Vanessa the 10th: A Hit List
i.
Her nostrils flared at the stench, sickeningly sweet and horrible as she stumbled over another body. There would be no witnesses tonight. The entire dimension was at war. Her guns were holstered, her sword hanging limply by her side, dragging the soft earth from tingling fingers as she stared down with dry eyes at her blood-soaked feet. A soft, breathy moan escaped her throat. They were dead. Everything was dead. The world was dead. She, however, was alive and breathing. She craved the sound of the hateful swords, clanging harshly in the distance behind her. Violet eyes slid closed, and a low moan rumbled in her slender throat.
Running footsteps clattered furiously towards her, and she delivered their souls to Thanatos. Her Thanatos, of the tenth. Not the first. They were all strong, young warriors. Most of them were men. She lifted the katana once more. They were foolish, they were human, and they all died. They were dead even before they could touch her. The screams drowned out the soft, wet crunch of steel through human flesh.
Her violet gaze, dark with bloodlust and anger swept all throughout the new pile of dead bodies. Dead, rotting, stinking children of the earth. Soon, their bones would be picked clean by the ravens. She felt the hum of magic, its’ pulse as familiar as her own beating heart. She knelt down and felt-beyond the veil of bodies-for the earth. Wet with blood and hatred she pushed down onto the land and plants bloomed out of the bodies.
“Sanction! Morte Blossom!” The plants’ heads were Venus flytraps: hungry for more than just insects. They chewed and spit acid upon the mages that planned to blow her away with wind magic. Her weakness. But not in this dimension. She was queen, and she was going to kill everyone that stood in her way.
She was going to murder the first dimension’s Vanessa, whatever it took.
Thunder rocked the night sky, carrying with it the souls of the children, straight to her Thanatos. She wondered if he would appreciate the gift, and smiled despite her anger.
The thunder of this dimension was pure-white against the dark ruby of the sky, the great black clouds not daring to hide the moon. She knew that they all saw her, and that after several hours, she remained untouched. She was a child that wore the perfume of the dead upon her dark curls.
A glittering blade flew at her throat from behind, and she turned--fiery, malicious eyes blinding her as agony bit at her shoulder.
In reply, she made short work of the now-corpse. Poor, dead fool. Pain ripped through her body, sweet as a love song, fueling her anger. It was her left shoulder, the one that Messiah had healed; the shoulder that Thanatos had cut--the shoulder that Beelze's tongue had lapped up blood.
She tasted her own blood and licked her lips with distaste as she held the would-be assassin up high on the end of her katana--and then, acting on a whim, she concentrated, reforming the katana into a long, horse-shaped weapon with a gleaming, silver drill.
She held him there, dangling between the weeping eyes of heaven, and the maddening laughter of hell. She let gravity do its' job, impaling the would-be assassin to the hilt. He had drawn her blood--and in return, she drew his last breath from his chapped, frozen lips. This was fair salvage, after all.
She dropped the corpse to the earth with a swift jerk. Freezing rain weighed down her curls and bit on the wound on her cheek. The boy had time to cry, and cry he did, until he had wet his hakama. The scent of ammonia mixed with blood was euphoric, and this pleased the 10th-dimension druid queen.
A quick glance up told her that the boy's comrades were fleeing now, running away from the battlefield, from her, from the insane woman with the horse-head sword.
They ran screaming her name.
Fox-demon. She-wolf. Black Fox.
Lightning split the sky.
She gave chase.
Wait for me, first Vanessa. I’m coming for you.
The estate where the First Triumvirate was burned black. There was smoke everywhere, and the stench of the dead seeped into her skin.
Vanessa the 10th took her time as black roses bloomed from the tracks left by her combat boots. She was not of this dimension, but the 10th was possessive: she would make sure that they all remembered her name. It was her that they would be bargaining with, not their queen.
The garden was half the size of hers; she understood that the first Messiah tended to the garden instead of the Queen. This Vanessa was frail, her heart fragile and easily broken.
Vanessa the 10th smiled. It was exactly why she wanted to complete the job.
I had to crawl on broken legs to get where I am now. Pity does not make a perfect queen. It does not become you. It does not become me.
“Who's there?”
The 10th stayed silent. The First Thanatos was a courageous one. There was no scarf, and his hair was longer than her Thanatos. He carried a scythe, and it was ancient and long and white as bone. Unlike her Thantos, however-his hair was limp and stringy, and blended perfectly with the burnt trees.
“We know what you came for, but that doesn't mean we'll allow you to do as you please.”
There were tears in the 10th's eyes. No matter what the dimension, she could never bring herself to harm the people she loved.
“We'll protect our Vanessa with our lives-if we have to. Step into the light, intruder. It does not become you.”
The 10th murmured, her back to an ash-grey tree. “If I step into the light, mayhap thou will be scared of me.”
“Vanessa? You're supposed to be aslee--” he never got to finish his sentence, as a large black puma lunged for his throat. She'd thought that the first-generation Thanatos would struggle more. She thought that he was a fighter.
And a fighter he was. The 10th was thrown back, roughly, until she hit a wall of the manor. The wall crumbled; but the 10th's panther form held. She felt the rush of adrenaline and her blood quickened. Excellent.
Thanatos the First had acted automatically-there had been a large black thing that had attacked him. He deflected the attacker with his scythe and pushed, hard, until the thing hit the wall of his home. He'd heard from Messiah that there would be a creature that would attack tonight, attack and steal away their precious little angel.
There was no way that was happening.
I just have to buy enough time for Beelze to finish the spell.
Her nostrils flared at the stench, sickeningly sweet and horrible as she stumbled over another body. There would be no witnesses tonight. The entire dimension was at war. Her guns were holstered, her sword hanging limply by her side, dragging the soft earth from tingling fingers as she stared down with dry eyes at her blood-soaked feet. A soft, breathy moan escaped her throat. They were dead. Everything was dead. The world was dead. She, however, was alive and breathing. She craved the sound of the hateful swords, clanging harshly in the distance behind her. Violet eyes slid closed, and a low moan rumbled in her slender throat.
Running footsteps clattered furiously towards her, and she delivered their souls to Thanatos. Her Thanatos, of the tenth. Not the first. They were all strong, young warriors. Most of them were men. She lifted the katana once more. They were foolish, they were human, and they all died. They were dead even before they could touch her. The screams drowned out the soft, wet crunch of steel through human flesh.
Her violet gaze, dark with bloodlust and anger swept all throughout the new pile of dead bodies. Dead, rotting, stinking children of the earth. Soon, their bones would be picked clean by the ravens. She felt the hum of magic, its’ pulse as familiar as her own beating heart. She knelt down and felt-beyond the veil of bodies-for the earth. Wet with blood and hatred she pushed down onto the land and plants bloomed out of the bodies.
“Sanction! Morte Blossom!” The plants’ heads were Venus flytraps: hungry for more than just insects. They chewed and spit acid upon the mages that planned to blow her away with wind magic. Her weakness. But not in this dimension. She was queen, and she was going to kill everyone that stood in her way.
She was going to murder the first dimension’s Vanessa, whatever it took.
Thunder rocked the night sky, carrying with it the souls of the children, straight to her Thanatos. She wondered if he would appreciate the gift, and smiled despite her anger.
The thunder of this dimension was pure-white against the dark ruby of the sky, the great black clouds not daring to hide the moon. She knew that they all saw her, and that after several hours, she remained untouched. She was a child that wore the perfume of the dead upon her dark curls.
A glittering blade flew at her throat from behind, and she turned--fiery, malicious eyes blinding her as agony bit at her shoulder.
In reply, she made short work of the now-corpse. Poor, dead fool. Pain ripped through her body, sweet as a love song, fueling her anger. It was her left shoulder, the one that Messiah had healed; the shoulder that Thanatos had cut--the shoulder that Beelze's tongue had lapped up blood.
She tasted her own blood and licked her lips with distaste as she held the would-be assassin up high on the end of her katana--and then, acting on a whim, she concentrated, reforming the katana into a long, horse-shaped weapon with a gleaming, silver drill.
She held him there, dangling between the weeping eyes of heaven, and the maddening laughter of hell. She let gravity do its' job, impaling the would-be assassin to the hilt. He had drawn her blood--and in return, she drew his last breath from his chapped, frozen lips. This was fair salvage, after all.
She dropped the corpse to the earth with a swift jerk. Freezing rain weighed down her curls and bit on the wound on her cheek. The boy had time to cry, and cry he did, until he had wet his hakama. The scent of ammonia mixed with blood was euphoric, and this pleased the 10th-dimension druid queen.
A quick glance up told her that the boy's comrades were fleeing now, running away from the battlefield, from her, from the insane woman with the horse-head sword.
They ran screaming her name.
Fox-demon. She-wolf. Black Fox.
Lightning split the sky.
She gave chase.
Wait for me, first Vanessa. I’m coming for you.
The estate where the First Triumvirate was burned black. There was smoke everywhere, and the stench of the dead seeped into her skin.
Vanessa the 10th took her time as black roses bloomed from the tracks left by her combat boots. She was not of this dimension, but the 10th was possessive: she would make sure that they all remembered her name. It was her that they would be bargaining with, not their queen.
The garden was half the size of hers; she understood that the first Messiah tended to the garden instead of the Queen. This Vanessa was frail, her heart fragile and easily broken.
Vanessa the 10th smiled. It was exactly why she wanted to complete the job.
I had to crawl on broken legs to get where I am now. Pity does not make a perfect queen. It does not become you. It does not become me.
“Who's there?”
The 10th stayed silent. The First Thanatos was a courageous one. There was no scarf, and his hair was longer than her Thanatos. He carried a scythe, and it was ancient and long and white as bone. Unlike her Thantos, however-his hair was limp and stringy, and blended perfectly with the burnt trees.
“We know what you came for, but that doesn't mean we'll allow you to do as you please.”
There were tears in the 10th's eyes. No matter what the dimension, she could never bring herself to harm the people she loved.
“We'll protect our Vanessa with our lives-if we have to. Step into the light, intruder. It does not become you.”
The 10th murmured, her back to an ash-grey tree. “If I step into the light, mayhap thou will be scared of me.”
“Vanessa? You're supposed to be aslee--” he never got to finish his sentence, as a large black puma lunged for his throat. She'd thought that the first-generation Thanatos would struggle more. She thought that he was a fighter.
And a fighter he was. The 10th was thrown back, roughly, until she hit a wall of the manor. The wall crumbled; but the 10th's panther form held. She felt the rush of adrenaline and her blood quickened. Excellent.
Thanatos the First had acted automatically-there had been a large black thing that had attacked him. He deflected the attacker with his scythe and pushed, hard, until the thing hit the wall of his home. He'd heard from Messiah that there would be a creature that would attack tonight, attack and steal away their precious little angel.
There was no way that was happening.
I just have to buy enough time for Beelze to finish the spell.