On her fourth night of sneaking out, Shila finds a library covered in vines and moss. It's hidden in a cottage between two buildings, both of medium length and offering just enough coverage that you would have to look around to discover the small library. The door creaks and dust falls onto her hood along with chips of wood, a piece almost falling into her eyes had she not looked down quickly. Shila took a step in silently and slowly closed the library door, pondering over whether she should remove her hood or keep it on. For any possible spider appearances, she decides to keep it on. 

Sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the room is a golden book in between several other black and red books. Shila doesn't allow a single moments of consideration before she grabs the book and slowly opens the first page.

"It's blank?" She mutters, searching the rest of the book until it was done. There hadn't been a single page filled in. Perhaps she'd particularly noticed this book not only because it glowed but because every-single piece of it was gold. The sheets were gold, the outer lining was gold, and the only thing that wasn't gold, was the gem in the middle. A transparent light-blue gem that was circular until the top where it twisted into two separate deer-like horns.

But, why was it blank?

"It's about time, princess."

"Ah!"

"Oh, don't be dramatic."

Shila fumbled with the book, struggling to place it back in it's spot when the old woman huffed and reached for the book, prying it from the girls hands. Shila let out a small squeak, stepping as far away as she can from the woman and pulling down her hood further to try and shield her identity. However, her attempts to hide her identity were fruitless when the brown haired woman rolled her eyes and placed the golden book on a table.

"No point, princess. I've been watching you these past few years."

Hey, what's happening?

Creepy lady has been watching me for years!

What?

"Wh-Who are you?" Shila yelped when something pulled her hood down, though when she turned around there was nothing. Then something forced her cloak off of her and fearing someone was trying to rob her or harm her, she whipped her head from side-to-side to find whoever was doing this.

"Don't bother looking, that's my doing." The woman sighed and waved her hand, Shila's cloak heading towards her at the command. Shila seemed to be yelping and shrieking a lot today.

"I demand who you are!"

"And you're spoiled, splendid." The brunette rolled her eyes and gestured to the outfit of the princess, littered with silver and gold linings. The old woman gave her a look that made her feel like an idiot, and rightfully so. Travelling outside the castle with jewelry or expensive-looking clothes basically made her a target for robbery. Perhaps that was happening right now.

"Are you robbing me?"

"Heavens, no." She laughed and sat down, gesturing for the princess to do the same. Shortly after several internal battles, Shila agreed and placed herself in the seat across from the woman. She spent the next few moments with her hands placed in her lap, lips pursed tightly and eyes darting to every exit and window there was. Only for each and every single one of them to close up, and for the entire room to darken with several lit candles.

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die. This is like one of the scary stories the duke would always say- this is my punishment for being a bad girl and sneaking out, I'm sorry father, I won't do it again!"

"Be quiet!" The woman hissed and huffed, wrapping cold digits around the princess's forearm in a way that made Shilas arm go numb. Slowly, the rest of her body began to go numb and Shila panicked though it only took a few more seconds for her entire body to be washed over with some kind of calm-

Come to me.

What was that? She breathed, steam (or what she thinks is steam) blowing out of her mouth. She's not cold at all, more warm if anything. Everything begins to shape around her, and there's a blinding moment where she's in a room with gold, a mountain of it along with jewels and gemstones and luxurious carpets. 

But amongst all this treasure and wealth, atop the mountain, rest's a golden throne not unlike all the other one's her father has gone through. Though, it isn't he who rest's on this throne, neither her mother, brother, uncles and aunts or anyone she'd ever known.

Their style is different, sandals littered with several miniature glittering gems that could easily be mistaken for stars. A golden and beige robe that falls over the shoulders of the figure and a golden and red dress that clings to her neck but is loose over the rest of her body. It's as long as her ankles and has long open sleeves.

The most captivating thing of all was the necklace the woman wore, about the same size as Shilas palm, was an exact copy of the gem in the golden book. This time, however, it was filled with colour of green with the antlers being blue and yellow.

She could all but speak her next words, "Who are you?"

The woman grinned yet that was as far as she could see, the earrings just barely showing as they dangled. The princess wondered if the woman had some kind of obsession with gold. Well, she loves gold, too so it's not as if she has any place to judge.

"Who am I?" Giggled, the woman. "Come now, you see me everyday!"

"I think I'd notice if I did." There's absolutely no way she would have missed a woman so beautiful, "You have a nice necklace."

Her cheeks burned when she realized she'd spoken out loud. The woman only giggled once more. Then something appeared in the woman's hands as if it had popped out of thin air, and Shila identified it once more as the same fruit from before. That cursed fruit that brought trouble whenever it seemed to collide with her.

Do not refuse me.

And suddenly she was back in the old and worn cottage, in the same spot, with her hood back on.

And the old woman was gone, the touch of fingertips on her forearm a mere linger.

"What..." A shaking limb reached up to touch her chest, "just happened?"

~

"Here you go," The princess mutters, a soft smile on her face as she lowers her hands onto the window frame. Bird after bird arrived to eat from her cupped palms, tweeting and singing her happy songs that seemed to only strengthen the smile on her face. 

She giggled a little when a bird tripped over its small feet, it's blue and yellow wings fluttering in a panic to recover from it's misstep. When it finished the last of the food in her palms it jumped up and flew away into the tree right beside her window towards it's nest where several hatchlings tweeted for food.

Shila turned away when two little boys burst into her rooms, running after one another with mischievous laughs, chasing each other with what appeared to be knives. The princess shrieked at her little brothers, scolding them but relenting when one of the maids chased after the boys. Not long after, Shila herself began to laugh when the boys screamed with horror and began running from the maid.

"What an eventful morning..." She smiled.

Don't avoid me.

Her lips thinned. 'what?'

I said, it's evening over here. you're on the other side of the world?

Oh, yoi-guy... She smiled more broadly than before, well, I'm guessing. It's so beautiful in the morning over here... are the mornings at sea ever beautiful?

Oh yeah, he chuckled, the sound making her blush but if he noticed he didn't comment on it. Always. There's never a morning that isn't beautiful unless it's after a party, taking care of my hungover brothers isn't exactly something I enjoy doing in the morning.

I see-

Though, hearing your voice in the morning has always been a nice treat.

Like a fish, Shila's mouth opened and closed consistently until she covered her hands with her face, the uncontrollable red only adding to her embarrassment.

~

"Utopia?" Shila paused at the word in her textbook, trying to remember what the meaning for such a word was. Had she even learned it's definition?

What was she confusing it with... what is that word?

Yoi-guy?

At your service, my queen.

She smiled, do you know what Utopia means?

Utopia, huh? That's the opposite of dystopia, right-

Ah! Dystopia! That's what I was thinking, thank you.

Anytime, just don't burst my eardrums, next time.

Sorry!

He laughed and bid her farewell, his colours bright and happy. Good luck with your work, strange-girl.

And she returned, flipping her pen back over and jotting down the meaning of dystopia

A state or society where there is great injustice- where everything is unrealistic. Or, people are dehumanized and stripped of everything in order to fit into a created system (current society).

Her teacher returned thirty minutes later, skimming over each word and nodding with approval. When she passed the final word and praised Shila, the princess halted her before she could leave and asked a question.

"What's your idea of a Utopia?"

The woman crossed her arms and pondered for a moment before speaking once she'd found her answer.

Shila turned blue.

"A world where more men like your father, are king."

You know, A sudden voice startled her, only asking the small questions and beating around the bush will only make the end result more painful.

Who are you? Shila replied, trying her best to act natural while walking down the halls towards the back yard. She didn't receive an answer and though she waited, it still didn't come.

She was feeling agitated, scared, and picking random pieces of grass wasn't working so she called upon the only person she could talk to at the moment.

You called for me, milady?

Don't do that, She blushed then shook her head. Hey, yoi-guy, what's your perfect world?

He didn't even hesitate to answer her. I'm living in it.

Oh... I see.

Well, she found some solace in knowing that.

You okay, strange-girl?

I am. She breathed, then realized lying wasn't exactly a good idea when both of their emotions were practically on display. I'm just confused, is all.

About what?

Everything. I've been living a whole lie my entire life- no, I haven't even been living. Every night I go down to the town, all I hear is negatives about my family. Even from the rich- they only seem to care that my fathers ways benefits them. I just...

She didn't even realize tears had collected in her eyes until one had fallen down onto the grass.

I can't believe I've been living so happily while others are suffering.

There will always be people who suffer, yoi.

But, I can help them. Wouldn't you?

I'm a pirate, it's not really my job to do so. She frowned with disappointment. But, yes. Pop's has raised me to be kind. Though, your situation is different, isn't it? You are in a high status where you live, and you have the ability to help everyone, yoi. The question is, will you?

She inhaled deeply.

Come to me

Yes, I will.

~

The fruit was gone.

She shivered in the dungeon room where she'd fought the giant creature, the dried blood still across the walls. Swallowing thickly, she stepped over the creature's corpse and was about to go through one of the up-opened doors when something gleamed in the corner of her eye. With a gag, she raised her hand and covered her mouth before jumping over the severed creatures head.

It seemed to fit in her hand so perfectly, it's weight so balanced and the texture so beautiful. A gleam in her eyes sparkled brighter when the golden dragons wrapped around her finger, moving and fitting themselves firmly around her wrist. She turned the sword around to view the hilt and sure enough, the same name was plastered on it.

"I'm going to keep you," She smiled, "the gold looks really nice, too."

The next room she entered was what she assumed to be the cell room. So was the next, and the next one after that as well. The most frightening part was all the writing on the walls, most she understood but there was one room that had glowing red marks of some kind of language. She memorized some of it to write down later, to perhaps search the library and possibly find and records of such a language.

The final room led to a staircase that twisted around and up and without much thought, Shila walked all the way up the stairs. It took her three minutes to scale all of them, but at the end of the steps she froze.

Come to me.

There on the ground, curled up by a small creature, remained the beautiful purple and orange fruit. It wasn't until now where she'd gotten a perfect image of the creature, that she realized it was something from her fairy tales. Stories her father read to her at night when he'd had time- when he wasn't angry and was rather calm. The nightly hours always suited her father better.

When he would read the story, she would see pictures painted of a reptile and snake-like creature. As a little girl she had once cowered from it, but when her father merely smiled and told her the story of his young warrior days, where the snake-like creature saved him in fatal moments- the final moment where he had won a war and the creature had swooped in to fight of the opponent's dragon, the final moment that defended his role as the king.

He called it a basilisk, and she beamed at the story.

But this, this was a baby. It's wings were barely visible, too small to hold up it's weight and its scales hadn't fully covered it's body. Suddenly, Shila felt a rush of dread fall over her when she realized that the Basilisk she had killed had been the little one's mother. She walked closer and instead of hissing at her like she thought the creature would, it quietly lifted it's head and looked at her with watery eyes. It had been crying.

It curled around the fruit tighter, and the princess wondered if it was like a teddy bear to the young reptile.

"Hey..." Her voice was soft, like a mother stroking her child. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't know... will you let me help you?"

Without even trying to withhold it, it dropped its head down onto the concrete floors and began to whimper. Shila couldn't help but grit her teeth together and paused in her spot, looking down at the ground. They both remained like that for a moment before something scaly rubbed against her legs and she flinched. She opened her eyes and stared at the creature with shock, struggling to believe that it liked her.

But then it separates and walks in a circle before lifting the fruit that was wrapped around it's tail and seeming to present it to her.

Let me help you, my queen.

Was it the baby Basilisk speaking?

My power shall be yours to enjoy.

No, it was the fruit. It was... calling to her.

An overwhelming feeling of desire filled her like a rush of gold, so raw that it nearly brought her down to her knees. With the sword in her hand, she gradually raised it and quickly sliced a piece of the fruit off, hesitating for only a moment.

What are you doing, yoi?

She ate the fruit.

Nothing.

You're lying.

She blushed, I ate the fruit.

And as the man began scolding her, she realized the mistake of her decision. The stupidity of it and why she had avoided it before hand, before being blinded by the lustful feeling that consumed her to devour the fruit.

𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆,𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕,𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕

𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉,𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅,𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔,𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔.

King Noxus Demacia had once told her a story as a kid. And though she loved the creature in the tale at first glance, her father despised it.

"This creature is an evil, one that must never be discovered again."

"But father, it's so beautiful." She giggled but immediately halted at her fathers expression, eyes wide and gleaming with anger. With a whimper, she settled under her bedsheets. No matter what creature her father showed, he would always be the scariest when angered.

"This vile creature tried to destroy my fathers kingdom."

"Grandfather's?"

"Grandfather's."

"But why?" She frowned, "That's not okay."

He smiled, suddenly relaxed. "The people had begun stepping out of line, and when my father tried to put them in their place, they unleashed this creature against him. The castle had burned down that day, but he used his power to seal it away into an object. Though, I wont tell you what that object is until you're older."

"Aww, but why?" She huffed, "What if I eat it to help you, father."

His hand reached up to ruffle her hair, and with a closed-eyed smile the king spoke with a deep chuckle that sounded almost menacing.

"You wont, Shila. Otherwise, I'd have to kill you."

She swallowed thickly.

"I'm only kidding." Relief flooded her and she giggled.

"So silly, father."

"You rest now. I'll read you another story tomorrow." He stood and left the room, and green eyes followed his back until it disappeared behind the doors.

"Papa..." She frowned, "You weren't kidding, were you?"

She sniffed as water collected in her eyes.

"You weren't kidding with mama, either. She said she liked that creature too and then you..."

"He's..."

Feeling sick, she fell to her knees and vomited on the concrete surface.

He's going to kill me if he finds out.

"killed her, because she hid it away."

She would follow the same fate of her mother.

Not if I have anything to do with it, yoi. Yoi-guy growled, Tell me where you live, I want to help you, yoi.

No, Shila refused and wiped her mouth. I'm going to hide this power and learn to control it. Once I learn how to, I'll save everyone.

How, yoi?

And suddenly the hatred she felt that day when she was six, watching as her father ordered her mothers execution, coursed through her once more.

I'm going to reclaim my kingdom.

Chapter done!

Eid Mubarak to everyone whether it's today, tomorrow or after tomorrow for you I send my best regards to you all. 

I've got some nice plans for this story, so I hope you guys look forward to it. Now then, do you want this to be a short-length, medium-length, or long story?

If you want to join my discord server comment here and I'll send you the link!

Thanks for reading!

~LamaXebecs