With my eyes forced open, the city is almost worse than our base. Not so long ago, it was a playground. I'd toy with my prey, sometimes letting them believe they were safe, other times making their inevitable doom stare them in the face, and all the same, their liquid life would soon fill my vials. Those vials don't encumber me now, but it hardly matters. The weight of reality is more than enough.

The city, thanks to my stupidity, is officially on high alert. Or maybe the police were always this thorough, and I just never realized it. The facade of confidence I had put up… It had almost become real. Now the thought of it makes my bones ache.

I move quickly through the alleyways. Not that I have any clue where I'm going. I just run. I just keep running. It's sadistically poetic, how I've ran from reality for so long, that even now with it caught up to me, I don't know what else to do. The weight I once left back in that hellhole is now chained to me even out here, but I still keep moving.

Maybe I'll be caught by the law enforcement… Make the situation of us monsters even worse. Maybe a misstep will send me into the river, or fully exposed to sunlight… Such a pathetic way to die that would be. I might as well trip and fall on to a piece of silverware…

"Excuse me!" A constable snaps my attention into focus, slowing me to a walk. "Young lady, wait just a moment!" I pick up speed again. No. The sunlight kisses me in my haste, but I keep moving. Imbecile. What are you thinking? I don't even glance back. I move between empty alleys and crowed streets as quickly as I can whilst staying grounded. You can't just die here. Not after everything you've been through. You still… Still…

…What is the point anymore?

I trip, falling face first into the pavement. Everything is utterly silent. The man gave up? And this must be an alley… How nice… Such a fall shouldn't be a problem to recover from, but the aching in my bones makes it a struggle to force myself up.

With shaking arms, I lift my face from the ground. Bellow me is a pool of blood, diluted by tears, slowly growing as both drip from my face. How long have I been crying…? I almost want to fall back down. To curl up and cry. To let the world keep spinning without my input. Let me bleed… Let a hunter walk up and finish the job… Let Patchy and Flan meet with Meiling and live a happy life in that promised land…

"Just let me die here…" I choke out, quietly.

"Mistress?"

I turn towards Izayoi's voice, and see a pair of legs stood still. She crouches down. "Mistress, are you…?"

I put a leg under me. Stand back up, dammit… I force myself to my feet, but my body isn't ready to handle it. My vision goes dark for a moment and I feel myself falling. When my sight returns, Izayoi is holding me. Her eyes are wide in genuine shock.

"What is… What happened?"

"Let me go…" I whisper.

"Mistress?"

I plant my feet and push her away. I wipe my face on my coat sleeve. My head is still throbbing; my limbs still wailing. I start walking. When I feel Izayoi place a hand on my shoulder, I instantly try to shrug her off. But it goes right back where it was.

"Mistress-"

"Unhand me!"

I throw her back again and face her with a scowl meant to chill her to the bone. Hopefully it masks how much I'm struggling to remain standing after such a pathetic exertion. For a moment, that look of surprise is even more pronounced than ever. Then her eyes sharpen again.

"What the hell is going on?" She questions. I turn away from her, and start walking again. "Hey!" Shut up…

"Remilia!"

The sound of my name catches me off guard. She grabs my arm, hardly minding the blood, tears, and snot. I turn to look at her. Her eyes are serious once again, but… They aren't cold. Those frigid, deathly eyes that I'd grown so used to, occasionally contrasted with a twisted image of childish mischief. This is unlike either.

Her eyes are burning.

"What the hell is going on?" he repeats. "Were you attacked?" Still straight to the point, but her cold bluntness is replaced by a hot aggression.

I don't reply. I can't. It feels like my voice has left me.

Izayoi scans the area, then adjusts her grip on me. "Not safe here." She drags me along at a quick pace. My balance is still shot, and my breath can only keep up with me enough to stop me from passing out.

"Where are you taking me?" I want to ask. But there's no point. I have nowhere to go. I know that. She's just wasting her time… I'm just slowing her down. If we get caught…

"Remilia-" She clears her throat as I lift my head. "Mistress?" I hear her loud and clear. But I don't respond. I simply stare at the scene before me in awe.

A rather large lot, hidden in between buildings. Cracked, uneven stone paths snake through the dying grass and dirt. A few trees dot the area, as do wooden, rotting benches, contrasted by a lone iron bench near the back of the lot. Over looked by that bench, encircled by the jagged walkways, is a bed of flowers. Beautiful, lively flowers of what feels like the whole color spectrum. I notice torn open seed bags strewn about the lot, amidst other, mostly food related rubbish, as well as a watering can beneath the bench.

Izayoi throws my hood over my head. "The sun is moving. Get under a tree."

"I… Izayoi, what is this?"

"I, uh… W-Well, it's, um…" I turn to look at my mumbling servant. Her cheeks are flush with color. "I guess you could call it my… My garden." She shakes her head. "Remi-" catching herself again, "Mistress, what happened to-"

I hold up my hand. "Remilia is… It's fine."

I walk forward, following the path around the flowers. I take a seat on the bench. Or rather, I nearly fall on to it, before putting my face in my hands. The iron is more comfortable than one would expect. Several moments pass, but I don't cry. Clearly, I don't deserve the stress relief. Or maybe I used them all up earlier.

I then sense Izayoi take a seat next to me. I peek at her over my fingers. She turns her eyes away from me quickly. I then turn my eyes to her flower bed.

"You only arrived here a few weeks ago, yes?" I ask.

"Yes," Izayoi confirms. "I happened across this place quickly. Not long after, I found some seed bags in the trash that weren't empty. I've been raising them since."

"You like flowers?"

"I love them," she corrects. Her heated aggressive now tempered into a gentle warmth. It feels alien from her… Yet somehow, the look fits her. "One of the only joys in my life, I'd say." The warmth of a small fire in a thin-walled cabin during a snow storm…

"You seemed rather devoid of joy when I first saw you," I say, sitting up. "I was shocked you could keep going… Are you to tell me that…?"

"Yes, it is. This little garden is… 'My reason for living' as you might put it." She laughs dryly. "I don't think I properly realized it until you said that."

I look at them. I don't know much about caring for flowers, but they look healthy, and the variety is simply astounding. "Did you truly find this many from scraps?"

"Crossbred, actually."

"C-Crossbred?! In only a few weeks?"

"…Is that unusual?" She seems genuine confused.

"Well… I'm hardly a gardening expert, but…"

"Maybe I'm just lucky…" Izayoi says quietly. "These are more flowers than I've ever taken care of before. I only had a few at the…"

She trails off. For a moment, that warmth in her eyes seems to flicker. She takes a breath. A moment passes, before she turns her eyes back towards me. "You wanted to know where I'm from, yes?"

"…I would."

She takes another long look at her flowers, before focusing her gaze on the object in her hand. A silver knife. The wound on my arm throbs as it remembers the burning sensation it provided.

"Are you familiar with the Hunters?"

I flinch at the mention. "…Acutely aware. A group of radical zealots, cleansing the land of monsters. Seen by the public as a myth… Or a band of lunatics. Though…" My thoughts drift back to my sister. "They're rather effective."

"I was one of them." Not much of a surprise, really… To have knives like that… "I… Don't remember anything before them. I don't know if I was born into them, or stolen at a young age. I've been with them for as long as I can remember."

Izayoi moves the knife down to join her empty hand on her lap. Both clutched tightly. "Every day, it was the same routine… Training. Nonstop. You'd only stop for food and sleep. Both were scarce and unpleasant. Stale bread, rotten fruit, and a cold floor. A few hours to enjoy those luxuries, before some high ranking Hunter came and dragged you to the Pens.

"Tossed into a ring with a wild animal and a weapon. They wouldn't intervene. If you failed to kill it, then they wouldn't have to spare the food to feed it. I suppose they thought that equal value to some kid's life.

"Of course, if you did win, it was some slightly fresher fruit and a thin blanket for you. A bit more comfort. Just a little bit, now that you've proven yourself.

"But that training doesn't stop. The next day, you're thrown against another beast. Bigger and hungrier than the last. Kill it, and next time, you'll have two. And they keep pushing. From boars and wolves to a bear. Kill that behemoth, and you'll have to kill the next with a different weapon, before they take even that away from you. Then they take your food, and you both fight hungry. Then they take your clothes and your blankets, and before long you look forward to the fights. The adrenaline is the only thing keeping you warm. The only distraction you have from the abuse. And their raw meat is all you get to eat. Pray they're gracious enough to let you near a fire."

She goes quiet for a few moments. Shaking. My interest is sufficiently piqued. "I can assume you made it far in this training?"

"…Most of them died. Sometimes, they didn't bother cleaning the Pens, even after the beasts were satisfied." A humorless grin cropped up on her face. "I wonder if I impressed them, when I used a boys rib to kill a tiger?"

She takes a deep breath. "Eventually, they… Let up. Just a bit. I suppose at some point they realized I had some talent, and thought being forced to fight for my life in the Pens was just a bit too much. I think the others were taken away from me early. I wouldn't know. I stopped paying attention to them.

"They brought me to a different camp. The food was nicer and I even had a bed. I scrounged up some flower seeds from somewhere, and…" She gazes at her garden. "Well, you know."

"So they recognized your skill?" I ask. "Gave you the treatment you…" I stop when her gaze fixes itself on me, sharpening.

She turns back to the ground. "It was… Marginally more comfortable. But I was still isolated. Only for food and training was I allowed to see anybody. For food, they… Didn't look at me. Didn't give a single word. Then, come time for training, it was all business.

"Proper instruction this time. Weapons training, obstacle courses, physical exertion… I'd swing swords and throw knives until my fingers cramped. Sprint and climb until my limbs were screaming. And when I collapsed? A chastising, bucket of water, or swift kick to the side, depending on how they felt.

"It… Never stopped. Eventually, I became numb. I would keep going. Go until they told me to stop, or my body simply refused to cooperate. Eventually, the former even became more common.

"Then came the… Exam, so to say. Sparing with one of those high ranking Hunters. One that had given me plenty of abuse already… He decided to test me.

"I gouged out his eyes and tore apart his throat. Then, everything went black, and I woke up the next morning with a slight ache in the back of my head."

I smile. "A good memory at last?"

"The flowers were the only pleasant memories, Mistress," she says with that small, twisted smile. "Perhaps there was a bit of catharsis, but really, I didn't feel much for him. He was just another obstacle to over come." She laughs dryly. "Hell, the beasts put up a better fight. Perhaps they had trained me too well by this point."

"A lovely story indeed~." Imagining the scene in my head serves as an excellent distraction. "Any more stories of killing those bastards?"

"I did slit a woman's throat on reflex once, but I left before I had to kill any more."

"A shame, that…" I say, honestly disappointed. "But if you don't mind my asking, how did you leave?"

Izayoi takes a deep breath. "Eventually, they decided it was time to bring me on a mission. Some manor in the mountains. A well regarded family of night creatures, I suppose."

…Huh?

"We stormed in at the break of dawn. I was just behind the front line, but once we were in, they let me loose. Mostly vampires. …Sorry if that offends you."

"Continue," I say. It can't be… Can it? I don't recall any other notable families nearby…

"I'm… Not sure how many I killed. Wasn't really concerned with keeping track. If a creature appeared, I dispatched it. No theatrics. Just brutal efficiency. That was all that mattered. …I went deep inside the manor. Completely ignored the other Hunters. I must have carved the way forward for them quite well, but I can't really say for sure."

I wait for a few moments, but she doesn't continue. "And then?" I urge.

"Then I was cast out."

"…Huh? I feel like you skipped some steps."

"Tell them that…" She takes a deep breath. She's irritated. "They called me a demon. A monster. I guess I didn't fight like a human." She laughs. "After cutting down who knows how many of those monsters, after debilitating one of the strongest among them, forcing the last few to retreat… After securing the mansion, they shunned me. They would've captured and killed me on the spot if I hadn't ran."

"A threat to them, perhaps?" I laugh. "You could've risen to lead them. Seems the leaders didn't like that, and knowing they couldn't stop you if you challenged them, they abused their position in order to hold it. Cunning, if pathetic."

"I wouldn't have wanted to lead them anyway… If they had realized that, they might've been able to keep me under their thumb until I broke."

"A toast to their stupidity. …If only we had drinks."

We share a dry laugh. It's… Pleasant. I can almost forget what I'm running from… But the aching weight comes right back when I think of it. I feel myself start to shiver. What are you still doing here? You have to go back. You have to help. You have to.

"Mistress?" Izayoi says, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Er, I mean-"

"It's okay," I say, somewhat amused. "Just… Call me whatever you want."

"You… Don't look well, Mistress."

I wave away the notion with my hand, barely numbing the pain in my head and chest. "No need to worry, I'm merely a bit tired. Please continue your story. That is, if you have any more to add?"

"Not particularly, no… Any questions, if you're so interested?"

A distraction to further dull the pain. "Could you describe that particularly strong one you mentioned? It sounds like an exciting encounter."

"I suppose that's one word for it…" She clears her throat. "She looked like a young girl. Similar to you, but with blonde hair. She killed… So many Hunters. I didn't have time to count the bodies before I engaged her. It was hectic, but eventually, I gained the upper-hand. She was clearly too strong to kill quickly, so I focused on debilitating her. And the biggest target were her wings."

All the pain of running away dulls completely as I listen. My veins are full of ice.

"I cut her a bit to slow her down, then went for the base of the wings. A deep cut on one, deep enough to stop her assault. I took that advantage and cut deep into the other, before pinning her to the ground. At that point, I pulled with all my strength until her wings were ripped off.

"But I couldn't finish the job, as the manor's Magician appeared. I wasn't familiar with dealing with magic, so I retreated as another squad of hunters moved in. After that, I heard that the remaining few: the Young Lady of the House, the Head of Security, that same Magician, and that crippled, wingless girl, all escaped." She sighs. "It's a shame I couldn't finish the-"

She doesn't finish her sentence. Through the burning red that has utterly filled my vision, I see my hand around her neck. Her face is in shock. Not the face of a loyal servant or trusted confidant. The face of the girl who slew so many of my staff and family. The girl who drove me out of my home. The girl who tore off Flan's wings.

She's right here in my grasp. Every bit of pain and sorrow from these last few weeks is pushed into the deepest corners of my mind. All I have now is rage. The simple, primal desire, to tear this girl to shreds.

The girl who destroyed my life. I can finally end hers.