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The Gorgeous Royal

He got me.

Despite my valid alibis, my practiced smile and my flawless acting, he managed to figure it out: I can't keep this up much longer. The shielding spell I have cast earlier, useful as it was, is slowly getting smaller. This is wrong, Edward was never supposed to be here in the first place. How did he get past the wall? How did he reach here before I did? How in the world did he defeat the hellhounds? I am superior to him in every aspect. He just can't be winning.

No. I can't lose. I just have to be wise and use my power correctly. I may be weak right now, but I don't have to show it.

"I'll defeat you using nothing but the necessary." I raise my hands towards the air and then point towards Edward, doing a small chant while I do so. It's a really simple illusion, actually, but under the right conditions it can mean an easy victory against the magically uneducated.

At first he doesn't react. Understandable. After a few seconds he realizes it: The walls are closing in. At least that is what I'm making him believe. Foolishly, he tries to push the air. Edward you idiot, if I actually could do a spell that closed real walls against you, do you think you would be able to push them away just like that? I grab one of my knives. As expected, Edward begins running towards me. He makes himself smaller in order to fit in the ever smaller corridor as he runs. I let him approach me. Finally, he bursts against the remainders of my shield, stopping right next to me and leaving me enough time to stab him in the left arm. Screaming, he moves away, going towards the center of the room and holding his new wound.

I should have stabbed the stomach. Soon the shield will disappear and he will have the advantage. Well I guess I could take this opportunity to perform one more incantation, though. Its casting lasts a bit, but I will be protected in the meantime.

I begin performing the hand movements. The spell requires only a motor component, perhaps an ironic preference from its original designer. Violet lights surround Edward, indicating the success of the enchantment. I win.

I get in front of my opponent and see, in amusement, how he notably attempts to move his right leg.

"All of your muscles have been stopped, Edward. You'll stay like that for a while, but you are welcome to try and resist the spell. You may even be able to move a millimeter if you want it hard enough."

I look at my knife, still dirty with his blood. It would be best to get rid of him right now. After all, the spell will eventually run off, and I don't want him still bothering me after I reap Caerphil's soul. But there is an actually better alternative.

"You wanted to see my best spells, Edward? Then you shall bear witness to the true powers of a master sorceress." I take a piece of blue chalk out of my bag and start drawing. The stone floor is ideal for this ritual, since wooden ones would mess up the integrity of the symbols.

I draw a big circle around Edward, who is still trying to move. I believe he is trying to take the balance out of his position and fall over me, which would do little else than bother me, really. On five points of the circle, I draw five symbols: The Sun to shine light on the Moon, the Moon to make the water rise, the water to make the Earth prosper, the Earth to sustain life, and an empty circle where the symbol of life should be. An opportunity to exchange the sigil for Edward's essence, deprive him of his life and make it my own.

This spell would be next to impossible to perform without a subject that is either willing or immobile, and my opponent has already proven to be an excellent resource that I could use in the future. Sure, I probably won't have a lot of energy after this, but I already wasn't able any longer to perform the teleportation, and I'm sure Edward will tell me how he planned to get out once he is deprived of his will.

"I'm sure your arm hurts right now, Edward. Don't worry, all of your mortal pains will go away soon when you serve me forever in my destiny as a Death Goddess." I push my hands against the floor, close to the circle. I slowly breath, controlling the energy that I send to the floor and is later received by the circle. It gains power, little by little. The spell feeds, the sigil of the Sun draws its power from me and it channels it to the sigil of the moon. The spell requires a lot of focus, but it's nothing I can't handle. The sigil of the moon then sends the energy towards the sigil of the water... It doesn't reach. It isn't enough energy. I channel more power to the sigil of the Sun, accelerating my breathing. It's still impossible. This can't be happening, I know I have enough energy for the ritual, and if Edward was really powerful enough to resist it, which I doubt, it would be the entrance to his life that would be blocked, and not to any of the symbols.

I have to interrupt the ritual. Something's not working. I open my eyes and look up, to see a small, blond girl stomping on the water symbol, rubbing it with the point of her muddy shoes. Elain.

"You stupid witch!" I yell. I want to jump and attack her with one of my knives, but I trip over my own leg and fall. Without realizing it, the little piglet has depleted too much energy from me. I fall back, using my hands to crawl against the wall. I just need to take a break. Elain goes to Edward and touches his arm, almost ignoring my presence. The purple lights disappear and Edward moves again. Curses. He tells the wretch to leave the room and waits for her to do so before he addresses me.

"I admire your ambition in the face of victory, Kleio," he tells me, crouching to get on my level, "but you really should have killed me."

He is right. After everything that he put me through I had him at the palm of my hand. I had almost completed the spell. I was in a position to kill him, even if that failed. I should have killed him in several opportunities so far. What happened?

"...Why?" I ask him, looking at his green eyes. Perhaps he does know the answer. "I am more powerful than you, more experienced, more knowledgeable and beautiful. What makes you the victor?"

"Precisely all of that," he answers. "As you had an immense power, you gained confidence in that you would defeat me without a fragment of a doubt. I had to struggle to survive at every step. By contrast, you always had a plan and you were certain that you couldn't fail, so when things went wrong, you weren't able to accept your failure and lost your temper." Wait a second, is that why he taunted me before? So he didn't actually know that the magic was exhausting me? "Even when things went right, you had to make sure that, after all of your effort, you had to get the best out of your victory, and that was your worst mistake. Elain was an inconvenient accident, true, but there is no reason to blame her either. You lost this fight on your own due to your pride."

He takes a small knife, dirty with the blood of a hellhound and cleans it with his clothing.

"May I accompany you, at least? I would prefer not to die here." I attempt to sound as pitiable as possible. I may be proud, but I am also a smart enough to know when the pride must be set aside.

"You may not," his answer is blunt, "you are deceptive and temperamental. You are bound to betray me as soon as you find a better opportunity." It is becoming increasingly evident that Edward is more introspective than I originally gave him credit for.

With the knife now clean, he approaches me. Well, it is my last chance I guess. I throw myself against the man and push my lips against his. He returns the kiss and with a quick movement sets aside my hair with his right hand and holds my neck, pushing me against him.

I grab one of my own knives. You could learn lots from your own critique, Edward. Don't get ambitious in the face of victory. Suddenly I am restrained, he holds my right arm with his left hand... I am too tired to oppose him. I feel a stab on my neck.

The Regicide

"Darkness and chaos," Elain answers when I ask her what she saw in me, "but also truth."

It makes sense, really. She knew perfectly who I was, but she was also able to tell that, right now, I was the best option, so helping me was for the best. I decide against questioning her any further. I am tired and harmed, and would rather end this quickly.

"Stay here. I have to go with your father." I go towards the study, there is no door to open. Caerphil is looking straight at me, and the body of the monster has already vanished.

"The guard will recover, and I told Elain everything I had to tell her. You may kill me now."

I approach Caerphil and strangle him with my bare hands. Even if he tried to struggle, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but he chooses to die without resisting. Now at peace with death and ready to exit life, Caerphil Herendel perishes in his own terms.

I make myself invisible with my newly acquired powers on my way out. I don't exchange any words with the soul that accompanies me. I am his escort and he will follow me. That was the deal.

One of the same guards I met before is now handling the gate. I make myself visible to order him to open it. He does so and I pass through, invisible again. The reason that the guard will give for opening the door is none of my business.

Beyond the door Death awaits. I open the door of the truck, enter and then hold Caerphil's hand to help him inside. Despite his silence he is surely confused by this technology.

"You made a lot of people unhappy, Edward," the God tells me, "bets were way against you."

Interesting. There is betting on this? Less interesting is the people's choice. If I knew half of what I know now about Kleio, I wouldn't have imagined myself to be the winner, either.

Description
The Gorgeous Royal

He got me.

Despite my valid alibis, my practiced smile and my flawless acting, he managed to figure it out: I can't keep this up much longer. The shielding spell I have cast earlier, useful as it was, is slowly getting smaller. This is wrong, Edward was never supposed to be here in the first place. How did he get past the wall? How did he reach here before I did? How in the world did he defeat the hellhounds? I am superior to him in every aspect. He just can't be winning.

No. I can't lose. I just have to be wise and use my power correctly. I may be weak right now, but I don't have to show it.

"I'll defeat you using nothing but the necessary." I raise my hands towards the air and then point towards Edward, doing a small chant while I do so. It's a really simple illusion, actually, but under the right conditions it can mean an easy victory against the magically uneducated.

At first he doesn't react. Understandable. After a few seconds he realizes it: The walls are closing in. At least that is what I'm making him believe. Foolishly, he tries to push the air. Edward you idiot, if I actually could do a spell that closed real walls against you, do you think you would be able to push them away just like that? I grab one of my knives. As expected, Edward begins running towards me. He makes himself smaller in order to fit in the ever smaller corridor as he runs. I let him approach me. Finally, he bursts against the remainders of my shield, stopping right next to me and leaving me enough time to stab him in the left arm. Screaming, he moves away, going towards the center of the room and holding his new wound.

I should have stabbed the stomach. Soon the shield will disappear and he will have the advantage. Well I guess I could take this opportunity to perform one more incantation, though. Its casting lasts a bit, but I will be protected in the meantime.

I begin performing the hand movements. The spell requires only a motor component, perhaps an ironic preference from its original designer. Violet lights surround Edward, indicating the success of the enchantment. I win.

I get in front of my opponent and see, in amusement, how he notably attempts to move his right leg.

"All of your muscles have been stopped, Edward. You'll stay like that for a while, but you are welcome to try and resist the spell. You may even be able to move a millimeter if you want it hard enough."

I look at my knife, still dirty with his blood. It would be best to get rid of him right now. After all, the spell will eventually run off, and I don't want him still bothering me after I reap Caerphil's soul. But there is an actually better alternative.

"You wanted to see my best spells, Edward? Then you shall bear witness to the true powers of a master sorceress." I take a piece of blue chalk out of my bag and start drawing. The stone floor is ideal for this ritual, since wooden ones would mess up the integrity of the symbols.

I draw a big circle around Edward, who is still trying to move. I believe he is trying to take the balance out of his position and fall over me, which would do little else than bother me, really. On five points of the circle, I draw five symbols: The Sun to shine light on the Moon, the Moon to make the water rise, the water to make the Earth prosper, the Earth to sustain life, and an empty circle where the symbol of life should be. An opportunity to exchange the sigil for Edward's essence, deprive him of his life and make it my own.

This spell would be next to impossible to perform without a subject that is either willing or immobile, and my opponent has already proven to be an excellent resource that I could use in the future. Sure, I probably won't have a lot of energy after this, but I already wasn't able any longer to perform the teleportation, and I'm sure Edward will tell me how he planned to get out once he is deprived of his will.

"I'm sure your arm hurts right now, Edward. Don't worry, all of your mortal pains will go away soon when you serve me forever in my destiny as a Death Goddess." I push my hands against the floor, close to the circle. I slowly breath, controlling the energy that I send to the floor and is later received by the circle. It gains power, little by little. The spell feeds, the sigil of the Sun draws its power from me and it channels it to the sigil of the moon. The spell requires a lot of focus, but it's nothing I can't handle. The sigil of the moon then sends the energy towards the sigil of the water... It doesn't reach. It isn't enough energy. I channel more power to the sigil of the Sun, accelerating my breathing. It's still impossible. This can't be happening, I know I have enough energy for the ritual, and if Edward was really powerful enough to resist it, which I doubt, it would be the entrance to his life that would be blocked, and not to any of the symbols.

I have to interrupt the ritual. Something's not working. I open my eyes and look up, to see a small, blond girl stomping on the water symbol, rubbing it with the point of her muddy shoes. Elain.

"You stupid witch!" I yell. I want to jump and attack her with one of my knives, but I trip over my own leg and fall. Without realizing it, the little piglet has depleted too much energy from me. I fall back, using my hands to crawl against the wall. I just need to take a break. Elain goes to Edward and touches his arm, almost ignoring my presence. The purple lights disappear and Edward moves again. Curses. He tells the wretch to leave the room and waits for her to do so before he addresses me.

"I admire your ambition in the face of victory, Kleio," he tells me, crouching to get on my level, "but you really should have killed me."

He is right. After everything that he put me through I had him at the palm of my hand. I had almost completed the spell. I was in a position to kill him, even if that failed. I should have killed him in several opportunities so far. What happened?

"...Why?" I ask him, looking at his green eyes. Perhaps he does know the answer. "I am more powerful than you, more experienced, more knowledgeable and beautiful. What makes you the victor?"

"Precisely all of that," he answers. "As you had an immense power, you gained confidence in that you would defeat me without a fragment of a doubt. I had to struggle to survive at every step. By contrast, you always had a plan and you were certain that you couldn't fail, so when things went wrong, you weren't able to accept your failure and lost your temper." Wait a second, is that why he taunted me before? So he didn't actually know that the magic was exhausting me? "Even when things went right, you had to make sure that, after all of your effort, you had to get the best out of your victory, and that was your worst mistake. Elain was an inconvenient accident, true, but there is no reason to blame her either. You lost this fight on your own due to your pride."

He takes a small knife, dirty with the blood of a hellhound and cleans it with his clothing.

"May I accompany you, at least? I would prefer not to die here." I attempt to sound as pitiable as possible. I may be proud, but I am also a smart enough to know when the pride must be set aside.

"You may not," his answer is blunt, "you are deceptive and temperamental. You are bound to betray me as soon as you find a better opportunity." It is becoming increasingly evident that Edward is more introspective than I originally gave him credit for.

With the knife now clean, he approaches me. Well, it is my last chance I guess. I throw myself against the man and push my lips against his. He returns the kiss and with a quick movement sets aside my hair with his right hand and holds my neck, pushing me against him.

I grab one of my own knives. You could learn lots from your own critique, Edward. Don't get ambitious in the face of victory. Suddenly I am restrained, he holds my right arm with his left hand... I am too tired to oppose him. I feel a stab on my neck.

The Regicide

"Darkness and chaos," Elain answers when I ask her what she saw in me, "but also truth."

It makes sense, really. She knew perfectly who I was, but she was also able to tell that, right now, I was the best option, so helping me was for the best. I decide against questioning her any further. I am tired and harmed, and would rather end this quickly.

"Stay here. I have to go with your father." I go towards the study, there is no door to open. Caerphil is looking straight at me, and the body of the monster has already vanished.

"The guard will recover, and I told Elain everything I had to tell her. You may kill me now."

I approach Caerphil and strangle him with my bare hands. Even if he tried to struggle, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but he chooses to die without resisting. Now at peace with death and ready to exit life, Caerphil Herendel perishes in his own terms.

I make myself invisible with my newly acquired powers on my way out. I don't exchange any words with the soul that accompanies me. I am his escort and he will follow me. That was the deal.

One of the same guards I met before is now handling the gate. I make myself visible to order him to open it. He does so and I pass through, invisible again. The reason that the guard will give for opening the door is none of my business.

Beyond the door Death awaits. I open the door of the truck, enter and then hold Caerphil's hand to help him inside. Despite his silence he is surely confused by this technology.

"You made a lot of people unhappy, Edward," the God tells me, "bets were way against you."

Interesting. There is betting on this? Less interesting is the people's choice. If I knew half of what I know now about Kleio, I wouldn't have imagined myself to be the winner, either.