The face of Terror [Private/plot/training]

The redhead was walking down an empty street, then again it was a back alley and it was beginning to get late. It was rather warm at the moment which was good since there was no wind either. She was enjoying her walk back to her house after all it felt nice out and since the sun was starting to set she had a beautiful view, she enjoyed it. Today had been a very nice day in her opinion. It was a good end in her opinion to fit the day, she would go home and give her daughter some love and take a relaxing bath before cooking them some dinner.

At the beginning of this splendid day the redhead went to the market to go see her friends and possibly buy some fresh ingredients for whatever she was planning for dinner that night. When she ended up meeting with her friend Adrianna she had said she was taking the day off to relax and possibly go out to eat. When this happened the feisty girl was asked if she wanted to join her, at first she was hesitant but ended up tagging along in the end which she learned was a great day.

They two adventuring woman had decided to go to a restaurant together, when they had arrived there and eventually go there Merrze was happy to be in the pleasant environment.  It was a nice clean place with nice decor, normally the two of them ate at bars that had good food but were filled with rowdy men who smelled terrible while the redhead had no real problem with this she thought it was good to get a break of it for once and enjoy herself. The food was rather good, Adriana and Merrze both drank a small amount of wine before deciding to leave and go to a park to hangout.

The two of them spent the rest of the day just hanging out and conversing about the things that were going on in there life and sharing stories. Even though it was mundane it was a very enjoyable time. The redhead enjoyed times like this, since she had always been fighting or experiencing something, her quiet days were some of her favorite. Ever since she came to Reim there head been more of these days but she was okay with that, she had to experience as many as possible before she would leave to start the progression in her goal.

As she walked with an ecstatic look on her face she noticed an older man in nice clothing walking towards her on the opposite side of the road. She would just pass him by and on the off chance he was deadly she would be ready to evade any attacks but he didn't look like he was harmful after all he was walking with a cane and was hunched so he seemed pretty weak, and the off chance he was a magician she could try to take him out. As the two drew closer she walked by him but as soon as she had gotten passed him a chill had went down her spine and she had heard him say something to her.

"So you must be the mighty Merrze the Lioness that I was told about, can't believe you're the one that took down one of my compounds and killed some of my slavers. Generally I don't hunt down my troubles on my own but you're a different case. Based on word I've heard you're plenty strong and I don't want to risk anymore of my men to you.'


His words surprised the fanalis giving her a somewhat surprised expression, who was this man. He seemed to be a member of the slavers with the black spider emblem. By the way he dressed and his wording he was most likely a higher up in their organization, he could be the leader but she was unsure if the top would personally come after her. Surely he had stronger men that could be sent after her if he truly was the top. She looked at him and began to draw her sword since she knew a fight was most likely going to happen between them.

"Oh how rude of me, I guess I should introduce myself to you then, my name Remus Roma and I am the leader of Arachnada or as some of the people in balbadd have started to call us the black spiders. Now you must be wondering why I have come after you well simply to stomp you out, take away all the sanity and drive you have then sell you as one of the strongest slaves I have ever had, or maybe I could keep you as a personal slave and torture you quite often."

Remus Roma:

She was prepared to attack him but of course he wasn't going to let that happen, he raised his cane creating a cage out of pure strength magic before she could do anything. Then to make sure she couldn't destroy it he made chains to grasp her limbs and pull tightly so she wouldn't be able to move. The redhead struggled, she tugged and pulled but his magic was strong preventing her from moving her arms and legs enough to break free, as she thrashed around for a couple of minutes trying her best to escape it was to no avail. His magic was too strong, she would have to wait for an opportunity to strike or just escape in general.

He walked close to the cage and started to examine her a little, he was showing a strange face making it seem as if he was looking for something.

"What are you looking at you filthy slaver, if you get any closer I might just find a way to break out and kill you."

He slightly chuckled a bit as he stepped back and lifted up his cane again just swaying it around. He created chains out of sand particles and just looked at her. He was giving a smug expression now as if he had won already or if something was on her mind, as he did this he was still slightly laughing which was annoying the warrior, she thought the magician was being too smug but she wouldn't let him get to her too much, she had to stay focused if she wanted to escape.

"Oh sorry about that laugh but I just realized something funny, you see I thought your name was familiar and now after looking at your face now I know why. Of course there has been a drastic change in your appearance since then but I still see the similarities and if I didn't know your name I wouldn't be able to make the connection in all honesty but it's kind of ironic that we would met again, different circumstances but same goal in truth."

"What the hell are you talking Remus, I've  no memory of you, if we met I'm sure that I would remember someone like you."

The main reason she thought this was because of his aura, at first he seemed harmless but when they came closer he gave off an aura of evil, she could feel the nastiness radiating from him. She wanted to get away from him in all honesty, the presence he had slightly frightened the fanalis, she wasn't to terrified but he felt strange like someone that she would never want to encounter again or even think about. He gazed at her as if trying to look into her soul and it was part of what was giving the feisty girl goosebumps.

"I guess it would make sense if I clarified things for you a bit more, you see the organization that kidnapped you when you were a child was mine. Now I'm sure you're wondering how I know it was mine so I'll clarify it for you with a story. Basically it was because I had you chosen you specifically to be kidnapped after I had laid my eyes on you for a long time waiting for you to get older. I first saw you when you were a wee baby, your father had sold himself to me so your mother would have money to buy medicine that you needed so you wouldn't die as a child. Oh you may have heard he died before you were born but he his in fact alive, I'm pretty sure he's working somewhere in Heliohapt. But I could care less about your piece of shit parent's, it helped make you go through misery that a dog like you deserved."

She was in shock to hear that her father was still alive, she didn't believe it one bit. Why would her mother lie to her, this man might be lying to her play with her emotions and make her lose focus. She ignored what he was saying so that words wouldn't affect her too much, no matter what he said she to focus on her task at hand so as not to lose herself in the moment. She was grinding her teeth the entire time while trying to hold back her anger, even though she had gotten better at controlling it that was in her nature as a fanalis after all.

"You see when I bought your father I was intrigued by you, you were a cute child and I wanted to see you in despair so I had people watch over you for the most of your life. It was so enjoyable to hear how you looked when that worthless bitch also known as your mother died, then again most fanalis are just stupid animals. After that you had fallen in despair I loved hearing the reports of your misery and struggling survival but the time was not opportune, I had to wait until you had your happiness back so I could see it crushed again. And I got that eventually of course, when you had finally found a friend and weren't struggling as much I had my men swoop in to take you and your friend, I still remember how happy I was when I heard what happened. I personally visited you when you so I could see on of your freakouts and oh god was it pleasing to see the misery, just thinking about it slightly turns  me on."

Merrze had a horrified look on her face as he explained his role in the downfall of her life, he had taken away her happiness and destroyed her life. Sure if it hadn't happened she wouldn't be at the place she is at now but knowing the person who single handedly destroyed her life so he could get turned on by a child had made her slightly snap. She had the look of a wild beast, her thrashing was extreme to where she actually broke free of the chains and started to break the cage down, she had been unleashed as the lioness.

"I'M GOING TO SLAUGHTER YOU'

She yelled in a thundering tone but before she could get to close to him he used a spell which put a massive amount of force on her causing her to be slammed into the ground, she couldn't move at all it felt like, or more of she didn't have enough focus to move. She was being bound tightly, she had decreased the effects of her fear but with her mind almost gone she didn't have the focus to suppress it. She started freaking out by breathing heavily and her eyes were dilated and spit had been flowing out of her mouth because of her freakout, she looked at him with terror wondering what he would do next.

"Oh yes that's the face I like to see you filthy mongrel, you see there's something else I should tell you. I am also a master with illusions, let's see what can I do to break you even further before you have no will left in your body before I take you in to be sold, oh I know, I'll have you relive the loss of your mother and closest friend as a child."

It first began with a vivid illusion of her mother before her, her mother was just sitting there with a pleasant look her face and tears started to roll down her face, as the fanalis saw this tears flowed from her eyes too. She knew that this was going to be miserable, she had no idea what he was going to show but remembering everything and possible worse was a good way to break the fanalis, she had tried to overcome her past but forcibly shoving it in her face while she had been shocked had made it more effective, her mind was weaker than normal and more susceptible to mind games like these.

The image of her mother was so vivid, she looked healthy but painful, and slowly the torture had begun to take place. As she looked at her mother she had started to get paler by every second, then soon her skin started to look less healthy as she looked as if she was getting scrawnier and more tired. It was as if seeing the disease that killed her mother transform her over a matter of minutes instead of months, the warrior stared in horror desperately trying to avoid it but something wasn't allowing her to look away, it was as if she had no choice and would have to look no matter what.

Then it was getting worse, he decided to play with her heart more with the images of her mother. Remus wanted to push Merrze to her limits until there was nothing left but misery in her emotions, to him she was nothing but a toy for her amusement, in fact that's how he saw most living creatures. As she continued to peer at the horrific illusion her mother had started to have blood pour from her eyes, it flowed from her ears like a stream, the illusion looked Merrze with an expression of pity just like when her mom died but it felt like there was a different emotion behind it, then it opened up it's mouth and began to speak only adding more realism and shock factor to it all.

"My little baby Merrze, you were my precious gem that I loved more than anything and I hate that I have to leave you behind but in all honesty you can only blame yourself for this all honey, you neglected your mother and didn't pay enough attention to me. If you loved me enough then you would have noticed and got help from someone. If you really loved your mother then you would have done anything to save me but your love wasn't strong enough so I died, now you have to live with those thoughts for the rest of your life, I hope you're happy with your decisions."

She knew her mother would never say such words but nonetheless it was painful, under normal circumstances she wouldn't believe a single word but it was so vivid. It felt as if she was in pure agony, her heart was being torn apart slowly. This man was truly evil, he was having fun with the images of her mother but now it was time for the images of her friend, he didn't know much of her fate but he could have some fun and make up something to put her in more madness. He gave a devious grin with his eyes glinting as the various ideas of torture were running through his head, he was possibly evil incarnate. Sure she had met monsters who liked killing but this man played with them, making them go through experiences were they wished they were dead.

He waved his cane creating another image before Merrze, it was a small girl with tan skin and black hair. She stared at Merrze with cheerful eyes and had a happy look on her face. Merrze choked at first when she saw her, she remembered the face of her friend all too well. She was the closest friend she ever had and probably ever will have, she was also the first person she had a crush on of course it was her only crush until recently. She cried even more as she looked, her mind was clouded by rage and sadness and she could only mutter one thing.

"Anaizi, I-I-I miss you so much"

She didn't love her as much as her mom but the fact that she had never got closure is what caused her reaction. She knew she was most likely sold as a sex slave but she had no idea if she was alive or dead and that's what made thinking about her especially painful. She just stared blankly trying to move and speak but nothing would come out. She could only look at the transformation her friend had started to undergo, she grew older and started to wear skimpier clothes and was covered in bruises, cuts and had a black eye, her cheerful expressions was now replaced by one of pure melancholy. It looked as if she just wanted her life to be ended but no one would end it for her nor could she end it. Then it was her turn to speak to Merrze, but she didn't know what her older voice would sound like.

"Hi MerrMerr, it's good to see you, I mean it's your fault that I'm abused and used for sex but hey that's what happens when you befriend someone who can't be a good friend and keep their eye open so bad things happen. While you seem good I just want to die you know, but they keep an eye on me so I don't die which sucks hey I know why don't you do me a favor and kill me MerrMerr, end my pain like a real friend would."

Hearing this made the redhead give a growl like she was some sort of wild animal and had enough adrenaline to move around a little and thrash. She knew it couldn't be real, it couldn't be real her friend would never blame her but she felt like it was her fault that her friend was most likely living a terrible life at the moment or maybe even dead. Maybe it was her fault for not being a good enough friend, maybe if she paid more attention it wouldn't have happened and they would still be friends and maybe be living a happy life with each other.

As she flailed around he dispersed the illusions and laughed at her pain like a maniac, and he got a quick suprised which was something he was not in store of, the trauma on her had started to take full effect. As he looked at the redhead he noticed a change, she was screaming now and her hair had started to lose it's pigmentation. As he looked her hair had turned stark white, the man have heard of cases like this but had never got to witness it. She felt terror, anger and self loathing until she stopped and just moped in her misery. He gave a gnarly smile and said in a tone filled with happiness but it gave off nothing but a mad and creepy vibe.

"Haha look at this the worthless mutt got so scared her hair actually turned white, a fanalis with white hair that isn't died. Know you're only more valuable to me, I can't wait to take you back and make you into my pet HAHAAHAHA, this is just great you piece of shit. I guess that's enough playing for now, I should probably knock you out and take you to my nearest stronghold so we can do some more conditions before you end up becoming my newest toy."

She couldn't hear half of what he was he was saying at the moment, she was left in nothing but her own thoughts at the moment. She wanted to kill him and then she wanted to go hide herself away or drink away these thoughts that had now plagued her mind. She felt broken and worthless but the anger overflowed her just as much. She was surprised she was capable of thinking at this point, the the now white haired girl just looked ahead trying to think but the emotions clouded most of her thoughts, how could she escape now.

Ahead of her she saw an image, it looked like her mother but she was sure that he wasn't creating any images at the point. Was she actually seeing the image of her mother right now or was she just delusional. But the image became more vivid and it walked over to her and knelt down. Her mother rubbed her check and started to speak kind but harsh words to Merrze so that she would take action. It was as if she was really there to help her daughter out in her time of need. Merrze cried with happiness as she heard the words.

"My little lion, I love you more than anything and you know it's not your fault that I died. I didn't raise you to pity yourself when ever something bad happened. Maybe I babied you too much but you can overcome anything that comes your way. No matter what happens you can push past the troubles, your friend cared enough about you and probably never blamed you after all you were as close as sisters. Now young lady I expect you to get up and show this man that you are no toy of his, show him the Merrze I know."

As she looked ahead the man looked at her wondering still if he should just stop the torment or if he should lay down more of the smackdown.

"Okay you white haired piece of trash what do you think I should do next, had too much willing to submit to me."

She looked up at him with eyes of rage but she now had adrenaline and she had the ability to focus. She started remembering all the things that had happened to her. She fought slavers and made friends, she fought in a war and learned how wrong her bloodlust truly was. She figured out how scary death can be, and she learned how important camaraderie was. She lost her arm and was taught by Ariella what she should be fighting for and what she needs to think about when fighting. Octavius had told her how to control her anger and how important accepting the pain of the past had been. She had been told that her goal wasn't stupid and that fate would be something that decided things but she would be the one who took control of her own fate and lay down the tracks. She started to stand up and just pointed at him with a look of smugness on her face and a face of anger, her anger. Her mother was gone but she died loving her, she can't see her friend but those memories are still in her mind, her anger was now a weapon that she could wild with the adrenaline allowing her to move in the gravity field.

Merrze now:

"No I am not a piece of trash, I am not a dog or any toy for you to use at your disposal so that you could have fun. I will tell you what I am. My name is Merrze, I am a fanalis who has learned hardships of this life and I have gone through pain. I have not endured pain as bad as others but I will fight so less people know such pain. I don't fight until I die, I won't die or break until I'm done fighting and done everything that I need too, the on who will take down people like you. I am a girl who has learned love and I'm a warrior and a mother. I am the lioness that will tear through the likes of your kind and bring peace to people the one who will found a kingdom that will last the ages and stand for the freedom and rights of all people. I have learned many things from many people and you will not break me so that those are gone. In Fact I think I'm going to break you so others can sleep at night knowing the boogeyman has been killed."

Merrze ran forward with great force about 10m getting close to the man in less then a second, she started wailing on him with every single muscle in her arms making sure that he wouldn't survive. After she was done his body fell then disappeared, what happened she wondered, was he also an illusion was this actually some sick dream. She heard a voice but couldn't see anyone, he was still alive by the sounds of it.

"You actually landed one punch on me but I create a solid construct after I was launched actually before you noticed. Good thing I flew backward or I would've died. I know when it's not smart to fight so I will see you soon my little pet. I hope you stay pretty and strong when that day comes."

She was surprised that he managed to escape, she couldn't smell him for some reason or hear him. She wouldn't be able to track him but she remembered his face very well. She had to inform people while she had the chance, she knew the leader of the slavers and the person who caused her pain. She headed towards her home to clean up, the next day she would inform Octavius of everything that had happened to her leaving out her little speech and attack.

Word Count: 4320/1000

Ability trained:

Sly slipped unseen along the rooftops, eyes sharp as he followed Merrze. Octavius had tasked him with finding more information about the people who had kidnapped the young Fanalis woman and while he had found much information, he had also taken to discreetly following her. Often, if a slave trader felt a slave was a worthy investment or if they were angered by an escaped slave, they would send people after them. He knew too much about the habits and patterns of slavers, he had been a slave himself, trained in espionage and assassination, along with other things. His strength and skills had been respected by his owner and he had often been used to recover his own kind. He was not proud of his past, but it had taught him much. As he trailed Merrze, it did not surprise him when he began to notice she was being trailed. But on this day, he saw a face he had never thought to see again.

Remus Roma was well known in the slave trade circles for his cruelty and ability to break even those with a Fanalis will, given enough time. Sly’s owner had purchased a few slaves from the man, knowing he prided himself on priceless merchandise. Along with Fanalis, he was also known to carry other… exotics. The trader was ruthless and determined, once he had his sights set on someone, he would not rest until they were broken or dead. Sly kept to a distance, observing the interaction and how the young Colonel of the Fanalis Corps would deal with the man. He arched a brow as Remus used his cane to summon a cage of magic to contain Merrze, but he did not move to interfere. When things began to appear, Sly could only guess they were illusions based on Merrze’s reactions. As a Fanalis, Sly could not identify magic well, but he could tell it was being used, if only by the effects of it.

He kept a careful eye, observation was more important than revealing his presence to the infamous trader. If he felt Merrze were in danger of being removed from the street or of being killed, he would step in, but Remus seemed more interested in taunting to Fanalis woman. Sly was shocked when the man was able to break the woman’s mind so quickly and a thread of disgust ran through him. That she was so easily broken did not impress him in the slightest. She recovered just as quickly, though, and lashed out to attack the man, finally breaking the magic binding her to begin wailing on Remus. Now that was the reaction a Fanalis should have. When Remus disappeared, Sly did as well, the shadows which had concealed him the entire time now empty of his presence. He needed to do a bit of fact checking and then report to Octavius. The General would be very interested to hear Remus had been spotted in Reim.

---

Octavius listened as Sly reported to him, his face becoming darker and darker at the news.

“And you are certain the Black Spiders are here, in Remano?”

“Saw Remus with my own eyes, boss. He mentioned Balbadd, too.”

Octavius sighed, rubbing his eyes. The Black Spiders were well known across the world, in the darkest circles. They were known to be tightly connected to the Brotherhood of Ash. When Lagi had declared Reim as slave-free and begun rooting out corruption, the Brotherhood had abandoned their activities in the country for the most part, but rumors were that the underground group of thieves, slave traders, and assassins had not suffered any true loss of power, simply moving their base of operations. There would always be those who preferred the darker dealings of the Brotherhood. He looked up to Sly with a concerned look.

“I think it is time we bring the Unity Corps in on this, Sly. If the Spiders are here, the Brotherhood may be trying to strengthen their influence in Reim once more.”

Sly nodded in agreement, knowing how important it was to the General to root out the corrupt band of thieves. Reim was at a turning point, trying to form a republic, and the Brotherhood of Ash would open the newly forming council to deep levels of corruption.

“I will try and talk to their intelligence officer, Bahir. He has been building a network here in Remano. Time to put it to the test.”

Octavius nodded, his mind already shifting to his own Corps. After Sly’s description of what had happened to Merrze, he needed to speak to the woman himself, to judge her state of mind. He would give the Colonel a day to seek him out, after that, if she did not approach him, he would send Sly to bring her in.

The fanalis woke up glad to see that her child was still asleep, she didn't want to explain to her child first thing in the morning why her hair was stark white instead of it's normal scarlet color. She quickly got up and changing her clothes so she would be ready for the day, instead of putting on her usual outfit she put on leather armor that she owned and tied her hair into a ponytail so that she looked a bit more professional, after all she would be going to see Octavius today if she had the chance too. She strapped her sword on her side ready on the off chance she was attacked by anybody on her way.

Before she headed off she looked in the mirror, it was like the loss of her red hair represented the loss of her worries and haunting troubles. She was sure that the image of her mother that she saw in the end was something her mind made up to try and save her but she realized from that the past can't hurt her anymore. She had the same thoughts as before but now they were solidified and nothing could break her will. She had her goals and even though it wasn't his intention to stop her goals she knew she would encounter more monsters like him in her journeys. She felt stronger, she had her physical strength because of her race and dedication and she had her mental strength from her experiences.

She left a note by Ku explaining where she was going then walked out the door noticing Agatha wasn't at the counter. She left the inn and saw her pet was still sleeping outside so she patted him on the head before she started to walk to the fanalis corps barracks. Fortunately she didn't live far from there so she would be there in a matter of no time. She wondered if he had heard of Remus before, he was probably famous in the slaving world so Octavius probably knew a thing or too. She hated Remus with a passion but she wouldn't let that cloud her thoughts, then again her anger no longer controlled her thoughts like it used too.

After the brief time of walking she had arrived at the barracks and started to head down to Octavius' office, he would most likely be in at the moment. As she walked through the barracks there were troops who saluted her and gave greetings but she just nodded at most of the people or gave them a wave. She wasn't trying to be rude she was just in a slight rush since this was most definitely an urgent issue if this group truly was as a large as they claimed to be. As she approached the office she knocked on it and gave a slight introduction. If he said come in she would walk in to hopefully initiate conversation.

"General, It's me Merrze, I need to speak without about some urgent news if you have the time."

Octavius looked up at the knock, calling out for Merrze to enter. When she walked in, he immediately took note of her snow-white hair and her posture, reading everything he could from her stance and her face. He had gotten good at reading his troops over the years and it often took only a glance to determine their state of mind and well-being. Despite Sly’s words about how quickly and completely the woman had been broken down the day before, she seemed more certain of herself now, more sure of her strength. But, the truth of that would remain to be seen. He showed no sign of shock or curiosity about her hair and simply waved her to a chair, his face unreadable. While he had been learning to read his troops, he had also learned the art of hiding his own expressions from those following him. A leader often had to hide their own true feelings for the good of their followers, but it took decades to truly master the art of keeping a neutral face.

“Merrze, of course. I was actually waiting for you. Sly told me you had an unusual encounter yesterday. Tell me what happened.”

He would listen to her speak, paying attention to how open and honest she was being. He had learned enough from Sly the day before that he could compare the stories, along with watching her body language and how she chose to phrase things. While Sly had given him a general overview of the conversation, he had left pieces out, only telling Octavius that he would let Merrze tell the full tale out of respect for what had been said during the interaction with Remus.

She sat down and crossed her legs and tried to keep a professional look on her face. It felt like she was just going to give a report about something she saw instead of something she herself had witnessed, then again it feels as if it didn't happen to her, the fear that plagued her before now felt gone but it also felt as if the fear was there not as a bad thing but as if it was there telling her that she will encounter frightening things but she could push through it, fear was not a thing that made you weak but a thing that taught you lessons.

"Well I will summarize it the best I can for you while giving you the most amount of information that I can. To start of it started when I was travelling down a secluded area after a fun day out on the town but I encountered an elderly man. He claimed to be called Remus Roma leader of the black spiders, he trapped me with magic before I could do anything then started to spout nonsense about wanting me as his pet and that we had met before, he said my father was alive which I was told as a child that he died but apparently he was sold to people in Heliohapt and is still there."

As she was speaking she kept a straight face, or more of a normal expression for her, acting as if nothing happened to her.

"I broke free of the magic and tried to charge him but he slammed me down on the ground with some sort of gravity field I believe, I was pretty aggravated at his actions but he knew about my past, he said he was the one who caused me to get kidnapped when I was younger as you know trying to destroy, he seems to have a sick obsession with wanting to make people into his pets, honestly it sickened me to the point where I wanted to break his neck but then he used illusions on me, he recreated my two most painful memories, he showed me the death of my mother claimed it was my fault replicating her voice exactly then he showed me my friend who was kidnapped with me as a child, claiming it was my fault for not being strong."

As she was trying to explain she switched which legs she had crossed and sighed for a second.

"I would be lying if I said they didn't get to me, I had no idea how long it lasted but it felt like a while, the illusions themselves were really good and the voices sounded accurate so I assume he might've known sound magic also. After he was done trying to mess with me I felt as if I had lost my focus filled with nothing but emotion, I thrashed a lot trying to get out since you know the combination of being bound and then seeing those illusions, I felt as if I might have lost it all almost but then I saw my mother which I probably imagined but I realized my past can't harm me, my beliefs became more solidified because no matter what someone shows me I will know the truth. I stood up in the field which seem to take a lot of energy but I escaped and tried to attack him, I felt furious but it didn't control me I felt as if it couldn't rule me anymore. I now feel stronger and I'm certain I am. I want to see him dead, in all honesty. He's vile, while he nor anyone can break my thoughts now, he needs to die for the crimes he's done to the innocent, I don't want him dead for revenge but for what he's done to all others and what else he might do. And at some point my hair seemed to lost color, no idea why really but I feel like it represents the loss of my old fears and represents me now."

She gave him a look of determination when she said this but spoke with her normal tone, nothing had haunted her at the moment which was great.

"If you heard the way he spoke you'd probably agree someone needs to wash his mouth out with soap before he is killed."

She said this slight joke as she stretched since it was still early in the morning and she had nothing also.

Octavius gave Merrze his full attention through her entire speech. She seemed almost unfazed by all of it, which most would think is a good thing, but he knew better. No one, not the stronger person in the world, no matter what they had been through, could recover so quickly, even if they had come across an epiphany. He compared what she had said to what Sly had told him, humming in thought. He brushed a hand across his chin.

“I know Remus, I have dealt with him before. Sly is looking into rooting him out.”

He chuckled softly at her words about cleaning his mouth out before his face became serious again.

“Here is my concern, Merrze. You allowed yourself to be caught unawares, suffered a severe mental trauma and now seem to be totally recovered. You are obviously repressing how much this affected you and I cannot have that leading my troops. You claim you are stronger now, in control of your rage, but this happened yesterday. I don’t care who you are, no one recovers from such trauma that quickly.”

He paused, pondering on how he should handle this. Sly would be working with the Unity Corps to investigate and bring down the Black Spiders, but could he trust Merrze with his troops, his family? Could he take the risk that she would hunt this man down and put herself and others in the Corps in danger? No one suffered such trauma without allowing their emotions to influence their decisions unless they had no emotions. Both were equally dangerous. He sighed, shaking his head. He simply could not risk her safety or the safety of his troops. Where the Black Spiders went, Fanalis tended to come up missing left and right.

“I am putting you on leave, to get your head straight. I know you think you found some great new control and strength, but you need to deal with the trauma this man put you through. You say you are over it, but you aren’t and I can’t risk you endangering the rest of the troops. You are not being fired or demoted, but you are being forcibly put on vacation, to recover. While you are on leave, I expect you to keep up with your training, but you will not be running drills with your troops. Perhaps you could use this as an opportunity to try and find your father, to try and find out the truth about your family.”

Octavius moved to rest a hand on her shoulder, a concerned, fatherly smile on his face.

“I have no doubt you are stronger for your experience, Merrze. But you cannot recover in a single day from such a trauma unless you are heartless. And no one wants you heartless, a Fanalis’ greatest asset and greatest weakness is their passion.”

"I trust your words Octavius and I can understand where you are coming from, while I still think it can't hurt me anymore I can agree that I should probably do some thinking about what has happened to me. I guess it's good to take some time off but if he confronts me again, or if I see anymore men I will report to you what happens but I doubt that will happen. I know you are mainly doing this so I don't do something rash that might endanger others but thank you for worrying about my mental health. If I do leave Reim I will have notice sent to you so that you would be aware. Next time you see me, I will show you the strength I have."

She wasn't sure if it would influence her decisions but she knew she didn't want revenge. He had caused the pain in her life but what would killing him for her own satisfaction solve. If she was to kill him it was so that he couldn't ruin the lives of other people like he tried to do the warrior. She needed strength to take him down and his people though. She would do it alongside her goals to found a country since they would most likely get in her way while she is trying to do this. The fanalis knew what she had to do, first she would solidify her resolution and get rid of whatever trauma still haunted her mind. Then she would search for the power that would let her go pass what she was capable of.

She stood up and bowed goodbye before leaving the office, she needed to head home and explain things to her child and possibly eat some food. She had a lot of free time on her hands after all, there was a lot she would need to focus on. She wondered if she was seen as weak because of what she went through, she didn't believe she was but that with this newfound sense of confidence and understanding that it would need to be refined like a fine blade.

[exit]