The Astral soul system-Chapter 117: Acceptance

Sable ran through the door, occasionally looking back at Zaine. Should she really have left him alone? What if he...

"No! Zen is still in there somewhere. He won’t die. I just need to focus on myself"

She suddenly realized that now without Zen it was one against who knows how many gangsters.

*Croak*

Looking back, Sable noticed a black bird following after her.

"It’s you"

She suddenly heard footsteps and quickly found a corner to hide. Sable perked up her ears to see if she could hear anything and she was quite successful

"What the fuck is going on!?"

"Appearantly some other gang is attacking"

The previous one replied.

"Then why the fuck aren’t we out there killing them"

"Beats me. You know how the boss is, always saying he’s careful when really he’s just a coward. Like anyone could defeat big Bruno "

*Scoff*

"If someone can beat Bruno alone I’d probably offer to work for THEM instead"

"Yeah,the boss has a screw loose. Anyway he wants us to transport all the "merchandise" to one of the temporary warehouse,says that we can’t risk keeping everything in the main base"

"Speaking of which,why isn’t the boss here. He left Bruno and Isla and left on some secret mission.

"Ha, why’d he have to leave that bitch. She’s completely crazy ,you see how she acts with the products. She killed another few yesterday because they wouldn’t kiss her feet "

"Crazy?! Huh! Calling that bitch crazy is an insult to all crazy people. She’s completely lost it. Luckily I’m not one of the products "

Sable was immediately stunned as she heard what they were saying.

’Products are people?’

Her breathing suddenly calmed down and she looked a lot less nervous and she adopted the cold demeanor she usually kept on at school. She had previously tried to keep a brave face when taking down those gangsters before in front of Zaine because she was scared, not because she was bothered by the bloodshed, but because she wasn’t. It was like all those lives taken meant nothing to her. Somewhere inside she thought of these people as just waste, and that scared her. She went from being a normal girl to having a pit where empathy was meant to inhabit in her heart,so she was naturally suprised.

However amidst all this,there was one up side,she was now more rational,more logical and calculative, she could think clearer without emotion clouding her judgement,at least when she allowed herself to. The emotion currently clouding her judgement wasn’t pity or empathy for these people, but the belief that she was meant to feel such, and distress when she didn’t .

She remembered something Zen had mentioned. She was an empath. She was incredibly sensitive to the emotions of others and often mirrored them onto herself, especially when under the stimulation of battle. That’s how she was able to bond with Zen in such a short time despite his relative lack of any emotions of his own.

Right now she was feeling how that "Merchandise" felt in the current situation they were in. Fear,hate, hysteria, powerlessness. She was afraid of her lack of empathy for these people but in the eyes of their "merchandise" THEY DIDN’T FUCKING DESERVE ANY PITY!!!

Sable took a deep breath and stepped out of her hiding spot,her eyes as tranquil as a lake.

"I still don’t know why were doing this. Weren’t there those interns that joined a few days ago, can’t they -"

A whooshing sound briefly went off and the gangster suddenly stopped talking and fell on his knees, revealing Sable behind him with an ice cold glance and crimson red eyes replacing her usual blue.

"What the fu-"

A black raven immediately landed on his head,its talens piercing his eyes . Before he could scream, multiple grotesque tentacles came out of the raven’s beak before entering into the man’s mouth and jamming his throat, stopping his breath and stopping him from screaming.

Sable quickly took the opportunity, decapitating him cleanly.

The raven suddenly started croaking, dissatisfied as a few of the tentacles had been cut off.

Looking at the bits she cut off, crawling back into the body, Sable realized what she’d done and got on one knee in front of the little thing. She didn’t notice but her eyes had returned to their sky blue when she did.

"Sorry about that little guy. Here, eat up, you’ll need your strength"

Sable said, picking up the head she just decapitated and offering it to the parasite. She suddenly realized what she just did, but taking another look at the corpse she shrugged and petted the bird while it ate out of her hand. Still no pity, but that didn’t bother her as much.

A few seconds was all it took for Black to finish and as soon as it did it hopped into the young girl’s hand.

"You wanna help me?"

"Grkraaa"

"I’m no mind reader but I’m pretty sure that was a yes"

Sable’s sensitive ears suddenly picked up some more movement and she looked around looking for a place to hide, eventually opting to hide behind the door as they opened it. It was a stupid gag but it might work.

As soon as she took her place the door creaked open but whoever was on the other side didn’t rush in after seeing the dead bodies.

Black suddenly let out a loud call to draw attention to himself and landed on one of the bodies, pecking on it and acting like a normal bird.

"Oh, that’s sick" said a voice from the other side of the door.

It looked like they still didn’t want to come in when a huge boom blared out, shaking the building.

Distracted by the bird loudly making noise and the bang the three gangsters that came in didn’t bother looking around and headed for the bodies directly.

"Who did this? And what the hell is that noise?"

"We gotta tell Isla about this"

Sneaking up behind them, Sable swiftly took out the one that was closest to her, alerting the others with the sound of the falling body. Black burst into action, attacking another one while Sable finished the second before taking down the third, this time making sure to cut from the abdomen.

Sable looked at where the sound came from and stared for a few seconds before walking in the opposite direction. Zaine could take care of himself...at least she hoped so.

Sable suddenly stopped as she realized what was happening, she was feeling worried on someone else’s behalf, maybe she hadn’t lost her empathy after all.

She looked back in Zaine’s direction, this time with a smile before continuing on her own path,Black flying low and directly behind her.

"Only a few dozen more to go, and this time, I’m not afraid to get blood on my fangs"

Sable muttered, looking at her katana’s clear blade that reflected the moon and her own crimson eyes

****************

Sable wiped her blade off, looking at the body at her feet that Black was currently feeding on as well as the entire hallway full of them.

"With how much you eat, you better grow up big enough for me to ride on."

"Grkraaaa"

Sable opened the next door, expecting another wave of gangster but this one was surprisingly empty.

"Hmmm?"

Sable looked all around the large rectangular room but neither her eyes or ears could detect anything. There were a few crates and other junk but nothing else.

"Phew"

Sable sighed in relief. She hadn’t been hit once by these gangsters due to the difference in skill being huge. She’d recieved top tier training and education, had multiple tutors and top tier gear all since childhood ,so it wasn’t hard to run circles around this untrained band of miscreants, but that didn’t mean she didn’t tire,in fact she was getting very tired already.

Sighing in relief, she turned around and was about to go back to Zaine and see if he needed help when

*Whoosh*

She suddenly picked up a strange sound but it was too late for her to react and she was hit by a long thin object, sending her flying and tumbling.

"Now who’s this pretty little mouse that’s wondered into my den?"

Sable got up as quickly as she could to prevent any further attacks. She felt a wet sensation in her side and looked at the place she was hit realizing it was bleeding.

"Just from one attack?"

Sable looked at her agressor and realized it was a woman about in her thirties. She had a heart shaped face and was in a leopard print shirt , shorts and a denim jacket. There were about a dozen tatoos running up her arms and legs.

"Hey there mouse. I’m Isla,the resident slaver in this base"

"I’m not interested"

"Oh, but I’m interested in you. How did you get past Bruno,cuz i know you didn’t kill him. Let me guess, you’ve got some friends distracting him, sorry to tell you chica, they’re probably dead already. Why don’t you spend some time with me instead ~"

The woman suddenly began to change. Her body got more muscular and she grew a few inches, stretching her clothes but not enough to rip through them, she grew orange fur with black stripes all over her body and her eyes turned into a predatory green.

Sable scrutinized the gang member and prepared her sword,her transformation was similar to Bruno’s, however it seemed much more centered on speed. She looked at the weapon in her hands ,it was a metal whip, and she could already tell it was deadly.

"Oh I’m going to have so much fun with you, it’s making me excited already. You’re gonna be sooo happy you picked me over that dullard Bruno~" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"..."

Isla growled like an animal and with a sprint, appeared before Sable in a matter of seconds her whip already in motion.

’she’s fast ’

Sable quickly took a step back, switching to a reverse grip and holding the sword crossed over her chest. Luckily this was a good move as the next attack of the whip was deflected, however the small spikes suddenly appeared all over the whips body, allowing her to grip Sable’s blade and after a breif tug of war she managed to rip it out of her hand.

"Hahahaha! You should work on your grip little mouse you have soft hands, but soft hands are good,i like soft hands mmmn~"

Gritting her teeth, Sable released the Katana, moving in close to where the whip would be mostly ineffective .

Seeing what she intended to do,Isla smirked and got in close.

"You should have just said so little mouse. I love getting in close with my prey"

Sable threw a punch straight for her face, landing the hit and causing her to stagger a bit.

Not willing to drop her whip Isla took the hit, returning with one of her own, forcing Sable a few meters back.

’She’s stronger than me too? Not good ’

"Come on little mouse lets keep playing. But when I win,we have to play one of my games. It’s going to be super fun mmnn~ hahahaha"

Sable got up and was about to move when the whip struck her again, sending her back and giving her another injury, and then again

And again

And again.

Sable staggered painfully resting her back against the wall,she had lost a lot of blood.

"Hehehehe looks like i win little mouse"

Isla slowly steps closer to the injured Sable, confident in her victory as she looked at the utterly exhausted young girl.

She puts her furry hands on Sable’s chin and suddenly transforms back, reverting to her usual form.

"Aren’t you sweet? Don’t worry little mouse. Now we can play a better game,a fun game,you just need to do what i say~"

She puts her hand on Sable’s arm,slowly running up to her shoulder,the euphoric breathing showing her obvious enjoyment.

"You can now stay with me forever little mouse~ I’ll accept you like no one can, I’ll take all of you"

She looks up to her "little mouse’s" face and frowns.

"I hate this mask. I want to see that cute little face of yours"

Isla reached up to take off Sable’s mask and smiles sadistically when she doesn’t stop her or fight back

"That’s a good mouse"

She slowly takes off the mask and the sadistic glint in her eyes only intensifies as it falls off and she sees Sable’s face.

"Oh,you really are little my little mouse,no matter, I’ll be your mommy now. Mommy will protect you mommy will accept all of you little mouse. I can even let you be my little tigress cub, you just have to accept me. Come on mouse lets play"

Sable looked down and kept quiet before sighing out.

"Okay, Just do it "

Isla looked completely euphoric as she heard that.

"That’s my good little mouse, I’ll make you feel -"

"Wasn’t talking to you,bitch"

Sable said flatly while looking her in the eye.

"Wha-?"

"Grkraaaa!!!"

Black suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked her eyes, digging his claws into whatever flesh it could find.

While she was disoriented, Sable flipped on the spot,her foot connecting with the bottom of jaw, sending the slaver on her back.

Sable looked at the slaver and all she could feel was hate. Nothing else came to mind at the sight of her, only hate hate and more hate!!! She was responsible for all of the suffering in this place,all of it, she was at the center, Sable could feel it inside her, she could feel all the hate and pain she caused.

"Aaaaaaaaaghhh!!!!! You bitch!!!!"

Isla swung her whip and managed to get a direct hit on the raven, sending it flying

"No!"

She quickly stood up,her arm already transformed as she attacked with her full physical strength.

*...Boom!!!*

The wall behind Sable wasn’t just cracked,it was destroyed and Sable was sent flying outside onto the ground.

Sable wheezed painfully, coughing up blood and saliva.

Out of the dust created by the destruction walked out Isla who was missing an eye.

"Bitch! You really think you’re smart?! You think you can fool ME and get away with it"

She put her finger over where she lost her eye but didn’t dare touch it.

"You bitch! Well guess what, I’m still going to have my fun,yeah, lots of fun with my new toy, after I’m done breaking you. Lets start with taking both your eyes. You’ll be completely reliant on me. I’ll have you eating out of my fucking hand bitch!!!!"

At that time they both heard a huge boom as the ground quaked.

"Huh. Hear that? That’s Bruno killing your friend, they lasted longer than I thought they will to be honest "

Sable struggled to look up. She couldn’t even hear the words of the maniac in front of her. The one thing she could see was the moon. The pure white full moon hovering in the air, bathing her in its light"

"Now Beg! And I might consider not plucking out your intestines one by one while you get fucked senseless by those Bruno and the rest of his gang, with you conscious the whole time"

Sable ignored her senseless rambling and seemed hypnotized as the moon reflected in her eyes making her eyes look silver. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else as she kept getting strange visions,all of them bloody.

She felt a primal urge taking over her as her eyes turned completely red, none of the usual black in the center. She looked like she’d just experienced a complete sensory overload.

"Don’t tell me i broke you already, I’m just getting started"

Isla said, getting ready to whip her again while she transformed.

Looking down at Sable, Isla only blinked and by the time she opened her eyes, Sable was standing right in front of her,her mouth opened wide with fangs aimed at her neck.

"What!"

It was too late however as Sable’s now elongated fangs pierced Isla’s neck before she could complete her transformation. She immediately felt like she was paralyzed as her vital fluid rushed out through her veins into Sable’s mouth.

’W-what’s going on! Why can’t I move? What is this crazy bitch doing?!’

Isla suddenly felt like the entire world just changed color and was confused for a second before forcing her eye to look towards the sky, completely shocking her.

’T-the moon is...red? It’s a blood moon but..it was normal a second ago’

Isla finally managed to gain enough control to finish her transformation and resist the venom in Sable’s fangs.

She immediately threw her off using all her strength.

Sable landed on her feet with ease, making it seem like all the damage she had taken and her previous pitiful state was nothing but a bad dream.

"You! What did you do!"

Sable snarled,a faint hissing sound escaping her lips.

She didn’t say anything but there was something imposing about her standing there with her piercing red eyes and the full crimson moon behind her.

"No matter. I’ll break your bones a second time"

Isla got ready to swing her whip but she was only halfway done when Sable was in front of her. Her hand firmly held Isla’s, holding it in place before ripping it out of her hand and throwing it to the side.

Isla winced painfully when she tried to free her hand. She threw a punch aiming to take her out in one hit like before but this time Sable just dodged to the side before grabbing her arm and then breaking it in her palm.

"Aah!!! You bitch! You’ll pay for this "

Sable frowned and while still holding her hand kicked her in the abdomen, sending her flying into the wall.

The force destroyed the wall and would have sent her in it if Sable hadn’t grabbed her at the last second by her neck, keeping her just at the edge.

Isla struggled to stand on her feet looking at the blue eyed demon in front of her.

"You... you’re a monster"

For the first time since entering this strange state, Sable talked as her glowing red eyes locked with Isla’s.

"Kneel"

Without delay or bothering about her broken bones,she dropped to her knees her eyes glowing as well.

"What just happened? What did you do to me. Why did i listen? Monster!"

"Go to hell"

Sable said before squeezing her neck until she felt her go limp.

"Monster? I don’t know,but it doesn’t matter how monstrous this is or what exactly i am. I’ll accept it all the same"