The Crimson Tale of Conquest

Descending the stone steps with only the dim Light Crystals, with their candle like glow, lighting the way. Ruby's anxiety and impatience propelling her deeper into the dungeon. A short while later she found herself in a stone hallway with Iron bared cells placed incrementally along on wall. The only light that reaches the cells were from the Crystal lanterns placed along the opposite side of the hallway.

Most of the cells were empty, but Ruby could smell about three or four people down here that had the distinct scent of despair. Their genders were unknown to her so she couldn't exactly pick out the woman who raised her. Everyone was located down the left hall, so she figured she'll find her adoptive mother eventually if she just went that way.

No sooner than she started walking than a guard, standing in an alcove located in the wall stepped right in front of Ruby. Without giving him time to react ruby rapped his head in a ball of air creating a vacuum so that way he couldn't make any noise. Next, she used dark magic to drag him into the corrosive shadows until there was nothing left but a disgusting pile of dissolved flesh.

"I should've guessed guards would be posted down here." Ruby said to herself her scowl deepening.

Now with a bit more caution in her step the girl made her way through underground prison. Her Crimson eyes making the area appear much brighter to her than it actually was. Nonetheless the lighting was still dim and cast deep shadows along the stone hall. Disposing of any guard along the way, the smell of blood from their corpses caused the suffocating and unsettling atmosphere to grow worse.

She passed many empty cells along the way. Coating the ground was a thick layer of dust, with thick rusty iron bars keeping these areas from being disturbed. The longer Ruby went only seeing empty cells the more frustrated she grew. Thankfully the longer she walked the clearer the scent of people seemed to grow. It was a pungent odor that wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

Eventually she came across a cell that wasn't empty. It was a sleeping man laying on top of a wooden bored bolted to the wall, with only a thin sheet acting as a cushion. It wasn't who she was looking for, but this gave her hope that she was close. Continuing down the dim stone passage continuing to kill any guard that tried to get in her way she passed three more cells that with prisoners, none of which were the woman she was looking for.

Finally, the last cell at the end of the hall she saw her. With Caramel skin and dark black hair framing her face, her once beautiful black eye's now dull and devoid of emotion, was Lucilla Baker, mother of the monster child. She was listless and didn't appear to have even notice Ruby's approach.

"What have they done to you!" Ruby cried in shock. She quickly wretch open the sturdy iron door and rushed into the cell, cradling the listless woman.

Lucilla was covered in bruises, cuts and various wounds, fresh and old. The cloths she wore was ragged and hardly covered her. She was clearly malnourished, and her hair was covered in dirt and grime. Her cell didn't fare any better since the ground was covered in blood, feces and other bodily fluids, not like that mattered to Ruby as she knelt on the filthy ground coddling the older woman in her arms.

"M- Ms. Baker it's me, Ruby." Ruby chocked out. Lucilla didn't even indicate she notice her at all. "Mom, please, please answer."

It started to dawn on Ruby that she was perhaps too late. Her mother may have been physically alive, but she might already be gone mentally. Tears started to well up in Ruby's eyes as she looked down at her mother.

"Mom, please you have to be okay. You have to." She said softly as tears streamed down her face, falling on to the womans face. "Mommy please don't leave me. I can't lose you again." Ruby spoke those words with such tenderness and care solemnly heard from her.

"Why did this happen?! Is it my fault!?" Greif and anger bubbled up inside like a wild storm as she shouted out for an answer that would never come. "I'll do anything just don't take her from me again! Not like this!"

Her chest started to heart, like someone had a vice grip on her heart and wouldn't let go. "AAAAAUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!" A primal, almost animalistic scream escaped her in a hopelessly vain attempt to dispel the grief and anger that was now turning inside her like a wild hurricane. For the first time since being separated from her mother all those years ago, the girl cried.

No longer in control of her emotions Ruby's Mana almost appeared to be responding to her cries. Her whole body was enveloped in a crimson aura with thin purple strands mixed in. A whirlwind of sharp blades of air started swirling around Ruby and her mother cutting everything in the vicinity. The stone floor, walls and ceiling had deep gouges cut into them. The already dim dungeon grew darker, and shadow tendrils grew from the darkness flailing about and corroding anything it touched.

Her magic slowly started expanding, destroying anything in its way, eventually breaking through to the surface. The compound the mayor's estate was located was destroyed. The yard, the manor, and the people inside. Screams could be heard as the servants and guards wear diced and corroded to death. The wails of the fallen, and the destruction woke the town, and as everyone checked to see what was happing the suddenly felt the summer night turn frigid.

Seeing the destruction happening in the middle of the town, the people of Efulen couldn't help but stare dumbfoundedly as the mayor's house was engulfed by wind and darkness. What's more the warm summer night started growing colder until a light snow fall could be seen. One person reached out to touch the snow and when a flake gently fell onto his hand frost crystals started engulfing it.

"Whaaaa!?!?!?!"

Screaming in shock the man watched helplessly as the frost slowly crawled up his arm. A cold burning sensation hit his nerves causing unbelievable amount of pain. See this the surrounding towns folk went into a panic. Scenes like this could be seen happening all over town.

To make matters worse the agonizing wail of Ruby could be heard throughout the surrounding area, carried by her magic. It sounded almost like a vengeful spirit has come to bring retribution to the town's folk. Fearing for their live, people attempted to leave the town and escape. The snow, and the ever-expanding storm in the center spurring them on.

Moments after the first few people crossed the towns border a wall of flame surrounded the town. Thos still stuck inside the walls couldn't help but breakdown in despair. Spouses held themselves close together. Parents hugged their children close. Families huddled together as they prepared to die. Every, old and young watch as the incoming storm of darkness and wind encroached ever closer.

Outside of town the others could hear the tortured screams of the town's folk, and the anguished cry of Ruby that could be heard clearly through the night.

-- -- --

"Is that... Ruby's magic?" Morella asked no one in particular.

"That's my own assumption, but she shouldn't be able to use fire?" Judieth responded. "She already has three affinities, fire would make four, which shouldn't be possible."

"Well, apparently she can." Yuki said as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

"Is she going to be, okay?" The water Nymph asked with worry.

"... Probably." Judieth answered. 'I am worried about her mental state though. Something bad must have happened.'

-- -- --

In the center of all this Ruby and her mother laid untouched by the destruction around them. Even as the death throes of the town above rang out, from the very young to the eldest among them Ruby's cries of anguish slowly decreased until it was just quite sobbing. With her eyes shut the Silver haired girl wept silently, with the occasional sniffle. Her magic slowly died down as well until the surrounding area was once again silent.

"Ruby..." Just then a Ruby felt a cold hand cup her face. Looking down she saw her mother looking up at her, tears in her eyes. "My... baby girl."

Lucilla baker, whose consciousness retreated deep into the darkest part of her mind, was awoken from the large amount of powerful mana that Ruby released. Though she wasn't all there still, her eyes which are clearer than before were still dull and dim with life.

Placing her hand over her mother's Ruby smiled. "Mom it's me."

"Oh Ruby... I'm so sorry... I've failed you." Ruby's mother said with a croak. "I... only wanted to... keep you safe. How appropriate... that my mind conjures a vision of you... before I expire."

"No, mommy it's me, I'm here!" Ruby cried desperately.

Smiling sadly the older woman closed her eyes apparently not hearing a word Ruby said. "It's all my fault... I should've done more... to protect you. I hope... you're... living a happy... life."

With those words Lucilla Baker was once again listless. Whatever small amount of lucidity she had was only temporary. In all likelihood she'll be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. In the epicenter of a massive crater that was once the town of Efulen, Ruby once again hugged her mother close, crying. After a few moments she got up, carrying her mother in her arms.

Eyes still red, Ruby started making her way out of the crater. Looking up she noticed that the few surviving towns people were hesitantly peeking over the edge of the crater. It was dark and she was too far away for any of them to see her clearly.

"RUBY!" Just then Yuki called out to her jumping into the crater, with the others right behind her.

After sliding their way down to Ruby, they all stopped and looked at her. Her usual cold and almost apathetic disposition was nowhere in sight. Tear streaks ran down her face from her puffy red eyes, and the aura she exuded was full of sadness. When Ruby saw Judieth she rushed over to the bespectacled Red haired woman.

"Judieth please tell me you can help her." Ruby pleaded.

Glancing down at the woman Judieth reached into her bag and took out a vial with green liquid inside it. Ruby recognized it, it was the same stuff Sable (Judith) forced her to drink when she was messing with her Mana-links. Tensing and pulling her mother away from Judieth, Ruby looked at the woman with questioning eyes. Was she going to mess with her Mana-links too?

"Don't worry this won't harm her. This just makes it easier for me to work with the soul. Right now I just want to look at it and this will help enhance its presence for me, to put it simply." Judieth said attempting to placate the Crimson eyed girl in front of her.

"Oh, alright." Ruby said, relaxing a bit, she once again presented her mother to the young scientist.

Feeding the liquid to the older woman, Judieth then took out a raven mask and placed it atop her face. The mask lets her see things otherwise hidden, and right now it was going to help her check the mother of the girl in front of her. "Oh, that's not good." She said noticing that the light glowing from the woman's chest was rather dim. Extremely dim.

Using the masked to take a closer look Judieth frowned. The woman's soul was damaged. If it was only lightly damaged it would've healed itself in time, but with the amount of stress it went through it'll stay damaged. Mortals such as herself have no way to fix a damge soul, the only way to help her is for Lucilla Baker to meet the Goddess of souls Ovana.

"I... I don't know how to tell you this but..." Judieth was hesitant to say anything. Ovana was only found in the Realm of souls, also known as the afterlife. What Judieth was about to suggest was to mercy kill Ruby's mother. "Your mothers soul is too damaged for me to do anything about it. Her soul can only be healed in the Realm of souls... also known as the afterlife..."

"Are you telling me to kill my mother?" Ruby asked with a hint of anger in her voice. She might have grown to trust Judith over the last two months but that doesn't mean she'll let anything slide.

"Look it's for the best. Letting her live like this is just torture." Judieth said. Ruby looked down at the sleeping woman in her arms with a complicated expression on her face. "Don't worry, Goddess Ovana's whole thing is about taking care of souls, she even has a dedicated area for doing just that. After your mother's soul is healed she'll either be sent into the river of reincarnation or reside in the soul realm until she decides to move on."

"How do you know that?" Ruby asked.

"... That doesn't matter, what does matter is your mother." Judieth said. She hesitated for a very brief moment that one would be forgiven to think it was their imagination. "Trust me. The after life isn't even that bad. Plus there's a very, very, very, slim chance she could retain her memory after reincarnation."

"...." Ruby still didn't like the idea of killing her mother, but she also hated letting her suffer. "... F- fine."

"One of us can do it fo-"

"No!... I'll... do it." Ruby said cutting Judieth off.

Laying her mother on the ground Ruby proceeded to use dark magic to cut off her mother's senses. She wasn't going to let her feel any pain right before death. Dark tendrils emerged from the shadows and rapped themselves around Lucilla Baker until she was completely covered. Moments later the shadow tendrils faded away revealing the mother of the monster child was no more.

Ruby started down at the spot her mother used to be but said nothing. She started tearing up again but she willed herself not to let a single one spill. She's done enough crying for tonight. Her thoughts swirled around her head. She blamed herself, the town, the world, the Church. 'If it wasn't for the Church spreading hate she would probably be alive. Then again if I wasn't born she would be alive.' She thought.

"Hey, whose fault do you think this was?" Ruby asked no one in particular.

Judieth looked over at Morella. She hoped she would take this opportunity to try and steer Ruby in the Direction she wanted. Morella met her gaze and gave a quiet sigh. She then cleared her throat before speaking. She didn't want Ruby to start blaming herself, and having a target would help point her anger and self-loathing away from herself.

"I guess it would be the Church." Morella started. "Honestly if it wasn't for that prophecy and the Church's insistence on killing you the worst thing that probably would've happened was you being ostracized."

Morella wasn't wrong. Ruby was neither Vampire, nor was she a werewolf. Sure she wouldn't have been welcomed into society proper but she also wouldn't have been chased out or killed for it. There have been many cases of humans being born part monsters and having part of their hair silver or their eye's crimson. Sara was a perfect example of that. The problem stemmed from the Churches insistence on hunting Ruby down specifically and encouraging their followers to do the same.

Morella explained all this to Ruby.

"Ah, I see." She said with an empty smile as she looked up at the moon. "Hehehehehehehe, Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" She started chuckling before breaking out into crazed laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- I'm going to kill them."

Just as suddenly as it started her laughter also ended abruptly. Her words were cold and heavy. Her grief that was weighing her down transformed into a determined anger directed to the Church and anything associated with it. Before that she had one thing to say to honor her mother.

"I'm not going to let my mother be forgotten." The Silver haired woman said. "So she'll never be forgotten I'll take her name as my own. From this day fourth I'll be known as Lucilla Crimson, and everyone will know my name."

Her Crimson eye's glinted with a dangerous light. The Monster woman was no longer apathetic to the world around her. From this point on she had a concrete goal and she can't achieve that if she treated the world with disinterest. She looked at the other four girls next to her. Yuki, Morella, Judieth, and Maisy.

"Judieth, lets ge-" Just as she was about to tell Judieth to lead them to her lab, her instincts told her danger was approaching and if she didn't move, she'll be in serious danger.

barely dodging a light spear it ran right through her side. Clutching the left side of her abdomen she looked towards where the attack came from. There she saw the Hero pointing his sword directly at her. Looking into each other's eyes they glared at each other.