Ryia opened her eyes. It was dark, but she felt like she knew where she was. Groaning, she tried to lift her arms, but something was pinning them down. Panic began to set in as her eyes adjusted to the dark. She was being crushed by something. It looked like a bit of ceiling, but she couldn't be sure. What was the last thing she remembered?
Falling to your death.
Did that mean she was alive? Did that mean she survived?
She looked up, saw the metal catwalks. She squinted, trying to see if it was just her position or if they were hanging vertically. No, they were definitely hanging vertically. What the hell happened to this place? And why couldn't she move the bottom half of her body?
Grunting, she managed to pull her arms out from beneath the chunk of concrete that held her down. She wiped the dirt and small rocks from her eyes and lifted her head slightly, trying to get a good look around. There was something soft beneath her; that must've been what broke her fall.
Moving carefully, Ryia wriggled her body around to see how heavy the concrete was, and how much damage it had done. Since her body could move around a little bit and the only damage she could feel was aching muscles, she decided something had got in its way before hitting her; maybe she was in a small indent, and whatever was on either side of her had caught the concrete when it landed on her to stop from doing too much damage. She was very, very lucky.
She managed to pull herself out bit by bit, being slow and careful. When there was no strain on her body whatsoever, she hauled herself onto her knees and acknowledged the pain in her muscles before she tried to get to her feet. It didn't work, though, so she just stumbled around a bit and then fell over again. She groaned, pushing her body up with her hands. When she opened her eyes, she found another pair staring right back at her.
Screaming, Ryia launched herself up and was crouching on top of the slab of concrete that held her down mere moments ago before she even knew what was going on. Her heart thumping in her chest, Ryia peered over the edge, trying to find those haunting blue eyes that had been just sitting there, but she couldn't find the body amidst all the rest of them.
She froze. Standing carefully, Ryia looked all around her, and all she found were dead, bald bodies piled on top of each other. They didn't look immortal, because they had different coloured skin and different coloured eyes, all staring up at nothing. Did that mean Issey cured them? Then what? The ceiling caved on them?
Her memory was hazy. She remembered the whole castle shaking. There was a bomb, then. There must've been. Issey succeeded in making a cure, is what it looked like. Then the whole place came down on them, and they died. How long, exactly, had Ryia been down here for? She fell right after the whole explosion.
Ah. She fell. It was coming back to her, now. They had slipped, her and Kida. Kieron had listened to her, then. He'd saved his sister. Ryia'd be offended, if those two weren't siblings. Instead, she allowed herself to be relieved. Judging from all the dead Kronen's down here, Kida's immortality wouldn't have saved her after-all. At least she knew the little she-elf-devil was still alive. And now, so was Ryia. Everyone won in the end.
Ryia looked around, her dark eyes scanning the walls keeping her in. She could climb to the top, but she doubted there'd be an opening up there for her to climb out of, and if she fell then she'd be dead for good. So instead, she decided to trek across the dead bodies towards what looked like a corridor that'd been blocked off by fallen gravel and bits of ceiling. She grimaced as she moved, but finally made it to the archway, raking her dark hair out of her face before biting her lip. No matter how strong she was, she couldn't get through. Maybe she would be trapped here, for the rest of her life. She shivered at the thought, not fancying a death from starvation, thirst or being cold.
She climbed to the top of the rubble, kneeling so that she was right in front of the top of the archway, where she started digging. Bit by bit, she pulled stones away, clearing a small burrow for herself between the top of the curved arch and the gap she was making by removing the debris. It took a while, and her muscles were screaming at her by the time it was big enough, but she gave herself no time to complain. She crawled through the gap on her stomach, pulling herself with her arms before she slid out the other side, rolling to a crouch. There were large chunks of concrete dropped from the ceiling and walls lying in her way, but it was nonetheless clear, so Ryia picked up in a jog, jumping over the obstacles that presented themselves to her and rounded the corner. She was becoming familiar with her surroundings, the further she ran until she found that she was now running down the thick corridor she and Kida had first walked when they arrived here. A sliver of hope slipped into her mind, but she shoved it away. Not until she was out.
She came to the doors, not surprised at all that they wouldn't budge. Instead, she poured all her desperation into her right leg and she hurled it right for the door in front of her, slamming her boot into the surface. It sent a jolt of shock up her leg, but she grit her teeth and grunted, lifting her leg again.
"Once more," she muttered to herself. "Come on, you stupid piece of shit. Once more. Let. Me. OUT." On the last word, her boot crashed into the door and it swung open, making Ryia whoop with joy. But her foot got misplaced as it landed on the ground, and after a second of wobbling, she went falling to the floor, face first.
"Agh, son of a-"
She clambered to her feet, staggering slightly as she felt the pain in her ankle. Gritting her teeth, she began walking, and the pain faded away until Ryia couldn't even remember that it'd been hurting. By then, she reached the shore.
Looking around, Ryia's heart would've sank given any other situation. She was alone, on a strange island, and all her friends thought she was dead. It couldn't get any worse. But luck seemed to be on her side, as of late, because right before her, just bobbing up and down in the water, was a little boat. Sure, it had oars, but it was better than having to swim back to Adrana. That would've been a nightmare.
So she gathered her wits about her and climbed in the boat, lifting the oars from the bottom before plunging them in the water, beginning her slow passage back to more familiar waters.
It took five years for Ryia to reach the docks in Milos. By that time, she'd grown a beard longer than the hair on her head, her muscles ached like never before and she'd forgotten how to speak her own language.
Okay, so that wasn't predominantly true. The 'aching muscles' part was, though.
A man helped her from her boat and took her in at the first sign of weakness. Ryia had practically fallen out of her boat, you see, so there was bound to be a kind gentleman nearby who'd give her a hand. Fortunately enough, there had been. He fed her, gave her a few hours rest in his home and had given her a hooded cloak to keep her warm. She had thanked him immensely, of course. It was the first time she hadn't wanted to kill a new acquaintance, and she certainly hoped it was the last.
She knew where they'd be. She knew the first place they went when they got back from Kron. She remembered the Queen's request, for them to kill his husband. Ryia was supposed to be the one to do it. But then she died, so the opportunity passed. But she doubted the Queen cared; she just wanted the man dead. And if he wasn't already, Ryia planned to be the one to do it. Just to prove how much of a pushover she wasn't. She wouldn't have her friends being manipulated. Sure, the Queen was powerful, but there were other ways to get back at a cow like that. Other... messy ways. She wanted her husband dead, and that was all well and good, but Kida needed to make sure there was no one left to fill his place.
The King and the Queen had children, did they not?
She marched right for the palace, her hood up. Her shoulder-length hair framed her face, keeping it in the shadows to avoid any kind of recognition. She made it easily to the palace doors, requesting an audience with the Queen and her Council on regards of what happened at Kron. She was allowed in, but that wasn't where she went.
She hurried, keeping her footsteps light and silent. She tested the air as she went, but managed to avoid running past any guards altogether before she made it to the bedchambers she wanted. The siblings, not yet in their twenties, shared a room for some reason, but Ryia didn't complain. It would make her job easier.
Moving with slow, deliberate motions, Ryia tapped her knuckle on the door a few times before pushing it open, straightening her back before walking in. Both the Prince and the Princess turned, very surprised to see someone like her in their room.
"What are you doing here?" the girl demanded. She was snobby, and Ryia didn't like her. "Who let you in?"
"Me," Ryia replied, drawing her dagger from its place by her thigh. "If you scream, you'll be dead long before the guards get here, sweetheart. I wouldn't bother."
She froze and stepped back, her big dress restricting most of her movement so all the girl could do was shuffle around a bit.
"What do you want?" the boy demanded, a little more collected than his sister. She was on him in seconds, wrenching his head back with her hand in his hair and her dagger pressed to his throat. She looked up at his sister and a mischievous smile found its way to her mouth.
"Don't scream, sweetie," she purred. "I just wanna ask a few questions. Then I'll go. No harm done."
"What do you want to know?" the girl demanded, trying to mask her fright with determination. It wasn't working; Ryia could practically hear her heart thumping in her chest. Poor thing.
"My friends," Ryia announced finally. She tapped the blade against the boy's throat as she spoke. "I'm looking for them. A big, rather odd looking group. You seen them?"
"This group came in not log ago, with a spirit. There was an injured elf with them. And a Yaasma. That who you're looking for?"
Ryia's smile was genuine. "Yes, thank you sweetie," she said. "You've done me a good thing."
"Now... now you'll let us go, right?" she pressed, looking unsure. Ryia's smile widened.
"But of course," she replied, and sunk the blade deep into the boy's throat. After a long scream escaped her mouth, the girl was soon dead too, and Ryia quickly darted out of the room, running up the way she came. Testing the air around her, she avoided the guards and found the King's bedchamber without a fuss. It was quite easy, all this. She didn't know how someone else hadn't managed to come in and kill the Royals just as easily as she'd done. But then again, they weren't all skilled assassins like she was, were they? Well, some of them were. But none as good as her. No, she was the best. There was no doubt about that.
The King sat at his big wooden desk lined with gold and silver, sending pointless letters to unimportant people while he pretended he was in charge. That's how Ryia saw it, anyway.
"Your wife wants you dead."
The King's head shot up in surprise and shock, for he hadn't heard Ryia enter the room and lean against the bedpost facing him. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and she was watching him through narrowed eyes. He was a portly man, who didn't have a full head of hair and somehow managed to take being scared to a whole new level. He started whimpering.
"It won't take long for the guards to find your children's corpses, so I should really hurry this up," Ryia continued, advancing to the desk in a few long strides, her dagger already in her hand. "Give my regards to my parents, when Nalena takes you. I'm sure the truly despicable all share a place in the Underground." And she grabbed his head, lifting it back and dragged her blade across his throat, retracting her hand as the man started bleeding. He died with his hands to his throat, gasping for air he no longer had access to.
Now, she was out to find her friends, which didn't deem too hard a task for her. They'd most likely be planning the King's death by now, which left Ryia with no choice but to get rid of the threat. When the bodies were discovered, her friends would get the blame, so she needed to take away the only thing that could stop them from escaping.
The guards.