Scatha and Azrial

↠ M I S T R E S S
^{I wasn’t born this way. I was a princess; my mother’s eldest of four children, only daughters much to my father’s dismay. I was set to succeed their legacy, and my was it a great one. They ruled over the largest, most prestigious clan of Mycena, located right in the center of the caves. They were kind and gentle rulers, though my father had a dark secret that he kept well hidden from all of his subjects, including his family. A year before my naming day, my mother announced that she was with child. We were all happy, but none happier than my father. As the days neared the birth, I began to notice something. My father’s crowned jewels always featured a dark purple stone right at the center. It was the largest and most beautiful of all the stones, but outside of this, there was nothing that would catch your attention. That is, until two weeks before the birth. The stone began to glow from deep within, growing brighter and brighter with each passing day. No one else seemed to notice, except my father. He frequently caught me staring at the stone, to which he would hurriedly tuck the crown beneath his arm and glide quickly away, glancing over his shoulder with a look that I couldn’t quite name. I approached him once, but he denied anything and said I was seeing things. From then on, he kept his crown locked in its case out of sight.
Finally the day came, and my little brother was born. My mother and father were ecstatic that it was a boy, even my sisters were beyond happy, but they had nothing to lose anyway. Unless something tragic happened to me, they would never become the rulers of this clan. I, on the other hand, had a pit swirling in my stomach. Of course I was happy to have a new sibling, but that meant I could no longer take my parent’s place on the throne. The right automatically went to the eldest male, which was now this squirming bundle of joy in my mother’s arms. My father eyed me with that same look from the days before. Regret. Expectancy. He was expecting something, but I didn’t know what, nor why it was directed at me. Was I supposed to do something now? Say something? I opened my mouth to question why he was staring at me like that, but before I could, my knees buckled and my world went dark.
The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the entire manor as every window fell to the ground like drops of rain. I heard screaming and crying, unknown voices whispered in my ears, and there was an ominous noise somewhere in the distance that kept getting closer. I felt a strong, clawed hand grip my shoulder, the nails piercing my skin. With his touch, my vision returned and I could see that I was still standing in the delivery room, nothing had changed except the look on my family’s faces. No broken windows, no crying children, nothing. I looked at the creature standing next to me, expecting to see a horrendous face, but to my surprise it was a handsome young man. I glanced down at his hand, but it was normal, although I could still feel the piercing bite on my skin. When I looked back up into his eyes, I saw he too was staring at me. I jumped back in surprise, for his eyes were black with a deep purple glow emanating from within. Much like something I’d seen before… The man gripped my shoulder harder, not allowing me to move too far away as I jumped back. A faint smile played on his lips, before he finally turned his attention to my family, or specifically my father.
His voice was sharp and the words slithered between his teeth like a serpent, yet I couldn’t help but find myself drawn to him. “We meet at last, oh desperate one. You can’t be happy with what you have, can you?” He turned to me again, this time revealing a bright smile with a row of pointed teeth. “Unfortunately, my dear, your father has bargained your life for this child. You’ve been promised to me, and I assure you he will keep that promise.” His smile grew wider as he leaned in close to my face. He had a sickly sweet scent, and his breath sent a chill down my spine as he whispered in my ear. “I’ll admit I’m not disappointed in this little exchange though.”
My father attempted to object, but before he could speak a word, this creature whipped back to attention and snapped his fingers. My father’s face turned a deep shade of blue and his veins were disgustingly popped from all over his head. My mother screamed for the creature to stop, to release my father from this magic, but the man stood still, staring in amusement. Finally my father held up a weak hand in surrender, and the man snapped again. My father fell to his knees, clutching his throat as he struggled to regain the air that had been sucked from his body. The horrified look on my mother’s face and my sisters crying at her side were the last things I saw before I was surrounded by a swirling wind that blocked everything from view, everything except the man still gripping my shoulder. In seconds the wind disappeared, and in front of me now lay a wasteland of bones and debris.}

↠ M A S T E R
^{I wasn’t born this way. Well, a monster, yes, but I was never this… nice. I was happy with my role in the wastelands, often being referred to by the common creatures as the “devil” for which they made deals with, although I cringed at the thought of being compared to that guy. There were way worse creatures down here, and besides, he was mainly just a showoff since his name somehow became the most popular to use when referring to us others. I never paid much attention to the deals I made, especially since my clients could only speak to me through some magic stone they had up there. I never met anyone face to face, but I’d have loved to see some of these poor creatures in their desperate attempts. A soul here and there for a cure to a sickness, a life taken in place of another, someone’s earthly possessions in return for the pathetic attention they called love, yadda yadda. The only exchange I’ll remember for eternity is the one that brought her here, to me.
My youngest client, a boy of around the age 11, sought to sell me his soul in exchange for his place on the throne. Something I’d seen before, but coming from someone so young was a surprise. I welcomed the thought of the younger generations being more devious. Unfortunately for this child, the only way to surpass his two older brothers for the crown was, of course, death, and that’s exactly what they got for this miscreant’s wish. So bang boom I made it happen, turned his soul into one of the many stones of my collection, and manifested a copy into his world. I did this as a way to remain attached to the host, since I could no longer track the soul in their world. The years passed and many more deals had been made, and I’d forgotten about the boy. The day my life changed forever was the day his stone began to glow. No one had ever attempted to reconnect with the demon who’d stolen their lives, but this boy, who killed his siblings for fame, and who sold his most valuable possession to me already, was trying to contact me again. I laughed at first, as he was so ignorant. He’d had nothing left to offer me that I would want. Still, I humored him, and his voice came through the stone. He sounded old and tired now.
“Please, I seek a son to claim the throne in my place. My wife has only bore me daughters. I grow bitter and resent my eldest for being my only successor, but I don’t want to resent her. I want to love my children. I’ll give you whatever you want. Please!” The man begged and begged, but I did not reply. He had nothing, as I mentioned. But then, an idea struck me. His daughter, of who he claimed he still wanted to love. I knew that wasn’t possible without a soul, but that’s something I wouldn’t tell him. If I played this right, I could win. He wanted to love his children, and he thought the only way to do that was if he had a son. I could make him a deal, claim that he’d finally be happy, but he never would. I laughed maniacally in response.
“Fine. I’ll take what I want. In exchange for a male heir, you’ll give me the heir you already have.” The man protested at first, claiming that losing his daughter would tear apart their family. I gave a low growl in response. “You have 5 seconds to decide. 5…4…3…” The man blurted out a strained yes, and I could tell he was crying. Pathetic. I smiled, worked my magic, and sealed the deal. Now, it was time to wait.
I was excited for the first time in a long time. This was something new. I’d never taken someone alive before. I figured it’d keep things interesting. Some bribery here and there, a little torture, who knew! Out of pure curiosity, I decided to spy on this child who’d made a deal with the devil twice. Perhaps I could see why he was so unhappy. Maybe the daughters were all hags and he couldn’t stand the idea of one of them taking the family name. I peered into the soul stone onto the other side. The man was smart to keep the stone close, as it would be detrimental to lose it, but to put it on his crown? Pitiful. The first couple of days were uneventful, and he barely interacted with anyone aside from his wife. Then on the third day, I finally saw the daughter. She was staring directly at me with such an intensity, it took me by surprise. I had to remind myself that she couldn’t see me. The man and his wife were and a handful of their staff were the first beings I’d ever seen with my own eyes, and I wasn’t impressed. But the girl. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I was fixated, obsessed, and I wasn’t sure why. Something about her was different than the others.}