CHAPTER 2.5: POSSESSION

**Maddie**

Where…Where am I?

“…”

When my senses fully returned, I was back in that dark place I always see in my dreams. Swirling clouds of black and crimson obscured everything from my sight…including the image of Kuro, who was supposed to appear in front of me.

“…”

“Hello, Little Maddie, I see that you’re already awake!”

“!!!” Turning around, my mother was already standing beside me. She smiled, and gently caressed my hair.

“Where’s the vision of Kuro? If I remember right, he’s here, right before me…together with his students.”

“Don’t look for someone who has already went away, Little Maddie…”

“What do you mean?”

“The vision was gone indeed. It only means that your Kuro already fulfilled the vision that you saw…”

“H-Huh? You mean he left me for his students?”

“Can’t you remember, Little Maddie?” my mother asked. “You even fought one of them before!”

I fell silent as a torrent of memories suddenly flashed through my mind. Everything. It’s as if multiple paintings were being shown before me, only it went so fast that I could not keep up. However, there was one figure that stood out in those visions…a demon girl, wearing the uniform of Kuro’s school, smiling and laughing with him.

“N-Noir…she’s Noir Usarved…”

“Ah, it’s great that your memories haven’t forgotten her. She’s Kuro’s student, indeed, and the one who took him away from you. Together with the others, they plotted to wrest your man from your warm embrace…”

“The others…”

“Yes…”

At once, another vision sprung in my head. It was a wide grassy plain, with blue mountains from afar, interrupted only by a few clusters of trees. Kuro was on the ground, lying down, looking at me. Then I noticed I was naked; my clothes were at my feet. His face was red, yet I could tell he was trying his best to control himself.

“…”

Then it all came back to me. Yes, I knew this really happened.

“Why did you think that your Kuro wouldn’t touch you, even though you offer yourself to him?”

“Because he loves and respects me…”

“Or is it really the truth?”

“I saw it in his thoughts…that beautiful wedding dress, the aisle where we’re walking as a couple. He wants to marry me first, before anything else.”

“Ah, yes…it’s true. But are you sure you’re the girl walking alongside him?

“I saw…I saw it. I saw it.” My hands went to my head. I tried my best to resist the doubts, though my mother’s words slowly crept into my heart.

I’m the one who’s walking by his side, right? I can’t be mistaken…or am I?

There was this side of me that still believed in the man I love, yet a voice—my voice—said that I was a fool for believing. And that voice kept on going, and going, and going…

Stop…please…

“Remember, there are others competing against you for his love. He may only be seeing you as that girl because you’re the one in front of him,” my mother chuckled. “Ah, you know men…they only love the one who’s currently with them.”

Various thoughts bombarded my head. All the intimate times I had with Kuro…are all of them fake? “Please stop…”

“Little Maddie, you’re destined for greatness, yet you blinded yourself for the affection of one man. Now look at you, he’s nowhere by your side as you lay unconscious in your bed…betrayed by that demon girl whom you call ‘your friend’.” A vision of me lying on the bed appeared. Indeed—except for me—it was empty; not even a servant was at my bedside.

Stop it!

Then my mother whispered, “Kuro left you, Little Maddie. Wake up.”

“Kyaaaa!!!” I couldn’t help but vent all my frustrations in that scream. Dark, heavy emotions filled my heart, and every time Kuro appeared in my mind, the pain increased. Kuro likes me! Kuro loves me! Kuro is mine!

I want this to end!

“Then I shall grant you power, Little Maddie. The power to destroy your enemies!”

A bright, blinding light shone that drove the black and crimson clouds away. However, the pain in my heart never disappeared; it grew even more intense…

Please…free me from this!

“Of course, for you are my daughter…” I heard her voice echoed amidst that brightness. “Mama will always do her best for you!”

I reached out for her, trying to feel her hand. But suddenly, the darkness consumed me.

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***The Holy Palatial Gardens***

Seirna, Ruro and the two queens returned to the Palatial Gardens, only to find it in chaos. Fully-armed paladin squads rushed around, with most of them heading towards the Saint’s Palace, while some were being ferried away from that place, all sustained injuries of varying degrees. The maidservants were also being led to a distant area; the nuns and templars were on their knees, endlessly chanting prayers and singing songs of salvation to the heavens.

“W-What’s going on?” the Beastman Saint asked the nearest paladin.

“Your Holiness, our saint has awakened, but…”

“But?”

“Do not delay her, Lady Ruro,” Seirna quipped. “I think I already know what transpired inside the Saint’s Palace. The Lady Rubinforth must’ve woke up, but someone else is with her.”

“You mean…”

“She’s being controlled, possessed, if you may. That explains the paladins, as well as the evacuation of the maidservants,” the Saint of the Flame looked to the direction of the Saint’s Palace, “Can’t you feel it, Lady Ruro? The presence of that vile creature is seeping, even reaching us from where we stand.”

Ruro could only swallow her fear on what she heard.

“Should we head in, too, Your Holiness?” Ursura went back to wearing her punching gloves, and cracked her fingers.

“Stay back, Beastman Queen,” the Saint of the Flame told her. “Protect those who can’t fight instead.”

“What can I do to help, Your Holiness?” Jessica presented herself.

“Can you help heal the injured?” Ruro asked.

“I can try, Your Holiness,” the Amaranthine Queen then went to attend to the injured, followed by Ursura.

Meanwhile, Ruro and Seirna prepared themselves. “Watch out for the miasma, dog,” the Saint of the Flame instructed her companion. “The last thing we want is for you to be possessed by that entity inside the Lady Rubinforth! I don’t want another headache, see?”

“What are you taking me for, Lady Seirna?” Ruro shot back. “I—who fought side-by-side with the Lady Cassandra in the past—would get possessed by that evil?”

“There’s no question of your fighting abilities, Lady Ruro. However, you’re a saint, too. The ‘Seductress’ hunts for the persons who have the god-powers, and control them for her purpose. After all, it’s her goals—to gather the god-powers and usurp the gods themselves.”

“Damn it…”

“In any case, get ready. Ask the paladins to step back; we’re the ones going inside the Saint’s Palace.”