Chapter Text
The mission was supposed to be easy.
Abyss – five enemies – five kills – five souls.
The rest of her team? Backup. Support.
Reyna has been running high with hunger. Insatiable hunger. She collects and collects and collects souls as if her life depended on it – as it literally does - but not for herself, not for her own sake, not for her own life. It has never been about her.
Images of her comatose sister flashed into her mind. Her skin pale, eyebrows knit together, her skin coated with a thin layer of sweat. Reyna couldn’t bear it, didn’t want to bear it. Seeing her sister like this day in and day out with no sign of recovery.
And Viper? She puts her whole being into treating Lucia, although she could be spending the time to further her deadly toxins, to work out a new strategy against Alpha Earth’s common enemy, or anything else, really. But no, instead she spends countless days and countless nights working together with Reyna to find a cure for Lucia’s ailment, to find something that soothes her pain - but to no avail. The treatment has been stagnant, no sign of recovery or relapse. ‘At least she’s stable’ Reyna keeps telling herself.
It’s a vicious circle.
This mission was yet another attempt at trying to rectify what is wrong. Another failed one at that. Viper mused that on some off-chance, Lucia needs to overflow with souls so that her body can heal the scars before it focuses on finding a way out of this comatose state. It was speculation but it was worth a try.
So they had sent Reyna out to feed on the death that follows her presence. Five kills for five souls and five more souls for Lucia to harbour. Five more souls lost to the ever growing hunger contained within her being. But what’s five souls in exchange for the one that truly matters?
So the team departs, with rifles in hand and enough supplies to last them a lifetime.
The first three kills were easy, pop a smoke, swing mid, clean shot through the head, and dismiss. Per luck, she shot through the skulls of two enemies standing back to back. The third enemy, she heard approaching from the alley where she came from. Her opponent thought they were sneaky, avoiding the traps Reyna deliberately laid out just in case she was dealing with another powerful radiant. Despite their care, they were still too loud for Reyna’s oversensitive hearing. In hindsight, the traps weren’t really necessary, but she’d rather prepare accordingly than suffer the consequences.
She listened as the footsteps approached. Long, quiet ones made their way towards her in an attempt to take her out with a swift slash of their knife. Reyna pretended to be oblivious to the incoming attack.
She’s a predator set out to kill her prey, but she’s not above a little teasing. At the very last moment, she turned around unexpectedly, grabbed the assailant's right arm, and twisted it behind their back which caused a beautiful song of pain to emerge from their lungs. A smirk made itself evident on the radiant’s lips, too beautiful was that song.
She could already feel how her assailant wanted to be stripped of all the life force contained within them, could feel how they were aching for the release. With one last donning chuckle, she granted that wish by taking out her own knife and effortlessly stripping the body from all its warmth, letting crimson seep into the soil as it fell unhindered to the ground.
Reyna’s body was in ecstasy and she knew it. The thrill of making her enemy believe they’re in control, even though they’re anything but, made her skin tingle. It made her feel alive.
With each kill, with more freshly shed blood, she felt herself grow restless, stronger. The additional souls that coursed within her system fuelled her like nothing else could. Her tattoos started to glow with increasing intensity, her heart beating faster than those of any mortal human could. She felt a shiver run through her whole system, leaving hairs standing.
She’s a rabid hunter feeding off the thrill of getting its first kill and yet she had not had enough. She needed more.
As she finished devouring her third soul, a vivid magenta tucked at the side of her vision. The purple glow contained within her seemingly swept ashore and bathed her entire being in it. It’s as if the dam to her near limitless powers had broken, for it to sweep away any obstacle in her way and leave only destruction after its passing. A storm in the making.
Reyna felt her muscles ironing, the fangs that adorned her perfect whites sharpening, her movement becoming faster, more precise - she was set to kill and she would achieve this goal no matter the cost.
“For Lucia…”
Soft, words only meant to be heard by the little sister, if she can even hear Reyna, before a shuddering snarl escaped her throat. Low rumbling birthed from the deepest depths of her body. She was starving and the stench of blood on her body and hands did not falter her imposing figure in the slightest. No, quite the opposite in fact. The smell made her grow even wilder, more animalistic, more untamed. It’s as if the blood goaded her on. As if it wanted to cover Reyna all over, to taint her precious blue and purple armour, and finally to taint the radiant herself. It wanted Reyna as much as Reyna wanted it.
There was no going back now, it’s either kill or be killed and for Reyna, there is no option other than the former.
She wiped crimson off her cheek and licked the back of her hand clean, leaving way for the Empress to consume her fully. A grin comparable to that of your worst nightmares krept up on her stained lips as she vanished into the shadows.
Blinded by the Empress’s cravings, she set out for her last two remaining opponents. She didn’t remember much more, her memories of the events that had unfolded a blurry mess. She remembered her heart beating rapidly, remembered how her hands trembled, remembered how weak she felt - cold sweat broke out on her skin as her body ached for souls, ached to be fed.
And most of all, she remembered the deafening screams of her victims as she went for the kill.