by Part 1: Evil Angel
Abandoned on the steps of a church in a small unnamed village in the mountains. Only possession was a pocket watch with a mirror on the inside of the casing and an inscription on the back ‘Hold it together, birds of a feather, nothing but lies and crooked wings. Oh. Fly over me evil angel. Open your wings evil angel.’ The villagers thought this was an evil omen, feared the baby especially when the eyes began to change colours. However, one woman said she’d care for the child and they let her raise her. This didn’t stop the children from harassing and bullying Poko as she grew older; picking on her for her eyes and generally harassing her saying she was an evil angel.
When Poko was around 5 years old a couple of the children approached Poko with smiles, she feared they were just coming to tease her again, however they offered her a cookie as a peace offering. The thought of having friends overwhelmed Poko with happiness and she took the offering without a second thought and ate it without hesitation. However, they had laced the cookie with a known hallucinogenic plant that made Poko think she was living a nightmare. She tried to make her way home but on the way there a ferocious wolf-like beast attacked her, knocking her over and pinning her down and growling in her face. Well that’s what it looked like to Poko, in reality the neighbour’s dog had just wanted to say hello to her and leapt on her and licked her face.
This bad trip left Poko scarred internally now afraid of dogs and what they were capable of, she would avoid them at all costs. She was also more weary of people and any ‘gifts’ they offered her trusting no one anymore and cutting herself away from the villagers more and more with each passing day.
A couple years passed before Poko finally read the inscription that had haunted her all her life out loud. She had always considered the pocket watch a curse and left it inside a box in the bottom drawer of her dresser. For some unknown reason she had decided to take it out today and had gone into the forest near the village to think to herself. While sitting on a branch, legs dangling she read the inscription first to herself and then out loud.
*POOF*
Suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared in front of Poko causing her to lose her balance in shock and fall out the tree. Before she could reach the ground something grabbed her and placed her down gently on the ground. Poko stared, eyes wide at the creature before her.
'New Master, I have been awaiting you for some time, what are your instructions for me?' The dirty-winged creature asked staring at Poko with intense blood-red eyes, her torn black dress billowing in the wind.
'W-Who are you!?!' Poko stuttered, her eyes turning silver in fear. The creature chuckled pleasantly in amusement.
'I am Xiolan, the fallen angel,' Xiolan replied, lifting up a locket from around her neck, 'This trinket was used to force me to obey your bloodline, now it is your turn to be my master.' She bowed at Poko.
Poko couldn’t believe it, for the rest of the day she asked more and more questions about how and why Xiolan had become what she was today and Xiolan answered all her questions. The realisation that she had never been the cursed ‘Evil Angel’ that the villagers thought she was kicked in and she started to feel better about herself and more bitter towards the villagers. Poko grinned evilly at herself, her eyes flickering through multiple colours as thoughts of anger, happiness and curiosity hit her all at once. She wondered if she could make the villagers pay for all the misfortune they had brought her over her life.
She commanded Xiolan to play tricks on the villagers, simple at first, just getting extra candy and such. Eventually her commands become more and more spiteful over the next coming months till she eventually filled the villagers with fear with what would come next. The old lady who had raised her was the only one she didn’t have any reason to take revenge on. The lady was the only one who had been kind, yet, she was begging Poko to stop. Poko refused to listen to her telling her this was her right and that the villagers should see her as a hero, not a monster, or Monstar as they had labelled her surname.
However, one night the villagers gathered and decided enough was enough, they would force the now 9 year old out of the town. They came at her cliché like with torches and pitchforks shouting for the witch to burn. Poko simply grinned and laughed at them, calling upon Xiolan and commanding her to destroy the villagers and their homes. Her wish was granted. However, Xiolan didn’t realise the difference between the villagers and the one lady that had raised Poko. She slayed them all and brunt the village to ashes before Poko’s eyes. Poko tried to stop her killing the one person who had loved her, but was too late in changing her command, as she had been overwhelmed with a thirst for blood and power.
After Xiolan had finished, she disappeared once more, leaving Poko filled with remorse and heartache for the one she considered her mother. She cried heavily and vowed to herself to never let power and hatred overwhelm her again. She didn’t know where to start or what to do anymore. She was just 9 years old and knew nothing of the world outside the village. It would be a long time before she could even begin to a tone for what she had done, she was indeed a 'Monstar' and would live with that name till she considered herself free from her sins.
