Devils May Love

Prologue: Wanted [Page #1]

Wanted? How could I be wanted, what did I do?

Nymeria Emmett scanned her violet eyes upon the two rows of five wanted posters lining the red brick wall. She tugged roughly at her hood, in hope of draping herself with the greasy and dirty rags. Nymeria was covered from head to toe in thick torn and old clothing, that hide her identity well enough. Somehow now, she felt exposed; naked even. She felt anxiety bubbled up within her, threatening to burst and tear her up from within. Her fingers brushed up beneath one of the corners of her wanted poster, and ripped it off abruptly. Beside her poster was one of the most infamous men in all of Dirigistein. And that man's name is Asher Aries, an exquisite and phenomenal killer, pleasing on the eye, and absolutely outstanding with any arms.

Nymeria ran her fingertips along the jaw of Asher's photograph, thinking back on a previous experience of merely spotting him. He had been slashing a demon's neck from ear to ear. It had been an eerie and marvelous sight. Asher was her idol, he was an idol for most of the mercenaries in Dirigistein. Suddenly, she felt tiny wet prickles spread from atop her head and slowly drip down her cheek. The refreshing sensation brought a smile onto her face, as she brushed a single wet ash blonde streak from her eyes. Nymeria shuffled down the street, away from the wanted posters that the rain was slowly soaking.

Rain dripped down from the multi colored roofs like tiny waterfalls. Hundredths and Thousandths of people hurried across the street and sidewalks, determined to get home and be shielded from the heavy rainfall.  Nymeria watched intentively as some young teenagers shoved by an old man to proceed to their homes. The old man slipped roughly onto the ground, a loud snap audible as he landed in the hard cement. She noted that no one cared enough to pause and help out, just hurried along. Nymeria sighed slightly, and gripped the pale and wrinkly arm of the man and tugged him off the ground. He had a frightened and thankful look on his face, and he softly muttered." Thank you." before speed walking towards the other direction.

Nymeria frowned slightly and then gazed up towards the star ridden sky,  feeling the raindrops slip down her face. The constellations lined the sky like thousands of lights glistening a city up above. The rain seemed to show no falter in the pouring, she felt a puddle drench her boot up to the ankle. Nymeria had come to acknowledge that most of the inhabitants of the world were corrupted with greed and self-absorbedness. Civilization in Dirigistein was crumbling, along with the government that was failing to protect and provide for its citizens. The so called savages named Mercenaries cared more for the well being of people than their own government policemen. Her eyes caught the blinding light of a neon sign as she searched for some shelter. The neon sign hanged loosely over a building it's edges dripping the wet tears of the clouds.

" The Fiery Phoenix Inn." She mouthed, reading the neon sign's letters carefully. She noticed that the last letter of the sign was flickering intensely before blacking out completely. Nymeria simply strutted over towards the wooden double doors, the handles were made out of plain iron embroidered with golden bronze. She gripped the handle of the door tightly, and tugged the door roughly. She felt the cold air shove past her, feeling her cheeks heat up from the chillness that hit her. Her violet eyes flickered towards some men who were brawling. She watched as a man threw a punch roughly at the smaller man, missing him by a fingertip and ending with his fist hitting the wall. The sound of bones crunching echoed through the bar.

The large man let out a ear-piercing scream as he pulled his fist towards his chest, observing the bleeding knuckles. He ran fingers along the popping out bones, groaning at the pain. Nymeria ignored the insults being thrown between the two, and pulled out a bag filled with pure golden coins. Balancing the heavy weight between her pointer finger and her middle finger. She slide into a bar stool in front of the owner of the bar, whose face held an emotionless look as she scrubbed the dirt and germs from the bar counter. " Excuse me..." Nymeria announced, catching the attention of the bartender. " May I get some bread along with some hard cheese and a room?" She dropped the golden coins onto the counter, who the bartender eagerly grabbed instantly as they touched the counter.

" You don't have enough for the room, but we can get you that bread and hard cheese easily."

Nymeria frowned, noticing how high the prices were as of late. She nodded anyhow, watching how the lady quickly grabbed the fresh pieces of bread from the stacks and grabbed a small bag filled with hard cheese perfect for melting over some bread. Nymeria gripped the bags of items easily before retreating outside, feeling the large raindrops wet her face. She didn't know of any place to go to get shielded from the rough rainfall, but she did know of a place that she needed to stay by.

Arriving at the wanted poster sight, she slipped down onto the floor feeling the puddles of water soak her clothing slowly. She ripped a chunk of bread from the large loaf and set a piece of hard cheese over the top munching on both carefully. The sounds of rustling and muttering echoed around her. She felt the long bangs of her hair fall loosely over her face. The sound of screaming and growling vibrated the surrounding areas. She could hear the sound of footsteps thundering closer, she brought her fingertips along the hilt of her dagger. She gripped the hilt tightly, and brought the heel her of shoe on the ground roughly to bring herself off the ground completely. Nymeria's violet eyes caught sight of a figure moving among the corner of the alleyway, she decided to stand up to be ready for an attack. Before she could register what happened, she felt a dagger being pressed to her throat and a pair of irregular and artificial icy blue eyes staring at her.

"Well...Shit...."