Divine Empress of Blood

“How was your talk with Ingrid?”

“Eh, she’s still freaking out and overreacting, but I think she’ll calm down eventually.”

Faith gives me a look like she doesn’t believe that. Apparently Ingrid has done nothing but stress since she brought me into the HDA, I honestly don’t understand why. I’ve done nothing but help them. Propelled them forwards on an international level, resolved the issues with the government where the HQ is, did a live job application pr stunt on national, and international television. I guess it doesn’t help that I’m not telling her everything, I’m assuming Cosmos is picking up on that, but it doesn’t matter.

“Ready?”

Faith takes my hand, and we go into the basement of the HDA headquarters. Helena has been kept here since I went to sleep, but we were told she woke up earlier today, so we’re on our way to see her. I have a clearer picture of what happened to her. She was brought back by Metatron, or someone close to him, then she was kidnapped by Asmodeus, who played a sick joke. That’s where the succubus elements came from, he’s known as a demon of lust after all, but I’m assuming he’s also responsible for Helena wanting to kill Faith. What better way to disgrace a “messenger of god” than to have her murder one of the more famous heroes.

The elevator arrives at the basement level, and Faith scans her card to open the doors. This area is sort of a holding cell, in case we’d ever need it, so access is restricted. We arrive outside of the cell that’s holding Helena, and the second she sees Faith she goes feral. Clawing, scratching, trying to bend the bars to escape and reach her. I can feel Faith’s life force working in overdrive, her emotions are unstable, of course they are.

[Sit]

Now that Helena’s divine seeds are gone, she doesn’t try to resist my command. I notice that the power behind is less, probably because I don’t have my sister's divinity inside my body anymore, now it’s all mine.

“Can you speak?”

Helena shakes her head. Okay. So she can communicate, but she can’t speak. Maybe it’s only her outwards appearance that looks humanoid? No vocal cords? It doesn’t matter, we can communicate.

“Do you know who you were before you were brought back to life?”

Helena tilts her head, and then nods. Maybe the sentence was too complex?

“Was your name Helena, before you became undead?”

She nods instantly, no hesitation this time, good.

“Do you know why you want to kill Faith?”

She nods again. Okay.

“Is it of your own will?”

She shakes her head. I assumed as much.

“Is it because of an order?”

She nods. This does make things a bit more difficult. She’s under some sort of brainwashing, maybe it was done when she was brought back to life. She knows who she is, she knows she has to kill Faith, but it’s not of her own free will.

“Faith, I think I have one way to solve this, but I don’t like it. It’s not guaranteed, and she might end up even worse than she is right now.”

Faith looks between me and Helena for a few seconds, before staring into my eyes.

“It’s fine, I trust you Nia.”

“You do understand that if I do this. She will be as hunted as I am, she will be able to have some sort of normal life, but she will need a new identity. She can never go back to her old friends, to school, to anywhere that people may recognize her. That is only the social aspect. For all I know, she will become a slave. Her mind will be altered, her personality may be lost, her memories. I do not know. All I know is she will be unquestionably loyal to me.”

“Is there no other way?”

“There probably is, but I don’t know exactly what is done to her. If this is something that was done when she was brought back, it could be such a fundamental part of her that we’ll have to break her mind to release her, which wouldn’t make her any different than a doll or a teddy bear.”

“Okay. Do it.”

I look into Faith’s eyes, searching for doubt, uncertainty. I find it, but it’s not as bad as I thought. I give her a quick kiss before turning to Helena.

[Sleep]

As her mind falls asleep, her body falls forward and I let my blood catch her, gently laying her down on the bed as we enter her cell. I remove her clothes before scanning across her body, looking for any imperfection, any sign of another way. There is none. None that is feasible.

“Faith, no matter what happens I need you to stay calm and try not to interrupt me, okay?”

She gives me a small nod, and I close my eyes.

My mind wanders through my body, feeling the god essence, connecting with me, peering through my soul, my very being, trying to understand. A drop of golden blood seeps through my finger, filled with intent, my intent.

I guide the drop towards Helena, splitting it into two smaller drops. One towards her forehead, the other between her breasts. I gently guide them down towards her, before thrusting them into her. Her body jolts, but she’s still asleep.

Reigning in my attention, and focusing on my own divinity, I gently let it seep through the room, as more and more blood flows through me, mixing with my divinity before it passes through my body, and envelops Helena in a cocoon of golden blood.

I can sense Faith looking at Helena, noticing that her body is slowly being charred, while my blood is pushing through every opening in her body, through every pore as it fills her body with my blood.

She starts breaking down, the particles of her body gathering towards my aura, as the final pieces of her body is turned to nothing, a gaseous substance flows towards me. I raise my hand and grab it, commanding it to obey me. 

Helena is no longer alive.

 

---

 

Mmm. When did I fall asleep? Wait, sleep? Where am I? I open my eyes and there’s two women in front of me. First I look at the red haired beautiful woman with golden accents. I can see the gold in her hair, her pupils, it’s like the colour is alive, emitting warmth, authority, command, family. I know who she is.

The one I don’t recognize is the other woman? Girl? She has hair as white as snow, and icy blue eyes. Eyes I recognize, I think. She seems familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before.

The red haired woman turns her attention back to me, before she speaks.

“Ah, welcome back. Do you remember who you are?”

Who I am? I didn’t until now.

“Yes mother. My name is Helena.”

“M-mother?!”

The white haired girl exclaims at my statement, I do not know why she finds it weird? That is my mother, my creator. I try to stand up, but my legs fail me, and I’m about to fall forward before an endless comfort catches me. I look up to see my mother’s golden blood catching me. I raise a hand to touch it, as the warmth of her blood fills my very being, and I can feel myself smile.

“Don’t try to move just yet. Your body was just reconstructed. Do you remember our conversation from before?”

I shake my head. My mind is still fuzzy, it’s like there’s a mist blocking everything I thought I knew. Only bits and pieces are making its way through the mist, but it’s not enough.

“Okay Helena. Sit back and try to relax, this might hurt.”

I do as she says, my mother is always correct. Nobody can question her authority. I give her a nod to let mother know that I’m ready.

[Remember]

The mist is blown away, and memories start flooding my mind, overloading, overheating. I remember my childhood, her childhood? My childhood. We are one. We grew up with parents we hated, then we met a girl, Faith. We grew close, we started dating, I died. The next thing I remember is being trapped in my own mind, in my own body. It felt cold, unnatural. I attacked Faith, I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. Then I was captured by my mother, she did something to me. Then I fell asleep. Then I died, again, but, how?

“Mother, how am I alive?”

I can tell the white haired girl winces at me saying mother, I do not yet know why, my memories are still calming down, she still looks familiar, but I can’t remember.

“You’re not, technically. You’re as alive as I am. The reason you see me as your mother is that I am your kin, the one who turned you. You were an undead, a lich, forced to obey the commands of divine beings, gods. I had to destroy your body, extract your soul, and then recreate it. Your body is made up of my blood, well, now it’s yours. I extracted the divinity, but you are what I am. A vampire. You are not as strong as me, not yet, maybe in the future. Anyways, that's not important right now. Come, let’s go home.”

I try to stand up, only to have the white haired girl rush forward and support me. Her movements, her eyes.

“FAITH!”

Faith yelps at my exclamation.

“Sorry! I just, is it really you?”

Faith gives me a smile, and then pulls me in for a hug.

“Come Helena, let’s go home, we have a lot to talk about.”