The Priestess and the Grimm
"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ku-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u." The voices of a dozen women chanted over and over again while she screamed from the altar.
She screamed as her first child was born, crying out for love that would not be given. She continued to give birth six more times, all of them in service of her God. She stood up, despite having just given birth and was dressed in her long black robe and a mask was placed over her face.
"Seven daughters to do your bidding, Master." She spoke to the giant statue of her God. "They will succeed where so many others have failed and we will find favor in your glory!"
"Any mistake is failure. And death is our failure." She taught her children.
"Bask in the glory our master has created. Admire its beauty. But know the Samurai is out there leaving a wake of destruction wherever he goes!" She said as her daughter emerged from the crack in the wall. "That's why, my sweet Ashi the Daughters of Aku must stay focused. Never relent, always attack!"
She grabbed her daughter by the throat and tossed her back into the arena. "Teach this one a lesson!"
"Are you weak!? Are you weak!? Are you weak!?"
"Yes. Aku's fire stirs inside all of you."
"Your training is complete. Go! Kill!"
"You are seven, but now you wear the face of one. One purpose for which you were born... To kill the Samurai!"
"Aku, our lord and master is one with the darkness. He was born from it. It fills him with infinite power. We, too, must become one with it. We are forever grateful and ever in your service."
"I knew you would fail us. You were the strongest, but the most unfocused. Always distracted, questioning everything. But all that can change. You can still honor our Lord Father. Destroy the Samurai, Ashi."
"Then you too will die."
"How could you betray your family? He killed your sisters! And you let him live!"
"The Samurai is our mortal enemy. He must die at any cost." These were her last words before she was stabbed in the back by her own daughter and fell to her death.
Xxx
She needed answers.
Why was she having these dreams?
She couldn't remember when she started having these dreams but they seemed so real, as if she had actually lived these dreams. However it was impossible because she was much younger when she started having these dreams and the woman her dreams showed her was old enough to give birth to seven daughters.
But at the same time she knew she was different.
She knew she was different ever since she was a little girl and had gotten lost and was nearly killed by Grimm. Only when it seemed she would die the Grimm did not harm her. They sniffed her and left her alone to her shock. From that day forward she knew she was different and she snuck out into the woods nearly every night, returning after letting the Grimm see her but do not attack her.
What shocked her most was a day when she had been attacked by bandits hiding in the woods and the ones who saved were not Huntsmen, but the Grimm themselves!
The Grimm were her saviors.
The Grimm were her friends.
And she kept on dreaming of things, worshipping a demon and giving birth to seven daughters and then dying at the hand of her eldest child while trying to kill her greatest enemy.
'The Samurai is our greatest enemy…' Her own voice whispered. 'These Huntsmen are just like him. They must be destroyed!'
She hated Huntsmen.
She hated them with a burning passion and she didn't even know why.
And she was going to get answers.
That was why she was here: right at the entrance leading to the Darklands.
A place no sane person would ever enter but she was not afraid.
No Grimm would harm here.
She began her trek into the Darklands, passing into a dark forest and only stopping to rest at night even though the sun was rarely seen. It seemed to get darker as she continued her journey into the Grimm infested land. The sky resembled the night and yet turned a beautiful shade of red as she began passing through the black mountains deep in the Darklands. She could see and hear Grimm but they never attacked her, only glancing at her before allowing her to continue her journey.
She climbed the mountains, almost never stopping now even though it seemed like an eternity had passed. A powerful sensation had swept over her and she felt she was getting close to what she was looking for. When she finally reached the top she was greeted with a shocking and yet beautiful sight.
Grimm.
Craters filled with black substances from which Grimm emerged from without end and resting in center of the forsaken land was a dark fortress surrounded by a dark mist. She marched forward into the mist, coming upon a pair of grand doors that were obviously the entrance. Just as she came before them they opened, beckoning her to enter. The halls were lit with candles lining the walls, providing the only source of light for her as she continued deeper into the fortress.
Finally she reached some sort of dark room with nothing inside, aside from a ceiling window shining down in the center and the image of an eye surrounded by flames imprinted on the floor. She stepped into the center of the room and fell to her knees, her head suddenly burning as more images flashed through her mind.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!"
"Your rebirth."
Her face shot up, spotting someone in the dark watching her with red eyes. "Who is there?!"
"You feel it, don't you? The memories of your past self, integrating with you in this new world. Two beings from different times, integrating into one. So rare but you and I both share something that makes it possible." The voice was a male and it sounded human but when it stepped out into the light it looked nothing like a regular human. "The Dark Substance you ingested in the original time that allowed you to birth the first seven before us and even now allows you to remember the former time."
Blood red hair falling down to the shoulders.
Skin sickly pale with black and purple veins traveling down the body.
Eyes with a blac schlera and irises matching the hair in color.
And an eye tattoo resembling the drawing on the floor on the right hand.
He wore all black, making him appear to be part of the darkness surrounding them or perhaps the darkness came from him instead.
And he was smiling as he looked down at her. "To think, the one who created the first of us would appear before me in this new world and time."
"Who…Who are you?" She finally asked.
She should feel afraid but for some reason she wasn't.
Almost feeling like she should be here.
"I am a being, formed by what you started before. Your worship of your Lord and Master created new forms of life and though that life later turned on you it was only the beginning." The man said, slowly pacing around her. "Can you remember?"
"Remember…Remember what?" She clutched her head.
"Long ago in a distant land, the Shapeshifting Master of Darkness unleashed an unspeakable evil but a samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose him. Before the final blow was struck he tore open a portal in time and flung the warrior into the future where the demon's evil was law. The warrior sought to return to the past and undo the evil future, which he did." The man stared down at the woman, his eyes glowing bright red. "Because of you."
The woman screamed out, her mind and body burning as she remembered it all…
Her Lord and Master…
The Samurai…
Her back-stabbing daughter…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" She screamed out in rage as she stood up. "YOU LET HIM KILL OUR MASTER!"
The man watched as the woman screamed and screamed and screamed until her voice was raw and she fell to her knees again, panting from all the screaming. "How dare she…She ruined everything."
"And now you have the chance to fix it all." The man said, having remained still through it all. "Before he died the demon traveled back in time and altered history himself to survive…"
"The Grimm. The Master is the Grimm." She stood up, shaking slightly. "You are the Master's Herald."
"One of many." The man replied, holding up a hand to her. "But it can only be done if you are willing to ensure our survival."
"What do you mean?"
"You created the first seven of us in the beginning but more were born in the new time. That happened when the High Priestess spread the Dark Substance among her subjects in day's long past, giving birth to Soldiers of the Pit of the Hate that continue to exist to this day." The man explained, gesturing around them. "All of this made possible by the true follower of the Source."
"Me, I helped make you all." The woman realized before grinning. "The Master's true Heralds."
"I am Sammael, born during the Time of Awakening and the first true of those others call the Fallen. And you will be the one to ensure our birth." Sammael stepped back and opened his mouth, releasing rings of light that shot above the woman and then fell down around her, opening a light on the floor that sucked her down into before vanishing. "Just as the Guardian of Time and Space brings warriors to be born again in this world I ensure the birth of all Fallen. Including myself."