to kill the witch, i

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our resident cockroach of a queen, I'm hon-"

The slap Lisa gave in response was strong, though she knew that it didn't truly hurt the witch. Perhaps shock, but pain had long since been a concept the witch no longer felt. 

"Well?" She asked, as if she wasn't the one bound in chains and about to be executed, as is she still had the power of the marquisates behind, as if the name Elyriana von Auskait still commanded power. 

Lisa wondered if even the rats that plagued the Mists would follow their once noble lady now, but Oscait and its neighbouring territories were exterminated mid-War, Lisa herself witnessed their desertion, though a feeling of wrongness began to worm itself into her regardless. 

"Suppose I shouldn't have excepted anything from a host," the witch mumbled under her breath, "hey Lisa, still whoring yourself to power or did you finally grow a sense of ethics and morality?"

This time, Lisa did not slap the woman she swore to kill, she simply turned and began walking away, she only had a few minutes before the execution was scheduled to begin, and the time she wasted visiting was already pushing it. 

"Your Majesty," one of her guards started, slipping out of the shadows once Lisa was far enough from the witch, "His Grace requests your presence."

"Inform him of my arrival," she replied, beginning to walk faster to the transportation centre. Though she ultimately betrayed humanity, no one could deny the various and numerous creations and contributions Elyriana von Auskait made in the fields of magic, least of all Lisa. 

One day, when she had enough power, she'd hunt down every artifact the witch ever enchanted and burn it in place of burning her. It'll be a game, Lisa decided, of who gets to be remembered by history longer. 

Putting her hypothetical ambitions to the side, Lisa steeled herself and walked into the portal leading to the Palace before taking her place by the Emperor's side, her father next to her. 

"Murder, witchcraft, and thievery," the Executioner began, or perhaps escort, Lisa did not care which of the two it was so as long as the witch died today. The city square was never quite this full, with almost every citizen out to watch the first execution publicly held in years. 

Lisa almost felt bad for the witch, but Elyriana von Auskait was a woman who deserved neither pity nor mercy. 

"Deceiving a nation, and collaborating with daemons," the newly crowned emperor stood up from his high up, almost as if to showcase the differences between him and the woman who was once his sister, though that could have just been personal preferences for all Lisa knew. 

"For your crimes against the laws, and your betrayal of humanity, as the rightful emperor of this nation, I hereby sentence you to death."

The blade fell quickly, though the death of the witch was anything but. From her position alongside the now-seated emperor, Lisa could see the witch laughing as she bled out, as she finally died. 

Despite that, she couldn't help but feel as though she was the one who lost.

Here Lisa was, ten long years after she and Elyriana first got out of the ruins of their homeland, ten long years since the friendship between them evolved into a bitter rivalry and all Lisa could feel was the overwhelming sense of loss. 

She won, and the fight was over. There were no battles to fight when the sun next rose and there was no need to worry over the blood spilt past, the war between them was won. 

"Your Majesty," her faithful and loyal servant inquired, seeing the way she the side of her seat and overseeing the city square. "His Majesty called, should I inform him of your illness?"

"No, it's fine," Lisa said, raising her head to look at the sun, ignoring the way it burned her eyes. Even if the witch survived her execution, both Lisa and the world would know by the morrow. There was no use in anxieties when she would have a confirmation very soon.

With one last look at the golden, imperial blood of the woman whom Lisa once called a sister, the newly crowned empress turned her back and left, ignoring the shivers that ran along her body when she remembered the way her mother was executed, just like she had Elyriana. 

Elyriana was the one who comforted her then and promised her vengeance, it felt ironic to Lisa, for a woman seen as unkillable, for a warrior undefeated in battle, to die at the hands of an orphan who grew up on the streets.