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// Mima
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The moon was beautiful that day, when the couple embraced each others in their arms.
Romantic, wasn't it. Despite the chaos on the world, the knight confessed his feelings to whom he loved.
"I wish your hand, Mima."
"You do know I'm a priestess, don't you?"
"Not yet, marry me before the ordination. It will be accepted."
"It's too late now, tomorrow I'll be blessed by gods, with their power, I'll be with you fighting the Blight. Alistair, it was your fault not to meet me earlier... so..."
What they did that night wasn't ignored by a certain priest. The guy in cloak that was standing in the dark the whole time.
What they said, pierced his ears and stabbed his heart.
The priest was captivated at the moment he saw Mima walking in Denerim. He knew he was wrong, and he should be punished. But the dark flame inside wouldn't stop.
It burnt.
It blazed him out of control.
Though he tried to worship her as Venus, so this desire would calm, she betrayed him.
She committed such sin with the templar she met just this morning.
How was that humanly possible?
Oh, that smooth hair, that raven hair, being touched by the wind of lust.
Oh, that fragrant skin, getting held by cold, silver armored arms.
Oh, those cheery lips, letting out such lewd noises.
God, why are you doing this to your faithful servant? Why do you torment him so?
The stars began to dance, as they were blessing the couple in love.
The man in cloak stood still, his heart shattered, and so did his soul.
If she was such evil, then she will be punished.
The day after, Mima became a priestess, with divine power to support the knights in their war against the Blight.
She was the best magician at that time, so it was natural for the city to be happy.
Later that day, they moved to the battlefield.
The templar Alistair, was ordered to go to the frontline. He did his best and cut off an Orge's head.
Coming back victoriously, he gained a new sword, a captain job, and a smile from the priestess.
But those happy days wouldn't last long.
The Blight was strong, very strong. They invaded Orzammar and came with huge number. Soon, the human race was pushed back to Denerim.
At that time, the priestess' stomach got big enough to be seen.
"This is a blasphemy!" The High Priest claimed.
"We were in love before she became a priestess, this is the truth."
"Be silent!"
The High Priest was really angry, and the couple couldn't say any more.
"Even if it was the case, the fact that you're not married remains. Mima, Alistair, you both shall be executed."
"What?"
The shout fall into dead silence. In this hall, all the higher-ups of the land presented. They knew of Mima, they appraised Alistair, but the couple betrayed their hopes.
How disappointing.
"You disgusted this holy hall, both of you. Get them away!"
They got separated, Mima couldn't hear or see her love from the highest tower of Denerim, but she wasn't sad.
"This child, I wonder if her hair will be blonde like his?"
In deep thought, she didn't realize the door was opened and someone came in.
"Mima, has you known your crime?"
"Ah, High Priest. I have not."
"You had a child without marriage, it is."
"Well, I love him, so it's alright. Marriage is just a contract."
"How dare you!"
He ordered the guards to chain her up. With a face full of anger, the priest concluded she was a witch.
"A witch? How lame. Is that the only thing you can come up with?"
"I shall purify this evil, you all go away."
As the door closed. Mima saw something unholy in his eyes.
"I had so many hope in you, yet... Why did you do this?"
"I said, I love him."
"But he doesn't love you."
"What do you mean?"
"He fought bravely, for six months, he became a General, do you think he would still love someone that can't belong to him?"
"..."
"I heard he has a affair with the Duchess."
"Lies."
"No, he wasn't brought here because the Duchess decided to jail him somewhere. Namely her bedroom."
"Stop spouting nonsense, the Duchess was a great woman, and her husband just died last month, bravely fought for Denerim!"
"True, but the Duchess is young, and your General is the most handsome in the city."
"..."
"I pity you, and I want to give your a chance to redeem yourself."
"How?"
"Easy, abort the child, and become my first-hand disciple."
"I've never heard that you have a disciple."
"It's simple, you are to do anything I say without hesitation."
"And what do you mean by anything?"
"Anything means everything."
He drawed near, staring at Mima like he wanted to see through the clothes. His lips trembled.
"Heh, fuck off."
Mima spit at his face. The flag was triggered.
"You.Bitch!"
He slapped her hard. The anger erupted and the desire saved for so long couldn't be held back.
"You! With this evil body, your emerald hair, your voice, you are a witch! You corrupted me!"
That night, in the highest room on the highest tower, a demon was accusing someone else a demon. The scream was washed away by the storm, as the sky cried for a fallen priest, or it cried for the priestess that had lost everything.
There is no god in this world. Or if there is, it must be his plan.
To make a devil so much stronger than a man.
The next day, the guards found the priest's body on the floor, naked. His genital was ripped off and his face was hit by a stone, so hard it was barely recognizable. The witch, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.
That afternoon, it was an uproar in the Duke's house. The Duchess was killed brutally on her bed, bloody was everywhere and from the intestines shattered around, there was another victim. But all they could find was some blonde hair on the bed.
============================
Mima ran, and ran, and ran.
She wanted to run until she meet the end of the world.
Deserts, jungles, mountains, rivers, she crossed all. She kept running in the winter's storm, the summer's heat, the fall's wind and the spring's flowers. She ran until she couldn't run anymore, and she collapsed.
An old couple found her and brought her home, nursed her until she awoke. They spoke a language she didn't know, but it was fine, she didn't want to talk anyhow.
The couple tried to cheer her up, they were teachers of a school, though the village was far away. They seemed worried about Mima, as her date was coming.
Mima didn't want to keep the child, but she still had some human within, so she asked the couple to help.
The child was a cute girl, she has blond hair, like her father, but everything else she looked like Mima.
Mima didn't want the child to grow without a father, so she asked the couple to adopt her.
For two years being with the couple, Mima learnt their language. It was Japanese, the writing was hard, but the speaking was easier than she expected. Or just because she was a genius.
The couple had vast knowledge, they taught Mima about karma and the circle of life. They have gods in this land, but they don't rely on them, it was an eye-opening for the former priestess.
"So, it has been two years, shouldn't you give her a name already?" the old lady said.
"I can't, she doesn't have a surname."
The couple knew Mima had a dark past, so they didn't ask anything about the father. But they feared this girl would abandon her child if they adopted it.
"You can't call her 'Hey, geez' all the time, you know? Look, she even started to mimic you."
The kid gave a big smile and said 'hey, geez', but with her childish voice, it became something like 'hee, ze'.
"I don't care." Mima replied coldly.
The old couple sighed, they knew it can't be helped.
"Oh right, we will adopt her, can you give her a name now?"
"Ah ha!" Mima clapped her hands. "Sure, your surname is Kirisame, isn't it? Then... hm, her name will begin with 'Ma', like mine, and her mother's past was dead as a desert, so let's put sand in her name. Then... hm, maybe her name should be a little different than your Japanese names, since she is a foreigner after all... Marisa! Her name is Kirisame Marisa!"
Mima spent the day choosing the kanji for her child, and for her.
"Why this 'Mima'?" The old man asked. Since the kanji she chose was "Enchanting Devil".
"Because that was they called me."
The couple didn't say anything, and just put the paper to the locker.
Next day, Mima disappeared, leaving a letter.
I am not qualified as a mother, so I entrust Marisa to you.
Please worry not, I love her and I won't abandon her. I shall come back after I get my revenge.
Please be her parents, never talk to her about me. When I appear before her, I shall be nothing but her guide.
Mima
============================
The next few years, the Japanese youkai world had a new force. A woman with green hair who killed everything she came across, boasting about her skill and how she would destroy the humanity. She was so strong nobody dared to face her.
"Is there anyone strong here?" Mima shouted so the whole tavern could hear her.
But people had already known her, of course they kept silent. The owner approached her with a smile, as she was his regular.
"None is strong enough to take your challenge, Mima, but I heard some rumors about the youkai."
"Do share, and another wine." Mima laughed.
"Sure sure." The owner just waited for that, he quickly grabbed the most expensive wine in his cellar and came to Mima's table. "Now, listen, I believe you already knew about the Gap Demon?"
"Yes, people said she was a beautiful youkai that killed people before they even realized they'd been killed. Is she real?"
"Nobody saw her and came back alive, so I'm not sure, but rumor has it she defeated the Oni race and sealed the Four Devas under the deepest ground."
"I heard the Four Devas of the Oni were the strongest?"
"It's indeed true. But the Oni didn't have the brain, you know, with tactics and those craps. The Gap Demon on the other hand, is a cunning fox."
"So she tricked them? How?"
"I don't know, but of course she tricked them, there is nothing can stand an one-on-one fight with the Four Devas. Or so they said."
"Or so they said?"
"Yes, the Devas had a rival. They're not enemy, just that there was one youkai that was insanely powerful and kept up on them."
"Another wine!"
"That's right. I heard that youkai was strong enough to draw with the strongest Oni, Hoshiguma Yuugi! And you won't believe this, she is a youkai of flower!"
"What the fudge?"
"I know, incredible isn't it? Now the Oni was sealed, but the Gap Demon doesn't like someone stronger than her, or as strong as her you see, she challenged the youkai."
"Who won?"
"I don't know that, there was no rumor on that yet, maybe the fight hasn't even started."
"Where can I find this flower youkai?"
"Well, it's a little vague."
"Another wine, and one for everyone!"
"Sure sure, she resides in a castle called Mugenkan, but often goes out to take care of her personal garden in the west."
"What garden?"
"Garden of the Sun, she called it, but heck, it's a massive field of sunflowers. Just go west, you'll find it."
============================
The Garden of the Sun was easier to find that Mima thought. She knew this was a work of a youkai, but the sight stunned her.
It was so vast.
The Garden is as big as an ocean in Mima's eyes, the sunlight made the whole field burn a warm, summer light that possibly could calm every heart.
And at the edge of the field, stood a figure.
From behind, Mima could only recognize that was a woman, blond hair, holding a big parasol.
"Wow, so beautiful."
The girl heard it, and turned back. Mima got stunned again.
If she was standing beside her, none would praise Mima's beauty.
"Thank you." The lady said, her smile was so enchanting.
"Do you love sunflowers?" Mima didn't find anything else to say, but that was a decent breaking line.
"I'm not overly fond of them, I just think they are a fragment of life. Unimportant, but necessary."
Mima thought this field is a bit too much necessity, but since she's the flower youkai, it's understandable.
"I see, that sounds alright." Mima smiled.
"I'm glad you like my comment. I've been waiting for you."
"Hm? You know me?"
"Of course, the lone wolf with the hair of emerald, you're very famous."
"Haha, I didn't know you would know me, that makes things easier. Shall we?"
"With pleasure."
Mima didn't expect this venus would be her opponent, but when she thought about it, flowers themselves represent beauty, certainly the youkai that represent them must be outstandingly beautiful as well.
"Why are you spacing out?"
The youkai drew near Mima in the blink of an eye. Her hand slowly touched Mima's shoulder and she felt a great pressure that pushed her down.
"On your knees so soon?"
Now she talked with a sarcastic voice. It had been a while since people looked down on Mima. And she would never accept that.
The fight kept going with Mima getting more and more fired up. On the other hand, the flower youkai kept using a slow technique to neutralize all of her power. Mima knew, within that gentle palm, hiding a great force that if got hit, she would die right away.
"Damn she is strong, how can she fight so deadly with such elegance?"
Mima kicked the ground and thrust her punch on the youkai's face. She had confidence in this skill, because she enhanced her whole body with all her magic to deliver the last hit.
But the youkai lightly pushed her fist aside, and moved behind her. Mima could feel her palm on her back, and it was too late to evade.
"Die, Kazami Yuuka."
Who?
Mima didn't get the question to be answered, because she suddenly had problem seeing. Her intestines screamed hopelessly and started erupting from her mouth.
Her body hit the cold ground, her head flashing the pictures of her house in Europe. The templar she loved, the priest she once respected.
And Kirisame Marisa.
She can't die here, she has to go to her child.
She has to guide her.
For the first time in years, Mima prayed.
"Please, let my soul remains so I can be with my child. I beg of you."
It was dark, very dark, the darkness that consuming Mima, but she didn't lose, she will not lose until she meet her child.
Even if she has to sign the contract with devils.