I walked up to the front door of my friend Suzy's house. It was a bit of a long walk, since Suzy was loaded and thus owned a mansion. It was three stories, with an attic and a basement, and, as per usual, her parents were out on a business trip. Which meant a party. A costume party, to be exact.

Now, Suzy being a whore both attention-wise and sexual-wise, she loved to throw parties like this. She invited tons of people, who invited their friends, who invited their friends, and so on and so forth. It was typical, really. This was just the first time she'd thrown a costume party, and thus a good deal more people had come, namely gamers and geeks.

Now, Suzy, thankfully, wasn't a bitch. She was a whore, but she wasn't a bitch, and didn't discriminate against others or judge them based on their social lives or preferences or anything like that. She actually had a pretty stern rule for each party, which was, 'No discrimination, or I'll strip you and toss you out in the cold for the entire night'. She'd done it plenty of times, too. Enough that people knew not to disobey her.

Anyways, point is, she didn't discriminate, and that's one of the reasons we were such good friends. I was a complete geek and gamer girl, and she accepted that. Hell, she was an anime geek, and that was how we met. It was at RTX and she was dressed as Yang, because, ya know, she was trying to show off her rocking bod, and I happened to walk in on her giving a dude a ride to marshmallow heaven in a bathroom.

Regardless, me and her were close. We'd been friends for five long years, and while she did get on my nerves sometimes with her continuous nagging about joining her on a sexcapade, I still liked her.

But back to the matter at hand. Right now I was walking up the driveway through the front lawn in my custom costume. It was a mix of my two favorite games in the whole world, Dark Souls and Destiny. I was wearing the Gensym Knight Cloak, complete with it's deceptively simple pure white silk and faded design of a circle with angular sun-like design. Along with that was the Crown of the Dark Sun serving as my mask, it's gold, seven pointed face resembling the sun that was it's namesake.

Then there was the Iron Truage Grips and Boots which covered my legs and arms, both colored purple with gold, tree-like engravings. My chestpiece was similar to the pointed chestplate of the Floating Vest and was colored similarly white, only with a distinct symbol on it no Souls fan could ever forget, the sun with a charming face, the Crest of the Warriors of Sunlight.

Along with those came my favorite weapons, the infamous Hand Cannon Crimson, a Crystal Chime, and the Moonlight Greatsword. Crimson was a revolver that was as bulky as an Assault Revolver, but instead of the bloodied and spiked look the original sported, this one bore the Silver Bullet Ornament, meaning it was covered in so many engravings and silver plates it looked like an actual piece of artwork from a museum. The iconic Moonlight Greatsword was a gigantic blade of deep, sea green, ever aglow with dim light. Sadly, as that was an effect I couldn't replicate, I settled for just making it look shiny as fuck. The hilt was pretty ornate, being made of gold (though there was no way I could pay to make it real gold) with a ruby inset in the guard. Finally came the Crystal Chime, a small, bell-like thing made of blue metal, and covered in similarly blue crystals. I can't tell you how annoying it was trying to make those very crystals. I had to settle for making each one piece by piece and gluing them on. It was hell.

But, totally worth it.

I was very proud of my getup. It took me an entire year of saving up money, but it was so worth it. Only thing missing was a Ghost, but it's not like I could just buy a damn drone, much less a custom one made to look like a Ghost. No, I just had to make due with what I had.

Anyways, I eventually made it to the front doors, passing by a number of people on the front lawn who were either having mini orgies on the grass or... Well, just stumbling around drunk. Or both. I shook my head at their antics and opened the ornate mahogany doors, walking inside the lobby of the mansion and immediately being assaulted with the scent of drugs, alcohol, and sex. Mostly sex, though, but I'd grown used to it after my time with Suzy.

I looked around the luxurious interior of the mansion. There was a couple making out intensely on one of the couches nearby, and a group of three having intercourse on yet another couch. I took a moment to think about how ruined both of those Victorian couches would be in the end before going about my search for Suzy. I passed a number of people in many costumes, from the kinky nurse, student, and cat outfits to actual cosplays, and most if not all of them were either drunk, high, or having sex.

Once more, I ignored it all and made my way upstairs. I eventually found Suzy in her room in the midst of an orgy herself, and I sighed deeply. I will never get over how shameless this girl is. It's honestly a miracle she hasn't gotten pregnant yet. I slowly closed the doors to her room, seeing as she was way too occupied with being penetrated in all her holes on her queen sized four poster bed.

I decided I might as well wait until she finishes, and went down to the kitchens to grab something to eat. Maybe a drink, too. After passing many more inhibitionless people in the guise of characters from different media, I reached the kitchens and walked towards the counter where a cake was, one of many. I grabbed a slice of double chocolate cake, and turned around only to be greeted by a woman with straight black hair, a mask, and a red, Vicotrian tail coat and fair skin seemingly smiling at me. I won't lie, I jumped a little.

"Jeez!" I cried, nearly dropping my cake. The woman chuckled.

"Sorry about that dear," she said, her voice sounded smooth, and Arabian. That certainly didn't match her look. She eyed my slice of cake. "Mmm... That's a nice slice of cake you got there." Her eyes flicked to me, and scanned my form briefly. She felt... Off.

"Um... Yeah, it is. Can I help you?" I asked politely.

"I think you can. See, I'm quite hungry, but have nothing to give anyone in return for food. And I don't like having debts. So, maybe we can come to a..." for the briefest moment, I could have sworn her golden eyes glowed, "...trade agreement?"

I fidgeted a bit. "Umm... What do you have in mind?" I queried uneasily.

"Oh, nothing too big, it's simple really. You give me that slice of cake, and I'll give you..." She pulled something out of her coat pocket that made my eyes bulge. It was a Ghost. With the motherfucking Cosmos Shell. And it acted just like the one in-game. As in, the stars and nebulae were shifting.

Call it greed or wonder, but I couldn't help but immediately give her the cake and snatch the Ghost. "Holy shit... Where in the hell did you get this?!" I asked as I looked to her. She smirked under her mask.

"Oh... A trader has her ways..." She said simply, before I felt a sudden, massive migraine coming on. "Hehehe... Always good to make a fair trade..." My vision went blurry, and I stumbled, the Ghost falling out of my hands as I fell to the floor.

My vision went from blurry to dim, my eyelids suddenly feeling heavy.

"Eyes up, Guardian..."

I woke up in a void, falling fast. My first reaction was, of course, screaming. And then more screaming as I felt something seemingly grab my arms and legs, and start to peel off my skin. Bit by excruciating bit. Then came my muscles, and after that they did the same with my bones, peeling away layer after layer with that same, torturing pace.

I briefly wondered why I hadn't passed out or straight up died already from the immense pain, but that ended when I suddenly felt everything grow back. Painfully. And none of it even felt exactly the same.

Then it got to my eyes, and I screamed so hard and loud I wondered why my throat hadn't gone out. The void of black didn't care as my eyes felt like they were being burned layer by layer, and then reformed from the ground up.

Then came the branding on my shoulder blade. Though that was tame in comparison to everything else.

Finally, after all that, I passed out.

I slammed hard into a stone floor, and screamed again. I flailed around, and didn't even register the sounds of yelling and shouting around me as I continued to scream. My vision was blurry, and I remember feeling a strong hand pull me up by the scruff of the neck. I screamed even louder and flailed harder, hitting whatever had me in it's grip in what I assumed to be the chin.

I heard a cry of pain as it released me, and I fell back to the floor. Slowly, I started to calm down. My vision cleared a bit and my eyes nearly popped out of my skull at the sight before me. There, on a polished, black marble floor covered by a light blue carpet was what I could only assume was a yeti of sorts. It had the fur and face for it, though it had cloven hooves and three fingered claws, along with bull-like horns. That, and it had polished black armor with a light blue symbol on it, and a crown.

It glared at me with it's two piercing blue eyes, and to my further shock, it spoke.

"You would dare to hurt me? The Storm King?!" it, or rather he, if the voice was anything to go by, growled. I took a few seconds to let my brain reboot itself. And then more to realize I had a HUD as well, just like in Destiny 2. Apparently this yeti-thing took insult to my silence. "Well?! You better get on your knees and beg for forgiveness, because nobody hurts The Storm King without repercussion!"

I noticed a number of guards similar to him in appearance around us, halberds now pointing at me. They also wore armor in a similar style to his.

"Uhh... Guardian, you might want to get ready to fight... Like, now," said a robotic, female voice. Turning my head sharply, I saw the Ghost I had traded my cake for floating there, glancing worriedly between the apparent guards and their angry king. I was about to do another double take and mental reboot, but after looking around once more and seeing my predicament, I decided I'd rather not be executed or imprisoned just because I couldn't respond quick enough.

With that made up, I shot to my feet, grabbed my hand cannon from it's holster at my hip, and aimed it at the king. He laughed.

"Ha! What is a stupid little thing like that gonna do? 'Cause it sure doesn't scare me-!" he began, before I fired two consecutive shots, one for either of his shoulders, punching a hole straight through the pauldrons and his flesh and making him scream in pain.

With that, the guards rushed to impale me, and I jumped above them instinctively. I landed atop the halberds, and jumped off, landing behind them. I aimed for the king again. He growled at me.

"How dare you-!" he began, before I decided to put a bullet between his eyes. His eyes lost their life, and he fell over, dead. I turned to the guards, ready to continue the fight for my life and survival, only for them to do nothing but stare at where their king's body lay, oozing blood. I blinked a few times.

"Umm..." my Ghost tried lamely.

Then, suddenly, they all erupted in howls and cheers, stomping the butt of their halberds into the floor repeatedly. I blinked a few more times, until an honest to God unicorn, with a dark purplish coat of fur and magenta mane, complete with a broken horn and armor, busted the doors to the throne room open.

"Your Excellency, are you alri-?!" she began, before noticing the dead king's body, then me, then the cheering guards. "What in Tartarus happened here?!" She roared. The guards turned to her and seemed to speak to her in their own language, though I didn't really understand it since it sounded like a bunch of snarls, grumbles and grunts. Her eyes widened, but quickly she recomposed herself and stalked over towards me, armored hooves clip-clopping on the black marble floor. I hesitantly aimed my gun at her, and she stopped a good few feet in front of me. "Tell me, creature, why did you kill our king?"

I blinked again. I am thoroughly confused. Shouldn't I have been cuffed by now? I mean, I killed their king! And yet this unicorn is just casually asking me why I killed him? Do they not care?

"Umm..." I began helpfully. I looked to my Ghost, then to her. "...Self-defense?" She stared me down with that cold gaze of hers for a few seconds before seeming to shrug.

"Well, can't say I blame you. He was a total plothole. Tyrant, at that. But..." she glanced to his body then back to me. "...I did have a deal with him, and now it is forfeit. Unless you can offer me my horn as well, I suggest you leave. Quickly."

"..." I blinked a number of more times. This is honestly the weirdest situation I have ever been in. I looked to my Ghost.

"Umm... I might be able to do so, if given time and a rundown on your kind's anatomy," she said. The mare, I guess, turned to look at her with slightly widened eyes before they once more returned to their calm and steely nature.

"Well, then welcome to the Island of Storms..." She turned to me and bowed her head. "My Queen."

"...WHAT?!"

EDIT: Added a better description of Lucette's get up in lieu of the old links. Thanks for the heads up, Jest!

EDIT: Added another new intro, because the old one felt wrong to me.

EDIT: Added a better intro, complete with a more fitting song.

EDIT: Added links for each piece of Lucette's gear, even her Ghost. Added an intro, complete with song./u]

Well, here's an idea I came up with just last night. I'm hoping this story gives you all an interesting ride, though I won't hold out too much. Gotta make room for mistakes, after all.

I'm jumping into the (for me) uncharted territory of political and courtly intrigue. Here's hoping I do it well enough that you all find it at least mildly interesting.

Thanks for reading.

-Timeless Celestial