How far would you go to NEVER fail again?
This question will push Noche L. Grim to the test as she attempts to join the Cross Military. With their resources she intends to find DeathTech and recover her memories.
However, when she lives on a conti...
A six year old girl laid in a garden; eyes fluttering open. Rubbing her face she stood up, grabbed her watering can, and walked towards the roses. She'd finally nurtured the other flowers back to life, but only the roses thrived. Their vibrant scarlet always caught her eye, even more so than the master's mansion. His garden was her new life.
For the last two years, and next few months, the nameless girl maintained this routine. As spring changed to fall, she walked into the garden to smile and stare at all the life she had brought to this dying land. The grand piece in the center of it all being the rose bush. Which was currently being dug up by men with shovels.
Her eyes widened as the smell of gasoline filled the air. Fire was quickly reflected in her black irises. She ran to the men as they threw the rosebush onto the growing bonfire. Watching her prize roses burn, the little girl kicked the man in the shin. Only too late did she realize it was her master. Air left her lungs as bushes flew past her. A sharp pain shot up her back from landing on the rocks; footprint still on her stomach.
The other men's laughter filled her ears as she sat up to a flood of pain in her eyes. She screamed and fell back onto the ground, the burning sensation of chemicals on her pupils. After an eternity of wiping the gasoline out of her face she managed to open her eyes.
The first and last thing she saw was a lit match.
Fire. Fire burned her world. It was all she smelled, all she could taste, all she could feel. With her eyes gone it was all she could see. Flames were her everything. The garden of life was burning away. Soon the flame would die and become ashes... Soon.
Time was irrelevant. How many seconds passed? How many years? Were they they same thing? In her blindness fire was all she knew. Cold. The floor was cold and damp; hard. She had stopped wearing shoes for they only got in the way. The garden replaced by a smithery designed to produce, what was it called? DriveMetal?
Her new job to deliver coal to the furnaces. Fire was the new routine as the smithery heat blasted her every day. She existed to keep the flames alive. Today was different though, the flames felt too strong. They surged with power and bombarded her from every direction. The crackling barely louder than the screams and alarms. An explosion knocked her off her feet.
She didn't know if she was asleep, or if awake how long she was out. What she did know was the world was silent and the heat was gone. Ash fell off her face as she sat up. Not even wind sang in this still place. Footsteps filled the void.
"Are you ok, little girl?"
The deep baritone of a man's voice rang in her hearing. She turned her ear towards his voice and didn't respond.
"Any closer and the explosion would have killed you."
She didn't react.
"I'm impressed the flames didn't."
The footsteps grew closer. A moment later the smell of beard hair, smoke, and iron... No, blood filled her nostrils.
"There's something about you... You have unusual power." He said, "Perhaps you're a VIP. A fellow Vessel of Important Power."
Silence drifted between the two.
"Could you be the one?" He muttered.
A heavy thump knocked her to the ground. Whatever fell on her was cold, heavy, and large. It felt hard as metal and it had bars she could wrap her hand around.
"This is my weapon, It is called Ouroboros." He said, "It is made out of Drive Metal. I have carried it for many a year. Imbuing it with my strength."
Her tiny hand wrapped around the metal wagon wheel.
"How do you want to die?"
The blind girl stayed silent. There was no fear in her body, no trembling of limbs or speeding of heart. Only indifferent calm.
"All life comes to an end. Tell me... How would you like to die?"
Fire filled her mind. The flames of her garden surrounded her.
"Would you prefer to die in a blaze of glory?" He said.
Her grip on Ouroboros tightened and an amused chuckled echoed above her.
"If you want your death to be mundane, then return my weapon. I shall end your suffering." He said, "If you want to go out like a massive flame, then you need to find powerful opponents. Fight stronger and stronger enemies. Become a god, then die in glorious battle."
The blind girl gripped Ouroboros tighter. The burning roses visited her in every dream. Death never bothered her, she was ready to die, but living without purpose. To exist without direction. That was torture... It was exactly how she had been living under her master. If she was to keep living, then she needed a goal, and this stranger had a good point.
Death would come eventually, why not make it as grand as possible? Like the sight of that fire which burned her rose bush. A horrible, yet glorious blaze. Why not work towards that final act? What ultimate spectacle could she achieve if she dedicated her life to her final moments. She could be like that fire. Unforgettable. Legendary!
"What is your name?" She asked.
"I am one of Edward's birds of Death..." he said, "The second in command of his army... I am called Albatross. How about yourself?"
"Don't gotta name."
"Ohh?"
He hummed in thought.
"From the dying embers I rekindled your life." He chuckled, "Vida Ember. That is your name."
Vida woke from the dream. She held her head in one burned hand as the other grabbed ouroboros. She stretched in the middle of a burnt up mafia building.
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"Alba... I'm running out of opponents." Vida muttered, "How many years have passed since we met... Is there anyone strong enough to kill me in battle?"
"This girl will become the water to your fire."
That strange woman's voice echoed in her mind; Vida grinned.
"That's right. I need to find that girl... What was her name."
Flames trailed up Vida's arms and the building began to shake. An explosion of flame collapsed the twenty story building. From the smoke and ash, Vida walked out unharmed; grinning manically.
"Noche L. Grim!" Vida shouted.
The smoke dispersed, revealing an utterly destroyed secret facility underneath. Hundreds of modern day tanks and military grade weapons were melted to scrap. Thousands of trained mafia and veteran mercenaries were strewn about its floors. Metal was torn, twisted, and red hot like a demon playing with a paperclip. What took place wasn't a fight... It was a massacre, and a very one sided one at that. Vida's smile widened at the thought of her next game.
