Crystalla
The Fate of the Lion Prince

Hazel walked into the teleportation chamber and pointed her blades toward the teleport operator. As she did, Anya ran up to the glass screen in the observation room.

"Teleport me to this command centre I've heard about, now" Hazel frowned as she held the blades in the air. The operator looked at Anya, confused and frightened.

"Do it..." Anya sighed, before looking at Hazel. "Please just leave him alone" She pleaded.

"As long as he teleports me there, I will" Hazel shrugged as she stepped onto the pad. "Oh, and I have compromised your systems, so your little warning to your friends didn't go through" She shrugged, as the operator turned the dials on the console.

Hazel disappeared in a flash of light, as she did the operator fell to his knees in relief.

Hazel materialised in the misty woods of the Underworld.

"This is the command centre?" Hazel shrugged. "I should have killed that damn operator..." She grunted, the sound of leaves crunching underfoot nearby alerted her to another person's presence.

From the thick mist, Rory stepped out, deck in the Crown Prince's tattered golden armour, and the blade he had once wielded, Cruelty.

"Oh, it's the failed Prince" Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Don't think I can't see your dark soul in there, Rychard" Rory growled as he readied the blade. Hazel's eyes widened in surprise, as she looked around.

"What is this place?" Hazel asked, keeping her blades at the ready.

"The Underworld, soon to be your resting place. The Judges have seen fit for me to be the one to punish you" Rory bared his teeth as he grinned. "You think to imitate someone more worthy than yourself..." He chuckled.

"I am the saviour" Hazel shook her head.

"You are a joke, a bad one at that" Rory shrugged, before lunging at Hazel, Hazel deflected the first hit, and sent several Celestial Blades flying at Rory, but Rory dodged them all and fired a blast of energy knocking Hazel from her feet.

"Your punishment shall be swift!" Rory laughed as he charged once more at Hazel, and swung his blade down, as he did Hazel rose her sword and blocked the attack, before stabbing his leg with one of the floating blades.

"Argh!" Rory grunted, as he fell backwards and Hazel rose to her feet.

"You were always a terrible fighter, Rory" Hazel shrugged. "All bark, no bite, pathetic really" She grinned.

"If this is it, I'm glad to be sent to my eternal rest at last" Rory shrugged.

"You are fine with me killing Roisin?" Hazel questioned Rory as she held the blade to his throat.

"Hah" Rory smirked. "I may be a terrible fighter, but Roisin isn't. She will end you and your little attempt at heroism" He said as he moved closer to the blade. Hazel grunted as she tightened her grip on the sword.

"Glory will be mine" Hazel shook her head.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Rory asked. "Though, I never did either, until I met her..." He shrugged.

"What's to get?" Hazel asked.

"Being a Hero isn't about glory. It's about doing the right thing, not by any means, but doing what you can, for as many people as you can. You justify your sins by weighing it against the greater good, but those sins are sins all the same. You're not a hero, you're a villain" Rory explained, with a grin on his face. "It's not just Roisin either. Ariel, Ashe, Dexter, Atlas. They're all heroes and have that which you lack, and will always lack. Respect for all life" Rory grinned, as he grabbed the Celestial Blade with his hand.

"What a reductive world view. No wonder you never amounted to anything" Hazel shrugged, as she thrust the blade through Rory's neck. As Rory began to pass, he kept eye contacted with Hazel and almost seemed to mock her with a grin, as the life slipped away, Hazel was engulfed with light as the transport beam returned. Within seconds, she found herself in the teleport chamber of the Chamber of the Council.

She stepped out as the chatter from the great hall grew louder and louder, to a point where it was almost deafening.

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