Chapter Text
“It can take a generation for scars to truly heal, and I’ve known women who’ve spent lifetimes nursing wounds that will never get better.” Those were the words the bartender offered trying a gentle smile.
What a bitch.
She spat in her drink and gave the woman a dirty look telling her to mind her own damn business.
Who did she think she was trying to intrude on her life?
The bartender sighed and placed a mug down on the counter in front of her.
Diabellstar began to protest but the woman stopped her with her own look.
“It’s on the house. God knows I’ve needed a free drink every now and then.”
“Whatever,” Diabellstar let go of her anger and chugged the drink in front of her down, eliciting light cheers from some of the men and women around her.
“Hey Mercy, how about fixing me up with a drink?” One asked.
“Fuck off Jack.”
“Aye, I’m trying!” He laughed earning some more cheers from the men around him.
She nursed the backwash of her pity drink longer than she cared to admit, drifting in and out of memory.
When she looked down into the drink left in that mug, it reminded her of a puddle.
“Astellar! Astellar, what are you doing, get dressed and let’s go.” She still heard her voice echoing around the room.
She felt the girl's arms around her as they fell asleep in the same bed tired from giggling and talking about magic. She felt her breath on the back of her throat, the blush on her own cheeks coming to a terrifying realization, the confusion in her eyes as she distanced herself, and the terrified look in her eyes as those monsters took her away. They flashed one after another quickly, no memory holding in her mind longer than a second.
And she watched her home be destroyed.
“What a bitch,” she murmured, with only one target in mind.
Then behind her, like a blow to the head she overheard something huge.
“-Sinful Spoil in that new ancient temple they just dug up, apparently the place is haunted too so they couldn’t even get it out without being attacked by some mysterious guardian spirit.”
Had she heard that right!
Didn’t matter, she was done anyway, and she knew where that temple was.
“Thank you for the drink Ms Bartender,” she slid her empty mugs away.
“Are you leaving for the night?” She caught the hint of fire in the woman's eyes.
For the first time she really looked at the woman.
Darker skin, short hair, a thin frame all the way up and a tattoo almost hidden under her modest barmaid outfit, a height unnaturally tall for a girl, but on top of it all a bratty smile begging Diabellstar to toy with her. She would have pounced on this woman and eaten her alive any other night.
“Afraid so.”
“Well…um, are you coming back soon? Maybe we could get a drink when I’m off sometime.”
She was adorable but…
“No, I’m sorry,” the Black Witch apologized with her raspy voice, “You would do best to stay away from me.”
In her eyes she saw Elzette, the one she had failed all those years ago and she knew happiness was not for people like her.
“Oh…I guess I’ll see you around then.”
Something deep in her needed the woman to truly stop trying. She was not built for the world Diabellstar lived in.
“I don’t think you’ll be seeing me around these parts again. Have a good life.”
The woman's face fell giving her a scowl finally taking the hint.
Good, that was what she deserved, she told herself disappearing out the door. People like her didn’t deserve love, and especially the kind of love she wanted, she knew it was wrong.
She recalled Elzette’s eyes shifting when she realized why she had been avoiding her for weeks. She had almost wanted to say something then and there.
She needed to stay away from that shit. Love and lust are dangerous things.