Huzzah! I finally finished something for Mia! (and it only took me to post three one-shots and finish two more that will be posted later on for me to get to this point).
The credit for this goes to CJ right here. Now here's the funny story: if memory serves me correctly, the lore behind when Grayson gets possessed is sometime around Memories before they met Mia, so I turned that idea into something to get Drake to meet Mia!
There are references to the old Red Queen lore (all based on memory), demon-possessed Grayson, and Mia of course! I believe that her team of archaeologists was killed during the attack on the Red Keep, but that requires me going back and rewatching that video :P
Let's Go On An Adventure
To Save One Life
Smoke spewed from every building, clogging the air with ash and the putrid smell of a burning city. So many were dead already, and so many more would be dead before the sun began to rise over the horizon. Mia feared that she would be among the dead, and the rapier clutched in her hand would be useless against whatever thing was attacking her now. Like everyone else in the Badlands, she had heard the stories, but never had she thought that they were true.
Oddly enough, she pictured him differently from the real thing. Gathered from rare eyewitness accounts and the statues of that demon found across the badlands, she had heard of a figure with glowing white eyes, hair dark as night, and ashen clothes and skin torn from battle. This creature, as he was hardly a man with the destruction in his wake, had dirty blond hair. While his clothes were certainly worn, they were not coated in the ash of burning villages. However, as he flew above her head (yes flew because apparently that was a thing now), she saw a crusty dark color running down his front. Blood. His eyes, however, remained the same as the tales, but she didn't know where the stories went wrong to begin with.
Sometimes it appeared as though he was hesitating. Some attacks were delayed like something was holding the being back, and his face would contort as though in pain. It would only last for a few moments as he hovered over the burning city before he resumed his attack. Mia ducked and hid from fireballs, but if she was being honest with herself, she wouldn't be able to escape on her own. No one was known to survive these attacks, and now that she could see them for herself, she knew why. This attack was intense, and she could count the minutes until her own death because of how imminent it was.
The screams were dying down, but Mia was still alive. She tried to find the gate, but the walls were on fire. An army of the undead was marching forth, and anyone who was still alive was being felled by these monstrous creatures. Mia nearly shrieked from surprise as one caught her off guard, and she plunged her sword through its rotting chest before kicking it away with her foot. She whipped her head around to look for her next assailant, her ponytail whipping her cheeks from the motion. No, no one was there, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.
And then…. And then Mia could no longer move. She was frozen midstep with her arms by her side. Her breathing quickened, and she was being faced down by the demon. His mouth was curled in a terrible grin, and flames came to life in his hands. Now the embers were catching on his clothes, leaving permanent blemishes that would be reported by the next to spot him. Not her, though. She'll be dead any moment.
"An elf? I haven't seen one in a long time." His voice was distorted and without emotion, chilling her spine. "But then, most of you have the sense to stay out of my way. The last elf I faced was so long ago… I killed her entire cree, and I will kill yours too."
Mia tried to move. If she could, she'd gut him for what he was saying. Of course, the people she had been on this archaeological dig with were probably all dead, anyway. "Not if I kill you first," she grunted, and her elven eyes narrowed at him dangerously. "Let me go, and I might spare you."
The monster laughed at her. "You can't move, much less kill me, but I like your spirit." He stepped closer to her menacingly, and the flames danced between his fingers. "I will enjoy killing you."
Mia tried to fight against the spell that was keeping her in place, but it was no use. His magic was too powerful. Consigning herself to her fate, she forced herself to calm down. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of her fear. She stared him down, daring him to come closer.
Come closer he did, but when he was upon her, that strange look of hesitation crossed his face once again. The flames flickered out of existence, and his fingers curled to make his fist a ball. There was rapid blinking in his milky eyes, and the man backed down, stepping away from the elf.
"Dra-" The next time he blinked, his eyes seemed clearer than before. He looked around in panic, which was incredible because Mia didn't know what could scare a demon so much that he was left in this distraught state. He then looked to her, and shock and horror played in his eyes. "You…" And his voice sounded so strained. "Why aren't you running?! Get out of here!"
"Because I can't move!" Mia shouted indignantly, but then movement returned to her body and she stumbled forward in the direction she had previously been running in. Immediately she brandished her rapier at him, but something had changed in the being. He seemed more human now.
"That weapon won't kill me," he uttered softly. He sounded so fragile and beaten. "Only my friends wield the sword that can. Find them." He fell to the ground on one knee, appearing to be fighting something Mia could not see. "Tell them to use the sword that I left them." He gasped and choked, but he continued as though this would be his last act. "No… No matter what, He has to die." He shut his eyes. "I have to die."
Mia had regained her footing as he was speaking to her, and during his speech she had lowered the rapier. She looked at him and surprised herself with the pity that she felt towards the man who had brought this village to ruin. It dawned on her that this wasn't his choice. He didn't choose to be a monster. Someone, or something had forced this onto him.
"N-no, don't talk like that," she replied as she looked at him. He scoffed and turned his head away like he already accepted his fate. Mia hesitated, but the fires that burned around them were proof of what this stranger was capable of. "Your friends, where can I find them?"
The blond cringed before he could respond, and his gasps were turning to small yelps in pain. "I can… I can bring you to them." He groaned, and Mia could see his will slipping away like water through a grate. "He can't get to them there." He released a dry but self-satisfied laugh. "They're safe, and you'll be too. Tell Drake… tell him…" At this he shook his head. "No. Don't tell him anything. Just… look after him."
Mia could see the pleading in his eyes and nodded. "I will." Of course, she had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she could see that at any moment his control over his own body would be gone. There was no time for him to explain, so she would just have to speak to his friends. The worst that could happen was that she would die, but this man had ample opportunity to kill her. "How does this work?"
"Like this." The voice was as distorted as it was when there was none of the human's will slipping in, but it was the human who was wielding the power. He took a deep breath before using the last of his will to carry Mia from this place into a new one.
The air around Mia changed, and everything else changed. Her head spun, and colors whipped around her. The fiery oranges and yellows were replaced by the dull greys and greens of worn stone. She had no idea where she was. She had never been here before. She sat up, but there was no sign of the demon. He hadn't followed her to this place… wherever this place was.
"Hello?" she called out softly. At first Mia thought that she was here alone, but then she heard a voice from the next room over.
"Stay in here, Armen. I'll look to see who it is." Then the door opened. It was another man, or almost one. His skin was blackened from some other demonic force, and one of his eyes had the same milky pale look that the demon had. He looked at Mia, and while he seemed surprised, he didn't look like he was going to attack her or anything. "Hello, I am Drake. How did you get here?"
Drake. The demon's friend.
Mia told him everything. He looked anguished when she mentioned the demon, and finally, when she was done talking about the strange message she was meant to deliver and how she came to be here, a new determined spark had returned to his eyes that probably had to do with proof that the human in the demon had free will of his own.
"Grayson, he's…" He laughed weakly. Alive. "Thank you, Mia."
Mia smiled at the stranger. She had no intentions of staying uninvited in his home, but she had one thing to ask before she left and continued on her travels (though she would leave Drake with some way to contact her if he ever needed the help or a friend to speak to). "Who is he to you?"
Drake turned away towards the glass of a window that overlooked the sea. "A friend." His hands folded together, and she pretended to not notice the tear slipping down his cheek. "More than that."
Then he turned and walked away.
There we go. Me happy now. I am almost done with the happy Grayson's kid is alive one-shot, and I wrote a sad dream world Grayson possessed kind of thing because... plot. Everything else that I have is three paragraphs long or less, but to be fair, this was only three paragraphs long at the start of my work shift, and look at it now! I wrote a good 60% of this while taking orders on the drive thru because I knew that I needed to get it done!
CJ: IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TOO GAHHH!
And now I can relax. Expect the next one-shot some time in the next few days because I have it finished, but I told myself that I would post the Mia one first.
~Lya200~
