Council of Queens

Peter woke up the following morning having a headache, he opened his eyes and saw he was lying on a bed and for the first time in weeks he felt comfortable.

He pulled the cover and flung his legs from the bed onto the floor and began observing the room, it was the most beautiful room he'd ever been in. Why wouldn't it be, it was the room of a royal, he got up and walked toward the door and couldn't help but notice it had a golden knob but it wasn't the only one.

The window frame was made of gold, the mirror frame about 8 meters from where he was, had a golden frame, and even the four posters supporting the canopy on the bed were made of gold.

He left the room into a long corridor, with velvet carpet, so shiny and clean, he could tell it was extremely expensive.

He walked along the corridor, heading for the door, just at the end of the corridor, it was a painfully long walk.

Peter got to the door, and just like the door knob he'd seen earlier, this too was made of gold; he pushed the door open and he was greeted by the eyes of the people in the room, staring at him.

"Welcome Peter Grimm, to the throne room of Queens," a voice said, but looking around, he didn't see who had spoken, all he could see was seven beautiful women, seated on golden thrones, situated on an elevated floor, just far adjacent to where he was standing, and a table filled with food he had never seen before, about 15 meters long, just a few steps away from him.

A fine lady with pearls around her neck, wearing a long green gown that swept the floor as she walked, came over to him and held him by the hand as she took him to a seat on the table.

"Peter, correct?" one of the women seating on the gold thrones asked.

"Yes, Peter Grimm," he said, just as he got seated he noticed Alice, Claire, and Melwise seated across from him, and in an instant, his gloomy mood changed, and he began to feel more comfortable.

"We are the angels who make up the council of Queens, overseeing the affairs of this great realm,".

"You know my name, so I would like to know yours," Peter said boldly, as he zeroed his gaze on the speaking woman.

"Ahhh yes, our names,"–

From the left to the right was the order in which the Queens said their names.

"I am Queen Domino of the flames of rebirth, which brings life out of the flames of pain and destruction, and the first guardian of the ancient dragon,".

"I am Queen Davina of the sacred light, that shines over the realm, the goddess of fertility and new beginnings, and the keeper of ancient secrets,".

"I am Queen Dimitrias of the hunt, the tester of courage, goddess of the forest, and the defender of the enslaved,".

"I am Queen Alcina of the magic flame that courses through every inhabitant of this realm, the goddess of magic and maker of spells".

"I am Queen Aselia of the divine sword of retribution, the embodiment of strength, and the hand of judgement. The goddess of the slaughter, and twin sister of the hunt,".

"I am Queen Acesia, the breath of life, the goddess of restoration, and the scepter that heals,".

When the last Queen got up, the other Queens and every other person in the room except for Peter, Alice and Claire got up, and bowed in reverence to her.

"I am Queen Alpha, the Queen of Queens, the first and eldest of Queens, the ruler of the first realm, and the one which is contained in all life, in all realms,".

After the introduction, they all sat down and Peter couldn't resist but ask Melwise what Queen Alpha meant by "the one which is contained in all,".

"It means she can never die, so long there is life in any of the realms Peter. She will always be reborn if killed,". Melwise whispered.

"Peter we were told by your accomplices, that the new Demon Lord Vermont has waged war and is succeeding against the human realm," Queen Alpha said.

"Yes he is, and that's why we're here to ask for your help," Peter said.

"What does a child like you know about war, and asking for aid in battle?" she asked.

"I don't know much, but I'm sure I've seen more action than you have in a while," Peter said firmly, and as he did two guards appeared and stood with swords to his throat.

"It's alright," Queen Alpha said.

"For a child, you do possess a lot of courage," Queen Dimitrias said smiling subtly at Peter.

"Why do you think we would offer help to you?" Queen Alpha asked.

"If you don't the human race will be lost, and I'll be lost too, the power that will be taken from me will be used to bring ruin to your realm," Peter said.

"You possess tremendous power Peter, so much so that you beat the maker of spells, Queen Alcina and Queen Domino of the flames of rebirth," Queen Alpha said.

"I apologize for my weakness," Peter said. "Not being able to control this power has proven dangerous at times, even to me, if it wasn't for her mother (pointing to Alice) the great adventurer, Mrs. Sarah Burton, I'd probably have killed myself".

"What would you do if I take the power from you instead, and not join in your war?" Queen Alpha asked.

"It won't be that easy," Peter said and immediately, Queen Alpha stretched her finger, muttering a spell under her breath.

Peter suddenly rose above the table, as he toppled the plate and goblet in front of him, and almost instantly, Claire picked her wand and bellowed, "ego dolorem!" but Queen Alpha dropped Peter back to the chair, and with a spell, she amplified the spell coming at her and reflected it to Claire.

The reflected spell was about to hit Claire, but Alice blocked it before it got to her. The whole throne room instantly became tense, as the nobles and war chiefs on the table got up and faced Peter and his company.

"There's no need to be hasty now," Queen Acesia said as she left her seat and walked up to Peter. "How old are you boy?"

"I'm 15," Peter said hesitantly.

"He's old enough to dabble in the matters of war, especially since he holds such great power". Queen Acesia said, as she walked back to her golden throne.

After a while, everybody sat down, and the room went back to its original quiet state.

"What is the situation of the human forces," Queen Alpha asked Peter.

"Before we left, we saw about 300 human soldiers and mages, engage in battle with the demon lord's forces," he said.

"They lost that battle, but they were able to hold out for quite a while," Claire said.

"It counts as nothing," Queen Aselia said, looking unimpressed.

After the council of Queens deliberated using telepathy, they came to a decision.

"We shall offer help, not because we want to, but because it's necessary for our own safety," Queen Alpha said.

"With the demon lord's power on our side, we will be able to destroy the demon realm," Queen Aselia said.

Peter wasn't very pleased with the idea of destroying the demon realm, he only felt, and rightly so, that the demon lord and a few members of both the demon council and order of priests were to be stopped.

"We will not be destroying the demon realm," he said, sternly. There are still good people there, I want you to understand that not everyone from his table agree with his actions".

After Peter spoke, a sudden cold ran along the backs of Claire, Alice and Melwise, who were shocked that Peter, stood up to the final decision of Queen Alpha and the other Queens.

"He's a bold one," Queen Dimistrias said, smiling at Peter.

"You sure have a lot of guts for a child," Queen Aselia said, looking irritated. Amongst all the Queens, Queen Aselia, was the most temperamental, she acted mostly without thinking, exhibiting feats of rage and the tendency to cause destruction at the slightest provocation.

"You'll go back to the human world tomorrow, and you shall guve this, to the head of the magic council of the human world," Queen Alpha said, as she conjured an orb that changed from its original cloudy state, to mists of green, blue and red, and gave it to Peter.

The orb was a sign of command, that could only be conjured by Queen Aselia and could not be ignored when received. It was a means to guarantee, that every magic council in the human realm, would raise forces to join the war.

Later that night, Peter was at the balcony of his room, staring at the starry sky. The sky was radiant and beautiful, it had colourful stars, a phenomenon that was quite rare and that Peter hadn't seen before.

As he rested his hands on the railing, staring into the beautiful sky in deep thought, Queen Dimitrias from inside his room walked out to the balcony so subtly, that Peter didn't notice she was there.

"Hello, Peter," she said, approaching the railing.

Peter was startled at first, but soon after he became nervous, and didn't know what to do, so he just bowed and greeted.

"Good evening".

"You don't need to do that Peter," she said, and he raised his head and beamed a smile at her.

"Beautiful night isn't it," she said.

"It sure is," Peter said, casting his gaze once more on the sky.

"We haven't had one like this in ages," Queen Dimitrias said, looking at the sky and taking a glance at Peter, as he watched keenly.

"I haven't seen anything like it".

"I have to say Peter, you're extremely bold, given your age," she said, this time, her eyes were fixed on him.

"Well, I'm 15, but I've already seen so much and experienced so many things, that sometimes I forget I'm still a child," Peter said, "I've lost friends, fought off some pretty scary monsters, dark wizards and the ever looming threat of the demon lord's forces, that I'm pretty sure 15 year olds shouldn't be fighting. Plus I have this power inside me, that on most nights, gives me nightmares".

"I understand you Peter, I really do," she said, as she squeezed tightly the railing she was holding. "I was 10, when the Power from my predecessor came into me, after her passing"—.

"I thought you guys were immortal," Peter interrupted.

"We live very long lives, but we are not immortal," she said. "My predecessor, Queen Dimitrias, the 7th, died when she was 328 years". "Only Queen Alpha is, so far there's life anywhere across the realm, she'll live".

"328 years, is really a long time," Peter said, "how did you deal with all that power, at such a young age?"

There was a pause from Queen Dimitrias, and suddenly tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I didn't, I wasn't able to control it," she said. "When the power surged through me for the first time, I ended up killing my entire family and almost burnt down my entire village, but Queen Aselia, twin of Dimitrias and Queen Domino, came and saved the town, then sealed me away for 10 years".

"That was so much for you to take I guese".

"Yes, it was, after I was released, I was finally able to control it."

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through at such a young age".

"It's fine Peter, I told you this because, I somehow see myself in you," she said, smiling at Peter.

"From what you've said earlier, I was able to make out that Dimitrias isn't your name," Peter said.

"Its Meria,"

"That's a beautiful name, why don't you use it?"

"It's against the laws, I wrote it down in a hidden chamber in my room, so I didn't forget it," she said. "Most of the Queens could've probably forgotten theirs I guess".

"Names aren't just tags we give to people Meria, they're our identity, they tell a story about us and hold our lives and history in them, so I'm sure they haven't forgotten theirs, maybe its just locked up somewhere, only they can reach," Peter said.

"For a 15 year old child, you seem to know a lot," Meria said smiling broadly in amazement.

"Let's just say, I had good mothers".