Kairos the consequences of kissing you

a bad start

The heavy helmet rested on Emma's head, the light reflected on her long burgundy hair and her eyes shone like two stars as she gazed at herself in the mirror, carefully fastened her cloak and sighed as she saw an old photo of herself as a child.

-My lady, the master is waiting for you," said the housekeeper carefully.

-Thank you, Betty, I'll be right down," the old lady gave her a sweet smile and left the room.

The hallway was still the same, the same decoration, the same smell, but as inevitable as it was, that uneasiness ran down Emma's back, like an icy waterfall that made her shiver. It was no different from any other day, by now she should be used to hearing the skin of Orpheus' victims breaking, the agonizing moans begging for help, the pungent smell of iron in her nose.

Once she reached the staircase the beautiful, perfect face of Orpheus was waiting for her at the bottom, his gaze cold and calculating. The steps seemed eternal, or maybe they were too few to avoid the inevitable, his steps were precise and accurate, as if his pride and self-esteem were sky high. Or at least that would be expected from such a deity as she.

- You look beautiful! As always," exclaimed Orpheus holding out his hand to her, Emma smiled carefully and placed her hand in his.

-Thank you dear, it's always nice to receive a compliment before a big battle.

-Mirlo is waiting for us, shall we go? -Emma nodded

The entire pavilion was at the entrance of the great castle, all the guards were arranged in vertical rows, as impeccable as always, they wore a silver maya uniform with red and blue details, helmets with brushes and sheathed swords. In the midst of all the soldiers stood Mirlo, a huge dragon about 100 years old; a gift from Orpheus to his beloved on his 600th birthday.

Upon seeing his mistress the ferocious beast lowered his head so that Emma could approach to greet him as she usually did. On Blackbird's back was a huge saddle as if it were a giant horse, with the difference that this one did not need reins to fly; once the couple was on it, the guards began to advance on their beasts, trying to keep up with Blackbird.

The atmosphere was icy, for beyond the other world, everything was a great unknown. The soldiers landed seconds after Mirlo's footsteps shook the ground, the knights dismounted the beasts and entered Ploctio, the planet of the mchawi, ancient magical creatures. 

Orpheus never warned the people of his attacks, everyone was unprepared, and to avoid mishaps, the soldiers were not allowed to know that information. But this time it was different, the eerie and silent atmosphere made the tension of the moment rise even more; as prevention everyone carried their swords in their hands, anticipating the enemy. Emma had no need to draw her sword, for with just a flick of the wrist two sharp flaming blades in the colors of the galaxy would appear, and whatever they cut would be trapped in nothingness forever.

And despite everything the creatures believed, Emma never fought in battles, she was a silent agent, slipping through the crowd and opening wormholes to abandoned planets so that the inhabitants could flee. Something quite contradictory to her lover's bloodlust.

The creatures' footsteps were silent and hurried, all in an orderly line following Emma to the edge of their planet, a safe place to open a portal to another world; they were usually worlds abandoned by their conquerors, forgotten by their former inhabitants, but habitable.

- Come on! you have to get out of here, the army will start looking for you soon," Emma exclaimed with eagerness.

- What will happen to our army? -asked an airy voice in the crowd.  

-If they surrender, he will let them go, but if not, he will kill them all.

-We didn't surrender, we didn't sneak away like vermin from our home, not without a fight," said a small man drawing a knife.

-I'm just trying to help you, I can't stop him," he sighed, "and neither can you, in this world," he pointed to a portal that clearly showed a blue planet, "you'll have another chance. 

- I will not let you barbarians take my home away from me!

The screams of the creatures echoed in Emma's ears, and without thinking twice they rushed at her; with agility she closed the portal and ran as fast as she could towards the army.

- River! -she shouted desperately, waving her arms for the captain of the soldiers to see her.

In a thousandth of a second Orpheus' army was on top of that enraged people; for such a small army they were quite skilled, not to mention that they had magic, weak, but capable of turning a soldier into a pig. It was a m******e on the surface, the screams, the blood, the sound... Emma joined the fight, she didn't want anyone to die, but being gentle with those creatures was not an option; she moved her wrists down and the flaming blades of her swords appeared, like a well-trained soldier she faced the creatures.

Emma's powers were a huge advantage, because when the attack was direct it was enough for her to advance the time a few seconds and appear behind her enemy to stab him in the back, she also liked to slow down the scene, so she could take a break before destroying several enemies with a swing of her sword. That little aspect was what Orpheus loved the most, Emma's power, the infinite possibilities of her abilities in combat, which gave her an advantage over the enemies, and thanks to her they had already conquered more than 10,000 worlds. 

The battle ended with the army of Orpheus as the winner, the soldiers celebrated cheering for their two masters; Orpheus and Emma stood on a pile of earth where they planted the flag of victory, the man took Emma by the waist and gave her a passionate kiss.

- for our dark queen and for this great victory! -shouted Orpheus at the top of his lungs, addressing his troop.

-Gather your things gentlemen, it's time to return to the kingdom," ordered River to the soldiers.

-It's time to return my queen," said Orpheus with a sweet tone, Emma gave him a look, to which the man responded walking towards Mirlo.

The feeling of guilt and self-disgust filled Emma's head, she hated feeling like that, and she hadn't done it for a long time, since that incident in the thick forest of Starland. But that was not important at that moment, the only thing she wanted was to turn back time and force the creatures to enter the portal, but even being the goddess of time, there were basic rules she had to respect; 1) never return to the dead of life, 2) never talk to your past self, 3) never make the creatures change their timeline.

The path to Mirlo was quite short, Emma's feet went from being frozen in place to moving slowly towards her destination. Suddenly a rumbling sound was heard in the distance, Emma turned around to look for the source of the sound.

- long live the damned dark queen! -shouted a little man lying on the ground firing his crossbow. 

The soldiers rushed to kill the man, but it was too late. A stabbing and nauseating pain cut Emma's breath, the arrow had pierced her abdomen, blood was coming out in alarming quantities, her strength began to fade and without warning she fell to the ground; in an attempt to control the bleeding, she squeezed the wound with all her strength, turning with pleading eyes to see Orpheus, who was standing in front of her, without moving a single muscle.

-h…elpme - she pronounced with her last breaths.

Orpheus didn't move, he watched her carefully, squatted in front of her and with a dull smile he tucked a lock of hair behind Emma's ear.

-It's a pity, we could have been great together," he said and stood up and walked towards Mirlo.

- Sir? -Orpheus turned to look at him angrily and mounted one of the beasts impatiently while Mirlo shook at the sight of his mistress on the ground.

-The man ordered, leaving that world, and although the soldiers did not want to leave her, they had been given an order and they had to obey it, no matter how frightening it was.

The troop mounted their beasts and left the world quickly. Blackbird began to growl loudly as if to call for help, but after a while he lay down beside Emma to keep her warm. The blood had left almost all his body, his lips were green and his hands were frozen as well as his whole body, he had endured enough, until his eyes could stand no more and closed completely.