Prologue
Azure Inferna ran her slender fingers through her purplish blue hair, slipping a few stray strands behind her ear. Rare was it that anyone would ever see her hair anything less than perfect. It always hung shoulder length, diligently combed and preened until it lay evenly on all sides, her bangs sitting behind her ears as if they were meant to from the beginning of her life. Only through strenuous exertion did it ever fall from place even just a little, and Azure had just exerted herself quite a lot these past few moments.
Loose parchments and books lay at her feet, beneath her freshly shined black leather shoes and all about the floor. A mostly empty bookcase stood at her side, looking as if its contents were swiftly removed from its strong wooden shelves. And indeed they were. Azure's loose strands of her glimmering hair were a testiment to that.
Not far ahead of the woman in the deep blue suit lay a man shaking the stars from his head. His white dress shirt torn and spattered with his own blood and his face battered and bruised. He lay face down, groaning incoherently and struggling to move. Slowly, the man pressed his open palms to the floor on either side of his head and forced himself up, trying desperately to retain some of his dignity. He lurched onto a forearm for support and allowed his broken right hand to release his weight. The fingers were bent weirdly in all directions, shaking and twitching at the agony that no doubt ripped through him. Gasping and screaming silently from the pain, the man tried to peer through the crimson curtain that draped over his tear filled eyes, reaching pitifully in his assailant's direction.
Azure kicked a book or two aside as she approached the man with calm and deliberate strides. She adjusted her fingerless gloves and brushed her sleeves casually, taking care not to step on the man, who had slumped into a pile again on the floor, and possibley end the fun a little too soon. Her deceptively petite body eased into a crouch before the man, her left hand shooting out and grabbing a handfull of his dirty black hair and tugging his head up violantly.
"Enjoying it?" she purred. Her pale blue narrow eyes eased into a menacing stare, lips curled smoothly into an almost seductive smile. He could not match that stare. He shuddered quietly and sobbed, not knowing how to respond without incurring more of her wrath. She shook an answer from him. Literally.
"Y-yes!" he stammered. His voice broken and his words desperate as tears began to stream down his normally calm face. He was terrified for his life. Azure was loving it. What a positively orgasmic moment! thought Azure. Always the dominating type and a lover of enducing pain in her men, the past half an hour was the most fun she had experienced in months. Jobs like this rarely ever came up, and for that she was thankful. She dreaded the thought of growing bored of this game, though she felt quite sure at that moment that such a thing would never happen. She promptly dropped his head back down to the carpeted floor, making sure he landed on the corner of a book, chuckling as she listened to his shriek of pain.
She thought back to what this man had done. The poor guy had seen a few things he never should have seen and was stupid enough to try and run. Azure was given the pleasure of hunting him down and making sure he didn't share his newly aquired information with anyone that might threaten her employers. Unfortunately for his wife, he did just that. Azure turned her gaze to the foot of the bed where she lay now in a pool of her own blood. Her neck was twisted halfway around and arms were laying in simply the wrong positions. Face down, she noted with a chuckle, not unlike her husband here.she knew that he had no intention of turning his information against her employers, that he simply wanted to get out, to get away from the things he saw that made him a target. Azure knew that, and she might have been able to let him live.
But where was the fun in that?
"Oh, Mr.Gray," she began rather somberly. "Why oh why did you involve her in this?" The young woman swept her hand to display the macabre sight of Mrs.Gray's twisted corpse, to tear away at his soul and to draw on that pang of guilt that made all of this so bitter sweet.
Muffled sobs from the floor below were the only reply from the beaten Shinra scientist. He clawed uselessly at the floor, much to her amusement, and tried to prop himself back up again. His crying was beginning to annoy her, and she made a point to have it stopped. Rising and stepping back gingerly, she reached out and slipped her hand behind the mostly empty bookcase and calmly pushed it over, watching the heavy wooden thing slowly fall on top the helpless wretch with an agonizing crash. Calen Gray cried out in pain, grabbed her pantleg with a bloodied and mangled hand, then lay very still.
Azure sighed and shook her head as she knelt down, drawing a white hankerchief from her coat pocket, and wiped the blood from her valuable suit. She wished it could have went on longer, but the human body was so frail and weak, hardly enough to endure the many games she liked to play. Her playthings never lasted as long as she wished they would, thanks in no small part to her superiors, who always had her chase wirey young scientists or old decrepid business men. Not much to them, and she often overstepped her bounds before she began to really enjoy herself. Still, tonight helped her quench her thirst, her thirst for the pain and suffering of another.
Her watch beeped, and a genuine smile creased her delicate features as she pulled back her sleeve to silence it. Right on time, she mused. How fortunate that he gave up so quickly. She didn't want to be late for her debriefing this time, as she desperately wanted to be given something a little more fun to do. Torturing skinny little men and killing their loved ones was always enjoyable, but it didn't compare to some of the work her associates were given. She had to climb the ladder. Being the new girl on the block made things tedious and oftentimes very boring, as the work she had been assigned to so far was well withing her capability. She looked around the overturned room, chuckling to herself as she recalled how carried away she had gotten. She did that sometimes, and things always ended up broken or thrown accross the room when that happened.
"Best be going," she said softly to herself. "But first..."
Azure raised her gloved hand, palm facing outward, and hovered it over the broken pile at her feet where Mr. Calen Gray lay dead beneath a fifty pound bookshelf. She whirled her hand deftly in a slow circular motion and closed her eyes as she focused her thoughts. A deep contented sigh escaped her, and when she opened her eyes, the pile, man, books, and bookself and all, floated in the air before her. She eased her outstretched hand forward, and the floating debris floated forward. She pulled her hand back, and the pile floated gently toward her. Finally she threw her hand outward, sending the pile sailing accross the room in a tangled heap and out a the large livingroom window. Glass shattered and sprayed in a cascade of sorrow and pity, though it sounded like music to her ears. She smiled approvingly to herself as she watched the curtains dance with the wind, and turned to leave as she heard a terrible crash in the streets far below.
It was good to be a Turk, she decided privately. It was so much fun.
Azure Inferna ran her slender fingers through her purplish blue hair, slipping a few stray strands behind her ear. Rare was it that anyone would ever see her hair anything less than perfect. It always hung shoulder length, diligently combed and preened until it lay evenly on all sides, her bangs sitting behind her ears as if they were meant to from the beginning of her life. Only through strenuous exertion did it ever fall from place even just a little, and Azure had just exerted herself quite a lot these past few moments.
Loose parchments and books lay at her feet, beneath her freshly shined black leather shoes and all about the floor. A mostly empty bookcase stood at her side, looking as if its contents were swiftly removed from its strong wooden shelves. And indeed they were. Azure's loose strands of her glimmering hair were a testiment to that.
Not far ahead of the woman in the deep blue suit lay a man shaking the stars from his head. His white dress shirt torn and spattered with his own blood and his face battered and bruised. He lay face down, groaning incoherently and struggling to move. Slowly, the man pressed his open palms to the floor on either side of his head and forced himself up, trying desperately to retain some of his dignity. He lurched onto a forearm for support and allowed his broken right hand to release his weight. The fingers were bent weirdly in all directions, shaking and twitching at the agony that no doubt ripped through him. Gasping and screaming silently from the pain, the man tried to peer through the crimson curtain that draped over his tear filled eyes, reaching pitifully in his assailant's direction.
Azure kicked a book or two aside as she approached the man with calm and deliberate strides. She adjusted her fingerless gloves and brushed her sleeves casually, taking care not to step on the man, who had slumped into a pile again on the floor, and possibley end the fun a little too soon. Her deceptively petite body eased into a crouch before the man, her left hand shooting out and grabbing a handfull of his dirty black hair and tugging his head up violantly.
"Enjoying it?" she purred. Her pale blue narrow eyes eased into a menacing stare, lips curled smoothly into an almost seductive smile. He could not match that stare. He shuddered quietly and sobbed, not knowing how to respond without incurring more of her wrath. She shook an answer from him. Literally.
"Y-yes!" he stammered. His voice broken and his words desperate as tears began to stream down his normally calm face. He was terrified for his life. Azure was loving it. What a positively orgasmic moment! thought Azure. Always the dominating type and a lover of enducing pain in her men, the past half an hour was the most fun she had experienced in months. Jobs like this rarely ever came up, and for that she was thankful. She dreaded the thought of growing bored of this game, though she felt quite sure at that moment that such a thing would never happen. She promptly dropped his head back down to the carpeted floor, making sure he landed on the corner of a book, chuckling as she listened to his shriek of pain.
She thought back to what this man had done. The poor guy had seen a few things he never should have seen and was stupid enough to try and run. Azure was given the pleasure of hunting him down and making sure he didn't share his newly aquired information with anyone that might threaten her employers. Unfortunately for his wife, he did just that. Azure turned her gaze to the foot of the bed where she lay now in a pool of her own blood. Her neck was twisted halfway around and arms were laying in simply the wrong positions. Face down, she noted with a chuckle, not unlike her husband here.she knew that he had no intention of turning his information against her employers, that he simply wanted to get out, to get away from the things he saw that made him a target. Azure knew that, and she might have been able to let him live.
But where was the fun in that?
"Oh, Mr.Gray," she began rather somberly. "Why oh why did you involve her in this?" The young woman swept her hand to display the macabre sight of Mrs.Gray's twisted corpse, to tear away at his soul and to draw on that pang of guilt that made all of this so bitter sweet.
Muffled sobs from the floor below were the only reply from the beaten Shinra scientist. He clawed uselessly at the floor, much to her amusement, and tried to prop himself back up again. His crying was beginning to annoy her, and she made a point to have it stopped. Rising and stepping back gingerly, she reached out and slipped her hand behind the mostly empty bookcase and calmly pushed it over, watching the heavy wooden thing slowly fall on top the helpless wretch with an agonizing crash. Calen Gray cried out in pain, grabbed her pantleg with a bloodied and mangled hand, then lay very still.
Azure sighed and shook her head as she knelt down, drawing a white hankerchief from her coat pocket, and wiped the blood from her valuable suit. She wished it could have went on longer, but the human body was so frail and weak, hardly enough to endure the many games she liked to play. Her playthings never lasted as long as she wished they would, thanks in no small part to her superiors, who always had her chase wirey young scientists or old decrepid business men. Not much to them, and she often overstepped her bounds before she began to really enjoy herself. Still, tonight helped her quench her thirst, her thirst for the pain and suffering of another.
Her watch beeped, and a genuine smile creased her delicate features as she pulled back her sleeve to silence it. Right on time, she mused. How fortunate that he gave up so quickly. She didn't want to be late for her debriefing this time, as she desperately wanted to be given something a little more fun to do. Torturing skinny little men and killing their loved ones was always enjoyable, but it didn't compare to some of the work her associates were given. She had to climb the ladder. Being the new girl on the block made things tedious and oftentimes very boring, as the work she had been assigned to so far was well withing her capability. She looked around the overturned room, chuckling to herself as she recalled how carried away she had gotten. She did that sometimes, and things always ended up broken or thrown accross the room when that happened.
"Best be going," she said softly to herself. "But first..."
Azure raised her gloved hand, palm facing outward, and hovered it over the broken pile at her feet where Mr. Calen Gray lay dead beneath a fifty pound bookshelf. She whirled her hand deftly in a slow circular motion and closed her eyes as she focused her thoughts. A deep contented sigh escaped her, and when she opened her eyes, the pile, man, books, and bookself and all, floated in the air before her. She eased her outstretched hand forward, and the floating debris floated forward. She pulled her hand back, and the pile floated gently toward her. Finally she threw her hand outward, sending the pile sailing accross the room in a tangled heap and out a the large livingroom window. Glass shattered and sprayed in a cascade of sorrow and pity, though it sounded like music to her ears. She smiled approvingly to herself as she watched the curtains dance with the wind, and turned to leave as she heard a terrible crash in the streets far below.
It was good to be a Turk, she decided privately. It was so much fun.