Chapter 2- Sweet Girlscout's Face

Juuhachi-sama now walked through the palace halls, once again. It had been a week and the scars on her arms were perfect. She was going back to the sorceress to discover what to do next. She checked the quiet and empty hall to make sure that none of her entourage was following on her heels. Seeing that there was no on in the hall other than herself, Juu-chan pressed her palm to a false panel in the wall. It slid inward and a door swung in as well.

She smiled and quickly entered, feeling the door close quickly behind her. She lifted the torch on the wall from its sconce and carried it down the narrow corridor with her, her velvet skirts rasping against the cold and uncaring stone floor like a harsh whisper. The comforting flame from the torch lit the way, allowing her to quickly make her way to the door that led to the Sorceress's chambers. She knocked lightly on the thick ash door three times, the signal to let the Sorceress know that it was her.

"Just a moment!" came the youthful voice of the Sorceress from within. She went to the door and it swung inward, revealing a short woman with severely tied back dark hair. It was as black as her eyes, but she gave the Queen a winsome smile. She curtsied deeply. "Good evening, my Queen. You're well, I hope?"

Juuhachi-sama returned the smile, considering the woman to be in her confidence, despite her somewhat ludicrous suggestions. "As well as a queen can be, ChiChi." she replied, a small smile twisting her lips. She lifted her arms, her flowing sleeves falling back to expose her arms and the "perfect scars" upon them.

ChiChi practically squealed with delight. "Wonderful, Your Majesty!" she said, clapping her hands together ecstatically. Her warm hands grasped the Queen's wrists, carefully turning her arms to make sure that the scars were as they should be. "They're perfect..." she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Juuhachi-sama nodded. "I finally got them just right."

"Indeed you did, my Queen." Something dark passed through the Sorceress's eyes, something the Queen didn't like.

She subconsciously jerked her arms away from the magickal woman. "Now that I have the scars, what must I do?" Juu-chan asked.

ChiChi's smile was back in place, almost as if it had never faded to reveal something hideous and sinister within her. "Find a girl... a good girl. I'm sure you'll be able to sense the seed of evil within her." ChiChi's dark eyes caught Juuhachi-sama's gaze and wouldn't let her look away. "You'll be able to find her within the palace. You'll know her when you gaze upon her, you should be able to feel the darkness that flows from her like a poison." She leaned closer to the Queen and whispered instructions in her ear.

Juuhachi-sama nodded. "I will." And so, she left the Sorceress behind.

Several hours later, after walking past every woman working or staying at the palace, Juu-chan was certain she'd found the one she was supposed to find. The girl had straight azure colored hair and she was far too curvaceous for the low-cut whale-boned dress that she wore. She came across as dim-witted, but there was something lascivious about her. It seemed like she'd had every man in the palace at least twice over, even if that was not the case. Her lavender-blue eyes were vapid and empty.

Her very voice was aggravating, high-pitched and keening as it was. "Yes, Your Majesty! I'm so delighted to meet you! I'm so glad that you'd take time from your busy life to speak with me, Your Majesty!" On and on the girl went, prattling continuously about nothing in particular.

The Queen convinced the girl to take a trip with her into the vast royal gardens. Creeping wisteria clung to the walls, along with climbing roses that formed a thorny sort of second wall with blood red blooms standing out amid all of the green. Foreign flowers from countries far and wide littered the earth beside the paths, not a weed amongst the beauty that was displayed. The creative power and beauty of nature was in full display here, almost like something from a marvelous technicolor dream.

The Queen came to a stop beside a bed filled with beautiful white roses, their scent wafting to her nostrils on the light and warm breeze. The girl, who the Queen had discovered was called Marron, stopped beside her. Her moronic smile made Juuhachi-sama want to retch on her dainty little slippers. She continued to talk, making no sense at all.

"Could you pick one of those for me?" the Queen asked innocently, her blue eyes wide and innocent, her voice sweeter than silken imported chocolate.

"Certainly, Your Majesty!" Marron replied happily, kneeling down and inspecting the rose, wondering how to go about getting past the thorns without some shears.

Behind her back, Juuhachi-sama unsheathed a long knife from beneath her cloak. Without a second's hesitation, she drove it through the girl's back. The blade went straight through her heart and emerged from her sternum. Her mouth moved silently for a moment before she fell forward, dead as a coffin nail. The blood didn't bother the Queen, but her reasons for killing the girl seemed almost unjustified. Almost.

Juuhachi-sama drew the knife out and turned Marron over, a small noise of distaste escaping her as she saw the wide-eyed and shocked look on her face. She closed the girl's eyes with her fingertips, not wanting her to be able to see what she was about to do. With the blood-slicked knife in her dominant hand, she held the girl's head in the other. She slowly began to slice at the skin just behind her ears, making a clean line from ear to ear beneath her chin. She made several more smooth, expert cuts around Marron's forehead, following through so that all of the lines connected. She wiped the blade clean on the dead girl's dress and resheathed it.

She slipped her fingers under the loose skin beneath Marron's chin and slowly began to peel it back from her skull, exposing the internal muscles and cartilage that lay there. When she had completely removed the girl's face, she tossed it into a bag specifically made for the purpose. Her hands were filthy, and she knew that no one would approve of what she'd done. She was careful not to get any of the dead girl's blood on her clothes as she made the long journey back to her own chambers and washroom.

Juuhachi-sama took a long, leisurely bath with hot steaming water. She scrubbed herself clean with a heavily perfumed soap, the blood on her hands coming off in dark flakes. She emerged from the water like a goddess risen from the sea, her long blonde hair trailing down her back, body shimmering with water droplets, blue eyes asparkle with a sense of accomplishment. She let the water flow down the drain, washing away all evidence of what she had done.

She'd cleaned the skin taken from the dead girl's face as soon as she had returned, not wanting the stench of the congealed blood to overwhelm her before she could take it to the Sorceress. She wrapped her body in a long and thick royal violet towel, stepping into her room with a contented sigh. With each passing day, she came closer to obtaining the power she needed. The power that would make her very existence a scourge to her enemies, be they personal or political.

She rang for one of the servants, wanting to have one of her whores sent to her. After all of the blood she'd seen, she needed to do something to abate the perverse passion that rose in her like flood waters threatening to break down a dam. Pleasure or more death were the only things that could sate the hunger growing in her loins, and she'd rather have it be pleasure than another dead body.



A/N- whatcha think? Grossness, no? Anyway, two reviews and you'll get another chapter! Love yas! .;;