The wind was sparse, the day was hot, and the blade of the guillotine shone bright.
Maya was forced on her knees in front of the bucket that would receive her head. The anticipation could kill her before the blade had it's chance, and she would be glad for it. Her life was nothing but blood, fog, and more blood. Her limbs chafed from the chains but her heart hurt most of all.
Big Pig was on a podium squealing his nonsense. Hundreds had turned out to see the slaying of a demon. Maya could not find any hatred for them. At the moment, she couldn't find any hatred for anything or anyone. Except maybe herself.
She understood now, her reliance on the Fog had made her weak. And Viktor promised she would never feel weak again. He lied. Like so many others, he lied. She revised her previous thoughts, she could find hatred for someone else. For liars and abusers alike.
All those years, so much death, but... what choice did she have?
There is always a choice... Cedric's voice rose above the noise to ring loud and true in her head. Damned old fool.
Maya had yet to stop crying, unsure if it was for Lady Knife, or the girl that lost her entire world. Revenge was all she sought. She thought herself an avenger, yet what was she avenging? As hard as she tried, she could not separate herself from her previous life. Everyone lied to her, herself most of all.
Now, faced with the opportunity to stop running, she embraced her fate wholeheartedly. Anything to stop running...
"- and slay! Slay the Demon of the Mists!" Big Pig concluded with an overdone flourish.
"It's not mists, moron." Maya's tone was drier than autumn leaves.
"The Demon wishes for death sooner than anticipated!"
"On this we are aligned." Maya exposed her neck for the contraption of death. Thankful to at least feel some genuine hatred for someone, now at the end. To feel like herself.
In the depts, she knew that to be a lie as well.
"Then be gone! Demon!"
The crowd cheered with glee and enthusiasm as the headsman went to pull the lever to the guillotine -
Before they started screaming in panic.
Maya raised her head to see a bloody path carving itself through the throng. People getting mowed down like cattle by hooded figures. Acolytes... What ensued was chaos like she'd never seen. Well, not in this life. The acolytes came from everywhere, wielding blades, scythes, axes. Guards rushed in but where dispatched with ease. The figures got on the podium, taking the head of the Big Pig as an afterthought. They approached their Lady Knife.
"Lady Knife." Three figures bowed their heads in unison, while a forth unlatched her bindings. All around them, the echoes of death persisted.
Maya was not happy. "Viktor sent you?"
The acolyte she addressed flinched as if whipped. "No, my lady..."
"Then who?" Their eyes were bloodshot red, their mouths drooling like newborns, their expressions strangely loose but intent. Is this what I look like under the Fog? She'd known, of course, but at that moment, it disgusted her to her very core. "Who?"
"Cedric, my lady." The one that undid her bindings felt particularly brave. "He waits for us."
"Does he now..." Another traitor to deal with before the end.
Before she left, Maya turned around to witness an eerily familiar scene. A girl once stood alone and frightened as her manor burned. The corpses of those she loved haphazardly left bleeding and dying. The girl was in shock, unable to register what she saw. All these years later, she still couldn't.
Maya didn't run from the memory. No more running away. She let it simmer. It had the desired effect - she was furious.
Maya met the man that got her out of that hell all those years ago. "I noticed you've grown accustomed to certain tactics, Cedric."
Cedric sat on a tree stump, his scythe spread across his lap. He wore his Prejudicator robes today - black with a red sheen. "Lady Knife." He bowed his head, formal as ever.
The acolytes arranged themselves in a circle around them,. Maya couldn't give two spits for their presence. She approached her seated savior, placing a knife to his throat. "You saved my life, Cedric. Brought me to Viktor, to..." She took the tip off his neck, waved it around to prove her point, returned it. "Whatever this is. Before I end you, I want to know - why?"
Cedric did not blink. "I... I don't know, Maya." This time, Maya didn't blink either, Cedric took notice. "I see this latest brush with death has made you... introspective? How curious."
"You would say that, old fool." She pressed the tip, drawing blood. "Speak. Why did you expose me to the Fog? Why would you save someone you just condemned, if you intended further suffering? I understand, don't misjudge me, I just didn't expect it from you."
"You have always been naive, child." Cedric dabbed the blood on his neck, sniffed it, frowned. "But I see you at least have gained some assertiveness." The knife tip moved ever so slightly. "The Fog! The Fog does nothing but enhance your senses! It does not turn you into anything else but a truer, purer version of yourself."
"More lies..."
"Truth! I speak truth."
"Why say it then? In front of everyone?" Could he really read her intent? Did he know his life was hanging by a thread? "Speak!"
"They won't remember... Once the effects wear off, your actions are perceived through a haze. You know this to be true." She did. All too well, she did. "Remove the blade now, Maya."
She leaned in his ear. "Hah. You see, that name. I hate that name. All these years you've used my own name to manipulate me. To remind me of something you claimed long forgotten. Well, today I learned something about myself, Cedric." She pushed the blade deeper, it formed a line, the blood dripping. "I've never forgotten about that noble girl you stole. She has stayed with me, through darkness and fog she has remained. And now she has had enough. Now, she desires rest." Cedric gurgled something, his hands that held the scythe did not move. Maya's blood was staining her hand - she sniffed it, grinned. "Hah. It does smell different."
Maya stepped back, noticed the circle of acolytes on their knees. "Lady Prejudicator." They all said.
Maya looked down at her bloody knife, threw it like a discarded toy. She decided she was done with knives. For now, she picked up Cedric's scythe to hold up pretences. She needed to see Viktor.
"Take me home!" She proclaimed, lied.
And they did.
Inside Viktor's study, she found the man behind his deck reading a tome. "Ah, our new Lady Prejudicator." He slammed the tome shut. "Old Cedric was loony, but his actions have plucked a rather lushes fruit. From the moment he brought you to me, he assured me that he had found his successor." Viktor clapped his hands. "And you are here."
"I am, dissatisfied...."
"Oh?"
"I crave more blood."
Viktor seemed genuinely curious. "And why is that? You don't have to talk to me so formal, you know this." The bastard smiled.
"The ones that belittled me, and exposed me... they have yet to be punished."
Viktor's eyebrows raised. "Is that so? Hmmmm. I see. You must understand, as Lady Prejudicator, you are no longer required to go outside the lair. You have acolytes to do your bidding."
"The Fog requires blood. I can feel it, Viktor. It's calling to me. Perhaps, one last time? You let me finish hat Is tarted?"
The glint in Viktor's eyes was obvious. He still thinks me under the Fog's influence. He plans on controlling me, even now. She returned his smile. He, in turn, waved for her to follow.
In the Purification Chamber, the Preacher stood alone with the Lady Prejudicator. The bowl, silver and sinister, called to the lady. The red torches, bright in their admiration, cheered her on. Maya stood with her scythe, listening to Viktor Tzar's liturgy. Waiting for him to get it over with.
The Fog was near, and it was thirsty.
The Preacher, Viktor Tzar, bowed with a gesture towards the bowl. His smirk indulging Maya's fantasy. She swung her scythe as she passed, slicing the backs of his knees. He fell, tried to cry out but failed - Maya's hand was over his mouth.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh." She picked the frail man up, placing his destroyed knees over the bowl, filling it with his essence. "The blood calls, Viktor. Can't you hear it?" He struggled, but he was losing strength quickly. "You always told me to listen to the blood, yes? Listen to you, you meant. Let's test that theory though, let's listen to the blood."
As the bowl filled, she placed his head over the soon boiling blood. His pale, shocked face was all she ever needed. "I... made... you..." He gasped.
"On this we are aligned." She nodded, slitting his throat and plunging his head in the now boiling blood. "You are currently dying, Viktor. Can you feel it?" The man struggled but Maya held him down. "No? Well, that's the Fog's healing affect at work. Enthralling, isn't it? I myself found the experience most captivating.
"I cannot imagine being in your situation. Constantly dying, yet persisting inside a red malaise. The mixture of agony and ecstasy must be intoxicating." The fumes started to burn her hands, she let them. "Oh, how peculiar you must feel. I doubt your rational mind is still active, old friend. But I hope it is, you hear me?" Her hands burned. "I hope you are paying attention to every, last, word.
"I hope you are plotting. Yes. Continue scheming! You may survive yet!" She cackled, head back, hands aflame. "Ohhh, how I wish that. But I doubt it." She leaned over the entranced face, feeling the fumes hot and deprecating. "I will hold on as long as I have to, you hear me? AS LONG AS I HAVE TO!"
The acolytes stormed the chamber, tackling Maya just as her face caught flame. Viktor fell to the ground, spasming uncontrollably. He was smiling, flailing his limbs, the pool of blood expanding.
The acolytes stood, perplexed. Maya was seated next to a pillar, her hands destroyed and her grin red amongst the pink skin. They approached her, hesitant. "L-lady Prejudicator..."
"Yes, my children?" Maya cocked her head, suddenly innocent. Inside, her mind was blank. Empty. Peaceful.
She saw it then, what remained.
"What is hap -"
"You dare interrupt us in our most ancient ritual?" She said in her most grandiose tone. "Leave! Now!"
The group, clearly shaken, left the chamber with expressions of awe. Maya released a cackle special for the fools. She saw the body, motionless in its bliss. Maya's smile faded at that, she expected to feel something for the man. But no, her head and heart were empty.
*As they should be. I died a long time ago."
With hands aflame she grabbed the boiling bowl and pushed. The bowl seemed to resist her, to taunt her, the bones in her hands starting to crumble like brittle weeds. Maya however, was past caring. She kept pushing, and pushing, as the blood boiled and hissed in defiance.
Soon, the bowl fell, the blood spilling, and spilled, far more than was in the bowl. Maya gasped for air, her entire body numb, her breathing - hot. So hot! She could feel it inside her. She welcomed it. Through her head back and laughed alongside the flames.
"MY Oath is fulfilled, Viktor!" She screamed in the furnace, in the void. She allowed herself to look down, the floor of the chamber fully engulfed in blood. "My Oath is fulfilled!"
In the midst of the blood, and inferno, and emptiness. Maya noticed the shadow the bowl left on the alter, noticed as it twitched. And moved.
And sent her spiralling into darkness.
https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/grocko/23vhoQ5n5oGkgckPLhtZcYdLmp6rL8qzcSjkLMSLm762tuKwC81dmCamQmsRm6Uc6npZF.png
Damn dude, I did it bishessssss. ๐ I'd like to thank @anikekirsten for pushing me over the edge, and telling me to man up and just get it over with.
I'll be honest, this series didn't go near as well as I assumed the premise would allow. I am really unhappy with how it turned out - think I did the best I could with the ending. (for those confused, it's meant to be cthulhu/lovecraftian inspired). But ye, this series was a mess, and I would love to rewrite it one day as a whole. ๐ฏ The premise, themes, and character of Maya, felt really strong. But my execution sucked for the most part.
At any rate, I'm happy with the ending. Hope you guys and gals are as well. ๐
I challenged myself with this serialized format, and I think it got the better of me. I will not be posting any more stories like this in the future. Not for a while at least, and not until I have the whole thing already prewritten. Cuz doing it like this was hell (a bloody hell, yukyukyuk).
Thanks for reading yo!
Shout-out to the ๐PIZZA๐ gang, ๐ค gang. ๐ค
๐ Follow me on my HIVE blog ๐
And for the last time - have a great bloody day! ๐
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