Asteria ran towards her Citadel at a breakneck pace, her footing remaining perfectly even despite the shifting, uneven sand beneath her boots kicking up a heavy golden storm with every step she took. The desert heat beat down on her, but she pushed through the blinding glare, her lungs burning as she forced her legs to move faster.
Quickly, she arrived at the very beginning of the Kingdom of Glass, and what she saw waiting for her was completely horrifying.
Rising from the desert floor was a massive, pulsing structure. A Dream Gate.
"That's supposed to be in the NQSC," Asteria muttered, her voice catching in her throat as she came to a sudden halt. "Why on earth is it leading here?"
Her heart sank into her stomach. A gate of this size, anchored directly to her private territory, could only mean one thing. The Supreme of Song was here in the flesh.
Hastily turning around to face her silent, marble entourage, Asteria raised a hand and ordered them in a sharp, urgent tone:
"Don't do anything without my explicit permission. Be completely peaceful, or you will die here, and I won't be able to assist you."
The leading Marble Saint paused, its pale, polished head tilting slightly before it swung its heavy stone sword against its shield twice in firm agreement.
Rushing past the glittering walls and into the wide courtyard in front of her glass palace, Asteria's eyes widened in sheer shock and disbelief. The area was crawling with elite soldiers, all wearing the distinct, high-ranking armour of Great Clan Song.
"Eunbin," Asteria huffed, completely out of breath before she could even finish speaking her sister's name.
"Ah, Asteria!" The Enchantress turned around, her smile tantalising and her dark eyes full of genuine joy as she looked at the young master. "You really should have invited us over much sooner, dear. It's very magnificent."
The Queen of Nightmare looked her Enchantress sister dead in the eyes and let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. "Yes, perhaps if I was actually able to, sadly that simply wasn't within my capabilities." She shrugged her shoulders, deliberately trying to brush off the heavy, suffocating tension building in the air.
Sadly, the comfort of that lighter mood didn't remain gone for long.
A cold, powerful voice drifted across the marble tiles, causing the hairs on Asteria's arms to stand up.
"My daughter, Asteria, where exactly were you? I was expecting a full report quite quickly, but you simply disappeared into thin air again. I'm starting to think you actually dislike me." Ki Song spoke as she stepped into view, her eyes freezing cold and her beautiful smile entirely fake.
"I got lost, Mother. Many unexpected things happened, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to return as fast as I would have liked," Asteria said nervously, her palms growing damp. "In fact, I've just gotten back myself. I was incredibly surprised to see you here."
"Ah, I suppose you are surprised." Ki Song pointed a slender finger towards Eunbin, her gaze never wavering. "Bin has been helping to completely exterminate the rest of the corrupted creatures polluting this citadel. It's quite expansive for a simple citadel, I must say."
Asteria nervously met Ki Song's sharp gaze, her jaw tightening.
The Sovereign didn't seem to care about her obvious discomfort, though her pale eyes sharpened slightly as she took in Asteria's dishevelled appearance. "She hasn't taken ownership of the Citadel, if that's what you're so deeply concerned about," Ki Song chuckled, the sound entirely devoid of warmth. "I can easily guess how territorial you are over grand things like this."
'She read my mind,' Asteria thought, a shiver running down her spine. 'If someone had claimed this place before I did, I don't know what I would have done.'
"Is there anything specific you need to know about the surrounding area, Mother?" Asteria tried to force a polite smile under the heavily weighted pressure settling on her shoulders simply for being in the physical presence of a Supreme — but it completely failed to work.
"No, I would have needed it a few days ago, but my forces have done more than enough during your long absence." Ki Song looked around the sparkling courtyard before her eyes finally settled on the looming pyramid in the distance. "It's an ideal location for more than one reason."
Asteria didn't want to question the Sovereign further — but Gods, she simply couldn't help it.
"Is it because of that pyramid?"
"It could be," the Sovereign shrugged calmly, her posture perfectly relaxed. "More importantly, why do those creatures follow behind you? Nether's children?"
Now it was Asteria's turn to shrug, despite all the terrifying nerves twisting in her gut. "They see raw strength and follow it. I'm stronger, so they serve me."
Ki Song hummed softly for a moment, a small, unreadable smile dancing on her cold lips. "Interesting." Her gaze felt like it was physically piercing through the Queen of Nightmare's whole being, unravelling every secret she held.
***
Asteria had experienced an awfully long, exhausting day. After the Sovereign left Asteria alone, she had to spend hours dealing with immediate logistical problems for the massive number of Clan Song soldiers who had suddenly changed their anchors to the Theatre of Crystals. It was infuriating in itself, as she still had so many personal things she wanted to do; namely, going back down into the Vault of Splendor, which she kept putting off after getting rudely attacked by a Corrupted Beast.
Let alone the absolute nightmare of transporting basic necessities to the site, since it was located in such a remote, hostile area of the dream realm with little to no outside human presence. It was made even worse by the fact that Ravenheart was located thousands of kilometres away from the Theatre of Crystal.
Needing a break from the endless bureaucratic chaos, the Queen of Nightmare pulled on her tether and entered the Waking World once more. Her consciousness shifted, and she appeared in her quiet real-world house, only to be greeted by a massive plethora of packages, boxes, and thick envelopes piled high by her door.
'Yes... she did say I would have much more business to take care of when I got home... ' Asteria whined internally, stepping around the chaos, desperately wishing for some proper rest or shut-eye.
The floor was covered in simple cardboard shipping boxes, elegant white boxes that looked professionally wrapped, and high-security items sealed in miniature safes. Envelopes with all manner of expensive designs, wax seals, and luxury accessories had been poured through her front letterbox until it overflowed.
Sighing deeply, Asteria decided to just bite the bullet and open each and every one.
***
A few hours had slowly passed since Asteria made the executive decision to open, inspect, and read through them all.
So far, Asteria had gained absolutely nothing but deep tiredness, physical exhaustion, a massive headache — and an intense, growling hunger. Pushing those uncomfortable feelings to the side for a while longer, she had to admit that the Queen of Nightmare had truly received some wonderful things from the various low-ranking clans trying to curry her favor.
The gifts included a massive plethora of soul shards — which were practically raw money — of all different tiers. They were mostly awakened shards, with plenty of ascended ones, and a very few precious transcendent shards scattered throughout the chests. There were also 'coupons' for powerful memories that she would receive when she had the time to officially claim them, as memories of that calibre could only be transferred directly between souls, not simply packaged and delivered. There were also VIP tickets to grand events that would be hosted in the waking world in the future, expensive items of tailored clothing, and...
"A marriage proposal?!" She spat aloud to the empty room, her eyes wide and a scornful, thoroughly disgusted look spreading across her face. "Who on earth wrote this?"
Asteria... absolutely did not want to get married. No, that was completely wrong to say... Asteria simply wasn't interested in romance whatsoever. Sure, she could appreciate someone's physical beauty, whether they were handsome or not, but her thoughts never went any further than that.
The mere thought of being bonded to some random noble heir gave her violent shivers.
"Gross, so incredibly gross." She threw the gold-trimmed proposal across the room. The heavy envelope slowly glided through the air and gracefully fell straight into the nearest garbage bin in her kitchen. When she saw it land perfectly at the bottom, a small smile crept up her face. "Exactly as it should be."
Throwing her disgust away, both literally and metaphorically, Asteria's eyes became glued to one specific coupon she had received for a memory.
What she did know from the attached letter, is that it was a storage memory that could safely contain food, fresh water, inanimate objects, and even the living. Furthermore, the description claimed its internal size was easily as large as her entire house, if not much larger.
The worrying part, however, was exactly who was offering it to her.
Valor.
They were offering her a... and Asteria quotes the letter directly:
A transcendent ranked storage memory of the sixth tier, sent as a congratulations for her grand accomplishments and official introduction as a Princess of Song... and as a clever way to curry favour with the person they had proposed the marriage to:
Princess Asteria of Song... and the Awakened Mercy of Dagonet.
"You have to be absolute kidding me," is all the Queen of Nightmare dared to utter into the quiet apartment. She clutched her head in her hands. "...I desperately need a trusted adult right now. I have absolutely no idea what to do here."
Unable to handle the stress alone, Asteria quickly returned to her Citadel in the Nightmare desert, the dry heat immediately bouncing off her skin as she materialized. She turned to the very nearest Clan Song soldier standing guard.
"Do you happen to know where the Queen is?" She asked nicely, an obviously fake, strained smile plastered on her face.
"Oh! P-Princess!" The young man began, stuttering violently at the sudden sight of the beautiful Princess he served. A bright red flush rushed to his cheeks before he quickly turned completely around, frantically taking off his heavy military jacket and offering it out to her. "P-please put this on immediately!" He held it blindly behind his back, fully intending for Asteria to grab it.
The Queen of Nightmare felt instantly flustered, an intense heat rushing up her neck and painting her cheeks a bright pink. Despite her wearing her [Unseen Mantle], she had accidentally left its form changed to some comfortable, loose lounge wear from her apartment — which definitely didn't cover enough skin for her to be walking outside in front of the troops.
With a rushed, panicked thought, her mantle shifted, forming into a long, flowing silk dress that was befitting a Princess of Song as well as a proud Queen. Asteria unhurriedly said, trying to hide the pink on her cheeks with a hand and speaking in a steady, forced tone:
"No, thank you for offering though. You may turn back around."
The man did exactly as asked, taking a deep, relieved breath as he faced her again. "I deeply apologise for the discourtesy, Your Highness. The Queen is currently in the main courtyard dealing with pressing matters."
The Princess of Song nodded calmly, acting as if she wasn't just completely red in the face and incredibly nervous moments ago. She turned sharply on her heel and walked away much faster than she should have, almost bumping her shoulder straight into the marble wall on her way out of the corridor.
"Mother!" Asteria shouted as she burst into the courtyard, trying to garner Ki Song's attention urgently.
Thankfully, the Supreme turned around quickly to face her. "Yes, Asteria? Is there something the matter?"
"Of course there is!" Asteria scoffed, holding out the two distinct letters describing the offensive marriage proposal and the incredibly generous offer from Valor of a transcendent ranked storage memory.
Ki Song stood perfectly quiet for a while, silently staring at the writing on the pages before the paper in Asteria's hands suddenly crumbled into fine grey dust, blowing away in the wind as if they had never existed previously.
"Asteria dear, do you actually wish to be married to this boy?"
"Of course not!" She pouted like a spoiled child, crossing her arms. "You're not seriously thinking about accepting their proposal, are you?"
Ki Song laughed softly, stepping forward and embracing Asteria like the child she was currently pretending to be. Despite the Sovereign's touch being physically freezing cold to the touch, it was emotionally packed with deep, genuine warmth. "If you don't want to marry him, then that's simply that. But you shouldn't turn down such a grand gift from our enemies, should you?" Mirth tinged the Supreme's pale eyes, a teasing gaze that told Asteria everything she needed to know about how they would play this game.
"Yes, Mother!" Asteria smiled brightly, a massive wave of relief washing over her like a tidal wave.
***
The Queen of Nightmare returned back to her house in the waking world later that evening, finally giving into the sweet, heavy temptation of sleep. She lay down on her bed and fell into a very, very deserved nap.
Asteria drifted along in the deep darkness of her mind before it gradually coalesced into flickering visions that were faintly recognizable to her passive powers.
She saw a series of grand islands connected together by massive iron chains — only there were only three chains visible this time, and the ancient Kingdom of Hope seemed to be going more insane by the absolute moment.
Her slumbering vision finally settled, and she saw the charming, prince-like, egotistical and self-proclaimed genius of the Kingdom of Hope — Noctis, the Sorcerer of the East and the fearsome Beast of Twilight. He was eagerly talking to a young woman across a wooden table to himself — or perhaps the strange man was simply talking to himself rather than towards the girl sat with him, who was quietly sipping on the hot tea he had prepared.
"It seems Nephis is getting completely caught up with that total lunatic, hah!" She laughed, chuckling softly to herself in her relaxing rest while watching the dream time fly past. Minutes quickly turned into hours, and–
RING!
RING!
RING!
ALERT!
ALERT!
Asteria was suddenly jolted awake by the blaring alerts and panicked, screeching sounds of her government communicator. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she slowly sat up on the edge of her bed and picked the communicator off the table. Her eyes widened as she read the red text alerting her that there was a nightmare gate opening dangerously near her location.
["Category Two Nightmare Gate opening in 12 minutes 33 seconds. Evacuate the area immediately!
Awakened support forces will arrive in 25 minutes 19 seconds. Calling all nearby awakened!"]
"If it's that close, I guess I can go take a quick look... otherwise, I'm going straight back to sleep. They'll handle it with or without me around," she yawned heavily, looking down at the exact coordinates where it would open.
"Five minutes away... That's really not too far." She yawned again, standing up from her mattress. "I guess I'll go do my part."
Asteria stood up properly, straightening her back with a series of audible cracks, and summoned her core equipment from her soul.
The [Mantle of Choice] coated her skin in dark, liquid ink, and the [Might of Gold] coalesced over it into a heavy golden carapace. The inky, black darkness coated the golden liquid perfectly to form a solid, three-layered defence. Atop her head, the [Crown of Golden Glass] appeared, making her vision swim with the sudden, massive increase in how expansive her mind felt, the golden crown reflecting beautifully in the lights above her head. A flurry of white sparks danced on her palms as her leather gloves were pulled tight against her wrists and fingers: the [Flash of Light].
In her right hand, she summoned the [Sentinel's Heart], the starlit blade pulsing with an eager determination to split its foes in half. At her waist, she secured the formless [Blade of Destiny].
Even though the [Blade of Destiny] was currently a lower rank than the [Sentinel's Heart], she didn't know if she might need to use her inner mage and perform runic sorcery during the gate. Even if she had never used any rune except for Light, she still carried the entire dictionary of ancient runes locked inside her head; she should be able to come up with something useful on the fly.
Sighing at the disruption to her sleep, Asteria walked out her front door and made her way towards the imminent threat to the public's safety.
***
Arriving quickly at the coordinate point, Asteria noticed that there were only six other awakened standing along the perimeter line alongside her. There were exactly two minutes left until the gate reportedly opened, and another fifteen long minutes until the official government awakened agents arrived to clean it up.
"They're really not very punctual, are they?" She muttered to herself, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "And what on earth would happen if nobody came to help?"
A calm, steady voice sounded directly behind her, a voice she gladly recognized.
"They would die, Princess."
"Soul Reaper Jet. It's a true pleasure," Asteria nodded, turning to smile warmly at the well-known master.
"Princess Asteria, congratulations are in order for you. I don't believe we've spoken for a quite while," Jet replied politely, her blue eyes looking her over. "I hope everything has been a smooth change of pace for you within Clan Song."
"Yes, thankfully it has been, even if there has been an immense amount of sourness as of late." She scoffed, chuckling softly to herself. "I'm assuming you're here to manage the gate?"
"Bingo."
Ten seconds remained.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Asteria's eyes widened in sudden horror. The natural shadows around the gate suddenly exploded in a mad, violent dance. The sunlight above their heads was instantly growing dim, cold, and ghostly. The wind howled furiously against the defender's ears through the empty, evacuated city street. An invisible, heavy shockwave spread out from the tearing gate — violently shaking the clothes and armor of the Awakened standing on standby.
But the physical distortion wasn't the true problem.
A sweet, beckoning call was coming from deep inside the tearing gate, a psychological weight that felt nearly impossible to resist. No, it genuinely couldn't be resisted by a normal mind. Asteria felt a terrifying urge to just lay down in front of it, to do exactly as the voice commanded. It whispered sweet, terrible nothings directly into her ear, wishing for her to enter the portal, to become one with the corruption.
It wanted to drive her completely insane. It wanted to turn her deepest, hidden desires directly against herself. It begged for her to be true to her caged, monstrous urges — to hunt and consume the uncorrupted citizens, to devour the living, to consume their Flame like sweet candy.
The Queen of Nightmare was well used to this terrible feeling — the constant, low whispering in her ear, the underlying desire to consume.
But looking, being near this gate was on an entirely different level — it was making her flaw considerably worse. It was like looking directly into the portal had suddenly awakened all of those dark urges, terrible desires, and corrupted feelings that weren't even her own, freeing them instantly from the tight captivity Asteria had put them in and amplifying them twofold.
'I need to turn around and run,' Asteria thought in pure panic. But to her horror, her feet were already moving on their own, walking directly towards the pulsing gate.
Right in front of her eyes, dozens of heavily deformed, awakened nightmare creatures were pouring out of the tear. Their grotesque, large bodies pulsed with every heavy step they took onto the asphalt.
SWING!
Her starlit blade cut through the air, severing a monster's head.
[You have slain, Awakened Beast....]
The feeling of the kill was wonderful. It was absolute ecstasy flooding her veins. It was pure joy, a deep, ancient hunger that could never be satiated that finally felt like it was being filled with every drop of blood she spilled.
It was beautiful–
It was–
Then, the sky completely darkened as a massive, mountain-like shadow stepped out of the gate, crushing the street beneath its weight.
A Fallen Titan.