VR 599
Queen Vania.
Riley had seen images of her around the evaniel's ship back on Earth, and from some angles, she truly just looked like Vera. Diana had also mentioned that the evaniels will always have only one queen ruling the entire planet, and there is just one distinct aspect to identify them.
All evaniels, whether male or female, have silver hair. A silver hair that glows along with the translucent markings around their bodies whenever they use their speed. The Queen, however, like Vera, has hair similar to the color of fresh, lush, and green gra.s.s.
It was a trait that proves that they are direct descendants of the G.o.d of evaniels, and that the blood of their progenitor runs deep into their veins. There are cases, however, where there will be no one carrying green hair for several generations—forcing the planet to elect someone worthy to act as a ruler until someone blessed by the progenitor comes again.
"No need for formalities between us, the blood of my son is already in your hands, Riley. You may just address me as Vania."
"Hm."
The tone of Queen Vania's voice was not really a tone one would expect from someone mentioning her dead son. She was calm, but unlike James who could not really truly hide his rage from the death of his son, and later his entire family, each of Queen Vania's movements and breaths were relaxed.
Even as she swallowed the food that was supposed to be for Riley, there was no awkward stutter, or even a slight hesitation as she seemed to just truly enjoy her meal. It also made it hard to read her movements, as she wore a white hazy dress that covered most of her body from the chest down—it almost even looked like she was surrounded by clouds at certain angles.
"You seem to be a calm and reasonable person, Queen Vania," Riley repeated the words that James said to him in their very first meeting before he blasted him with 'pavoom'.
"Is that what I seem like to you, Riley?" Queen Vania just let out a small giggle as she covered her mouth, wiping her lips with that cloth that was previously on Riley's chest, "You may not know, but evaniel royalty learn to control their emotion at an extreme level as they grow older. It is the only psychological evolutionary trait we have still retained from our earliest ancestors. 'Tis a gift, especially in times like this."
"Then I suppose we have something in common, Queen Vania."
"I appreciate that we are truly not, murderer," Queen Vania gently pushed the plate back to Riley, half-eaten and still very much warm,
"I am one with my emotions, you are controlled by yours—it is just that you still have not developed that many."
"Hm…" Riley stared at the half-eaten food in front of him, as well as his fork and knife before letting out a sigh and pulling another set of cutlery from his pockets, "...If it is any consolation, Queen Vania—I apologize for killing your son."
"You apologize?" Queen Vania's green eyebrows slightly furrowed as she looked Riley straight in the eyes, "I was under the impression you were not capable of feeling remorse."
"I don't know about remorse, but I do feel regret," Riley placed his new set of clean cutlery on the table, before getting another cloth from his pockets and wiping the knife and fork that Queen Vania used,
"But you are right, Queen Vania. I was overwhelmed by my emotions when I tore off your son's legs and used them to pierce his lungs and hang him on the walls of Princess Vera's chambers. I did the same to half of Vera's crew," Riley then let out a small but very deep sigh as he hid the knife and fork he just cleaned back into his pockets,
"One of the only people that I somewhat considered a friend was killed by an evaniel Guardian—I placed my anger and did something that I was not planning on doing. I do not like it when I kill people out of emotions other than joy… it makes me feel like I'm some sort of puppet that—"
And as Riley was finally once again slicing the foreign meat in front of him, he was once again interrupted as Queen Vania suddenly moved beside him; her hand, holding a knife that… stabbed through the foreign meat, pinning it to the plate and table without any resistance.
"The evaniels are your enemy, Riley," Queen Vania whispered right into Riley's ear as she leaned closer to him, "It may not be today, it may not be on the morrow or the next—but when you find that you are most comfortable, when you have finally learned the meaning of your life, it's real meaning; we will be the one to take it away from you."
"The themarians almost annihilated you once, Queen Vania," Riley shook his head, "Do not hasten your extinction and wait for your turn."
"Turn? There will be no turns, Riley," Queen Vania also shook her head, "You tortured and killed my son, you killed my people, you hurt my daughter. But I will not do the same to you, Riley—I will not let the innocent suffer for what you have done, but I will let them mourn you."
"No innocent will mourn me, Queen Vania."
"Your sister is innocent."
"..."
Riley finally returned Queen Vania's intense but calm glare; his fingers, calmly pulling the knife that Queen Vania lodged through the table, "When the time comes that I truly meet my end, Queen Vania—no one will mourn me, because there will be no one left to mourn; not you, not Aerith, not sister. There will be nothing left, and I will just drift into this Nothingness for eternity… forgetting who I am, what I am—that is my death."
"Poetic, but like most poems, ridiculous," Queen Vania breathed out as she finally leaned away from Riley, "And are you waging war on the entire Known Universe?"
"It may be hard to notice since the Known Universe is too large, Queen Vania…
…but I already have."
"Hm," Queen Vania looked Riley straight in the eyes. But after a few moments, a friendly smile crawled on her face, "Enjoy your meal, Riley. I'll go speak with Aerith now to talk about plans to destroy you."
"Have a pleasant day, Queen Vania."
And finally, as Queen Vania walked away, Riley was finally left with his food… that was no longer on his table.
"..." Riley blinked a couple of times, before turning to look at Queen Vania, only to see her holding his plate as she made her way to Aerith. Unfortunately for Riley, he couldn't eat just yet; fortunately for Aerith, however, the people that were surrounding her all quickly dispersed as soon as they saw Queen Vania heading in their direction.
"Hm…" Riley closed his eyes before letting out a quiet hum. He then shrugged, before proceeding to make his way back to the buffet table. But alas, before he could even make it halfway there, the lights inside the large dome dimmed—leaving only the very center of the dome to be brightly lit.
And there, a silhouette fully covered in a pink cloak stood.
[May we have everyone's attention…
…we will now be introducing the newest Elder of the Council.]