In a well-lit room, a veritable hell took place. A group of horned children abused a poor girl.
" Sister, please stop, it hurts! " - The girl begged for mercy, but no one bothered with her pleas. Her screams provoked exactly the opposite reaction. The aggressors laughed maniacally, kicked her, and pulled by hair.
" Hahaha, this is great. Why didn't we do this before? " - The oldest of the group, an eight-year-old girl, took immeasurable pleasure in pulling the child's hair.
" You're right, sister. This is excellent, hehe. " - This was said by a short blond boy whose blue eyes shone with sparks of ecstasy.
The victim quietly sobbed and curled up in a ball, protecting two small horns with her hands. Her black tail was trampled and deformed. A stream of incessant tears poured from her eyes. The pain she had experienced today would stay with her for a long time.
" Mom please help! " - The child, unable to stand it any longer, cried out for her mother's help, but instead of it, she got the mocking laughter of her siblings in response.
" Hahahahaha she knows nothing hahaha. "
" How pathetic. "
" Pff, this dirtbag dares to call out our mother! " - A seven-year-old girl, dressed in a richly decorated dress, kicked the victim with all her might. The child flew away, hitting the wall, and a thin trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
" Silly Asme, don't you realize that mom allows this? " - The eldest of the group spoke up.
" No, you are lying! It can't be true! " - The girl's eyes widened. She didn't want to accept the obvious lie into her consciousness. But, indeed, it was a lie?
" Pff, look at her. I think our Asme needs proof, haha. "
" Hold her, we will show her our mother's love. " - The eldest of the group pointed a finger at the injured victim.
" No, stop what you are doing. Help me! Please! " - Little Asme cried and screamed in unison, but it didn't help. No one came to her rescue. She was on her own.
Little Asme tried to break out of the hands of her tormentors, but her siblings were stronger. Their hands locked her in an iron grip. Two boys immobilized her legs while two sisters held her hands.
" Haha, watch her struggle. I'm curious how she will squeal, hehe. " - One of Asme's brothers taunted her.
With a slow step and a blunt knife in her hand, the eldest of the siblings approached the immobilized Asme, intensifying the fear in her.
" Annabeth, please stop... " - Asme begged her older sister for mercy, but it made no difference.
The siblings had received clear directives from their mother. If they didn't, their fate would be much worse. Besides, they liked it. The sense of power over someone else's fate was extremely addictive. The seeds of Sadism were planted in their hearts.
Annabeth cold-heartedly applied a blunt instrument to one of Asme's horns.
" Don't blame me for this, sis. You were just born as a filthy hybrid, and a filthy hybrid doesn't deserve succubus horns. " - Without waiting for Asme's reaction, Annabeth brutally cut off one of the horns.
Poor Asme made inhuman sounds, squealing and writhing like a butchered animal. Her bladder couldn't withstand the pain, and a moment later, a stain of yellow liquid appeared under the group.
For a succubus, the pain of a severed horn was truly hell. For Asme, whose body was twice as sensitive, it was unbearable.
" Annabeth, this is disgusting, she grinned! " - One of the boys spat on the floor, plugging his nose.
" You stepped in it, hahaha."
After a few minutes of torture, Annabeth finished her work, leaving Asme alone in the richly decorated room.
The girl lay in a puddle of her secretions with empty eyes. Only shreds of her once beautiful dress remained. Many bruises and lacerated wounds could be seen on her body. Some of them took up most of her six-year-old body.
But that wasn't the worst of it. Asme had lost one of the horns she was so proud of. Blood was slowly oozing from the wound on her head.
After this event, Asme attempted suicide many times, but her mother wouldn't allow it. From the moment she was born, the woman's fate was determined. Asme was to be sacrificed to the Great Nenneke.
~~~~~~
Asme woke up drenched in sweat. Her breathing was rapid, and her heart was beating like crazy. Thoughts were chaotic, making it difficult to think logically.
The woman looked around nervously at her surroundings and then breathed a sigh of relief. Asme calmed down when saw where she was.
" This - it was just a dream... " - The horned beauty whispered to herself, wiping away the few remaining tears. The events she dreamed about were the worst memories of her childhood. Ever since she was six years old, her siblings had abused her for their pleasure.
At first, they did it out of compulsion, but later, they became addicted to it. From birth, Asme's siblings were sadists, but their true nature was only revealed afterward.
The memory the woman dreamed about haunts her every now and then in her dreams, refusing to let her forget the past.
From the bottom of her heart, Asme hated her younger siblings, but with the passage of time and the support of teachers, the gap between them widened, and the violence became more severe. She then realized that her only option for survival was to serve her eldest sister humbly.
When she became her servant, the abuse of the other siblings ended, but the torture that Annabeth inflicted on her was also horrific.
At least the woman was able to live and thrive until she stabbed her brother in the chest. After the incident, she was sacrificed. It seemed to her at the time that this was the end. She would finally be able to rest from the endless cycle of humiliation, ridicule, and suffering.
It would have been too good if it turned out to be true... Life cruelly mocked her, putting the horned beauty to another trial...
Asme snuggled into Ramiel's chest, she craved the sense of security that only he knew how to provide. It was an illusory and fragile feeling, but she didn't need anything else. She simply wanted to know that she had someone to rely on. Her head rubbed against his torso, wanting to feel some warmth.
Ramiel drew Asme closer with his left hand, and his palm stroked the woman's head. He had been awake for a long time. He was roused from sleep by Asme's crying. He couldn't make out much from her moans. Mostly, there were cries for help, and Annabeth's name was popping up from time to time.
The former hunter was extremely curious about the woman's past, so he didn't interrupt her nightmare. He wanted to get as much out of it as possible but failed miserably.
" Shi... I'm here... it's okay now... I won't let anyone hurt you. " - Ramiel tried to influence the woman with a smooth voice. Even the inherent and pervasive coldness in his words eased was almost imperceptible.
Asme didn't respond, but her embrace around his body grew stronger. She appreciated the small gesture, kindling her heart's tenuous flame of hope.
Ramiel waited a moment, stroking the woman's hair, then began.
" You had a nightmare, didn't you? "
Asme moved her head up and down in acknowledgment.
" And not just simple nightmare... "
Asme made the same movement as before. Tears gathered at the corners of eyes. These memories were harrowing. Breaking out of their influence is difficult and requires hard work.
" Do you want to tell me about it ? " - Ramiel whispered, gently wiping away the woman's tears with his finger while making room for new ones.
Asme shook head negatively. The last thing she wanted to do now was scratch old wounds.
Ramiel hugged the horned beauty tighter, showing her support, and then his hand stroked her back. He needed to approach the problem from a different angle if he wanted answers.
" I don't know what the nightmare was, but listen. Strangling it inside you won't help you in the long run. The events will destroy you from the inside until all that is left is an empty shell. "
Funny, I give her such good advice, and I can't follow it myself... - Ramiel took a short break and criticized himself in mind. In the meantime, he ran his fingers over Asme's trembling back. He had to be gentle and subtle. He couldn't be hasty and try to rush things. Everything had a pace and took time.
" Fighting the ghosts of the past isn't easy. Sometimes, they stay with us for life. A person has two ways out of such a situation. Let the past consume you and lose the battle, or come to terms with it and heal old wounds. "Ramiel took a deep breath. There was a storm of thoughts in his head. "Sometimes... the best medicine is honest talk and time. External wounds are easy to heal, but those inflicted on our minds take time... Some are able to recover quickly… but most often, it takes months, if not years. "
Ramiel let Asme settle in before moving on to the next part. Although, it was more that he needed time to process his own words. It may be strange, but the former hunter was simultaneously acting as a therapist and client.
" Sometimes, the demons of the past are too strong, and they change our personality forever. In such a case, nothing can be done anymore... With you, it's not so bad yet. You are strong, Asme, much more than I am. I don't know about you, but I... I've already lost my battle. Not once... but twice. "
There was silence in the dungeon for a brief moment. All that could be heard was the crackle of the fire and the quiet breathing of Caera, who slept nearby.
" So... do you want to tell me who Annabeth is to you? "
When she heard that name, Asme's whole body trembled with fear. She tried to calm down under the man's influence, but it was difficult.
" Annabeth... Annabeth is my older sister... " - Asme sobbed out with difficulty after several long minutes.
Ramiel didn't rush her; he knew it was difficult. Ripping up old wounds is never easy, and he knew this well from his own experience.
As he mentioned earlier, Ramiel had lost his battle twice. The first instance was after the death of his parents, or more precisely when his younger sister preferred to go to an orphanage rather than live with him. Lily's behavior, with internal guilt, broke him completely.
During this time, he fell into inappropriate company and did many things that he was later ashamed of. To this day, some of them haunt him, and the very thought of them fills him with disgust.
All in all, it was a very dark time in his life, and without Max, he would have ended up rotting in prison. Ramiel has held Max in high esteem ever since, and their bond has become unbreakable.
The second case, as you might guess, happened quite recently. Ramiel lost here already at the start. The betrayal in the dungeon completely destroyed him. At first, he thought he had gotten over it. After all, under the influence of emotion, he had killed traitors thousands of times.
But as time passed, he realized that it hurt... damn it. Just thinking about it made his heart bleed.
Ramiel, under the influence of the traumatic event, became an even worse monster than before. But that's not the only problem. Conflicting emotions fighting with each other slowly devastated him from the inside.
What the former hunter didn't know was that this conflict was the direct cause of his soul's deplorable state. But he couldn't know that. After all, a conspiracy of silence reigned in the dungeon for his sake...
Without Asme's treatment and the influence of the Ice Lake, the man would have died long ago.
Avi concealed a certain fact about the Lilies for Ramiel's sake. The flowers had an extraordinary effect, far more valuable than he might have thought. They were able to mend a person's soul. As a result, he continued to live.
" This... it started when I was six years old..." - Asme whispered. She was finally ready to share a snippet of the past.
Asme's story was filled with a lot of pain and suffering. She burst into tears many times during it, but Ramiel patiently endured each one and calmed her down.
From the story, he learned what kind of bitch Asme's mother was. He decided that if he ever met her, he would kill her. He didn't say it out loud. He didn't want to give Asme false hope. It was just his inner promise.
Soon, Asme poured out all her regrets. Her eyes were red from constant crying. All this time, Ramiel supported her and absorbed every word. Only when the horned beauty stopped speaking did the man tenderly kiss her forehead.
" You are a strong woman Asme. " - Saying this he stroked her back. " You didn't break, on the contrary, you used this period to become stronger. Now your heart just needs time to heal the wounds. "
Hearing the man's compliments, Asme smiled sincerely. Ramiel helped her tremendously. After sharing her problems with him, she felt indescribable relief, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her heart.
Maybe... I really did choose well? - A fleeting thought flashed through the woman's mind.
" I'm truly proud of you, my devil. " - Ramiel added before they both fell into Morpheus' embrace.