What "Deals" Really Are

Let's return to the present , to the Thin Desert , with Heels. She kept going , she kept moving , she did not stop only barely , she went from village to village , but now she had 0 food and water , she didn't have coin on her , she wouldn't survive for very long alone like this , especially in those lands. In either case , she saw in one of the village boards a good contract , it pays well , and doesn't seem to be this hard. The mayor is paying this , she went and talked to him , asking what is she really about to face , the mayor did not know , all he knew that there was a monster in the castle of the dead prince and that nobody ever returned from there . 

She took the contract , but she asked to get lunch at least , the Mayor accepted . When she finished , she directly went to the abandoned castle .

The castle was actually built by Diamondheart in the old days , when she was hunting down an army . Yes , a core army that was planning , hear this , attack the surface. They failed , Diamondheart herself destroyed the army alongside another group , that was unknown to the population. The castle is where the Grand ambush was held . But after the battle , the group left it , and gifted it to the locals which then appointed a prince to lead them . 

When she got inside she saw a garden , that still had beautiful flowers in it. It did not look abandoned at all , quite the contrary , she felt that it was still inhabited , she even thought that she was in the wrong castle but she was not.  She started to explore the rooms , the kitchen had a hot meal ready , with meat , pasta , and a soup. Good smell. But she already ate. She went to the living room , also , nothing at all , just a cup of tea still hot  and was used. She smelled a certain perfume also . She started to climb the stairs , entered many Bedrooms , but still nothing. Then when she was in the corridor , she heard a voice singing. 

When she gets inside this particular room she sees a brunette with a brown humble dress , making her hair. The girl looks at her , she smiles.

"Oh another human"

"Are you the monster?" Heels remarks her Golden Eyes 

"Do i look like one?"

"No"

"Thank you , but i am what you humans call me , i drank a lot of core"

"Why?"

"I thought i'd be prettier , but this did not work"

Heels disagrees but doesn't tell her

"Why would you say that?"

"You look way prettier"

Heels scoffs 

"You're going to kill me?"

"No , i am not one them , i feed on something else"

"On what ?"
"On- a Child's blood"

"What?"

"I was the wife of the prince , i never had children from him , and so , he threw me away and married someone else , who gave him children"

"I am sorry"

"It's okay , i lived with it , but now i can only be healed if i drink a child's blood. Inhumane , isn't it?"

"It is."

They stay silent for a bit

"You must wonder where all of the people who came here disappeared"

"yes"

"Well , they ran away from this village , using my legend"

"Why would they run away?"

"This village is based on human desires , that humans can get addicted to , lose their lives to  , and then feel tremendous guilt. Alcohol , drugs , sex, adultery , Pedophilia , rape , this village was known for these things"

"I didn't know"

"I tried to heal this village but all they did was to cast me as a monster"

"How did you try to do that?"
"When i was human i knew how to do a core mixture that would stop humans thinking like this for good periods of time. But , as a core element , i cannot do so anymore"

"Why not?"

"Because when i am close to the core , like any core element , i become , truly a monster. For years on all those paper you see on my desk , i was developing the mix to save those people , but this will never happen, oh well" she sighs 

"I don't know what to say ,  i am sorry , i will leave"

"I understand " she said as she continued her song. 

When Heels got outside of the house , she thought a lot about what she can do. She could save this whole village , but she'd have to kill a child. That is out of the question. The dilemma killed her. if she murders one child , that means that she is saving many from those problems and this unhealthy lifestyle. But then again , this core element is not a human anymore , what if she is lying? what if she is evil like all the other core elements? she did not know. but she decided not to do anything about it for now. She had lunch anyway , she could take another thing from the board it is not that hard. 

As she returned to the village , she returned to the Mayor , he was too drunk to speak.  She sat down on the ground near her horse , still sad about this whole story. A little boy came and sat near her. 

"I never saw you around here"

"I was about to leave soon"

"Are you a hunter?"

"not officially" she said as she smiled

"Dad said that you are the one who went to the castle"

"That's true"

"Did you kill the monster?"
"No"
"why?"

"Because she seemed nice , i don't think she would do harm"

"What did she say?"

Heels tells him the little tale , he thinks for a moment

"Well you're right , what if she is lying?"

"That's what i don't want to know by accident"

"The village needs the core mixture as well , many people are ruining their lives"

"I Know , i just cannot trust her"

"If you want take me"

"NO! no way"

"I don't really have a nice life"

"But you can have one , once you are older"

"I will become a soldier , for a Queen i never met ,  might as well die now"

"No way , find someone else to kill you" 

"Okay , i will"

he walks away  , As Heels just looks at her horse .

"What?"
"Don't judge me"

"I never liked kids"

"OH NO"

After two hours , Heels comes back to the castle , she had a tube filled with blood. She gives it to the monster that was sitting in the living room.

"What's this?"
"I killed a child , this is her blood"

"You're serious?"
"Yes"

Heels also had a bag with her , she throws it on the ground , it had a dead kid in it.

"I see" The princess says

"Well? Drink it and lets work on the core"

The woman gets up , circles Heels , she whispers in her ear . 

"What if i told you No? what would you feel?"
"Betrayed"

"you killed an innocent child for nothing, now again what do you feel?"

"Guilty"

The monster smiles an uncomfortable wide smile , opens her mouth in an impossible way for a human and bites the neck of Heels , however nothing happens. Heels doesn't even flinch.

"Maybe if i really felt guilty , your teeth would be at least sharp like a normal human , but they are like jelly"

The monster gets back , Heels grabs her by the neck and lifts her up , she is very weak , she cannot even fight back.

"Now let me ask you , you lied to me , you lied to all of those who came here , you hided the bodies of many children , what are you?"

"Stop"

"Answer the question or i am giving you alive to the many angry villagers outside , what are you?"

"I am Guilty.."

As she said that , the basement door bursts wide open , the odor is disgusting , many hanged people fall on the ground , they get up and run towards the princess , they push Heels away and take the princess , all shouting the word "Guilty" over and over , as they dismember her alive , she yelled in agony as she was taken back to the basement, the door closes and gets locked , her shouts did not stop for 15 minutes straight. The villagers get inside , the boy that talked to Heels too , she looks at them.

'It's over , it's-"

She puts her hand on a table , she is not feeling well.

The boy transforms into Sails in front of the villagers , he holds her .

"Sails?" she asks and falls unconscious

An hour before ...

the Boy got back near Heels , and told her to think outside the box about what the princess told her , to play a diplomatic game 

 , to bring the body of the girl that died in Blinwell, and offer it to her , this way , no guilt would be there , she was already dead and unburied , now she saved a whole village.  

As for how Sails was the child , this is because of what the hunters gave him to drink , a core mixture that is very rare , but that he managed to earn after doing a certain contract. He needed this in order to kill the same monster of this castle , but it turned out that Heels was there too. 

picture credits :

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cliffs-mountains-village-fog-6999727/
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/heart-brain-mind-psychology-2356621/
https://pixabay.com/vectors/medieval-helmet-armor-plated-4109206/
https://pixabay.com/vectors/castle-the-middle-ages-old-4023046/