Way of the Knights

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"...way to go me. Getting captured due to carelessness." Maria rolled her eyes as she mocked herself in a whisper within the confines of her make-shift prison. "This is what I get to being too cheeky. I really regret coming here." 

Maria is not on the most favorable position. She is this human's prisoner now, all of her freedom was taken away from her, even the choice of killing herself. She really provoked the wrong person. 

She wanted to say that it wasn't her fault, and that this was just all due to bad luck. However, if she just remained where she was, didn't exit the swamp where her sister is, she wouldn't be in this position so in the end, it is her fault. Now, even though she wanted to desperately call for help, she couldn't. Well, its not like she could contact her sister to ask for help in the first place anyway. 

Maria chose to cooperate that's why she's still alive at this point. All defiant thoughts on her disappeared the moment Vendrick neutralized the silver lining between her spirit and body. She told him everything without any falsifications, giving him a clearer perspective of the history between the Hag and the Forest Witch. 

The name of the Hag is Wendy, both her and sister of them were once human believe it or not. They were citizens of a previous civilization, most likely from the one that Vendrick encountered during his chase of the Lightning Source. 

They were born from a poor family. The sisters were close, Wendy was the older one and thus she acted as Maria's pillar. Maria on the other hand, was born with an affliction that was passed onto her by their waste of a father. They were abandoned and helpless, Wendy tried everything she could to cure her little sister since she's the only one left for her in this world. Unfortunately, fate hasn't been so kind to them. 

The sisters possessed unnatural beauty despite their social standing, this didn't make them happy since they knew that their appearances will only attracted trouble from the perverted men that has power and money or attract the ire and envy of the rich ladies who will make their lives miserable. Their looks were something they inherited from the mother who sold her body to make a living, she died after giving birth to Maria. 

Wendy tried everything she could to make their lives better but trouble seems to have taken a liking to them. Maria was coveted by a perverted and obese man who promised to make her life better and possibly even cure her if she decided to marry him. 

The older sister originally wanted to go against this but Maria was tired of being a burden. She accepted the offer, wedded the perverted guy, suffered all sorts of trauma in his 'care' but her life did became a little bit better. At least she has no problems securing food for her and sister. 

The perverted husband never had any plans of curing Maria though. To him, she was just a plaything, something that he could use to release his perverted habits whenever he felt stressed. Other than that, he doesn't give a whit about her. Maria was treated more like a prostitute than a wife as the man always leave her a bag filled with coins after each time he uses her. 

Despite her traumatic past, Maria steeled her resolve. She saved the money she got from him and actually managed to cure her disease much to Wendy's joy. They kept this a secret from her husband though as they planned to escape, change their identities and seek a more peaceful life.

Maria endured for some more until the day arrived that they've gathered enough capital to leave. Unfortunately, things didn't go well as they planned. 

The perverted guy caught wind of their plans. They caught them red handed at their escape. Wendy was pinned to ground, she was forced to watch as the perverted man molested her sister. Wendy's spirit was shattered as she saw the hopelessness and despair on Maria's eyes while experiencing this, she was reaching out to her but the gap between them wasn't closing. 

To add insult to the injury, the perverted man decided to 'share' Maria to his guards. After they were done, they killed her on the spot, leaving Wendy there with her spirit thoroughly broken from what she just witnessed. 

Wendy lifelessly carried her sister's corpse in the wilderness, wanting to find a place to hopefully bury her. Only coldness was left on her heart and body, she's no different from a walking corpse. 

Eventually, Wendy succumbed to exhaustion. Before she died, she found herself in the middle of a large swamp with her sister's dead body on her arms. In front of her was dying tree. For the last time, she grieved and let out her frustrations, screaming on the top of her lungs for the unfairness they experienced. After that, she died...

At least she thought so. When Maria regained consciousness, she's in her Spirit Form. She found her body bound to a sprawling tree that almost reached the skies. She tried returning to her body but she couldn't.

She also saw her sister but she's a far cry from being human. Wendy woke up much earlier than her. She found out that she seems to have awaken a strange power that allowed her to control the swamp according to her liking. She also saw Maria's body on the tree and tried numerous times to get her out of there but to no avail. 

Wendy knew that Maria was still alive, she's waiting for her. Maria became the sole purpose of Wendy's actions. But no matter how many years passed, she failed. 

At first, Maria could whisper words to Wendy, allowing her to sense her presence. But as time passed Wendy changed into something that she could no longer understand, Maria couldn't connect to her sister anymore and could only watch in sadness and frustration as her sister ignored herself and focused all of her attention on trying to revive her. 

Then she came - the Forest Witch that is.

She was a being that's was nurtured by the Great Tree in the swamp. A black serpent that could spit out poison that nobody could cure. She's an existence that is favored by the heavens. At first Wendy could easily defeat her but as time went on, the forest witch's growth allowed her strength to catch up. 

The forest witch didn't want to kill Wendy, she wanted the hag to be her pet, her loyal servant. But the Hag's too ferocious and wild. To reach her goal, the forest witch used Maria as a tool to threaten the Hag but Wendy was a sly. 

Wendy knew one of the forest witch's secret. She has a lover that lives on the east. It was another Demonic Beast that made a name for himself there. In order to reign in the forest witch, Wendy used her hexes and seduced the guy. Once he let his guard down, Wendy enslaved his mind, soul and body. 

The forest witch was incensed and wanted to kill the hag but more importantly, she wanted to restore her lover back. She needed the Hag since Wendy clearly knows how to undo her spell. 

They're at a stalemate now. The forest witch still had Maria as her bargaining chip and Wendy has the forest witch's lover. Unable to defeat each other, they had a temporary truce but that doesn't mean that they were close. 

The birth of the other Hags was the Forest Witch's idea, she wanted to create her own pawns in hopes of freeing her lover but Wendy discovered this and neutralized her advances by introducing herself as the Forest Witch's Eldest Daughter.  action

Wendy also has some ideas about the other Hags but it didn't come into fruition thanks to Vendrick's recent actions.

All this while, Maria constantly tried to search for ways herself but she was similarly helpless and could only watch. She constantly wandered around the wilderness to search for ways but she failed time and time again. 

That's when Maria saw Vendrick from afar. She was surprised that human managed to get this far, in fact she was surprised to see a human in the first place. 

She knew Vendrick has some tricks up his sleeve, seeing as how he easily avoided the detection of both her sister and the forest witch. She originally wanted to make contact with him, hoping that he could see her. 

When Vendrick started talking to her, she rejoiced. At that point, she was determined to use him as a tool to free herself but alas...she was too careless. 

She had no idea that Vendrick was something she could never hope to use. The moment she thought of doing that, the plan already backfired. She was caught and she once again became a prisoner.

Vendrick confirmed that Maria wasn't lying, hence he allowed her to live but not before making sure that she's 'comfortable'. He couldn't care less about her past, he didn't pity her either. 

What's important to him is that, now his chances against those two were more optimal thanks to this intel.