The moon hung high over the forest, casting an eerie glow on the towering trees that seemed to reach into the heavens. In the distance, a chorus of howls echoed, a symphony of werewolves across the forest, instinctually howling at the moon upon transformation. The trees stood, moving slightly as the wind blew around them, behind these trees was a hidden entrance to a cave. Inside, the remains of fallen adventurers littered the ground—skeletons hanging from crude nooses, abandoned treasures scattered among the dust and bones. Tarnished gold and forgotten valuables lay untouched beside the once-living, marking their doomed attempts to brave this forsaken place.
At the heart of the cave, a vast chamber housed seven towering statues, each a representation of the seven princes of Hell. Their names were carved into the stone: Lucifer, Satan, Mammon, Belphegor, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Leviathan. The air around them was thick with the weight of ancient power.
Strewn across the floor were crumpled maps, torn papers, and discarded plans. In the centre of the mess, a woman slept, her form draped over a large map. She wore red robes outlined in black, dirt staining their once-vibrant fabric. Her left leg was no leg at all but the sharp blade of a sword, while her right remained human. An eyepatch concealed her right eye, and her short blonde hair barely reached her shoulders.
The woman stirred in her sleep, haunted by the vision of a pale man with cold white hair, his gaze piercing as the vast ocean separated them. With a sharp inhale, she awoke, blinking her one good eye as she pushed herself up, her head spinning from the lingering nightmare.
Vivian—Vivi to those who dared to get close—rubbed her temple and glanced around the cave. Her blue eye landed first on the statue of Belphegor, looming over her.
"Enjoyed your slumber?" A deep voice resonated from the statue as its eyes lit up with an ethereal blue glow.
Vivi smirked, rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh, totally. I mean, who doesn't enjoy reliving their greatest traumas in their sleep? It's like a vacation... in Hell," she replied with biting sarcasm, chuckling as she shook off the remnants of the dream. Her laughter echoed in the cavern, a sharp contrast to the cold silence of the statues.
As she stood, her sword leg scraped against the stone floor with a metallic hiss, leaving a shallow groove in the rock. She stretched, wincing a little, before turning to glance at the statues of Lucifer and Asmodeus behind her. Asmodeus' statue eyes glowed with a faint pink light as it spoke, the voice slick with suggestion.
"You wanted us to remind you to finish your map of Nolgarad," it purred. "Might want to get to it, before the royals come hunting."
"Ah, yes, my ever-reliable alarm clock, Asmodeus." Vivi chuckled, tapping the eyepatch playfully. "Always keeping me on track. I'll make sure to pencil in some royal slaying right after lunch." She gave a mock salute before plopping back down on the ground, her sword leg clinking as she pulled the map back toward her. The pen twirled in her fingers as she studied the landscape, her smile never quite leaving her lips.
In truth, Vivi had been in this cave for years, plotting, planning, and scheming under the watchful eyes of the princes of Hell. These statues were her only company, not that they had much of a choice. Bound by some ancient magic, they were forced to speak with her when she needed guidance or simply when she was bored. It had become a strange sort of routine—Vivi joking, laughing, and occasionally arguing with these demonic statues as if they were old friends.
"You know, Belphegor," she mused as her pen scratched across the map, "you could at least offer a little input now and then. Maybe tell me how you'd topple a vampire empire, huh? Or is that too much work for you?" She smirked, glancing up at the blue-eyed statue.
Belphegor, of course, remained silent, but that didn't stop her from chuckling at her own joke. Vivi was like that—always quick with a laugh, even when the weight of her mission threatened to crush her. It was how she coped, how she kept the anger and pain at bay. Behind every smile and quip was a woman driven by vengeance, her every move calculated, but she hid it well. After all, laughter was her armour.
She'd spent years talking to these statues, pouring over maps, planning her revenge against the vampires of Nolgarad. The royals who had enslaved her, killed her friends, and turned her twin brother into one of them. They'd taken everything from her. But soon, she would take everything from them.
As she sketched a new route on her map, her smile widened. "Hope the bloodsuckers are ready for me," she muttered under her breath, her voice tinged with dark amusement. "They'll never know what hit them."
Vivi leaned back, eyeing the statue of Satan. "You know," she said, grinning, "for a prince of Hell, you guys sure are lousy motivational speakers. A little pep talk wouldn't kill you... oh wait, it might." She snickered to herself, continuing her work.
Vivi's laughter faded into the stillness of the cave, but her grin remained, a mask she wore as comfortably as her eyepatch. She leaned back over the map, her sword leg tapping rhythmically against the stone floor as she studied the intricate pathways of Nolgarad. Every inch of the vampire kingdom was etched into her mind, a web of cities, strongholds, and royal dens waiting to be torn apart.
She glanced over at the statue of Leviathan, its greenish eyes flickering with faint life, though it remained silent for now. "Hey, Leviathan," she called out, the edges of her lips curling into a smirk, "think you could help me out with some of this envy thing? I could really use some good, old-fashioned spite to fuel me today."
Leviathan didn't answer, but that didn't stop her from chuckling. "Figures. Guess I'll just have to rely on my usual cocktail of rage, sarcasm, and sheer stubbornness. Always gets the job done." She shook her head, her blonde hair brushing her cheek as she refocused on her work.
It wasn't just a map of Nolgarad she was drawing—it was her roadmap to revenge. Every pathway was an artery, and every vampire she would destroy was a beat of the heart. She traced a line with her finger, leading to the castle of the royals, the epicentre of the bloodthirsty kingdom that had taken everything from her.
Her thoughts wandered back to her twin brother, now a vampire—turned by the same monsters who enslaved her. The memory of his transformation was always there, a ghost in the back of her mind. "Wonder how he's doing," she mused, her voice dripping with false cheerfulness. "Bet he's having a fang-tastic time," she added with a mocking grin, though her heart clenched painfully.
Asmodeus' voice interrupted her thoughts. "You know, holding onto all that pain might be slowing you down. Maybe you should let it go, or you'll never find true pleasure in your victory." His statue's eyes glowed faintly pink, the demonic suggestion dripping like honey from his stone lips.
Vivi scoffed. "Yeah, sure. I'll just book a therapy session with the next vampire I decapitate. Maybe we can work through my issues while I hack his head off." She snorted, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Asmodeus, I'll make sure to savour every drop of revenge when the time comes."
Still, the demons weren't wrong. She had lived with this fury for so long, it had become her constant companion. Without it, what would be left? She didn't dwell on the question too long—her mind couldn't afford the luxury of doubt. Not now.
She stood up again, stretching her limbs as her sword leg scraped across the floor, making a sound that echoed through the chamber. The statues loomed above her, silent witnesses to her plans, her failures, her dreams. They had been her only companions for the last several years, but even they couldn't fully understand her pain, not really.
"Okay, boys, time for some fieldwork," she announced, clapping her hands together. "You guys stay here and keep looking spooky. I'll go remind the bloodsuckers why they should be scared of a one-legged woman." Vivi gave a mock bow toward the statues, her grin wide and defiant.
As she made her way toward the cave's entrance, the darkness swallowed her silhouette. The forest beyond awaited, a wild and untamed land between her and Nolgarad. But she wasn't afraid—she had faced worse. She had survived the impossible, escaped when no one else could. The memory of that royal vampire who had let her go, smiling as if her life meant nothing, flickered in her mind.
She stopped at the entrance, glancing back at the statues one last time. "Oh, and Belphegor? Don't get too lazy while I'm gone. I'll need a good nap story when I get back." With that, she winked, then stepped out into the night, her sword leg gleaming under the light of the full moon.
As she descended into the forest, Vivi's mind sharpened. The time for jokes was over. Soon, Nolgarad would know her name. They would remember her as the one they mocked, the one they let escape—and the one who returned to burn their kingdom to the ground.
But for now, as the trees whispered in the wind and the distant howls of werewolves filled the night, she allowed herself one last grin. After all, she still had a few more jokes left before the real fun began.
