Mistress of Desire

Marshall looked outside the window. It's already dark now and the street lights are being turned on left and right. He then looked at the bar table and saw Emilia's grandfather walking down the stairs.

Suddenly, the demon's ears perked up. He stood up in alert and looked at the moonlit sky outside the window. "Mr. Charles, I'm going outside," he said before walking out of the cafe in a hurry.

"Stay safe, Marshall,"

Cold breeze of night air welcomed him the moment Marshall stepped outside the cafe turned bar. He looked at the moon shining above him and narrowed his eyes. The shadows around seemingly dance in his presence as a pair of wings spread out behind his back.

With a flap of his wings, Marshall soared up into the sky. The city shrunk rapidly below him, turning into a bright cluster of light in the middle of a moonlit lake.

Then from within the shadow of the moon, a dark red magic circle formed beside Marshall. Black ominous clouds seeped out of the center of the circle. It slowly shifts and turned into the shape of a beautiful woman with dark purple skin, a pair of red leathery wings, and a pair of golden horn.

It is Elena Voliare, the Mistress of Desire, the second Demon General of the Thirteenth Hell. It is said that the minds of the mortals are her playground and their hearts are her toys. She is corruption incarnate, the downfall of kingdoms and nations.

"Good evening Elena," Marshall said. "What brought you here?"

The woman bowed politely at his presence. "Lord Valmir," she closed her eyes and gave him a sweet smile. "It's been so long, how have you been?"

"I'm fine," Marshall folded his arms in front of his chest. "Did something happen Elena?"

Elena pouted a little. "I merely wish to be with your presence," she floated closer towards him. "It's only been two months and you're already so distant…"

Marshall sighed a little. "Sorry, Elena, I'm just a bit busy with work…"

"How pitiful…" the woman took his hand and gently caressed it. "My almighty prince… Reduced into mere errand boy by the cruel fate that threatens our world," she pulled him close and pressed his hand against her chest. "Please, let this lowly one…"

"Elena, when I say I'm a bit busy, I meant I am still busy with work," Marshall pulled his hand away from her embrace. "And I told you, my real name is classified now, do not use it just because I told you about it."

"Alright then, 'Marshall'," she giggled a little at his code name. "Is there anything I can help you? My power, it is yours to abuse, my prince, my dear master…"

Marshall was about to say no until he remembered that Ender actually recruited a bunch of children to help her on this mission. 'Never miss an opportunity,' she'll probably say. "Hmm… Alright Elena, there is something you can probably help me with…"

Elena gave her a tearful smile. "Words cannot describe how grateful I am, master… Please, use me as you wish…"

Marshall gestured at the city below him. "This is the Mercat Town. It is, as you can feel, impossibly peaceful. It took me a lot to even find a single ounce of dark energy coming from this place," he explained.

Elena narrowed her eyes as she looked down. "You're right, this place isn't right…" she sniffed the air for a bit. "Should I fix it master? Should I whisper darkness into their hearts and plant the seeds of hatred?"

"No, I need you to find a person with the most burden in their life," Marshall looked down for a bit. "Ender suspected that a force in this town is keeping the darkness away from people's heart. To prove that theory, we just need to find someone who is 'suffering' but doesn't seem to have any darkness within them."

"I understand," Elena raised both of her arms and closed her eyes. Red rings of light formed in the sky around her.

After a few minutes, Elena pointed at a direction to the south of the city. "An orphan cursed by Lady Fortune resides in the attic of the biggest house," she said. "Her heart cries in self pity and her soul lies in smithereens."

Marshall grinned a little. "Let's give her a visit now, shall we?"

Elena raised an open palm and a blood red circle of light formed in front of her. In the middle of it is an insignia resembling a cracked heart with what seems to be furs all over it. "Let the broken heart and unanswered prayers guide our way…"

The heart shatters into a million pieces, leaving behind a gnawing wound in the fabric of space. At the other side of the wound is a small attic that's been modified as a simple bedroom. There's a bed tucked in the corner, a small drawer at the other corner, a large window at the highest part of the wall, and trapdoor with small carpet in front of it.

A young teenage girl lie down on the bed. Her light green hair laid sprawled all over the place, just barely covering a pair of peculiar ears. It is not rounded like human, but it doesn't hold a pointy shape like those of an elf or half elf.

"A slave huh?" the prince of apocalypse commented as he stepped out of the shadow behind her bed. He took a closer look at the girl. "Soul contract, twenty human lifetimes to go," he glanced at Elena. "What do you think?"

The wound in space began to heal as the mistress of desire stepped into the room. "Her long awaited savior has treated her well, however…" a wide grin formed on her face. "they were too late ," the demon trace her pointer finger along the girl's chest.

Her finger was a blowtorch that tore her chest apart. A large gap formed in the middle of her chest, an inky black mass lies squirming within. The girl's expression turned into extreme discomfort, as if having one of the worst nightmares in her life.

The darkness that resides within, it is still within her, clear as the night.

"Sanae Whitewood," Elena spoke with an amused tone. "An elf born seventy years ago, in the Requiem Forest," she dipped her finger into the black mass before licking her finger, like a chef trying out a sauce. "She barely knows happiness when the Heaven's Angel Theocracy attacks her home…"

The demon playfully flicked the girl's ear. The girl gasped, her face a mask of horror, trapped inside an unending nightmare. "They cut her ears off, trained her to be a good slave. Her nights within the cell was haunted by the symphony of suffering. Her dreams were haunted by the fate that befell those stronger than herself…" she crouched down and gently blow to her ears.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH! "

The elf let our a shrill scream. Her body trashed around the bed, bumping into the ceiling and the wall beside her. Desperate plea for forgiveness came from her mouth, one after another in rapid succession. Her hands then grasped each other, as if praying to a cruel god.

It kept going for three minutes before Marshall raised his palm. "Sleep," he said and the girl lay limp on the bed. He then looked at Elena with a deadpan look on his face. "You do realize we're not in your room right?"

Elena bowed deeply. "Forgive me my lord, it's been a while since I've seen something like her," she looked at the girl as if staring at a cute puppy she found on a pet store. "I've already cast a silence spell the moment we enter this room. But if you are dissatisfied with me, then…"

"Nevermind that," Marshall rolled his eyes before walking towards the elf. He raised his hand and made a motion like a puppeteer controlling a marionette. The girl slowly shifted in his bed and started tidying up her position and pulling her blanket herself.

He thought about Ender's plan on getting a new waitress for the Cafe and realized that this elf woman might be a perfect choice. She's a broken bird and seeing Ender helping her from this darkness might just earn Alicia's trust. Or, at the very least, the trust of everyone else.

"Well, giving her that kind of nightmare might just make Ender's job easier," Marshall then give Elena a sharp look. "Though, if it turns it makes her job harder, I am going to personally show you why our current policy against the foundation is 'Unconditional Surrender,'".

Elena looked down. "Forgive me…" she then looked back at her master and forced a smile. "Still, why don't you tell me what your… Acquaintance is trying to do? Perhaps I can help?"

Bringing Elena on his own part of the mission is one thing, but making her directly interfere with Ender's plan? "No, bad idea, do not interfere with her," Marshall said. "I don't know the full extent of her plan and I already screwed up half of it by simply existing."

"Just what is this Ender person is like anyway?" Elena asked finally in annoyance. "I mean, she's just a human right?"

The temperature turned freezing cold in just half a second. Marshall glared at Elena, his aura blaring at her being, sending the primal fear of death and the end of time to all the houses in the vicinity. "I do not wish to hear such ignorance and arrogance from one of my general…"

Elena took a step back at his sudden outrage. "F-forgive me my lord…" she knelt down in front of him. "I just thought that since you smells like…"

"Oh you think because she smells like human she's a human? Did I not tell you that there are forces in this world capable of restructuring the world regardless of their race? Did you not remember how we ceased to exist because some stupid idiot manipulated a human girl into believing that the real world is just a dream?"

"Forgive me…" she dropped down on her knees. "Forgive me my lord, it was my mistake…"

"Forget it, you've helped me enough Elena," The hostile aura fades away. He gazed at her right in the eyes and his face soften. "I really mean it, you've helped me a lot tonight and…" he clicked his tongue. "Perhaps… There's one more thing you can help me…"

"Anything my lord, just name it and I will throw my life for it."

"Alright, so here's the plan…"