in which a love story is told
[soft violin]
Sol
how sweet the sound of hymns all around.
pure notes lure you evermore
to the graces of heaven’s seven faces
together evermore.
the songs of the wedding gongs
strike the night away.
hands held tight
into a future clear and bright
[music begins to distort]
[crashes and gunfire]
[scream]
at this point of no return
let the shadows burn
burn
narrorator
Keld, one of the most technically advanced world’s this side of PortTown. tall spiral towers reaching up to oblivion, shaping the world like a frigid ball of crystals, no land in sight. the grandest building, built and formed like a geode, or maybe it was a geode, carved to fit its creator’s ego.
Rösk, the high queen, the founder and creator of Keld and the source of its Hubris. She had ruled for a thousand years, her life blood flowing young and fresh with the help of the Bismuth she drew from the center of the earth.
Rösk had three children, Valda, her eldest and a skilled technician and engineer, with a desire to travel off world and attend one of the colleges anywhere but here. Kvist, her middle child, a fiery young woman with a fighting streak a mile long and a tendency to go against every order her mother gave, and Vill the youngest. a would be politician until Kvist ended up doing something very stupid and tossing away any of his hopes for peace.
Kvist had a… history of disobeying her mother’s commands. thirteen years ago Rösk had announced a new plan to bring Keld financial stability and secure a future that could never be brought down. For the most part this was met with acceptance and wild excitement from all across the planet. It wasn’t until Kvist was brought onto the project that things began to go horribly wrong. She vanished shortly after she was promoted to head engineer, taking Valda’s place. she vanished into the outer rings of the planet, joining a terrorist cell. Rösk and Kvist clashed, and in an attempt to destroy the core of the planet, Valda was killed.
[explosion]
[screaming]
[static]
announcer
… we’re having trouble getting a good angle but it looks like- oh god- the castle, it’s burning. people are running . There are flames everywhere, smoke billowing out the windows, the crystals are melting. i don’t-”
[static]
Kvist
this is the end, mother!
[screams]
sol
Vi! no, wait!
vill
you will pay, sister!
[gunfire]
[explosion]
[sobbing]
narrator
In the chaos of the aftermath Rösk sent Vill to lead Kvist’s former troops to take her and her small band of terrorists prisoner, and after nearly a month of fighting Vill managed to push Kvist’s forces to the broken parts of the city, were they fled into the underground.
The fighting lasted for months, small skirmishes here and there, Kvist’s people raiding trains carrying bismuth and Vill’s people bombing rebel safehouses. Kvist fought side by side with Sol, her second in command and wife. where Kvist was a monster in war, she was the best battle strategist that Keld had, originally working as a general under Rösk for years before the attack.
Eventually the fighting began to grow to a trickle. Kvist was running out of supplies and soldiers, and so at a table with her most trusted fighters she drew up a plan to attack the castle once again, an end for better or for worse. they never even made it into the central city.
Sol
Kvist? are you okay?
Kvist
just tired, my love. this war was never supposed to happen.
Sol
I know. It will all be over soon.
Kvist
for better or for worse.
[explosion]
[screams]
Kvist
what the hell?
extra
attack!
narrorator
Kvist took Sol’s hands. dust rained down from the ceiling and they were both trembling.
Kvist
i’ll see you on the other side.
sol
promise?
Kvist
i promise.
sol
i love you.
Kvist
i love you, too.
narrorator
bombs fell all around, people ran and screamed and died. Kvist fought the best she could but Vill knew her. She was overtaken quickly, dragged kicking and screaming to a waiting train. the biggest gathering of the resistance in the past year and out of the eighty two original members of the coup, only thirteen still lived, and only one had a trial. All the others were prepared to be transported to the prison mines at the center of the planet, mining Bismuth for the higher ups’ delights.
Kvist was found guilty for treason against the crown and sentenced to death by flame.
Rösk
Do you have anything to say for yourself, daughter?
Kvist
fuck you.
Vill
How dare you, you insolent thug! this woman who gave you a home, a family, and this is how you repay her?
Rösk
silence, boy. Kvist Rösksdotter have you nothing more to say?
Kvist
you will never win.
Rösk
very well. get on with it.
narrator
two soldiers grab Kvist, dragging her across the stage. Her eyes lingered at the edge of the crowd, seaking out Sol. They shared one last glance before Kvist was led to the pyre. The fire was lit and Sol looked away, anger burning bright in her eyes, her wife’s screams echoing through the silent chamber.
[sobbing]
[shouting]
[gunfire]
[long drawn out scream]
[slow, wavering harp music and someone humming]
sol [whispering]
im sorry, my love
narrator
In the aftermath of Kvist’s execution Sol and a few other low level members of the rebellion managed to escape into the darkness. Sol slipped away silently as the guard supposed to be watching her instead had their eyes trained on her wife’s burning body and Sol swore vengeance.
they retreated underground, into one of the already raided safehouses and began to plan. It was a full year later, when Rösk finally showed her cards. On the anniversary of her daughter’s execution she planned a ball to commemorate the occasion, a ball where she was going to announce something big for the future of Keld. she would never get the chance.
Sol
We sneak in with the guests. there will be so many people arriving that they won’t check the invitations too closely. group two enters with the servants, wearing serving uniforms.
other
you think they won’t notice a dozen extra servants?
sol
they don’t care, more people do the bidding of nose turning Keldi tyrants.Kvist swore we would see a better future for our children, freedom and vengeance for all those we lost. sharpen your blades, load your guns. we strike tonight. we will not bow. not again.
narrorator
The rebels cheered as Sol raised her arm in a fist, finishing her speech with a flourish. weapons were sharpened and loaded, costumes prepared and a battle hymn began.
rebels
strike the hydra in the heart
it will fall
it will fall!
let the stone break apart
crack by crask!
stones will rain and fierce flame
perfect your aim
we go to war tonight!
tonight!
blood will pool and shadows fall
in the fire that shall claim all
perfect your aim
we go to war tonight!
we will end this blight
and as Rösk falls soon she will know Kvist was right
narrator
This last line was sung by Sol, watching the lights dance over the palace in the distance. She strapped on Kvist’s Bismuth knife under the gown she was wearing and loaded her gun. her eyes burned like the warped amethyst of the palace. she would get revenge for her wife’s death. Rösk would fall, throne and all.
rebels
Perfect your aim
we will end the tyrant’s reign
we go to war tonight!
[cheering]
narrorator
but something completely unplanned was happening at the palace. as the ballroom filled with guests Rösk slips away, through a side door. Vell watches her, arms crossed, a look of determination on his face. There was something wrong with Rösk, and the people were beginning to notice. He couldn’t care less what she did in the shadows of the empire, but if her citizens began to think she was cracking, it could lead to another bloodier coup, but Vill had a plan. With Kvist gone he was next in line for the throne after Rösk finally lost it.
Vill left the ball close after Rösk, followed by his loyal servant and best friend, Tal. They had been friends since childhood, much like Sol and Kvist.
Rösk made her way through the darkened passages, her crystal lamp hanging from trembling fingers. She made her way to a stone door marked with VI and pushed it open. Vill never got a chance to see what was behind it, but inside he knew it wasn’t good.
[heals clicking on stone]
[door screeching open]
[scream]
narrorator
On the other side of the palace Sol entered with her three lieutenants, smiling and laughing with them as they flashed their invitations to the guard at the door. He glanced over them and quickly ushered them inside. Vill watched as she entered, meeting her violet eyes from across the room and nodded. take it as what you will, a promise, a warning, an acknowledgment. Sol took it for the latter, and leaving her lieutenants on lookout, ducked into a side room to change.
newly dressed in an engineer’s uniform Sol made her way down the prison hall, searching for the door that marked the other reble’s cell, the red eye of revolution painted on her cheek. it was empty, the walls curved and silent.
[footsteps]
[heavy breathing]
[explosion]
narrator
That was the first of the distractions they had put in place. it destroyed the outer wall of the castle where the rest of the small group of rebels waited. there would be a skirmish and they would retreat back into the woods before anyone else was killed or taken captive. Hopefully Rösk’s troops would be rerouted to the outer wall to protect their weak points and stay there until after Sol’s work was done, waiting for an attack that would never come.
Meanwhile Rösk returned to the ball, seated upon her Bismuth throne, watching her subjects. In her hand she held a scepter, made of the same otherworldly crystal the castle was built from but topped with a spiral of Bismuth, glowing faintly in the light of the walls. and she smiled to herself as she watched her people dance, one day soon the entire universe would be like this. colorful and bright and full of happy submissive subjects.
way down deep in the dungeons Sol was stopped outside one of the crystal doors. it was larger than the others, and thicker, like whatever was behind it needed to be guarded very closely and on the door, right above the handle a crude VI was scratched into the crystal. it could have been just a coincidence, but Sol dared to hope and pushed the door open. it slid open easily and silently the thick walls muffled any sound that might have escaped from inside. the perfect room to keep whatever Rösk didn’t want her people to hear. The interior was bright, light coming from some unknown source, bouncing off the crystal walls, but it wasn’t the blinding light that brought tears to Sol’s eyes.
sol
Kvist?
narrator
There was silence from the figure standing near the opposite wall. she didn’t look like the Kvist Sol had known so well, but she would know her wife anywhere. her once brown eyes were now fractured like a shattered crystal. her skin was wan and stretched tightly over a skeletal frame. her long Keldi gown was torn and covered in filth, and a thin golden chain bound her ankle to a hook in the floor. Kvist stares blankly at the wall, even as Sol steps towards her. a thousand expressions flash across Sol’s face, relief, love, anger, fear, confusion.
Sol
oh my love, what have they done to you? Come, take my hand and stand with me again and we can make them pay.
narrator
Kvist ignored her, or maybe she didn’t hear. her eyes watched the wall where the light seemed to be radiating from, giving no acknowledgement to her wife. Sol draws Kvist’s knife, shattering the golden chain with one blow, but Kvist does not stir. her eyes are blank behind the cracks. Sol kneels down, gently taking Kvist’s hands in her own.
Sol
{something something something}
[footsteps growing closer]
narroarator
Sol leapt to her feet, knife still in hand, spinning to face the door. two guards entered, dressed in the uniforms of Rösk’s personal guard. panicked, one raised a small horn to his lips, prepared to call for help.
[crash]
[scream]
[thump]
narrator
Sol stepped back, putting herself between Kvist and Vill, the two guards crumpled at his feet. He didn’t even seem to register Sol, instead staring past her. The last time he had seen his sister was watching as Rösk set fire to her body.
Vill
How can this be? I watched her die, Rösk, what have you done?
[alarms]
Sol
Vill!
Narrorator
Vill was shaken out of his trance, eyes meeting Sol’s. he stepped back, over the broken bodies of the guards and into the passageway beyond. He beckoned Sol with his knife, before taking off running in the opposite direction.
Sol looked back at her wife, heart hammering in her chest. She took Kvist’s hand on her own and forced a smile. she brushed back a strand of Kvist’s matted black hair, tucking it behind her ear.
Sol
I will not leave you. I will return, my love.
narrator
sol turned her back to Kvist and fled the room, following Vill down the long empty hall. the core of the world pulsed with unholy light, sounding like a heartbeat. Vill stopped outside a metal door, the only one in the entire city and turned to face Sol.
Vill
it ends.
Sol
now and forever.
narrator
Vill steps forwards and pushes the door open. light engulfed them as they stepped inside.
back on the other side of the castle Rösk walked down the hallway, flanked by two guards. alarms still blared ahead. she arrived at the door to Kvist’s cell and pushed the door open. Kvist sat against the wall, face blank, broken eyes filled with unseen tears. her cuff was broken, the chain shattered. she stepped over the bodies of the guards, entering the cell and crouching in front of Kvist. she flinched, some spark of recognition flashing across her face. Rösk grabbed a handful of her daughter’s hair, dragging her to her feet. the recognition in her eyes was gone, replaced by confusion and fear.
Rösk
So Sol was here. and she wasn’t alone. The wall was a decoy. go.
[running footsteps]
What did you do, Kvist? What does she know?
Kvist
n- no.
narrator
Rösk cried out in frustration, shoving Kvist to the ground. The two remaining guards grabbed her, hauling her after Rösk as she left the room. as they left the room Kvist slid a hand under the doorframe, a small shard of crystal tucked up into her sleeve. flashes of memories, of a time before came and went from her mind, all overlaid by a haze of static. Kvist and the man from before laugh as children, racing each other to the top of a tree. and the woman who had called herself Kvist’s wife handing Kvist a crown of Bismuth and silver. but the memories couldn’t have been hers, that she knew. The woman she saw there, with the black hair and brown eyes who held hands with her wife and laughed with her brother was dead. she had watched her burn.
[slow, sorrowful violin music]
[faint lyrics in another language]
Sol
what is this?
Vill
What have you done, Rösk?
narrator
before them sat the pulsing glowing core of the city. bodies filled the room, the bodies of soldiers and resistance alike, their blood collecting on the hole ridden floor. clear lines of red flowing through glass tubes fed into the pulsing core of the planet. Vill had steadied himself on Sol’s shoulder, and she was just staring. the faces of her people, the ones who had vanished or been captured, bleeding out in this place so far from the sun.
The core radiated heat, sending out waves that made Sol sick to the stomach. The room smelled like rust, sharp and filthy. the smell of a battlefield, but this was no battle. It was a massacre. Vill turned away from the carnage and walked out the door, leaving Sol to stand alone.
screaming fills the palace as Rösk prepares the final act of her millenia long play. the light pulses, spreading, devouring. The core tears free of it’s iron constraints and floats upwards, dripping blood and gore.
Rösk watches the chaos in the ballroom, Kvist kneeling at her side. people scream, trying to flee through doors turned to solid crystal. one by one they fall, blood seeping through their pores, their bodies turning to mush. the floor of the ballroom warps and changes, allowing the blood to flow freely to the core.
Kvist looks up at Rösk, eyes shattered, memories coming in flashes, blood leaking from a gash on her temple.
Kvist
mother, what have you done?
Rösk
this is your doing, girl. your hands crafted this that is our salvation.
Kvist
this isn’t salvation. This is destruction.
narrator
Vill runs into the room, boots caked with gore, a bloody sword in hand. He helps Kvist to her feet, and their eyes meet one last time.
Kvist
i know you.
Vill
Sister…
Narrator
she takes his hand, smiling through the tears now filling her eyes.
Kvist
I’m happy to see you one last time, before it ends. Find your honor, Vill.
Narrator
Vill returns the smile and kisses her gently on the forehead. she doesn’t flinch, doesn’t back away.
Vill
Im sorry, Kvist- im-
Kvist
shhhh. It’s okay, brother.
Narrator
He embraces her, one last time. before she leaves Vill to his work and goes to find Sol.
Vill [whispers]
find your peace.
[violin plays softly]
narrator
Vill advances towards Rösk, the crystal shard Kvist had tucked into his hand clutched tightly.
Vill
this is it, Rösk. We are going to put an end to this insanity.
Rösk
There is no such thing as insanity. only sight. Once the core has drinken the blood of our people the peace we feel here on Keld will spread, covering the universe in order eternal.
Vill
this is not peace! your people, your family, mother, what have you become? Kvist deserved to die in her right mind, and this madness you inflicted upon her- i watched her die.
Rösk
there’s a price all must pay.
Vill
your a monster.
Narrator
Rösk grinned, blood trickling between her teeth and staining her white shirt.
Rösk
i know.
Narrator
Kvist made her way across the ballroom, gown trailing in blood, bare feet sending small drops of the stuff raining down with each step. Sol knelt in the center of the room, overtaken with despair, the bodies of her lieutenants drained of blood before her. the core pulsed and throbbed, growing redder with every drop of blood spilled. Kvist kneels next to her wife and embraces her. They know what they have to do.
They can not stop the core from devouring their world, but they can activate it, destroying Keld in the process but preventing it from destroying the rest of the universe.
together they stand and advance towards the core, hands intertwined. together they drew their blades, matching crystal and Bismuth, and plunged them into the core. above them glass shatters and Kvist turns in time to see Vill throne through the window of Rösk’s observation room. He is bleeding from a dozen different wounds. Rösk follows, blood dripping from a wound on her throat. in her hand she holds her Bismuth crown, covered in blood and gore. she swung it at Vill, taking out an eye. He had barely enough time to dodge her second attack.
Kvist met Sol’s eyes and as the core died behind her rushed to her brother’s aid. her Bismuth sword found Rösk’s heart and she fell, her blood joining that of all those she had killed. Vill crawled forwards, falling to rest a few feet from the core. Kvist turned back to Sol.
Kvist
Sol!
Sol
no, Kvist, don’t come any closer!
narrator
Sol sat amidst the carnage, crystals creeping up her arm. Kvist gazed on, tears streaming down her cheeks, unable to save the woman she loved most in the world.
Sol
it’s okay.
Kvist
no…
Narrator
Kvist took ten steps forwards, and fell to her knees. the castle was shaking, the core cracking apart. she took Sol into her arms as the crystal encased them both. and then there was silence. broken only by the drip drip drip of blood trickling down the palace steps. above the sky was a web of rainbow tendrils as the artificial rings that powered the planet fell away.
Now there is nothing left but a shattered hunk of rock floating through space. if you manage to get passed the field of debris now surrounding it, and find a stable enough place to land, you may come upon a nearly unrecognizable crystal statue, but if you catch it in just the right light, you may be able to see the tears that still lace Kvist’s cheeks.
Kvist
how sweet the sound of hymns all around.
pure notes lure you evermore
to the graces of heaven’s seven faces
together evermore.
forevermore.