My name is Mei Mo. But that...wasn't my real name. This is the story of how - and why - I became a notorious villain of the Midnight Syndicate. This is the story of my past.

*****

I was born in France, territory of the Succubi race. But before I go any further, I need to explain how succubi are born.

We are a race that relies on males of other races to reproduce ourselves, since there aren't any males in our race. After we sleep with a man of another race and drain all of their life force, we sometimes end up conceived with their child. This child, however, will grow within the succubus's body...and they will eventually be born a succubus as well. Of course, this means the baby is guaranteed to be female.

In my case, my father was a human, according to my mother. But apparently, when they were in the middle of intercourse, my father realized my mother was actually a succubus - but it was too late. My mother drained his life force...but unknowingly to her, my father, with his dying breaths, used some Curse Magic on her.

Right after giving birth to me, my mother died to this curse. I was left all alone, without anyone to rely on. But there's more.

My mother had been the mortal enemy of another succubus - they had been eyeing the same prey, my father. This succubus, however, just coincidentally happened to be the current Succubus Queen - the most powerful, charming succubus of all, chosen every 4 years.

After my mother died, this queen drove me out of France. At the time, I was still only 4. Just barely old enough to walk on my own, I ventured aimlessly around the world.

One day, a human came across me on the outskirts of the country of France. By this time, I was near dead from starvation and thirst. Since I was still only 4, my succubus nature hadn't shown yet, and I looked completely just like a normal human child.

"Oh my...what's wrong, little girl?" she bent down and asked me in concern. "Where are your parents? And why are you in such...battered clothes?"

I didn't know how to talk since no one taught me, so I just looked down at my attire. A grey, sleeveless shirt, worn down and dirty from my days of travel.

The human woman furrowed her brows and lifted me up in her arms. "Poor girl...did your parents...abandon you here? Near dangerous succubus and vampire territory?"

Oh, so she really thinks I'm a human. But what is this woman doing here in foreign territory?

"...Come with me, I will raise you instead..." she murmured, before placing me down, then turning around and bending down once more. "Hop on my back."

"..."

Without really thinking about it, I just did as told...or rather, I didn't understand her words, but I could see what she was trying to get me to do based on her posture. And so, I complied.

After that, she took me to China - human territory.

*****

For the next 6 years, I was taught by this woman. Raised like a human, treated like a human. Everything was fine. I slowly grew closer to this woman, far closer than I had been with my own deceased mother. She even gave me a name - Mo Mei.

...But alas, these peaceful days eventually came to an end.

By the time I turned 10, my succubus features were starting to show. Having been raised by a human, I was not taught how to conceal my succubus properties. And so...one day, the woman found out.

"What...what are you...?!" she had cried in fear.

"Where...where is my Mo Mei?! Where did you take her, you damn monster?!" she had yelled in anguish.

I knew the human tongue by now, so I had simply responded. "I am Mo Mei."

"N-No...No...that can't be...no..."

*****

After that, she threw me away. Abandoned me, just like how the succubi race did. Since she couldn't bring herself to kill the same child she had spent six years raising, she decided to just dump me in one of the dark alleyways of Hong Kong, the city I had been living in.

What difference is there between doing that and just outright killing me on the spot?

So for the next few months, I survived by digging around the trash, eating whatever leftovers I could find like a dirty raccoon. I didn't know why, but I had this instinct to survive. A burning passion deep down within my heart...to take revenge on all those who have wronged me. The entire succubi race...and that human woman.

In order to accomplish this, I had to keep living, by any means possible. I continued scraping by like this for nearly half a year...and that's also around the time when I finally perfected the technique of hiding my succubus traits - my tail with a heart at the end and my horned ears. I had taught myself this technique throughout the past six months, now finally mastering it. I could now finally blend into human society. On that day, I made a vow to never place trust in anyone ever again - lest I am betrayed once more.

But before I could successfully completely restart life anew under cover as a human, there was just one witness I had to eliminate - the woman who had once saved me. She was the only one who knew my true identity as a succubus, so if I were to run into her on the streets or somewhere, my life would be thrown into utter chaos once more. Therefore, for the sake of my survival and revenge, I must stop her from telling anyone my identity.

And the easiest way to silence someone...is to kill them.

*****

Since I had been living in the woman's house before she abandoned me, I knew exactly where she lived, her daily routine, and the places where she would pass by on her way to work and back. In particular, she walked through a dark alleyway everyday as a shortcut to get to the subway station. Under normal circumstances, she would have to walk all the way around two blocks and then circle back to reach the subway station, but with this dark alleyway, it can save a good ten minutes of travel time.

I knew she would be taking this route, so all I had to do was hide myself there, and lie in wait. And indeed, on a gloomy, foggy morning, right around 7 AM, she showed up. I hid myself behind one of the trash cans in the alleyway. Since I was still only 10, I had a small frame and could remain unseen. I held a kitchen knife in my hands, one that had been thrown away by some random person. I had found it while rummaging through the trash. Since my weak magic of a ten-year-old wouldn't work on this fully grown adult woman who was an Advanced Mage, I had no choice but to resort to cold steel.

The woman walked directly past me, not even sparing a single glance. I counted.

1...2...3.

Leaping out of my hiding spot, I dashed towards the woman's exposed back, and drove the knife directly into her heart. The whole action happened so quick the woman didn't even have a chance to react. She slowly turned her head around in fear, eyes widening even further as she saw my dirty face.

"Y-You..." she murmured, before finally collapsing on the ground, dead.

I dragged her body and stuffed her into one of the trash cans. This took a while, since the body of an adult was pretty heavy for a 10 year old, but eventually I managed to do it. I threw away my blood-stained knife into the can as well, and then walked out of the alleyway, never turning back.

*****

After that incident, I headed for a school in Hong Kong. I couldn't afford to continue living like this any longer, so I had to apply for a school. In Hong Kong and the rest of China, human territory, any schools below university are free. In other words, I had 8 years from now to secure a method of sustaining myself financially and continuing to blend in as a human, while occasionally preying on males to satisfy my succubus needs.

I made up a lie at the school I chose, saying that my parents both died in a car crash, and now I had nowhere to go. The school, thinking 10 year olds are unable to lie, accepted me with ease. Since the school had dormitories and a cafeteria, I was good on survival for now...my succubus nature was a problem, but I could sustain myself through the sweat of males during gym class.

For the next three years, I studied magic at this school - and found myself extremely talented at one element in particular - Curse Magic. This was undoubtedly thanks to my succubus heritage, and so I made good use of it. I continued to perfect my succubus techniques, and by the time these three years were over, it was time for high school. A whole new journey would begin for me...but not in the way I would expect.

To be continued...