Meeting Artemisia

Thia stared at the large door, thinking what kind of thing could be behind such a large door. "Are they hiding some kind of monster there?" she thought. Seeing how the door was guarded, she was sure there was something really important behind the door and she was determined to know what it was.

"I'm going to take the guards out," Thia said.

"There will be no need for that, My Lady," Iku said.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll do it. Just summon me, I'll deal with them," Iku said.

Thia did as she was told as the fiend suddenly manifested itself, crawling from behind Thia.

The two guards sensed a menacing aura fill the area and drew their weapons. "Show yourself," one of them spoke.

Tendrils of shadows began to manifest from around them, and before the two guards could react, several shadowy hands began to wrap around their bodies. The hands felt cold, and it was as if they had been touched by death itself. Several whispers could be heard all over the place, filling their minds with dread. Before the two guards could comprehend what was going on, their minds began to slip away and their bodies felt weak, causing them to pass out.

Thia came out from where she was hiding. She saw the two guards lying on the floor and looked at Iku. "What did you do?"

"There's a lot about my powers that my Lady is yet to learn."

"Are they dead?"

"No, just asleep."

Thia knew her curse was powerful, but she didn't know how powerful it was yet. "Maybe I'll ask him to teach me some other time," Thia thought.

Thia walked to the large door and asked Iku, "How do they open this door?" she asked.

"Cursed energy," Iku replied. "Just channeling a bit of curse energy into it, we can open it," he replied.

"Having you around is resourceful," Thia commented.

"It's nothing, my Lady. And it's obvious that this door is also part of the curse, and if it's protecting the core, it won't be a surprise if it can't be opened through ordinary means," Iku said.

Thia did as Iku said and channeled a bit of her curse into the door. The door opened immediately. Thia got inside, and a deep, menacing voice welcomed her.

"Who dares invade my domain?" the voice boomed as an immense heat suddenly filled the room.

Blue flames suddenly rose from around the room and blocked the exit to prevent the culprit from escaping.

Thia kept staring in the direction she had heard the voice and saw two flaming wings suddenly rise. The wings had strange patterns and writing on them, writings that looked like Ija's runes, all lit up in flames.

The head of the monster suddenly rose up, and the monster came into full view. Thia couldn't help but stare at the beautiful yet harrowing creature. The creature stared back at Thia with its eyes burning blue flames, just like its body.

"Who are you, child?" the creature asked.

"I'm Thia."

"Thia?" the phoenix replied. "You're Thia? How did you get in here? Mystos was supposed to bring you to me tomorrow," the creature said.

"Mystos?" Thia asked in confusion. "Why would Mystos bring me to you?"

"Wait? Were they planning to feed me to you?" Thia said and summoned her scythe.

"Feed you to me?" the creature asked before bursting into a loud laugh. "No one is feeding you to anyone," the creature replied. "I must say, I never thought you would sneak in here. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Artemisia Erusia, Queen of Eru," the queen said.

"What? How... how can you be the queen?" Thia asked.

"Oh, sorry, just a minute," the creature said. The flames contorted one last time before dissipating, revealing a woman of breathtaking beauty. Her hair, the color of twilight, cascaded down her shoulders. Eyes like pools of liquid sapphire held Thia captive. The girl's mind reeled. This couldn't be real. The fearsome phoenix, the legendary queen, transformed into this... this goddess? Thia could only stare, her mouth agape, a silent scream trapped in her throat. 

"You're..."

"Yes, child, I know," the queen said. "The queen you've heard so much about is an actual phoenix. You'd think people would figure it out after they've called me the phoenix queen for over two centuries, but most still end up shocked after they see my true form," the queen said.

"True form? Two centuries? How...?"

"I know you have a lot of questions about it, and I'll give you answers to them when the time is right. But, you didn't come all the way to the capital to talk about me, did you?"

"I came..."

"You came to fight me. You wanted to know why we sent you to Omi only to try and kill you," the Queen asked.

Thia cleared her throat and replied

"Yes, amongst other things."

"Then let's get straight to it. We did send you and Rex's team to Omi to take the princess. The whole reason was for you to distract Omi so they wouldn't be able to send help to King Jai in the coming weeks. It is true we told Rex to use any means possible to complete his mission. Although we were not aware that he planned on killing you kids, but we did let him loose, for that I'm sorry," the Queen said.

"Sorry? Ija died because..."

"Ija's death had nothing to do with us," the Queen interrupted. "Our mission ended when you chose to betray us and inform Ija of the plan. We didn't send the mercenaries. It seems someone found out about our mission and used that opportunity to make their move. The person who did it also attacked Queen Vivian the same night, and everything looked like we planned to take out the princess and the queen at the same time. Whoever planned this wanted us and Omi to be hostile for some reason," the Queen said.

"Do you know who planned it?" Thia asked, gripping her scythe a little tighter.

"I don't know... Yet. But we would find out soon," the Queen said confidently.

"How do I know you're not lying like Rex did?" Thia challenged.

"There is no reason for me to lie. If you doubt me, you can ask your friend to use his curse on me, he can tell if I'm lying or not. Isn't that right, Iku?" The Queen asked, turning towards the fiend.

Thia's eyes widened in surprise. "You can sense Iku?"

The Queen chuckled. "Oh, please, I was friends with Plutonia some lifetimes ago, but this is not the time for my story," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

Iku emerged from within Thia, solidifying his form next to her. The Queen's eyes widened slightly at the sight of him.

"It's been a while, Lady Per-"

"Artemisia, call me Artemisia," the Queen interjected. "I abandoned that name years ago."

Iku inclined his head slightly. "Can you confirm if I'm lying?" the Queen asked.

"Yes, I can." Iku approached the Queen and placed his cold hand on hers. "The Curse of Death be upon you if you lie," he intoned, a dark energy briefly swirling around them before dissipating.

"You can ask if I'm lying," the Queen repeated, her voice unwavering.

Thia stared at the spot where the mark had been, a flicker of doubt lingering in her eyes. "Was everything you said earlier the truth?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes," the Queen replied. The mark on her hand glowed for a moment before disappearing completely. "See, there's no reason to lie to you, child," the Queen said.

"And Iku, does Plutonia still call this technique 'truth or die'?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Unfortunately, yes, my Lady," Iku replied with a slight grimace.

The Queen smiled faintly at Iku. "Ah, Tonia, you don't know how much I've missed her," she said wistfully.

"Now that we've cleared that," the Queen continued, her tone turning serious once more. "There is something I also want to ask you."

"What is that?" Thia asked, her curiosity piqued.

"What do you want, Thia?" the Queen's question hung heavy in the air.