"for the beauty of the rose, we also water the thorns."
Descendant of Loa lineage, Karliah Shango stems from masters of Haitian and the old Oyo Empire Vodou. After the nuclear wipe out, she finds herself thrown into leadership with little comprehe...
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Karliah's bloody hands trembled, a look of astonishment written on her face as she stared at the man in front of her.
She ran her tongue over her lip, breathing shakily, "How are you here?"
He didn't answer, only continuing to stare at the girl, fascination pooling in his eyes.
"Who are you?" she spat.
A sudden smile grew upon the man's face, the gesture only causing a great feeling of dread to fall over Karliah. "Didn't I ask you first?" he practically hummed.
Blinking, she thought back to when she first saw him, mere moments after attempting to chase down Papa Legba. Shaking her head, she pulled away a short distance, her eyes running over his blood stained skin.
"Wouldn't you know? You're here for a reason, aren't you?" she muttered, looking up to meet his gaze once again.
His brows knitted together, "You appeared in the halls of one of my outposts. You walked directly up to me, yet no one else could see you." he tilted his head slightly, "And now you sit in a pool of my blood, in my chambers. Are you certain it's me that's in front of you?"
She stared at him in confusion, her lips parting, awaiting an answer to slip from them. A scoff of a chuckle soon emitted from the man, as if out of realization of the situation.
"Tell me who you were summoning. And I'll tell you who I am."
Karliah chewed on her bottom lip, her gaze falling to the blood beneath her. She hesitated, avoiding his dark gaze. "My Granpapa. He passed away yesterday."
The blonde man squinted, "What did he die from?"
Her gaze lingered on him as she contemplated answering him or not. "He was old. He died in his sleep."
He emitted a hum. "People usually die from hunger or radiation exposure nowadays." He leaned forward once again, pushing her hair from her face as his eyes raked over her features, "I've never seen your face in any Cooperative files."
She pulled away from his touch, "Who are you?" she asked firmly.
He paused, his smile growing to meet his eyes. He lowered his hand to rest it atop of her own. "Michael Langdon. Agent of the Cooperative."
She studied his steel expression, "What are you?"
Michael raised a brow, "I could ask you the same thing."
The heavy feeling of something dark lingered in the air as a hearty chuckle passed his lips. "Do you think I can't sense your power either?"
"What power?"
He sighed through his nose as he leaned back, a smile still evident on his lips. "It's overwhelming. Any person sensitive to magical abilities could sense you from miles away."
Karliah didn't respond. Silence loomed over the two, yet their energy was loud enough to fill the room corner to corner. She watched as his brows knitted together, something sinister crossing his features.
"What do you feel?" he spoke in a hushed tone.
She dug her teeth into her bottom lip, her gaze falling to the ground before responding.
"Something evil." she barely whispered.
The feeling of his warm, wet hand fell upon her cheek. She looked up, met with the recognizable blue eyes from before as Michael grew closer to her face. His nostrils flared as his expression grew cold.
"And what are your loas saying I am?" he growled.
Karliah's eyes widened, a look of disbelief written on her face. She shook her head slowly, "The Devil."
His stone cold features grew humored, "I am of descent."
The girl's brows knitted together, pulling away immediately as she stood to her feet. His blue eyes followed her, amused by the fear that quickly assimilated within her.
"Leave."
He titled his head once again, squinting as he stood. "But you've yet to introduce yourself to me, Karliah,"
Her stomach turned at the sound of her name on his tongue. He approached her slowly, leaving her to back into a wall. She stared up at him, watching as he studied her face, almost as if he was reading her.
"You're far too powerful... beyond your own comprehension," he spoke lowly, his hooded eyes peering into her own. "You have the ability to kill everyone around you with a blink of an eye - darling you could've ended the world yourself had you wanted to." he said, almost in disbelief.
Karliah's jaw clenched as she revelled at his words.
A breath of a chuckle passed his lips, "Do I frighten you, your majesty?" he teased.
His bloodied hand suddenly wrapped around her throat, pulling her from her place on the wall to mere inches from his face. A strangled grunt sounded from her throat, a menacing smile lining his lips in response.
"Now I ask - what are you, Karliah?"
Her trembling hands wrapped around his wrist, rage growing within her, running her veins hot.
"Get out." she hissed through her teeth.
He only chuckled at the feeling of her digging her nails into his flesh, "Answer me."
The dreadful, ill feeling of hate and anger suddenly fell silent, the energy suffocated by that of a dozen loas. Their spirits filled the room, dark expressions resting in their face as they surrounded Michael.
The familiar feeling of power surged through the queen, her brown eyes dissipating as the orbs fell white. "Get out!" Her voice grew dark, the loa's mirrored her scream of a command as their mouths fell wide open, their voices loud enough to echo through the chamber halls.
Michael suddenly flew back, colliding with her bookshelves, their remnants clattering to the ground alongside the mirrors, framed paintings and things alike too weak to withstand Karliah's power.
The loas tredded towards the now-fear stricken man. He looked up at them, watching in awe as one of them, a man with bright white eyes and golden jewels littering his body, kneeled down in front of him, his brows drawn together as he peered down at him.
Another one, a woman with dreadlocks that flowed down her back and ashes that formed into a skull upon her face, approached him. A red cowl covered her face, the only thing able to be seen were her illuminating yellow eyes. She raised her dagger, it's blade landing barely inches from Michael's face.
"Degoutan dyable." she spat, her yellow eyes peering into his own blue gaze.
"You come here no more, devilman." the man's voice echoed through the room.
Karliah blinked slowly, her head growing hazy as Michael stared past the loas and up at her with a jaw slacked expression. Her bedroom door suddenly opened, Eshe and Ali pushing past the door. "Karliah?" her father's voice called out.
She met them with a white-eyed gaze, looking back over to find both the loas and Michael were gone. She raised her hands in front of her, finding that his blood still stained her arms. She'd barely heard her father's voice call for her again as her vision grew blurry, then black, as she fell to the ground.
