"...idn't even get a decent meal, let alone a dri..."

Haunting visions tainted Elelth's mind as her eyes abruptly opened, sitting upright as she gasped for breath.

".... ed on how badly I need a bath... and a comfy bed. I would sell my so..."

Fleeting scenes of burning buildings, bone chilling screams and the stench of burnt flesh continued to bombard Elelth's senses as her brain slowly started working, taking in the surrounding area.

"... is against me. I mean, why is it always me? I don't know what would make it worse. If someone was enjoying my suffering or if there wasn't and this is all a wa..."

Gentle, golden rays fell through the forest canopy, bathing Elelth in warm light as the sounds of birds and insects gradually replaced the screams, causing her to visibly calm. She was laying in a small clearing, surrounded by tall oak trees.

".. nted to do was have a nice, simple life. Eat some good food and drink myself into a friendly stupor but nooo, not even five min..."

Elelth finally took notice of the barrage of grumblings and turned to her right, finding Ru sitting on top of a log with a sombre expression as he mercilessly stabbed the dirt with a stick.

He was wearing a bloodied light grey cloak, which did nothing to hide his bare, scarred chest.

"RU!" Elelth immediately jumped up and threw herself at the rambling man, too caught up in his own world to react in time, knocking him onto his back. "I had the scariest dream ever. In it, you died and..."

Her words cut off for two reasons. The first was that she realised that she had just tackled a basically topless man she had only known a few days to the floor, the other was the dark feelings that came from thinking about her uncle's betrayal.

Uneasiness stirred in the pit of her stomach, unlike every other dream she had, this one wasn't fading and remained vivid.

"Sorry, I don't know why I behaved like that." Shaking her head, Elelth stood up, constantly telling herself that it was just a dream.

Ru laying on the ground in front of her was proof of that. She had seen him get blasted point black with an anti-tank weapon, creating a massive hole in his chest. No one, not even a dragon, could survive that. "It was just a stupid dream, though I am really happy you are OK Ru. Typically people treat..."

Elelth stopped, realising she had almost revealed her secret.

"Manaless like a plague victim?" completed Ru, adding in his own analogy as he sat up and locked his cold, grey eyes on the dark elf. "Word of warning. Do not touch me again without my permission. Ever."

The cold, almost dead like eyes staring at her caused Elelth to shudder and step backwards before speaking in a meek voice, thinking his attitude was due to the fact he knew she was manaless and not that she had just touched him. "You know?"

Ru ignored her question. "And that wasn't a dream. I got shot, your uncle sold your scrawny arse for a few silver, and the that bitch is collecting manaless in an attempt to battle the Devil."

Elelth wasn't as shocked as she thought she should be. She somehow knew it wasn't a dream but the warm sunlight and seeing Ru alive had given her mind something to grasp onto, any excuse to escape the crushing despair that threatened to overwhelm her.

Feeling like the weight of the world had just fallen on her shoulders, Elelth fell to the floor as her mind recalled everything that happened, up to the moment she fainted.

-"OH GREAT DEVIL, I have been rejected by this world and all that is in it. I offer you everything. My mind, my body, my soul to do with as you please. I only ask that you give me the power to destroy those that stand against me."

Her pledge reverberated in her mind's ear, causing her to look at Ru, who was once against seated on his log watching her with curiosity.

"The Devil answered my prayers and saved me? Did he save you too? I can't believe it. He can bring people back from the dead?" Her mind racing, Eleleth did not notice the mocking smile creeping on Ru's lips.

"No he cannot bring back the dead, and it depends on what you deem as saved." Ru's smile grew. "He did stop that man from running off with you, but only because you have some usefulness. Now, let's play a little game."

Elelth's mood instantly sank. Though she still did not completely believe the devil existed, the thought that he might be able to bring back her parents had given her a brief spark of hope, only for it to be crushed moments later.

"I am going to tell you a story. You are not allowed to say anything," stated Ru, making it clear there as no room for negotiation. "When I say something that you believe is wrong, I want you to raise your right hand.

"Why shou-" Elelth's words stopped dead as the tip of a black spear pressed into her throat, drawing a trickle of blood."

Ru continued as if he wasn't pointing a spear at the girl in front of him. "Understand?"

Eleleth nodded, looking at Ru in a new light.

"A long time ago, around a hundred hero's were summoned to this world by the Alliance to help them with their war against the dark races."

"They were enslaved and forced to fight in the war."

Elelth raised her hand.

"They fought for the noble Alliance cause, sacrificing their lives for the greater good?"

The elf's hand dropped, however, the surrounding area got a few degree's colder as Ru's eyes narrowed. After taking a few deep breaths, wondering why them twisting history irritated him so much, he continued.

"In the end, there were only eleven le-"

Elelth's hand raised once again, and a bitter smile appeared on Ru's face.

"twelve left. The heroes launched a sneak attack on the Demon Lord and sacrificed their lives to imprison him. There were no survivors."

Watching Elelth's hand raise, Ru's shoulders seemed to sag. "There was one survivor."

The hand fell.

"FUCK!" Ru shouted, causing Elelth to jump backwards, as the spear in his hand disappeared, and he started pacing back and forth. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Thoughts of running floated across Elelth's mind, but then the cold realisation that she had nowhere to go sunk in, even overriding her survival instincts.

"Ru..." Elelth tentatively called out to Ru, to see if she could speak yet. It was clear he had more to say, but it seemed he had given up. "Why did you ask me those questions?"

"Pretty dumb aren't you? Think about it," hissed Ru as he held his head in his hands.

Elelth didn't have to think long, Ru's story highlighted something that had been irritating her for weeks.

Everyone kept talking about eleven heroes and their sacrifice when it was obvious there was twelve. From the twelve statues outside temples, the twelve days of holiday in celebration of their victory over the Demon Lord to the twelve Alliance carriers named after them.

She had got into arguments with the other kids about it when they were fleeing the Demon lands, giving them more ammunition against her and no matter who she asked, they all gave the same answer.

She had started doubting herself.

Elelth froze.

Ru apparently knew the truth as he amended it every time she raised her hand. He was also watching her carefully as if it was a test. The fact that he wouldn't just ask her outright also bothered her. -"Why the roundabout approach? Does that mean that memories have been changed? Is it because I am manaless so I am not affected. Then what about Ru? How does he know?"

Elelth subconsciously sat, her long, pointed ears twitching as she held her hand to her chin and her eyes glazed over.

Being a manaless, she did not have many friends growing up and so lost herself in books and the hunt for knowledge, with her favourite past time being solving puzzles.

Minutes past and Elelth's head snapped up and her face became emotionless.

Ru had been pacing the entire time, the grass already showing a small path, as he mumbled.

He had expected the manaless to have been affected in some way or at least for the knowledge to be lost over time as those with mana forgot but for the elf in front of him to remember, and being only twenty-eight years old, meant that things were a lot more fragile than he thought.

Having created the spell from scratch, he was painfully aware of its weaknesses.

"Did I act too early? Should I have given it a few hundred more years? Is the spell faulty? Is it just manaless or are there others?"

He let out a deep breath. -"It will be all right. The memories have been destroyed, the magical documents corrupted and any new information that matched the conditions would suffer the same fate as long as patient zero, me, isn't compromised."

"Did you kill my parents?" Elelth's voice, cold and filled with hate snapped Ru from his thoughts.

Ru looked down at the sitting elf. "If you kick a can, it spooks a horse which bolts, knocking over a ladder that falls and kills a person, are you to blame?"

"Answer me." From all the information Elelth had, she started to put together a story. An unbelievable, terrifying story.

"Yes." Ru's voice was emotionless. "In a convoluted way, I did. You can blame me, or those that forced me to take such actions. I don't really care."

Elelth didn't even flinch. "Are you the Devil?"

Ru put one leg back, causing Elelth to flinch, before making a dramatic bow. "I guess that is one of the names I go by now... wait, only you know me as Ru, so I guess that is my 'real' name for the moment."

A dark shadow flickered around Ru, and his eyes started giving off a blue hue.

Elelth stood up. "Is that your natural form? I thought the heroes were human?"

"This?" Ru looked at his human hands, sadness crossing his eyes. "This is the closest I can remember my old form. You can't expect flesh to escape a prison built for the gods."

"Do you really want to destroy the world?" Elelth's voice sounded like it would crack at any moment.

"In the past I did, but that was a long, long time ago. Now I just want to be rid of my curse and enjoy the simple things in life." Ru crossed his arms, pouting. "Not that this shitty world will let me."

Tears started to stream down Elelth's purple skin. "Why are you doing this? Why did you kill my parents? Why? Is it because I am manaless. Am I cursed never to be happy?"

A cool breeze crossed the clearing.

"Not everything is about you brat. You think you know suffering? You know pain?" Ru knew he shouldn't be talking, but for some reason, he needed to. It was as if, and in fact was, centries of pent up emotions were bursting to get out.

"You believe that you have it so hard because the parents that loved and spoilt you as everyone else scorned you are dead? That life is shit because you are manaless."

The glow in Ru's eyes grew, causing Elelth to take a step back. Where he was emotionless before, it was clear that Ru was upset at something, confusing her.

"You don't even know what you are or what you are capable of. The reason your kind faces such hardships isn't that of what you are but what you can become. They fear your kind. Oh boo freaking hoo. "

Elelth was beyond confused. A part of her wanted to scream at the man that admitted that he was the cause of her parent's death, another wanted to know more about what he was saying, and something else felt pity for him. Something in his eyes and emotions screamed of despair and hopelessness yet this was the first time she had seen it. She felt a weird connection between them, understanding that maybe they weren't so different.

"You want me to feel sorry for you? Ha. I envy you. To me, you're nothing but a spoilt, naive princess that doesn't know a single thing about the world." Ru's breaths were becoming ragged, and he felt his control slipping.

"What are you saying?" screamed Elelth. "You are strong enough to kill demigods, millions of people and do as you want whereas I can't do anything. I can see it in their eyes. Do you see manaless running around happy? no. Without my parents, I will be lucky to survive the year."

Ru's expression slowly changed before he finally burst out laughing, destroying the depressing atmosphere instantly. "You're weak, and I am strong?"

Elelth glared at the man in front of her.

"You do know that you are my kryptonite, or your kind is anyway, right? To escape, I had to sacrifice everything that made me human, no mortal. Nothing in life is free, and strength is the same. Everything has a price."

Ru started making hand gestures. "Rock paper scissors. Those with mana are scissors, I am the rock, and the manaless are the paper. Well... I'd say more dynamite but then calling myself the rock wouldn't be right... you know what. Forget that example."

Elelth could only blink. From rambling madman to emotionless, to raging wreck and back to a rambling madman in less than five minutes.

"Fine, seeing as you are going to die anyway, you can come with me." Ru's eyes narrowed, looking like a starving wolf that had found a lamb. "You are more... fragile than I was looking for in a comrade, but I guess it makes the whole thing more fun, sticks a middle finger up at those fools in the alliance and gets me a mage killer all in one swoop."

"Why would I go with you?" shouted Elelth, only to flinch as she caught a parchment thrown at her.

"I didn't realise that the sleeper hold would be so effective on manaless. You were out for three days, my little harbinger."

Unrolling the scroll, Elelth gasped, seeing a relatively accurate picture of herself.

Wanted Dead or Alive

The Devil's Priestess

Birth name: Elelth Fenbrook

Class: Manaless The Demigod Styx has offered to quadruple the bounty if they are captured and brought before her before the new moon.

"W-w-what? How?" Elelth's brain jarred, not even wondering how Ru had got hold of the bounty

Ru, looked up at the sky, not meeting Elelth's panicked gaze. "Well... I kinda played with the blonde bastard a fair bit, letting him think he could escape and he was shouting a lot of information about how you summoned me, cursing your ancestors and such. He used your full name and even mentioned your uncle a few times."

Elelth's jaw dropped.

"What?" Ru looked defensive. "It wasn't about me, so I didn't really care. Plus I need the PR if I am going to do this without that wannabe god's help. Don't worry I didn't let many people escape."

"Don't worry? They have my bloody picture!" screamed Elelth. "And we still haven't resolved anything!"

Ru chuckled. "You should see mine. I look like a hungover elemental that has been dragged through hell and back."