Li Fei

Everywhere was dark, like a bottomless abyss with neither presence of life nor a touch of warmth.

It was just... cold.

Unimaginably bone-chilling cold, that seeped into her pores and froze her inner beings. Then, came the pain, as if a thousand needles penetrated her skin.

Even that, was far from enough.

After the cold and the pain, what came next was a scorching hellfire, assaulting her soul over and over again. It was tearing down every single defense she had left to withstand the pain. Something was trying to pull her forcefully out of her own body. This feeling, was a hundred times more excruciating than the part before.

But... this agony.

This torture.

This was nothing.

Yes, this was nothing to her. This darkness, this pain, they were all just like an old acquaintance to her. Although she could never get used to it, these feelings were nevertheless far too familiar, to the point that it was no longer a painful process for her. Instead, this was the kind of sweetness like honey to a bee and at the same time, like a drug, addicting yet dangerous to enjoy.

Perhaps, this was tormenting and unbearable in the past. But now it was funny to think about it, how all of these, became just a silly game to her. In fact, this whole process could be considered the only moment that she could bid her time and planned her escape, even though the chances were slim to none.

'Compares to the time that I have to live after, isn't this too short?' she thought, letting out a long sigh at her fate.

While she immersed in her own thoughts, thinking of what this new life would bring her and what ridiculous things would occur, a white fog emerged from the darkness. It ebbed and flowed in its slow, dreamlike way gradually taking on a shape, a little bit distorted, but good enough to be recognized.

This figure instantly pulled her back to focus. She smiled, noticing the familiar shadow.

'It's her.'

"I'm sorry.... this is the last-"

'CLING'

Before the sentence was finished, a loud noise awakened her from the slumber. Her pair of sapphire eyes stared straight at a damp stone wall.

Because of her sudden and quick movement of opening her eyes after a long sleep, an electrifying pain stung her brain function. She grimaced while gritting her teeth, trying to stop herself from crying out. She curled her body like a shrimp being roasted.

*"Putain!"

(*She cursed out in French, a different language used in her currently new identity.)

Her head continued to throb and a series of memories emerged from deep within this new body she took liberty of.

Li Fei.

This was the name of the body original host. She was a fifteen year old girl who was living in her grandfather's manor. She was a beautiful and bright Chinese descendant. In fact, she was a genius of her family. She was the pride of her parents. However, her grandfather, known as a mad scientist who was crazy enough to even sacrifice his wife to pursue his objectives in science, did not hold back and put his sinful hands on Li Fei's family.

Li Fei was kidnapped and her parents who tried to save her, in the end, fell into the hand of her grandfather. After that, it was just her alone. She was forced to live in a basement that was even more like a dungeon than a living quarter.

Stone walls everywhere and only a single small air ventilation up on the wall. The morning dew and the wind of the night resulted in a cold damp dungeon. Spider webs were at every corner of the ceiling and even the walls started growing weed. There were only one shabby bed, a bookshelf, a desk, and a chair for her.

In this dungeon, it was where it all started. Li Fei was tortured into submission and was 'nurtured' to excel in science, the same way as her grandfather. Dissection, DNA mutation, organ combination, developing poison, and even creating specimen out of a living person.

She was good and even better than her grandfather. It was as if her brain and her pair of hands were born to do this. With Li Fei by his side, her grandfather's progress shocked the organization where he worked at.

The funding and investments grew instantly. On the other hand, Li Fei felt even less humane everyday and little by little, her feelings were replaced with indifferent attitude.

It was only until one day she was asleep in the basement and a 'cling' sound echoed. Li Fei woke up and looked down at the floor. It was a gold pendant that had somehow snapped from her neck.

It shook her whole beings. In an instant, all of her long lost feelings emerged and wrapped her whole.

It was warm.

Too warm...

When she opened the gold pendant, there it was... lying inside, a photograph of her sweet-little-self and her smiling parents holding her tight. All of the memories rushed in and Li Fei began to cry.

She didn't even know how to start this apology she owed her parents. And to her old-self as well. She had become a demon, a monster, a reaper who would take one's soul with a swing of her hands and didn't even blink.

She felt... nothing.

Those humans were worthless and they were just ingredients that she needed for her experiments. And yet, here she was. The guilt, the sadness, the darkness that crept into her soul. Everything seemed to clear up at that exact moment. All of the things that were hidden resurfaced and there wasn't a single one that didn't haunt her, that didn't point her as a demon.

She was beyond redemption. It drove Li Fei insane and as she cried, in her moment of desperation, she rammed herself hard to the stone wall.

A single blow and her death brought our character, Estella Allaire Ardent, to life.