As Natasha opened her eyes, the world swung into lurry focus. A heavy blanket enveloped her, the bars of a wooden crib loomed above. She was trapped. The unfamiliar helplessness filled her mind. A whimper escaped her lips; a tiny sound lost into the vastness of the room. Her limbs, heavy as lead, refused to obey her. She tried to lift her arms; a frustrated sigh escaped her. Her hands fell back to the mattress.
She realized that her body, once tempered to handle the harshness of the hot desert and trained for the freezing coldness of Antarctica, had turned into that of an infant. Her tiny hands struggled with tiny fingers barley holding on to the bars. The tiny feet that could barely push her forwards, let alone support her up, her eyes barely focusing on the bars in front of her face gazed to the window. There, perched on the sill, was a colossal, scaly beast, a creature only seen on ancient Japanese temple carvings, and story books. Her heart leaped, a sensation entirely new to her.
its figure majestic and scary. Its breath, strong and smoky, billowed from its mouth. its skin gleamed as the morning sun shone on it back. its wings covered the morning skies as it stretched the out and took off with the air rushing, shaking the room.
suddenly the doors swung open, women dressed in crisp, black dresses with white aprons, tied neatly to their waists. A small, starched black cap with white lining perched on their heads. they moved with practiced efficiency, picked on her up, changing her, and gently washing and grooming her before placing her back into the crib. Others entered, bearing plates and spoons. They fed her then put her back into the bed. A strong urge came from her stomach. Her insides twisted and turned, then found instant relief. Then a strong, stinky smell enveloped the room. The room filled with the utterly strong stench of decay. Her body seemed to act by instinct, and she let out a loud cry. The annoying loud cry of a high-pitched child's voice echoed in the room.
The tears streaming down her face, and the high pitch scream, both felt entirely new to her. A strong warmth coming from her behind only meant one thing. Her body betrayed her. The sheer embarrassment and the sense of wanting to hide in a corner alone were something she never knew.
Out of nowhere, huge hand reached out to her, her body tried to move but couldn't. her heart pumped to the point that it felt like it was going to pump out her chest. Her instincts screamed telling her to run but her tiny weak infant body couldn't move a muscle. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the worst. She felt the hands grab her and hold her high. Then something grasped her waist and the unpleasant warmth vanished. It was just a maid changing her diaper.
Natasha's life had been defined by military training, combat and doing high stake missions. She had no idea what was going on. She was in the body of an infant, was being tended to by strange women dressed in luxurious robs and had no control over her own bodily functions. Her mind couldn't compute to what was going on. suddenly someone else walked into the room. The atmosphere drastically changed. The maids in the room all stopped in their tracks and face her then bowed their heads.
A woman dressed in the finest silk, shimmering jewels, entered. Her steps as graceful as a dancer, a dazzling g smile radiating on her face as its held high. she walked closer to the crib and bent down. Natasha, her heart pounding, could only watch as she came closer and closer. She approached the crib and leaned closer, her lips brushing against her forehead.
" My queen, the child has been groomed and fed as you asked, " one of the maids who looked to be the high positioned one said to the woman.
" No need, you may leave the room," the woman replied.
Natasha struggled to comprehend. monarchy, a relic of the past, was now being played out before her. The pieces to the puzzle couldn't connect, her mind race as it stopped on a past memory of an infiltration mission.
Back in Japan, the mission was to infiltrate the star born kin, a religious that had captured the attention of the nation. The star born kin, with their unwavering faith to the life after death belief for serial mass murder. Their teaching of hope, and their acts of charity had drawn crowds of people. They offered shelter to the homeless, provided for the orphans and offered solace to the grieving. Their temples were filled with people from all over the country.
The authorities, seeing no immediate threat allowed for the group to thrive in the country. The nation enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity until a terrorist attack rocked the nation, claiming the prime minister. A bomb exploded as he was walking in the street of Tokyo giving some giftbag to the people living in the streets. A person walked close to him; they shook hand then he saw a tear coming from the persons eyes and the next moment, "Bang!!"
Ashes flew into the skies, severed bodies lay scattered on the ground, the cries of children who had lost their loved ones filled the atmosphere, and the prime minister's body was utterly demolished. It was a gruesome task for the clean-up crew to identify the bodies. Severed body parts were mixed together, some so pulverized that they were barely recognizable, just pools of blood. Debris was spread throughout the city of Tokyo, and dust clouds formed in the sky.
Investigations led by Sakura showed that the person who made contact with the prime minister was connected to the star born kin. The sheer sight of the investigation made most of the team members turn their heads in disgust. The blood painted on the streets, the destruction of the buildings to the point of leverage and the countless lives lost on that day. No one could bring themselves to look at the screen showing the details of the incident. Sakura's face turned pale, her hands trembled as she tried to focus on the evidence
In the back, Natasha was actually eating ramen with a cooked egg, the scene before her was of no concern to her, " so when are we going to take the target out?" she asked, her face expressionless, as she slurped the noodles. all eyes were locked on to her. she continued eating." how can you eat in a situation like this," Sakura asked, her voice filled with disbelief. "I don't do missions on an empty stomach; it wastes my energy," she replied. in her mind the dead bodies and the mass destruction were just a normal Tuesday.
Her broken mind never made sense of why everyone was so frustrated by the sight of the severed arms, exposed guts and splattered blood. when she was younger, at the age of ten, training with Beatris had included killing hostages of war. She had to pull the trigger on people she knew nothing of. She couldn't even bring herself to look at them. The hostages were trebling at guns point; their faces filled with terror as they scrambled in their tied ropes, trying to get free. her hands shaking, she couldn't even aim, and she fell to her knees, the weight of the trigger crushed her.
Beatris took the gun from her hand, told her to take a good look at her as she gets the job done. She aimed, steady as a statue, the glint of steel reflected in her cold eyes. Screams were let out by the hostages crying out for mercy, Natasha squeezed her eyes shut as the sound of the screaming got louder.
" Fare well, " Beatriss whispered, the words swallowed by the gunfire. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" the shots echoed across the fields; each one a hummer blows against Natasha's soul.
Day after day, the training continued. First, Beatris's hand guiding Natasha's, forcing the trigger. Then, Natasha's fingers, stiff and trembling at first, started to pull the trigger herself. Each squeeze was a step into a darkness Natasha would never escape.
the faces of the victims, the fear, the peas, the final silent gasp became a blur. Her emotions dulled, the vibrant color of her soul slowly fading to a monochrome gray. Regret, pity, mercy... these were luxuries she could no longer afford. They'd been traded for something else, something cold and hard and undeniably efficient. The cold glint of steel, the sharp report of the gun, the silent finality of death. She became a weapon, a tool, her humanity a casualty of war. Each pull of the trigger was a step further from the girl she once was, a step deeper into the abyss.
At some point they started changing the methods. They started with a simple pistol, then progressed to a knife. Beatris showed Natasha how to make precise cuts, targeting the most vital areas to inflict mortal wounds from which the victims would never recover from. Natasha watched as the light in their eyes faded away, a stark contrast to the life that had once burned within them. And, to "spice things up," in Beatris's cruel terms, she would sometimes set some of the hostages free, leaving Natasha alone to hunt them down with only a dagger. She had to move swiftly, eliminate them all. If even one of them got away from her, she would be punished. Beatris would whip her forty times and withhold her food for the week. The fear of the whip, the taste of hunger, and the constant threats of violence became as familiar as the taste of blood.
No one would escape Natasha's grasp, and if any one did, she would be whipped. Beatris would ensure the whip inflicts pain without leaving any scars, preserving her flawless skin. The memory of the whips sting was seared into her mind; every time she went to the training fields, the phantom pain returned. each trigger pulled felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders, replacing the pain with precise, almost ritualistic actions of eliminating a target. The punishment would increase with every target missed. The people in front of her became targets; her mind automatically marked them, her scanning, her mind placing the path, her muscles tensing, her breathing shallow. If Beatris gave the word, she would eliminate them instantly, so quickly the victim would never realize their death. The faces of fellow trainees, the guards, even Beatris herself, they were all potential targets. Friendship once a distant memory, was now a completely foreign concept. Only one person remained clear in her mind: Beatris.
The sting of the whip and the echoes of Beatris's voice were the ghost that haunted Natasha. they were the price of failure, a price she could never afford to pay. She would run her hand across her thigh, the feeling the familiar weight of the diamond edge dagger, a tangible promise of her unwavering resolve. her movement a dance of death, each step calculated, each breath controlled. The words Non shall escape alive pulsed in her mind, a silent command that dictated every action. She tested the weight of the dagger, its balance a familiar comfort.
When she was done with the noodles, she went to her room. No one would dare intruded her room without announcing themselves. Her room, an impenetrable fortress. Pressure plate placed beneath the floors; infrared sensors crisscrossed the air the sliest movement triggered a cascade of events. Tiny needle flying toward the target that triggered the trap, would erupt from concealed vent in the walls. One of their team members intruded and was found on the floor. His whole body covered in a porcupine state bloody mess. Blood on the floor laid out like a red carpet on the entrance to the castle.
The sight of her fallen teammate, barely registered. No flicker of emotion crossed her face. She simply surveyed the scene, her eyes cold and assessing." he should have asked before stepping in to my room." she stated, her voice devoid of infliction, then she turned away, already focused on the next task. Even if one manages to get into her from the sheer number of guns, swords, daggers, and knives in her room would make their spirit jump out of their body. She would have a specific weapon for a specific mission.
This time she only took a diamond edge dagger and silenced pistol, al strapped to her thigh to the mission. Natasha had gotten invited by one of The Star Born Kin's high-ranking members as a date. A party was being held at one of their churches to welcome new members. Yusuke Sakamoto, the founder of the church, personally hosted this gathering to welcome the newcomers. Natasha was with a man called Yuji Takane as he dates. She had caught his eye when she joined their church a few weeks before.
The Star Born's church was a stark contrast to her own spartan quatres. Gleaming white walls, soft ethereal light illuminating the room. incents filled the air, a cloying sweetness that masked the subtle Metallica blood scent floating in the air, a scent that she knew very well. when they arrived, the atmosphere, was so joys, people laughing, children running around, food being placed on the tables. Everything was perfectly placed to mask the scent of blood floating in the air.
Every person had arrived at the event and Yusuke Sakamoto had taken the stage. loud claps, people cheering and chant of praise filled the huge room. The walls shacked, the windows wiggled, and the floors quacked as he approached the podium. Sudden silence hit the room as he raised his arms.
"My friends, today we celebrate for our lord Astralys has given us more members to add to our family." Yusuke stated. The crowd went wild, quacks bigger then the last erupted. " May we welcome our new family to the stage "
Hands were clapping so loudly, the building started showing cracks in the ceiling. Dust from the Ceiling fell in the crowd and it only seemed to make them cheer louder. People let out tears of joy welcoming there as they escorted their new comrades towards the stage." welcome, we all welcome you with all our open arms," Sakamoto continued. " Here we all see each other as brothers and sisters, do not be afraid," he comforted them as he took cups filled with wine. The claps got louder, the chants stronger and the praises more vigorous as he handed the cups to the people on the stage. the cups filled to the brim with the brightly colored wine. They all took the cups and drunk from them and suddenly silenced.
Wine dripping from the cups were emptied, drops of some dripped on the ground and all the cups were emptied. A wave of expectance blew in to the atmosphere, people were on the edge of their seats and suddenly one of them stared coughing. the coughs got worse, and he started coughing blood. he died on stage and the crowd cheered.
Natasha's hands tightened around the grip of her pistol, her knuckles cracked. the scene before her, a dead man on the stage, the joy, conformed the rumors she was hearing. This never happened on the day that she was welcomed to the church. Her drink was poisoned, the smell of the impurity penetrated her nose, but she drunk from the cup any way. She tasted the win, a faint bitterness that did not faze her. A tiny, meticulously crafted capsule of antidote, hidden within a cavity in one of her molars, dissolved the poison before it could take effect. At that time, she though it was someone who figured out her identity, but the event shown to her on that showed that it was normal.
The dead body was taken to of the stage. people cheered, Sakamoto stated " Our brother has been chosen by Astralys, taken to enjoy the beauties of the other world, chosen to live in peace with people of other races. her hand gripped tightly on the silenced gun, her mind raced, calculating the optimal rout the target, Yusuke Sakamoto, she would slip through the crowd, get to the side of the church's walls, run with al her might to one the windows. She did as her brain calculated and when she got to the window she broke through with her back to the window and "Bang!"
Then, darkness.
When she came back to her senses, she was in the arms of the queen, on the balcony, watching as the sun bathe the houses below. The raise from the sun covered them and an unfamiliar warmth came over her. The queens embrace, a heave she had never known stole the tension from her muscles. for the first time, she felt safe in some one's arms. Her voice a soothing melody. Her heart had slowed down and she felt safe in some one's arms for the first time.
"My daughter Lilly, you'll always be safe by my side, no one will come close to your life" the queen stated." Your father may had rejected you, but I will always be by your side."
Natasha realized that she had been reborn in a family of royalty and was then on named Lilly.