Sarah stared out of her hospital window, the sunlight shining bright against her cheek, her hands found the edge of her blanket, her fingers rubbing against the soft surface of it. She rested against the cold surface of the bed underneath.
The bruising from her battle with the amalgamation creature had faded to an angry purple, but the deep gouge beneath her collarbone, where the splintered wood had embedded itself, was covered up by a bandage.
Her eyes narrowed, sighing as she stared at her bandages, running a single finger across the paper.
[There's no need to rush, I have all the time in the world after all]
A soft hiss announced the opening of her chamber's outer door. Dominic, his blue eyes cold and obedient, stepped into the room. He moved with a quiet efficiency, dressed in a fresh Hex Academy uniform, his dark hair slicked back. In the palm of his gloved hand, was a mess of flesh.
"Jack," Sarah's voice, though weakened, still resonated with command. Her gaze flickered to the object in his hand, a flicker of interest in her crimson eyes. "Did you bring me a gift?"
Dominic knelt, presenting it with reverence. "As you commanded, Lady Rouge. You asked of me to try to break the boy 'Hoshimi', I made the most out of my task and I've managed to retrieve a section of her remains.. Directly from the Mirlo girl, I figured that you could absorb her, my Lady."
Sarah's head tilted, staring blankly. "Oh?"
It was a piece of Audrey's face. It was a fragment of pale skin, still faintly touched with the sun's warmth, complete with a single, perfectly formed emerald eye. A tiny, almost imperceptible shimmer of green mana pulsed from it, a ghost of Audrey's essence. It was grotesque but strangely pristine, a forgotten piece of what she once was.
Sarah reached out, her fingers, still bruised but strong, carefully taking the offering. She held it, not with revulsion, but with the detached curiosity of a scientist examining a specimen. The emerald eye stared blankly back at her, a window to a soul now incomplete.
"How pitiful," Sarah murmured, her gaze piercing the eye as if attempting to peer into the remnants of Audrey's consciousness. "I guess I'll make use of what's left."
Dominic remained kneeling, his eyes fixed on her, awaiting her next order.
Sarah pressed the grotesque piece of flesh against her own chest, directly over the still-healing wound below her collarbone. The air in the chamber grew heavy, Her crimson eyes flared, glowing with an intense, inner light.
Vita Nova was a ritual that required a blood circle to execute the spell.
Its ability was to permanently transfer ⅓ of the potential mana of a recently deceased individual into a living, chosen recipient.
But for Sarah, something this small wouldn't require a circle.
She was the circle in itself.
"Vita Nova," she intoned, her voice low and guttural, the command twisting the room around them.
Within her hands, the pile of flesh began to glow bright. A sickening crackle filled the room, like dry leaves igniting, as the mana of Audrey was forcibly drawn out. Sarah's body convulsed, as mana ran through her. The emerald eye in her hand glazed over, losing its faint shimmer, becoming truly lifeless.
"I guess she must've truly had a lot of potential, maybe because that child had been forcibly reincarnated."
Sarah dug her fingers into Audrey's flesh, plucking out her eye like a delicacy, gently lifting it towards her lips and chewing on the soft membrane as if it were a snack.
A loud pop echoed through the room, a vile liquid oozed inside her mouth, she tucked a single strand of hair behind her ear as she delicately chewed on Audrey's flesh.
"Um."
Dominic stared wide eyed, his mouth slightly opened at the sight.
"What?"
She scowled, grinding her teeth together as she stared down at him, she spoke with a low tone of voice. "Do you have any problem?"
"Of course not, I don't have any kind of gripes with a being as perfect as you." He stared down at the white tiles on the floor, bowing his head down even further, making sure not to anger her. "I was merely curious as to why you would eat human flesh."
"I am a Goddess." She stood up from her, with a deadpan expression on her face, she spoke. "Food is food, and I rather have a fondness for human flesh. It has a unique taste, like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef."
"Of course, thank you for the information, I'm very grateful."
Her eyes flickered towards him. "Is it really that abnormal to eat human flesh?"
"Not saying that it's weird, it feels wrong."
She raised an eyebrow. "Feels wrong? You have ended the lives of others haven't you? And not mercifully at that."
"That's..different. Human meat is unsanitary."
"Hmm, your human morals are weird. You eat other animals but are rather afraid to eat the meat of other humans."
"Humans are superior compared to other animals."
Sarah chuckled. "Believe what you want to, in my eyes, all you mammals look the same to me, at the very least, I want you to serve me, that's all that matters."
"The morals that we currently possess were written in the Holy Book of Bleu, I thought that they had been passed down from your majesty and your sisters."
Sarah waved her hand dismissively. "Bleu isn't the type of person to create your fancy little rules, the rules concerning your little book were installed there by you humans."
"Oh."
Sarah's own wounds began to knit themselves closed with terrifying speed. The bruise on her cheek vanished, her skin regained its smooth, unblemished pallor, and the deep gouge by her collarbone sealed perfectly, leaving not even a scar. Her muscles rippled beneath her skin, flexing with renewed vigor.
Her eyes glowed red, they blazed with an intensified, almost molten red, shot through with faint, unsettling flecks of emerald green and abyssal black. Her hands suddenly started to move without her instruction, reaching out towards her neck like rabid animals, choking her own neck out.
Sarah seemed unfazed by it.
"I can't believe this, something like residual nerve impulses. I guess you're still resisting."
The grip around her own neck loosened, dropping onto the soft bed under her.
She picked up what was leftover of Audrey's flesh and finished completely devouring it.
"Ah," Sarah breathed, a genuine sigh of satisfaction escaping her lips. The taste of new mana, vibrant and untamed, lingered on her tongue. She crushed the inert piece of her flesh between her jaws. "Much better. The girl's connection to that... other soul... it adds a unique flavor."
She rose up from the hospital bed, the steel panels hissing open with ease. Her gown, once torn, now repaired itself, the fabric weaving back into pristine condition. She stretched, her movements fluid and powerful, the very air around her bowing to her rejuvenated presence.
"Ah yes," Sarah mused, staring up at the ceiling with an apathetic expression. "That child with the violet eyes, I need his sword, that way I can execute my plans." Her eyes wandered over towards him.
"Jack," she purred, "We have all the time in the world, but I believe that we should accelerate in mentally breaking the boy."
Dominic bowed his head deeply. "As you command, Lady Rouge. What is it that you ask of me?"
Sarah merely chuckled, a sound like grinding stone and shattering glass. "First of all, I want you to kill as many Hex Academy students as you can that he's going to interact with."