A tribute to Queen Astria.

(This is something that I wrote a while ago (Three days? What do you mean three days? Khas, it feels like an eternity), as a tribute to one of my most beloved friends, Queen Astria (Gingereale). We roleplayed for countless years, and even now that I don't RP anymore, we still talk quite regularly. She's the one who made nearly all the drawings of my characters, and I wanted to repay that, but as I don't draw, I decided to do so in a way that I'm more comfortable in. The narration that follows is... Cringy, a bit emotional at best, and could've been written way better by some other people I know, but I did my best, and hopefully, it was enough.) "Name's Zerathur. Zerathur Naszberuk... And I'm here to talk with your queen." The voice of the protoss echoed in the seemingly empty cavern where he stood. Instead of the normal white clothes or armor, he was covered in long and loose grey cloths while his face wore no expression other than grief. After a couple of seconds, a group of heavily armored Changelings wielding halberdiers rushed in, but none were pointed at the outsider. - "You are late..." Spoke the changeling queen that sat in the throne of the minor hive. Her chitin, like that of all other changelings, was nearly as dark as the night, but her eyes and mane were of a purple so vibrant that they called attention just by their very existence. The throne room was humble, holding no arts or different architecture than the rest of the hive. It was only slightly more spacious than most of the other rooms, but all of this simplicity worked to draw even more attention towards the beautiful beast that sat in its middle. She slowly descended her throne and walked in the direction of the dark-colored stallion that had been brought in by the guards. - "I always had faith that you would grow into being the best within your kin, and here you are... Your mother would be proud of you, Spore." Responded Zera, slowly lowering his head to bow towards the changeling queen, action that was swiftly interrupted when she suddenly jumped forth and hugged him as tightly as she could. Her sudden move made him lose air and give a small step back, but soon he would throw one of the front hooves over her shoulders and hug her in response. "We missed you, uncle Ze..." Spore whispered on his ear before breaking off the hug, stepping back to look at the protoss on his dark attire. - "She left us just a week before your letters reached us. She was already... Too old to carry on the burden of life, and passed away during her sleep." The queen would speak quickly while guiding Zerathur through the maze of tunnels that led to the deeper parts of the hive. The material of the walls began to change the deeper they went, and became solid rock after a minute or so. Zerathur's head hanged low as they walked, just as his mood did during the last couple of days. "She said that she wanted to be buried near the tree where you two first met... We granted that wish, of course, but sadly you were not here to give her a last goodbye before... You know..." - "Here you are... Her room. There's not much left, and in fact, the only object that wasn't buried along her was a gift she left for you when you returned if you ever did..." Spore mumbled while stepping aside, letting Zerathur into the old queen's living quarters. She did not follow him inside. The room wasn't as spacious as the throne room, that's for sure, but it did have a lot more decoration: The walls were smoothed, and even etched with drawings at certain points. In the middle, against the wall, stood an imponent and rather huge bed with curtains, and in front of it, a pedestal with a small metal gift box on top. Zerathur slowly approached the gift box and sat down next to the pedestal, using his psionics to gently open the metal case. - For the long minute that he sat there, staring at the gift his late lover left, all he could feel was... Emptiness. And then, it was filled with the feelings that for long he suppressed while in Stasis. Guilt, sadness, hatred... All of them hit him deep and tore him apart as tears rolled down his face and plummeted to the cold stone floor. He continued staring at the object in front of him, one that once caused him such happiness and yet now turned to its bane. A metallic flower with ruby petals that seemed to glow softly against the darkness of this world. A flower that he and Astria, the first Queen of the Southern Hives, planted together in what seemed to be a lifetime ago, now far away from its original place and covered in a dome of glass where time seemed to've stopped, stuck on ages of happiness that felt too far to've ever existed. - Zerathur sniffed and used the left front hoof to slowly wipe away his tears. The worst part of the emotional distress had just passed, and he needed to keep going. For Astria. For Amanda. For everyone who came and passed... Because, if not him, who else would remember them and their great feats? Who else would remember their personalities, their perfect imperfections? He carefully stored the dome with the flower inside of his backpack, carrying it as if it meant his very life, and it did. He bid a last farewell to Spore, the Changeling Queen, and started to make his way back home. Exhausted both emotionally and physically, but free to rest... At last.