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"Hellen Astor, is it... well, it's certainly an orphan's name," the tan, slanted-eyed human woman spoke in a tepid drawl, her eyes gazing at Nicole like a snake, ready to strike at any moment.

Not quite sure whether the comment should elicit a response, Nicole nodded stiffly in response, nervously tightening the grip on the chair. She was having trouble breathing; the walls of the private office seemed to be collapsing inwards toward her, and the women in the portraits were watching keenly her every move. But that was just that monster's power, she knew. This was the presence of evil; there was no other word Nicole could think to describe it.

This is it. Face to front with the demon. Just one more hurdle and I can plan my next move...

The monster waved her silken gloved hand listlessly in the air, and the bodyguard to her left, a huge hulking lion, removed the shriveled butt from her cigarette holder, and replaced it with a fresh one from the pack in his breast pocket. The woman took a deep drag, blowing an ashen cloud onto the papers she held in her hands.

She placed the papers down on her desk. Her stare intensified. "The first thing I want you to know, Hellen, is that I usually don't hire. I buy my employees, when they're nice and young, say, half your age at most? ...And do you know why I buy them young, Hellen?"

Nicole didn't like the way the woman was speaking. There was spite in her tone. Mockery. Could she have blundered somewhere in the paperwork? Did she not buy the name? Or could it be that this woman was always this foul?

"N-No Madam Alarice..." Nicole managed to croak out, doubting any of the immediate answers buzzing on the surface of her mind.

Clearly unamused, Alarice continued in a harsh staccato. "Because when children grow up, they start to care about things, and caring about anything that isn't strictly work, is dire poison to business. So I buy them young, making sure they care only about their job and fulfilling my wishes. Now... you say you're an orphan, that there isn't much else in the world that you care_about... but I have no way of proving that, do I? If you might _care about something else, say... leaking information to my competitors... I would just be a sitting duck to that scheme, wouldn't I? This is the impasse that I've reached... how can I tell where your true loyalties lie? There's no foolproof way to know, now is there?"

It stood to reason that a heavily guarded arms dealer would be distrusting and cautious, yet Nicole still cursed her poor luck internally. Still, she dare not show any weakness, nor fear. Once more, all Nicole could do was choke down her frustration and reply, "No Madam Alarice..."

The arms dealer leaned back in her elaborately carved desk chair, distrust stirring in her eyes. Her lips wrapped around her holder threateningly, as if she were about to crush it with her teeth. She sucked in, and spoke, smoke billowing out the sides of her mouth, "The only reason I'm even considering you is because Sandoval has said such praise for you... well, that and you're human."

As the women then folded some loose hair behind her ear, it just then occurred to Nicole that Alarice was intensely beautiful. Her face was well-formed, round and vibrant cheeks, prominent cheekbones and lustrous raven hair that fell down to her shoulders. There was nothing inherently frightening about her appearance, but her expressions, body language... it all reeked of contempt. And that look in her eyes... that condescending look of disgust... It made Nicole wanted to pound her pretty little face in.

The beast pressed on, "But thankfully for you, I have means of testing loyalty... or desperation at the very least... so if we're going to build a trusting work relationship here... I'm going to need to see your potential for loyalty firsthand."

Nicole nodded resolutely; she'd just complete a test or two and that would be it. "Very well then. How shall I prove myself?"

The response was immediate. "You can start by telling me your real name."

Nicole could practically feel her pupils dilate as her face fell. It felt as though something was gripping onto her spine in a stranglehold. Her voice failed her as she spoke, "I did... It's Hellen Ast-"

"-Shall I have you killed and skinned alive?" The woman smiled, an excited madness emerging in her gaze.

"Nicole Arnswold!" she blurted out, no longer able to stomach her panic.

This was bad. She shouldn't have been so quick to give up her real name... This monster would use it against her, she knew she would. But it was impossible to keep up the charade under this pressure, this intangibly threatening presence. Her words alone her frightening, but that wasn't the true source of the pressure; there was death etched in her tone. The psychological terror was all too real.

Nicole bit her trembling lip as she continued, trying fruitlessly to calm herself, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before... I didn't want where I came from to be hinder my chances, and-"

"-I don't care what your excuse is," Alarice interjected. "Believe you me, I'm already well informed of who you are and where you came from. A human girl comes walking in asking for a job out of the blue, I want to know who she is." After one more deep drag, she waved her hand once more, her cigarette immediately replaced. "But that's beside the point. Your story as an orphan still checks out, and as far as my informants know there's no tie between you and any groups that want me dead. So I'll let this one little mistake slide if you answer a question adequately for me. So, Nicole Arnswold, why do you want to work for me?"

This was really bad. Nicole had of course prepared an answer for such a question should it come: she looked up to "most powerful woman in the world" as a role model and wanted to do follow her curtails... but after experiencing the true presence of Alarice, she that it wouldn't fly; it was too bland, too uncreative, and she now realized that trying to praise this thing would be a strained futile attempt, undoubtedly reveal her intent. "I just..." She needed a response that would make an impression, something that would stick hard. It occurred to her that for such an impression, it had to be a detestable malicious answer. Nicole cracked a wicked smile."...Thought it might be nice to get paid for killing people..."

There was no response; Alarice just stared at her, as if she were reading something... As the room stilled to a hush, the silence of it all was excruciating, it made Nicole want to tear her hair out and scream out her lungs. But still she matched the monster's gaze, holding her fear down until it felt as though her gut was fit to first. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the monster's glower relaxed. "Not a bad response... I can respect that sort of mindset. But this job isn't just about making people bleed, though you'll certainly have your fill of that... There are two ultimate purposes to this job, purposes that you must bind to your heart inviolably as religious doctrine. And these are, A: protecting me, and B: obeying my orders."

The next word was spoken with harsh emphasis, ringing in Nicole's head, "Unconditionally."

"I understand," Nicole replied, sweat trickling down her brow as spoke.

The woman cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure you do, with that generic "yes-man" response, not that I don't appreciate the compliance. Allow me to demonstrate what I mean by 'unconditional loyalty', Hendrik?"

"Yes Lady Alarice?" responded the bodyguard to her right, a muscular boar with dangerous foot-long tusks.

The woman smiled at the boar, and chimed in a sweet tone, "Be a dear and rip out your left ear for me."

Hendrik's response was given without a moment's hesitation, the coolness of the reply causing Nicole's eyes to widen in shock, "It would be my pleasure."

All Nicole could and watch in a paralyzed fear at what the man did to himself. Grabbing the ear on upper part of his long droopy head, he took one deep breath. And then he yanked downwards. For less than a second, the harsh, sickening sound of cartilage and sinew being torn was all too audible in the room. And then just like that, the deed was done; the boar held his severed ear in his left hand. Nicole felt as though she might retch when she noticed an extra unevenly torn flap of skin and fur dangling from the torn end of the ear. Blood was running down the side of his head like a small red river, dripping and splattering onto his rather expensive-looking suit jacket, and onto the floor below.

The effort in concealing his pain was all too evident in the unevenness of his speech, how he gritted his teeth as he spoke, and his bated breaths. "Finished... My Lady."

Nicole was rattled and sickened by what she had seen, her insides begging her to look away from the bloody site. And yet the whole time Alarice had watched the entire deed with a dreary expression, as if she were watching a child solving a multiplication problem. That alone unsettled Nicole, but then, upon hearing Alarice's next command, she experienced what would only be described as abject horror.

"Now eat it."

"At once My Lady."

Nicole wanted to look away, yet her body wouldn't let her; she was frozen in place, her eyes transfixed on the bloody scene. She watched helplessly as the massive man, shoved the nine-inch ear with the uneven tear of flesh into his mouth as if it were a strip of jerky, and began chewing fiercely. The crunching noises of the boar masticating his own rubbery cartilage would haunt Nicole for many weeks to come, she knew.

Hendrik then attempted to swallow unsuccessfully; for a moment he looked as though he was about to choke, eyes shaking uncontrollably as he held a hand up to his throat, trying desperately to force his own flesh and blood down to his stomach. Suddenly the blood from the side of his head was spewing out anew, racing down his head and neck faster than when the wound was stuck in thick dark-red streams. He was clearly in excruciating pain, yet he continued his task without resignation, forcing the partly chewed ear back up from his throat so he could further chew it. He chewed, chewed, and then he swallowed properly, the nauseating sound of the gulp filling the room.

Having finished the deed, Henrik immediately took in a great gasp of air; his teeth were stained with blood, and bits of his fur were caught between his teeth. "Finished... my lady," he said in a quivering strained voice as he addressed his master, tears now running down his shaking eyes.

Alarice frowned. "Do it quicker next time."

Herndrik's next words made Nicole hurt all over, as they were steeped in an illogically painful sorrow. "My sincerest apologies Lady Alarice... I will gladly try once more to redeem myself. Right now if you so wish."

Alarice just rolled her eyes at that. "I've been told that more than once... forget it. As you were."

It was at this moment that Nicole finally understood. She had always took the monster that destroyed Ma'heed's village to be incurably evil, but she never truly understood what evil was until she saw the genuine disappointment Hendrix had expressed, as if he had failed the most important task of his life.This was the sort of madness and power of dominating power that that the beast possessed. This was the monster that crushed Ma'heed's village and ruined her life. THIS was what she had to slay.

The evil was real.

And then, the monster's gaze returned to Nicole. Her goosebumps hardened. "It could do you some good to take a leaf out of Hendrik's book... now, with this unconditional loyalty in mind, let's say that hypothetically, if I were to tell you right now, to take stab yourself in the eye, would you do it?"

Nicole felt the life flee from her body, crawling out of her skin and dripping onto the floor; it was obvious that this was more than just a hypothetical question.

Stand strong Nicole, don't let her get to you she told herself. This monster can smell fear. Losing one eye would be nothing compared to what Ma'heed and the villagers lost that day. You can do this... just open your mouth and let the words come out!

Nicole clenched her teeth hard before responding, trembling in her boots in terror of what was to come next. "...Yes."

Alarice seemed satisfied with the response. Her lips curled up into a cat-like smile as she clasped her hands together in glee. "Good. And you're in luck too... I don't tell my employees to harm themselves in such a way that might hinder their performance. But if my humble business and I are to take you under our auspices then... there's just one last little test of loyalty I must foist upon you... excuse me for a brief moment."

Alarice reached under her desk, and grabbed onto something that Nicole couldn't see, producing some soft scraping sounds of metal on metal from under the thick wooden desk. It took a moment for Nicole to realize: she was loading a gun. And then lo and behold there it was. Two guns actually, placed side to side onto the desk in front of her, laying threateningly on the desk, staring at Nicole with deadly intent, setting her legs to trembling.

"There are two guns here as you can see. One is loaded, one is not. You'll be putting the muzzle of one to your head and firing. If you pick the right one, congratulations, you're hired. If you prick wrong, then well I'm sure you can figure out what that means. You see, if you hold your life dear, then your life is worthless. So if that's the case, then you best change your tune now. Now then, pick; once you touch one you must commit."

Nicole's heart gave a leap; she couldn't believe this. It wasn't fair... it didn't make sense. Why was this happening? This was all too much. She needed to get out before she was swallowed whole by fear. But the guns... If she picks the one with the bullet... she could shoot the beast and end it all here. But no, she couldn't do this alone, she needed Ma'heed... but he wasn't...

"Deliberating are we?" interrupted the monster, mockery thick in her slimy voice, cutting her off from her thoughts of panic. "Afraid to die, after all?"

An idea stuck her. "It's not that..." Nicole spoke, trying her hardest to sound convincing. "Isn't this a bit dangerous? Giving a loaded gun to third party in such close quarters? What if I really did have ill intentions toward you?"

There was a brief pause, and then beast laughed a shrill, high pitched laugh, showing off a pair of perfectly white fangs. "Oh that's so sweet, thinking about my safety. But rest assured... I can snatch bullets out of the air. If anyone tries that, and something not too dissimilar has happened once before, I just stop them, capture them, have some fun with them... and eventually dispose... But I suppose you do have a good eye for protection though. I like that."

A good eye for protection?

Something about the comment struck her as odd. There was something deliberate to the way it was spoken, forced even. Forced into such a perilous condition, her mind was processing at a blazing speed unlike she had even experienced for. She was recalling everything that was said during the meeting as her eyes scanned the room in an unfettered haste, trying to think of some sort of clue... there was no way this was random.

And then she noticed; the guns were facing different directions, the barrel of one gun facing her, the other toward Alarice.

Two ultimate conditions...

Her eyes grew wide. That was it; it had to be the right answer!But what if... No, she was right. She had to be. It wasn't going to end here. It _couldn't_end here. She had a reason to fight on against this storm, and she was damn well not going to leave things unfinished.

She lifted her hand off the armrest, and slowly reached for the guns.

She grabbed the gun that faced the monster.

She aimed it against the side of her head, finger on the trigger.

She swallowed her spit.

"Go on," the fiend urged.

She fired...................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................air.

Having realized that she was alive, it felt as though her soul entirely left her body. Hands shaking, she returned the firearm do the desk, the strength in her fingers sapped clean by the time she dropped it, then collapsing backwards into the chair. It was a victory, but it felt more like a defeat.

"Alright... you pass," the monster spoke casually, taking out some records from under her desk and scribbling on them with a quill pen. "Lenard, escort our newest member to the servants' quarters and show her to a vacant room... Oh, and inform Sandoval that he's to be her combat instructor, starting first thing tomorrow morning, and make sure he spares no effort in training her bloody; she very well may be a gemstone in the rough."

"As you command." The lion walked toward Nicole, holding out his paw to help her out of the chair. She was grateful for that much at least. She walked with labored steps as he showed her out of the room.

With nothing but a hazed hollow buzzing in her exhausted mind, as Nicole walked out of the office, she heard one last exchange between the beast and her self-maimed pet. "Hendrik, dear?"

"Yes my lady?" There was a discernable fatigue to the boar's voice.

The last thing Nicole heard from the monster that day left her emptier still than when she realized she was alive. "Go clean up yourself and your uniform, but first call the maid to clean up this mess you made on my floor... you bleed like a pig."