Shattered Mirrors: Curse Of Asmodeus

Chapter 01. An Unbearable Loss

        "They say that mirrors show the reality,
        but what I saw, was a beast staring at me
        And it was him...staring at me through my
        Memories....."
    
       
       
      
          The thunderstorm was just not gonna calm down. It felt as if the clouds were also crying due to this unbearable loss. The bricks of the walls were rusting with water along with the dirt, that had been stuck within them for ages. People were running here and there in search of a shelter. Some were closing their shops while some children were enjoying the rain. Yet Grizella, who was completely drenched in rain water and the blood stood near the grave of her partner. She had just encountered the death of her partner, her teammate and most importantly a great friend. All the other Army Generals were standing beside her in this never ending rain, mourning over this unbearable loss. But Grizella was facing a calamity. She wanted to cry and yell but what's the use of crying over the dead, it won't bring them back would it? Niel, who was covered in rain water, stood beside Grizella in a daze. He himself, was in shock. After all, Lloyd was his teammate as well. The Crew 242, which consisted of Grizella Hunter, Niel Flemming and Lloyd Charles, now only consisted of Grizella Hunter and Niel Flemming.
       
       
     
       
       
        Grizella had just held Lloyd's corpse in her arms. She had even heard him say his last words which stabbed Grizella's heart like knives.
        "I...had loved...you since...we met..."
        Who knew these simple words meant a lot for Grizella. What a cruel fate she had, not able to love someone or be loved by someone. Niel turned towards Grizella but instead of her he found the black umbrella that had fallen on the ground. Grizella had long left the graveyard, no wonder when. Niel just quietly looked at the grave with his one eye, yet the other eye was covered in blood and lost its sight. Grizella walked through the long traverse street of London. The rain had no intention to stop at all. The lanterns of the streets had blown out yet few were still inflamed. Suddenly her sight went on that little kid, who was crying just because he wanted to play with his friends in the rain, yet was forbidden by his mother.
        "Heh..." The words of sigh left Grizella's mouth.
    
       
       
           Grizella had never encountered the beauties of childhood at all. Who knew looking at others would make her feel this hurt at this rate especially. She walked through the traverse street, which seemed to get darker and darker. The only sound conquering the sound of rain, was her sword that was screeching along the rocky road. All the memories seemed to be flashing upon her eyes.
        'How pathetic!' She thought as she stopped at a certain corner and rested her hand at the wet yet muddy bricks of a house. Grizella looked up at the sky as the sharp rain drops fell on her face, making her close her eyes. That's when she heard a sharp cry of a crow and immediately turned into that direction. It was sitting at a corner of the roof of a house and was glaring at her with its sharp scarlet eyes. She glared back at it and gritted her teeth. Just then the crow flew into her direction and she got alarmed. Seeing it fly into her direction, Grizella immediately made a stance, with a WHOOSH!
       
       
       
       
          She swung her sword at the wild crow but as soon as it could cut the crow into halves, something strange happened. Grizella's eyes started to feel heavy. She rubbed her head twice, trying to keep herself awake but in vain. Grizella felt as if she was losing her consciousness. This made her grin as the sword in her hand, fell on the ground and she got hold of the brick wall just to remain standing. The sound of the rain seemed to be vanishing. A light rustle of the leaves could be heard. The continuous cry of the crow was ringing in her head and soon heavy footsteps were heard. Which seemed to have come nearer. Panting heavily, Grizella looked in the direction of the footsteps and tried to look at the person but her eyes didn't hold back anymore and soon darkness appeared in front of her and she fell on the wet ground. While the person standing beside her, bent to her level and let out a sharp smirk with its crimson eyes shining.
        "Found you." These words left the person's mouth as the crow rested on his shoulder.              "Where am I?" Grizella asked herself when she found that she was in the middle of a never ending light. Every trace, where her sight fell seemed to be glowing. No air, no vacuum and not even a ground. She felt herself floating in the middle of nowhere. This made her question herself." Am I dead?" But there was no one to answer such a question but soon enough started to hear whispers. They seemed to be speaking gibberish but not so long, she started to understand them completely as the voices grew louder and yet so loud that no human range could bear it.
"SHE'S A MONSTER!"
"JUST LIKE HER MOTHER, A DEMON!"
"BURN HER OR KILL HER!"
"SOMEBODY SAVE US FROM THIS CALAMITY!"
"SHE'S JUST A BAD BLOOD LIKE HER FAMILY!"
"HER MOTHER DIED CHEATING HER HUSBAND AND SHE'S JUST LIKE HIM!"
       All these voices could be heard clearly. People were coarsely yelling and bickering. Yet the one who was being pointed out, stood in the middle and quietly heard them. Grizella knew that these words were directed towards her and she wasn't prepared to face them after such a long time. It was true that she had heard them throughout her life but at a moment she stopped hearing these slandering words, yet now they were ringing through her head like bells. Each word hit like heavy stones on her body yet the most effective part was her mind. Grizella immediately held her ears tightly, trying not to hear those sluggish slanders and yelled in a fierce manner.
"STOP IT! I SAID STOP RIGHT NOW!"
But the voices wouldn't stop at all. They began to speed up and it felt as if the conversation was going on just behind her ears. That's when she lost it and shouted." SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

                 That's the moment she felt herself drowning in cold water. Getting soaked so suddenly, Grizella started to catch a breath until she realized that her hands couldn't move at all. She tried to move her legs and her hands but the rope, to which they were tied to, didn't seem to be made up of some common materials. She couldn't see anything at all. Her eyes seemed to be covered with a tight cloth, yet her hands and legs were stretched and tied to a strong yet unbreakable rope. What? Where? When? How?
Grizella knew it was stupid to ask these and she yelled." Who are you?! Show yourself!"
And no answer was received. The surroundings seemed to be pretty calm and cool. The huge hall was completely covered with red carpet. Yet the huge stained windows seemed to be glowing the interior with their magnificent glow. Different patterns seemed to be painted on the glass window, perhaps sacrificial rituals?
The bright moonlight was shining on Grizella's face yet could she see it? No.
Not long, Grizella heard heavy footsteps moving towards her. It was the same steps that she had heard before losing her consciousness. In fact, Grizella remembered it due to her sharp instincts. She instantly started to yell fiercely.
"What the hell do you want?! Let me go this instant!" But the person didn't seem to reply at all. This made Grizella confused but when she heard the cry of the same crow, she immediately got alert and said. "I know it's you! What do you want from me?!" The crow seemed to be flying around her. This made her even more exaggerated and she tried to free herself from those ropes but she only ended up bruising her own hands and feet.
That's when she thought of a plan and mocked.
"Are you that scared? which forced you to even blindfold me? How pathetic!"

            Though she did this to provoke the person but something unexpected happened. She felt something crawling on her fingertips. They were fingers! The person was slowly moving its fingers from her hand and moving towards her arm. Grizella got startled and yelled.
"What the hell do you want?! Don't touch me! I said don't touch me!" And that's the first time she heard the person's voice, when its fingertips had stopped moving any further. It was dark and cold, yet a man's voice. Grizella got chills all over and even hasitated to speak again. What he said was.
"Heh. I'm surprised that you have the courage to talk after such an unbearable loss of yours." That's it! Her pupils shrank as her legs begin to quiver.
"Y..you!" She was surprised to an extent. Lloyd's death was kept completely secret from all the people, yet only main army generals knew about it. But how....how does this man know it.
Grizella remained quiet for a while until the person began to run his fingers over her body again. This time it was her cold neck towards her face. This made her slightly shiver and she hasitated to speak but did anyway. This time she spoke in a low yet cold tone, not letting her guard down." Just who are you..."
That's when the person unknowingly leaned closer to her ear and whispered while his breath made her ear yet whole body shiver.
"Your predator." He said these two words only but for her these were merely equal to a million.
"Predator?" She thought to herself and asked again. "Predator eh?" This made her smirk as she mockingly said.
"What the hell are you preying eh?"
This time she got an immediate answer which made her heart beat faster and unknowingly sweat dripped from her forehead. The answer was.
"*Your Soul*."
               That's it. These words were enough to make her understand what the person wanted and she yelled." So you're a De-" but the words were left broken when that man's crazy yet loud laughter echoed around the halls. "What the-"
She thought to herself. But just then she felt an urge to analyze the situation when the person was busy in his maniac laughter, while the crow was crying around him. Grizella's arms were tied to her leather coat, so she had a chance to slip through it and started to pull with immense force. Suddenly the arms came out and she, being the most Highly ranked Female General, was quick in her actions and pulled her legs and leapt the man with her tight hands. She seemed to have pulled his cuff, which caused the cufflink to come off and the man disappeared into ashes, along with the crow. Grizella immediately took off the blindfold and there was no sign of any human. She stood up and looked here and there but nothing. She stood in the middle of the huge hall, as her sight went in that silver cufflink that was lying on the ground. Grizella immediately bent down and took it up. It had a snake mark on it, while it was totally polished and lustrous. This made her gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist and groaned.
"I will get you..."