"What did I do wrong?"

It was with that thought that Maria awoke, surging upright. She struggled with the blanket, her heart racing for a moment before the voice of Sin calmed her. "Now now, milady, relax. Nobody here will hurt you." The demonic woman was sitting on a chair by the bed in reverse, leaning over the back of it. "We are well away from that horrendous place, though we should continue moving when you gain the strength."

Marias heartbeat began to slow as she listened, and she began to take in her surroundings. They were in the bedroom of a young man, judging by the sports equipment, the trophies on the desk, and the massive pile of clothes in the corner to her left. The moonlight was shining into the room, reflecting of the crimson hair of Sin.

"Where are we, and-" Maria stopped as she looked down at herself and realised that the clothes she wore were not her own. Without words she stared at Sin, her face turning red, causing the self-proclaimed servant to snicker.

"I could not leave my dear master in rugged, soiled clothes, could I? The daughter here had clothes fitting your sizes, I hope they are acceptable." With her words Sin stood up, Maria's gaze still glued to her. Every little movement was deliberate and exaggerated, the movements of an actor on a stage rather than a normal person. Sin knelt down in front of the bed, lowering her head. "I accept my punishment, milady."

The display left Maria with a lack for words, all she could utter was a stuttered "What?" Sin stared up at her with only her eyes, her head still lowered in submission. "A weapon must never strike its master. Robbing you of your senses is a crime that demands punishment." She staid there unmoving as Maria looked at her in bewilderment and shook her head, sliding off of the bed and getting onto her feet.

"I am not going to do that, you saved me and, I mean, you did it for my sake. Please, stand up." Sin did as asked, rising back to her feet and looking back at her master with a wide smile.

"I thank you for your mercy, my master. I hope you will soon be rid of it." Without awaiting an answer she walked past Maria, picked up a small bag by the door and opened it, bowing deeply. "It would be wise to leave soon, my master. This bed was the only unoccupied one, the owner may return at any moment."

It was with these words that Maria was pulled back into the reality of her situation. She stood in someone else's house, in someone else's clothes after being dragged out of a cellar. Ice cold dread spread through her body, she began to tremble and shake as she rushed towards Sin and out of the room. "Where, where are we, what do I do?"

Her legs were moving on their own as her mind once more shut down, the world was a blur around her until she left through the front door and was greeted with the cold night air. First here, after seeing that Sin had followed her out of the house, did she calm down enough to take note of her surroundings.

It was in the dead of night, even the street lanterns were out, no car was on the street, she could not hear a single motor. The street was as normal as it could be, house after house in an endless line, all looking alike, with the same garden, the same garage and most of the same tacky spring decorations. And yet, Maria knew where she was, she knew this street. "We're at Sun Terrace, that is like twenty kilometres away, wait."

She stepped past Sin, back towards the house. As she read the house number her stomach began to revolt. She held a hand in front of her mouth, holding back the urge to vomit, staring back at Sin in terror. "What did you..do to the people living here?"

Sin looked at her master with a moment of annoyance that faded as quickly as it came. "I took their consciousness like I did with you, my master. There is naught else I could do." With these words she pulled up the sleeve of her right arm. The scales on her arm disappeared, making way for a web of intricate red lines, shaping runes and symbols Maria had never seen before, and yet she understood them.

"You cannot attack unless to defend, to protect, or on an order." Immediately after the words left Maria's mouth she furrowed her brows, looking at Sin in bewilderment, who was smiling knowingly. "The blood of your ancestors is still strong, good. You are correct. The laws of your family bind me in service." She lowered her head in deference.

"I cannot harm unless it is to defend you or myself, unless you order me to. The vermin sleep in peace, as much as I had wished to slaughter." Only now did she look up to her with genuine surprise. "Why are they important, my master?"

Maria turned from Sin back to the house and back multiple times, before she quickly backed off and onto the street. "Someone lives there, a, a friend, I suppose." Her cheeks turned red as she avoided the inquisitive stare of Sin and started to walk up the street. "I want to go home, I don't suppose you have, well, a car?"

Without hesitation her servant followed Maria, staying a step behind. "I do not, anymore. I fear I misplaced it in the gate of that abominable manor. I could take one of these if you wished?" Sin walked past her master and motioned to a black van a few steps down the road. Maria was taken aback and kept her gaze to the ground, her hands fidgeting. "We can't do that, It's not, I mean, you know we can't do that!"

Despite her objections, she stopped by the car, looking at it and biting her lower lip. Sin, unphased by the argument continued to look at her, unmoving. "My master can do what she wishes. You only take what you require, your needs outweigh those of maggots."

The way Sin spoke continued to unnerve Maria, her squirming did not stop, though she did not object her. "I, alright, we can." She muttered under her breath, which caused Sin to look at her more closely. "I am the weapon, my master. I only act out your will, I do not act myself."

Another gust of wind breezed past them, slicing through Marias thin and lacking clothing. She shivered. "Could you not have taken something less skimpy for me, ah, whatever just, just get me the car, I want to go home!" Maria finally yelled, staring at Sin with frustration and a first, genuine anger.

Once more her servant bowed deeply, baring her teeth with her grin. "I exist to serve, my master." Swiftly she went to work, disappearing on the other side of the van. After a few moments the motor began to roar, the lights turned on and Sin opened the passenger door for her. "Please enter, I already turned up the heat so you needn't freeze, my master."

Without a moment's hesitation Maria sat down inside the car, slamming the door shut and fastening her seat belt, still shivering. The moment it was fastened Sin pushed down on the pedal, and they drove off into the night. They were both quiet for a while, Sin with her eyes on the road, Maria staring out through the window, still processing everything that had happened, everything that was happening.

"What did I do wrong." She muttered out again, this time while turning her head to Sin. Her servant staid quiet, not taking her eyes off of the road until they had left the neighbourhood and were on the open country roads. First here did she sigh and break her silence. "Milady, you did nothing wrong. None of this happened because of what you did, but because of what you are."

Maria could only look at her in bewilderment, causing Sin to shake her head. "There is much you do not know, much you need to know, and I fear there is not enough time to give everything the respect is deserves." The roads were empty on this dark Saturday night, no other car passed them. When they reached a rest stop Sin turned and drove onto it, parking in a small corner. They were not the only ones here, but the few trucks and trailers were dark and silent.

Here she finally turned in her seat to face Maria. "I don't know what nonsense words you had thrown at you. And they are all lies anyways. What is important, more than anything else, is that you are so, so much more than you could know. And that there are people without counting out there who look at what you are with hatred and disgust."

She reached out and took Maria's hand into her own, squeezing it gently. "They do so because they fear you. They fear your blood, the power you hold. And they fear me, your sworn servant." Once more she bared her teeth and lowered her head to kiss her hand. When her lips touched her skin it left a small, red spot. It began to glow and spread across her arm, forming lines and symbols that she had previously seen on Sin's arm. Maria stared at them in panic, then back at Sin, who returned her gaze calmly. "Do not fear, my master."

With the spread of the lines came a feeling of warmth, spreading through the cells of her body. She could not follow the spread of the lines under her clothes, but she could feel it. Feel as it unfurled, as it began to fill her, fill that emptiness she had been carrying since that first day of school. It crawled up her chest and to her neck, expanding across her face and as it reached her eyes she could see how the smile faded from Sin's face.

"It would be best not to look at me for this moment, my master." Before she could even mutter a reply her sight turned black. She could see nothing, fear started to spread through her mind, but no terror could prepare her for what she was about to see.

When her sight returned, she beheld catastrophe. In front of her was not the inside of the van, not the unsettling, mysterious servant, but a pile. A writhing mass of limbs and faces, screaming and groaning in agony. Flames filled every space not taken up by twisting flesh, and far atop the mountain of unspeakable horror she could see a figure of pitch black, staring down at her. She stared into a face with no eyes, no nose, only a wide-open, gaping mouth with teeth as sharp as knives. Maria tried to scream, but no noise could leave her mouth, she clawed at her face in despair and only then did she get overcome by blissful oblivion.

When her sight returned to her she was back in the van, her body contorted and her face feeling sore, blood streaming down her cheeks. She stared back at Sin, unable to speak, to move, the despair of what she had seen still holding her in its grip.

"When a mage first gains their sight, they usually are beholden to wondrous beauty, as they see all of those things that the common filth cannot." Sin's voice was quiet, void of the controlled and elegant tone she had held since they met. "None of them would have their first true sight be that of a beast, I beg for your forgiveness for having to witness something so unsightly." Once more she lowered her head, batting her eyes.

"You were raised in a world bereft of the magic that is pulsing through your blood. Normally you would be unlocking this power over years, but that time is a luxury I fear we do not have, so I had to be a little more forward."

Very slowly did Maria manage to sit up straight again, still looking at Sin with fear. "What happened, what did I, was that, was that you?" Sin nodded slowly to her words and rose her hand. She grasped onto the air, causing a chain to appear. It extended from her hand to Maria's right hand and Sin's chest. "You saw me in my truest self, yes. I am the beast that has protected your family throughout the centuries, before I was separated from your line, before your ancestors had to hide among the common filth from their enemies. I am Sin."

She laid a hand on her chest, rattling the chain as it slowly vanished again. "And I am yours to command, my master. I will explain everything that I can, when there is time. I do not feel we should return to your home, your enemies likely know it if they could tell what you were. I know a few places we can be safe from their eyes, on your order I can lead you there."

With that she turned to start the engine once more. "When we are there and you are safe, I will explain more to you." Before she could grasp the wheel however, Maria took Sin's hand into her own. "Fine but, you must answer me one question first: Who, WHAT am I?"

Sin turned her head back to face her and she took a deep breath before answering. "You were Maria Blair. But Blair is only a common name, adopted by your line to mask your true blood. A farce, a mask for the name your ancestors have worn throughout the centuries. With your blood awakened, you are now Maria Len-Fey. Heiress of your clan and inheritor of the queen who almost brought the world to kneel." She smiled widely, the lamps of the dashboard reflecting on her teeth.