Velhall Palace
Oitylon [capital city], Ravelous [planet], Despæ [star system]
22 December; 13:24:33 Hours
“<Your father,” a deep, raspy voice bellowed through the dimly lit war room chambers, “is one of the smartest individuals I have had the pleasure of getting to know, and it is truly my pleasure to forge this alliance with Wendale…Archangel.>”
Dax slowly looked up from the table, her eyes glowing blue as her nostrils flared and she locked eyes with the monstrous Throx who sat across from her. “<It is ONLY because of my father that Wendale entertains you.>”
“<Now, Archangel…Wait, wait, or am I to call you Princess?>”
Dax’s hands clenched and she went to shoot up from her chair when Kaendra placed her hand on Dax’s shoulder. Throx let out a deep bellowing laugh as a smirk cracked over his face, watching her struggle to keep her composure as she returned her attention to the digital treaty in front of her. She just stared at it for what felt like a growing eternity before Kaendra leaned in beside Dax’s ear, and she whispered, “<Please, Princess… Dax - You must, your father will not tolerate another failure.>”
With her left hand over her mouth, Dax briefly glanced out the corner of her eye to Kaendra before she yet again looked back at the treaty. She sat back in her chair, feeling the rage rushing through her body as she took everything in. But Dax then let out a sigh, and glared at Throx who continued to smirk and she finally gave in.
“<Now this,>” she told him, “<This is purely the will of my father; nothing more, nothing less.>”
Throx tilted his head slightly and leaned forward just an inch as he watched Dax place her hand on the Tether table which initiated a biometric signature scan. Various displays popped up around her hand; Dax’s handprint before individual displays of each fingerprint, her pulse, identification photos, a sovereignty certificate from Wendale, and finally retina scans. After several seconds, everything collapsed into the thumbprint before it was transferred and uploaded to the treaty.
“<Today is a historic day,>” Throx chuckled, placing his hand atop the Tether with his biometric signature initiating. “<You and I, we bring together the uncontested mights of the universe,>” and as the displays collapsed into his thumb, uploading to the treaty where it finalized, “<From one corner across the ocean of stars to the other… They will all know soon that tomorrow is OURS!>”
Though a high-pitched screech let out as Dax stood up, her chair quickly pushed back and she turned to leave. Throx looked upon her defiance and yet he continued to smile, leaning back in his chair as it creaked. “<Leaving so soon? And after possibly the most monumental moment in the history of us all?>”
“<The treaty is complete,” she hissed, “and so is my reason for being here.>”
“<Heh, what a shame…>”
“<Ohhhhh, I’m sure it is.>”
“<You see, I have a very special guest who’s attending the ball tonight - One you won’t want to miss.>”
Dax turned back to him, her eyes narrowed almost to a close as she watched his face for the slightest of tells. “<A, a special guest?>”
“<Oh yes,” he bellowed, “one not worth missing.>”
***
Several hours later…
“<Princess—” Kaendra tried to say but Dax cut her off, gently grabbing Kaendra’s bicep as she smiled.
“<Kaendra, please, call me Dax. You and I have known one another since we were little girls, I may be one of the four Princesses of Wendale and you my detail but we’re friends.>”
“<Oh-okay,” she stumbled, “Prin… I, I mean Dax, please listen to reason.>”
“<Reason?>”
“<Yes, everything in my soul is telling me that Throx is baiting you into a trap.>”
“<A trap? He wouldn’t. He’s not stupid, Kaendra.>”
“<He’s a monster, Dax!>”
Dax finished putting on her baby blue dress that had only one strap while it wrapped around the front of her chest, covering her breasts while her stomach was uncovered and the dress hung down to her ankles. She turned to Kaendra, her eyes sunken just slightly as she whispered, “<I am aware, but if he were to attempt anything at all, my father would rain the wrath of Aaela down upon the Depth - Not even the Defiler of Thrones could withstand such.>”
“<May, may I speak freely?>” Kaendra asked as she looked down to her right, refusing to make eye contact with Dax.
“<Always.>”
“<The King, your father has led you into Beelezika’s wrath already… What says this is not another time but with the Defiler of Thrones?>”
Dax’s nostrils flared as she pointed her finger at Kaendra. “<Don’t call him that!>”
“<The Defiler of Thrones? B-but that’s what he i-is—”
“<Theo! His name is Theo, not Beelezika!>”
Kaendra’s left eye squinted, her head clocked back as she took a slight step back. She sized Dax up and down before uttering, “<Y-you didn’t escape him, did you?>”
“<Wha-what are you talking about?>”
“<Dax, did you escape him as you initially told us?>”
“<This, it, it, it doesn’t matter… We, uh, we have to get to the bah—”
“<DAX,” Kaendra snapped, “did you, or did you not escape HIM?>”
Her eyes closed tightly as she folded her arms, then she slowly opened them as tears welled up and she looked Kaendra in her eyes. “<I, I found during my time with Theo that… that he is not the fiend we have been told to believe.>”
“<Dax, he, he’s a murderer! He’s killed hundreds of thousands if not millions… Dax, puh-please, he’s slaughtered children! He is an unredeemable blight!>”
“<And we’re so different?>”
“<Excuse me?>”
“<Kaendra, everything you’ve just branded him with is undeniable to varying degrees BUT are we— Is Wendale any different? My father continues the expansion of our sovereignty every single day, crushing all dissidence and wiping out whatever he perceives as a threat… How are we any different than Theo?>”
A silence fell over the chambers, followed by a staticky thickness while Kaendra’s eyes slowly drifted away from Dax.
“<It’s okay.>”
“<Wha-what’s okay?>” she quickly asked, her head perked up as she watched Dax walk to the doors.
“<I think we knew this day was coming for a while now,>” Dax confessed, opening the chamber’s door before walking out and leaving Kaendra standing alone as the door closed behind her.
***
Moments later…
The sound of strings, violins, and cellos sang through the colossal ballroom of the palace as guests danced around the marble center floor. Royals and various leaders of numerous gangs and black markets were those in attendance, who congregated around as well as sat at their dining tables that rippled out from the edge of the dance floor. The massive double doors cracked and creaked as they opened, and a bright light shined in before a silhouette came into view.
A trumpet blared before a royal presenter erupted, “<The Princess and Archangel of the Sovereign Kingdom of Wendale, Dax Qrow!>”
All eyes turned from one another to the entrance where Dax entered. Her arms folded in front of her chest, she glanced around and saw many of familiar faces, most of whom had been at war with her home world but now they smiled at her. An extremely uneasy feeling rushed over Dax as the thought that she was without a royal escort grew larger and larger in the back of her head. However, as she stood just within the ballroom and the doors closed behind her, Dax’s eyes narrowed with the realization that those who she knew as enemies now looked at her as an ally.
Dax hesitantly made her way through the ballroom, passing crime lord after gangster who either nodded to her or bowed. She forced out a smile to them before she heard a voice call to her.
“<Princess,” the soft voice said and Dax turned to find a pink-haired woman curtsying, “you look absolutely stunning.>”
“<Thank you,>” she smiled. “<Forgive me, but I don’t believe I know who you are.>”
“<No need for forgiveness, Princess - I am Gadreeha, Conqueror of the Eternal Eight Swordsmen. Of course, a nobody in the presence of the Archangel of Wendale.>”
Dax’s bottom lip quivered. Her eyes dilated despite trying to control herself, as she could not believe who she was in the presence of. “<Y-you, you are Gadreeha?>”
“<Yes, Princess…Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.>”
“<I, I am o-okay. I, I just did not know I would be in the presence of legend.>”
“<Please, you flatter me.>”
“<I’m not attempting to flatter you, I mean what I’ve said.>”
Gadreeha smiled, and tilted her head slightly to the side as she placed her hand on Dax’s hip. “<Well, I am very gracious then.>”
“<May I ask why you are here amongst these bottom feeders?>”
“<I could ask the same of you, Heiress to the most powerful military might in the U…>”
Dax quickly bowed her head. “<Forgive me.>”
“<No, no, you are okay… I’ve heard a very intriguing rumor, that is what brings me here.>”
“<A rumor?>” Dax whispered with her eyes narrowing.
“<Yes,” Gadreeha leaned in beside Dax’s ear as she told her, “the Defiler of Thrones has a guest of honor who will truly place the favor of the U in his corner.>”
Dax’s heart started to race as she heard Gadreeha while simultaneously the crowd before them had parted enough that she could see across the ballroom, her mouth opened slightly as she saw Throx and another. She couldn’t believe her eyes and she gasped, “<Theo…>”