Awakening in green and brass
Sakura was forced onto the blood soaked stone table in the middle of the hall, her arms and legs were bound by chains and she could feel a creeping fear.
All around her the cultists were gathered, slowly chanting. The great red ape that had caught her was standing off to one side, it had a sense of pride and cruel joy displayed on it's monstrous countenance.
When the chanting reached a significant point, Sakura saw a metal tool being pulled from a fire in the back of the room and taken towards her.
The tool seemed to be made of some material like copper or brass, it had a handle that ended in a sharp blade like a horizontal razor. The head of the tool was glowing red hot.
Sakura realised that this was the tool that had left the burn scars on the previous girl and struggled with everything she had, Her shadows emerged to cut at her chains and lash out at the cultists that stood close to her.
A loud gasp emerged from the cultists who could see her and the shadow. The few that were caught by the shadow fell to the ground either dead or drained of energy, Sakura didn't care.
The ape struggled over to her as he was attacked by the shadows, Sakura realised that this ape was not a natural being but some sort of spirit. She sent all her shadows towards it, she had discovered a way she could puppet spirits without the darkness within the grail but it required a lot of focus.
Her shadows shot into the ape, wrapping around the core of it's being. In her head Sakura ordered it "Free me!". The ape stood still for a few moments before smiling and shaking it's head. Sakura was confused, did this spirit have resistance to being compelled by her shadow? She yelled at it again in attempt to bypass whatever protection it had, "Slave, you obey me now!". Not only did that fail to control it, the great ape seemed to start laughing.
Sakura stared into the core of the spirit and discovered the reason she wasn't having any effect, some great darkness already controlled it or rather was a part of it. This darkness was stronger than her imitation of the corruption within the grail.
She retracted some shadows from the beast's core and begin cutting at it's flesh. If she could destroy it's physical form then it was one less thing to worry about later.
Unfortunately her attacks didn't seem to be doing much. The ape walked straight towards her and lifted her head from the stone before dropping it.
Her concussion was instant, she was dizzy and she was forced to drop her spell. She just lay against the stone with her head in all sorts of pain. She couldn't even form a though as the tool was reheated and brought towards her.
For a moment she didn't feel it, after that moment she screamed out in pain as a primal instinct. The tool that looked like a razor (or possibly a really short trowel said her concussed mind) and cut into her belly. The pain, both from the cutting and the heated metal drove a spike into her mind.
The cut was actually quite light but Sakura didn't know that, to her it felt like she had been impaled by a great flaming spear.
The pain was not over though as out of Sakura's view, another cultist carrying a quarter cup of acid walked over and poured some of it's content into the wound. Again Sakura's mind was filled by great pain.
As a kindness to Sakura I will not describe the rest of the hour she was tied upon that rock, except for the following; 9 more cuts were made, the beginning of some sort of demonic art piece. At the end of the time, Sakura had gone to her happy place. She dreamed of the time that Shirou saved her from the Makiri "Laboratory" during the grail war.
She remembered how she was covered in the crest worms and how Shirou had broken down the door. She remembered her own pain and the pain in the worms when he had cast fire into the pit. She remembered how he had driven off the crest worms not hiding within her and had taken her outside. She remembered the look on his face, the joy of a hero.
"Young one, are you still there?" Sakura lay unresponsive in her cell as that voice spoke to her out of thin air in crisp Japanese. When it asked again Sakura opened her eyes and looked around, thinking herself saved.
The voice spoke again "I asked if you were okay, they hurt you baldly didn't they?" again the voice came from the air. Sakura spoke quietly in order to reply "Please, if you are there, become visible so I don't think myself mad".
A few seconds later, the air in her cell shimmered as a strange figure dropped to the stone floor of the cell. While the cell was dark, the figure gave off it's own illumination from spots of light covering it's body.
Her (Hopefully) rescuer stood at maybe a head shorter than herself, she (the voice gave it away) was incredibly beautiful but not in any conventional way. The body of the figure was covered in small scales like a fish, the hands and feet were webbed and Sakura saw gill slits on her throat. The luminescence given off by the spots between some of the scales reflected around the body, giving it a soft illumination in thousands of different colours.
The visitor looked up towards Sakura and asked "What do you want most? Revenge against these cultists perhaps? Revenge against those that sold you to them?" Sakura thought about the question and simply shook her head "What I want most right now is to find my friend". The figure looked at her "Was he captured by the cultists too?".
"I doubt it," Sakura looked to the ceiling of the cave "he is somewhere in this world and that is all I know".
Her conversation partner whistled in surprise "That isn't much to go on. You also need to escape from here first"
Sakura nodded hopefully "Can you help me escape?"
The figure looked to her and slowly said "Yes... but not without a cost, my mistress sent me hear to make a deal with you"
Sakura waved at her to go on and the figure continued in one long rush "My mistress, she who marched against the flames, the lady of the sea, Kimbery has bestowed upon me a tool to recruit new followers, in return for serving her and the rightful rulers of this world you will have the power to do whatever you wish."
Sakura knew a deal with the devil when she heard one but also could not deny that she needed the power right now. She asked "So I must be bound to help these ancient beings regain control of this world for both freedom and personal power?"
The figure nodded slowly. Sakura thought about ways she could escape on her own, now she was the centre of attention they would be keeping a better eye on her. She would need to escape before her will was broken.
Filled with regret she looked to the figure, the figure thought she was about to sadly reply no before Sakura spoke "Very well, I accept your offer"
The pain in the figure was immediate, the figure she had been talking to burst into thousands of strands that in turn wrapped around Sakura. Her cry of surprise was not heard by anyone else as it and she were caught in a cocoon.
5 days passed.
When the cocoon broke Sakura found herself atop a raised platform.
She looked down at all the cultists crying out in joy towards her, they seemed to worship her now.
"And what is wrong with that?" Spoke a voice in her mind that reminded her of the figure. Sakura shook her now white hair in shock, she felt new power pulsing through her.
Not a single remnant of the crest worms remained, she felt the power now within her like a sea of darkness.
The voice spoke to her again "To them you are greater than any god, worse than any demon"
She spoke back to it "I shouldn't be a god for them! I want to escape and find Shirou!"
Once again the voice spoke "You should learn to use your new abilities properly first, I can show you to a place where you can learn. Your memories tell me Shirou is strong, you have time before you need to return to him"
Sakura didn't like it but agreed she should learn to use her new abilities.
She left the cave, not seeing a black circle that absorbed light on her forehead, neither did she notice the small scales that now ran down her spine.
At the guidance of the voice she set out into the desert after being brought across on the cultist's boat.
She didn't want to see Shirou until she understood and could control her new abilities.
End of chapter.
Sound the drums, play the powerful guitar music, let the children's choir sing out.
A new prince(ss) of hell has been crowned.
So we get our first exaltation in an exalted cross-over, normally this happens within the first or second chapter but I said screw it, we needed a proper scenario.
For reference Sakura is a fiend caste exalt with her favoured yozi being Kimbery and the ebon dragon.
Yes her patrons are a Yandere and a sociopath, this can only go well
Next chapter we are back on Shirou (Probably, if I don't get people asking me to do more of Sakura)
