The queen had taken me to the garden once again. She was anxious, her hands were shaking as she reached for a rose.

"Naomi." her voice trembled, she stared back at me with guilt in her eyes. "There's something I haven't been entirely honest about. Something you yourself wished to keep a secret."

"Go figure." I sighed and sat on the grass next to her. "But I guess if I wanted it to be a secret..."

"It's the last time this will happen, I promise."

"I thought that would have been last time... But don't worry, I get it." Although I was slightly annoyed at the secrecy, I was already used to it at that point. "I'm not angry."

"Good." She stopped tensing her shoulders. "I have a story to tell you. The very beginning. From your point of view, as you told me so long ago."

"The very beginning?" She had my full attention. "You mean-"

"Before your mark. Before our kingdom. This story happened nearly a thousand years ago. Do you think you're ready for it?"

"I know I am." The words that came out of my mouth surprised me nearly as much as they surprised Sky. I had to know. "I'm all ears."

"Very well. Like I said before, this happened..."

---

Almost 1,000 years ago.

I stepped in front of the guards, my papers at the ready. He furrowed his brow as he saw the queen's official seal, and took a long, close look at the document. The scrutiny took too long for my liking, but the officiality of the papers guaranteed my entry into the city. The usual fake recommendation letters, invitations, identifications and bribes worked fine for the most part, but I wasn't about to take any risks at such a pivotal moment. For once, I would play by the rules.

"That our great queen wouldst ever meet with one such as thou dost beggar belief." He said, with those annoying, outdated words the queen insisted all use within her kingdom. I couldn't even tell if the guards were speaking correctly half of the time.

"Just give me my papers." I had already lost my patience.

"Thou shalt speak correctly whilst within these walls, filth." He spoke those clearly rehearsed words with pride.

"Fucketh off, then." I took my papers and walked through the gates, clutching my bag as closely as I could. The guard protested behind me, but wouldn't be able to follow me through the crowd.

The city was busier than usual due to the fighting tournament that would take place just the next day. The guards were overwhelmed, every street was noisy and cluttered, and no one paid attention to just another stranger in rags stumbling through town. It was the perfect time to commit treason.

I walked into the first inn I saw, knowing I had to rest for the day before the assassination. Without a word, I slid the barkeep a few gold coins - the last ones I had in my pocket - to pay for the night. Wasting no time, I triple checked that everything was in order. Every scroll I would need was in my bag, so I could use spells despite my abysmal Magic Prowess. My weapons were hidden and at the ready, with a small smoke bomb tucked in my belt for an emergency. The crown jewel of my arsenal, however, was the very item the queen had sent me to fetch.

The relic looked extremely mundane. A small wooden hourglass filled with a sand-like powder within. It was deceptively simple in its appearance, to the point that it would not look out of place in a small village's only store. If what legends say is true, the artifact should allow the user to stop time for just a few seconds. The perfect weapon against an overwhelmingly strong foe.

My only chance to get it right was that very evening. Everything had lined up perfectly for the attempt, the need for secrecy on the part of the guards, the necessity for a low-life adventurer for the mission as to not attract suspicion, and the one-on-one meeting with the ruler of the kingdom herself for delivery. As far as they knew, I was under the impression the hourglass was nothing but an old, symbolic charm of another time that needed to be erased. There would be no opportunity more appropriate, and failure certainly meant death. I smiled to myself, finally being close to the end after a full century of living under such a tyrant. One way or another, I would be free once the night had passed.

After resting for a few hours, it was finally time. The sun was going down and I had to move, so I quickly opened the door and left the room. On my way out, a lightly armored woman stumbled onto me, turning around to face me in frustration. I was just slightly shorter than her if you didn't take her huge rabbit ears into account. She examined me, no doubt having trouble discerning anything about me. That was by design.

"Hey, watch it, you..." She trailed off. "Watcheth where thou goeth."

"You bumped into me." I just then noticed the kingdom's crest on her shoulders. "And that sentence can't possibly be correct."

"Whatever. Please get out of my way, I must leave at once."

I scoffed, glad to be rid of the guard's company. I walked as fast as I could without actually running, leaving the inn and making my way towards the castle. Not long after my departure from the inn I noticed the guard woman's footsteps not far behind me, she was clearly following me. I turned around, meeting her gaze and stopping dead in my tracks.

"Do you make it a habit of following strangers down the streets, perchance?" I asked in the most condescending tone I could pull off.

"I am making my way to the castle. It's not my fault our paths intertwine."

"Of course you are." Although no part of the plan involved doing anything suspicious on my way to meet the queen, I was not thrilled by the company of a guard.

"Is that where you're-" She furrowed her brow, taking a closer look at me. "Oh, you must be one of the recently hired adventurers, is that right?"

"Yeah, and I'm on my way to collect payment." Honesty would not hurt in this situation, and the last thing I wanted was to get caught by a nobody.

"I'll escort you, then. Come." She smirked. The delight in which she spoke those words made me certain she was hiding something, and so I kept my hands close to my hidden dagger.

"Sure."

I followed her very closely, making sure to stay behind at all times. She walked with confidence and purpose, it worried me further that she was planning something. I had wondered if the queen was onto me, or if perhaps that particular guard was simply indulging in the usual power trips. I kept my eyes on the woman, trying to remain aware of my surroundings.

We walk through the gates to the castle, the bridge lifting behind me as soon as I step on the stone path ahead. The huge front doors to the castle were wide open, leaving the view to the luxurious insides available to any who entered. There was no one inside other than a few scattered knights, leaving the corridors and halls spacious for the queen's familiar to rampage if needed. Throughout the years, dozens of assassination attempts were made, and not a single one succeed in even getting to the throne room. I had the opportunity of a lifetime, and if I failed the entire kingdom would feel the vengeful royal's wrath, in all likelihood.

"I'm Robin." The rabbit woman said, unprompted. Once she realized I wouldn't reply, she continued. "Which of the assignments did you take, exactly?"

"That's classified."

"There's two options. You either hunted one of the kingdom's quarries... Or you have something important." I did not reply, instead just holding tightly to my hidden blade. "I don't see any bodies."

"What's it to you?"

"Curiosity."

The rest of the walk was silent, and I was ready to sink my blade into her in the blink of an eye. No such incident happened, though, and we arrived at the throne room not too long after. Two knights ushered us in, standing beside the doors and ready to defend their precious queen and trying to look threatening. The real intimidating presence was at the back of the room, with magical chains linking it directly to the kingdom's ruler. A six and a half feet tall fox made of light sitting by the throne, its eyes staring into the very core of my being. For a split second, I regretted ever thinking of attempting what I was about to do.

The queen herself was sitting elegantly at her throne, her long purple and black dress shimmered from the fox's light. Her crown doubled as a mask, hiding her eyes behind a jewel-encrusted sheet of silver metal. The gold details on the edges looked as if they could cut off a limb if used as a weapon, and a large, black crystal adorned the very center of the headpiece. I had to tear my eyes off the jewel, and kneeled in front of the queen for the last time.

"My lady!" Robin kneeled to the queen positioning herself behind me. "This adventurer hath brought you one of thy requested items."

"I have it. I trust my payment is in order." I had to play it safe, like any other negotiation. Not too soft as to not attract suspicion, not too combative so I wouldn't be executed on the spot. It was a fragile balance. I couldn't take the artifact out of my backpack before seeing the pay. Of course, I didn't care for the coins themselves. Not at that moment.

"Very good. Show it."

"Payment first." My heart was pounding, I could not falter at such a moment.

"My, such rudeness from these adventurer types." She laughed in a low, soft tone. "One would think the fear of death might be enough to imbue some manners in people like you."

"One would think an arrogant leader might actually speak the way she wants others to. I'm not here to be well mannered, I'm here to fulfill a contract."

"Very well." She smiled, as though the entire situation was nothing but a joke to her. "Go ahead. Give it to me. Payment comes after."

I felt as though I had bargained enough. It was time to put the final part of the plan into motion. I performatively sighed, hesitated and reached for my bag, doing all I could to stop my hands from shaking. In a moment of confusion, unfortunately the very same moment I had the artifact in my hands, Robin struck. With one swing of her blade the hourglass went flying, and she was already on the move. I wasn't about to let one rogue knight ruin my plans.

I jumped at her, tackling the woman to the ground with my full body weight. I tried to run as soon as I got up, but a magical tether got to the hourglass before I could, pulling back into Robin's hands. I returned just in time to wrestle her for it. The guards were running towards us, having hesitated far too long before stepping in. The queen looked at us in slight annoyance, and nothing more. I couldn't help but laugh at the sudden precarity of the situation, and how undoubtedly ridiculous we must have looked.

I unsheathed my hidden blade, and in a split second decision used it against the guard about to tackle me. Robin had the same idea, impaling the man through the chest before turning the sword to me. I had no choice but to use the artifact. I concentrated on the sand within, trying to make it work.

"You have two seconds to let go!" Robin shouted with fear in her voice. "One-"

Time stopped. Everything went quiet. I looked to my assailant, who was looking at the room around us, somehow still unfrozen.

"It... worked." Her eyes darted across the room before landing on the queen, who sat still besides her pet. "This is my chance."

She took off in the throne's direction, blade drawn and screaming out her lungs. I followed suit in complete disbelief, but glad it all did not fall apart before even the attempt itself. Instead, it fell apart immediately after, once the queen snapped her fingers. With a single movement of her hand, Robin was thrown back to the other side of the room. She made the same gesture toward me, and I tried to stand my ground, but the sheer invisible force pushing me was stronger. I was thrown against the wall on my back, and hit my head hard against the stone. The very next moment I was on the floor, time had resumed and the queen was getting up.

"That must have been the laziest one yet." She walked to the fallen hourglass in the middle of the room. "Vulna, attack." She calmly said, snapping her fingers once more and crushing the time-stopping artifact beneath her heel.

My head spun, but I could see my attacker-turned-ally running once more to her target, placing herself between her and the giant animal that thirsted for blood. I got up as best I could, tumbling my way to my backpack and its spilled over contents. The fox jumped over its owner's head and fell in front of Robin, receiving a stab to the neck in the process, leaking light instead of blood. The wound did not so much as slow it down, and it bit the woman on the waist, sinking its teeth deeply into her and violently shaking her in the air. She slashed at it, screamed at the top of her lungs, and was thrown aside like nothing. She could barely move after hitting the floor, let alone get up and fight. The Vulna then turned its attention to me. 

I reached for the first spell scroll I could get my hands on, read the words as quickly as possible and aimed my open palm at the imminent threat, hoping for anything good to come out of it. A fiery explosion repelled the creature, just barely buying me enough time to repeat the trick. The queen was laughing now, softly, quietly, but surely laughing at my desperate attempts. I reached for the bottom of the bag that time, hoping to luck out and find the prize of the pile, a restrainment spell. Unfortunately, all I could get was a simple magic dispelling scroll. I had no time to switch my choice, and so I closed my eyes and repeated the words engraved on the paper.

I felt a warmth leaving my hand, giving way to an excruciating cold. I opened my eyes to see a spike of light running the giant fox through the stomach, its expression empty and motionless. The laughing stopped, as did Robin's moans and groans of pain. Both women in the room looked at us, and watched as the fox fell to the ground, seemingly dead.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The queen spat the words out with enough disdain to drown in, and started to walk to me.

I shuffled through my bag one more time, finding a healing spell. Without thinking twice, I used it on Robin and hoped it would be enough. My ears were still ringing from the impact, and I felt as though I could pass out again at any moment. I barely got through the words that time, and finally ran out of both luck and time.

The queen effortlessly picked me up by the neck, and without a word sank her hand into my chest, piercing it all the way through my back. I tried to scream in pain, but the blood in my throat made that impossible. The pain was unimaginable, but once she finally let me go and I hit the ground, a puddle of blood quickly forming underneath me, it was her turn to hurt.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a blade tearing through her stomach. The blade shone a holy light, which burned her dress and made her scream in pain. I turned my head to see Robin holding the sword, healed just enough from her wounds to stand up and fight once more. More surprisingly, a strange woman sat beside me, her three fox tails shining brightly. My vision faded, and when I came to, all that was left from the queen was a trail of black liquid droplets leading to a window. The knight was on her knees, catching her breath. The last thing I saw before everything went dark was the fox woman, holding my hand tightly.

"I won't let you die." She said, tears streaming down her face. "Not after what you did for me. Please, just-"

And the world faded away.

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I felt myself floating, surrounded by stars. There were bubbles all around me, each moving in a different direction. It was cold, and I felt myself being pulled towards something off in the distance. It was calm, peaceful, and quiet. I had no body, but I could still feel the pain of dying. I had no mind, but my thoughts were stuck at my last moments. I wanted to resolve those feelings, but before anything could be done I found myself in a freefall. I saw my hands once again, filled my lungs with air in one sharp, painful breath. Before I knew it, I was on my back on a stone floor.

"It worked." Robin said in amazement, crouching next to me.

"Good." The fox woman sighed in relief. "Can you hear us? Are you feeling well?"

I sat myself up, looking down at an unfamiliar body. My scars were gone, every part of me looked completely different. I had breasts, polished nails, and my skin was a light shade of gray, which I probably should have noticed before anything else. Even the way I saw the world around me had changed entirely. Not even the colors or temperature felt as they did before. My hair was long, flowing to my shoulders, and when I reached to move it out of my face, my hand brushed against a very pointy ear.

"You two?" I tried to get up, but got light headed as soon as I put the effort in. "Why am I alive? And... A woman? And an elf, apparently. Not that I'm complaining."

"Wait, you didn't look like this before?" Robin asked in confusion.

"Interesting." The fox pondered. "It seems that when you came back, you took on a different form. I wonder why..."

"And how did you bring me back?" I tried getting up one more time, to no avail.

"I used the remnants of the artifact you brought, your scrolls and as much magic as I could muster to bind your soul to the kingdom. You showed back up in my cage. The process also left a mark." She pointed to the back of my hand, which was marked with strange runes.

"W-well come on, what are we waiting for? We need to go after-"

"She's gone. It's been a few hours." The knight held my arm to prevent another standing-up attempt.

"Don't worry. She won't be coming back." The fox woman's voice got stern, angry even. "I won't allow her presence to enter the castle again. Even if it takes all I have."

"You can do that? Oh, and thank you, of course." 

"No, thank you." She placed her hand on my shoulder, giving me a warm smile. "Your spell broke the spell that bound my mind to hers. It's honestly a miracle it worked with such a simple scroll. Your luck must have been astronomical." She chuckled softly.

"And I suppose I have to thank you as well." Robin crossed her arms and turned her sight from me. "I would be dead if not for you. Honestly, though, I wish I knew you also planned to attack her, we could have joined forces."

"Yeah, you're telling me. I died for it."

"We might have cleared the castle of hostiles, but there is still much to be done to rid the kingdom of that wretched woman's influence. With enough magical power, I can extend my protection to the entire thing instead of just here. But I'm not proficient with weapons, and I'm not sure I can return to that more... monstrous form just yet."

"I didn't expect to make it out alive, if I'm being honest." I took a deep breath and smiled. "I especially didn't expect to make new allies, get a lovely new body and succeed in driving out the queen to boot. I'm down for whatever you need... But I could use some rest right now, though."

"Let's take her to the infirmary." Robin said, picking me up from the ground and carrying me. "Once we're done, we'll figure something out. The three of us."

"I can't believe it actually worked." I held on tight to the woman carrying me. "It's Robin, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "I don't think you did give me your name."

"Well I... If I'm being honest, I don't quite like my old name. It was more useful to use a different one wherever I went, anyway."

"Then choose one." The fox gladly said, walking right next to us. "You were just reborn, right? It's only fitting."

"Hmm..." I tried to think of something, but the exhaustion wouldn't let me think properly. "I don't know. What are some good elven names?"

"How about... N'eyantha?" Robin suggested.

"I like that. Pretty name."

"Fits you nicely."

"Are you saying I'm pretty?"

"I-" The rabbit woman blushed and turned her head. "You're awfully calm about dying and coming back to life, aren't you?"

"I'm just enjoying the new... Everything." I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. "What about you, fox woman?"

"Hm?" She hesitated, not understanding my question at first. "Oh, my name?"

"Yes."

"I... I don't have one. She never bothered. Not that I would use a name given by her anyway."

"Your turn to choose, then!" I met her gaze, smiling at her in the same way she did just before.

"Oh, I don't know. I never really thought about it."

I tried to think of something to suggest, and my thoughts wandered back to before I came to life once more, and the sea of stars around me. 

"How about something related to the stars, or the sky, maybe. You know, to symbolize your newfound freedom."

"Sky... I like it." Sky smiled to herself. "I'll go with that."

We arrived at the beds and I finally got to relax. The castle was quiet apart from my allies rummaging the cabinets in search of proper medicine. Eventually, Robin came back with a few bottles and sat at my bedside.

"We're going to need an alchemist real soon." She said, mixing medicines. "I know the basics but anything more than painkillers or antibiotics is out of my skill set."

"We'll need a lot more than an alchemist. Especially if we want the kingdom." I drank the foul concoction in one go, failing to suppress a gag. "Ugh, but that is top priority for sure."

"There's so much to be done..." Sky looked out the window, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the sill. "Where do we even start?"

"By taking stock of our supplies within the castle. Then we come up with a plan of attack."

"One thing at a time." Robin added.

"Right. One thing at a time." The fox woman agreed.

"Maybe a new pair of clothes would be a good start, actually." I looked down at my naked body, starting to feel the cold even beneath the sheets. "If any would even fit. I don't know any of my measurements anymore... Or how to take new ones if I'm being frank."

"I can make them fit. You might be strangers, but considering what you've done for me... I trust you with my life."

We all looked at each other. The royal guard that sought to change the kingdom with one reckless action, the newly immortal lone knight with an all-too-simple plan but too much conviction, and the freed familiar that took on a humanoid shape to work with her newfound allies. We were an interesting group, but when thinking of our fast success with impossible odds and my resurrection into a more agreeable body, I couldn't help but feel highly optimistic.

---

Back to the present.

I sat with the story for a few seconds, processing what I had heard. Though I couldn't remember the events, the feelings the story brought were nothing new. I could remember the pain, the relief of success and a hint of nostalgia. I opened my mouth, trying to think of something to say or ask. Then I closed it, lying down on the grass and staring at the flowers by my side.

"Well." I started, saying the first thing that came to my mind. "We did find a really good royal alchemist at least."

"That we did." She laughed, lying down next to me.

"So, what happened next?"

"Once we found you some armor, we just... planned." The queen reminisced. "I expanded my magics on the castle to more than just protection, we got more acquainted, and then it all began. The endless fighting against that awful woman."

"What about this did I want to keep hidden?"

"Well... That's the simple part, really. You wanted to give people hope, and so you propped me up as a magical queen, come to save the populace from tyranny. It took us almost two centuries to truly liberate Lumalight. The three of us ran the place together, but I have always been the face of it all."

"You've really grown into the role, huh?"

Sky looked at me in surprise, for the first time showing me a deep vulnerability in her eyes. It was her turn to be speechless, and though she quickly recomposed herself to her usual 'royal' self.

"Thank you." She said in a soft, calm tone. "You know, it took me a long time to memorize the exact words with which you described that day to me. But you were so adamant about it, I did my best."

"Maybe part of me knew that losing my memories was a possibility... Or truly dying, at the least."

"Mayhap. In any case, I think time has come to close the cycle. We can't keep this up for much longer, and that means being honest to the people of Lumalight. Can I count on you to help?"

"Sky." I got up, drawing my sword and kneeling in front of her. "Was that ever a question?"

I was ready to take on the world.

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