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Ancient Memories Part II: The Wrath of the Golden Queen

- Ancient Memories Part II: The Wrath of the Golden Queen -

   Terra Nithal had been our home for many long years. In our time there, Sapphira and I had actually allowed ourselves the luxury of losing tack of time. But now, time had caught up to us and with time came the encroachment of destiny. Sapphira was the absolute queen of that world, but her heart was also among the stars as ever it was with her people. She was the reincarnation of their legendary first queen, A'drahla, a woman who was deified long ago and worshiped in various places all across that particular galaxy. She was also a centuries old person who had chosen to live in the body of an eternal child, an immortal thirteen year old girl who was wiser and more mature than any adult ruler I had ever born witness to. But at times, she allowed herself to be simply a child. This, was one such occasion.

   Sapphira learned over to gaze intently out of the viewing screen of the passenger freighter that bore us away from Terra Nithal, her eyes growing wider as she strained to see what was outside the craft. “It is all black out there.” she complained, adding: “There are stars in the distance, sure, but they are just so very distant! Not like looking up at the skies at night, on the planet. This is the one part of space travel that bores me to death.” The picturesque world had faded from view hours ago, and we were in the very embrace of the black void that mostly was what you see when traveling between planets in actual space. It is a dark, cold, and depressing void unless you pass through an errant nebula or some colored dust cloud. Eventually, they would engage the wormhole device... so that we could fold space and make the journey to New Corintha for our diplomatic visit there pretty much instantaneously. Sapphira's parents had passed on at last, and it was time for her to inherit their ancestral holdings on the Imperial throne world. While we would be away on New Corinthia for the foreseeable future, the woman known as the Queen's Voice would be seeing to her political affairs on Terra Nithal in the actual queen's stead. The woman could be trusted quite implicitly since she was an adult clone of Sapphira herself, engineered to do and be all that Sapphira was. And she was trained to be utterly loyal to the child queen! Of course, she had a mind and spirit all her own, but in essence she at the same time WAS the queen. So this little detail would ensure that no insurrection, coup, or power grab could take place in Sapphira's absence. “It will not be long, beloved, before we are back on a planet once more.” I offered, my tone showing that I was trying to keep my own spirits high. I stood up out of my seat and rubbed her back a bit, massaging her tense muscles. “Oh, that feels so good!” she exclaimed, then spun around quickly and smiled at me widely, proclaiming: “Gods, but I love you so much!” and then her tone grew a bit more serious, when she inquired: “So... how are you holding up after what happened with Sybil; has the darkness begun to subside at all?” I had confessed everything to her previously, telling her the full depths of the darkness that Sybil had sensed in me and taken advantage of so completely for a time. “It seems that whenever I am around you...” I replied, “That, then there is no darkness to speak of. But whenever I am alone or in a situation where I feel nervous or anxious, that is when it begins to become just a bit difficult to deal with.” She sighed, then asked me: “Has it always been this way for you in life?” and I said honestly: “No, not always. Just since what happened when my father was overthrown back on Gehenna Primus.” The little queen then had a sad smile rather than a happy one, but she changed it to a happy one before throwing herself into my arms, wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me tightly. “Oh, my darling, darling Gislu!” she said sweetly. “I will keep your darkness at bay, then. Here, let us create our own light for a bit... it is a long time yet before they engage the space fold.” And we kissed passionately as the silence of the voyage gave way to the music in our hearts. The Golden Queen was a vision that enthralled my senses! Curly blonde hair, eyes the color of twin sapphire jewels, and a build that was just right for a girl her seeming age. I had come to terms with her unusual, youthful appearance, and only ever saw her as the adult she presented herself to be. Never as an actual child, which she was not. I allowed this vision to grant my heart peace for a while, as the time for the space fold drew ever closer.

   We dressed in our finest attire for the impending landing on the Imperial throne world. Sapphira was attired in a loose-fitting golden jumpsuit with short puffy sleeves and billowing legs like those of the more casual, baggy pantaloons that she enjoyed wearing so much. This outfit, was belted at the waist with a wide silver belt encrusted with small sapphire gemstones. In addition to the belt she wore a very fancy silver necklace with a blue pendant shaped like a sapphire eye that hung from it. She also wore a pair of beaded gold bracelets, and an unadorned silver circlet around her head. Her perfume was very much like the scent of cherry blossoms. Myself, I wore a similar style jumpsuit, only mine was black with red trim in places. In place of a belt I wore a dark gold sash. Around my wrists were black cuff-like bracelets with silver metal studs decorating them, and around my head I wore a golden circlet to contrast the silver one that my wife was wearing. My head was shaved, as was my custom, and I had adorned myself with simple black eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick. Sapphira's face makeup was a bit more elaborate with blue eye shadow, black eyeliner, and blood-red lipstick. She was going for a bit of a cat eyes style today, and her arched eyebrows were adorned with dark eyebrow pencil to contrast her golden hair. She looked regal, like a true queen indeed! I had no eyebrows to speak of, myself. A trait of my particular race. Some found this and my pale skin to be a bit alien in appearance, but Sapphira thought I had a peculiar beauty to me that she was highly attracted to. “You are uniquely beautiful.” she would say to me often, and I would reply to that by saying: “This, coming from such an angel!” and she would always blush when I called her that. “I am no angel.” she would often say gloomily. “Even if you think I look like one.” But we always laughed those gloomy moments away and put them past us. “Are you nervous, my love?” she asked me, to which I responded honestly: “No! I actually cannot wait to go to New Corinthia, to tell the truth. I have heard that it has become a veritable urban paradise since they added the newest nature preserve domes.” Sapphira's eyes glimmered with excitement as I mentioned that. “Wow!” she exclaimed, adding: “They really have fixed it up since I was little. I mean, since I was last there. Sorry! I... forgot about how I look for a moment.” Then I said, reassuringly: “You look quite amazing to me, my precious jewel. Let us make sure all our belongings are in order! The voice on the speakers said that we will be arriving within the hour.” We had been in the wormhole tunnel for several hours already, and that was “instantaneous” as they could make the journey. A very misleading claim!

   The landing at the Imperial City was thankfully not announced to the general public. Visiting nobles were a common enough occurrence normally, but with the news of how we dealt with the corruption of the council and with the dangerous sorceress Sybil back on Terra Nithal, and all of that exciting news having long-since reached the Imperial capital... had anyone gotten word of our landing we would in all likelihood be swarmed by adoring (but annoying) crowds of people wanting to learn more and see the two “Heroes of Terra Nithal” with their own eyes. We wanted a peaceful visit, and were for that very reason happy that we needed not go to the Imperial palace. Ever a hotbed for political intrigues and all manner of drama. We wanted to put such things behind us if we could, and so our destination was the outskirts dome which held the lands and holdings belonging to Sapphira's late parents. The very seat of power, for her noble house, the House of Aeros. The entire surface of New Corinthia was dotted with innumerable, vastly large domes which held the reclaimed lands that were deemed safe to live in. In the past, the planet had been utterly decimated by nuclear war, and it took countless generations for those in the field of science to eradicate the radiation and reclaim the land, allowing nature to thrive upon the surface once again. The atmosphere outside of the domes was still toxic, and so the only safe places of habitation on the entire planet were those within the domes themselves, where there was a far safer, artificial atmosphere created for optimal enjoyment by those who lived within the domes. Over time, the domes became interconnected, forming massive, sprawling cities in places with the Imperial City being the largest and most massive of them all. These cities, were also as vertical as they were wide!

   That, was what made necessary the creation of the nature preserve domes, so that despite all of the urbanization taking place over the centuries the original reclaimed nature sections need not become lost to time. The House of Aeros lay within one such preservation dome, its' mansions and palaces tall and soaring but surrounded on all sides by beautiful gardens and lush forests filled with diverse life-forms. We were conveyed to Sapphira's home by way of hovercraft cars that were designed to travel in both horizontal and vertical directions. It was a long drive to there from the star port's landing pad, but we were there by late afternoon and were still able to take in the natural beauty of our surroundings. I was more surprised by the beauty of the place than my wife, who had in the past seen all of that before. “I was born here.” she stated, suppressing a yawn. “It hasn't changed all that much, unsurprisingly. My parents were always traditionalists... boring, stodgy, not fun traditionalists.” she added. I chucked a bit at that. “Well, you've met them! You know it's true.” and I agreed, saying: “Oh, it is very, very true! I just was surprised you would mention that so soon after their passing is all.” to which she replied: “I am entitled to do so. I grew up with them! I know their... let us just say... true colors.” And through that exchange I came to realize that Sapphira's life with her noble parents had not been an easy one after all.

   Upon entering the House's main palace, we met with the royal executrix who read off the will to us that Sapphira's parents had left for her to benefit from, and the exchange was made whereby full and total ownership of everything was transferred to Sapphira, including leadership of the House of Aeros and all power and authority thereby to do whatsoever she pleased in its' name, so long as she uphold its' principles of honor, integrity, and fairness. This was easy for her to agree to, and the legal matters were all settled in short order. Once this was all seen to, she sat down at a couch next to a large window that was open to a balcony overlooking the palace gardens and let out a loud sigh of exhaustion. “That was annoying, but thankfully brief!” she exclaimed, patting the cushions next to her with a hand, indicating that she wished for me to sit down next to her. I sat at her side, putting my arm around her. I caressed the side of her cherubic face, and whispered: “I know! I hate bureaucratic nonsense like that. On my home planet, transfers of power were often done at the point of a sword... which is worse, given, but at least mercifully quick.” Sapphira blushed just then, unexpectedly, and admitted: “Why, Gislu, do I find your dark humor so very exciting to listen to sometimes!” and I chuckled a bit and confessed: “Darling, I never realized you had such a dark side yourself... but I was not entirely joking.” And we passed the remains of the afternoon in each other's pleasant company, planning what to do on the following day and showering each other with love well into the night. The next day would prove a hectic one indeed.

   The unthinkable had happened! Terra Nithal had seceded from the empire, as Sapphira's clone made a grab for absolute power. The news reached us by way of an Imperial emissary, who wanted to make certain we heard of this as soon as possible. “This is ridiculous!” my wife exclaimed, “We were only just there... and she was conditioned since her creation to be essentially ME! How could my clone have overcome her conditioning and decided to even contemplate doing this at all?” And the emissary did his best to explain it to us. “She was... defective, it seems. I mean, this happens from time to time with cloned house servants and the like, but with less disastrous results.” to which I exclaimed angrily: “Oh do you think! Disastrous indeed... we are talking about a secession here. Not a servant simply not doing his or her chores to their employer's expectations. You can fire a defective servant clone, and dismiss them from future house services if need be... but we are talking about the Queen's Voice here! What would you propose... an open war against Terra Nithal, so soon after we thought that we liberated it?” And the emissary confessed, honestly: “I have no idea, to tell the truth! The Emperor will need to act upon this directly now, it is officially out of all our hands... even the rightful queen's. Imperial Law is quite clear that a secession must be dealt with by the Emperor himself. The planet will be reclaimed.”

   We had no intention of waiting for the Emperor to act! Using a transport freighter contracted into the employ of House Aeros directly, we made the journey to Terra Nithal as quickly as we could, hoping to arrive there to assess the situation long before any of the slow-moving Imperial bureaucrats could even begin to move towards convincing the Emperor to deploy a reclamation force. We did indeed reach the planet in time, but in orbit around it was a massive armada of warships. They put out a message that all non-commercial craft were to be denied landing permission, and all commercial craft could only land if they were there on business and with no political ties to the Emperor. Our captain used a commercial designation, one often used by water smugglers in order to pass such blockades safely. “If this fails, we will have to leave!” the captain warned me. “I am not taking on that fleet, not even to save a planet.” but everything checked out and we were given permission to land at the capital city of Ithas. When last we were there, it was as rulers and celebrities. Now, we had to disguise ourselves as water merchants in order to pass through the streets of the city without arousing any suspicion. We wore the baggy attire of certain desert tribes from the arid world of Ra'qia, and put on hooded cloaks, donning totally featureless masks to cover our faces, the only “features” at all visible being a transparent visor to see out of and a breathing apparatus attached to the mouth section. Nothing about our attire said we were of any noble family or caste, of any kind. We carried no weapons, planning to if necessary commandeer some once we got to the palace. As the rightful queen of Terra Nithal, Sapphira knew well where such things may be found without triggering any alarms or alerting any guards. “I cannot believe I have to sneak into my own palace!” she complained to me before we left our landing craft. “I know, this seems very surreal.” I replied, my voice sounding mechanical thanks to the mask. We carried only two cases of water, just for appearance's sake. “This is heavy!” I complained at one point, to which Sapphira exclaimed: “Hello! I can handle my water case, and I am only thirteen years old. You can manage, love!” and we laughed a bit before continuing on. Everything looked exactly as we had remembered it looking, the elegant and refined city still bearing its' classical appearance. The tall columns, high archways, the domed roofs and slender minarets and towers all seeming to dwarf us with their immensity. We felt very small indeed!

   The guards let us pass without incident, and only once did a merchant seek to trade with us for the water we bore, but we told him we had a noble client waiting for us at the palace and he believed the lie very readily. The servants' entrance was never guarded, there was never any need for it to be. For the very first time in the history of the city of Ithas, it was being infiltrated through stealthy means. The tiled floors were reflective in their shininess, and the stained glass windows of the royal hallways had remained untouched by time and conflict...we noticed these minor things as we left the servants' area behind and walked towards the royal chambers. The guards were all mostly focused on the throne room and none of them even so much as noticed us as we passed up the stairs beside the foyer they were so diligently watching over. The light of the chandeliers above us seemed dimmer than we remembered. Soon, we came to the queen's chambers, and we sneaked in without being seen by anyone. “This is way too easy.” Sapphira said, to which I replied: “Let us not jinx anything here!” and we hid in one of the many spacious closets, waiting for the Queen's Voice to arrive. This was where she was allowed to stay while acting in the queen's name. Sooner or later... she would have to enter these chambers, to sleep.

   She arrived within the hour, looking identical to Sapphira in every imaginable way... except that she had dyed her hair a fiery red color rather than the natural golden color I was familiar with. I could not get past her facing being my wife's precisely. She wore a beautiful gown of shimmering red, in an old, classical style that had not been worn in thousands of years. It was sleeveless, low-cut, and diaphanous. She wore very little in the way of jewelry, but wore dark makeup not unlike my own favored styles. I could sense something unusual at work within her, but could not determine what it was. It felt familiar.

   Sapphira and I charged out from our hiding place very suddenly, as soon as the Queen's Voice closed the chambers' doors and made her way to the middle of the main room. Sapphira struck the woman hard across the face, and I grabbed the clone from behind, restraining her so she could not fight us. “You are going to tell me right now, why you have decided to betray all your conditioning and allow this planet... my planet... to secede from the empire. The empire was always good for Terra Nithal, and in times of war their military support always gave us an advantage!” Sapphira exclaimed furiously, removing her mask and revealing herself to her clone. The older-looking woman, who appeared around my own age rather than Sapphira's apparent age, said in a matter of fact tone of voice: “You know that I could not ever break the conditioning unless I was defective. But I can assure you, that I am not defective in any way! I am doing what is best for our planet, and our people. The Emperor is as corrupt as the council that once governed our planet was... and he needs to be replaced with an Empress who knows how to balance tradition with honor rather than by governing through bureaucrats that value profit over the lives of living beings. If it is defective to think this way, then destroy me now... I do not, if such is the case, deserve to live.” She had the same taste in perfume as Sapphira, the same voice, the same very innocent, cherubic features. I had removed my mask previously, and when I leaned my face in a bit closer to the clone it was like when I had held my own dear wife that close in times past. In a way, I was holding her still, even though this was also not her. I knew, if it came to it, that I could not ever bring harm to her. Bearing all this in mind, I inquired of her: “Can you prove your claims? That the Emperor has become corrupt!” to which she responded: “I can do more than that... I can actually, in every way that matters, show you absolute proof that he is committing genocide.” That was the shock!

   The Queen's Voice took us to a room, where various instruments lined the walls which monitored whole regions of the galaxy. Each monitor showed a different planet, each computer was trained on each world's precise monitoring frequency so that everything displayed was accurate to the last detail. Several screens showed dead planets, but the one the Queen's Voice pointed to displayed an Imperial fleet in the process of bombarding a planet until it was as dead as those others. “This was brought to my attention just after you left for New Corinthia. Honestly, had I known you wished to come here to talk with me, I would have extended you a formal invitation so neither of you would have needed to sneak in the way that you did. Not that any of the guards would have drawn their weapons upon you even if you did get caught! They are very loyal to their true queen, and to her faithful Voice. What you see on that screen... that was a loyal planet to the Imperial throne. Its' only crime was that its' ruler simply had asked if the imperial tax on oil was correct, due to it seemingly being increased to an unreasonable and highly contentious amount that appeared to be deliberately unfair. This, is the Emperor's response to a simple question on the matter.” and as we watched the events playing out, we were horrified. “Alright, then who do you think should replace the Emperor?” asked Sapphira, to which the Voice replied with no intention of hiding her ambition: “Myself, actually. Now, hear me out! You will be busy putting all your affairs in order on New Corinthia for the foreseeable future, my queen. And you can always name a new Queen's Voice to replace me. But... who better to ensure that the empire is forever ruled with a more reasonable, sane hand than for it to be ruled by someone who is essentially you yourself!” Which after what we had just witnessed seemed a remarkably rational suggestion under the circumstances. “And how will we overthrow the current Emperor?” I asked. “Even if we did leak this footage to the Imperial Media and pretty much every other news establishment in the galaxy besides... which we are totally still going to do... all that will accomplish is gaining the support of the people. The Imperial military will still be fanatically loyal to the Emperor himself! How will we deal with them, when all we have is one planet's combined forces compared to their forces, drawn as they are from countless other worlds? To secede without a plan, is suicide.” My question was well though through. This was grim!

   But we ended up with all of the support we needed! It was revealed that the planet being decimated in the video footage was, in fact, a planet that had long been the home of one of the powerful families who made up the Emperor's own Royal Guard. The very highest elite, of the Imperial armed forces. It was evident, that the entire destruction operation was being conducted without the knowledge of either the Royal Guard or the still-loyal members of the military who did not take part in this very criminal act. The perpetrators were acting in secret, under orders directly issued by the Emperor without any input from the Imperial Council, which was itself created precisely to make certain that the Emperor could never declare war on any world whatsoever without their permission, and their votes cast in order to put the declaration of war into law. Before any forces could yet be deployed against Terra Nithal, all this and more was made public about the Emperor, so that suddenly the tyrant himself was faced with the reality of a galactic civil war. All actions against Terra Nithal were called off, as thousands of planets did as Terra Nithal had done, seceding from the empire in numbers too great for the Emperor to react to. In this way, the empire was split down the middle when it came to support for our cause. Half of the great empire was swayed fully to our banner, while half remained undecided whether or not they should continue to follow the Emperor out of loyalty strictly to the throne itself. Each day though, more and more rallied to our side, until the once-faint prospect of overthrowing the existing empire became much more reasonable to consider. All the while, bloody war raged across the stars, reaching in the end the very doorstep of the Emperor's palace itself. By that time, his once-loyal forces had all turned against him, with his very life being in danger as the Royal Guard decided to act upon their desire for revenge over the destruction of one of their home planets. The Emperor retreated out of the palace and into a vast natural cave system under New Corinthia's capital. That is where, at last, we cornered the wicked man... and decided that the hour for justice against him, was to be served. He had disbanded the once-revered council, in an attempt to circumvent their needed support for his continued reign... but it was far too little, too late to save him at all. What remained of those still loyal to him, those very same were being either killed in battle off-planet, on the front lines of the war... or they were being executed in a rather spectacular fashion, in full view of the palace while riots broke out all across the Imperial capital city. At this point, the people themselves were demanding the Emperor's head, and we had set about to deliver it unto them. It was not hard to get to where he was holed up... everything was in a state of such chaos, that no one was even bothering to watch over the entrance any longer. A large temple complex had always stood on the spot, with the entrance to the caves being within the temple's catacombs. No guards were there to stand in our way... and at this point, why would they?... and so myself, Sapphira, and the Voice wound our way closer and closer to our showdown with the tyrant who waited below.

   The caves were humid and damp. Sapphira looked incredibly resplendent in her armor! She wore a golden breastplate that shone and glinted in the light of the torches we carried, and that armor was over a coat of chain mail, itself padded by a layer of leather worn over a comfortable cloth jumpsuit that was a bit more tight-fitting than she usually preferred to dress. She wore protective boots and gauntlets, and carried in her hands a two-handed sword that had an electric current running the length of the blade. How she managed it, I had no idea, but she was far stronger than she at first appeared! She wore no helmet, because she wanted our enemy to see her face. I wore a suit of black plate armor... with the leather being red and the cloth being likewise black. My boots and gauntlets were black, too, and I wore over my head a helmet stylized to resemble a dragon's fearsome face. I carried a weapon similar to that carried by my wife, only mine was one-handed instead. Our shock-swords glowed with faint bluish light due to how heavy the lethal charge was within them. The Queen's Voice remained ever behind us, attired in an elaborate white gown trimmed in gold. Her flaming curly red hair was wild about her face as she made her way through the darkness with us. She was dressed for courtly display, not for battle.

   “Could you not have dressed in more appropriate attire for this occasion?” I asked of the Voice, who replied in a visibly irritated tone: “I AM dressed appropriately for this occasion! I am going to take my place as Empress of the known universe when all of this is over and done with. Sorry if I forgot to pack as many clothes as your wife always seems to! But, I had to travel light just to accommodate her rather extensive wardrobe.” Sapphira was extremely agitated over that verbal jab at her, declaring: “And here I thought that you WERE me! Apparently, you have your own mind after all.” to which the Voice stated in response: “I am, and yet I am thankfully not, you... it is both at the same time, actually.” and then she shouted, as loudly as possible: “And I have decided on what my name shall be! It shall be She'khi'nah! Divine Empress She'khi'nah!” And I could sense true power behind her words. But not power of an evil sort, rather a tremendous light the like of which I had never felt before in a living being. She would be a good empress after all, I realized at last. Behind the empress-to-be was a small but powerful and loyal contingent of House Aeros soldiers, and somewhere behind the soldiers was a large mob of people who were hell-bent on finding out what all the fuss was about down here. The Emperor's days were at last at an end... now, it all depended on who got to him first, us or the people. He would be shown no mercy.

   The caves opened up near the bottom, and there waited the last of the Emperor's soldiers, every one a fanatic devoted to protecting his person at the expense of their own lives. They would neither retreat... since they had no place left to retreat to... nor surrender. We fell upon them with great fury, and as we did so She'khi'nah waited out of the area of conflict, watched over by several of her hand-picked elite guards from Terra Nithal, who had come along with us for the sole purpose of keeping the woman safe. It was good to at last have a real name to call her by! The field of battle was the crumbling ruins of a subterranean worship site from a lost age long before the rise of any civilization upon the face of New Corinthia. It was a primitive, savage place where once savage beings from a primordial era sacrificed with blood to cruel gods whose names have been lost to time. Various flares lit the area up, and some torches and braziers were lit for added illumination. The enemies drew their swords, but they were no match for our shock weapons, a technology invented on my home planet of Gehenna Primus and which I was extremely comfortable with the use of. My gauntlets were insulted against the electricity of my sword, and Sapphira was likewise protected. Similar weapons were given to all our soldiers, and so the tide of the conflict was from the outset already in our favor. The Emperor's fanatics were hacked into pieces, when they were not thrown backwards by the extreme electric charge which also caused many of them to soil themselves prior to dying with great indignity. The weapons we used were designed to humiliate an enemy before slaying them, and this we accomplished with much glee. Soon, the whole underground chamber reeked of death. The Emperor was cringing in a corner, holding unto the side of a tall pillar with both arms clutching it, as if the structure could save his life. “Have you anything to say for yourself before we claim your head, my Emperor?” I asked, while doing a mocking bow before the pathetic man. He was truly pitiful to look upon! His face was pallid and gaunt, almost skeletal... he had likely not eaten in some time, fearful perhaps that his food might be poisoned by his own cooks. He had a thin mustache with waxed tips that were turned upward, but was otherwise clean shaven. He wore long golden robes and had a golden crown upon his head decorated with horns like those of a crescent moon. He smelled of urine, and clearly had pissed himself just prior to my chancing upon him. His skin was yellowish from illness, and he looked confused as to what was going on around him. “No words, then! Very well... it is time to remove you from power, since clearly you are unfit to rule.” My voice was amplified by the metallic helmet I wore. To him, I must have seemed like a demon out of Hell! I raised my blade high, preparing to strike him down... when Sapphira ran forward and beat me to it. Thus passed the former Emperor, a man whose name I never learned nor cared to. His head was given to our soldiers, who were instructed to deliver it into the hands of he mob that was on their way there.

   The coronation ceremony for the Divine Empress She'khi'nah was the most magnificent and elaborate that I had ever had the privilege of being able to attend. It put to shame even the coronation of my own beloved wife, when she was named as the queen of Terra Nithal. The Empress wore the beautiful and perhaps impractical gown that I had complained about previously... only, it had to be cleaned a bit first of all the dirt and such from her time in the underground area with us, when we stood against the evil former Emperor. But it looked incredible on her in this, her moment of glory! She was crowned with a crown of white flowers, placed upon her head gently by the esteemed Lord High Theocrat himself, as he proclaimed her new title of Divine Empress for all to hear. Her gown was very long, and it covered her slipped feet. Around her waist was a wide diamond-studded belt, and she wore a necklace of pearls to match her pearl bracelets. Her hair was held back from her face by a silver circlet with a  pure white gemstone in the front center of it... and from her ears dangled pearl earrings of delicate design. She wore blue eye shadow upon her face, with white eyeliner and light pink lipstick. Her fiery red hair had reminded me that she was indeed still a very different person from her sister Sapphira. That was what they called those two now: twin sisters, rather than referring to She'khi'nah as a clone any longer. The Empress had earned the right to be her own person at long last, and she would prove to be a wonderful ruler as well. The Imperial Temple's bells rang out in a musical crescendo, as the choir sang hymns in praises of the Empress' legendary divinity, a myth she herself had created over the course of the civil war, and which in her victory the people of the galaxy had come to truly believe. Sapphira and I wore our usual royal attires... my wife clad in gold and silver, with me clad in black and red. The people all cheered for the new Empress, and white and pink blossoms were strewn about the white carpet that ran the length of the temple floor from the altar place to the main doors. The stained glass windows that depicted various ancient deities and saints seemed to smile upon the occasion, with the whole place being seemingly aglow with light. I wondered if it was the place, or the Empress herself that caused such a glow. “Is the Empress required to take a consort?” I asked Sapphira, who said: “You know, I think it is actually required by Imperial Law that she do so. I wonder though... she does not really at all have anybody she is fond of, at least that I am aware of. It is just something she never had the time for.”

   But there was somebody she was fond of, and the truth of it had escaped our logic! Because she was created as Sapphira's clone after Sapphira had come to love me, She'khi'nah also had within her heart a deep and passionate love for me to match Sapphira's own. And when she was escorted to the Imperial Palace, and there took her place upon the White Throne itself, she took us all by surprise when she did officially name me to be her Divine Consort, so that I might rule the empire at her side. “I love you!” she exclaimed to me loudly, and very much for all the public to hear and bear witness to. “And I shall have no other, to sit here at my side.” The throne was large enough to seat two people together, and it was decorated with vibrant red cushions to make it plenty comfortable for two. The former Emperor's own consort had famously committed suicide, leaving the cruel man to rule alone. Tears formed in my eyes as I glanced over at Sapphira, who looked as if her heart was breaking. “My Empress!” I shouted, in a tone to match the Empress' own. “I regret that I must decline your offer. I already have a queen that I am bound to... as beautiful and generous as you are, and as much like her as you are, my heart belongs to her, and to her alone.” And then, something strange happened! She gestured for Sapphira to step on forward, and slowly the seemingly young girl who was my wife made her way to the throne, where she knelt before the Empress and inquired meekly: “What is your bidding, Divine Empress?” to which the new ruler responded by laying her left hand upon Sapphira's forehead. A bright white light emerged out of her hand, enveloping both “sisters” in the same radiance that I had seen previously when Sapphira had used it to strike out against Sybil during that now-old crisis on Terra Nithal. I could see nothing in the haze of this light, and everyone gathered there to witness the coronation ceremony gasped aloud.

   When the light dissipated, only one of the two sisters remained. It was Sapphira... still appearing as she had always looked, but with fiery red streaks and highlights all throughout her hair. She stood up at last, and sat herself upon the throne, struggling a bit with getting up unto it because of her short height. She appeared, after all, to be only a girl of thirteen years! She spoke to the frightened crowd: “I am the Divine Empress She'khi'nah, also known to you as Sciopia Ximmsia of the House of Aeros. Known to many of you as Queen A'drahla of Terra Nithal. Known to at least one of you, as Sapphira! I am both the woman you just named to be your sovereign, and I am also at the same time the little girl who was her sister. Now, we are one! As it was always destined we should become.” she then turned her gaze towards me and proclaimed: “I hereby name you... my Lord Gislu of Gehenna Primus... formerly the Count Regent of Terra Nithal, to bear henceforth the title of Emperor and to rule at my side not as a consort but as an equal.” and the Imperial Lawgiver strode forward to complain, saying: “This is not a thing that has ever been done before in all of our history! There has never before been two equal rulers over our empire. Only ever one ruler, and one consort! That, is the status quo.” And in answer to that, the Empress declared: “I know! And, I am changing the Law. This will not be the first such law that I choose to change, either. So get used to change!” and the Imperial Lawgiver bowed, humbled for the first time in his entire long life (he was a very old man, too!) by a ruler who was strong enough to not only rule an empire but to question things and change them for the better. I happily ran forward to the throne, bowed humbly, and sat myself upon it with gladness in my heart. I put an arm around my wife, my Empress... even as I looked at our gathered subjects. How had it come to this? I had come a very long way from the cruel darkness of Gehenna Primus... to the shining brilliance of the very capital of the galactic empire that governed all of the known universe that we were aware of in that ancient era. Sapphira and I shared a kiss, and the people all clapped and cheered as we did so. We were quite the advanced people, and yet something as pure and simple, and primal, as love was still more powerful than any other force in existence. In time, our love would come to change every aspect of the empire.

   On our first sunset following our coronation as Divine Empress and Divine Emperor, Sapphira and I sat on a bench, on a balcony overlooking the Imperial Gardens that adjoined the palace. We wore only some very comfortable clothes... she, a baggy gold jumpsuit and myself a simple black gown. It had been one of the longest and most incredible days of our life together... and a single question was ever in the back of my mind, which I at last decided to give voice to: “Beloved... what are you? I mean, now it was twice that I witnessed you enveloped by that beautiful white light! I need to know. You know of the darkness within me and what it... truly is, I think. But I do not know what your light is. I would like to learn of it, if I may.” and she pulled me forward playfully, kissing me with a ferocious passion that was more intense than ever before. “Would you, my darling?” she asked with equal playfulness, when she had finished kissing me. “Very well, then...” she continued, “You are one half of something far, far greater than yourself. Something very dark, but not purely evil! I, am the counterbalance to that... your true soulmate, as it were.” and she nibbled a bit on my lip, as she kissed me again. Once we finished with our kiss, I asked her in an adoring manner: “So, my beloved soulmate... does that mean that you are actually a part of something very light, but not purely good?” to which she said in a purring tone of voice: “Let me show you just how naughty, your sweet little Empress can be!” and that night turned out to be one of the most romantic and intense evenings of my entire existence. I always called her an angel but she had a devilish side I never expected! Even as I had within me a goodness that belied the twisted teachings that my father had tried to raise me with. We were, both of us, far more than we seemed to be, and in time the universe would come to know us in very different forms than we had expected. When myths grow with time, the truths behind them can sometimes become lost or confused. But on that night, I had no such heavy philosophical thoughts going through my mind. Only simple feelings.
Written by Kou_Indigo (Kara L. Pythiana-Ashton)
Published | Edited 10th May 2022
Author's Note
This is continuing from the end of "Ancient Memories Part I: The Darkness of Terra Nithal".
This is continued, in "Ancient Memories Part III: The Elemental Wars".
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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