(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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The witch queen voice was soft.
Too soft.
Too gentle for the witches to process.
"Benjamin Salvador Kira…"
The witches flinched hearing his full name from her lips.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The Queen continued.
"…you shine brighter than the crystals in my treasury."
Every witch reacted at a same time.
"HUH?!!!!!"
Charlotte snapped immediatly.
"EXCUSE ME?!!!"
Dorothy chocked releasing cartoon choke noise.
Ben felt his heart thump not expecting witch queen to talk like this was unexpected.
"…uh…"
The Queen lifted one hand—
And caressed the flat of his crystal cheek with slow, deliberate fingers.
The arena EXPLODED internally.
"IS THE QUEEN…!?!"
"SHE'S TOUCHING A MAN—WITH AFFECTION?!"
"THE WORLD IS ENDING."
"MANA IS COLLAPSING."
"OUR QUEEN HAS GONE MAD!"
Charlotte was seconds away from exploding.
"...."
Even Dorothy's face turned red—
"...."
Not from embarrassment, but from pure panic.
The Queen turned to the silent crowd.
Her teal eyes glowed.
"For the first time in a hundred years,"
She said coldly,
But with a strange softness behind her words—
"I shall participate in the Spring Festival."
Gasps.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"W-With whom—?"
"Why today—?"
"Why now—?"
She smiled.
"Because our guest of honor has arrived."
And she placed her hand on Ben's arm.
Charlotte exploded internally.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Dorothy's hat vibrated from stress.
Every witch fainted or screamed or knelt in confusion.
Then, with a slow, elegant tilt of her head—
she whispered to Ben.
"Come.There is… much I wish to show you."
And with a gesture, her ravens opened a path lit with glowing red lanterns.
The Witch Queen's fingers were still resting on Ben's crystalline arm when Charlotte finally snapped.
Her heel clicked sharply against the stone.
Thud. Thud.
Then—
"...."
Charlotte stepped directly between Ben and the Queen.
A soft rustle of her spirit-costume leaves,
And she stood tall, elegant, and completely furious.
Her voice was low but precise.
"Your Majesty… Please remove your hand."
Every witch in a ten-meter radius turned stone cold.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Some covered their mouths.
Others whispered:
"Someone's going to die—"
"Charlotte… CHARLOTTE, NO—"
Dorothy grabbed her own hat, trembling.
"Oh stars… Charlotte, please… don't provoke her… she'll turn you into a crystal statue… or a blood puppet—"
But Charlotte wasn't backing down.
Not.
An. Inch.
"...."
The Witch Queen slowly lowered her hand…
But she didn't move away.
Instead, she leaned slightly, teal eyes gleaming.
"So. You are the one clinging to the king."
Charlotte's eyebrow twitched.
Twich~
"Clinging? We are together."
A pulse of tension filled the air.
Witches ducked behind stalls.
A few began writing final wills.
Even the ravens perched on the canopy froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The Queen smiled—
A soft, sharp, terrifying smile.
"Together? How adorable."
Charlotte's mana pressure surged—
Green vines and rose thorns spiraling around her.
Dorothy hissed under her breath.
"...."
"BEN, DO SOMETHING BEFORE HISTORY EXPLODES—"
Ben stepped forward just as the Queen spoke again.
"Good,"
She said, eyes flicking to Charlotte.
"You may watch."
Then she turned to Ben with absolute sovereignty.
"But the ritual requires him to come alone."
Charlotte's face went crimson in fury and disbelief.
"...."
Even the witches blinked.
Blink~ Blink~
"...."
"…ritual??"
"Since when?"
"I've lived here 80 years—there's no ritual!"
"The Queen just invented it, didn't she?"
Dorothy's face drained of color.
"...."
"O-oh no. Oh no, she's improvising traditions. She hasn't done this since the Mango Incident. That turned half the forest into frogs for a week—"
The Queen raised her hand gracefully.
"Silence."
All witches shut up immediately.
"...."
"...."
"...."
She turned to Ben again, voice dripping with authority and—
Something else entirely.
"For the Spring Festival… A dance must be shared between the Witch Queen and the most significant guest."
Ben blinked.
"...."
Charlotte erupted.
"THAT WAS NOT IN THE HISTORY OF ANY FESTIVAL—"
The Queen tilted her chin, eyes narrowing with a dangerous spark.
"…It is now."
A dozen witches fainted.
As the Queen gestured for Ben to follow her deeper into the palace,
The whispers began.
Small at first—
Then they grew like wildfire.
"Did the Queen just claim a dance??"
"She touched him!"
"She SMILED at him!"
"She used her SOFT voice— did she have one? I don't know till today..."
"Impossible, she hates everyone."
"She never touches anyone without gloves!"
"…don't tell me…"
"…does she like him?"
"THE QUEEN? HAVING A CRUSH?"
"No way—"
"YES WAY—didn't you see how she looked at him??"
"She looked hungry."
"Not hungry hungry—romantic hungry!"
"Same thing in her case!"
Dorothy covered her face.
"...."
"This is the worst possible universe…"
Charlotte looked like she was five seconds away from ripping the Queen's castle down with her bare hands.
The throne doors opened with a deep,
Echoing BOOM.
Ravens glided overhead like shadows.
Inside, the Queen's private chambers were dim,
Lit by floating red crystals and ancient runes that whispered like the forest itself.
She walked, elegant and silent, until she reached the center of the chamber.
Then she turned.
For the first time since he arrived—
Her regal mask dropped.
In its place was something quieter.
Older.
Almost… vulnerable.
"Benjamin Salvador Kira,"
She murmured, voice barely above a breath.
"I summoned you here… not for politics…"
Her fingers brushed the raven-feather mask at her face.
"…but because your existence has pulled the threads of fate in directions even I cannot see."
She stepped closer, teal eyes glowing gently.
"I saw visions the night before your coronation. A man of two paths. A king with more than one destiny. And I saw… myself."
Her hand hovered near his crystalline chest—
Not touching, but close enough to feel the mana hum.
"You,"
She whispered,
"disrupt prophecy."
Her lips curved slightly.
"And I wanted to see you… up close."
Ben's heart thumped hard—
Even in Diamondhead form.
"...."
She lifted her mask halfway—
Revealing a breathtaking face rarely seen by anyone.
"Now,"
She said softly,
"…shall we begin the ritual dance?"
The chamber was silent when Ben's diamond body dissolved into light.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Green radiance flared from the Omnitrix—
—and in the next breath,
Ben stood there in his human form,
The glow fading off his skin like dying stars.
The Witch Queen watched every second with unnerving calm.
No gasp.
No flinch.
No surprise.
Only a small smile.
"...."
Ben exhaled, meeting her teal eyes.
Sigh~
"I followed you,"
He said quietly,
"because I wanted to know what you truly want."
"And now,"
She whispered, stepping closer so her hair brushed his shoulder,
"you will."
Her fingers lifted—
Music crystals around the room hummed—
And a soft, ancient melody filled the chamber.
A witch-queen's hymn.
She extended her hand.
"Dance with me, Benjamin."
Ben hesitated… but placed his hand in hers.
"...."
Her palm was warm—
Too warm—
Like living fire under porcelain skin.
They moved in slow circles,
The Queen guiding him with practiced grace.
Her body pressed close—
Not seductively,
But reverently.
As if touching him confirmed something she saw in prophecy.
Her voice was a whisper against his ear.
"Do you know what it means… when fate itself changes its script?"
Ben swallowed.
Gulp~
"…No."
"It means something is powerful enough to defy the story written by mana."
Her eyes glowed hotter, brighter, as she leaned in.
"And you, Benjamin… You are not in the Book of Fate. You were never meant to exist."
Ben's grip tightened faintly.
"...."
The Queen's expression softened, almost mournful.
"A war approaches—the witch forest burns. Our future shatters. I have seen it for centuries."
She slid her hand up to his neck, pulling him closer.
"But then you arrived. Shifting destinies. Breaking chains. Rewriting lives."
A fragile breath escaped her lips.
"...."
"You are the anomaly… who can rewrite ours."
Ben's heart hammered.
The dance slowed.
The Queen pressed her forehead to his.
"I want a binding contract with you. A mutual oath. You protect the witch forest… And in return, I change your future as you change ours."
Their breath mingled—
When suddenly—
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
A furious female voice tore through the chamber like a thunderbolt.
Ben froze.
"...."
"...."
The Queen sighed.
Sigh~
"Oh dear."
Charlotte marched in like a goddess of floral destruction,
Vines spilling behind her, thorns crackling with mana.
Dorothy was dragged halfway across the floor clinging to her leg.
"CHARLOTTE, WAIT— PLEASE— STOP— THE QUEEN ISN'T TRYING TO SEDUCE—WELL MAYBE SHE IS BUT— OH NO THIS IS WORSE—"
The Queen raised one eyebrow delicately.
"…Your knight has arrived, Benjamin."
Charlotte's eyes flashed with lethal jealousy.
"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HIM."
Her mana pressure burst forward—
Green roses exploding out of the ground like spears.
The Queen didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
Her own blood-red mana rose behind her like wings.
Two forces collided, the air cracking.
Dorothy screamed.
"THE FOREST IS GOING TO BREAK—PLEASE EVERYONE STOP—"
Charlotte pointed at the Queen, voice trembling with anger.
"You— You dragged him here— You lied about a ritual— You tried to dance with him alone— What are you planning?!"
The Queen tilted her head elegantly, expression unreadable.
"Do calm down, child."
"CHILD?!"
Ben stepped between them instantly.
"Charlotte—both of you—listen."
The Queen folded her arms, cool as frost.
"I intended no seduction. Only prophecy."
Charlotte barked a humorless laugh.
Haha~
"You touched him. You held him. That WASN'T prophecy!"
A flicker passed through the Queen's eyes—
A rare break in composure.
"…Not all rituals require distance."
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(Author's POV)
(A/N)Thanks for reading the chapter!
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