The cover image, none of the characters nor yourself belong to me. Berseria and the Tales of series belong to Bandai Namco.
There. There I was. Laying there, in the cold, damp, dark, putrid cell.
...
I should have gone insane by now.
It was always silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Until, suddenly, it would be broken by shouts or screams, begging, or sometimes mere footsteps. Sometimes I would get woken or simply startled by the banging on the cells when it was time to eat. Though, none of those compare to the racket made once every day. The worst sound is when they send a demon down into an underground cell I can see from my own when the torches are well lit. I cannot fathom as to why they would even want to have those disgusting creatures within the walls of the prison, much less toss them into the cell of a prisoner. Whenever they drop one down, a series of sounds always follow. It always starts with a woman shouting, threatening the demon. It's the same female voice every time. This has led me to believe that that voice belongs to the prisoner held down there. The sounds that usually follow are usually the demon hollering back, but occasionally the demon would beg for its life. On those occasions, the woman would ask questions. I would get up from my "cot," and slowly make my way to the bars of my cell, listening intently to the demon's responses. This is a prime source of information on the outside world. I would continue listening, learning more about the world I've been sealed away from, until the wisdom would get cut off by another shout from the woman. The sound following, usually the final noise in the series, was a sickening one. After the demon seemed to be taken down, a terrible noise of...with no other title, pulsating flesh would ensue. I could never identify what on earth that odd sound was, but I was sure I never wanted to know. At this point, I would have already backed away back to my cot. Afterward, the silence continued, and any interesting event to look forward to in the day (Or night, I'm not sure) came to an end.
Otherwise, I would be lying there, in the silent darkness, awaiting the next horrifying noise.
I've never known why. I have no way of knowing why. Because, I have amnesia. I never had to be told that fact, as I was able to figure it out on my own. I have no memories that differ from my daily routine here. I know that I haven't been here my entire life, I couldn't have been here my entire life, as I've only grown three inches or so from my earliest memories...I think. It hasn't been longer than four years, from what I could tell from the few dates mentioned in the conversations between the unknown woman and multiple demons. I remember that my name is Aria, I figured out myself that I'm a wind malakhim. I've mastered the art of tossing the straw pillow on my cot from one end of the cot to the other, without laying a finger on it. I...also discovered that my sneezes are disastrous. I cannot control them because of my weak frame. Considering the food here has barely any nutrients and I can barely see so exercise tends to happen rarely, I believe that being so weak that sneezes are tricky to get ahold of is justified. I'm sure I'd be much better at it if a large gust of wind didn't escape my mouth every time I sneezed. Other than those facts, I don't know much about myself. I know I have brown hair and fair skin, but other than that I don't know what I look like. I've never looked into a mirror, from what I can remember, so I don't know what my face looks like.
Basically, I'm pretty clueless to a lot of important things.
That brings us to now.
Right now I'm lying in my cot, as per usual, awaiting the sounds of the next demon to be dropped into the woman's cell, or at least for some food to be tossed into the small opening in the bars. Neither sounds came. I had been waiting for a long while, thinking at least some sort of noise would come through, but none ever did. Until I closed my eyes. When I had closed my eyes in apathy of waiting, I heard footsteps. It was probably someone delivering food, so I continued to shut my eyes, intent on entering the world of dreams for a short while. My plans were cut short when I heard the sounds of… fire? Of course, someone may have been lighting the torches, meaning a demon was to be sent down to the unknown woman, but… I heard no sounds of a struggling demon. I opened my eyes, trailing my gaze over to the central area, where the door to the underground cell was kept.
There was something I had never expected to see. A woman, a fire malak to be precise, was using her fire artes to light the torches around her. I had never seen another malakhim before, in the time I can remember. This malak woman was making the room so bright and warm. It was a foreign feeling, one I loved. I stood immediately, making my way to the bars of my cell, gazing at the odd, beautiful site of this miraculous woman surrounded by the warmest, blazing torches I had ever lay my eyes upon. The woman's overall appearance easily reminded me of that of a butterfly's. She had pinkish red hair with white tips kept in a ponytail, her bangs falling over her face. A short, white dress covered her body, that had two trains on its sides, looking similar to butterfly wings. She had long black stockings and white heels, both with red accents. I couldn't see her eyes, as she has some sort of black glass mask covering her eyes and upper face, resembling, again, a butterfly. Or, perhaps, a bird. My fists were turning slightly white as I stared, clutching onto the bars. I leaned forward, trying to see as much as I could. The woman noticed me. My heart thumped rapidly as she turned her head towards me slightly, holding a finger to her lips. She wanted me to be quiet. I did as she asked, as my voice was caught in my throat, making me obey her whether I wanted to or not. She smiled at me slightly, before turning back to her destination. She made her way around the metal grate that led into the unknown woman's cell. She went to the back of the room, where she approached a lever. This lever, contrary to a separate one, didn't temporarily open the grate. It kept it open permanently. Along with, every other cell in the chamber. As the Malak reached out, my heart began to thump even harder than it had been mere moments earlier. Was this malak going to pull that lever? I knew that I am one of very few prisoners on this floor, as they don't tend to keep many near the woman they throw the demons to, so says one of said demons. If this malak were to pull that lever, she could very well put herself in great danger. But, she didn't hesitate in the slightest.
She reached forward, grasping her hands tightly onto the metal lever. She turned to me and smiled slightly, as she pulled down on the lever, a loud squeak following as she did so. My eyes trained on the lever as she slowly heaved it down, my eyes wide and my mouth parted slightly. This was it. After all this time, I could finally take a step outside. The squeaking continued as the lever neared the end of its journey. Only a few centimeters left. I leaned forward, clinging to the bars, nonblinking.
Click.