Steadfast Defender

                       Title: Steadfast Defender

Prompt ——❝ You're the heir to the

                               kingdom of a mythical race

                               bordering on extinction. You aren't

                               content with being a pretty

                               figurehead for the people to gossip

                               about. No one knows but you're

                               one of the people fighting on the

                               front lines against those killing

                               off your people. ❞

——❝ #QOTPerm

Clarification/Trigger warning

                      So, just to make it clear, I used the word

                      sanctum in the sense of “refuge,” not in

                      the religious sense.

                      Annnnnnd one little cuss word :speak_no_evil:

No Game No Life — Empty

             For added :sparkles: 𝒶𝓂𝒷𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 :sparkles: feel free to listen

              to the soundtrack

Word count: 923

——🗡🛡

"You're special," we were told growing up. We were sheltered among the chosen and gathered together like precious stones. Our milky skin, like crystallite, and bright eyes, like a nebula, made us a treasure among humans. We were treated like the finest refined gold.

But it all ended on that fated day.

Ear-splitting screams ran through our sanctum as monsters poured in from a void in the sky. Men came in, riding on the backs of serpents with wings. They breathed fire and roared a putrid breath. It was like death had taken home within them.

With no means of defence, we could only hide and wait for the calamity to . But it only grew stronger. The assault was never-ending. Hell rained down like acid, burning up all living. We had to flee, lest we wished to lay down our lives. I gathered a few brave, and we readied our weapons: sharpened nebulite and diamond horns with our magic spinning wildly. We set out and ran through the city, shooting down dragons, stabbing and breaking the humans that got in our way.

The true monsters who destroyed our home.

Many were lost, and even more were left behind. Brothers, sisters and friends who didn't the madness; the elderly who couldn't even stand from their chairs, fated to their collapsing houses; the children still crying for help as we ed by.

With our land behind us, crushed spirits and a destitute clan, we advanced. We would make our living among the beasts of the world, those left and cursed by humankind. Others like us, "failed copies" is what humans called them, lived in a world, polluted by its environment, fueled by its malice. Each day, I looked back, my soul burning for revenge.

The battle was far from over. Yes, the war had just begun.

As tranquillity found its place within us, we counted our numbers. The prosperity we once had was lost as were most of our people. Like glass on a sandy beach, we became invisible, but that is how we survived. It is how we were forced to live. Meanwhile, each day was another fight; another bloody battle to defend ourselves and what remained of our dignity. I was part of them, the brave who stood against their oppressors.

The battlefield would be soaked in crimson in the end, but we returned home victorious each time. The humans had cherished us…harvested us for our blood. It was a healing potion they could never hope to create. We were kept safe because we were a treasured commodity. We existed as prey.

"But no longer will this be our fate." I wrenched my lance from a man's skull and flicked off the excess blood. My team gathered around me, soiled in red and exhausted, but the flame burning in their eyes was unshakable.

"They wish to hunt us? Breed us as they see fit? Hah, let them come." I held my weapon with a whitening grip. "Let them witness their defeat."

For years, we lived our lives, this way: fighting in one scene, dreaming of stars in the other. We had our heroes and our warriors of legends, but my name was never written among them. I remained a mystery, my name lost in the galaxies. I was a fairytale: Nebullum, they called me. A woman dressed like a man, defeating legions of humans and their mages with a sweep of her hand.

"Juno, you need to control your temper."

"I need to control my temper? They need to control their rat holes."

"Juno."

"I'm just saying the truth! What am I? A pretty face to fuck and nothing else?"

We were over a decade into the war and had finally secured land to build a city. We erected a fortress, impenetrable with fortified barriers. We were finally safe. Now came a new era to rebuild our people, and I stood at the center of it all.

"If I have to hear another person call me beautiful—"

"Juno."

"I'm going to end our species for those hairless fleas myself.”

"Juno Nebulae Sanctum!”

Hearing my mother call my name soured my mood further. Named after the celestial nebula, I was supposed to represent a place of refuge. Someone my people could turn to in their time of need. But they’ve reduced me to an heir with a youthful face and enviable figure. Little did they know, I was the one spilling blood on the battlefield to maintain their peace. I was the one who shredded my body so they could live.

I…am Nebullum.

My path was meant to be that of a hero, but it would never be so. As her sole heir, my mother withered with worry each ing day. Our people sought security, assurance that our magic would carry on in my womb and take my mother’s place…my place. It was a duty I couldn't hope to fulfill.

“I will not leave my child to fix this broken world,” I repeated. “It was my era that brought conflict, so in this era, we shall end it. Let the children have their peace.”

I was unshakable in my argument. Still, my mother wouldn't say a word about me, deciding it was too dangerous to reveal me as our famed warrior. Instead, she crafted me a mask; a different identity. The world knew its name and would sacrifice itself to take it down. But I refused to submit.

I would sur them all.

We will crush them all.

“That is a promise.”