A Myth and a Legend (Mythica)

Oak town was never much of a special place for the blood mage after a while. She loved coming here frequently as a child for the library and reading her heart out in all types of books and enjoyable needs, however now it just seemed to be a push of horrible memories for her. It wasn’t like Sanguine didn’t like her childhood, in fact it was the opposite. She envied the ability to go back if she could, but it wasn’t something that could be so easily adjusted and for that, she’d have to move forward. That also meant the ideals that she had to accept were more than insufferable at times where ya others they were just another days work. After the years she put to mentally and physically committing herself to being by Grim’s side, there were still bits of doubt and insecurity. What helped her cope was being around Grim, but lately she’d been so beside herself that the maid had gotten worried. With her not being in the castle much and the place continually spotless, she had left Shadow to tend to the place while she spent some time out.

A small park within Oak town was just the bit of relaxation she needed... if her flashbacks would just stay away from her. Constant reminders of what was stripped away from her angered her more than she could think of, but she attempted to hide it under a mask of blank emotion. Seated alone on a bench, her mind wandering about as others passed by. Waving kindly to smaller children that passed by to wave at the maid originally did brighten her mood a little bit. She wasn’t entirely a cruel person, but by no means would she defy an order to kill someone should it be given. Still, the Demi-dragoness wanted to continue her peaceful mood, so sitting amongst a park filled with few people was an easy way to keep herself from going to haywire.

At first, the disguised maid was rather content with all that went on. Having herself being given time away from.. everything was calming. Reflecting on her recent actions and exposures, it was hard to keep herself straight anymore and the thought of letting it all pass was beyond her ideas. The actions against the angel.. nothing. That was something she came to finish on her own with her own will and design. It at first left a foul taste in her mouth, but she got into the idea. It.. was relieving. She hated to think that way, but Delilah was happy to see her acting this way, Grim loved it, though her opinion still carried less weight than it used to, and her new guild master? Well she didn’t rightfully care for what others thought to begin with. The chiming voice that asked the sudden question caused her to jump a little. The voice carried a hefty chill down her spine, but when she looked to the source, the demoness was puzzled at who she was.

This girl looked quite cute, she had to give her that at least, and in tucking her hair behind her ear when she sat down next to her, the slayer continued to look on until the way she seemed to say her name snapped her memory. Her eyes widened at the memory flushing back into her mind. The mention of Grim, the way she just looked at her made her skin crawl and she jumped out of her seat. ”Y-Y-You!” She yelled out, not loud enough to attract any attention, but she was very much defensive over this girl. ”Who’s the loli?” The succubus questioned, looking on from the subconscious of Sanguine, whom flipped back and forth on what she wanted to do. ”How did you find me?” She cared not to answer either questions that were asked of her. She wanted to assure herself nothing else would turn around on her, but she had to worry at least a little bit...

The Demi-dragoness glared at the guest who arrived and the little innocent act wasn’t getting to her very well at all. In fact, the sweet smile only caused her eyes to shift to their more feral, slitted gaze. This girls mocking chuckle didn’t do anything to help her case as the snarling had gotten her acting much different than she had ever wanted to. She could feel her anger rising, but just as quickly as it was building, she tried to let it go. She’d spent so long being angry and destructive lately, she had become tired of it all. ”Don’t worry about it...” She muttered, trying to just absolve the situation before it could escalate.

When this stranger had beckoned almost about how she had just been here to talk, her eyes peered back at the seat. Never lost her? Well... if she knew she left with Grim, one could only imagine so that she had kept at the least a rough beginning. But nothing of the affairs of Grim and Sanguine would come up... hopefully. ”You think rough guessing from the old guild affairs is going to change anything? You don’t think for the time since Nightmare fell that I feared EVERY DAY about the things you did to me?” She knew the way she mentioned it that Mythica would know. ”You know... I deserve to know your name... at the very least.”

The demons glare never left the sight of the girl whom refused to look at her at first once she sat down and began to speak. In fact, once she replied about her being positive and practically thankful for what she did to the girl, the already feral eyes began to glow. A hue of a glowing red color lit them up, showing fury beyond even what Sanguine had ever felt was rising. ”H-Hey, I’m uh.. I’m all for watching you get mad and put your all into slaughtering someone... but girl you need to calm down. A. That’s not good for your complexion, and B. You can’t blow this form. It’s the only one you have that’s not probably flagged for crimes. Wait, when the fuck did I become the voice of reason?” The succubus tried to chime in, and frankly she was correct. Having her around was.. helpful at times and in cases like these, it was nice to have that around.

The girl then just jumped right up from her seat to get feet and started to walk away. What kept the maid from attacking or halting her was every fiber of her being... and the fact that Delilah had held control to keep them from doing something they’d come to regret. For now, with a bit of silence she stood up, keeping a calm, surprisingly relaxed demeanor while her eyes grew soft and normal. ”Fine... but you try anything and you’ll get what’s coming to you.” She wasn’t going to pretend like she wasn’t mad, but in the moment she wanted to make sure to keep control for the both of them while they continued down their path.

The calm and childish demeanor that this girl carried was starting to irk even Delilah. How could someone like this even get under Sanguine's nerves so badly that she'd almost gone berserk with anger and probably would have leveled half of the park trying to kill her. Since the fight with the angel, she'd been a little bit different. On one hand, the way she was had been a little more up the succubi's alley, but the other it was a little troublesome. She didn't want to have to play this girl mother since they were forced to share the same body. Still, she was sure the demi-dragoness had her own questions, however until she calmed down she wasn't getting control of the body. Today was supposed to be a relaxing one, and it's only been anything but.

"Give it back."
"And let you nuke this park? As fun as that would be, I'm not dealing with the fallout."
"I'm fine. Just.. give me about 5 minutes."

Delilah took a moment to think. Her eyes peering to the side then to the girl in front of her a few times before she let out a small sigh and shrugged her shoulders. The calmer look on her face grew slightly more annoyed, but still showing little other emotion. Taking the time to just silently let out the anger left her a little less than emotional. But, she quietly listened to what Mythica had to tell her and ask before she had let her time to answer. Before the girl turned to face her, Sanguine had reached her left hand up, biting the finger tip of her index finger and making a child like gun from her hand. When she'd turn enough around, she would fire her little "blood bullet" and strike the bird, and the bird alone, knocking it off of her hand and off into the grass. "You honestly want to know?" Her eyes peered around.

There was nobody within a decent view and her body would be consumed by shadows for just a moment. Dispursing, they would leave a woman standing the same exact height in place, her hair gone from the sky blue to a pure snow white and her clothes to that of a maid uniform. "With the last bit of juice your little implant had, Mas-... Grim had forced me to go with her. From there, I'd been kept under her mental manipulation games for her own needs and goals. I may have had freedom from Nightmare, but I never had my freedom... I was alone and afraid as a scared teenager who was just forced into the wrong path. A path I wanted nothing for!" She had to stop herself, taking in a deep breath and then exhaled, trying not to get worked up again. "I went through hell and back, committed my last 8 years through various time altered dimensions because I thought appeasing her was the only way I could survive... All because..." Tears began to roll down her eyes with her glare still intact. Gloved fists balled up, lightly shaking from it all. "All because you wanted me to fulfill some sick fantasy of yours? A human guinea pig? I'm doing everything I can to make sure I never have to relive being some experiment that lives to not be able to do anything without permission."

Whomever this girl was had started to twist her words, or at least she had started to feel like she was. Did she truly twist herself in so many lies that she forced herself that even through the time she had a chance to leave that she was better off being there with Grim? Maybe at first, at the least to being able to figure out what to do, or even until she thought she could leave with the grip on her own life. But, to her, the religious beliefs she had formerly carried taught her as well in having a chance to live on her own again. Maybe now, after all of this... this wasn't the right choice, but what was it that she wanted from her to begin with? The need to bring this up? Was she just trying to egg her own with those choice of words?

"Don't do it... Don't attack her."
"I-I... I don't want to..."

She looked down to her feet, her eyes briefly seeing over herself to see what she put herself into. Serving as a maid, one whom did anything and everything to appease others. "N-No." She replied, her head lifting back. She set on a back straight posture, her glare lessening into a normal look for her, but never the less regaining her composure. "You're not entirely right... I.. I do admit there were times I wish I had ran away from Grim, but... as a weak girl, I saw the things she could do without much strength and.. I was afraid. I was weak from the experiments you put me through and I thought if I went with Grim, I could be mentored to do something right. She.. she didn't treat me like some tool. Being her maid was my choice because I was grateful that after all that Nightmare did, SHE took me in and treated me like a person!"

She paused, stepping forward and walking around so she could look Mythica in her eyes. "I know what I'm doing goes against my entire childhood... some days I wish I could get it back. But... I feel that I wouldn't be able to do anything else but end up going insane from my inability to sate my need for blood." Pinching to her uniform, she gave a bit of a curtsy and smiled, almost mocking the girl. "But I am Sanguine, a maid to those whom request my services, and nothing more. I'm free to change at will, but I can't forsee anything being able to forgive me enough to return to my past life. In turn, I embrace my life choices, things I am free to make." Once she'd finished her little speech, she rose from her curtsy, her hands moving to rest in front of her, left hand clasped over her right while she resolved herself to remain as her confidence broke through finally.

Mythica began to get into her head more than she even felt she had gotten in. Her eyes widened as she began to speak on the part of her mentioning her being weak. Everything she was saying began to make sense. She was blinded by her own fears that she had succumbed to blaming herself and belittling her own power? Sanguine felt unsure about whether to believe it, but it was something that made a lot of sense the more she ran it through her head. "B-Bu-But..." She started to speak, but truthfully, the maid felt like she was unsure of what to say, or even how to react.

The flashbacks of Nightmare began replaying in her head, making her hands shake as the mention that she was "made" this way was to be nothing more than someones pawn. But... if that was true, why was she trying to shake her mind free of the notion that she was stronger than she gave herself the credit for? Why was this girl offering some form of 'true freedom' to her? "Offer.. my freedom?" Her thoughts were racing. The questions, the fears, the memories were crying through her head louder and louder to a point that she couldn't see herself as anything more than this tortured soul trying to find their way back. Delilah's voice was drowned out through this whole thing, but she felt the cold hands on her own and looking down to them, this girl looked up to him. "What... What are you offering? A-And why should I believe I would be free? You said it yourself, you made me into some pawn for a plan, but you abandoned it! So how do I know you won't just lie me into a position where I have to be your little lap dog, huh?"

The beginning to her reply alone brought her suspicions nothing more than higher than they already were. Of course, there was that chance that she was telling the truth, but in what world would she have for believing it? The maid continued to listen on as the girl whom still to this moment remained nameless to her had claimed that she wanted to form trust in her. "You put that chip in me... to keep me under your thumb, but NOW you come to be preaching trust like it's something you baked and were passing out free samples for... You aren't exactly helping your own situation here, chief." Again, her glare settled onto her, but one that didn't show a look of anger, just an unsettling care for being here.

Yet, despite the whole situation as it were, she continued to follow Mythica down towards the edge of the stream. At the start of the wilderness, no people were around, and much more so that they couldn't be heard from this corner of the park either. For a moment, she peered around to the woodlands, a sight that frankly she hadn't taken time to see for herself in so long... Maybe she did have a point. In the blink of an eye, the demi-dragoness felt that pain in her head. A writhing, agonizing sensation that as words pushed into her mind, began to bring her body to move in compliance. She began to grit her teeth, refusing to show any giving in to the pain. The words echoed over and over in her mind, forcing her down onto her hands and knees, making small whining noises through her bared teeth and painful facial expression.

The pain was much too severe for her to move anymore, let alone even speak. Having been so long since she had felt pain like this, the little resistance she felt to it was wiped clean. Her body began to shake as the pain was growing almost. It felt the more it continued, the further into her body it was beginning to get until she felt a cold hand touch her chin, pushing her head up. Wincing from the continuous pain, she opened just one eye enough to see that the stranger was knelt in front of her, again offering her chance to be free. Sanguine didn't want to blindly follow into this again... she couldn't. "T-Then.. w-wh-what do y-you.. w-wa-want..." Struggling to speak even, she did her best to get it out and hoping to be freed from this before she'd possibly black out.

The pain within her head continued to slowly grow more painful the longer she tried to fight it. Her time spent albeit mutilating herself in order to produce blood for her slayer magic was reaching its numbing limits in terms of how resilient she was to the pain. The fact her body couldn’t respond by moving was one point she instantly knew that she was going to be suffering for a while if this was starting to become a longer standing issue. Her head slowly swayed left and right as she continued to shake her head to herself, denying that thought to give in to stop the pain or beg for it to stop. Sanguine would not give her any satisfaction in getting her to crawl to her knees and beg to be taken back so she could keep from feeling this pain.

A paper fell in front of her, something brought about by the stranger as she had dropped it at her lowered head and the pain subsided as instantly as it began. Her hands cupped her skull as she painted and hugged loudly from the release of her agonizing pain and still the girl talked as though nothing happened. Mythica continued on to offer her the freedom she so apparently desired by signing this contract. Having to take a moment for her eyes to recollect themselves to see properly, they began to examine the paper down to the fine printing. The wording was so small that even she couldn’t read what it said, but that only harbored doubt to sign and believe what she was offering.

The maid climbed back to her feet, the contract parchment in her right hand and her left pushed against the tree for leverage to stand. When she turned her back to the tree trunk, her body leaned on it and she continued on in breathing in panting fits to recover. Rereading the contract in her head, she continued to think the deal over. Weighing each side was important, but in the end, she frowned and her hand balled the contract up in her hand. Switching hands, Sanguine then threw the ball of parchment to the back of the girl’s head, aiming for the ebony colored head that she was able to see. ”Take that offer.. and shove it. I’m free.. to do what I want.. when I want. I won’t be tricked to do.. your dirty work.” The wear in her eyes, how she spoke, and how she was holding herself up was obvious. The little bit of time spent in that much pain took its toll on her, and she wasn’t very well at hiding pain like that anymore...

With a bit of time in needing to catch her breath, Sanguine had finally regained enough of her composure to remain a little more like herself. Refined and standing straight. Posture straight and her arms returned to their prior look, she had to be assured that she was going to be perfectly content with the actions she's made. If anything, she was preparing herself for the reply to her own while the girl would receive her own contract paper to the back of her head as intended. Not a facial muscle ticked in favor of a grin or grimace from the action. Instead, she was emotionless and neutral, awaiting her to calmly approach the choice and leave her at that. At least, logically that was the choice.

Mythica had turned to face her properly, beginning to maturely approach the reply to the maids actions in a way she didn't expect. While her eyes continued to remain locked on her, she began to move forward in making her way towards the demi dragoness while she in turn kept silent. Again, she began to snap onto the idea of the maid fed so far into her own lies that they were more than the truth. Eyes slowly began to narrow as the subject returned to her supposed lies. She was beginning to get sick of this topic coming about and the whole idea of it all was getting more and more agitating. Still, Sanguine compelled herself to keep her emotions as still as possible no matter what was said to her. She may have been right in some aspects, but in others, there was the urge to slap her face so hard her head will spin around.

Without any warning, the pain in her skull picked up. The sharp sensation spiked higher than before, forcing her down to her knees while she pushed her hands at her head while she was trying her best at suppressing her pain, but without any avail. Growling and whining in pain, the maid struggled against her pain to rise back to her feet. Her legs severely shaking and forcing them to not buckle under the sheer amount of pain while approaching the black haired girl, grabbing the collar of her clothes and gripping tightly. "I.. AM.. free... I-If I.. wasn't... I-I'd have... k-killed you already." As she glared into Mythica's eyes, she could clearly see the shifting of life in and out of the maids eyes until finally her eyes closed and her body collapsed, setting her into a form of continuous pain even during her unconsciousness.

Her struggle to keep conscious was only fueled through the Fire of anger she held towards Mythica, and she had to have figured that out by now. The adrenaline of wanting to kill her was so strong, but trying to suppress the need to do so was only putting more pressure on her already shattering psyche. And then, in the rush of the moment, it all ceased. A haze of the moment in all that pain, she felt a millisecond of numbness before blacking out and collapsing. It was a harsh feeling, but the peace in being able to fall asleep as she had was relaxing enough until her body had collapsed onto the floor.

Being in this predicament was another additional reason she hated her life anymore. She was proud, but the pride fell short of the pain, the memories constantly randomly playing at their own accord to just further agonize her of the things she’d been through. It was hard for her to go one way or another without regretting it fearing there was someone out there stronger than her to come after her for one reason or another. Be it her choice to be evil, or the betrayal of the guild and then coming after her for that. One way or another... she just wanted it all to end.

Suddenly, her eyes popped open, continuing the immense pain of her chip as she had rose to her feet despite the obvious shaking her their lack of strength supporting her weight, only furthering the pain that she felt from it all. Her vision was somewhat blurred, hardly able to make out what was right in front of her, but something touched her hand. The cold feeling was embraced by a grip she didn’t want, when her arm raised itself up and a round, metal objected pressed against the bottom of her head, right by her chin. Listening to every word.. or nearly every one, the maid debated pulling the trigger her finger laid on. Putting an end to it all was worth it... just to give herself peace and safety... but the other hand, she couldn’t. Despite breaking her religious views on a god, her morals were still something she tried to hold onto. Namely, suicide. To her, it was still a sin to do so... but considering what else she did in her lifetime, would it be so bad to do it?

A moment passed, the gun clicking as her hand shook, but finally she had come to terms with her choice. A life of torment, or an eternity of sin? A tear began to shed from her eyes, a small smile cracking as she was beginning to almost feel joy from this choice. ”I pray the lord forgive my sins and take my soul in peace...” And a loud bang echoed through the forest, following a thud as her body collapsed to the ground. She finally felt peace and genuine joy, before the life left her eyes and body.