Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

"So, care to tell us who you people are?" Ophelia asked as she looked down at the man who was speaking for the group earlier who had arrived by boat 

"Wait, wait, wait please! I don't know who you are nor who you are working with but I swear we can reach a sort of arrangement about this entire thing right? Do you need gold? Our Dukedom is rich with gold! All you need is to let us go and-!"

"Shut up. I was asking who the hell you people were" Ophelia cut him off as she lifted him off the ground by his throat, his eyes darting around while his body was unable to move

{!}

Only a few seconds later, Amelia snapped his neck and unceremoniously tossed his lifeless body to the side after staring into his eyes and using her magic to read his mind and soul, acquiring the information she wanted, but she did not divulge it as she wanted to hear the rest from the others who were still alive. 

"We..we are nobles you damn savage! You do not have the right to-"

{!} 

Amelia cut off the lady who was shouting at her beloved, her eyes burning with rage at the sound of her wife being called a savage. She kept her dagger on her throat and looked down at her menacingly, the sight of her gaze forcing the noblewoman to silence herself and shiver as she looked down at the blood-soaked dagger resting on her neck.

"We understand you are nobles...but we are asking from where and who you people are specifically...are you too stupid to answer such a question?" Amelia stated as she lowered her face to the same height as the noblewoman, seeing the eyes through the mask trembling as they locked onto one another 

"We are nobles of the Dukedom of Abernath...we are...in charge of funding these savages in order for them to fight one another....ensuring they are never strong enough to challenge us" The third member of the noble party answered as he looked up at the two women 

"Hmmm...the Dukedome of Abernath...that slave state at the southern end of the continent right?" 

{!}

"How did you-" 

"Doesn't matter...but to think you expanded your influence this far north...your nation must be preparing for something big right?" Ophelia cut him off as she looked at him, seeing his body shudder in fear and his eyes widen only confirmed her words 

"Right. Thank you for your information, you are all free to go now" Ophelia stated as she snapped her fingers and all of the nobles were suddenly on their feet 

"Wait what?" One of the noblewomen remarked as she looked at the pair before the group, all of them sharing nervous and confused expressions on their faces 

"Like my beloved said. You are all free to go, hop back on that boat of yours and sail for home. But do us a favor and not inform your government of our existence" Amelia answered their confused looks 

"Of..of course, thank you for your mercy" One of the noblemen stated as he gave a small loose bow before running to the boat, followed by the rest of the noble party. The elven cage handlers all watched in horror and anger as their supposed ally left them for dead

Once the noble party was on the boat and it was a few hundred meters from the port however, a few tentacles burst forth from the sea and wrapped around each noble and the boat they were in. The screaming nobles sent fear down the spines of the cage handlers kneeling on the ground and watching the scene unfold before them, with all of them speechless as the tentacles dragged the boat and the nobles down into the depths. 

"Right, with them out of the way, why don't we begin to question-" 

"Wait! PLease spare us! We will tell you everything!" One of the cage handlers pleaded with tears in his eyes and his body trembling as he fell forward 

"Go on..." Amelia stated as she walked over to the downed cage handler and pulled him up by his hair 

"Wha...what do you wish to know?" The cage handler asked, his breathing shaky and his body slightly shaking 

"Everything you know. Else you will be next" Amelia added as she got the elf to his feet and pushed him near the beach, with a tentacle visible in the crashing and leaving tide, the sight of which reduced the cage handler to tears before Amelia forced him to his knees 

"I have a burning disdain for slavers like you, so answer correctly and you get to live. If not, then you die, simple as" The blonde empress stated as she stood behind him 

"We...we receive shipments of money, food, and weapons for our people in exchange for the lives of the undesirables we give them in return. I only know that the High Chief struck a deal with someone called the "Baron", I do not know what that word means but I think it is something to do with their greatest of warriors. the "Baron" is a young lad no older than the youngest adult in our tribe...please! That is all I know I swear!" The cage handler stated, with Amelia silent for a few moments 

{!} 

She then kicked him in the back into the waiting tentacle, hearing him scream and shriek as the tentacle quickly wrapped around him and dragged him into the depths, with the remaining kneeling cage handlers all filled with terror as they looked up at the raven-haired woman standing next to them, who replied with a smirk 

"Ha. Don't look at me for mercy. I despise you just as much as her, only I am a worse option when it comes to getting the information we need" The raven-haired empress stated with the initial smirk turning into a malicious smile 

"Next one who fails to give all the information they know will join your friend on the beach" Amelia threatened as she walked back to the group of trembling cage handlers 

She scanned the trembling faces of the elves and kitsunes before her, she then looked up and saw the numerous people in the cages all of whom were trembling at the sight of her. Her hardened gaze flickering for a moment as she remembered that there were indeed some people still here that were in need of rescuing. 

"Umm, Ophie, the people in the cages?" Amelia asked as she looked at her beloved 

"Oh no need to worry, Erhet and the rest should be arriving in a bit with the rest, they will all leave as a single group with the rest of the unfortunate souls in the other villages" Ophelia replied 

"I see, alright then" Amelia stated as she nodded her head and took a deep breath before letting out a calm sigh 

"Let's see what else you know" She muttered as she she grabbed a kitsune cage handler and dragged her to the beach, all the while the kitsune pleaded and begged for her life

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

As her beloved went on her way to interrogate the cage handlers for what they knew, Ophelia opened up the cages of the slaves all at once 

"Everyone follow me please" She spoke to them in their local tongue, seeing many of them have surprised expressions on their faces 

She led them outside of the small village, standing by the snowy dirt road as they awaited the column of Black Guards and other slaves emerging from the other villages nearby. Once the column had reached them, Erhet slithered over to her empress, her towering form scaring a lot of the slaves who were standing near Ophelia as they all kept their gazes on the largest lamia they had ever seen 

"Orders Your Majesty?" Erhet asked with a small bow 

"Take these back to camp and order Marshal Belle to halt the advance southward for now. We have an announcement to make later and it will be for the best that everyone hears it" Ophelia answered her, her gaze resolute and unmoving 

"Understood Your Majesty...what of Her Majesty Amelia..." Erhet's thought trailed off as she looked over to the right and saw Amelia gutting a elven cage handler before throwing his body into the ocean 

"I will stay with her, so be on your way as these people barely have good clothing to protect them from the cold," Ophelia told her with a small smile 

"Understood Your Majesty. We shall be on our way" Erhet finished as she slithered away, with the large group of slaves following behind her, all of them supported by Black Guard soldiers who kept a keen eye on them to make sure they were all right

"Follow them, they will lead you somewhere safe" Ophelia said as she turned to the group next to her, gesturing to them with an outstretched hand and a small smile 

The group was initially hesitant at first but after a few moments, they slowly fell in at the back of the large group of slaves and began following them out of the area, all the while Ophelia watched them until they went into the nearby forest. She then shed her smile as she then walked back into the village and saw Amelia standing alone on the pier, her hair swaying in the cold wind as she looked out to sea. Ophelia quickly teleported to her side and felt her right hand get immediately grabbed by her beloved. 

"Are you alright my dear?" Ophelia asked as she kept her gaze forward 

"More or less...They all gave me the same answers and some more, I really wish to burn this damnable nation to the ground already" Amelia stated, the usually calm and cheery girl was replaced with a gaze filled with anger and hatred, a pair of emotions that she usually reserved when she was incredibly disgusted and enraged and would seldom show them back when the two of them were in the Hillsbrooke Empire, but now that they were out of there, Amelia was now more open to her emotions and it showed. 

"We will soon Amelia, and then the continent will be ours...you can speak your mind Amelia, it's just us here" Ophelia added as she turned to her beloved 

"They tortured kids Ophie...I looked into their minds every time I held them down, they tortured kids for the fun of it...they wished to hear their screams and the looks of terror in their eyes...every single one of them...if you were to tell me that we would need to convert this people to our cause, I would have initially agreed. But after seeing this, I do not wish for them to, no...I wish for them to burn for their crimes" Amelia stated, her voice was full of rage and anger, but it was shaking as if on the verge of crying. 

Ophelia even felt her lover's grip tighten on her hand, and looking down at it, she could see her arm slightly shaking. She also looked up and saw Amelia staring off into the distance, her cheeks slightly flushed and she could also see the tears welling up in her eyes. The sight of her lover like this shook Ophie's heart and she immediately hugged her beloved without warning. 

"If you need to cry my dear, you can...I am here for you" She muttered as she could feel her lover's grip tighten

{!} 

Ophelia was silent as Amelia began to cry, her eyes and heart bawling out as the faces of the many women and children tortured to death flashed repeatedly in her mind. Her heart ached as she thought about the many people they failed to save as they were leisurely enjoying their lives before this entire ordeal, blaming herself over and over again over the fact that she technically allowed this to happen while she was simply content with her life with her lover.

As if sensing this type of thinking plaguing her beloved's mind, Ophelia embraced her lover tighter and began stroking the back of her head and torso, trying to soothe her 

"You needn't blame yourself for this Amelia...we cannot save everyone" She stated as she could feel the sadness of her beloved washing onto her 

"But...but" 

"You know what Histy told us...this needed to happen...it is unfortunate and unfair I know, but the Goddess of Creation knows better than we do" Ophelia struggled to stay calm as she could feel her own emotion overflowing, a side effect from a trait that Amelia had being a former Saintess as they could bring out people's emotions to the extreme if said Saintess was also in extreme emotional turmoil 

"I...We...It's all unfair!" Amelia cried as she buried her face in Ophelia's chest, sobbing all the while she kept flailing her hands around her beloved's back 

"I know it is my dear...but that is why we must unite this continent. Only we can ensure that this does not happen to anyone else in the future...so take that fury and anguish, my dear, temper it, use it to fuel your resolve and purpose as I have with you" 

Amelia pulled from the chest of her beloved and looked up at her, locking eyes with the woman she cared about the most in her life. She was still sniveling but she was able to wipe the tears from her eyes and kiss Ophelia on the lips, the kiss was deep and full of love, something that the raven-haired empress returned in kind as she furthered the kiss. 

Once they separated from the kiss, Ophelia could see that her beloved was now feeling better than before, causing her to have a smile on her face as she planted another kiss for good measure. Amelia let out a small but tired giggle thanks to the kiss and once again embraced her beloved, her heart was still shaking but she was slowly trying to incorporate the words her beloved had said to ease her mind. 

"Let's go back to camp for now Amelia...I believe we have an announcement to make" Ophelia stated as she stroked her head 

"Right...we do, we definitely do" 

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Back in the main base camp of the 5th Army which had stopped their march under orders by the dual monarchs, General Korab, the overall commander of the 5th Army, a man of the leo beastkin tribe, one of the minorities under the beastkin banner. Sat inside his command tent as he read reports from scouts further to the south. His mane was majestically kept and well groomed, his green eyes pierced through people and shone like emeralds, and his tall and well-built body was smartly dressed in the black officer uniform granted to him by his rank and unlike the rest of his men, these new "Hardened Fabric" pieces of armor were still being gifted to only the highest ranking of officers and while it was a far cry from Korab's usual full plate armor, if anything, it was comfy as hell for the leo beastkin and that was something he was satisfied with. 

"Hmmm...any report on where our monarchs are?" Korab asked as he looked up from the report he was reading and turned to his right-hand man or elven woman in this case, Colonel Irwen Shael from one of the elven clans. 

"Ummm...last I heard from our liaison with the Black Guard is that they went off on a small trek...to a bunch of coastal villages nearby" Shael answered him as she looked at him, his expression of confusion and wondering as well where their monarchs were 

"If that was the case they should have been back by now...gather up a small party me and you are going out looking for them" The beastkin general ordered as he rose from his seat 

"Wait what, why? If the Black Guards are still with our monarchs then it is not a really serious problem, if they were in trouble they would have fired a flare" The elven colonel replied 

"I know, but I do not want to leave things up to chance, unless of course, you are willing to be the one to explain to the Marshal why our monarchs have not checked in with her tonight?" Korab asked her with a small cheeky grin 

"I fucking hate you, I will not do that, that woman reeks of blood and death and I am scared of her" Shael cursed as she rolled her eyes and picked up her battleaxe resting on the nearby table 

"Yeah...she scares me too" Korab added as the two of them exited the tent with Shael in tow

A few minutes later, Korab, Shael and a couple of Imperial Soldiers who were about to begin their patrol mustered at the southeastern end of the camp where the Black Guard and the dual monarchs left from earlier in the day. They were about to embark on their little quest when Korab spotted a large figure moving through the dirt road getting closer to them. Korab was about to shout out to it but once the height of the lamia properly came into view and he heard the clanking footsteps of soldiers coming from behind said lamia, he stayed silent and instead flashed a smile at Erhet and the Black Guard contingent as they returned to base, stepping off to the side as Erhet slithered off to the same place.

"Uhh...where are the monarchs?" Korab asked as he looked up at her 

"They told us to go ahead before them. They were having a moment, they shall be here soon" Erhet answered him as she looked down at the tall leo beastkin 

"I see...what the?" The beastkin general's words and thoughts trailed off as he saw a large group of people wearing battered and torn-up grey rages that were supposedly clothing, walk by him and then his soldiers 

"These people need immediate care" The Black Guard Commander stated 

"At once, do not worry Ma'am" Korab replied as he turned to Shael who nodded at him 

"I want all of these people treated immediately! Get the medical staff out here! Bring some food and clothing for these people! Hop to it!" The elven colonel barked as she looked at her soldiers and others who were passing by and carrying other items, seeing them scatter as they went about to fulfill her orders 

"They will be taken care of Ma'am. Have no doubt about that" Korab stated as he returned his gaze back up to the lami before him 

"See to it they do General. They have been through so much and Her Majesties will not like to hear otherwise" Erhet replied 

"Understood Ma'am. Understood" Korab nodded before turning heel and marching back into the camp to help the recently arrived slaves 

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

A few hours later, as the sun was going down, Amelia and Ophelia teleported back into the camp after spending some time just sitting on a rocky cliff near the beach. The two of them were now ready to send their address, they walked into the command tent of Korab and inside the tent was the beastkin general and the rest of the command staff, including Erhet who had used magic to shrink her size to fit inside the place. 

"Good evening everyone. How are you all?" Amelia asked as she scanned the room 

"We are doing well Your Majesty, thank you for asking" Korab answered her with a bow, with everyone else following his lead

"That is good to hear. What about our newly arrived guests?" Amelia added 

"They are all currently sleeping in a makeshift barracks the engineers constructed. All of them are currently sleeping soundly, some of them were hesitant at the politeness but we were able to convince them in the end. A lot of them were...surprised to say the least, some of them were even bowing to some of the soldiers and telling them to do whatever they wanted to please themselves" Colonel Shael answered 

"By the Gods...." Amelia remarked as she pinched her forehead and turned her gaze downward 

"You can't blame them...whatever the Hinterland Confederation did to them has left undeniable scars...all the more reason for our announcement" Ophelia chimed in as she looked at the people before her 

"Right, let's do it then" Amelia stated as she looked back up 

"Right, Erhet, did you send out orders to Marshal Belle?" The raven-haired empress asked the shrunken lamia 

"Yes Your Majesty. She has ordered the military to halt their progress and prepare for this announcement" 

"Good. Amelia, just sit down on the table and talk into this communication crystal" Ophelia added as she brought out a larger communication crystal set up than usual, with her beloved sitting next to the supposed microphone of the machine 

This new magic crystal communicator was cooked up by the people of the Halkare Research Department and this was supposedly strong enough to broadcast from wherever they were now to the rest of the empire. Normally this would be handled by Ophelia considering she could use a spell to just broadcast her thoughts without the need for such a device, but not one to hamper the growth of magic crystal technology, she wanted this broadcast to be given with this device as a test run, if it encountered problems such as it needed more power, Ophelia would be its anchored power source and pour her near limitless magic into the thing if Amelia's was not enough. Amelia then began pouring some of her own magical energy into the crystal and it quickly began to glow a beautiful pink and orange that swirled around the thing and provided a beautiful display as it was now primed and ready to be used. 

"It's all on you now Amelia...try not to push yourself too hard" Ophelia stated as she looked upon her beloved, with Amelia nodding in reply before taking a deep breath and focusing on the speech 

{!} 

 All across the empire, everyone suddenly felt a voice enter their minds, prompting all of them to stop what they were doing and look around to what the hell was happening. Some of them were on the water or even just walking as the night was coming, all stopped in place and sat down or quickly made it to somewhere safe as they could feel like something big was about to happen. 

"Good evening. Citizens of the Empire" Amelia stated, with her voice surprising many as they heard it in their heads 

"I am here to tell you all today, that our army, as it has marched south past the original "Crossing" line, has encountered something that we initially believed to be a nation that would have been friendly to our cause" She began with a somber tone 

"It has come to our attention however, that this nation...made up of warmongering clans that banded together and began calling themselves the "Hinterland Confederacy" were not allies, no, instead...they were monsters" 

"We have found out that this nation...has been busy enslaving their neighbors and treating them as slaves, who were then sold off to the main slaver state at the southern end of the continent called the Dukedom of Abernath...We found this out recently when me and Ophelia happened upon one of their so-called "Work Villages" that they used to keep those who did not die at their hands and left them in appalling conditions, keeping them in cages, torturing them for sport and then selling them of by the boatload to the Dukedom...all for gold, weapons and food..." Amelia continued, her tone getting slightly more and more sad and angry at the same time 

"I ask all of you to brace yourselves for I will broadcast the memories I have seen within the minds of those who had done these horrible actions...except for the children, so I ask that everyone please sit down or calm down before anything else...you have a few seconds" 

[A/N: Trigger warning. Next paragraph is umm...extreme, if you do not wish to read the next paragraph since it has violence against children then I understand completely since I also abhor it. I apologize for letting you read this in advance] 

Amelia then took a deep breath as she cast the spell [Memory Share] and broadcasted the memories she took from the cage handlers from earlier in the day. The adults of the empire, from the soldiers on the front to the single farmer on the field at night, suddenly found themselves looking at a memory of an elven cage handler. They stood and watched as the cage handler pulled a particularly defiant little arachnia girl from out of a cage filled with beaten and bloodied arachnia tribals all screaming for the cage handler to stop and pick them instead, able to understand the speech due to the translation cubes they had eaten before. They watched as the cage handler beat the little girl with a metal mace, laughing with a sadistic smile as he repeatedly smacked the arachnia girl's leg and then her body as she was on the ground begging for him to stop, the cage handler then kicked the girl to the side near a rocky wall and repeatedly kicked her body until the little girl began coughing up blood. Upon seeing the blood, the cage handler picked up the girl by her head and laughed as he dragged her aching body to the pear and then continued to attack her with the mace until the little arachnia girl was no longer trying to resist and was silent, the sounds of bones and flesh breaking under the swings was soon followed up by the sounds of blood squelching and spewing from the now beaten corpse. At this, the spell and memory ended and Amelia took a few deep breaths as she felt the need to vomit but did her best to hold it in. 

Once the memory ended, Amelia saw the appalled and horrified expressions on everyone's faces, including Ophelia's who did not expect such a thing. Even the soldiers outside the tent were left speechless and horrified as they let what they just saw sink in, some of them shaking in anger as their expression of horror turned to anger. Across the empire, the same sentiment of horror and anger was shared as everyone looked at one another. No one moved or even made a peep, instead, some of them went outside and began striking the ground with their fists, or impaling a knife on the countertop of their homes. The elven clans of the empire, in particular, were the ones with the most extreme reactions as a lot of them began shouting and cursing at their fellow elven kind, some were quietly stewing in their anger and rage, their bodies and hands slightly shaking with anger as they let the memory sink in while others left in an angered manner and began making their way to the nearest recruitment office to enlist in the Imperial Army and fight this supposed elven kind related to them in some way. 

"Citizens of the empire" Amelia said as she regained her composure 

"This is the enemy our empire was made to fight. They look like us yes, they share the same air as us, drink the same water, and eat the same food but that is where the similarities end. These people, no, these monsters, are the monsters we have to eradicate from this continent. These monsters call themselves the righteous ones, the ones who shall bring the continent under their control but they are wrong. They will all die screaming I will promise you that much, they will scream and beg for mercy just like they made that little girl did for her life. We will be the righteous divine fury of the Gods that will sweep them and their allies aside, we will be the Holy Fire that will burn and cleanse them from sight. All of them will be purged from this place in the name of one goal. A goal that will not only ensure that this scene will never happen again on our soil, a goal that will ensure that tyrants and monsters are no longer in power and pose a threat to our people, a goal that is simple, the goal for a unified continent" Amelia added as her tone was still angry, but it had a hint of righteousness in it 

"So let the memory burn in your hearts Citizens of the Empire, let it burn to strengthen your resolve and give you the strength to banish these monsters from existence. Use that memory to give you the strength needed to do what needs to be done, and then and only then, will we be able to do what is necessary for not only our safety here and now but for the safety of the rest of the continent...For the Empire" She finished, turning to her beloved who nodded at her 

As her speech finished, the hearts and souls of the people of the Halkare Empire burned bright with the power of righteous fury and justice, they were now more united than ever in the singular goal of ridding the empire of the monsters of the Hinterlands Confederation and the Dukedom of Abernath, and if they were to know it now, the Pirate Kingdom as well. There was now no more doubt in the minds of people about their actions of expansion, as it now took on a new meaning in their eyes. One of righteous fury. 

A/N: Helllo! So this took a while due to class but I am pretty pleased with how it came out. Also, I apologize once again for that paragraph, that was the main reason I spent so long with this chapter as the original was much more...evil, in what it contained. Besdies that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter , if you got comments or relations let me know and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!