Nel leaned against the crusted walls of the Chief's hut, panting heavily. "Why did it have to be that big?"

She brought forwards her short blade, examining the blood on the edge of the blade. Her battle against the twins took a strange turn following the surviving twin injecting herself with an unknown serum. Nel's first thought was some form of energy steroid or mana enhancer at the best, some kind of concoction that completely dulled her senses, turning her into a ravenous beast in human skin at worst. The latter was more on the money, yet the results were far more hideous, abhorrent and ghastly then she could have possibly imagined.

Now she was taking shelter within the chief's hut, which had escaped the destruction outside its walls so far, the only damage from the broken window she dived into.

Letting out a small sigh, gently leaning her head back against the wall, Nel couldn't help but think back to the journey that had lasted over a week. She remembered it all began with her chasing someone at Allisa's school who meant her harm, she remembered the kraken attack and the detour through the forest, she remembered the job from the Arch Sage which was the reason why she was here in the first place.

But most of all, she remembered how she almost took Yuki's head after he called her out, one simple question that had thrown her completely off.

"It's certainly been a strange trip,"

Suddenly, a sound of something scratching against the surface of the wall startled Nel, causing her to jump to her feet, blades at hand. She could hear it, a faint scratch along the wall like chalk on a board, a haunting sound unnerved even the hardened assassin.

Gently, Nel pressed her ear to the wall, trying to identify where the horrible sound was coming from. As she did, the sound stopped. Nel froze, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, her grip on her blades tightening as an unprecedented sense of foreboding washed over her.

"YAAAAAAA!!!"

An inhuman yell cried from outside. Nel's eyes widened. But her caution betrayed her. Something shot through the wall, grasping at Nel before wrenching her from the building. Nel was released, her two blades trailing a thin line of blood as she somersaulted, landing on the ground before skidding to a halt.

She gazed up at what had grasped her, with long fingers, razor-sharp nails, a red liquid seeping to the ground. An inhuman right hand attached to an equally unsightly beast. Standing over six foot, draped in a thick fur broken by a ripped corset and dress that was still partly attached to the body, its left arm noticeably smaller as it clung to the building, a metal gauntlet extending along the deformed hand, with its fingers extended outwards, showing pale skin underneath with fingernails that dug into the house, hind legs digging into the ground. It's head almost resembled an enlarged human skull, long red hair that flowed down the side of the extended neck. Soulless black eyes still clinging within hollowed sockets, a mouth with teeth two rows of small, sharp teeth, deformed bones that looked almost like antlers jutting from behind the furry hair.

Before Nel was what once was the last of the twin assassins. No, it was impossible to call it the same thing. Before she was nothing short of a hideous monster.

Gritting her teeth, Nel snapped to a defensive stance, holding out her left hand while keeping her dagger back. The beast let out an inhuman scream, leaping from the building with its right hand raised up.

Nel used quickstepped away, mere seconds before the beast slammed its hand into the ground, the blade crashing into the ground, leaving a small imprint. Nel reappeared a few feet away.

"YHAAAA!!" The beast screeched once again, pulling its hand free as it lunged at Nel once again. No chance to even catch her breath, Nel lunged forwards as the beast swung its clawed hand upwards, the fingernails digging through the ground as it passed. As she dived through the hind legs, Nel took a sweep at the beast's right leg with her short blade rolling across the ground.

The beast turned sharply, swinging its left arm outwards. Nel avoided by rolling back, glancing up to see the beast taking a step towards her with its left arm raised high in the air. Nel quickstepped again, allowing the palm to crash into the ground, repapering a few feet away before performing quickstep again, putting as much distance between her and the beast.

Skidding to a halt, Nel glared at her opponent with her golden eyes, breathing heavy.

It's fast for its size, She evaluated as she huffed and puffed. The beast meanwhile turned slowly towards her, letting out a hiss, using its large arm to steady itself as it walked steadily on its hind legs, its deformed arm moving close to its body. Her eyes fell on its right leg, seeing the shallow wound on its leg.

Even enhanced with mana, my blades can't cut deep.

The beast waddled its way over to Nel, using its left hand to support itself, its right arm twitching, inching to draw blood from its opponent.

Nel's expression hardened as she braised herself. I can still cut it.

The beast halted its advance, moving its body forwards. With another terrifying shreak, it lunged forwards, raising its left arm high in the air. Nel leaped out of the way, allowing the hand to crash into the ground before rushing towards its body, performing a series of slashes on its furry midsection, sickling the crimson fur with a darker shade of red.

With a screak, the monster leaped back, sweeping its left hand to catch Nel who used quickstep to evade. The monster swiped its hand again, trying to swat her like a fly before lunging slamming its hand down into the ground.

Nel moved to the beast's right side with the deformed hand, taking several swings with her short blade. Due to the right hand's disproportionate length in comparison to its left, attacking the right side was the safest option.

Another screek came from the beast, turning sharply while dragging its left hand across the ground. Nel leaped out of the way, trying to stay at the creature's right side. Pulling back her short blade, Nel was prepared for another strike, only for it to be interrupted when the beast lowered its body, taking the strike on the remnants of its left gauntlet, her blade bouncing off the metal.

Before Nel could recover, the beast swiped its right hand out, grasping a hold of Nel before hoisting her up into the air, slamming her down into the ground.

"GHAK!" The air in Nel's lungs was forced out of her lungs along with some blood.

The beast rose its right hand once again, preparing to pulverize the assassin. Eyes widened, strained from her ability, Nel threw her dagger at the monster, managing to catch it in the eye. She then rolled out of the way to avoid the hairy fist. The beast turned around sharply, sweeping its long arm at her again. Nel used quickstep, putting as much distance between her and the beast to catch her breath.

"To.... To close...." Nel muttered to herself under strained breath. The hit she had taken was certainly not something she could take too much of. While Max, Cliff, and even Yuki could possibly shrug off, Nel's body figure was not suited for such feet. Already she felt heavy, her bones still rattling in her body.

However, looking at the beast, she could see it was still slumped over, using its right hand to claw at its face, unable to reach the dagger embedded in the left eye. There were the various slashes that decorated its body, the area where Nel had concentrated enough on was bleeding perfuse, now leaking to the ground. The beast was in pain.

"Just... a little more," Nel said to herself, moving her foot back where she touched something. Looking back, her eyes widened.

Meanwhile, the beast turned to face Nel once again, letting out another inhuman streak.

Worth a shot.

The beast then launched forward across the ground, swinging out its right hand while Nel turned around, grabbing the object and hoisting it in front of her as a shield.

The beast suddenly stopped short, its right hand mere inches away from the bloodied corpse of the second twin assassin.

"T-The.... Lo.... The...." It muttered words it seemed to cling desperately on as it's remaining black eye opened with shock.

"Now!"

Nel threw the body aside, rushing past the frozen left arm before performing a quickstep, repapering in the air, grasping at the hilt of her dagger embedded in the monster's eye.

The beast lurched up with surprise, allowing Nel to rest her feet by its hideous open mouth, raising her short blade high in the air. Her eyes, cold and detached, looked into the monster's remaining eye, seeing nothing but an animal gazing back at her. With no remorse, respect for her kind, and certainly without a hint of pity, she lunged her blade forwards into the monster's skull.

****

"They're not here!"

"Damn it... where did those monsters disappear to?"

"They're somewhere out there! Those devils die tonight!"

A mob of grown men, armed with pitchforks and torches, scouring the dark woods. In their eyes, a look of hatred, blood boiled over to a heightened sense, to blind them to everything around them.

All the while, hidden in plain sight, huddled in a hollow of a tree lit up by the torch lights of the scary men we're the object of the men's hatred; two small girls, dressed in nothing but red rags and matching demon masks. Despite being in full view, the men completely ignored them, treating them as though they were a part of the hollow and nothing else.

"They're not here!" One of the men yelled, shining his torch at a forest trail. "They must have gone this way!"

"Let's go!" One of the men yelled. "Those devils die tonight!"

The men moved on, rushing away from their intended prey, who was once again shrouded in darkness. One of the two girls made her way to the edge of the hollow, watching the torch lights getting further and further away.

"Ok, they're gone." The girl turned back to the second, who was huddled deep within the hollow. "Now's our chance Louise."

"Th-Thelma..." The second girl shook. Sobbings could be heard from behind the mask as she huddled herself close. "I... I can't..."

"We're nearly out of the forest," The first girl said, making her way over to the crying girl, slowly taking off her mask. "Come on. You just have to be brave a little longer,"

The second girl shook her head. "I-I can't... I'm so scared." She sobbed. "I-I'm not like you Thelma.... I'm not brave.... I'm just a crybaby...."

"Louise..." the girl gave a soft smile as she reached towards the sobbing girl, gently taking off the demon mask revealing a girl with an identical face as her's, tears streaming down her face.

"Then why don't you be Thelma?" The girl said as she gently placed her own mask over her sisters. "We have the same face after all. So... you can be Thelma until we get out of the forest."

The now masked girl looked to her sister, her tear-soaked face looked up by a bewildered look as the second smiled at her, gently placing the other mask on her face. "So, from now on, you're brave Thelma while I'm crybaby Louise."

****

Thelma..... Louise....

Who was I.....?

Was I Thelma....?

Or was I.... Louise....?

****

Nel landed back on the ground, rolling to a stop, followed shortly by the beast collapsing to the ground with a violent thud, blood seeping from the hole that had opened in the center of its forehead.

"That... That actually worked..." Nel said to herself. She had no idea if stabbing the monster in the forehead would have actually worked given how obscene and repulsive the monster in question was.

"Just what did she do to herself?"

Nel glanced over to the other body, the first twin she killed. "If she had one," she said to herself as she approached her body, crouching down before reaching her hand into her corset. Grasping a hold of something, she pulled it free before getting back to her feet.

"Here we go?"

In her hand was a long silver tube with a small plunger on one end, a case on the other with what looked like a needle. There was a small window of glass showing through, with a serum of black liquid inside.

"What is this?"

The design looked familiar in some way, as though she'd seen something in Terra that resembled the object in question. Unconsciously turning it around to examine it at every angle, she saw something written on it, a name.

On closer inspection, Nel's eye's shot wide open. Grasping at the cylinder she brought it closer to her face with a horrified expression. "But that..... it can't be!"