Maria and Elaine hurried back to the van, where Menagerie was already waiting for them, her hands in the pockets of her wide coat. The mother of monsters looked nervous, staring at Melanie's body in Elaines arms with shock. "Why is that, little sister?"

She began to tear up, but before she could speak further Maria interrupted her. "Later, for now we need to get out of here. Can Sin drive? And if she can't, can you? The authority of her master made her body grow stiff, she looked not at all happy. "Her wounds are still too grievous, young master. That cursed spear really did a number on our dear greatest sister."

With a deep breath she lowered her head. "I shall drive, though I would wish for any other task. Where to, young master?"

The first rays of sunlight began to peek through the cityscape, and in the very distance, the sound of helicopter blades picked up. "Anywhere, just get us out of here, they are coming."

With a nod and a bow Menagerie leapt to the front of the van, while Maria and Elaine entered the back, closing the doors behind them. Within moments the engine roared and they drove off, past isolated bands of monsters, still roaming the streets, though now aimlessly wandering, with most charging forward towards the sounds of the approaching enemy.

Inside the back of the van, at the very end, next to the lid, sat Sin. One of her arms had almost regrown, it already reached to her wrist, while the other had not yet reached elbow length. The great beast watched Elaine as she carefully laid Melanie's body on the mattress before sitting down near her.

Without the need her body began to slowly shrink down to it's original size, the countless wounds that had been oozing out her black blood began to close as well. Maria was stuck between her three servants, unsure where to go.

Finally she sat down next to Sin, who did not take her eyes off of Melanie's body. "I, I am glad you are, well, getting better at least." Maria was fumbling her words, growing increasingly worried as Sin did not give her a glance.

"So she's dead." Were all the words that Sin could muster. Her voice was quiet, weaker than Maria had ever heard another person speak. Her gaze shifted to her hands which were trembling. "Yes, Melanie, she, wanted to be, useful so."

Tears began to run down her face, once more she could see Melanine before her, the last attempts of a smile, her final efforts that had been nothing but trying to calm her, Maria, down.

"That is not what I meant, my master." Sin pulled her knees closer to her chest, wrapping her one near-finished arm around them. "Trinity is gone. Sure, her Lore is there, it is taking hold within the sage's body, but everything else just, gone."

The disbelief in her voice mirrored that of Elaine earlier, though even more so Maria could hear an unbelievable weight of guilt in her words. "She was our youngest, for a long time. And by far the weakest, mentally speaking." Maria stared at her, unable to speak as she heard the voice of her servant quiver, saw the black tears run down her face.

"I failed her, my master. I underestimated our enemies, I acted carelessly, and now Trinity is, gone. And I will never be able to, speak to her again, to, apologise." Her body began to shake and the great and mighty Sin hid her face, soundless sobbing, rocking her body back and forth.

Maria did not know what to say, where to even begin to speak. How could she console, even comfort someone who had always seemed to mighty and above everything? Her hand was shaking as she reached out to touch Sin's shoulder, but she could not bring herself to interrupt her grief.

Maria crawled along the floor of the van as they continued to race through the city, sitting down next to Elaine. While no less shaken about the events, the small beast seemed further along in her grief. She did not object when her Master laid an arm around her, she leaned into her and rested up against Maria.

"So, who was Trinity, I mean, what was she like?" Maria kept her voice quiet, looking over to Sin every now and then, wanting to give her as much peace as she could.

Elaine quickly picked up on it and spoke in a whisper as well. "Trinity was our caster, at least that is what Sin wanted her to be. Your ancestor had three very talented mages in her service, they had grown up together and were basically inseparable, you see. When the queen and Sin decided that the next beast should be a master of magical combat, they all volunteered, but none could best the other."

As Elaine recalled the past, a weak smile spread across her face. "So it was decided that all three should form the foundation of our newest sister, so we called her Trinity when she was birthed. Sadly neither those mages, nor the white drake that Sin used as binding material were very durable, so she was by far the flimsiest of us, especially when Sin later made Armoire. So we all did our best to look out for her, she really was our little sister. My beloved master,"

Elaine was running her hand across her left arm, staring aimlessly over Melanie's body. "I am your shield, I exist to protect you. Please, forgive me for this, treasonous request but." The beast sought her masters gaze, a fierce determination flaring up in her eyes. "When we find the one who captured her, please let me be the one who avenges my little sister."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The rage that was boiling in her small body caused Maria to shiver, but she slowly nodded. "We will find the ones who did this, and I promise you." Her hands clenched to fists as she spoke, as the grief and anger of her servants became her own.

"They will suffer for what they did." Finally relieved, Elaine rested her head on Maria's lap, stretching her arms before curling up right next to her master. "The girl really was strong, my beloved master. Her lore is almost completely overwritten already." With these words Elaine closed her eyes. "She should awaken soon."

With Elaine seemingly asleep and informally pinning her in place, and Sin frozen grief, Maria was at a loss as to what to do. She could not look through the lid, though from the sound of the road and the lack of monstrous screams, they had most likely begun leaving the city behind. With a sigh of relief the young master decided to turn on the TV, muted as to not aggravate Sin.

No matter which channel she switched to, the pictures were the same when no ads were playing. Footage of Aranville dominated every reel. First as she saw these shots, a birds-eye view from outside a helicopter, could Maria truly grasp the devastation. The entire city was burned out ruins, still crawling with the monsters they had left behind. Even as the cameras were filming there were flying creatures that tried to attack them, warded off by aerial heroes.

They flooded the skies and the streets, desperate to help, to bring any semblance of order back to the chaos that Menagerie had created. Even from up high the piles of bodies laying in the streets could be seen, with the reporters unable to hide their disgust and shock.

The headlines of every channel seemed to try and compete with one another in boldness. "Greatest terror attack in modern history"; "The first battle of a new war of Villainy", and everywhere they showed her picture from a few days before, linking their attack in her home city to this.

A feeling of disgust spread from Maria's stomach through her body. "I didn't want this." She muttered quietly to herself, shaking her head more and more violently as she zapped through the channels. "I didn't want any of this, did, I?" she dropped the remote at her own words, unable to pick it up.

Her eyes were pinned to the screen, as the first camera crew landed in the outskirts of the city. On the ground Maria could see not just them, but the heroes. How they waded through ruins and bodies, trying to smile, to look heroic, some dashing through empty buildings at any sound, hoping to find some damsel to rescue. In all her life, Maria had never seen them so helpless, so incapable.

So pathetic.

As more and more crews landed, other scenes were broadcast as well. Heroes running into packs of her monsters, being ripped to shreds when they proved too powerful for them, others running for their lives, their silly costumes torn, with her creatures hot on their heels. Maria began to chuckle, then laugh, loudly, for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "Finally, you get to see them. For what they really are."

Her breathing was going faster and faster, her disgust replaced with excitement. With a hold of the remote she switched channels again, to see more angles, more news of other groups of heroes, everywhere the same picture. They came in, trying to look in control, doing their repulsive publicity work, and every time the facade of their heroism was shattered, torn to shreds by her monsters, by the monument they had created for her.

"You are all worthless, weak and unworthy." Maria ran her hand through Elaine's hair, and shut off the TV. "And finally you were exposed for the world to see." Without moving from her spot Maria managed to grab her bag, and pulled out Sir Screech from it, holding the plush tightly to her chest with her free hand.

When she closed her eyes and exhaustion overtook her, Maria was finally at peace with herself. The price had been great, the damage had been done. And the effect had been completely worth it in the end.

When Maria awoke again, they had stopped in a small forest. Melanie still laid motionless, Elaine had not moved, but Sin was gone. Maria took the opportunity to close the doors to the van and change her clothes, after all they were stained with grime and beast blood.

Just when she had put on new underwear, the door of the van opened, causing Maria to shriek and try to cover herself, only relaxing when she saw it was just Sin. Her one arm had fully recovered, and she was looking at her master with the same calm and respectful smile that Maria had grown accustomed to. "My apologies." The beast muttered, and closed the door.

A few moments later, Maria stepped out, fully dressed in a dark green hoodie, black skirt and white knee socks. When the young master looked around, relief washed over her. They were in a completely normal forest. There were no abominations circling them, no enemy had snapped an ambush and the only noise was the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Sin was leaning against the side of the van, eyeing her master. "For this short a time, we have made quite the progress, my master." Maria met her gaze, returning the smile. "We really have, yeah. Though, where do we go now? Elaine mentioned someone named Armoire, she's the last beast, right?"

Sin began to tap her newly grown fingers against the van. "Armoire is the last of the five, yes. There are others, though they are, well." She rose her hand to her face, biting her index finger. "Not as, reliable or easy to manage. We should not worry about them for now. As for Armoire, I am afraid that finding her will be not very much up to us. Out of all of my sisters she is by far the one with the longest leash, and while she is impossible to overlook, she is not nearby."

Quickly Sin changed her tone as she saw the worry written in her master's face. "But she is neither a fool nor incompetent like dear Menagerie. Your awakening was felt by all of us, I am certain that she is on her way. And she is no trinity, any paladin that tries to match her will quickly regret it."

A weak chuckle escaped her, though the lingering anger did not leave her voice. "For now we should wait for the Sage's rewrite to finish. I will be honest, my master, I do not know what will happen when she wakes up. But she will likely require a lot of help to find her footing. But we are in luck: With our demonstrations over these days we have made a mark on this degenerate world. If we look in the right places, it should be much easier now to find allies. We-"

The doors of the van burst open, and Elaine leaped out, looking from her master to Sin in excitement. "She is waking up, our sister is waking up!"