Whispers of a Dead Empire

Calixa POV

When I awoke, it was with tears in my eyes. The memory haunted me. The pain was all too real. She wouldn't die, and it hurt me to watch that. Why wouldn't she stay dead? I was close to sobbing from the pain I felt in my heart.

"Empress?" Words gently touched my ear, and I recognized it. With a cry, I reached up and wrapped my arms around her. Aware of how much more solid she felt under me.

"Alessia, you fucking idiot!" I cried as I pulled her as close to me as I could. Why, why would she die for me? Why would she risk her life for me like that? It wasn't fair. I don't deserve someone like that.

I couldn't even see the amount of tears that were pouring from my eyes. But I could hear her shift uncomfortably under my onslaught. Her arms went around me as I cried into her chest like an idiot. The walls that held back the tide of sadness and despair broke and clashed with the relief and happiness that I felt now that she was finally awake.

She held me close as I sat there, sobbing into her like a child. I've been so emotional lately, and it's infuriating. It made me feel vulnerable, and that alone made me uncomfortable.

I felt her hands run up and down my back as I held her for dear life. Thankfully, my heartbeat slowed, and my tears dried a bit, but it took what felt like an eternity. "Alessia, I swear to you that I'll kill you myself if you do something as stupid as that again." I pulled away from her, and wiped away some of the excess tears pouring down my face, hoping that my gaze was filled with daggers to get my point across.

Her face looked more human-like than before, and this time it held a small smirk. That stupid, confident smile. "I understand, Empress."

Without hesitation, I grabbed her shirt and pulled her towards me, mashing my lips against hers. Something that I've been aching to do for so long but haven't. My stomach fluttered, as did my heart, with each passing second. Until I broke the kiss to take a breath. "I was so scared you weren't going to wake up." I sniffled slightly and pulled away, feeling slightly ashamed of my outburst.

"Now, Empress, not even death will keep me from you." She gazed at me with such happiness that it made my heart jump in my chest. I didn't deserve someone like her. My heart ached in so many ways. Especially after I watched her die in my dreams. It wasn't fair.

I leaned forward again and chose just to wrap my arms around her. I wasn't sure what to say nor do in this situation. The act of being romantically involved with someone was alien. Have I had feelings for someone before? Yes, but to be in a functional relationship was something that I hadn't experienced before in any real capacity. Just various one-night stands and a slew of failed relationships. But this was something else, and I was terrified to lose it, and above all else, I was terrified to lose her. "Please don't leave me again." The words came out in almost a quiet whimper as I sat there on the bed, pressing against her.

"Never." Her arms came around me and held me there as I basked in the feeling of acceptance, yet the memories of what I saw lingered there. Her death haunted me, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her I saw it. In a way, it felt like I was violating her privacy, which I didn't want to do.

I opened my eyes and looked across the bedroom and saw that Nyx was still deeply asleep, curled up happily in the blankets. A part of me was happy that she didn't see that. Not that I was bothered by the idea, it's just that it would lead to questions that I didn't quite know how to answer right now. I've never had to deal with telling a child that I was romantically involved with someone, and right now, it didn't seem like it was important.

I pushed away from Alessia, sat back in my chair, and wiped away the rest of the tears, unsure of what to do next. Instead, some notifications appeared in the corner of my vision and were blinking violently, begging me to pay attention to them. With a quick gesture, I opened it and looked it over, and shuffled away from the notifications about the new undead that I had unlocked.

My eyes lingered on the text for a moment as I digested what I had just read. Alessia just received a promotion and is now a zone boss. Which made her one of the single most powerful entities in the domain. I also received one, and I seemed to have skipped a tier.

Fuck, I wasn't ready to pick a new class milestone yet. I wasn't in a good mental state for that. I dismissed the screen with a heavy sigh, resolving myself to come back to it in a day or so, once I was feeling better. That way I could make a more educated choice on the matter instead of just rushing into things.

But I was also curious now about Alessia. She had a tier promotion, so she had a new class now, and I was curious about it. I quickly sorted through the menus and came to her and saw that the undead war maiden class had vanished and was replaced with 'lady of the flowing blade.' I grew curious and decided to ply further into it upon reading that.

Lady of the Flowing Blade: A rare class, only given to those who lack any sort of magic, and instead look inwards and focus solely on their martial prowess. The weapons they wield become extensions of themselves as they dedicate their lives to the pursuit of the blade, with some even able to use their souls to extend the range and power of their weapons.

That looked like a mighty class, and it felt like something that she would choose. I dismissed the screen and decided to just turn my attention back to Alessia and take a second to just marvel at the differences. Her flesh was more tangible and had a slight caramel hue, yet it was still pale as if she didn't get enough sunlight. Even when I touched her, while her flesh felt as cold as ever, it felt slightly warmer than it had before. She felt more alive than she ever was before.

"So, are we going to do something, or are you just going to ogle me all day?" Her voice yanked me from my thoughts, and I felt a tiny bit of heat rise to my cheeks, but I couldn't stop myself from retorting.

"So, what if I do? Are you going to stop me?" I teased her back, trying to fight back the wave of embarrassment that was coursing through me.

"Who said I was going to?" Her words came out as a sensual purr as she reached up to one button on her uniform and undid it, revealing the upper portion of her cleavage.

I felt my heart jump in my chest as my eyes lingered on her breast. I watched as her hand slowly dropped to the next button, and I swallowed slowly. In my mind, I begged her to undo the next button. But I reached out and stopped her. "Stop, Nyx is here," I whispered as I let my hand linger on her uniform before pulling her into a kiss to stop her from replying. "However, I'll deal with you later," I growled quietly in her ear as I pulled away and tried to calm my heart rate a bit.

"Of course Empress." She purred once more as her hand fell back down. For a few seconds, our gazes lingered on each other before the emotion in her eyes vanished and was replaced with a more severe side. "Anyway, what have I missed?"

"Well, Rikard is currently in a coma, and the first legion has been devastated. We are scheduled to have a funeral tomorrow before Octavian departs on the crusade." I recounted everything that had occurred while she was out. Strangely enough, the amount of pain that I felt the first time I heard it had vanished now that I had Alessia here. It was like her presence alone made me feel like I could deal with it.

Her face fell a bit, and she nodded her head. "I see. Well, there is much work to be done." With fluid grace, she got out of the bed, and her feet hit the ground with an audible plop.

I stood up and placed my hands on her shoulders as I felt a more protective instinct take over. "No, you just woke up. I won't allow you to strain yourself."

"Empress. I'm alright. I promise." She spoke up and rested her hands against mine.

"You just woke up from being in a coma. I refuse to let you wander around. What if you get strained and fall back asleep? What if you get hurt again?" I barraged her with questions as I forced her back onto the bed as gently as I could without waking up Nyx.

"Empress, I promise I'll be okay. If I feel anything, I'll tell you right away, okay?" She gazed up at me, imploring me with her eyes.

I gazed back as I tried to find some sort of excuse to make her stay and take care of herself. But I also knew that this was the most that I could get Alessia to settle on. "Fine. As long as you tell me." I relented, taking the minor victory, and stepped back so she could stand up.

"Empress, where is your mask?" She paused mid-step towards the door, and I shrugged. I didn't really care about it at the moment since all the adventurers were out of the domain. That, and I haven't really left her side long enough to clean it.

"I'll be okay with it for now. Anyway, let's take a walk and get all this stuff done. Nyx should be awake when we get back." With the palatines here, I could leave Nyx in the guest suites since I trusted them just as much as I trusted Alessia.

"As you wish, Empress." She nodded, and we both walked over to the door. But just as we reached it, I stopped and turned my attention to my dearest Alessia.

"You forgot something." I reached out and quickly redid the button that she undid. "Mine." I gave her a quick wink as I spun around and opened up the door for her, ready to get everything going once more now that I had her back. But a thought now hung in the back of my mind. Alessia, Nyx, and Kharon were the most important people in my life. They kept me stable. What would I be without them?