Luisa opened her eyes lazily as she awoke from her peaceful slumber and she was not amused at the sight that greeted her. Over the last couple of weeks she had grown accustomed to this cell of hers and she even kind started to like it in a way only her twisted mind really could. She enjoyed the wetness and the moss that covered most of it, it gave her the feeling that reminds her of a blanket, if she was desperate enough.

She enjoyed the constant darkness in the cell and the hallway, weeks prior multiple torches illuminated this place, but over the last couple of weeks the torches seemed to all have been taken away, she assumed to be replaced by new ones, but the guards that took them never came back and she was left in darkness, now the only light she ever got was when the guards came down here to deliver her meal of stale bread infested with weevils and her dirty water, although recently, that seems to happen less and less… 

No matter, the rats tasted better anyway.

This cell had become something of a sanctuary to her, since besides the unmoving body of Hanna in the middle of it and the occasional guard that brought her bad food, she was completely alone and in silence and ever since that elven guard had disappeared, she didn’t have to deal with his religious prayers and righteous speeches about virtue and justice, after weeks of such torture, she could simply relax, or she could, if there wasn’t a different person standing over her right now, looking at her like she was some sort of animal and continuously picking her body.

Since her arms were still shackled her only meaningful way of retaliation would be her words or legs and so she started to weakly kick her legs against the mans own while growling a few words in his face.

"If you don’t get off of me this instant I will bite off your fingers in your sleep."

This does seem to do the trick as the man rapidly stepped backwards with a gasp, Luisa couldn’t tell in the darkness surrounding her, but she assumed his eyes had widened with fear, it gave her a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time, a feeling of superiority, she was the one in control, she was the one holding his life in her hands.

Of course the feeling disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, she was still shackled to the floor and her magic was blocked by those very same shackles. Her threats were as empty as her water bowl had been these last couple of days.

It took a few moments for the man to regain his composure, his breathing was heavy and quick, he was clearly very afraid, something which annoyed Luisa.

This was one of the many things that had always been so confusing to Luisa, how in the hell could Hanna like this? This constant whining and crying and screaming, how could this appeal to anyone? It was just so much better to keep them silent, Luisa didn’t need to hear the endless crying, she wants to see the despair in their eyes as she dove the knife deeper and deeper into their body, her hand claps around their mouth to keep them quite and see as the life and hopes slowly drains from their eyes as they realise how powerless they truly are in that moment.

"H-how are you alive?! This prison was said to be abandoned ever since Donner von Bolt had died and his family was relocated!"

Luisa raised an eyebrow at that.

"That would explain why they haven’t brought me any food or drinks these past few days…"

She was interrupted as a chocked gasp escaped the mans throat.

"D-days?! Von Bolt has been dead for over a month by now!"

If Luisa understood the implications of this, she didn’t show it, maybe she simply chose to not think about it, but the most likely scenario was the fact that she just didn’t really care, she had liked it here and what difference does a day or a month make to someone who lost most ties to society in the first place? She had no obligations or the like, her revenge against her hometown could wait, she was an elf and so they were they, she had a lot of time.

"You said this prison was abandoned, but you are here no?"

The man grumbled something under his breath before sighing loudly and plopping himself right next to Luisa, she narrowed her eyes at this, how she wished to be free to teach this man a lesson on personal space. First he invades her personal space and now this?

"Well, I am here because my superiors are complete idiots! There was no way we could have held onto that fort, we were completely outnumbered and supplies were running rather low, so I did what any sane man would do, I ran away, no way I am risking my life for such an insignificant fort, it doesn’t even hold any value, it doesn’t connect to any mayor city or village, doesn’t hold a bridge as the only crossing of a river, it was one of the old decrepit ones that had been used in the last war, nothing to it but to slow down opposing forces!"

He continued to ramble on for another few minutes, going into great detail how his superiors were treating him and all other soldiers as nothing more then cannon fodder, like they weren’t human beings with lives outside of this stupid war. 

"And don‘t even get me started on that 'hero' they keep talking about, I‘ve seen him you know, and that shrimp is supposed to save us all? That is the kingdoms final trump card?! I suppose that was the moment I realised that all of this was completely pointless, that the kingdom would fall no matter what and I will not risk my own life for a kingdom that places it’s entire strategy to repel the worlds strongest military into the hands of a literal teenaged boy, that supposedly got summoned by the royal court and blessed by some gods or something. The 'bright star' they call him, if you want to know what I feel…"

No. Luisa didn’t want to know how he felt about all of this, what she wanted was for this man to shut the fuck up, sadly, beyond glaring at him, which he couldn’t see in the darkness of the cell, and telling him to shut up, which he ignored every single time, she couldn’t do anything, as such she had to listen to him continuously ranting about the military leaderships, this supposed saviour of the kingdom and the stupid decision they were supposedly making.

Luisa knew this was a rather big deal, two kingdoms going to war hadn’t happened in over 50 years at this point, and she couldn’t care any less about it, since she had no ties to society anymore, why should she? She had chosen to go with a monster in her pursuit for revenge, she wasn’t a person anymore, she was just as much a monster as Hanna was.

Luisa closed her eyes, she thought back to her past actions, did she regret them? Absolutely not, they had given her what she had lacked her entire life, through her past actions of cruelty she had gained power and control for the first time in her life, for the first time she was the one holding the strings of another’s life in her hands, and the feeling of power was far to beautiful to ever give up, she needed to feel it again and again and again.

But right now, she couldn’t and it frustrates her, alone, she could deal with it, but with this intruder? It only served to stroke her flames of frustration stronger and stronger.

How she longed to make this guy silent, and luckily, her wish was granted.

If Luisa didn’t hate the church with a fiery passion she would have thanked the gods, as the man suddenly stopped speaking mid sentence, replaced with a painful squeak like he just accidentally cut himself with a sharp object.

"Oh? That sounds rather interesting, could you please elaborate on that whole 'Bright Star' thing? I‘m rather curious about it."

Luisa‘s eyes shot open in an instant, not that it changed much, considering how dark it was, but her body seemingly reacted completely on its own, as her brain was fumbling about uselessly. She knew that voice, she knew it far to well, even if she hadn’t heard it in a long time, she could never forget it.

That sweet honey dripping voice she first heard in a random forest cabin, that whispered sweet nothings and perfect little promises inside her ears. This was Hanna’s voice, not the one she had grown accustomed too over her time together with her, but the devilish sweet voice of temptation that led her down this path.

And even now, even when it’s not directed at her, she feels a compulsion inside of her, a need to let herself go and simply listen to the words spoken and do whatever they asked of her.

Luisa started shacking her head violently, just what the fuck happened there? How could words affect her this much, especially words that weren’t even directed towards her?! And yet… it had felt good to just listen hadn’t it? To let go and obey them?

She started shacking again, something was clearly wrong here, but then, she paused. Did it really matter? She asked herself.

After all she was a complete outcast from any and all societies by her own choice, just to follow the thrill, power and pleasure she gets from cruelty so why was this any different, why not let herself go and enjoy the pleasure of listening to the voice and obeying every single one that was spoken.

"There is nothing to fear, we are all prisoners here, so please go on and tell me everything you know."

 

————————————————————-

Marcus hadn’t been a solider for a long time, having only joined the kingdoms guard two years ago, it was pragmatic choice more then anything. He had no special feelings towards the kingdom, it’s royal family or it’s population, only three people held that distinction.

His wife, his son and his younger brother, the last bits of family he has left.

He used to be an adventurer, he wasn’t ever higher then gold rank and he mostly ignored combat focused quests, he knew how to defend himself and he was better then the average conscripted solider, but that was it. He was the one helping the elderly gather the herbs they needed, gave the local orphanage the next food donation, jobs most adventurers only took when they desperately needed the cash, they usually took jobs that they believed to made their title as adventurers justice, but not Marcus, he simply wasn’t a fan of the high adrenaline things like most adventurers were.

This choice of being 'a glorified errand boy' as some others jokingly called him, gave him opportunities most other adventurers rarely got, like finding love. For most adventurers, love was of no concern, much less making a family, they wanted to constantly move and explore, be on adventures, so why ever settle down and have a family? It didn’t make sense for them.

Marcus however, he found his love and they exchanged their vows, shortly afterwards tragedy struck and his parents were reported dead, victims of a war-band of orcs and goblins, that had come from the north. They had stayed in a village together with a few other family members to visit old friends from their own time as adventurers. In one night, Marcus lost his parents, his aunt and his three older cousins.

On that day Marcus gave up his adventurer days, took his by then pregnant wife and younger brother and brought them to the saver capital. Still needing to provide for his family, he took the one job he knew would ensure he stayed in the capital, joining the kingdom guard as a part of the capital guard unit, a position he got thanks to his above average combat skills, compared to the usual abilities volunteers showed when wishing to join the guard.

And it first, it all went well, being a guard inside a city that was know to be the safest city of the world was not an exciting job, but it didn’t have to be, all Marcus cared for was that his family was save and that he was able to spend time with them, the ones he loves.

The first hiccup was the attack at the prison tower, Marcus hadn’t been on duty that day and had avoided the bloody consequences, as he had been stationed there only a week before. His wife had jokingly sad that this was clearly a sign that the gods favoured him, while his brother joked that he just got lucky and that the gods didn’t want for him to have a nice life, And that soon an even bigger disaster was coming.

At first, he laughed and then the war started.

He was conscripted into a battalion under the command of Archduke Terina, and now he was in prison for desertion. In less then three weeks his entire life turned from a happy, if sometimes rocky, life, into a horror show as he watched hundreds of men die in pointless battle about glory and honour, the arrogance of nobles and kings and their pride.

And when he chose his own future, and the future of his wife, his daughter and brother over that noble pride, he had been sent away to rot in a far away prison that had been abandoned for a month by now.

Or so everyone thought.

"There is nothing to fear, we are all prisoners here, so please go on and tell me everything you know."

Marcus shivered again and suppressed the noises his scared body was trying to release as that honey sweet voice entered his ears again, but he knew better, he could feel the sharp pain he felt in his shoulder increase with every word spoken. There was a very clear message attached to those words that went unspoken: 'Or else'.

He had heard it a number of time in the army, most commonly whenever he got into an argument with his commanding officer at the time, back there he had to fear solo nighttime watch duty, or maybe being denied a meal, but this was different and he knew it, this time there was a lot more for him to lose then just a single meal.

So he answered truthfully, trying to keep his voice as normal as possible, he didn’t want to risk appearing frightened or shocked, that way, the other party may grow hesitant, believing he had a trick up his sleeve or something.

Unfortunately for him, that trick wouldn’t help here.

"I know very little then what I already told, the only other things I know his that he claims that he lost his memories of home, but that’s about i-it."

He cursed himself inside his head for that last stutter, he was doing so well!

“Hmmmm… That’s quite unfortunate…" Marcus could feel the pain receding inside of his shoulder as the mysterious person released it a little bit from their grasp, enough for Marcus to roll the stiffened shoulder a bit.

"I had hoped you would be able to help me more, to be honest I really didn’t want to kill you, but if you refuse to help me further? What use do I have keeping you alive?"

Marcus felt something travel along his neck, before excruciating pain flared up inside of his body, as multiple sharp object pierced the flesh of his neck. He howled in pain as the sharp objects traveled deeper and deeper into his neck, it was a slow and torturous process, the person doing this to him trying to draw out the process as long as possible and to make it as painful as possible.

“Ah, you don’t know how badly I needed this~ It has been far to long since I could taste the sweet flavours of having someone at the tips of my hands, please don’t break to easily my friend, we‘ll be playing a long time together~."

In a last ditch effort to save his life, he started to scream any worthwhile information he could think of, military strategies of the kingdom, number of battalions he knew of, who the commander was in this region, anything he thought could satisfy this deranged thing currently piercing his neck.

"Hahaha~ just apply a bit of pressure and all of the sudden the bird starts to sing. But little bird I asked you about you little hero, so go on and tell me more about him~."

The voice whispered honeyed words inside his ear, but the pain from his neck wasn’t receding, clearly he wouldn’t be let go, until he spilled more beans about the hero, which was a problem, because he nothing more, he had been a common solider, he wasn’t entrusted with anything this important. He had seen the hero yes and he knew the public stuff about him that every solider knew, but that was it.

"I-I don‘t know anything that I haven’t told already…" The pressure on his neck increased and he hurried to continue speaking, to explain himself, he wouldn’t die here, he needed to see his family, they relied on him and he couldn’t let them down.

"Please I can be of use to you! I can get you into the army and there you can see him for yourself!" He knew he was probably committing countless crimes against the kingdom and yet he didn’t find it in him to care, the only thing that mattered was that he could survive and save his family.

However the pressure didn’t decrease and he could feel how the things went deeper into his neck, his desperation reached a high point and he was terrified.

"P-please stop, I truly can be of use! If you want I will betray the entire kingdom, just let me And my family live and you will be able to have the entire kingdom!" He was sputtering nonsense at this point, all in a desperate attempt to survive and save his family, to his surprise and relief, the movements inside of his neck stopped.

Before he could say anything however, his entire body shivered as he felt cold wet lips press into his shoulder blade, followed by a long and slow lick of a tongue.

"A family man, huh? Did you wish to return to your family after this war as a hero, your children looking up in awe and inspiration at their lovely daddy who was a war hero? Your wife falling inside your arms overwhelmed with relief at your save return?~ I can respect such a wish, but sadly I‘m feeling rather selfish today."

And everything went black, the last thing he saw before everything else vanished from Marcus‘ sight, was his son looking up to him in awe and his wife inside his arms.