When Belletrix told me that Christoph had died, I never could believe it.

It wasn't that my younger brother was too innocent to kill; he wasn't as naive as people made him out to be, so immature about the world around him to actually pain the Black Rose. No, not at all; I think it was because he was the director of the Krakow branch did the conspiracies target him. After all, he'd been working on a creation, something sick and twisted, something that could bring the witch to her knees. Perhaps it was because of that then, did Fallen target him, or because of his own military prowess that they deemed him too unstable, or even because of the subject matter he was working on was too dangerous for anyone to handle.

Either way, Christoph was gone, and only Belletrix and I were left in this cruel game.

I didn't know why I refused to accept that fact at the time. I didn't have any reason to doubt Belletrix. She would never miss a fact as crucial as that. Perhaps it was because she seemed so shaken by the lie that she kept trying to keep up the facade, or maybe because she didn't want me to defect from Fallen to go after him, just as so many of our soldiers had. But within it all, it was mainly her own fears that kept me by her side. I didn't want to leave her alone in the callous world, even though she had enough resources to keep the Black Rose at bay.

I didn't want to leave her.

However, it seemed our fortunes were never truly that fortunate. For that was probably the first time I was truly interested in Akiza. I'd gone out of my way to seek her out. Anger, frustration, revenge, despair; everything relayed into my emotions when I'd found out the witch had taken yet another one of my siblings. I wasn't at all ready to move on from that period, couldn't comprehend the tiniest thoughts of maturity.

I invested all my time into tracking her down, using my own name to gather the resources needed. I spent countless nights lying there awake, dreaming of the day she'd simply lie there, in a puddle of mud and blood. I promised myself I would savor every apology she would murmur, cackle at every little plea she made for her life. She was going to burn at the stakes for what she did to them, for what little peace she robbed from Fallen.

Those emotions had dissipated when she murdered Mree.

It was a mercy killing, from what I could remember. My sister was slowly changing, the experiments that attempted to remove her kind, compassionate heart steadily growing more and more unstable. Tears fell from the side of her cheeks, and from the way she kept calling out to all of us, to Belletrix, and Christoph, and even me, it was enough to warrant her own, wonderful suicide. She kept crying out, begging for us all to turn away, to slaughter whatever pain we had left in our hearts before delivering her inevitable sentence. Her crumpled body was lying in the Black Rose's arms, her torso twisting painfully around her spine. They were both in a pool of blood, a result of the many dead soldiers Fallen had sent after the witch so carelessly, the corpses beginning to fade away within the midst of night as I stood there, mesmerized by the scene.

"Turn away" was the first order Akiza had given me.

And I did just that, as I closed my eyes, while watching my sister disappear from the world altogether.

The aristocratic, vain world the Black Rose coven had stemmed from blossomed from the moment Akiza made her debut.

It was a legalistic system, from what I could understand. Coven leaders were always to be heard, and were the basis of this tainted society. Of course, there were exceptions, and with those exceptions were higher titles. First it was the Lord, then the Jack, then Queen, then King, then Ace; those were the positions held when a few of the coven leaders exerted more power than anyone else. Over time, the balance began to favor the few of the people who held such titles, and in the process, the coven leaders became minor lords, living off the lands of other more powerful monsters. Some had to pay tithes, while others had to come when called, serving either as a mere soldier, to sometimes becoming one of the more trusted servants, advising the leader in whatever way they could.

However, coven leaders did have their own power. They had pawns, expendable soldiers they could use to fight off any enemy, ward off any foe; as long as they had enough, the leaders themselves would never run out of any resources. In return, they were expected to guard the pawns, and inspire frightening loyalty from within their frames, if only to make their servants stay a while longer. Knights took charge to the pawns, acting as mentors, or even as comrades in arms, since they were just as expendable as they. From then, you can guess the chain of command, with queens being the second-in-commands to the coven leaders themselves. Rarely were queens lovers themselves, and when they were, they can exert their own influence across the rest of the coven, no matter how false and delusional they seem.

From our memories, you already know how the covens hungered for more soldiers. It's a common misconception within this putrid world of ours, that the more you have, the better off you'd be. It was a relatively noncontroversial norm, since, of course, you've more influence on society, and thus, have more control over the puppets you manipulate. It was something no one bothered arguing about, and that was why Akiza was deemed a witch.

She broke the rules.

We've all witnessed her reign. Unlike her peers, she only had three in her coven. Possessing no army, no power, no force, and yet all the same, managing to craft her own influence over a majority of the minor leaders, as well as a few of the major ones. The only possible way for her to do such a thing was by either going out to the battlefield herself, or usurping control of another rival coven; most of the time, she opted for the latter.

Formality was also a bit or an issue. Compassion wasn't particularly known, and whenever a kindness was shown, generally, it meant weakness was within the covens' ranks. There was a link in the coven that needed to be broken, and whoever found it could easily drag that coven to its knees. Leaders weren't supposed to consort with lower members, and the only conversation ever permitted between the two classes was either giving out orders, or to dolling out punishments. When the leader opens their mouth, you listen. You don't talk back. You don't argue. You don't sit there and merely converse with the leader like you've known them forever. They were neither your friends nor family; this was no exception for concubines or queens.

It was the reason why we would get into so many fights during the conferences. I made it a point to speak when we were alone together, or if Jaden and Alexis were with us, not causing as much havoc as they would. Akiza would never abide my advice, and would always continue doing as she pleased.

However, I was the only one who got to see her real face. I was the only one who got to understand her agony, her happiness, and whatever stupidity came to her mind, if only for a brief moment. She never showed her true self to anyone but me. Even when she cared for Jaden and Alexis as greatly as she did, for some reason, she was bothered by the vulnerability. She didn't want to lose their respect, and though I kept telling her over and over how impossible that was, in the end, she never did listen.

Akiza was fickle in a lot of ways.

She was always going from one place to another, claiming territories without the slightest effort put into her activities. But once she was bored of that place, she would give it to one of us to govern, and would head off to another unknown land, where she would thus try and rekindle her passion for the bloody battlefield. The attitude also showed whenever she was around us. She was always keeping herself busy, from helping Alexis with yet another one of her pointless pursuits, to consoling Jaden whenever he'd gotten into another fight with a stranger from down the street. She kept up with her lighthearted appearances, and even when she was mad, it never showed on her face. It was absolutely terrifying.

The one thing, however, that remained permanent was her guilt.

She's hated Fallen, ever since she muddled the name "Amaryllis" from her memories. She's hated everyone there, the scientists, the experiments, the ignorant families, all of whom were residing in their very facilities. She's wanted to end the bystanders that caused her the most pain, the desire so willingly desperate she was willing to sacrifice her own, dreamless slumbers for it. The nightmares plunged her into that revenge-filled world, a place where black and red reigned supreme, taking over whatever was left of her own conscience.

But those feelings never excused her from the sins she's committed.

The experiments Fallen typically used were young children who were lost, abandoned, kidnapped, whatever the circumstance may be. Only after a fortnight or so do the tiny souls begin losing themselves, their nervous systems shutting down due to the excess of drugs the scientists have been giving them. Opium, meth, heroine, every single thing that spiraled the toxic nightmares down a chaotic chasm was used on one lone child. Generally, a month later, that experiment would be proclaimed brain dead, unable to operate by themselves, placed on a burdensome machine where at any time, in any second, the last bit of energy their cells would give out would finally lose their vigilance.

Akiza murdered those children.

She murdered them.

When we were alone, she was always muttering the same excuse over and over again. The only time she ever did say something about it was when she was dreaming. Tears would pour down her face, and she would keep muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over.

But I refused to believe it. No, her sanity wasn't slipping away. She wasn't like my sisters.

I didn't realize how wrong that assumption was until I killed her.

It'd been 50 years since Akiza had died.

Jaden and Alexis are both attending Duel Academy, and soon, they'll be graduating. I didn't see why they wanted to go there; they already know the material, but then again, Jaden's already constructed their characters, he a lazy slacker, and Alexis a hardworking, brilliant student. Belletrix had gone missing several years prior to the decision, and though I hear stray rumors whisper her name time and time again, I never did see her again.

No one knew of Akiza's death, and since my defection from the alliance, everyone still believed the witch was still here, still alive, still breathing. I never gave them a reason to suspect otherwise, since I took on her legacy, ripping away territory after territory, destroying whatever I could find without the slightest hesitations. Eventually, I took over the criminal syndicates, the political backbones worshiping my own opinion above anyone else's. As of that point, not even the Aces could make a move against the coven, at least, not without me knowing it. I've pawns now, and countless number of Rooks and Bishops, all of whom stopped trying to curry my favor long before.

But I only needed two Queens, a remnant from that warm, glistening past we all shared once.

I sit here now, as the new coven leader. I didn't know what to make of any of it, even now, with the fading sunlight before me. I didn't understand what to do, what she wanted from me. What a confusing time this was, even after everything that's happened.

I can't stay like this forever.

Yusei

The Black Rose