May 13th, 1929
New Cesaria City
Mary groaned as the light of the morning sun hit her face. Then she bolted upward, memories of where she had been before flashing through her mind. She quickly discovered that was a painfully bad idea.
"Stay down, Lieutenant! You're going to reopen the wounds!" A nurse, who for some reason she couldn't really make out, gently pushed her back down. Mary's head was throbbing, her body ached, and for some reason she couldn't feel her limbs. Everything felt hazy. What had happened? Her memories came back slowly; painfully.
The Devil. Her father's murderer.
Mary had failed. Mary knew there was little chance for forgiveness for so blatantly disobeying orders. If she had killed her- no, that Devil in a little girl's skin, if she had killed her then there was a chance they'd forgive her. All she'd done is wreck a city and fail not only her superiors, but her father.
I've failed god. Mary wasn't sure where the thought came from, but she knew it was right. She could only hope the Lord would be more merciful to her than her superiors were going to be. Maybe it would've been better if she had died there…
"You shouldn't say things like that, Miss Sioux." The nurse's voice startled her, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Had she said that last part out loud?
"Sorry, I hadn't meant to startle you, hun." The American accent, a southern drawl if Mary remembered correctly, helped Mary realise where she was.
"I-I…" her voice cracked, coming out hoarse and painful.
"Oh, deary me, you need some water sweetie? Here, one moment, I'll go fetch you somethin' right quick, y'hear? Be back in a moment." Mary listened as the footsteps of the nurse retreated from the room, the clicking of her heels becoming muffled. Mary sorely wished she hadn't had a cast around her neck. The plain white ceiling was going to drive her mad, and her blurry vision wasn't helping. And why couldn't she feel her legs? Or her arms? Mary attempted to shift her legs, but only found one responsive. It felt… abnormally light. Her right arm shifted, but Mary could only feel her left arm's shoulder move. She couldn't feel her hands.
The nurse returned shortly. Mary gladly accepted the assistance with drinking the water, having not realised before how dehydrated she felt.
"Miss Sioux, the doctor, Doctor Adenau, would like to see you now." Mary tried to nod, but managed to catch herself. Instead, she said,
"Yes, ma'am." With a curt nod that remained unseen by the injured lieutenant, the nurse made her way to find the doctor. More time for Mary's thoughts to swim in her head. The self loathing she had originally felt was dissipating, replaced with a mix of quiet dread and subtle rage. When she got her hands on that little-
The door to her room swung open again, two footsteps entering. A man, whose features she couldn't make out, stood over her bed with a sheaf of papers in his hands.
"Second Lieutenant Mary Martha Sioux, correct?"
"Yes, sir. That's me, sir." Mary internally cringed at her own voice, her throat so scratchy she nearly sounded like a frog.
"Ah, your albish is good. That'll make this easier. Miss Jennings, get her some more water please" The nurse, apparently named Miss Jennings, quickly left to fetch water. Mary knew a 'get the heck out of here,' order when she heard one, though. Miss Jennings wouldn't be back for some time. The two spoke for a short while, the doctor asking simple questions. For a reason Mary couldn't quite identify the feeling of dread grew within her. Eventually, the doctor said something that gave her pause.
"What do you mean, sir?" The doctor let out a long sigh, before sitting down next to her. It wasn't like Mary could see him anyways. Was it some drug still in her system? Maybe her eyes had been damaged and it was going to take some time before they recovered? Mary didn't know.
"It's a miracle of magic and science that you're alive, Miss Sioux. A further miracle that you can move any part of your body at all. To be honest, Miss Sioux, every doctor both in the Federation and here in the States would've given up on you if our governments had let us." The doctor gave her time to digest that. Was she really that close to death? Things were still hazy after she was shot so many times. What exactly had that demon done to her?
"A hundred and ten grazing bullet wounds, twenty more bullet wounds, twenty eight stab wounds, clawing at the eyes, and-"
"What did she do to me?" The doctor seemed to freeze, before quickly recentering himself.
"We did what we could, Miss Sioux. The doctors in the Federation did their best just keeping you stable so we could ship you back here. Not all of you made it back, and many of the parts that did-" the doctor sighed, before muttering, "I just have to do this…" His voice elevated, and he finally said what needed to be said.
"Miss Sioux, you are a quadruple amputee now."
Rerugen couldn't believe his eyes. He watched as the pint-sized demon inspected her new attire with a mixture of awe and disappointment.
"While I certainly appreciate Imperial leadership seeking to accommodate my newfound sensitivity to sunlight, did they have to make it so, ehm… stereotypical?" Snapping out of his stupor at the shock of being in the same room as an actual vampire from legend, he noted that she was right. The entire ensemble was near identical to her old attire: a pair of modified white combat boots, white dress pants, white gloves travelling much further up her arms and under her sleeves than they used to, a white military dress uniform with an array of various medals, her silver wings assault badge with oak leaves taking centre stage among them, four pockets interspersed across the front of her attire, gold epaulettes on her shoulders signifying her rank as Lieutenant Colonel, and finally the stark white cape that flowed behind her. However, the cape notably now had curves seemingly cut into the bottom of the cape, resembling a bat's wings.
Rerugen watched as Tanya reached out to grab the last piece of her attire, a specially designed mask. The mask wrapped around her ears- rounded instead of pointed, to Rerugen's surprise- to completely cover any exposed skin she had. The face of the mask itself lacked any visible features, appearing as a slightly curved but otherwise plain white mask bearing the Imperial eagle painted in black on its front.
"I have to give it to our researchers, they did an excellent job of designing this mask. I can actually see through it, even through the light of day." Rerugen had to admit it: she certainly was a striking image.
"The Empire's greatest weapon now truly looks the part, I'd say," he absentmindedly muttered. It bothered him how little her becoming a monster actually bothered him. If anything, it felt better than before. He supposed it made sense: the little girl had dropped her disguise, and now the demon walked in the open.
Or, vampire at any rate.
"Well, sir, I think this outfit will do nicely. Shall we give it a test drive, so to speak?"
"Test drive, Colonel?"
"It's noon, sir. Perfect timing for ensuring this works to keep sunlight off of me. Care to join me?" The Colonel proffered her hand at this, as though inviting him to take it. Rerugen knew it was just paranoia, but he had heard his fair share of deals being made with devils by shaking hands and thought better of the entire engagement.
"You are aware I'm meant to be monitoring you, correct Colonel?"
"Of course, General. Just thought I'd try to make light of the-" The Colonel froze suddenly. Rerugen wasn't able to see her face, but he had to work to keep a smile off his own as the accidental pun clicked in his mind.
"That was not intentional, sir."
"As you say, Bloody Argent." Rerugen began making his way for the door at this, a silent chuckle within his mind at her antics. Odd as it was, it really was easier talking to her when she was open about her monstrous nature.
"Bloody Argent, sir?" The two began making their way down the hall, various passersby giving the two of them salutes as they walked. A few gawked at Degurechaff for a moment before snapping off theirs.
"Ah, you haven't heard? A new title to add to your growing collection, I suppose. That reminds me, how are you navigating with that mask? I can't see any eye-holes on it."
"Bloody Argent? They couldn't be any more creative? Anyways, the mask does have eyeholes, but they're disguised. And while it does limit my vision somewhat, my senses were enhanced to such a degree that I could honestly rely on sound alone to navigate a space if I had to, sir." Rerugen did his best to suppress a shiver at the idea of seeing a pair of red eyes in the darkness. He knew his dreams weren't going to be pleasant that night.
He watched as Tanya tentatively reached a hand out towards the sunlight. Until now she had been practically darting from shadow to shadow, trying to avoid light. It was clear it scared her, something Rerugen found amusing. Apparently, he had failed to keep his poker face.
"I can practically hear you smirking, sir! I'm certain you'd be hesitant about this if the sun could incinerate you as well!" Tanya's hand suddenly shot away from the light. Rerugen wasn't even sure if she had touched it.
"Did it burn? I couldn't tell. Hold on…" Rerugen let out an exasperated sigh.
"Don't- look, if this doesn't work I'm dead! Or, well, at least temporarily. And it'll still hurt like hell! Burning alive is not exactly known for being an enjoyable experience, General."
"What's not enjoyable?" The bubbly voice of Tanya's yeswoman caused Rerugen to jump. Where had she come from?
"Aaah! I'm burning! I'M BURNING!" Quickly Rerugen's head snapped back to Tanya…
To see her on the ground, patting herself down, as… nothing happened.
"Colonel. Colonel! Tanya, calm down, you're not on fire!" Upon hearing the elevated voice of Rerugen, Tanya indeed calmed down and looked herself over.
"It… it feels warm, though! Like it's going to burn or melt me!"
"Degurechaff, it's the sun! The sun is warm! You're fine." Tanya's expressionless mask stared back at them, and Rerugen could easily imagine her blinking in surprise and embarrassment.
"Ah. R-right, sir. Ahem." Tanya slowly stood and dusted herself off.
"W-well, now we know the suit works. And it appears that my hair is indeed thick enough to block out the harmful rays of the sunlight, so… ah, Viktoriya! Did you need something?" Judging by the slight giggle from the devil's handmaid, Rerugen figured the 203rd would enjoy this story regarding their new literally bloodthirsty leader.
