Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they arrived at the capital. Andromeda was escorted to the grand courtroom, where her trial would be held. The room was filled with faces she once knew, now contorted with fear and disdain.
It was almost comical how they trembled with fear, even though she was paralyzed and her aetherial veins blocked. Andromeda remained seated on the floor, her hands still bound by iron shackles. The prosecutor, an ambitious man eager to please the king, stood before her, accusing her of heinous crimes.
"Andromeda Ruelle Bethel, you stand accused of treason against the kingdom, the murder of loyal subjects, and the attempted assassination of the sovereign. How do you plead?" he questioned.
Her voice rang out clear and unwavering as her eyes locked with the prosecutor's. "I plead not guilty," she stated firmly.
The prosecutor scoffed, sensing the futility of her defense. "Your denial won't save you. We have witnesses, evidence, and the charred remains of Embercliff Citadel to prove your guilt. Do you deny that you possess elemental powers, that you wielded them against your own people?"
Andromeda's gaze remained steady as she responded, "I once had such powers, but they were sealed away by the crown, and who would know it better than His Majesty, Antioch Virgil Phlegethon," she said, directing her words to the man who had once been her ally, now her accuser, calling his name without an ounce of respect. The people in the court were silent for a moment before they erupted in whispers and murmurs, shocked by her audacity. The queen sat in her chair, trying not to show fear of her own sister.
The prosecutor's face twisted with anger, but before he could retort, Captain Valerian interjected, his words laced with venom. "Your powers were a threat to the kingdom, and the king made the right decision in sealing them away."
"And yet you were the one who had a hand in sealing them," Andromeda retorted, her voice low and accusing.
Valerian's jaw clenched, but he quickly regained his composure. "Enough of your lies, Andromeda! Your treason is evident, and justice will be served," he declared, determined to see her condemned.
The trial proceeded, and witnesses were brought forth, each testifying against Andromeda. Some were honest, recounting their own fears and experiences during her reign, while others were coerced or manipulated to bear false witness.
Andromeda's defense was stifled as she was denied the chance to speak freely or call upon her own witnesses. Her protests fell on deaf ears, and the outcome seemed predetermined.
As the trial reached its conclusion, the jury deliberated behind closed doors. Andromeda remained seated on the cold floor, her eyes fixed on the grand ceiling above. The weight of her actions and the betrayal she had endured weighed heavily on her heart. And then, unbeknownst to everyone, an insane smile appeared on her face as her lips started to move. Quickly, she began to chant ancient words, invoking an ancient spell.
Finally, the jury returned, and the judge stood before her, his voice solemn. "Andromeda Ruelle Bethel, based on the evidence presented and the testimony of witnesses, the court finds you guilty of high treason against the kingdom and its sovereign."
Andromeda met the judge's gaze without flinching. "So be it," she said, her voice firm and unyielding.
"The sentence is death," the judge announced, and the room fell silent.
Andromeda's eyes remained steady, her face a mask of defiance. "Death is but a release from the chains that bind me. You may take my life, but you will never break my spirit," she proclaimed, her words echoing through the grand courtroom.
As the guards prepared to escort her away, Andromeda's eyes fell on the King and Queen, "You may have condemned me, Petrichor, but know this – the flames of vengeance burn eternal," she warned, her voice a haunting whisper, "There is no escape from my vengeance."
They didn't seem to realize what was happening, they were busy rejoicing the fitting end of the villainess.
And Andromeda sat on the floor of the grand courtroom, with a haunting air. Her eyes glowed with an eerie intensity that sent shivers down the spines of all those present. The guards surrounding her were on high alert, their hands poised on their weapons, but there was an unsettling feeling of powerlessness in the air.
As Andromeda's lips moved, a forbidden chant flowed forth, ancient words spoken with a commanding authority that echoed through the chamber. The atmosphere grew tense, and murmurs of fear and awe rippled through the room. The king and queen, sitting on their thrones, exchanged anxious glances, their grip on power suddenly feeling fragile.
"…..קִסְמָאגַּלְגַּלְתָּא…..דָּםקֻרְבָּן….קַדִּישָׁאנְשָׁמָה…עֲזַבגֵּיהִנּוֹם….מַצְוָהגַּלְגַּלְיָאסִיכְוָנוּתסַר...חַשְׁכָּא….. אַפְשׁוֹעַ…..שַׁלְיָא"
"No! Stop her!" The king shouted while Queen Delphinia was looking scared, but it was too late. The magic had already taken root, and an ominous energy enveloped the courtroom, causing the very air to crackle with electric tension.
Andromeda's eyes gleamed with a chilling satisfaction as she continued the incantation, pouring her soul into the forbidden spell. Her body trembled with the weight of ancient power coursing through her veins, fueled by the sacrificial blood that had granted her this forbidden knowledge.
The guards tried to move, to flee from the impending doom, but an unseen force held them in place, their bodies paralyzed with fear and awe. The king and queen's faces contorted with terror, realizing the gravitas of what they had done, the consequences of betraying a woman who had once been their most loyal commander.
In a crescendo of power, the courtroom erupted into a blinding blaze of hellish flames, consuming everything in its path. The walls crumbled, the pillars toppled, and the once formidable throne of the king and queen was reduced to ashes. The very foundation of power was shattered by the magnitude of the forbidden magic, leaving no room for escape.
Their measly shields to protect themselves could do nothing to help them. There was no escaping the darkness that she had wielded. The ancient spell had done what it promised. It had brought the inferno upon her enemies.
As the hellfire continued to rage around her, she sat there, bearing the excruciating pain brought on by her forbidden magic. The black veins spread relentlessly, engulfing her body in decay. It was time to receive the pull payment.
Through the haze of agony, she could still hear the cries and screams of the people, victims of the cataclysmic inferno she had unleashed upon the city. Her heart weighed heavy with pain but not for these people. These ungrateful people who had deemed her as the villainess. There was no way she would let these people have a good life when she had lost her everything. They needed to know the pain they brought her.
As the black veins reached her eyes, robbing her of sight, she gazed up at the darkened sky, hazel eyes now sunken with pain and sorrow. She let out a primal scream, a wounded dragon bellowing its despair. The once-mighty Andromeda, now broken and defeated, had no more power left to wield.
Soon she couldn't smell anything anymore..... No smoke, no smell of burst bodies...Nothing.
The journey of the deposed grand duchess had reached its somber conclusion. Her quest for vengeance had only led to her own downfall and the destruction of all she once held dear. In the ashes of her former life, she found herself facing the consequences of her actions, unable to escape the fate she had brought upon herself.
As the flames of the hellfire spread relentlessly, she slowly and painfully embraced her inevitable demise. The fire that once burned within her now consumed her entirely, leaving nothing but a tragic legacy of darkness and despair.
And then...she could no longer hear....
And so, the tale of Andromeda Ruelle Bethel, the once-proud and formidable commander, came to a sorrowful end. The grand duchess had fallen, not by the hands of her enemies, but by her own sister and cousin, her own blood betrayed her. In the end, there was no victory in revenge, only emptiness and darkness.
The city and its people would eventually rebuild, but the memory of Andromeda and the havoc she had wrought would linger like a haunting specter in the annals of history. Her name would be whispered in fear and caution, a cautionary tale of the dangers of yielding to the allure of forbidden power.
They would always think of her as a villainess. But so what...She wouldn't be around to see or hear it.
As the flames continued to dance around her, the last embers of her life flickered and faded. Andromeda Ruelle Bethel, once a formidable force in the royal court, now succumbed to the darkness she had unleashed, leaving behind a legacy of tragedy and the eternal question of what might have been if she had chosen a different path.
And soon her heart rotted away and she could no longer breath as her lung were filled with the black veins.
Andromeda was finally free.