Exhaustion had finally overwhelmed Maria, she fell asleep in Melanie's arms. They continued their way deeper into the ruined city, with the abomination attacks growing fiercer the further they went. The van was frequently shaken when pieces of monster-meat hit the sides, their sheer volume testing the limits of Elaine's web. The scenery began to change as they continued their advance, buildings were less damaged, a few street lights still functioned, giving a calming artificial brightness into the smoke-clouded night air.
At this threshold the attacks began to die down and finally cease, with the last few creatures letting off and disappearing back into the ruinous calamity. These streets they now went through were eerily quiet, completely abandoned. Store fronts were undamaged, front doors to houses still open after they had been left in a hurry, shopping carts still halfly filled with goods were standing around, remnants of a normal life that had abruptly been thrown into chaos.
Sin stopped the van next to a gas station and circled the van once, staring off into the cold and quiet night. Only a light breeze caused her braid to flutter in the wind, the station itself was as abandoned as everything else. Having not noticed anything dangerous she recalled Elaine from the top of the van, who joined her on the ground, her knees weak. Sin pulled her in close and let her cling onto her waist for support. "You did well, little sister. Go to our master and rest, and tell her little pet to come here."
"Yes, great sister. I am glad to have shown my worth to you and my beloved master." Elaine's voice was little more than a whisper as she limped to the back of the van and out of Sin's sight. Shortly after Elaine had closed the doors of the van behind her they were opened again, and Melanie stepped out, walking over to Sin with her head lowered. "You, you wanted to, speak to me?" Her voice was shaky, she did not dare to lay her eyes on her. "Yes. Raise your head already, I want to see you when I talk to you." Sin's voice was as harsh as ever when not speaking to her master, but even her commanding glare and tone were not enough to make Melanie raise her head.
"You're, the devil, I can't, please don't make me see it." Her pleas fell on irritated and deaf ears. "You needn't try to impress me with your sight, just quit using it." Sin had begun to scrape across her scales with her nails, creating an unnerving sound, reminiscent of metal grinding on bone. "I, I can't, lady Sin. Your, it is, all I can see. Please, do not punish me, I swear." She held her hands together as if in prayer and rose them above her head. First this gave Sin a moment of pause. She grasped Melanie by the back of the head, holding it in place and forcing her to look into her eyes. Melanie was thrashing and trembling, but from the moment their eyes met she became powerless to even close them.
For what felt like an eternity Melanie struggled in Sin's grasp, the terror of her true self burning itself into her mind forever. The moment she was let go Melanie cowered down on the ground, the visions of the blackened, eyeless figure, the gaping maw still in front of her eyes, the sounds of the damned, piled up like a throne, still ringing in her ears. "You have the eyes of a Sage, little thing. Just who are you?" Melanie laid her hands upon her ears, trying to shut her words out, this cacophony of a hundred, a thousand different voices speaking all at once with an irreconcilable malice and resentment.
"I am, I am Melanie, lady Sin, I am, I am nobody! I failed school, my parents were nobodies, I know nothing of beasts or your friend or anything, please lady Sin, do not make me stay, please let me return to Lady Maria's side!" She could feel her claw like hand on her head, and the weight of it almost had her faint. Then she felt nothing. A void and a weakness overcame her, she collapsed in front of Sin's feet. Finally she could see no writhing mass of bodies, and when she looked up, she only saw Sin for what she wanted to look like: Human, save for what she hid behind her lips. "The blood and lore of a Sage, born to worthless nobodies? This world is beyond saving." With one mighty pull Sin helped Melanie up on her feet, who stared at her in disbelief.
"What, what did you do, how." She reached up to her face, no longer seeing the fine lines that had covered her body ever since she could remember. Her words only earned a scoff from Sin. "Your very blood is attuned to magic, as are your eyes. Where others need to attune with themselves to see what you see, you need to do the same to see the world for what it isn't." With these words she began to walk towards the gas station proper. "Come along, I am sure this place has something our master would like, but I cannot tell the taste of food, so you will help me."
For a moment Melanie just looked at her, a sense of relief washing still washing over her mind at seeing not a devil, but a somewhat normal person. Swiftly she followed her inside. "Of course, I will do anything to help lady Maria!"
Electricity was still working inside, the fridges still intact as well as the many wares, nobody had had the time to loot yet. "Pick something that would befit a lady of our Master's calibre, I'll see if I cannot find a map of this accursed city." With this she left Melanie to her own devices, to rummage behind the counter. The variety of snacks and sweets was overwhelming to Melanie, she had never gotten to chose any of this sort for herself, let alone someone else. A small sting of guilt overcame her as she reached out to grab a back of chocolate treats, but it vanished quickly when her mind wandered to Maria and how she would enjoy them. Within a few minutes she had built up an impressive pile of small candy bags and stuffed them into a larger carrier bag from the counter.
Sin in the meantime had managed to find a map of the city and had spread it out across a small bench behind the counter. She did not look up as Melanie screamed and dropped her bag to hide in a corner. Still tracing the road they had taken with one hand she rose the other towards the entrance, black flames running across her outstretched fingers. "Given your pitiful excuse for intelligence I will allow you one chance to convince me not to burn you to ash." Her voice was filled more with annoyance at the interruption than anything else.
In the entrance stood a tall and exceptionally thin creature. It looked almost human, if it had been made from clay by a blind child. It's arms dragged across the ground as it slowly walked towards Sin, leaving a black trail of the liquid it's entire body was covered in. "Menagerie awaits the master." it's voice was akin to the growling of an animal, forced to mimic human language. It stretched out one of it's long arms, pointing to a spot on the map. "Menagerie, has found, another." with these words it left, as abruptly as it had come. The sluggishness with which it had moved earlier faded as it reached the outside. Pulling itself forward with it's long, tendril-like arms it vanished into the night, back into the inferno.
Sin had closed her eyes and quietly counted to ten, her hands clenched to fists and shaking. After the ten she opened her eyes again with a long sigh. "You are left alone an unsupervised for this little a time and already you disappoint." She looked at the black stain the creature's finger had left on the map and tore out the relevant map piece. "Come now, take heart, little thing." She offered her hand to Melanie, who took it after a moment of consideration to get up. "Those things are what we have for allies, if that bit of shoddy craftsmanship already frightens you then you may become quite useless when Menagerie finally does her duties in seriousness."
They left the station for the van, with Sin stopping to refuel the tank. They stood in silence outside, With Sin focused on her task and Melanie trying not to appear too rude by staring. When it was once again full and Sin cleaned her hands Melanie finally gathered the courage to speak. "I don't, understand, what you said about, me, lady Sin. I knew I was different but, I don't know what a Sage is or, how I can be of help."
Sin stood with her back turned to Melanie, cleaning her hands with a tissue. "I am not a great teacher for magecraft, little thing. I had wished not to have to act as one, considering that our Master is already settled in, but very well." She took a deep breath and turned around, cracking her neck. "Your self is made out of two parts, your physical body, and your other body, which we call the Lore. Like your heart in a way powers your body with blood, so does your soul power your lore to cast magic. Normally these two bodies are separate, and it requires teaching and effort to take control of your Lore. There are however people who are born already in tune with it, in such a degree that they do not know how to sever that connection, people like you. We call them Sages, and they are usually only born to families of great renown." She scoffed and shook her head. "You can consider yourself lucky twice fold. Lucky to have been born as you are, and lucky to have found the grace of our master. I am loathe to admit this, given you are little more than a commoner."
The look of disdain was so clearly written across Sin's face that it made Melanie look away in shame. "But with a teacher you may become a very valuable asset to our master. But let me be clear." She laid her hand on Melanie's cheek, forcing her to look at her again. "If you give me any excuse to see you as a spy or a traitor, I will gladly take it. No Sage is born to a family of poor maggots. That is utterly inconceivable." The venom was dripping from her words. Melanie did not break eye contact, and despite her trembling stood firm. "I am, no traitor, lady Sin. Lady Maria risked her life for me, she saved me, I would never betray her." Despite everything, her voice was resolute, enough for Sin to let her go. "Very well. Go back and rest, little Sage. You will need it."
She did not need to be told twice. Swiftly she returned to the back of the van, finding Maria and Elaine laying on the mattress, with Elaine clutching tightly onto her Master who was sleeping peacefully. "Elizabeth, my wife." she murred in her sleep, a small line of drool running down the side of her mouth. Melanie sat down in a corner as the engine roared up and they continued their journey. Seeing Maria peacefully asleep let Melanie calm down as well, and with her tension fading, exhaustion soon overtook her. She fell asleep.
