Villain Retirement

"Number 1… fan?"

And almost like a flash of light that suddenly showered from all directions, the once dim hall now seemed full of life, but still very much completely empty. Compared to Varoif which literally had life around it with its beautiful and colorful foliage, Hel's throne hall only had a singular source of light—blue.

A cool blue that made it seem as if they were traveling between the bright sky and the endless ocean. The walls, the ceiling, and even the carpet leading to the throne were emitting light.

The throne that was shrouded by the darkness, now revealing the reason for its majestic aura as the light it reflected throughout the entire hall seemed like stars that shone even through the day.

The throne was small, similar in size to the wooden chair of the King of Varoif. Unlike the wooden throne, however, the throne of Hel's king was anything but simple. It had all sorts of gems attached to it, there were objects that seemed like brooches; draped along its arms and body were emeralds, amethysts, and diamonds of every size, shape, and color. It sat at the top of numerous steps, drawing all eyes to it as if it were some sort of radiant light.

At first glance, one would just think the throne was just a collection of compressed shiny junk, but no. The gems, brooches, spikes, thorns, and every small item… they were all part of something.

A crown. Crowns.

All compressed and tied together like veins; seemingly throbbing as a glimmer of light touches its surface, running through it an almost endless history of glory and triumph.

"My rebellious cousin has a fan? What exactly are you a fan of, her blatant immaturity?" The woman that appeared from behind the throne chuckled; her long brown, almost golden hair bobbed with even the slightest movement of her shoulders. 

Like most of the people that Riley and the others have seen as they traversed through the city of Hel, the woman wore several layers of clothes that meld together to create an air of luxury; If Hel had anything over Varoif, then their fashion sense would surely be on the top of the list.

So… why was Aerith's Megawoman uniform so… simple?---Riley thought as he looked at the woman from head to toe.

"Or perhaps you're a fan of her blatant disrespect to the laws of nature?" The woman then stepped forward, brushing and trailing her finger on the throne before she made her way down the steps; her eyes, however, remained completely fixed on Riley's face.

"I am her fan because I like her, woman walking down the stairs," Riley, on the other hand, did not even look at the woman as he responded.

"..." The woman's eyebrows very quickly furrowed as the almost cheeky smile on her face faded away.

"Who are you to even talk to me?" The woman scoffed as she reached the floor. Her eyes then trailed toward Zac, who flinched and waved his hand in response,

"You, aren't you Star Sergeant Zac? I was informed the daughter of Varoif would be escorted by male and female envoys. Don't tell me you are really classifying yourself as female now? I thought your makeup was just a stylistic choice?"

"I… had to replace the female envoy because of certain… circumstances, Lady Claudyne," Zac forced a small chuckle to escape his red lips as he bowed his head to the woman, Claudyne.

"Then who is this rude white person?" Claudyne then crossed her arms as she looked at Riley from head to toe.

"This is Champ—"

"Riley Ross," Riley did not let Zac introduce him as a Champion Sergeant of the Grand Militia as he step forward and bowed toward Claudyne, "I am Princess Esme's professor, Lady Claudyne."

"I don't like you," Claudyne scoffed as she lightly pushed her hair back before turning around to leave, "You shouldn't show yourself to me during the duration of your stay—which isn't long since my dear cousin will be executed in 3 days time, and after that… I won't be seeing any more unwanted people."

"Perhaps you should take out your eyes to make that possible, Lady Claudyne."

"You… dare disrespect me in my own domain?" Claudyne once again turned around to look at Riley; her eyes, already as red and as bright as they could be.

"This is Princess Aerith's domain, Lady Claudyne," Riley shook his head, "You're just being allowed to live in it because you're her cousin, respectfully speaking."

"You!"

"That is enough, Lady Claudyne."

Claudyne stomped her way toward Riley; her steps, enough to cause the floor around them to slightly tremble. Before she could even get close to Riley, however, someone suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of her, standing between her and Riley. Claudyne's fist, just an inch away from hitting the stranger on the nose.

No, Claudyne did hit the stranger, but her fist just went through his face.

"Get out of my way, Noe."

"No," the stranger called Noe shook his head, "Your brother is calling for you. Please go to the South Wing immediately."

And before Riley and the others could see Noe's face, he just vanished instantly without any trace or hints—leaving Claudyne in an awkward position.

"..." Claudyne subtly turned to look at Riley, before clicking her tongue and backing away, "Don't forget my words, white hair. Know your place and leave whenever we're in the same room."

"Y—"

Claudyne did not let Riley get the last word as she quickly walked away, pushing Zac to the side as the guards opened the door for her to leave.

"..." Claudyne then glanced back, snarling at Riley before the guards closed the door on her.

"..."

"..."

"She's… quite the personality," Zac could not help but let out a short but very deep breath as he raised his eyebrows, "Actually, most of Hel's royal family are cut in the same cloth. They're quite… well, as you already saw."

"I have heard of their reputation many times before from my siblings. 'Tis no wonder they do not like visiting this place."

"Come to think of it…" Zac then immediately turned his focus to Esme, "...she completely disregarded you, Your Highness."

"..." Esme tilted her head to the side as she heard Zac's words, "Perhaps she did not notice me?"

"Uhm…" Zac blinked a couple of times as he looked at Esme from toe to head, which almost took more than a second.

"...I doubt that, Your Highness. You're… quite the towering figure."

"You are a giant, Princess Esme. It is impossible to miss you," Riley shook his head, "It would seem both of us are not entirely welcomed here."

"She could also be intimidated by her," Zac nodded, "Tales of Her Highness' abnormal strength reaches even the halls of Hel, after all."

"I am not that strong," Esme quickly shook her head.

"Please do not be too humble, Your Highness. You are, in Varoif's history, already one of the strongest themarians that have ever lived—and you're the youngest daughter of the King."

"I was just born with an abnormality, Zac," Esme shook her head, "As much as my strength can destroy things, it can also destroy me. My body does not know that it is harnessing power that it can not handle. I can literally clap my hands, and an entire stellar system could potentially collapse—but so will my body."

"How would you know that, Princess Esme?" Riley placed his hand on his chin.

"Because I have done it once before," Esme heavily breathed out as she looked at her hands, "My mother wanted to find out what I could really do and sent me to a stellar system that is not capable of harnessing life. And if we did not have the best doctors standing by—I would have already been sent to my eternal death."

"I… remember that," Zac took in a small gulp as he lightly stepped away from Esme, "The Elders of the Common Council spoke to the Grand Militia after that event."

"Interesting," Riley, on the other hand, even stepped closer to Esme as he too, started looking at her hands, "Have you ever thought of destroying the universe, Princess Esme?"

"No," Esme quickly answered.

"Do you want to?"

"No," Esme shook her head as she quickly hid her hands behind her back, "All life in the universe is precious until they are proven not to be."

"...And what if the universe proves itself not to be worthy," Zac joined in on the conversation again with another gulp, "Will… you destroy it?"

"The universe can't be judged whether it is worthy or not, Star Sergeant Zac," Riley was the one to answer him, "Only the people can be judged."

"But who decides if someone is worthy or not?" Esme said.

"Does it matter?" Riley tilted his head, "You do not need a reason to want to destroy life, Princess Esme. Plagues, disasters… calamities—do you think you can bargain with those?"

"No," Esme shook her head, "You can only wait, or try to prevent more deaths, Professor Riley."

"Correct," Riley nodded, "I plan to destroy the universe and all the people in it, Princess Esme."

"And no one can persuade you otherwise?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "In your opinion, is my life still precious?"

"It is precious to me, Professor Riley," Esme nodded, "I am learning valuable lessons from you…

…but I will help in preventing more deaths once you start."

"And how would you do that?"

"I will try to stop you."

"How?"

"By clapping my hands, Professor Riley."