"Lira, the Spymaster, and the Council have been compromised and have orchestrated the disappearance of our beloved champion!"
The hall went dead silent for a moment as the accusation settled. The Queen had just thrown out a verdict against the entirety of the council, and what's more, she had claimed they were the reason that the Champion had disappeared.
Soleah had planned to turn the meeting into a hall of judgment, and Lira knew it. Yet not all was lost; instead of panicking, the spymaster relaxed and smiled.
"Your majesty, you must know that such a jest had no place in this court?"
The queen's face darkened as she turned to Lira, "It is no jest, Spymaster Lira. Thus, I have called the three girls you had noticed to make an entrance."
"Your majesty, you have called your daughter and two maids; I am sure you must have better evidence than their presence?"
A mocking chuckle could be heard from some of the witnesses and even the Grand Cleric. These people disgusted Aqua; they were unworthy of life despite being elves. Anyone who was on Lira's side was compromised.
There must be a limit to how much I can get disappointed, right?
"But of course!" Soleah placed her hand on her chest and raised her hand toward the trio. "You attempted to kill my daughter and poison her tutor."
The news silenced even those snickering nobles; each accusation was heavy, and if proven true, would warrant death.
"I have done no such thing, your majesty. I urge you to provide solid evidence otherwise; even an accusation from you would merely be that!" Lira crossed her arms; she had overestimated Soleah.
The princess raised her hand, "If I may."
Sheira stepped forward, and in her hand she carried rolled-up parchments that contained information about Lira's lies.
She had been hard at work curating and choosing only the information that truly was damning.
After she got mere meters away from the council and the throne, she knelt and presented the scroll to her Mother. "The Spymaster Lira has been feeding us lies; these documents are mere examples of her malicious dealings!"
"Once again, that is no proof." Lira sighed. The royals kept throwing accusations without any cause, as usual. A small smirk played on her lips; this was why elves were inferior.
Aqua crossed her arms and clicked her tongue as she carefully read Lira's expressions. Such hatred was reminiscent of Rolan, yet she provoked even deeper wrath.
The Queen approached her daughter and picked up the document. "In this document, it is said that we have lost many troops against savages… yet we have not heard of it. Why is that?"
Nobody dared answer.
"Because that is false information." Lira calmly responded, yet to Aqua, it was clear she was panicking; the snake had no idea how the princess obtained her correspondence.
"Yet, you hid it even if it's inaccurate. It at best means you are no longer worthy of being the spymaster!" Sheira shouted.
The spymaster reeled back, her hatred evident. "It would be unwise to waste the time of royals with what is obviously false. You must understand it despite your youth!"
Sheira smiled. "Then, why is your information about Red Dawn completely opposite of what I had experienced when travelling there?"
Those words stunned Lira; she had no retort. Seeing the opportunity, Soleah jumped in, "And this." She reached into her dress and retrieved a small vial of purple liquid. "This poison had been given to Lucia in an attempt to poison Aqua, my daughter's attendant and tutor."
She stretched her hand forward and beckoned Lucia forward, "Tell me, is this true?"
An audible gulp escaped Lucia's throat. Her body shook and she fidgeted with her fingers as she stepped forward, "It… it is true, Lady Lira had ordered me to pour that poison into her Highness' attendant's food!"
A chuckle escaped Lira's lips. Despite all the accusations, they did not present a single piece of evidence, not even the documents she could deny.
"Not only has the Spymaster attempted to assassinate my daughter, but she has also sent assassins after me; fortunately, they have failed as I stand before you now."
Even Somah gasped as his eyes widened.
The doubt began to brew; there were far too many accusations to merely sit by. Even Lira could not dismiss those claims when they came from the loved Queen and her daughter.
Yet, Lira was not blind to this; her hand reached inside her dress, and a small emerald glow shone through.
Lira… Aqua bit her lip; she had not been called and was mostly ignored, which worked in her favor. If she had to speak to her, she could tell anger would boil over.
"I say once more, all of these claims require evidence! Such behavior as to accuse me and council without evidence is a trait of tyrants! You merely wish to abolish the council and have free rein in your decisions!" Lira defended herself as she turned to the witnesses.
The rest of the councilors spoke in unison, "The Queen Soleah and King Somah have become tyrants who wish to remove the only entity that prevents abuse of royal power. We, as the council, shall henceforth propose the election of new rulers!"
Somah placed his hand on his forehead and leaned forward; the instability caused by this would be the last thing his kingdom needed.
However, despite that, Soleah was not panicking, "Then, I suppose you won, Lira."
Just as her words left her mouth, the Throneroom door opened, and an elven woman with disheveled, dirty white hair and green eyes made her way into the Throneroom.
Her armor was filthy and her clothing torn, yet her gaze was stern.
It was Azure.
Her sword was drawn as she approached behind Aqua, "I hope you didn't worry about me."
Of course I did. Aqua slumped forward, even though she knew Azure would be fine; it was her nature to worry about someone she cared about.
A small smile formed on Azure's lips as she stepped forward, and the guards that protected the meeting followed closely.
"Ah, Azure is here." Lira grinned, yet Azure stepped next to the Queen. "Lira… no traitor! You have poisoned me and kidnapped me!" Azure drew her sword toward Lira.
The accusation of the victim stung.
"What nonsense are you spouting?!" The spymaster retrieved a small wand from inside her dress.
"I am saying that the council had betrayed us! And I will now exercise my right as the Champion to put the treacherous pigs to the sword!" Azure shouted.
However, Lira merely sighed in disappointment, "How in the world did you break out of mind control? No matter."
"You are all fools; the judgment did not matter. I wanted Soleah gone, and yet my plans keep failing. Behold, lesser creatures. " She raised her hand in the air, and the wand glowed.
Everyone gathered widened their eyes as a spell was activated, yet just as Lira was about to cast, the wand burned in crimson flame.
"Snake…" Aqua's illusion slowly dissolved as her usual military style garb replaced her clothing.
Lira stared at her now-empty hand as the elf approached. Soleah, Sheira, and Azure stepped aside.
While Azure was unaware of the hatred Aqua held against Lira, she could taste it. A gulp reached her ears.
"Each breath you took was due to my mercy alone." Her illusion dissolved completely as a blazing halo formed above her head.
Yet, despite it, she withheld her wings. She had enough self-control not to burn everyone present.
It's a mistake to show myself like this anyway. Although it might have been a mistake, she had cultivated the anger for days; she had to let it out, even if it cost her the disguise.
She would not let Lira survive.
"Lowly elf!" Lira's eyes widened as she fell back. This was the goddess that Rolan had warned her about. She should have listened.
"You dared bare your teeth against those I care about?!"
Lira's eyes carried fear, yet resolve to face whatever was to come. Fanatic, just like everyone in Red Dawn.
"Stand back! You will regret opposi…"
[True Polymorph: Snake], "Become what you truly are." She pointed toward Lira, and the impossibly powerful magics restructured Lira's body, which caused everyone gathered to panic, yet with a cast of [Silence], the entire room fell quiet.
The spymaster's body became long and narrow; she had become a small, harmless snake.
Even Soleah and Azure reeled back at the scene, they knew that Aqua was capable of many things, yet to turn someone into a snake so easily was inconceivable.
It was the power of a god. Somah gripped his throne as he observed the scene before him. The girl before him was what he needed to finally make his kingdom safe.
Aqua stepped forward and grabbed the newly created snake and gripped it tightly as it dangled harmlessly.
"My mercy is vast, yet it is conditional. Those who threaten those I cherish will be crushed in my grip." The snake struggled.
A sigh escaped Aqua's lips as she slammed the polymorphed snake into the ground, and with a crunch, she split it in two.
[Dispel], Aqua ended the polymorph, and the woman before her attempted to crawl away. In the silenced room, only Aqua could speak, yet the fear Lira had shown was as loud as ever.
The woman tried to escape despite half her body being torn away, yet Aqua would not allow her to die so easily. She snapped her fingers and crimson flames cauterized her wounds.
The woman screamed, yet no sound escaped.
"Is it not funny how a lesser race like us can make you feel fear and pain?" Aqua's lips widened into a smile.
Her hand wrapped around the legless Lira's throat and lifted her in front of her. The woman looked like an elf, but she was anything but.
Whatever she did, Aqua could not kill her just yet; after all, Lira was the only lead she had to finalize her 'Anti Rolan Technique'. "You know, you remind me of Rolan, the way I crushed his head was so satisfying~"
Lira's eyes wanted to pop out as she scratched and fought. Yet her hands turned into ash.
"Ah, you knew him? Consider yourself lucky, because you will be incredibly useful for me." The power coursed through the spymaster; it hurt and seared.
The [Silence] fell as Lira's loud screams echoed in the still, stunned room.
"I wonder if this is your real body, or perhaps a mere unfortunate puppet." Her eyes glowed for a moment. "I see you even bear a curse of Misfortune on yourself… such a pathetic excuse of a disciple you are."
Her gurggled screams fell on deaf ears as her body collapsed into itself.
She would not allow Lira to body hop; thus, she would 'Crystalize' her body and trap her soul and mind in an eternal prison.
Lira's skin turned purple, then pale blue as her body shrank more. The screaming and struggling stopped as she turned into a large Emerald crystal.
Aqua caught it in her hand, and she brought it to her ear as it vibrated. "Ah, your screams truly are a melody."
With a satisfied exhale, she threw 'Lira' into her pocket dimension for later study, then she turned to Soleah, Lucia, Azure, and everyone present.
Everyone wore the face of absolute fear; she had to fix it. If elves were to fear her, then she would have considered it a truly terrible loss.
"You might have seen me in the palace recently. I preferred not to interfere with your dealings and politics; however, a terrible enemy had forced my hand. You mustn't fear me, I am your ally." She bowed deeply.
Aqua stopped, yet nobody dared speak. Her words did not stir anyone's heart; after all, the sheer power she had displayed would make anyone wary.
Only a certain white haired elf stepped forward. "This woman is the heroine of the elves; she is the reason we know about Lira's plot to weaken our nation!"
Her eyes widened as Azure winked at her. She did not expect anyone to jump to her aid.
Thank you… Aqua blushed slightly.
Somah pushed himself up, "I see I will have a lot more questions to ask our apparent hero, but first." The king turned to the cowering councilors. "The council had colluded with Lira to undermine our nation; thus, they are to be arrested and put into the dungeons until it is certain they were unwilling puppets! At once!"
With the king's order, the guards who followed Azure stepped forward and took the traitors away without any resistance.
However, despite his authority, he shuddered. Aqua was powerful, and she merely pretended to be a servant; he would need to question her. Yet his answer came from his wife. "My King, I am sure you will have the opportunity to talk; however, let us make an important declaration!"
Somah coughed into his hand and spoke, "Due to the council's dealings, the institution is no longer fit to administer decisions for the betterment of our nation; thus, I, King Somah, abolish the council until suitable candidates have been found to replace the traitors!"
The room was silent, everyone was still in a state of shock, yet Soleah was the first to clap, which prompted Sheira and Lucia, who were quickly followed by Aqua and every witness that was gathered.
The influence of Red Dawn has been cut down in the court of the Elven King.