The Kitsune wakes from her slumber, having recovered from her bout with the Maou of the eastern territories. She had grabbed hold of his weakness and after days of trading blows, cut clean his horns dispelling his magical force. Though the fight was close and exhausting, the rewards made it worthwhile. All of his territory along with her own set of majestic horns, signifying the crowning of a new Maou.

Her powers recovered and amplified by her new found status, the Maou sets off in search of a place to settle down to ponder her future options.

Passing through a dense forest on the boundaries of the following territory, she found an old shack. She decided it best to wait out the day and travel under the cover of darkness to avoid unwanted attention. She scopes out the surroundings for unwanted guests and strides into the shack choosing a room as she does so and goes to sleep.

A few hours pass and unbeknownst to her, during her sleep a robed figure enters the isolated shack.

After tending the church gardens and entertaining the children, Liara wanted a little time alone. She picked up her robe, grabbed a basket, and headed out to a nearby field to collect a bouquet of her favourite flowers before making her way home. Most of the people at the church stayed in a nearby dormitory to stay closer to their god, but Liara found it cramped. Something always needed doing. Never a chance to relax. She had opted to live in a little shack in the nearby forest, just a half mile from the church.

The weather had been pleasant, with a clear blue sky, cool breeze, and the sound of birds carried in the wind. After finishing the church chores, she went to a nearby field, picking flowers to put in a vase back home. After filling the basket, she headed off home. The path was old and worn, grown over in patches. Small animals scurried about dashing to cover at the sound of her approach.

A few minutes later she passes a clump of tree's only to find the door to her house left open,

"Oh my, that's odd, I’m sure I locked the door when I left."

A frown creeping onto her face, she puts down her basket of flowers and walks through the front door.

"Hello? Is there anyone here?"

After hearing no response and confirming the front rooms were empty; Liara relaxed and checked the back rooms.

The Maou woke from her sleep and looked around for the source of the sound responsible for waking her. Her senses on full alert, her clothing dissipating and armour setting in preparing for the possibility of an imminent battle. In the middle of the shift, a movement catches her eye and comes into view as the door swings open, a robed figure stood in the doorway. An unpleasant sensation ran through her body as if every vein in her body had lit on fire and doused in ice at the same time.

Her new powers had come with a new weakness, vulnerability to holy or divine people and objects. After recognising the figure as a potential threat, the Maou rushes to flee to safety, her body still numb and unresponsive. She maneuvered to the nearest window and smashed the glass. She leapt out to the forest beyond, only to stumble and fall through the window towards the ground, cutting her arm.

Liara panicked and rushed over to the window, latching onto whatever she could to stop the stranger from falling. Liara pulled the stranger back into the room and looks around for something to bind the open wound.

With the window broken, light spilled into the room, illuminating the both of them. The Maou saw a young, kind looking girl, wearing an acolyte's robe, her head wrapped in a thin scarf.

Liara saw a girl not much older than herself. Clad in a black kimono, a blade at her waist. A long silky black tail glittering with streaks of scarlet and crimson, with what looked like transparent vines with thorns weaving in and out of the tail. She saw jet black hair reaching down to the girls shoulders, flickering purple in the sunlight. A set of ears like those of an animal folded down atop her head, two large horns curling round the side of her head from either side.

Liara stared into the girl's eyes. The iris a shade of purple so dark it would appear black when viewed after dusk. She realises she has been staring the whole time and struggles to find words to say.

"W-who… are you? Why are you in my house?" Liara asked, trying to regain her composure, but with little luck

The girl looks back at her, tilting her head as if she didn't know who the girl was talking to, before remembering it was only them in the room.

"I mean no harm, I was just looking for a place to stay until nightfall. I didn’t mean to startle you," working into longer sentences the girl continues to speak. "If I am intruding, I will leave. Just promise not to touch me, or I can’t… guarantee your safety," the girl backed further away into the far corner of the room as she spoke.

"If it’s okay, do you… mind if I treat your wound? I couldn't in good conscience let you leave like that." a kind yet sad look in the girls eyes, leaning forwards, inching her way towards the young stranger.

"Doesn't my appearance scare you? Why would you offer to help someone who broke into your home, and damaged it trying to escape?" the girl looking at Liara replied, eyebrows raised.

"I know not from what you hide. Nor that which troubles you. But I feel like it would go against my moral code if I ignored the injured in front of me. Human or… otherwise," Liara said, looking embarrassed.

"Monster… that's what you want to call me. Isn’t it!" rage flickering over the girls face, the temperature in the room dropping, the surrounding floor showing signs of frost.

"NO, that's not what I mean!" Liara responded, a hurt expression worn on her face. "I wouldn't call you a monster… such beauty befits only another glorious creation of God. I truly meant you no disrespect." willing the girl to understand.

The girl regained her composure, looked around the room then straight back into her eyes.

"Hmph, what does it matter. I’ll always be different." She cast a downward glance at the floor. Traces of past suffering showing in the icy cold eyes that were the mirror to her soul.

Before Liara could utter another word, the girl had stood up, walked forwards and stopped in front of her. The girls horns shrinking, animal ears disappearing from view, and the tail that was but moments ago radiant and beautiful was thin and dull, retracting into her body.

She now looked like any typical girl you would find in the orphanage, hollow, alone, small… human. Stuck unable to move Liara continued to stare into the girls’ soul, and yet nothing shined back, no signs of thought, no traces of emotion. The eyes once comparable to the starry night sky, had turned into a black hole, absorbing everything.

"I am sorry. I would have liked to stay and chat, but I have somewhere to be. Unfortunately for you, no-one must know my appearance or location."

She leant over the frozen statue of a girl, reached down and drew a short kiss from her lips. After extracting the memory of their meeting, she went on her way.

As Liara slipped into darkness, hushed words escaped her lips. "Don’t… go…"

"Goodbye Liara, may you have a brighter life once I am gone" responded the girl as she disappeared out the doorway. Liara fell into a deep sleep that wouldn't end until the girl was already long gone and impossible to follow, not that she would remember her. But she would always feel like she had forgotten something important.

Her powers at full charge and body awakened from its short respite. The Maou set off for her lair deep in the northern mountain range where she could sleep soundly until a new threat endeavoured to muscle in on her territory. For years to come, she would think back to the day she met the young acolyte and wonder. How it may have been if she were an ordinary girl, might she have stayed and become friends? Grow old and ignorant together as fellow believers.

Maybe nothing would have changed. She would still be as cold and alone as she was now, but with no strength or powers to support her.