You see what they do?

Tanzanite watched from her broken tower, grey eyes focused on a spot far below. There, in the shadows of the cliffs, a small group of officers had gathered to dance on the edge of treason. She could not see them, but their words reached her ears nearly as quickly as if she had been standing right beside them. There were no secrets in the Rift that could be kept from the Youma Queen. Her features were set in a frown, touched by a sadness that rarely graced the General-Queen's face.

“They are scared. Angry,” she said softly, leaning against the broken frame of the window as she listened. As the youma who filled the Rift relayed every word, every intention, “Can you blame them?”

For treason? Marthozite's voice was made up of thinly veiled disgust as it echoed through her thoughts, Yes, I can.

“Treason is a strong word, General-King. It is not treason to question what you do not understand. It is not treason to protect that which you love. They don't know enough to know how dangerous their words are. What the Blood Moon Court did...”

Does not matter, he interrupted, and Tanzanite winced as a flash of pain raced down her spine, All that they were is gone. The Dark Moon Court serves Chaos now, as do we.

“And that changes what? Does Wolframite suffer any less because they now see the error of their ways? Will Scheelite forget the sight of a young woman cut to pieces before his eyes? Will I get my life back, Marthozite, now that they have seen the light?”

Her words were bold, spoken in anger and frustration. The decision had not been hers, but Tanzanite knew enough to know why it had been made. Why Metallia had forced perhaps her most loyal servant into doing something so against her nature. Still, even with that understanding, watching Ares set foot in her home had been a dagger to her blackened heart. Watching as she'd carried Hematite away, no matter how much the mouthy General deserved it, had been nothing short of maddening. Perhaps she had passed that test of loyalty, but it had not been without difficulty.

Was the trade not fair? You received power, didn't you? Strength with which to wage your war. They don't want Earth, Tanzanite, only what lies beyond. What do we care for their dead planets and stars? What you see down there are children who don't know their place.

“Then perhaps I do not know mine,” she said in anger, a rare defiance sparked by his words, “I am forced to stand by and watch as Ares laid her hands on one of my men-”

YOUR men!? The voice changed suddenly, and Tanzanite knew even before the pain sent her to her knees that she had crossed a very dangerous line. She felt the familiar pull of a summons in the pit of her stomach, and by the time she was able to bring herself to her feet, there was no need. Stony hands were pulling her up, wrapping around her wrists and ankles, pulling at her hair and winding around her throat. One coiled in the back of her hair and jerked her head up to see exactly where it was that she had been summoned to.

Metallia's door loomed before her, the Rift having vanished to give way to the field of statues that spread out like a sea across the vast chamber. They held her tight even as the doors began to open, and the blinding light behind it flooded the room. Tanzanite tried to shield her eyes, to squeeze them shut and turn away, but fingers curled against her eyelids and held them open until it burned. It felt like staring into the sun with a telescope, as a wall of heat slammed into her body. The power of the Sun itself lingered behind those doors, and her voice cut into Tanzanite's mind like a white-hot knife. She could barely hear the words over her own sudden screaming.

Is it your power they wield, Tanzanite?

“N-no,” the General-Queen could barely stammer out the words, propelled only by the fear of what might come if she did not give an answer at all.

NO, the voice echoed, and another wave of heat burst forth from the open doors. Tanzanite could feel the chains at her waist hiss against her skin as Metallia continued, It is mine, and it is my orders they dare disobey. Would you not call that treason?!

“They don't know-”

AND WHO WAS TO TELL THEM? Metallia's fury set every cell of her body on fire, but the hands held fast. Even the strength of a General-Queen could not loosen them so much as an inch.

Who did I trust to lead them? Who did I empower so that she could keep them in line. Train them. Teach them.

“They are only scared, they don't understand what they're-”

Then you will make them understand. There is no room for fear, Tanzanite. There is no room for weakness. Kill the General, and the rest will fall in line.

“No!” Tanzanite's voice was a haggard cry, and the hands around her wrists tightened until she was certain her bones would crack, “Please. He will learn.”

It had been a long time since Tanzanite had begged, and the words sounded foreign to her own ears. There was a desperation in her voice that even Ares had been unable to produce, but it did little to soothe Metallia's rage.

Treason can not go unpunished.

“I know, but...”

Treason can never go unpunished. Who is to blame, then, for their disobedience? Which will pay the price I command for such mercy?

Tanzanite swallowed the lump in her throat, certain in that moment that Metallia would grant her the death that she had so long been denied. There was not one among Hematite's group that deserved to die for those mistakes. It had only been Metallia's will that had forced Tanzanite to accept the Dark Moon Court. How could words convey her reasons?

Who is responsible for their treason, my Youma Queen?

There was a strange sense of joy in that burning voice, an expectant hum to her words. She could read the woman like a book, and play her twice as easily. Every word had been meant to lead her to that moment, until her cracked lips opened just enough to murmur the only words she wanted to hear.

“I am.”

It was as though she had pulled the trigger of a loaded gun with the barrel pressed firmly against her temple. Those hands tightened, and Tanzanite's entire body went suddenly rigid just as they pulled in opposite directions. The blackened arm came off with a gut-wrenching snap, and Tanzanite felt the power inside of her dwindle. Those massive wings were likewise torn away, as the black scales of the youma receeded to reveal the scarred and broken body beneath. From Tanzanite's chest that dark magic flowed, pulled back through the doors, thin rivulets of power returning to their source. She left behind only what was required to keep the girl alive, and Aree Cadence's body fell to the cold floor.

I trust you to carry out my orders. If you allow them to defy you, you allow them to defy me. You will not fail me again.

The first breath she'd drawn in months rattled as though her lungs were full of fluid, her body immediately racked with violent coughs. Black blood sprayed onto the floor as she caught sight of her features in the polished floor. Every wound was there, every scar carved deeply into her pallid flesh, but even reduced to her most basic form, she could not bring herself to weep.

Allowing that would have been far too kind.

Get up, child, now that you have learned your proper place. I will bring them here, and you will show them what happens to those who betray me.