บท 879: Public Terror

Quennie goes through the backstage door and enters a hallway, the sound of laughter and jeering seeming to follow her.

She cups her ears as she runs, shaking the tears out of her eyes, "Thisisnotreal thisisnotreal thisisnotreal-" she rapidly says, her words getting more and more unrecognisable the longer she goes on.

Looking up to see where she was actually going reveals that the hallway seem to be extending, not allowing her to reach the end no matter what, laughter seem to be coming from the end of it anyway, causing her to run the opposite direction.

"Big sis?! Who's stronger? You or Sister Selina!?" a voice echoes from nowhere, her own voice replying as if it were prerecorded.

Quennie "Sis is stronger than me." her voice says, sounding cheerful.

"Big sis!? Who's smarter?"

Quennie's voice answers again, "Sis Selina is smarter." though, this time she sounded off, as if she was holding back the urge to say something else.

The childish voice becomes darker but Quennie is too distressed to notice this fact as they begin speaking again.

"Big sis. Who, is, better?" it says, almost growling.

Quennie grits her teeth but can't help her own response, not waiting for her prerecorded voice to do it for her. "Selina is better!" she gives a forced shout.

...

She stops in the hallway at the voices suddenly going silent, both sides extending off into the darkness with no foreseeable end.

"Big sis." the almost demonic voice says, "Then what good are you?" it finishes, causing her to prop herself against the wall as her legs feel like they'll give out.

Quennie "My family love me, even if I have to follow rules, they still love me." she whispers to herself.

Her father had set out some rules for them all to follow in order to prevent any infighting between his children. They had to respect one another, they weren't allowed to say anything blatantly negative about one another, and if they ever had issues with someone in the family they'd immediately seek to rectify it...

The rules were needed as everyone knew that Reima, his wife and mistress, and children would all likely be immortal... This was intended to nip the problem in the bud before a "Greek God" situation occurred, something he hadn't completely explained to Quennie yet.

This came with many issues though, the primary one being that Quennie found it difficult to climb out of Selina's shadow... She knew she was smarter than her sister, she knew she had talents that Selina didn't, but she'd never said anything about it.

Reima would be fine with talking about each others strengths and weaknesses, but Quennie thought that, as the daughter of a mistress, she was lesser than Selina. That she was required to defer to her sister when the opportunity presents itself.

It didn't help that her mother dressed in a maid outfit the majority of the time, leading people to think badly of her, even if they didn't dare say it.

The wall she was leaning on suddenly gave in under her weight, causing her to stumble through... She'd closed her eyes to prepare for the impact, but didn't feel anything, instead she could hear the sound of thousands of people... She almost didn't want to look at where she was, but eventually pried her eyes open and saw it.

She was standing atop the gate of Kaer Morhen keep, below her in the city of Ichor tens of thousands of people looked up at her, some cheering, some booing, but most waiting for her to say something.

Some stepped forwards next to her, taking a quick glance she saw her father wearing majestic clothing and projecting a powerful aura, on his arm was Quenn Ciri, her other mother who didn't look like her regular self... She was about to look around for her own one when she felt hands rest on her shoulders.

Quelaag "Calm down daughter... I know you're nervous and still grieving, but everything will be alright. Just remember what we taught you." she says, giving her a loving peck on the head.

Reima raises his arms which causes the crowd to go silent, a prominent frown makes itself known on his face as he begins to speak. "As most of you have already heard... My dear daughter Selina lost her life fighting against a Demon known as Diablo, she fought valiantly and were it not for her efforts I think that the world would be struggling to deal with the threat." he says, shocking both Quennie and the crowd.

Her sister was dead? No... That isn't possible, Selina was way stronger than her and wouldn't be so easily killed by some otherworldly demon... Right?

Reima lowers one arm and grips Ciri's hand, "Her funeral will be open to all of you, and will be held tomorrow at noon. You may pay your respects there, however I feel the need to warn those that held contempt for my daughter... If you arrive and seek to cause trouble, I will show you what true hell looks like, you won't join my daughter in the afterlife as I will devour your soul." he states in a hard tone, causing a few reporters who wanted some hot-takes to get cold feet.

Reima "Despite the sad situation, the world goes on... With my first daughter gone, my second will take her place as heir." he states, causing Quennie's back to straighten and her face to pale.

Quelaag pushes Quennie forwards encouragingly, everyone looking at her to hear what she has to say... After a few moments of silence Reima looks at and nods, giving a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, "Well?"

Her voice hitches in her throat and her legs give out, she cradles her head in her hands and begins sobbing, "I'm sorry! Sister! I'm sorry!" she cries, Quelaag hugging her tightly.

At the side Reima just shakes his head and waves them off, Quelaag picking Quennie up and taking them into Kaer Morhen. Quennie being able to spot the look of anger, resignation, and sadness on Reima and Ciri's face.