Prologue
Azkadellia ordered her tower to be demolished. She asked DG to help pull her wheelchair to the crest of a nearby hillock so that they could watch the implosion. Just the two of them, sisters reunited after years of darkness and not knowing. Az was quiet, her hair tame and left to hang loose over her shoulders and her face paler than usual. Her dress was subdued, something borrowed from her mother. DG stubbornly refused to wear anything but pants.
Huffing at the work, DG and the wheelchair containing her sister arrived atop the hill ingloriously and covered in sweat. However, the younger sister smiled down at the elder, and they grasped hands. No black leather gloves this time—flesh met familiar flesh.
"You need to lose some weight," DG warned, leaning heavily on the top of the wheelchair to catch her breath. For a moment, Az looked terrified and gazed down at herself. DG was quick to laugh. "No, I didn't mean it. I just need to work out a little more. Especially if I'm gonna be carting you all around the O.Z."
"I'll get better," Az insisted. She put on her best strong face and straightened her spine. DG smiled minutely.
"I know. And I'll stick around to make sure you don't roll down a hill while no one's looking." She hadn't realized how easy talking with her estranged, formerly evil sister would be. It was as simple as talking to herself.
"Well, at least I have that," Az said, a smirk taking hold of her unpainted lips.
Together, they gazed out over the scarred landscape that had formed around the base of the looming, foreboding tower. No more Longcoats doing their best high-steps, no more oppressive shows of power. It was all empty and dust, which blew away wistfully in the breeze. DG turned to Az with a short little sigh.
"You don't have to do this, you know."
"I do, Deege," Az responded, kneading her hands. "The O.Z. isn't going to forget all those annuals of fear, but I'm going to help every little bit I can. The tower doesn't mean anything to me anymore." She paused, and her eyes grew distant and sad. "It never meant anything to me."
DG watched her sister carefully for a moment, and then nudged her shoulder playfully. "C'mon, cheer up. The fireworks are about to start."
Az nodded and clasped her hands in her lap without another word. DG crouched on the ground beside the wheeled chair, folded her legs beneath her, and settled in to watch. She'd never seen a building imploded in her life—why not start with the biggest tower she'd ever seen? She held her fingers in her ears and looked encouragingly up at her big sister. Azkadellia smiled and copied DG's movements.
"Here goes nothing," she murmured.
As if the demolition team had heard her, small puffs of what appeared to be smoke appeared at the base of the tower. They grew larger, slowly, and the sound finally echoed up to DG and Az on top of the hill. A series of rumbling blasts reached them far after the charges had been detonated. A sound not unlike crumbling rock caught their ears, no matter how well plugged they appeared to be. At last, dust and particles of rock rose from the base of the tower as the midsection began crumbling. Azkadellia's face was immovable as she watched it collapse in upon itself. All the years of her own personal darkness were going down with it. The sound only increased in intensity as the top of the tower came rushing down to meet the ground. It crashed and fragmented into unrecognizable shapes, and was finally gone.
Az finally breathed out, unaware that she had been holding it in until then. DG whistled and clapped her hands in celebration. Faint cries of victory could be heard from below, where the demolition team stood behind blast-proof walls constructed solely for the destruction of the tower.
"Oh, that felt so good," Az murmured, leaning back into the wheelchair as if spent. "Like I'm destroying the last bit of her inside of me."
"She doesn't stand a chance," DG claimed proudly. "With you and me together, there's nothing that can stop us."
Az smiled warmly, something that didn't seem as foreign as it should have. "Let's hope so."
DG stood, stretching herself out slightly, and laid a hand on the wheelchair. Az raised a hand to place it over that of her sister. "Not yet," she said lowly. "I don't want to go back yet. Will you stay up here with me for just a little longer?"
"What kind of sister would I be if I didn't?" DG asked. She sat back down beside the chair and simply stared out across the landscape.
Dust rose in a dirty plume into the blue sky from the ruins of the tower. Black dots moved about in the valley between their hill and the ex-tower, signifying human activity. Azkadellia watched the back of her sister's head for a silent moment of contemplation.
"Mother told you about the ball, didn't she?" Az asked at last.
DG nodded. "Yeah. She's had a gaggle of women at my door day and night trying to take my measurements. I'll tell you what," DG said, turning to face her sister and holding up a single finger, "this will be the first time I've worn a real dress since senior prom."
Az simply blinked in return, confusion reigning on her face. DG waved the comment off.
"Never mind. Let's just say it's been a really long time."
"I'm sure it will look fabulous," Az assured her.
"I just hope it's not all leather and corsets," DG muttered. Azkadellia laughed a surprising full laugh, and DG joined her with pleasure. "What is it, in a week?" She asked once she had regained composure.
Az nodded. "To honor the Heroes of the Double Eclipse. The date had to be arranged with the movements of the freedom fighters." DG's smile grew suddenly soft, but Az continued on. "Mother also said that she wants to fill a few of the empty positions while we're all gathered together."
As DG stared off in the distance, pretending to be interested in the felled tower, Azkadellia smiled knowingly. "Your friends have all been invited.All of them."
"That's not a lot," DG muttered, looking at the pebbles on the ground as if they meant something profound to her.
"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, little sister. Now, come on." She signaled for DG to stand. "We're princesses; we don't have time to fool around watching towers implode."
"I aim to please," DG said as she pulled herself up off of the ground. She was more careful on the way down the hill, making sure not to dump her weakened sister into the unforgiving dirt. The carriage was waiting on the road not far from their hill, and the horses stamped their hooves impatiently.
"Shall we be off, Your Highness?" the footman asked DG as he opened the door to the carriage. Together, they helped Azkadellia out of the chair and into the cushioned interior of their ride.
"Yes," DG announced, trying to figure out how to fold up the wheelchair. The footman stepped in.
"Allow me, Highness," he said, and he folded it as simply as if it were paper. As he stowed it on the back with other assorted cargo, DG sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"Back home, then," she said, and as an afterthought quickly added, "please."
"As you wish, Your Highness."
"And take it easy this time," DG suggested. "We were bouncing around like jumping beans back here."
"Yes, Your Highness." The man bowed and disappeared to climb up onto the driver's seat. DG climbed in after her sister, sat directly beside her, and clutched her hand. Az squeezed back at only half strength.
"We need a vacation," DG sighed. Azkadellia laughed again, and DG was glad to see her eye bright and, for once, full of life.
AN: Well, due to popular demand on your part (and a pairing that won't leave my brain alone on my part) I've devised a full-length chapter fic for y'all. Yes, it will be CainDG, just to let everyone know before I get my wheels going. The prologue is kinda background/setup, so if you feel empty inside while reading it, I'm sorry. I promise it'll get better. And Cain will show up! YEY. I appreciate feedback and take it all to heart. As for Az (heh, that sounds funny) this is pretty much how I see her acting with the witch gone. I dunno, comments? Crit? I appreciate love and also const. crit, and most of all, I love you guys! STAY AWESOME.