Leila Vergious ♣ Golden Phoenix ♣ C-Rank
But no one came. Not one soul from this world arrived to help the one who called herself a master. Was it out of spite? Betrayal perhaps? No, that was not it. Leila would never believe that her spirits would abandon her. They even stayed until the bitter end when she had perished in Earthland, sacrificing her everything to save another. They had stayed and perished themselves. But all was good now, for everyone was back, alive as ever! Things could not be better, so why was there such a dreadful feeling lingering in the air, weighing heavy on the maiden whenever she attempted to stare back into the crow's eye, one which was still piercing her body with its gaze, examining her very heart every second of its mangled existence. Looking down, the girl suddenly stepped back in horror, her eyes widening as there was nothing more in her hands than a pool of blood staining her pristine skin and soaking it in a crimson despair, Eden's corruption suddenly spreading from the very spot and gnawing away at her very being, transforming her skin and meat into wood and bark. But despite it all, she did not feel a thing. She could no sense anything at all. Why was that? Was it because she had gone through so much pain that it no longer affected her in any way? Or perhaps it was because her terror simply masked all other senses to the point where they no longer even existed at a sensable field. Was it the power of the crow, was it the miracle demon? Ah, no matter how many reasons the witch thought up, nothing helped. She was still shaking, no voice coming out of her tiny form at all.
Whąt̷ ̡i͘s w͟r̨ong,̧ l͜i͝t͏t͠l͞e̴ L̷e͢il̢a?̧ ̨Cat got͏ you̢r̸ ̶to͜ngu͟e?͡ A̡a͏a̛h, w͟ha͢t ͞a̢ ͡s҉h͜a͏me ̧ind͞e͘éd͠.͞ Tḩe̶ g̷o̢od o̵l'̸ ͘c͡ro͠w i̢s̢ ̨her͡e t҉o̴ t́a͠lk t̛o ļįtt̢l͡e͝ ̸Le҉i҉la͞.Finally, the eye spoke out, it's voice echoing through the entire world and shaking it at its very core, the core of darkness, oozing with despair and horror manifest. Rather than like words, it sounded like screeching, the most unpleasant sounds one could even imagine combined into one and amplified, all thrown at the girl at once, in a single heartbeat. Was this real? Could this be a nightmare? Oh, please let it be a nightmare and allow me to wake already, to the world I love and adore, a world that accepts me and loves me back. Such were the thoughts of the girl as she cowered in fear from the monster in front of her.
Do҉n't be͝ r͟i͞di̷ci͠ĺo͘u͟s, ļitt͟l̢e ҉Ļe̡i̛l͏a. T͡his i̛s̸ no nigḩt͢m͟ar͝e ͝an͡d t͡he̶r̛e̕ is̸ ̷ńo w̧o͠rld̨ th͞a͡t͜ a̧cc͜e͟pts yơu.̛ ͞Bor҉ǹ ̧in̨ t̷he̕ vói̷d,̡ ̕you̶ a̴rȩ f̛ate͢d to͘ be f͢ore͞ve͟r͏ h̕at̢e͏d ҉and̡ ręf͟us̸éd̴.̨ You̶r ͟v̴e͠ry ̢exi̵şt̛e͢n͟ce ͘is ̢wh̛a̸t ͏br̷eak̀ ̧ȩv̀eryt͘h͞ing ̷ap͘ar̕t̶, ̵yo̴u ̧are̢ ̨th҉e̢ ͘kęy. ̷You ͘are t̸h͡e ́ma͢g̵i̶c,̧ ̸th̕e̵ ́po͞w̢er͝ itse͘l̶f̶,́ li̷t͡tl͜e͜ Le̢i̷l͞a, o͢h͟ li̛t͢tle ҉L͟eil̡a!.Her ears were not bleeding, but she felt as if they could be broken at any moment while listening to that harrowing voice. She tried to open her mouth once again, but no voice would come out still. She could not bear it any longer, feeling like the demon was reading her mind with an ease equal to simply keeping that giant eye open at all times, knowing it all and being capable of responding to her directly, keeping her on a tight leash until it was finished with whatever it was doing, whatever horrors it intended to bring forth. Trying to cover her ears, the girl would suddenly realize, however, that there were none. The corruption already swallowed her arms whole, leaving them in a state that could be easily described as two flexible branches of a tree, malformed in their shape and utterly useless. Spreading through her body was the poison of true freedom, a power that allowed one to create a completely new world from null, a power that allowed monsters to come back alive.
Y͟o̧u̡ ar͟e n̴o̧t͘ d͟o̢i̡n̕ģ ́your̨self ̛a͠n͝y҉ f̵a͠vo͘r̶s ̵by̡ t̸r͏yi̶n͟g͠ t͞o ͡r͏esist͝, ͏l͟i̴t́tl͘e͏ Le͝i̸l̷a. ̷T͟h͠is is͝ ͠all͏ yo̴urs ̧do̸ing͝, n҉ot̶ m̡in͝e̷. ̴Go̸i͢n͘g again̢s̨t ̴y͞our owń wìll c͝a͠n ne̢v̀er̴ ȩn͘d̸ w̨e͠ll,̴ ͘y̨ou҉ ͠m̵u̸s̸t un͞d͠erst͠a͘-"SHUT UP! Just be silent already! I don't care who you are, tear me away from this prison and be away from this realm, a realm that belongs to me!"Finally, she would shout out as she flailed her body about, the wooden structure suddenly breaking apart to reveal her old and normal human body still hiding underneath it all, as if the scene from just mere seconds ago never even transpired in the first place. The eyeball would stare at the witch for few seconds before rolling around a couple of times, seemingly nodding.
A̶ah̵, ͏ther͜e͝ ͏ís th̕e go̡dd̀ess̕ we̸ ̸k̵n͞o͘w͠ ̶we͢l̛l҉ ͟and̨ ͞tr̀ưl͝y͞. Yo҉u͝ migh̷t ͞ģo by̨ ̢a͜ ͜dif͘fer͢en͢t̨ ̶nam͞e n͝ow͜, ҉y̵o̸u͡ ḿíg͟ht͘ ͟ac̕t͞ ̸d͘iffe̶r͝ent͟,̴ but ͠you ̶a҉re st̶i͠ll͘ ̢y͘ou, ơh V͟o͟id O͘n̶e. ͢Y̛oų ͝wi̵el͢d́ po҉wer g͞re̕a̸t̀er͟ ̡th̛an ̶y͏o̵u҉ ̕c͜án ͜èv̵e̡n i̡m̀agin͜é,̕ y̡e͟t y͜o͡u ̸ha̶v̵e̶ s͠ti͝lĺ t̀o͠ a̸waken͘ ̵it.̨ Yo͜u̢ will͠ g͢e̕t t̢h̴ére͜.͞.̡.̨ y͟o҉ur̛ g͏reed̸y͝ desire w͟il̡l get͜ y͘o̶u ͝t̴h҉e͘r̢e! We ̀a͠re sưr͠e t̛h͡ąt ͢A͜͞͠͝s̵̴͝t̸̷̀҉a̷̸̵̧͜r̸̢͘o̢̕͢҉҉t̶́̕͝͡h̨̕͟ wiļl h͏elp yo͝u͘ r̢each͠ ̀that̛ plac͠e ̕hi͘ms̀el̀f!The two forms would stare each other down for another minute or so before the eye would start retracting back into the darkness of the white forest. The Crow... it seemed that it was yet another demon or god in disguise. But why would it show its form only now, after all this time? Leila had absolutely no notion of what it could be, what was its name or where it came from. So many questions and no answers, never any answers at all. Was that a curse of hers, to keep her in the recesses of the dark? With a sigh, the girl simply glared at her own hands, reminded of the scene from before, almost still able to see the blood staining and burrowing into her skin, digging up her veins. But it was not over, not yet. The eye, still somewhat visible, stopped moving back and stared at the witch one last time.
Cry̕i̸ng ͠d͝rie̛d up ̸t͘ear͜s҉ i͠s ͟a ųs̶ele̷ss҉ t̛h͝in̡g̛ t͜o͟ ͡d̢o, my͡ de͞a͞r. ̕Mo̸r̀tals̶ ͟mǫv͠e thr҉o͢ugh the ͝li͝f̢e ̛as ̸t͟h̵ey҉ c̶an,͏ b͠ut̷ yo͝u͢ are diffȩre̛nţ,̧ óh V͠o̡id̵ ̕One,͠ li͟t͘tle͡ L̸ęi̴la̴.̶ Eve͟n when you͏ ̡sącri̸ficed ͘e̷v҉erytḩi҉n̴g̀ ́you̵ had, ́yo͝u ̨wer̷e no͢t͜ allo̴w̶ed̸ to͜ peŕis͝h͘. So ̧yo̡ų ͞try ̵to ͞mo҉v̷e͏ ͜o͘n, i̸n̴t͜e͢r͝ac͞t̡ ̕w͞i͡th̷ ͞otḩȩr̵s͟ ͜as̛ t҉hey a҉t́táck ̴you. Án̡d͡ t̵hose͘ ͜w҉ou͏nd͡s͘, in ̶y̢òur̛ ̵h͢ear͝t͏ a͢n̵d̢ ̨yo͝ưr mi̕n͠d,̵ ͠t̷hey̸ so̵on҉ t͠r̡an̶sform͟ i̕nto҉ ̢bl͜ee͝d̸in͞g͜ w̵ounds͏ ̴on̕ y҉o̧u͢r wri͠sts.̀ ̶S͞uc̷h͟ ̶is the nat͘ur̢e͟ of ͞d҉esp̸aìr͟,̢ li̡t̀t͠l͢e L͝eil̵a͝. We̸ ̵w͞ill mee̴t҉,͡ so͝on͢.͞ S͠o҉ s͝o͝o̴n.With a barely audible
"tsk", the girl rolled up the sleeves of her combat attire, hiding the blood covered skin with lacerations over her veins. It was time to move on forward again and face what more there was hiding in this world... in her own Gardens of Eden. She could sense it miles away...
Word Count: 1767 / 6000