Private Finished i! love! killing! things!!!!!

Euphemia had spent the day at the arena. Practising with her sword there had become a regular occurrence for her. She knew it was a skill she didn't truly need anymore, but even so, the training had been thoroughly drilled into her, and it had long since become a habit for her. By the time she returned the campus was quiet, the staff were either returning homes or still in their offices, and barely any student wandered the grounds. When she had first arrived, Euphemia might have remained on guard regardless of how many people were around, but now she was used to the daily life on campus, she felt her surroundings were relatively safe.

Her trip back to the dorms was interrupted by a shadow suddenly passing by overhead. She turned just in time to see the source, a figure with a large pair of wings flying out of the building, towards the direction of the forbidden forest.

That was suspicious, quite suspicious indeed.

Euphemia debated finding a member of staff, maybe Finch was inside the dorm, and she could inform him that something was amiss. But the figure was moving fast, and by the time she was able to tell someone, they may have already long since disappeared. Besides, maybe it wasn't something sinister, maybe it was just another student who was uninformed of the danger. After weighing her options, Euphemia decided to follow, moving swiftly across the ground.

It wasn't difficult to find her once she arrived at the forest, she just had to follow the sounds of tearing flesh, of blood splattering against the surrounding bush. Soon after she saw her, saw the big pair of wings and tail, saw that she was crouched over something,

Any thoughts she had earlier about this person being simply uninformed went out the window fast.

Judging by her appearance, the girl was demonic, or at least something similar. Throughout her life, Euphemia had seen many unholy creatures in a state like this, bloodthirsty and murderous. Her immediate instinct was to draw her sword and attack, while its back was turned. But, she held back. She knew she wasn't to start fights on the island, and strangely enough, this was the first time she'd seen a demon on Manta Carlos behaving in a way she thought most demons did. Maybe something didn't know everything about this situation, even if her prejudices told her that was unlikely.

She stepped out from one of the trees, hands calmly folded in front of her, the hilt of her blade hidden behind her arm.

"Excuse me." She called out, her voice devoid of emotion. "Are you aware this forest is off limits?"

The lines of magic that Raella was so familiar with behaved strangely around the tall, emotionless girl. They converged, drawn towards the centre of her body as if about to combine into a single point before just...disappearing. Like light bending towards a black hole, being pulled into her being that devours the magic without a thought.

[I'm kinda making assumptions here about how Raella's magic sight works, if they wouldn't work like that I apologise for it. Feel free to let me know if I should edit that part out.]

Euphemia's eyes briefly flickered down to the corpse, studying what details she could. She didn't recognise the creature, but the brutality in which the girl had attacked it was plainly obvious. She wasn't able to see much else before it vanished from her sight.

It was clear from that she had more power that Euphemia didn't know about. Maybe she moved the corpse, maybe she hid it from her senses, whatever she did it only added to her initial assessment of the girl.

The demon was dangerous.

Euphemia remained still, standing with the same stiff poise and impassive gaze, not moving any closer nor stepping away as she approached. Her eyes watched her closely, looking for any sudden movement, clearly on her guard. She looked back into her eyes once she spoke. They were blank, hollow,

Empty, just like hers.

The only difference was Euphemia made no effort to hide it.

"The forest is dangerous." She continued, not showing any visible reaction to the sudden change in Raella's tone. "The academy staff has made it clear that students are not to enter unaccompanied. My intention was to inform you of this, in case you were unaware of this rule."

She spoke bluntly, her refined voice lightly accented. Much like her appearance, her voice betrayed nothing, no apprehension, no fear, no curiosity.

"However, it appears you were in fact, aware." Her head tilted to the side slightly. "If that is so, what was your intention coming here?"

Now that Raella was close, whatever pulled the lines of magic towards Euphemia was tugging on her as well. It was small, light, barely noticeable, but present and easy for the demon to tell regardless. Euphemia showed no sign that she was doing anything, however.

Euphemia didn't quite understand people. She was never sure what someone was truly feeling, what those feelings even truly meant. She could never tell how her words would affect someone, why they would affect someone. She was slowly beginning to learn thanks to her time at the academy, but she was far away from figuring it out.

But the malice that Raella exuded was something she was very familiar with. She'd seen it plenty of times.

This time Euphemia did react. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but her back seemed to straighten, shoulders tensed, legs just slightly bent. The grip on her sword hilt, still hidden behind her arm, tightened. She'd been stared down by demons and monsters all her life, far too many to count. The change was not based on any fear or intimidation, it was simply the result of a lifetime of fighting.

She was like a coiled spring, ready to burst into action at a moments notice.

"Please, do not mistake my questions for ignorance." She continued in her same deadpan manner of speaking. "I am not a stranger to the supernatural, nor am I unaware of what you are. I am familiar with demonic entities such as yourself."

Her eyes closed for a moment as she spoke, the light of Raella's soul still visible even though she saw nothing but blackness. When she spoke again, it was like she was reciting from a sheet, repeating words that did not belong to herself.

"It is the demons nature to indulge in its base urges, to commit all manner of profane sin against the Lords Creation, for reasons as simple as they are petty. To allow such a creature to exist breeds only pestilence, to let it fester only brings ruin to Man."

She opened her eyes once she finished, tilting her head again. Despite her declaration, she didn't speak with any accusatory tone. She had been told, time and time again, that demons were to be accepted here, that she had no reason to remain so vigilant. But a lifetime of conditioning was not something she could simply put aside. When she asked, she asked because she wanted a confirmation, for either her view or the view of her new home.

"I ask of you again, for what reason have you come here?"

For a moment, there was silence, no movement from either girl as their eyes locked, the sound of the wind and the chittering bugs of the forest fading into the background.

Euphemia stared back, her guard remaining resolute even as the magic disappeared. Raella was right, it would take only a thought for the sword to activate, barely a fraction of a moment for her to thrust the blade through her chest as she'd done to countless other unholy monsters.

Her instincts told her to do it. Raella had left herself right open, was practically resigning herself to death.

But, she didn't. She was no longer of her Order, she was on
Manta Carlos now, and was just as much a subject to its laws as Raella was.

"You have killed in order to sustain yourself, to maintain your life, not as an act of cruelty." She finally said. "In future, please do not enter the forest in secret. Should you be caught by the Academy staff without permission, you will likely face consequences.

She eventually stood up straight again, rising to her full height, looking back down at her as the tension seemed to fade from her body. She uncrossed her hands, leaving her arms by her side. Raella knew she held the silver handle of her sword, she had no reason to hide it anymore. She simply slipped it back into her pocket, before crossing her hands again.

"I do not desire your death, any more than a blade held by a swordsman desires the death of his opponent. Your actions are against the laws of the island, but they are not crimes worthy of execution."

For now, it seemed, Raella's answer was satisfactory to Euphemia.

[Nah I think it counts, ya good fam]

Watching the way Raella seemed to slip between flippant to apathetic to anxious confused her. Part of her still felt it was intentional, that the demon wanted to trick her for whatever reason. Still, it seemed, for the moment, that the two of them had a sort of truce, so she decided to take her questioning at face value.

"No." She said simply, without hesitation. "You are correct in your assumption. I have killed many, far too numerous to describe, but I have no reason to regret my actions, for regret is not an emotion that one such as myself should be allowed to feel.

Her eyes closed again.

"I am an existence whose very nature is sinful, much like yourself, much like many other unholy creatures that walk this earth. I was born from the deaths of many innocents, and can only cause more death by my actions. There is no salvation for one such as myself, I have lived my life knowing the gates of heaven shall forever be closed to me. That is why I cannot feel regret, or guilt, or sadness, or love. I have no right to hold such things,

The words fell from her mouth without any shame, without any self-loathing, she spoke of herself like it was just a fact of life, something that she had accepted long ago.

"The only justification for my existence is to serve a higher cause, to serve in God's name. I am a tool, a weapon. That is my purpose."

For a moment, she hesitated, opening her eyes again.

Perhaps it was because of the fight that had almost happened, the sense of familiarity as she remembered her training, or perhaps it was just the result of a lifetime of conditioning. Euphemia had fallen back into her past, she had spoken as if that was still how things were. She no longer served the order, no longer killed in God's name. She blinked a couple times, a small look of what appeared to be confusion barely visible on her face, the first sign of any emotion she'd shown this whole evening.

"...I was..." She corrected herself. "I was a weapon, at least, that is what I have always believed."