All my life I've only ever known sacrifice

Myself

My sister

For their pride

For their anger

For their entertainment

Every time I bled

I prayed and I prayed for my blood to burn

To cut

To pierce

Every ounce of pain

It was all worth it

Because now I have power

I'll make you bleed

I'll make you bleed

A young teenage girl looks up from her notebook, arms stretched in the air behind her head. A smug satisfied smile adorns her face next to a set-in scar in the shape of a crooked "X" on her left cheek. She rolls up the left sleeve of her pajama top to reveal numerous set-in and only slightly faded scars in the shape of lines across her arm. At the top of the inside of her forearm by her elbow sits an intricate circular scar containing diamond shapes and the letter "E" carved into the middle.

The girl grabs a lancet from a box on her desk and turns her chair around. Wincing slightly as she plunges it into her right index finger, she massages blood out of the wound. She smears it on the symbol before closing her eyes.

"Come to me, Erevar."

A tall figure with two red eyes and long white hair appears in front of the girl. The two smile as they make eye contact.

"Ready to start the day?"

"Always" the girl beams with a smile.

Erevar turns around with his hands clasped behind his back as the girl gets dressed. She reaches into her closet far past an assortment of long sleeved sweaters and dresses and grabs a black short-sleeved t-shirt and matching pants.

Leaving her room, the pair go to the kitchen where the girl grabs a paper plate and a can of dog food. She opens the can of food, wincing slightly at the smell before pouring it onto the plate. Hesitating before opening the door to the basement, she takes a deep breath as she twists the handle.

In a large cage sits two cowering adults, one male and one female. Hundreds of paper plates with old dog food adorn the rest of the basement. The smell of human waste and rotten food overwhelms the air. The two caged individuals have deteriorated clothing that barely hides their sickly and malnourished frames.

"Meal time" the girl orders with a deadpan voice. She slides the plate through the cage spilling some of it on the floor. "I suggest you eat it, or I'll have to force-feed you two again."

Still cowering, the female prisoner speaks up "Sammy, please-" she is cut off as the young girl rattles the cage

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! That's not my name anymore. I'm ABBY. Abby Elysium!" She collects herself as Erevar places a hand on her shoulder "You don't get to talk to me."

Abby takes a small pocket knife from her right pocket and cuts her hand, waving her hand and splattering blood over the two prisoners. With a snap of her fingers, the blood catches fire. The two scream as the fire burns out and their wounds start to slowly heal.

"Now that the games have started, I can finally start to give you a fraction of the pain you two caused her," Abby smiles "well, at least without worry of accidentally killing you."

Abby takes one last look at her parents before climbing the stairs. She and Erevar leave the house and start walking down the street. Stopping as they approach a crowded bus stop, Abby starts studying the people waiting. She focuses intently while clenching her fists.

The bus arrives and the pair hop on, taking a seat next to each other. Abby looks around and stares at the other occupants. Some of them stare back, looking at her arm and her cheek with a frown. After studying the rest of the bus Abby frowns.

"Not a single one" she mutters under her breath, to which Erevar raises his eyebrow at her. After a few minutes the bus passes a school, Abby turns to Erevar "You know, I was supposed to start high school after summer ended."

"Is that so? Are you disappointed?" Erevar gives Abby a knowing smile.

"Not at all" she grins, before her mouth contorts into a frown. "You know, my sister would probably be starting middle school right now. If-" Erevar interrupts her and wraps his arm around her.

Reaching their destination, the two stand up. Approaching the front of the bus Abby pricks her finger with a lancet before waving that hand in a line bisecting the width of the bus at her waist level. The two step off the bus.

"Not a single one worth saving" Abby finishes her thought from earlier with a snap of her fingers. The bus and its occupants are cut along the same arc that Abby had just previously made with her hand. Blood-curdling screams come from the bus as the pair walk away.

"You little scamp" Erevar chuckles as he ruffles Abby's hair "it's too early to be wasting your power like that."

The girl smiles "They were all practically human, and humans deserve to die!"

Erevar laughs even louder "Clearly, the extra couple percentage points you have makes all the difference, you little edgelord."

Abby pouts at Erevar and crosses her arms "It does!"

The two share a laugh and continue walking towards their destination. Noticing an ice cream cart, Abby tugs on Erevar's robe with a pleading expression. Chuckling, he nods his head as the girl skips over to the vendor.

Arriving at a large park the two decide to go the scenic route, taking in the view and enjoying the walk. Finally, they ascend a large hill. The cliff facing towards a few large city blocks with many apartment complexes.

"This is probably the last chance we have to gain a lot of easy shards," Erevar places his hands on Abby's shoulder as she finishes her ice cream "and this will probably attract the attention of that angel. Remember, do not attack his chevalier if he shows up."

Abby takes a deep breath "Alright."

She closes her eyes and takes one last deep breath before pulling her pocket knife out. She cuts her hand again and starts making slashing gestures all towards the city landscape below. Taking one last look at the buildings and people below she snaps her fingers. All that remains below is rubble. Not a single sign of life persists for a two mile radius.

The pair descend down the cliff and start picking through the rubble. The endless pattern of dust and debris is only broken by the occasional glowing shard. The two stop as they finally find and pick up the last shard and puts it in her pocket.

"That's about twenty shards worth. Not as much as I thought there would be" Erevar strokes his chin "we made a lot more poaching surrendees en route to that priest."

The girl sticks her arms out in a shrug "That still makes somewhere over 130 shards total, plus we-"

The two freeze as a priest appears accompanied by an unmistakably angelic figure. The priest is the same aged man from the television. The angel is not hiding his form at all, his glorious white wings, bright blonde hair, and illuminating blue eyes immediately give away what he is.

Frowning, the priest points at Abby "You are just a child." He takes a step forward "You should never have been involved in this. Look, my name is Father Simon, whatever this demon is making you do, you don't have to-"

Abby smirks "He's not making me do anything."

Simon frowns "All these people-"

"Were humans. Effectively anyway. Not like you or I," Abby takes a step forward "You know you're Iyrin descended too, right? At least 5% of your DNA comes from the Iyrin."

The priest nods "Yes, that is why we have a responsibility to atone. Humans were always born of sin, but when the third generation muddled our blood," he pauses for a few moments "with enough atonement, perhaps God will overlook the fact that we are abominations. How do you know this?"

Abby stretches her left arm out and points to the sigil carved into her arm.

The priest nods "I see. You two have had a pact since long before the games started. Listen, I can help you. When I win I will return the world to normal and I will help you."

Abby clenches her fists "I don't need your help."

"And in the meantime, I can protect you and your family. We have a facility set up in DuPont tower."

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"I don't need your protection."

The priest crosses his arms "and what of your family? Do you really think you can handle seeing them hurt or worse once things really heat up?"

"I don't care what happens to them."

Simon chuckles "Come on, cut it with the teenage angst. You'd really be fine watching the people who raised and loved you your entire life suffer and die? Come on now, you-"

"Shut the fuck up" Abby spits.

The priest laughs even harder "Even in the Athanual games, children are children. Believe me, almost every child your age I counsel thinks they hates their family."

"Stop talking"

Erevar places his hand on Abby's shoulder "Relax Abby."

The priest continues "Do you think you're special? Whatever you think your family did, the Godly thing is to forgive them and-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP" Abby screams as she stabs her hand, slashing towards the priest and the angel.

The two narrowly dodge getting hit by the resulting slash. Abby clutches her hand momentarily frozen by the pain. With a solemn face, the priest bows his head, hesitating for a moment, and clasps his hands together as if he were praying.

"I'm sorry my child, I promise I will help you after the games are over. Illuminare."

A small golf ball sized orb of light starts moving towards Abby. As it's about to hit her Erevar jumps out in front of her. As his body intercepts the orb his lower half instantly disintegrates with red streaks forming all over his body. Erevar screams out in pain as his body struggles to regenerate.

The angel flies up, head clasped in his hands. "You… You all didn't just betray God. You betrayed all of us. All of your brothers and sisters who loved you for literal ETERNITY," tears fall down the angel's face as his eyes start to dull "You betrayed us all for NOTHING, yet you're fully prepared to sacrifice your existence for… daddy's little girl?"

Erevar spits out a black liquid while glaring at the angel.

The angel collects himself "Your kind truly are despicable. I may have a tentative alliance with your brother, but I feel the same way about you as the rest of us. Simon, he's waived his immunity by blocking your attack. Finish him."

Simon pauses "But Michael, he… And you…"

The angel smiles "There is no room for hesitation."

Simon bows his head and starts to snap his fingers before his hand is severed without a sound. As he instinctively steps back his other hand is severed. He looks over to the girl to see her left arm mid-swing completely covered in blood and stab wounds, her eyes almost seeming as if they are tinted red with anger. Instinctively covering his chest with what remains of his left arm another cut completely cuts it in half, leaving a shallow cut on the man's chest.

Jumping back and narrowly dodging another slash, Simon looks down to realize only part of his right hand has regenerated thus far. Focusing, he notices another slash coming for his head. Barely regenerating enough tissue, Simon snaps what could be considered to be his thumb and his pinky together before the slash of blood severs his head, sending it flying in an arc.

Anger turning quickly to a triumphant laughter, Abby laughs hysterically. "I win! I won you little cocksucker!" She glances over to Erevar who has now fully regenerated but with a concerned look on his face. She immediately darts her eyes back to the formerly defeated priest to see a strange figure in his place.

Radiant in complexion stood a figure with piercing blue eyes and large angelic wings. Bone tissue clearly contorted into what can be considered a face mask and plate armor. The figure's left arm contorted into a blade. With almost an echo, the figure spoke and made it clear that he was the formerly human priest.

"This is why none of you have a chance. These games are pointless. This is why I have won every single one of these for over a thousand years," the figure raises his humanoid hand "in exchange for a random year of my past and all the memories contained within, I receive the body of one of God's angelic warriors for five minutes."

Letting out a deep breath, Simon continues "Abby. You believe that being Iyrin descended makes you special. Better than others. I am of the opposite persuasion - it makes us lesser. Despicable abominations that need to atone - not for any promise of paradise - but simply because we are an affront to God and all of his majesty."

The figure starts laughing "Everyone I've ever loved, all the friends I've ever had. I must have loved some people over the thousand years I've been alive right?" Simon starts laughing even harder "That is my atonement. To live and to love and forget them all every single time. I will sacrifice every part of myself to become a weapon for God's will."

Abby snorts "And do you always waste the first forty seconds blabbering on?"

"This will take less than thirty"

In the blink of an eye the figure appears before Abby. She instinctively raises her right arm up only to watch it fly off in the next instant. Wincing from the pain she almost collapses. She leaps back pulling a shard from her pocket and putting it into her chest. Her eyes dull as she comes back to reality.

"You really think an angelic body is strong enough to kill me" she laughs "I am Abaddon Elysium. Future Empress of Hell and the exterminator of the human rac-"

Abby snaps her left hand as she launches a slash from her severed arm while jumping back as Simon charges her. He counters the slash with what used to be his left arm. The blade slightly cracking before immediately regenerating, now covered in Abby's blood.

"Do you want to know the real reason you won every game for the past thousand years? Because this is the first time I've ever been a particip-"

"Quit stalling" Simon interrupts before charging at Abby yet again. "Shit" Abby mutters under her breath as she launches several successive slashes with one additional wave of her arm not accompanied by a slash. Due to her arm starting to regenerate, the size and power of the slashes are mitigated. Simon still deflects them with ease while his formerly white armor is further stained crimson.

Abby turns her head to see they're approaching a group of civilians a couple miles away who have turned to look at the now destroyed part of the city. Simon glances over Abby for a split second before Abby grabs a shard from her pocket and stabs it into his chest. The moment his eyes glaze over she snaps her hand igniting the blood on the man. She darts off as fast as she can towards the crowd before Simon returns to reality.

"If the timer is based on his perception, sending him to the trait selection area should waste at least eight seconds, more if I'm lucky. Minimum five seconds for the greeting, at least three to actually pick a trait even if you're rushing." Abby thinks to herself in the seconds it takes for her to reach the crowd. Simon almost immediately chased after her, but the fraction of a second of real-time he was in the trait selection area allowed her to gain some distance. However, Simon's speed allows him to catch up fast.

As Abby leaps into the crowd Simon hesitates for a split second, allowing Abby to grab a woman with her now regenerated arm and hide behind her. Carefully, Simon reaches his blade over the woman's shoulder, Abby narrowly dodges before a concentrated ball of blood pierces the woman's chest and completely piercing through Simon's stomach. Throwing the woman onto Simon, Abby launches a small slash at some other spectators severing them in half before running deeper into the crowd.

The crowd screams. Some are frozen in shock, others run. Simon spreads his wings and takes to the sky chasing Abby. "Do you think taking hostages will slow me down? I'm just going to wish everything back to normal." the priest bellows from the air.

Catching up, Simon looks down to see a few civilians covered in blood. "But you still feel empathy" Abby retorts as she snaps her fingers. The agonizing screams and smell of burning flesh fill the air as Simon swoops down and frantically severs their heads, killing them instantly. Abby slashes another group of Civilians at knee level before throwing another shard at Simon. She quickly darts into an apartment complex and injects a shard into herself.

Having a split second to think, Abby steadies her breath. "Angelic bodies, fallen or not can only be destroyed by complete obliteration. That's gonna be hard, if not impossible. He physically outclasses me in every way and is effectively immortal for another three minutes. Running out the timer is the better option, but if it comes down to it I have to try. I was able to do something earlier, I don't know how I did it but if I can do it again…" Abby picks her trait and returns to reality.

Abby listens closely, then grabs a nearby man and throws them against a nearby wall only for Simon to crash through it. Simon briefly glances at the now lifeless body under him "Oh my God… No! I didn't mean t-" Simon is once again interrupted by a shard entering his chest. In the fraction of a second he was gone Abby successfully set up a slash aimed towards Simon's right leg, managing to sever it but not before Abby's left arm was also severed at the shoulder.

Raising her right arm instinctively, Abby starts to back up. Simon prevents himself from falling by expanding his wings and severs Abby's other arm at the elbow. Abby jumps back, breathing heavily before collapsing to her knees.

"I see, you purposefully didn't take very many points in Heal Wounds in order to use Blood Manipulation more effectively. Blood Manipulation wasn't one of the traits considered worth briefing me on," the contorted knight started walking towards Abby "and I can see why. You never had a chance, 'Abaddon Elysium'. I never believed this to be possible, but even though you're only a child - you are already irredeemable" Simon raises his blade arm.

"I'll make you bleed" muttered Abby as she waved what remained of her right arm in the air. Abby starts to cry as Simon gets closer. "I'll make you bleed. I'll make you pay for everything." She continues waving her bleeding arm around to no avail "For my sister!" Simon finally approaches the girl and stops for one final moment.

"Do you have any last words?" the man solemnly asks.

The girl sobs while looking down at the floor "Stop it. Please, it hurts," Abby wraps what remains of her right arm around her torso "I'm gonna bleed again. Please don't! You promised me, you told me it would never happen again." Simon hesitates before inching closer. "Don't fucking touch me!"

In an instant all the slashes Abby had intended to set up went off, completely dismembering Simon. Several tendrils made of blood formed from her left arm, piercing Simon through the chest and into the ground. Abby launches slash after slash in a frenzy, for the most part only doing surface-level damage to Simon's regenerating body.

"YOU MADE ME KILL HER! You just couldn't be happy just doing it to me. You couldn't just do it to me!"

"Shit, I'm almost out of time" Simon thinks to himself. Shortly after, he regains enough composure to sever the blood tendrils with his blade before flying through another wall. Abby collapses onto her knees, still slashing at the space in front of her until her wounds start to close. Sobbing until she's out of energy, the girl quietly starts whispering.

"Erevar, come to me."

———————————-

A group of clergymen surround a wooden board room table as Simon stands at the front. Back in his normal human form with his angel Michael next to him he takes a deep breathe before continuing to address the group.

"In conclusion, Blood Manipulation is a trait that needs to be added to all future Athanual Games briefings. There's about a one in forty odds I will forget all about it the next time I use my trump card, so adding all of the information I just provided takes top priority. Figuring out how she performed snap-less triggers is the next highest priority."

A younger priest speaks up "Father, what should be done about the girl? She may be a child but she is also a realistic threat if she's allowed to continue. I am not sure if you remember, so I'll reiterate. Destruction on this scale this early on in the Athanual games is unprecedented, not to mention her shard count likely rivals yours at this point."

"Facing her is unnecessary and suicidal. We can collect enough shards without coming into conflict with her or the vessel. The military will be quarantining the city shortly, that should slow the pace of the games a fair bit."

Simon steps back as Michael step forward. "And as for the vessel, have we managed to gather any intelligence on its whereabouts or identity?"

Another young priest nods at Michael and asks to be excused for a moment. The room is dead silent for a couple minutes until the young priest returns with a demon alongside him. The grotesque figure, despite being covered in lesions and boils, did not arouse any looks of disgust as he entered the room.

"This is a demon that was attached to one of the surrendees. He's pretty talkative and as far as demons go, seemingly trustworthy. Tell the room what you told me."

The demon's eyes glaze over the room, but he immediately stands up straight when he spots the angel at the head of the table. "Uh, yes sir! I mean Father!" the demon collects himself "About the vessel right?"

"Well I don't know who they are! But I sure do know the demon that was trying her heart out to find 'em! Would be a cute little thing if she wasn't a dud, went lookin' on Earth cheapest shard in tow months before anyone else! Word on the street she found 'em."

"She?" Michael chimed in.

"Yeah, real weird lookin' for a demon. One blue eye one red. Fuckin' freak if you ask me. I only know her first name, no idea what family she's from, if they've any sense they woulda disowned her."

Michael raises his eyebrow "And that is?"

"Parametris."