Skyfall

The kingdoms of Lands, Seas and Skies were always bound to fight...

     Quite some ways into the future, humans developed ships that could fly in the skies. The technological development was astounding, and soon the Skies were as populated as the Lands and the Seas. As it was, the three Kingdoms often fought with one another, over various things, from how much above the earth was classified as "sky" to how much water had to be on the ground for it to be called "sea" and how large an island had to be for it to be grouped as "land".

     Of course, as one might imagine, the Queen of Skies and the Kings of Lands and Seas hated one another to the very core of their beings. At least...that's what one would think.

     But in the very different reality...things were not quite so simple.

~~~

     Skye stood on the deck of her ship, eyes surveying the expanse of blue ahead of her with an air of satisfaction. Yes, this was her realm. The skies indeed- the most economically stable of the three kingdoms, even if it did have the smallest population. And she was queen of it all, the splendor, the magnificent blue, the fluffy white clouds, the ships in all their glory, hulls glinting in the sunlight.

     Some people said it was fairly similar- too similar to the Seas, but it was so much more. The Seas were violent, stormy upon occasion, dangerous far too often. The Skies might have thunder and lightning, but above the clouds all was always peaceful and quiet.

     "Gilbert!" she called, "Where's the meeting at?"

     "Same place as usual. Sean's stupid palace on the ocean. That guy's got an ego as big as his kingdom, I swear. Always shows off his sapphires and emeralds and diamonds- Honestly. Conceited brat, that one."

     "Gil." Skye chastised her brother, but the smile crept up on her lips anyway at her brother's antics.

     "Simply telling the truth!" he defended. "Well, I'll tell you when you have to go then. Farewell for now, Cap'n." Gilbert bowed, giving a mock salute and winking.

     Sean. King of the seas, elementally recognized as the most arrogant, rudest brat to have ever lived in the history of the Kingdoms.

     It was truly her misfortune that her heart had chosen to love such a person. And yet she did. It sounded like something from a fairytale- the Queen of Skies falling for the King of Seas. Unfortunately, such a story could not have a happily-ever-after.

     Skye sighed and headed to her wardrobe. It would be an official uniform today- so a light blue cape, white dress and gold sandals, complete with her gold belt and of course, her crown. She twisted her hair quietly, trying to calm the nerves that seemed to be going haywire inside her stomach.

     He’s just another person, she told herself, No one special.

    Quite unfortunately for her though, he was someone special. At least to her. And it was the lament of both her instinctive heart and her strategic mind. For the good of the kingdom, she decided-

    It had to end today.

    Time to get over her silly little crush once and for all.

    Perhaps if she’d waited a little bit more, things would’ve been a little bit different.

~~~

     “Well well well. If it isn’t the itty bitty little Queen of the high and mighty Heavens. Here to walk among mere mortals, sweet angel?”

     “Shut up Sean.” She hissed back at him, but only half-heartedly. It got worse the closer she was to him, to the brilliance of his dark blue- almost black eyes wrecking havock on her fragile, girlish heart. Speaking of which, her heart seemed to be ready to pound right out of her chest.

     “Mmm? Does my teasing annoy the poor little Queenie?”

     “I said, SHUT UP, SEAN!” Skye yelled this time, her voice breaking on the last note, feeling ready to burst into tears. She hated this- being so at mercy of another human being. Why?

    Sean only stared at her after her outburst before remarking with a low whistle, “Wow. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” he remarked.

    Skye was ready to lose it- to punch that utter idiot in the face, when someone stepped in between them.

    Lance, king of the Lands.

    “Just leave her alone already.” He sighed. Skye caught his eye and smiled gratefully, relieved that the intrusion had come before she’d done something she might seriously regret later. He smiled back, gentle, sweet.

    If only it had been Lancaster, and not Sean that her heart had taken such a beating for. But Lance was ordinary in every sense of the word. Plain brown hair, plain, flat green eyes. No curling locks of ebony black and deep pools of sapphire blue.

    Yes, Lance was an amazing friend. But he didn’t make her heart pound faster in her chest. And oh! was it the bane of her existence.

    Tense silence between the trio for a few more awkward moments. Then:

    “I suppose we’d better get this meeting started.”

    And so Skies, Seas, and Lands settled down around the table in the Sea Palace, talking of foreign affairs and politics that none were truly interested in, as the back of their minds whirred with regret and love and hopeless longing.

 ~~~

     After the passing of a prior Royal, the best teenage captain is chosen to take the thrones as King or Queen, to manage the kingdom through good times and bad, to see that the kingdom prospered and grew. And typically this worked well- with a bit of childlike imagination and not as much caution as an older, more seasoned adult- the kingdoms indeed enjoyed golden eras under their rulers.

    But not always. Some Kings and Queens weren’t fit to handle the pressure of their tasks, of what a single act could lead to in a domino effect.

    Skye was no different. She might have loved her kingdom more than any Royal prior, or even more than any citizen currently in its realm, but she was still an impulsive fifteen-year-old girl.

    And impulse would lead her to commit the action that would begin the Domino Effect.

~~~

     “Wait- uhm. Skye?” Lancaster grabbed her arm, just before she had started to gather her papers and leave the room to follow Sean. “I need-want-would like. Uh, to tell you something.”

    “Yeah?” she smiled at him. Hopefully he’ll make this quick. I really need to find Sean…before this goes on any longer.

     “We’ve been friends for a long while now, yeah?”

     “Well yeah, better than most Royals get along.” Skye replied, wondering what he was getting at, bringing this up now.

     “Uhm. Yes. Well, during that time, I’ve really grown to l-like you, and was wondering if perhaps, just maybe. In the slimmest hope- that perhaps…you like me back?

    Stunned did not even begin to describe how she felt. Shocked. Speechless, for a long moment as her jaw hung open and she stared at Lance, wondering how and what and where and when this had happened. Her mind tried to comprehend what she had just been told. And finally, she forced herself to look him in the eyes.

     “I’m really, truly sorry. Yeah, you’re an amazing friend but you’re not…special to me. Not like…someone else.” She looked down, away from the green eyes that were looking at her with such-

    Shock. Betrayal. And hurt.

     They all flashed in his eyes briefly before his face became a perfect mask...except for something that still lurked there, hidden just barely.

     He laughed nervously, a somehow grating, rough sound which made Skye feel only more miserable. What a miracle it must be, to find someone who likes you back, much less loves you.

     “I know,” Lance said eventually, words sounding slightly forced. Careful, as though treading on thin ice. “Sean, right?”

     “Wh-how did you-”

     “It’s obvious, in the way you look at him, in the way your attempts to shut him up are clearly not even that angry, in the way you even talk to him you-” His voice was rising in pitch, turning increasingly bitter with each word until he finally spit out, “I’ll be honest. I don’t understand why you chose him, the arrogant, cocky son-”

     “Well, why did you choose me?” Skye cut him off, looking, pleading in those green eyes for a mere glimpse of the previous Lancaster. The Lancaster who was her friend.

     “I-” He cut himself off.

     “We. Don’t. Get. To. Choose.” And she patted him on the shoulder, a thoroughly condescending gesture which would come back later to bite her. The Queen smiled almost painfully. “Maybe, maybe someday, Lance.”

     If only she’d glanced backwards and saw the look of absolute venom that was being shot her way, perhaps she could’ve changed something.

~~~

     “I think,” Skye blurted out, “I am in love with you.” She closed her eyes for the impact her brain expected, prepared for the sting of a hand against her cheek.

     But when nothing happened, and not a sound was heard, nervousness and dread began to settle into her gut. She opened her eyes, and dark blue pits that suddenly reminded her of drowning stared back at her. She was falling…

Falling…

Into the deep blue sea.

    Sean snapped his fingers, jolting her out of her trance. And then she saw it.

     The look of pure and utter disgust.

     “You. Repulse. Me. The Queen of the high and mighty Skies, begging at the feet of the King of Seas? Could this really get any worse? How utterly demeaning. You- peasant.” He spat. “Don’t you dare come near me.”

    The burn across her cheek that came a second later, the one she’d prepared for- was nothing compared to the feeling of her fragile, girlish heart shattering into a million little shards around her.

~~~

    Fifteen was too young to rule a kingdom. Sixteen, seventeen was no better.

    Skye and Lancaster were no exceptions.

    When you give a person your heart, you give them the power to break it, to crush it with the heel of their shoe.

    That’s the power of love, the most dangerous weapon of all.

~~~

     “Captain!” Gilbert panted, face blotchy red and yet pasty white as he barged into his sister’s room, trying to catch his breath.

     “Gil, can’t you ever remember to knock? It’s polite, you kn-”

     “It’s the Lands! Oh by God, they’ve mobilized their army! They’ve…they’ve declared war!”

     You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed the calm before the storm and the pandemonium.

~~~

     A kingdom declaring war had only happened twice before. Both times had resulted in the deaths of millions, the destructions of major cities and despair in every corner. It would be foolish to think another war would be any different.

     It was every Royal’s worst nightmare, the one they dreaded after every fight with one another.

     And so Skye stood, shivering, trembling as she looked at the maps the Defense leader was showing her. She was barely paying attention to him as his fingers moved across the best strategic locations, trying to point out to her what she should do to defend without joining the desctruction.

    “We have to defend very well. We must not fire the first shot!” Gil was yelling at somebody. “NO! This is a UNIVERSAL emergency! God…Skye, have you dispatched a letter to Sean yet? Maybe he can talk Lancaster into some sense, if he isn’t sitting back and enjoying the bloodshed- at the very least, he has got to join our side.”

     Sean. Her heart burned in cold fury just thinking of him, in both desperate longing and hateful menace.

    “Sean is…a cold  hearted, cold blooded psychopath. War is what he likes. Watching people die, watching them choke on their own blood, watching them break.”

    “Mmm? Personally, I prefer sociopath- psychopath is rather rude, don’t you think? But then again, as for watching people break…can’t I say the same for you? After all, aren’t you the one who drove our dear Lancaster insane?”

     Anger bubbled up inside her already scarred heart as she looked at those cold blue-black eyes, the ebony hair and the idiotic smile she wanted to rip off his face.

     “Gil…” she breathed. “Gil…declare…declare… Declare war. ON THE SEAS.” That should have wiped the smile off of Sean’s face. And yet he still stood there, grinning manically.

     Meanwhile, Gilbert just stared at her with utter horror.

      “HAVE YOU GONE OUT OF YOUR BLOODY MIND? Honestly, all of you! What’s the matter with you, eh Skye? Calm d-”

      “I AM THE ABSOLUTE RULER! And as you are my subordinate, I order you to declare war against this worthless piece right now, or I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD, brother or not!”

     “And I would rather die!”

    Her movement was so fast, she barely realized what she was doing as she did it, her motions not registering in her brain as the gun was pulled from her pocket, the trigger had been pulled and her brother

Her

Own

Dear

Brother

Lay dead on the floor, eyes wide with shock, blond hair grazed red from the blood that poured around him.

     She shook. Fell down to her knees. And them, with eyes bloodshot, she looked up at the Defense leader.

     “Declare war on the Seas.”

     “As you wish, m’lady.”

     “Mobilize the fleet.”

     “As you wish, m’lady.”

     “Leave me.”

     The Defense leader’s eye’s strayed towards Sean for the briefest moment before he bowed, and left them, and King was alone with Queen.

     “So, little fallen angel. Couldn’t handle the pressure after all, now could you?  

     Before she realized what she was doing, her fist locked with Sean’s jaw and he kicked her back, and they were fighting.

~~~

     Blood ran down her cheek from a gash that should’ve stung painfully, but was dulled by the adrenaline rush. Her heart was pounding so fast, threatening to stop.

    The Defense leader, hearing the screams, had come back and pulled them apart moments from killing one another. He immediately sent Sean back to his kingdom, leaving Skye alone to “gather her thoughts”.

     She was all alone now, that was for sure. The rush was fading away, and she felt so tired now. Sore, thirsty, hungry and so very very angry with the cruel, cruel world.

    Shaking. Trembling. She wanted to scream, but her mouth couldn’t form the words. Breath came out of her dry lips in short pants.

Brother.

She wanted her brother.

     “Gil…Gil?” Her cracked voice faded, dying on her lips as she remembered. The blood…the gun… “Oh, oh God I…I…”

    Filthy. She felt filth. Dirty, as though insects had decided to crawl up her arms and in her hair.

   She screamed now, flipped onto the bed and punched the pillow with all her might. Cried tears of hopelessness and haplessness.

    Her tears didn’t dry up for several more hours.

~~~

    She felt nothing but numb and empty now. Queen of Skies, ha! Such a worthless title, why had she ever wanted it? It was nothing but trouble.

    She had killed her own brother, broke her best friend’s heart. And the one she loved hated her with all his might.

    Her kingdom, the one she had cared for so carefully was now in a war that could only result in so much more death, destruction and despair.

   And it was all her fault. All her fault, every last bit. If only the Queen of Skies could have chosen who she loved. If only…it was all too unfortunate that that wasn’t how love worked.

~~~

     She placed the golden crown daintily on her head, tying it in place with her golden tresses. Skye was going to be Queen till the very end, that much she made certain of. She had already decked herself in the full uniform.

   She was ready.

   It was all laid on one single hope. Just one single hope.

   It had been said that should a King or Queen kill themselves, by their own hand, their entire kingdom and all the people in it would vanish as though they had never existed in the threads of time, would disappear forever. The Queen of Skies could only hope it would hold true, for the good of her people and her dreams.

   Better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost.

   Carefully, she put her feet on the edge of her ship, arms gripping tightly on the railing as she surveyed the blue and white expanse before her.

   The danger of what she was about to do hit her now. Death loomed, black and uncertain, reading to swallow her up even in the bright shining sunlight. But worse yet was her conscience, killing her from the inside out.

    This was the end.

    She held her breath and counted to ten.

    And let the sky fall.

~~~

    There was something there, in his heart. Something almost jealous. Why couldn’t he have been the one to kill her? To see the last light of life leave her pretty hazel eyes as she cried, tears running down those still childishly-chubby cheeks.

    And here he was, left with  the lifeless body of a girl, bloody dripping from her pale lips and from her head. A girl who killed herself, a girl who had won the ultimate game with such a noble action as to let her blood flow and make the Skies vanish.

     Blood.

     Blood. Images flashed in his mind, images of how he had laughed as he had watched so many die, as loved ones left behind tore out their hair and wept. He wasn’t weeping now, though, simply disappointed by the inconsequence of it all.

     Every child had been taught the story of the way the Queen of Space had given up her life and all of Space had simply…disappeared. It was regarded by some as truth, but by many more as pure fantasy.

     Sean felt this was utterly disappointing, as he was currently sitting in Skye’s ship, and watching the war commence beneath and around him. How horrible, to have died for no reason. She…she hadn’t deserved that. If only…he had been the one to kill her. Maybe that would have been better. There would be someone to remember her sacrifice.

     Something hurt, felt as though someone had carved out a large part of his chest and all that was left was a gaping hole, one that could never be sealed again.

     “Your Majesty! You must come give directions! The Lands are gaining the upper edge; they’ve managed to take down-”

     “Don’t waste your breath. I’m not coming.”

     “But Your Ma-”

     “Leave me.” His voice sounded so hollow, dry.

     If only he had been there to see the Queen of Sky’s frail frame fall from the deck of her ship, gold hair floating around her, dress billowing in the wind as her eyes closed the moment before she hit the rocks. How beautiful it must have been…to have missed it was utterly unbearable.

    She had beaten him. SHE HAD BEATEN HIM. At his own game, the game of shadows, of life and death. He screamed, hand clenching around the slim wrist, threatening to break it.

     What he would have given to have felt her blood flowing through his fingers as her heart stuttered to a stop, so that his face, the face she had been so obsessed with would have been her final memory in this world.

   He clenched his teeth, his hands, suddenly lashing out a punch onto the wall as he let Skye’s body fall back into the casket they had laid her in. And then the King stood, staring at the blood and the dirty, wet white dress before he folded her hands over her chest with surprising gentleness.

     “You won.” He whispered, and the wind blew a little louder on the deck, as though in answer.

     And he bent down, pressing a kiss onto her pale lips, tasting the metallic tang of blood.

    Her skyfall indeed.

 

Reviews

[Wall of Words]

So let's just say you haven't lost your touch shall we? XD I mean, if I describe everything that is incredible about this piece I could very possibly be here for the next century. So... great job with the characters, the love story, the plot, and the sacrifices. You have an amazing talent for portraying people at their best, worst, and most vulnerable.
Incredible job!
Wall of Words

[Kianna]

Dear Lerona Seymour,

Hello, how are you doing today? I was glancing through my newsfeed, looking for a nice piece of literature to read. I saw that Skyfall was the second one on the list and I liked the one word title. So, I thought I would check it out.

I have to admit I was confused towards the end. Here, "God…Skye, have you dispatched a letter to Sean yet? Maybe he can talk Lancaster into some sense, if he isn’t sitting back and enjoying the bloodshed- at the very least, he has got to join our side" made it seem like Sean was far away somewhere, but then, here, "Anger bubbled up inside her already scarred heart as she looked at those cold blue-black eyes, the ebony hair and the idiotic smile she wanted to rip off his face." makes me think Sean just showed up, but there was no indication that he did show up so I was confused as to how he got there all of a sudden.

and here, " Sean felt this was utterly disappointing, as he was currently sitting in Skye’s ship, and watching the war commence beneath and around him. How horrible, to have died for no reason. She…she hadn’t deserved that." Why is Sean in Skye's ship?

and towards the very end, you kept saying he so I'm wondering was that Sean or Skye's best friend?

Also, when a character yells, you don't have to put it in capital letters.

Other than that, I found this absolutely wonderful! At first, when I saw the length, I wanted to hit the back button so bad, but the more I read, the more I just couldn't look away. I felt every emotion of the character, her girlish heart, her rejection, and rejecting. I just thought it was truly great. The plot was nice as well. It reminded me of Elemental Genelade (an anime I love). I don't like many stories, but this has definitely earned a place in my library.

Sincerely JazzSoulKeke,

God bless

[zainul]

This is great work of imagination.
Love it.

[Christoph]

You created a seriously vivid world in a short story, and that's got to be a sign of more than just natural talent. This is really well developed, and wound up also packing a dramatic punch that can be felt.

I'll be reading the rest of your work here, probably tomorrow, when I've got the time to sink my teeth into it.

[Aristella Bellum]

I see what you mean by the characters dying :3 Since I never finish stories, I don't know what I'd do with them... I suppose I'd put a happily-ever-after-ish scenario after a bunch of the characters die xD

[A. L. Allen]

Holy cow Jazz, that was absolutely... AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! What a fantastic way to make another grand entrance onto WC. I absolutely loved the plotline, it carried me effortlessly through the story. The drama behind it all was brilliant, and the imagery was superb.

It was a joy to read. Keep up the fantastic work!! :D

*100*

[Jasmine Thousand]

Thanks Ally! :) Yes. I am finally back onto WC, back to a lifestyle of insane candy banditing. If that's a word. :P