Soldiers waited outside of the plane, forming two straight lines to the car. The evening had just begun but it had been dark outside for a while now. Rain clattered against the window of the plane, and if one didn't know any better they would've thought winter was approaching instead of summer. 

Haimon was getting out of his own plane and took a seat in one of the cars. Watching it disappear in the distance, I stood up and got out of my plane as well, ignoring Valerio's confused gaze. Just like the flight, the car ride was deadly silent. I simply stared ahead, preventing my anger from getting the better of me, focused on what had to be done.

Everything was about to change.

When the car came to a stop in front of the palace and the door was opened, an even longer line of soldiers kept watch, probably stationed there by the generals' command. As I walked past them to the front doors, they saluted me. Mr. Anders nodded to me with a smile on the way to the war room, and with every passing step time seemed to stand still. I needed to get this right, no matter the cost. 

What was made of silver and black stone would be broken, weapons of destruction would be no more, and the hatred of those who stood divided would either unite or destroy. Something was about to happen, that should've happened a long time ago.

The doors to the war room where opened as I stood before them, revealing the generals and Haimon standing in silence, glaring at one another. Valerio joined them, and I made my way inside, folding my hands behind my back. The guards closed the doors behind me and with a subtle movement of my finger, I locked them unnoticed and made my way to the window on the right to look out of it.

"What's the meaning of this meeting, Iola? You've got us all out of bed." Foxglove asked grumpily.

Every single person in the room was searching in the dark, completely unaware of what I knew. Mr. Anders might have been a spy, but in the end he worked for me and he hadn't told them a single thing about this. It was up to me to reveal it, but first things first.

"That's Your Majesty for you." I cocked an eyebrow.

"Since when do you care about titles?" He wondered, frowning.

"I care about it today." I stated blankly.

"Seriously, why are we here?" Haimon asked confused.

"Take a seat, fellas. You're going to be here for a while, and one or more of you will never leave, because I made my choice." I commanded, still standing, my back turned to them, continuing to watch them through the reflection of the window.

Hemlock bumped his wrinkled fist on the table. "Well, get one with it, girl. Which kingdom are you going to annihilate?"

"Hold up, you're going to annihilate a kingdom? Why weren't we informed about any of this?!" Valerio exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table, causing the others to stand up and start yelling as well.

And so, the final bickering began. 

And as they scolded each other, I let my senses spread through the three kingdoms, locking on various targets, which would fall in ruin. 

I watched the men go on and on against each other and I thought. If I wanted to, I could burn it all down, put everyone underground, make the stars fall from the sky and make the heavens cry. It wouldn't be hard at all, but my plans were slightly different.

"Stop it." My voice sounded calmly and venomously over the others, causing them to stop immediately.

Shaking my head in a serpent like matter, I scoffed, turning around, keeping my hands folded behind my back. "You know, the past weeks I've been really busy trying to make that choice. I've travelled and arranged for everything to be accounted for here while I was gone. I've spent a small amount of time in the kingdoms, having gotten to know their kings, people and way of life a bit better. I also did my research, studied the kingdoms histories, marked the rotten apples. Not to mention, I figured out my father's casefile and solved the case thanks to him."

Mallory gulped, and everyone sat up straight out of fear. "Wait. You solved the casefile?"

"Yes, Mallory, I did. Now shut your fucking mouth, I was talking."

He nodded slightly and I shot him a fake smile before continuing. "The last couple of months, I've come to learn that everyone has gotten so overly confident and selfish, hating each other for the most baseless things, going so far as to develop technology to hurt and weaken on another or to keep them in check, like the rings or the forgotten clan. It's time for that to end. It's time for a big reset.

So I contemplated about it, I really, really did. But then it hit me, you know? If I were to annihilate one kingdom in order to put an end to this war once and for all, the other kingdom would surely feel threatened and retaliate, because only a weak pathetic king would let those kind of actions go unchecked, right? That of course, would result in me having to annihilate that kingdom as well, to put a stop to that mess, making this kingdom the only one left. 

Now I doubt the people would appreciate it if their queen suddenly started murdering entire kingdoms and species, that would make her seem rather mad and unpredictable, wouldn't it? They could be next, so they would most likely overthrow her and since I have no heir or husband and nobody is waiting on another conquest after the last shitshow, the throne would be right there for the taking. For you.

But that was your big plan all along, wasn't it, Generals? You have so much hatred for supernatural beings you want them all dead. You see them as monsters, as a pest. You even murdered the king and queen to set your whole plan in motion, framing vampires and werewolves for it because there were no Crosslings, at least none that lived to see it over the border. You used evidence of killed Crosslings who tried to make it over, so there was supernatural evidence at the scene and you could point to the other species who were already at the brink of war with one another."

Anger rose within the generals and their masks crumbled away slowly. I continued nonetheless. "The only thing you didn't account for was my name ending up in that bowl, which is why my father planned on revealing the result the night someone was bound to win the conquest, because he knew I was going to win and would be able to take the right action afterwards. The only person who can hold you responsible for your actions, is the king above you. Of course, you couldn't let that happen, so you killed my father in cold blood before he could reveal it and appointed a new detective who worked for you, not knowing my father had already hidden the conclusion elsewhere.

So I guess, in the end, this whole plan really was conducted by a bunch of people with big needles and a wolverine fetish."

My first guess wasn't that farfetched after all.

The remaining generals glared at one another, and Haimon and Valerio shot each other a look, realizing both of them were innocent. Hemlock stood up along with Foxglove, and looked at the guards standing watch at the sides. "Nuke them! Nuke them all! Now!"

The guard at the wall spoke something into his phone, but before the one at the other end of the line could respond, the ground shook. Throughout every kingdom massive explosions happened as the targets I had locked on exploded one by one. On the ground, on the borders, it didn't matter where they were, it rained fire nonetheless. With every new explosion, the ground trembled more and more. The men anxiously held on to the table and walls, as various artifacts fell over and shattered on the floor.

A grin formed on my face as I stood steady and unfazed. "With which missiles?"

Not long after, a warrior stormed through the door, filled with so much adrenaline he nearly slammed against the table. Panting heavily, he didn't know whether to tell his news to the me or the generals, but he chose the latter in the end and looked at Foxglove. "Sir, every single one of our defenses has been destroyed in a coordinated attack. We've lost contact with our warriors at every military facility and system. On top of that, it appears that the defenses of the other kingdoms have been destroyed as well."

Foxglove pointed at me. "You. You doomed us all!"

"Actually, that's still to come."

The blood drained from his face and he grabbed on to the gun that was hidden in the inside of his uniform. "What do you mean?"

Jorden suddenly appeared in the corner of the room with a smug expression on his face, only for me to see, and I glared at him while secretly feeling satisfied. He was looking at this all wrong.

Turning my attention back to the men in front of me, I no longer hid my rage and contempt. "I'm done with all your antics, the never ending hatred, the lack of respect and I will send it into oblivion. So congratulations, I've finally made my choice. Today, the kingdoms will fall."

"You bitch! You can't do that!" Hemlock seethed.

Had they learned nothing?

"Watch me."

Raising my hands, I slowly balled them into fists and purple flames erupted from my eyes as flames circled around me. The ground trembled heavily again and ruptures started to appear in the walls and ceilings of the palace, but it would remain standing since it wasn't my target. In the distance, cracks and tears spread through the thick black walls of the borders. Silver dripped down from the giant melting doors while the borders started to crumble and as I slammed my fists down in front of me, the entire borders came crashing down.

Completely destroyed, an earthquake followed by a surge of air that rippled through the kingdoms, shattering every window and massive clouds of ashes rose up into the sky, being visible through the broken window behind me. At last, the three kingdoms were no more.

Foxglove fired his gun, but the bullet never made it to its target. It was destroyed as soon as it found its way into the air. Hemlock threw his sword at me, but it melted into a puddle of silver before it could reach me.

They were cute attacks, though.

"You let them onto our grounds?! We will kill them all!" Hemlock screamed in a fit of anger.

"And how are you planning on doing that? You didn't think that was a regular earthquake, did you? As of now, there's no more guns, bombs or any weapons of that kind, no technology, no machinery, no electricity and no borders. The life everyone knew, is a thing of the past. If you want to kill everyone that desperately, I suggest you pick up a hammer and start swinging, but there are millions of them, and you fight without honor or skill, so you'll perish before you can maim down the first one."

I looked at the so called leaders in front of me, spread my arms and continued. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? All the species on the same territory so that you have endless possibilities to ruin and kill one another. Please, go ahead, I'd like to see you completely destroy each other over nothing. It's natural selection after all."

For the first time, Valerio visibly panicked along with the others. What were they supposed to do, now that what they had known their whole lives was destroyed? How would they be able to stop the havoc that was going on outside now?

"Our people will destroy each other and innocents will get hurt. I'm not respected enough by the other species to be able to stop them from fighting each other. I can only stop my own people, but that means nothing if the others continue to fight." He admitted, pleading me for help.

I wasn't going to kill innocents and I hadn't, I had made sure of that. But even though I hadn't killed them, they didn't deserve the luxury that they had either. It was time to go back to the basics. If they wanted to live so badly, they could actually work for it. People had grown to be selfish, taking everything they had for granted. Their self-conceit was going to be stopped once and for all.

And was Valerio actually able to stop his own people? Not on his own and that was my point.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that, the only way for any of you to survive, is to work together. So what will you do? Will you let you egos kill you and your people, or will you set them aside and survive?" 

While Haimon and Valerio were thinking about it, Mallory was quick to answer. "We will never work together with those things!"

"Indeed you won't. I'm afraid your opinion and life has expired. I do wonder, how does it feel to be this close to your ultimate goal, but to fail, once again? That's gotta sting." I mocked, narrowing my eyes.

I shot Valerio and Haimon a look which told them to get away from the table. As they stood up and walked to the other side of the room, the generals wanted to do the same. But unfortunately for them, some invisible force kept them stuck in their seats. 

Walking over the head of the table in front of my seat, I placed my hands on it, facing Foxglove head on, my gaze moving past each of the seven generals. "As for all of you, I did make a promise during our first meeting that whoever hurt my father would choke on their own blood. I'm a woman of my word. So tell me, how do you choose to die?"

That's exactly how they wouldn't meet their end. While they asked for easy, clean deaths, I focused on their minds, remembering Jorden's rare useful moment, figuring out which death they feared the most. That was the exact one they were going to get. I walked over to the lowest star general, deciding I would work my way up in rank, saving the best for last. 

"W-Will you not hear us out first? Don't you want closure?" The one star general uttered, trying to buy more time.

Placing my hands on his shoulders from behind, I lowered my lips next to his ear. "The only closure that I need, is the lid to your coffin."

His ear piercing screams were heard as fire escaped from my hands, setting him completely on fire, still locked in his chair. The others struggled in their seats, wanting to get the hell out of here, even looking at Valerio and Haimon for help, who just stood still in the corner, frozen out of fear.

The next one I killed by slowly ripping out his spine from the bottom upwards. It was so easy it felt like severing two strings of pull cheese. The one after had a massive fear of wasps, and not long after I moved to him a gigantic swarm of Yellow Jackets came buzzing through the broken window at my command, stinging him over and over again until his body couldn't take it anymore and he died. The fourth one ironically feared choking on his own blood the most, so that's exactly what he did. 

That left Mallory, Hemlock and Foxglove. What would I do about this pity party?

"Mallory, Mallory, Mallory. Your name is right, you really are unlucky." Jumping on the table, I summoned electricity in both of my hands. 

The man was afraid to die by lightning. Combining the power in both of my hands, a large, nearly blinding ball of electricity formed, in which the volts were constantly multiplying. Within mere seconds, it was more powerful than an actual lightning bolt and I unleashed it on him, ignoring the cries, only stopping after his whole body was charred.

With a grin on my face, I sat on the table, letting my legs dangle off the edge next to Hemlock. I slid my finger across the table like a match, letting a small flame dance on it when I raised it again. Blowing it out, I chuckled. "You're practically living your worst nightmare already, not only am I a woman, but I'm not human either, and I'm sitting on the throne you so desperately wanted to control. But death by a woman, that's what you fear most? That's quite pathetic, even for you."

"Get out of my head, you serpent."

He was his own toxin in the end.

"No." I hissed, grabbing him by his jaw. 

My rage ran through my veins, and left my hand, making him live through the excruciating pain of many deaths caused by my hand at rapid speed. Blood spurted from everywhere it could, and his eyes melted along with every other organ inside his body. Releasing him, his hollow body fell backwards in the chair with his head hanging low.

Hopping off the table, I grabbed Foxglove by his uniform and blew the doors open with a flick of my wrist. "We're going to take a walk."

Seething, I hoisted him up with one hand while climbing the palace with my other hand. On the roof top, I yeeted him away, causing him to roll over multiple meters. He stopped himself just in time to prevent himself from falling off. He stood up and drew his sword.

There he was, the mastermind behind the whole plan.

"Foxglove, a beautiful yet poisonous flower. I should've known with that weird proposal, the blood farms you knew about and you killing off Sauron so carelessly. I've got to hand it to you, you and your act almost had me fooled. But you overestimated yourselves, and you underestimated my father."

"How did you figure out his conclusion? We and our detective couldn't figure out a thing."

"If only you had paid more attention, but it was just Indiana Jones, right?"

"No way. That stupid movie with fucking Harrison Ford in it? That was the key?"

Such Harrison Ford slander.

Unimpressed, I moved towards him until the tip of his letter opener pressed against my chest. "It's all in the details, Nuin." 

The hilt of his sword turned an orange red color because of the heat and it burned against his skin, causing him to drop it. I stepped on it, breaking it into pieces, blocked one of his kicks and punched him in the liver. He leaned forward, reaching for his stomach, and I kneed him in the face.

He fell on the ground and I dragged him behind me towards the edge at the front of the palace, facing the rest of the kingdom. Swinging him over me, I caught him by his uniform. His feet found the side of the roof top and he hung highly, tilted backwards above the ground. If I let go, he would plummet to his death in front of the kingdom he so desperately tried to rule.

He forcefully held on to my hand with both of his own, and glanced down to the earth far beneath him. The wind howled, blowing away the sweat that had formed on his forehead and drying the blood of the other generals that I was covered in.

"Please, Sunshine. I beg of you, spare me. You know you're special to me, I can change."

He was lying, I could feel it. His true colors had been revealed and I would've never given him another chance, he killed my father for fuck's sake.

"Out of everything you could've become, you chose to be a liar and an usurper."

"I should've never allowed you to participate in that conquest and I should've gotten rid of you instead." He roared, finally dropping the facade.

I shrugged. "We all have our regrets. I should've killed you the second you tried to threaten my father in his own house."

"Fuck you!" He spat out.

Looking at him squirming around, trying to wiggle his way out of this situation, I laughed right in his face. "You know what the worst part is? If I still cared, this would've actually hurt me a little. That time has passed, though, and so has yours."

With that, I released him. My hand slipped through his and as I stood on the edge, watching him fall, it almost seemed to happen in slow motion. His arms continued to reach up, as if he was still holding on to the believe I would grasp his hands and save him. When he neared the cold, hard ground beneath him, realization crossed his face and he knew he was going to die, an expression which immediately got replaced with terror. 

It happened in the blink of an eye and his body crashed into the ground, breaking every bone upon impact. Still, even though he was dead, that terrified expression remained on his face, and as the warriors guarding the front gate ran towards him, calling for help, I stepped away from the edge and overlooked the kingdom as far as I could see it, before turning and focusing on the mountains in the far distance.

The generals' chapter had ended, but mine had just begun.