not feel the sun or the wind on her body she feigned the actions, of a beach goer. "If my calculations are correct, that means no chance of survival. She'll be given a watery grave." An excited laugh left her lips, "she's not match for me, nature's going to do her in." The woman cupped a hand to her mouth and mimicked a shout at the long gone girl. "You should have stayed in labyrinth, Mira! At least you would have been somewhat alive."
The sun shone on a familiar book that contained verses for the religiously inclined. The Empress bared her teeth at it comically and hissed before throwing back her head and laughing once more. It was clear that The Empress was in a joyous mood, given news she had hoped for. A sparkling bottle gleamed near her hand and she stifled her laughter to examine it.
"What's this," she murmured "1945 Romanee Conti," The Empress' fingers tried to wrap around the bottle's neck, however she was unable to. She was a ghost in the loophole of time, she couldn't touch anything while she was in the future or watching the present. "Well, she's got good taste in wine, I'll give her that." A low burn illicitly began to simmer within the woman.
The Empress felt a rush of thirst slowly inching through her stomach, up to her fangs, they ached. She had not fed in three days, and the urge found her as she stared at the drink.
She lifted her hand to the vacant space on the sand by her feet. "Show me my Kingdom." A crack in the chrome world distorted the scenery of the water. A large portal began to swirl in empty black, slowly the Eiffel came into view. The vision twisted to the quarters of her private office, three Shades were seated at her desk. Inside the office was the Chief who kept watch. The Empress had given him instructions to not let the three be seen by anyone else in the tower. Now they all waited in silence for her.
"How could I have forgotten?" The Empress mused to herself. Today was the day she had called for a meeting with her infiltrators. She stood to her feet and made way to the portal.
With a smile she turned to look over her shoulder eyeing the trees. "Goodbye Mira, for your sake I hope you drown swiftly in death." Then she entered the portal.
The sensation of walking on air surged through her feet, as her body fell through the broken cavity of space and time. Stars and wormholes drifted by her as time bent and revered and stopped. An open seam unfurled in front of her, with her hands she ripped it open, and walked into it.
The familiar room of her private office materialised around her like falling dominoes.
The walls were a metallic copper, two of them solely dedicated to the study of medicine. The thick volumes overlapped one another on the shelves. Corners of pages folded where she had relentlessly read over and over again.
The third wall was home to a large portrait, of a coal black serpent. It's large body rested on a pile of mangled bones. The snake had an unconventional circular face. It bore no eyes nor did it have a nose. Like The Empress' Army of the Undead, it merely had a vast hole that represented the creatures mouth. The mouth took majority of the space on the face, to reveal poisonous fangs.
In front of the portrait was a large polished mahogany desk. The surface of it completely vacant just as she liked it. Her desk chair was like that of a throne, wrought from twisted iron and larger then life. The velvet on the seat was dark, with hand made stitches of snakes with open mouths, ready for attack. A foreboding reminder to whomever sat across her.
There were no windows or lamps in the room, so candles mounted the walls flickering dim light throughout the office.
The floors had been made from a single slab of black marble with ribbons of white inking through it.
The Empress' body lost that the translucent glow she had in the Magic Mirror. She took on her normal form and became visible to those that awaited her.
The portal behind her began to swirl in a counter clockwise motion before it vanished completely. The Chief and the three Shades stared at her in shock.
She lifted up her wrist mockingly, she wore no watch. "What?" She looked at them, "I can't be that late."
Her footsteps echoed on the marble floor as she walked to her desk. She sat down at the mahogany table, across from the three Shades.
They were like shadows, nothing more then floating bodies.
The Empress turned her attention to her Chief. "You may go now," she nodded her thanks. And watched the man now before he walked through the gothic arched door.
Only when the doors closed behind the Chief did The Empress turn her attention back to the Shades. Her lips puckered as if she was going to whistle, instead she gently blew out a gust of air. The Shades took their true Vampire form. She watched as they returned to their flesh losing the illusion of shadow.
There was one girl, and two boys, all similar in age. They were all dressed in cheap garb of faded gold, the colours of the Rebel army.
The Empress had personally chosen these three from her endless collection of Shades. The Shades were Souls she had stolen over the years, consisting of vampires, and other magically inclined beings. Some of the Souls had given themselves to her willingly, infatuated with her enough to offer their lives to her cause. While others, had been deceived by the power she lured them in with. Then, there were the select few Souls, that she had captured because she had wanted their powers for her own. She would take their life force slowly by breathing their in their aura, it amplified her magic substantially. Of course, she knew that these three Vampire turned Shades could always betray her. That was why she had given them an elixir which gave them temporary Vampire life. They had one year worth of elixir that would sustain them. If they completed their given task, The Empress would give them their promised reward. If not, they'd be turned into Shades once more.
The three Vampires had no way of knowing if The Empress would keep her word. All they could do was was hope she would.
The Empress reached into one of her many desk drawers. She pulled out an ashtray that held the powder of crushed diamond, and human skull. "Do tell," she spoke "what you have learned."
It was the girl that spoke first, seated in between the two boys. Her voice lacked confidence.
"The Rebels have divided into three camps, that is why you have been unable to track them. They have purposely scattered to confuse the blood hounds."
The Empress held out her hand and a thin rectangular piece of gold paper appeared, on her palm. She set the gold down and began to scoop the white powered substance in its middle.
When silence fell over the room The Empress' eyes flickered up to the girl for a moment, "Go on."
"We've each become initiated in the camps." The girl said in a low voice.
"And?" The Empress curled the the paper with the substance inside of it. She zapped one of the ends to flicker it on fire. Then she brought the other end to her lips and took a long drag. She held the smoke in her lungs before she expelled it through her nose in a puff of gold.
"Well, that's all we-" the girl was sharply cut off.
"Don't." The Empress' voice was deadly. "Don't finish that sentence. Is that all you have to report? That the Rebellion has split into three factions. You've been in their circle for the past year and that's all you've come up with?" Her tone took a blistering edge that made the girl's posture crumble in disappointment and fear. "What's the point in employing you three, if you can't do the job? Should I dispose of you wastrels and choose from the other 900 Shades?"
The three Vampires thought of their atrocious existence as eternal Shadows. Enslaved in The Empress' throne room. If she were feeling kind she'd feed the Shades, emotions of another living creature. But, in the span of the three Vampires captivity, altogether they had been fed only twice. That was a life they'd rather not go back to.
A husky voice broke the silence. "The Rebels have been planning an attack on the Blood Bank. Which they'll execute within the week." He sat on the right side of the girl, and spoke with conviction.
The Empress took another inhale of her smoke. She lifted a brow up in thought. "Any specific dates?"
The boy didn't miss a beat as she looked into his eyes. He didn't waver, "I'd arm the Blood Bank with your Undead Army, Empress." He held her gaze. "I suspect you'll be getting more then just citizens coming for their weekly Vial on Friday."