BloodStar

Xenia awoke in bed lying next to a still sleeping Peter. It was very early in the morning and still dark out. Xenia looked to the clock to see it read ‘4:15 AM’.

She then looked up to see the lifeless bodies of John and Matt hanging above dripping small drops of blood from their massive abdominal gashes. Xenia smiled up at them and ran her hands through her now crusted over blood-drenched hair.

She smiled to herself in extreme pleasure as she thought, “What a night. So much fun.” She then rolled over to look at Peter and thought, “I wonder?”

She brought both of her hands close to the sides of his head and raised a controlled aura in her hands which began to caress his head and slowly spread without waking him. She thought to herself, “My bloodbending has become so powerful that I can transmit information to others and also back to me. That’s more than just blood. That’s the entire inner workings of the body and mind.”

She continued to mold the aura to Peter’s head, concentrating it as she did. Then, the aura melted away as it passed through the skin, through the blood-brain barrier, and finally into the central nervous system.

Xenia focused all of her energy into controlling her ki in the finest manner as she directed it to encompass the entirety of his brain like a glove as she spread it thin until it was even within the depths of his grey matter folds, thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, pineal gland, and more.

She then assumed the lotus position in bed next to him and mentally linked with the ki in his brain. She began to transmit thoughts of her making love to him, and she could feel him dreaming of her. She could feel the erotic lust from his deepest desires. She then transmitted images of his family dying, his empire falling, and him failing to protect what he loves.

Peter shuddered in his sleep and moaned in agony. Xenia smiled and softly said, “Incredible. It seems I have discovered a new frontier for my abilities.” She then said, “I wonder?”

She held her hand on his chest over his heart and began to imbue a massive amount of dense, controlled ki that encompassed and enwrapped every surface of his heart including exterior and interior surfaces.

She held the ki in place solidifying it for several minutes until she finally released her hold and found herself gasping for air and sweating. Her fatigue was out of proportion to the amount of physical effort she had exerted; however, she hadn’t realized just how much ki she had imbued into Peter’s body until it hit her all at once.

She lay next to him panting for several minutes until she finally gathered herself. The noises of fatigue drew Peter from his sleep. He opened his eyes to the horrific sight of Matt and John hanging overhead, and he looked to Xenia who was only just now catching her breath.

He said, “Is everything alright? I just had a dream… followed by a nightmare.”

Xenia hopped out of bed, “I’ve never been better.” She yanked the void dagger out of Peter’s thigh and proceeded to unchain him as she said, “And you have never been more free under my custody.”

Peter sat up on the sheets still damp from the waterfall of blood. He inspected his hands and looked to Xenia, “Are you sure about this? You may yet regret giving me so much freedom. What if I attack or escape?”

She turned to the TV and said, “Don’t do anything stupid Peter. I’m sure someone from the Heraklinos or Sage Empire will come to your rescue before long. Let them be the stupid fools.” She turned the TV on to the recording of her battle with Pope Gregory.

She tossed him the remote and said, “Watch this. And then you tell me if you think it would be a good idea to test me in battle. In the meantime, I am going to shower.”

She walked off into the bathroom as she stepped into a steaming hot shower her attendant had prepared for her. She stepped in and the water fell from her body covering the shower floor with red as the dried blood on her body and hair washed away.

As she cleansed her hair and body, she could feel her ki around his heart completely neutralizing his ki leaving him powerless even without a void dagger. She then focused on the ki she had left in his brain and could feel his sorrow watching his father lose his battle and die at her hands.

Xenia thought to herself, “I have completely neutered his power and gained direct access to his thoughts and visions. I wonder if this isn’t the same power my ancestors somehow used to create void daggers? If only it weren’t so damn exhausting to perform. For now, I can only leave this amount of ki with one person temporarily, and I wonder if it will leave me weaker overall?”

She stepped out of the shower and dried off with a warm towel set out for her before walking into her adjacent room-sized closet. She grabbed one of her many black leather military style outfits and dressed quickly.

She grabbed her boots and walked out with a full smile looking at Peter, “Well? What did you think? Quite an incredible battle, wasn’t it?”

Peter had a solemn expression yet also acknowledged her strength, “Your skill and power at your age is truly unrivaled. I genuinely mean it.”

She hiked her foot up on to the bed and zipped her boots up one by one, “Thank you, Peter! You know. If you ever come around to my side of things, you and I would make a powerful couple.”

He laughed, “Xenia, I will admit you are drop-dead sexy. However, you stand for everything I am against especially when it comes to human rights.” He shifted to face her directly, “How can you live with yourself? It’s not too late for you to come to my side, you know.”

She smiled back at him, “How do I live with myself?” She sat down next to him and looked him in the eyes, “I live with great pride knowing that for my own pleasure and fun I get to kill the most despicable animals to ever walk this Earth… humans. And then I think, it would only be appropriate for someone as evil and powerful as me to rule over all humans.”

She caressed his cheek with her face as she leaned in and said, “Even the great Pope Peter is drawn to my power and beauty. I’m a natural ruler.” She then grabbed the back of his head and forced him into a sensual kiss as she stuck her tongue deep inside of his mouth and playfully moved it around.

She broke off the kiss and stood, “I’m off to attend to a few very important meetings. Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”

Peter sat at the foot of the bed, “You’re just going to leave me here?”

She stopped and turned to him, “Would you prefer the dungeon?”

He rapidly shook his head, “No, no. I am just surprised. That is all.”

Xenia laughed, “The BloodStar Empire is not such a bad place, Peter. Get out. Try the food. Meet some people. Attend a coliseum match. You may grow to enjoy it here. Just one thing… be back here in my room by 7:00 pm every evening. I never know when I’ll get the urge.”

Peter nodded as he thought to himself, “This must be some kind of test. I will surely be monitored in secret the entire time she is away.”

As she walked away, Peter shouted, “Your power, Xenia.”

She stopped and turned with a smirk on her face, “You can taste my power later if you crave it so badly, Peter.”

He continued, “It is as I say, unusually impressive. Something the history books only mention as legend. You will eventually surpass your mother, Victoria, and you may even pass Master Heraklinos with time.”

She took a step back and gave him a pleased look, “I like what I am hearing. Keep going, Peter.”

He then said, “I am so praiseworthy as to make my next point. The defeat of my father will be seen as unacceptable. The Masters of the world will not allow you to grow in power further no matter how young you are. They will come for you sooner rather than later.”

She took a few more steps closer to him and leaned over inches away from his face, “Oh, I hope they do. I will either kill them or add them to my collection of playthings alongside you.”

She kissed him and then turned, leaving Peter to his own devices in her room. He sat in silence and looked around. He thought to himself, “These quarters are even nicer than my own in the Holy Light Empire. This is the height of luxury. I could get used to this were it not for the fact she murdered my father and countless others.”

He sighed and thought to himself, “No one knows the power gap between my father and Jarek quite like I do. Xenia is in for a rude awakening if she ever has the unfortunate luck to face him in battle.”

He stood and paced as he thought more, “Why is my ki gone? She removed the void dagger. It must be a lingering after effect of some sort. Hmm. One thing is for certain. She has underestimated me. Giving me free reign without supervision whether I have ki or not will prove to be your downfall, Xenia!”

____________________________

Meanwhile, Xenia hadn’t gone far. She hadn’t even left her villa. She had climbed several more stories to the top floor where her own private command center awaited her. She entered to find several soldiers attending to incoming and outgoing communications regarding her empire.

The soldiers stood to salute her as she entered, and she said, “At ease men. You are relieved for the hour.”

The men nodded, “Yes Warlord. We will await further commands should you need us in the meantime.”

Xenia smiled and nodded. She was quite friendly and partial to her soldiers and went out of her way to treat them kindly and shower them with praise and resources including frivolous amounts of money.

Once she was alone, she video called King Ramses and Queen Zara. The phone rang until finally both picked up on separate devices. Xenia looked at the monitor before her to see a split-screen with Ramses on one side and Zara on the other.

Xenia greeted them, “King Ramses. Queen Zara. How are you both?”

Ramses responded, “Xenia, we are soon to be in a very important meeting with Master Sage. Is there something important you wish to tell us?”

She scowled, “it is unwise to rush your Warlord, Ramses. I will take the time I need without regard for a meeting with Master Sage. I am calling you both to give you orders to return to the BloodStar Empire at once.”

Zara let out a breath of laughter, “Xenia, that would be counterproductive.”

Xenia maintained a serious expression, “Don’t question my orders Zara. You are in enemy territory during an ongoing war. I am recalling all officials to our empire.”

King Ramses balked at her orders, “Lest you forget Xenia, we take orders from the empress, and last I checked, you are not empress.”

Xenia smirked, “Not yet.”

Ramses followed up, “Then you will stay out of our affairs.”

Xenia crossed her arms, “As Warlord, I have full control of foreign affairs by order of Empress Victoria. This gives me dominion over your foreign affairs as well, King Ramses. I am ordering you to return, at once.”

Zara scoffed, “Xenia, you have overstepped your powers. We are pursuing a diplomatic solution to the problems you have caused. If you do not let us continue then you will not have an empire to rule by the time you ascend to the throne.”

Xenia smiled as she thought to herself, “Perfect.” She then gave a sharp look to her brother and sister, “Fine. But if you feel the need to disobey my direct orders and stay in enemy territory then you won’t be needing your royal guard.”

Ramses and Zara both suddenly understood this was a ploy to give her reason to dismantle the one unit in the empire loyal to the King and Queen rather than her.

Ramses and Zara looked on in silence, and Xenia said, “As family, I will give you both a pass for defying my orders. But just this once! However, if your soldiers refuse my orders, I will show them a painful death.” She smiled and said, “I think I will pay them a visit now.”

She checked her watch and looked back up, “They should be finishing their morning drills right about now.”

Ramses and Zara both shouted, “Xenia! Xen-“

Xenia cut off the video call and left the command center as she made way to the royal guard building on the castle grounds.

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