WARNING: While normally I wouldn’t say something like this, because I think if you are this deep into the story, you should be aware of the things that Hanna does, but this one is particularly gorey and I highly advise you to not read this chapter if you have a problem with things of that nature, if you still want to know what happens in the chapter I will give you a tldr version, it will be marked as the spoiler below.

Vex slowly opened her eyes to a unusual sound outside her little box, of course her hands and feet were still bound by anti-magic shackles to the boxes walls and floor, at least she wasn’t hanging from the wall and was allowed to sit, a small mercy all things considered, but given the circumstances she was surprised she was allowed this small mercy at all, hell the fact she was a prisoner at all was a really big surprise, she was so sure she would be killed the second she was brought into any army camp, considering the things she had done, it wouldn’t have surprised her.

Every single soldier knew who she was and what she had done and yet they listened to that Hero of theirs, he clearly had a very strong influence over every person he interacted with, even she was somewhat moved by his words she had to admit, but of course she knew his promises of 'fixing her' or 'turning her back' were empty, it wasn’t forced onto her after all, she chose this.

The strange and unknown sound outside got louder once again, they weren’t moving that much she knew by now, but that was all she knew about her current situation, that and the fact everything else hadn’t changed, she was still in this box and still trapped onto the floor, unable to move or use her magic, a truly sad state she was in, even worse than before she escaped her previous imprisonment in this kingdom, but that was to be expected of course.

The strange noises from outside seemingly stopped, that was great at least it meant she would be able to sleep again right? Or not considering she suddenly heard a door opening and footsteps coming towards her little box enclosure, with something else being clearly dragged along the floor accompanying the footsteps, but there was also something else, was that whimpering? And sobbing?

There was a loud slam as something heavy hit the door to her little box, hard. Causing the entire box to shack for a moment, ok now she was really confused, this never happened during their entire trip before, had there been a possible guard shift and the new ones weren’t so keen on the opinion of the hero and were now here to take justice into their own hands? No that couldn’t be it, the hero, the kindhearted fool that he was, would definitely stop this immediately, so what gives?

There was another heavy hit against her door and she could see how it slowly gave way to whatever force was hitting it, seeing their efforts finally yielded fruit more and more hits came against the door, which continuously gave more and more way.

Despite being faced with the very likely probably that death would fall upon her at any moment, she wasn’t scared, in fact, she welcomed it, it would be better then to sit through the endless attempts the Hero would make to revert her changes, which of course wouldn’t work, which would mean the Hero would be forced to give her up to the army again, and they most definitely would execute her the moment they got her hand on her, this way they were skipping some very unnecessary steps.

With a final heavy hit, the door finally gave away and fell I to her tiny cell like a cut down tree.

There was a moment of silence, no movement or words were being spoken, she had made up her mind that she wouldn’t Look her murderer in the eyes, she won’t give them that satisfaction, a last fuck you to the people she hated so much, to the people that opposed her vision of a great magical future of freedom.

But nothing happened, there was no shout of anger, no strike against her and no cold steel against her neck, only silence, until the sobbing started.

It was faint, and barley audible, but in the silence of the night in this isolated cell she could hear it, and she knew that voice, it was the voice that guided her all this way, encouraging her along her path whenever she didn’t know what to do, and giving her the push she needed to both accept and truly embrace what she truly was.

"P-papa is that you…?" Her voice was strained and her throat felt like sand had just ripped through it, not having spoken in weeks, but her astonishment at having heard her father’s voice, broke her vow to never speak while in her cell.

She looked around, her eyes moving away from the wooden planks of her cell, trying to find her father, but she never found him, instead being greeted with a sight she never expected to see.

The door to her cell was laying broken on the ground and atop of it’s many pieces there was laying the body of a man wearing the shining armor of the knights of the kingdom, the helmet and a few other parts were missing  however, and along all the exposed parts, blood was flowing like a river, with many, many different cuts varying in length and how deep they penetrated the skin, she could see on his right hand that multiple finger were missing and she could see an eyeball that had been rolling along the floor, and if it weren’t for her fathers arrival, it would have definitely hit her feet at this point.

She had been on battlefields, she wasn’t a stranger to seeing dead bodies or wounded soldiers, but this was beyond anything she had ever witnessed before, she had stayed a few weeks in the interrogation department before and even they seemed tame compared to what she was witnessing right now.

She could feel bile coming up her throat the moment she saw that the mans head had multiple holes inside of it, and that parts of his brain matter where exposed, it seemed like his body was used as some kind of battering-ram to break open the door to her cell.

In that moment she heard the sobbing grow in intensity and then a ghostly, yet familiar voice echoed in her mind.

"I am so, so sorry, if I had know… If I had know she was here, I would have said something. I would have done some… no I SHOULD have done something…"

For the first time, she heard her fathers voice filled with sadness, with regret and something more, it sounded like fear, fear and regret.

"But Papa… y-you sai…"

"I KNOW!!-" He suddenly screamed, his voice filled with pain, interrupting her, and she shrank backwards in fright, had she been lied to? Just a day before she was put into this prison he had told her that he would never let anyone harm his precious daughter, he assured her that he would protect her, and that one day she either breaks free and accomplishes her goal, or they somehow find a way to sever there link and execute her for good.

"I know, I know what I said and believe me, please believe me I would have done just as I have promised against anyone and anything, even against the Hero himself, but… not… against her… As much As I want to, I simply can’t and if I had known I would have done something, please you have to believe me!!"

Tears began to well up in her eyes, as she began to understand her current situation and it terrified her to no end, her father, a primal demon that was older then any other living creature beside the gods themselves, someone who had promised her that he would keep her save against the Hero that defeated the Demon King and saved both kingdoms from certain destruction, was afraid of the entity she was about to meet.

Suddenly she could hear something moving, the old floor boards of her cell slightly creaking, something that should be completely impossible, her father was speaking to her, whenever he had spoken with her time had been frozen, the entire world stopped moving for them to have a conversation, of course that was also the reason they didn’t do it often, as it took a lot out of her father to use such extremely powerful magic while still being sealed deep within the earth, resulting in sparse and short conversation, but whenever they did happen, not even the Demon King or the blessed Hero could withstand the powerful magic of her father, absolutely nothing should have been able to move, or make a sound and yet, when she looked up, she saw a shadowy figure, extremely slowly stepping into her cell.

"She has become a force of nature, the embodiment of corruption and hatred towards the world… I……. C-n‘t…… s-op….pl…se…for….me-". And the voice of her father vanished, the creaking of the wooden planks suddenly got louder and she could hear two quick footsteps. She didn’t dare look up terrified of what ever terrible abomination might greet her if she did so.

She tried to quiet her whimpers of fear, and wipe away her tears, maybe showing strength might just deter this creature, but her breathing was hard and fast and in the silence of the night it was easily audible to everyone. And then came the laughter, loud and unhinged and it didn’t stop for a long time, until finally the creature spoke and every single fluid inside of her body froze solid, every muscle in her body strained and every bone in her body broke.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, WELL WELL, welllllllll~. I never thought I would be able to see you ever again, what a wonderful coincidence! Mind telling me who you were talking to just now? I‘d hate our reunion to be suddenly interrupted by some nosy people, my dear… Ahhhhh~ I‘m sorry, but I seemingly forgot your name, I can only think of the nickname I have given you, would it be ok if I kept calling you by that?"

"N-no This is impossible y-you are a-alive?" There was many a night during her time since the last time she had seen her, that she would awake in the middle of the night, sweat and fear radiating of her body, whenever that happened it was because she dreamed of a moment such as this, a day where she would have to be face to face with Hanna once again.

They had receded in their frequency during the times of the war, with her magical prowess having only grown since the last time she had seen her, she also felt like she could take Hanna in an open fight if it came to it, her confidence ever growing, but every once in a night she would see them, where she was restrained and at this beasts mercy, unable to use her power to defend herself, those nights were still terrifying And now, these nightmares have become reality.

Hanna stepped forward and placed her foot on the head of the man lying on the floor between them, the gleam of hatred and malicious intent so brightly visible even in the darkness of her cell, where light could only enter through the broken door and the fist die window to her right.

"Yeah I am, were you expecting something else? Did you perhaps except me still hanging from a wall in a manor somewhere? Well to bad 'Miss Treacherous Whore', I am very much still aLIVE!"

Hanna stomped with all her strength, The head beneath her giving no resistance, her feet slict open the mans head going through bone and out the other end, only stopping once she made contact with the wooden floor of the cell, which she noticed was somehow harder then the bones of the man, blood, shards of bone and many internal tissue flew outward, hitting the walls, the floor and even sparsely the ceiling, but also hitting both of them as well, the shards of the skull cutting open the skin of their arms and legs.

The now sudden pain, combined with her fear and she was prepared to release all of it in a scream, but before even a breath could release from her mouth, she was grabbed by her throat leaving her suddenly grasping for any air she could get, her arms tried to reflexively dislodge Hanna’s claws from her throat, but the she was bound still and her hands desperately fought against her shackles causing the iron to shack and rattle.

In response Hanna increased her pressure on her throat, and slid a clawed finger across it as well, not quite enough to draw blood, but dangerously close to it, before Hanna leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

"Now now, we don’t want to wake all those poor exhausted villagers now do we?~  They deserve their rest, after all This is between me and you Miss Treacherous Whore. So I suggest to shut the fuck up, or I will make this far more painful then it already will be, are we clear?"

Vex knew that if she were to do nothing, she would die today, it was clear the moment she saw those crimson eyes staring at her, she had seen the sparkle of hatred in them so very clearly, the only other coming close to the level of hatred she had seen in that moment was the old Demon King himself, when he learned his daughter seemingly betrayed him before disappearing, she knew struggle would be useless, but she also knew that her only actually chance to possibly survive, is if she could somehow alert the village and get them to investigate.

So she continued her struggling, with her growing more and more afraid and with adrenaline rushing through her she eventually managed to losen a single digit of Hanna from her throat, but that was it and in retaliation, Hanna raised her other claw and slashed along her face, cutting open one of her eyes.

This time, the pain was so severe that she stopped her struggling, to simply wither on the ground in her agony, but Hanna‘s grip didn’t waver And she continued to apply pressure on her throat, stifling any scream before it ever could leave her mouth.

Having already lost one half of her vision, she began to notice the other half slowly darkening, both the pain and the lack of air with her throat being pressed working together to send her into a place of darkness and her feelings slowly faded into nothingness as she approached unconscious ever closer, only to have it ripped away from her, as the pressure finally disappeared from her throat and more by reflex and instinct then through a conscious decision, she took a giant breath of air into her lungs, something she would regret for the rest of her time.

The darkness at the edges of her still remaining vision slowly faded and with her half lidded eye she was able to make out Hanna, sitting atop of her, a grin on her lips, she leaned forward and whispered into her ear again.

"Now then would you please cooperate with me?~ we have a looooot to catch up to after all. For example…"

She slid her left hand along her own arm, where Vex was barley able to make out cuts that were leaking a black substance, Hanna‘s blood no doubt, most likely having cut herself when she shattered that poor man‘s skull moment earlier and she bore two of her own fingers into the found, gathering as much blood as she could from them.

"What we did after we sooo unfortunately had to part ways, you know I was really worried back then, I really hoped that nothing would come to harm you, or else…"

Then without warning, she forced open Vex‘s mouth, who was to stunned by the overwhelming pain to actually fight anymore, and she put her blood covered fingers into Vex‘s mouth and then smeared her blood all over the mouth‘s roof, teeth and the tongue of Vex.

Vex‘s one still functioning eye widened immediately as she felt her entire mouth burning and melting away, as Hanna‘s blood burned through her nerves, muscles and tissues like flame through a dry field. And Vex screamed in agony as she was burned into nothingness from the inside.

And as her tongue started to completely disintegrate, she could feel her dissolved tongue gather at the bottom of her jar, only for it to start to burn, the pain was seemingly unending and becoming worse with every single moment, but as the blood burned through her mouth she quickly lost her ability to cry out in pain, so she could do nothing but wither in her painful agony.

"Or else I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this very moment, if someone else would have laid a hand on you, then I never could have relished in the feeling of finally being able to torture and relish you agony, for betraying me and leaving me for dead!"

Soon there was a sound like water hitting the earth and looking down, Hanna saw the fruits of her labour, a gores blob of blood, half melted flesh and bones on the ground, from which fire like smoke arose and she saw that it burned even through the wood of the cell. Looking at her victim, she was surprised to find that she was apparently still alive, Hanna could see her still moving, still twitching and her eye moving around frantically, she was startled for but a moment, before an evil grin spread across her face, her fun could still go on.

"Now then, how about you tell me about you now? For example what have you been up to while I was being held hunted by those knights You oh so graciously brought to my location? Running to the demons? That must be it, after all you don’t Just suddenly grow horns for no reason now do you? Tell me, I am very interested and if you refuse, well…"

She grabbed one of Vex’s feet And began to roll on of her toes between her claws.

“I‘m sure you wouldn’t really need those anymore right, with you being tied up and all? I bet you haven’t moved yourself in months You lazy ass, how dare you make others move you for you? I think you deserve a little punishment for that."

And then she began to pull And twist, until the toe was ripped away from its feet and she was sprayed with blood, which she licked off her face with a laugh.

“Now tell me come on, or do you want to lose another?"

Before Hanna could actually pull on the second one however, she was unexpectedly interrupted by the voice of a man she never heard before, with it seemingly coming from nowhere yet everywhere and she was suddenly pushed backwards, away from her prey by a great force.

"Don’t you dare lay a hand against my daughter!"