A fated goodbye

[Maazuko]

Amongst the tidy home of Marina and Blair Vranovo, Queen and King of Asphodel, a carefully worded note has been written: 

From the words of the departed Maazu Vranovo, slain within the dungeons of Asphodel while the queen was departed, by those who sought to silence the Queen's favorite child.

This message seems to have been written before the former Ookami left on an important mission, one she may have never returned from...

Mother,

Know that you told me no more goodbyes. Hopefully you never have to see this.

Can't be sure if I'll come back from this hunt. Want to make you proud. Want to show you that I'm worthy of your love, worthy of ascension. That's all that matters to me anymore, since Ruby left me. Never told you how I came to Esshar. How I came to end up in your charge.

When I was born, the only family I had, was my mother: Her name was Ori. An Ookami, just like me.

She was a wanderer, and she took me everywhere with her. We never had much in the way of money. We had to rely on others, we had to make as may friends as we could, wherever we went. Scavenging and hunting, odd jobs, that was how my mother kept me fed.

She never wanted to settle down, and for the first eight years of my life, it was wonderful. I remember nights at the campfire we shared. Howling under the moon together.

But, when I was eight, we arrived in Esshar. It was different, then where we'd been before. Colder. More hostile. Meaner. Probably wouldn't have stayed for very long, but, in the end...

Camped one night, in the forests of Achyon. And when I awoke, she wasn't there. Waited days for her to return, but. She never did. The predators drew closer and closer each night, the campfire was the only thing that kept them away. Soon, I would run out of food. If I stayed there any longer, I'd have died.

So, I had to leave. Get up, and go. Follow the road, to the city of Achyon, where I spent the next five years waiting for her. I was a child, who lived on the streets. Didn't have money. Ate from the trash, just to survive.

Eventually, I couldn't wait for her any more. Never saw her again. But. It's ok. In the end, I came to you, mother. How wonderful it's been, being your daughter.

Know, you didn't think much of me, when I came to the Docro manor. Had to prove myself. Prove I wasn't just a blood bag. That I could provide for you, and the whole family. That I was a worthy ghoul, and worthy of being called your favorite daughter.

Life had taken so much from me. Ori, Yiras, Ida, so much. So many. I made so many bonds, so many friendships, as I was taught. And in the end, most were broken. Life even took my Ruby from me. A bond, that I don't understand, how I broke. Will I ever understand?

But I still have you. The family that I sought for years, I had found in you.

When I earned the right to be your Ghoul, life had never been better for me. Praise, respect. I was a favored pet, a loyal hound. Eager to show you all, what I did best. Fate never meant for me to get that far. Should have died long before that.

And yet, fate deigned to see me fall in the Shadowmire. My ascension was. Wrong. What I earned, was taken from me, by a shadow of my past, come to haunt me.

I'm sorry. That this form doesn't please you. Worked so hard, to earn this. Couldn't accept being lesser then as I was, as a ghoul. The other ghouls, who never held a candle to my ability to serve, to bring in blood, treated me like trash.

This year has been a nightmare. All my work has made me lesser. It's cost me some of your love.

But if I complete my task, I'll have proven myself to you again. You'll never need to read this. At your order, I'll devour Jraia, and become true kindred. This empty feeling I have, it will finally go away forever. And I'll fill it with your love. With the respect that befits me.

But. If I don't.

I hope that you choose to remember me, as I was, in the moments I ascended. Before it went wrong.

When I arose as Maazu Vranovo. First daughter of Queen Marina, first grandaughter of Queen Illythia. First of the Methusela. The Black Dog of Asphodel.

The short time I had then, before a horrid emptiness swept over my body. Making you proud was the greatest moment of my life. And looking forward to the eternity I spent with you.

Not as this beast, that fate turned me into. Did everything I could to make you proud, but this hollow body I now inhabit, I can't make you proud in it, and it's so, so painful.

Fate doesn't want me to be happy. It never, ever did. But I defy it. I defy the life it wanted me to live, as some wretched little beastkin orphan, alone and unloved. Here I am, in Asphodel, just one more step away from regaining what I earned.

...No. This isn't a time for goodbyes. Just like you said. Fate can't chain me. I will defy it. I am Maazu Vranovo, and I will claim my place, all for you. No matter what.

Twice, I'll have earned my place. If I have to earn it three times, if I have to earn it four times, it doesn't matter. 

For there is nothing I wouldn't do for you,

My noble queen
Lovely, a beacon of beauty throughout Esshar.
Wonderous, a wonder that any such as you could have come to be,
Caring to your loyal servants, to your gracious children,
Enrapturing in your magnificence,
Wrathful to those who try to steal our future,
Powerful even amongst the strength Esshar possesses,
Fearless in the face of death,
Menacing to all who oppose you,
Loving to the ones worthy of your love,
My beautiful mother.

You make me feel like a child again. Like I'm cared for. And for that, I will always be your loyal daughter.

Until our eternity, mother.

Until our happily ever after.

And we'll make it there. No matter what. Promise you that.

Nobody in Esshar will ever remember Maazu the Ookami,

But they will remember Maazu Vranovo.


I'll always be around to remind them.

Very little remains of Maazu Vranovo, now. Not even a body to bury, only the stories of a kind little girl, lonely and tired, who sought nothing but friendship, and family. Who became an unyielding hunter of blood, a loyal hound, a viscous beast. What legacy of hers will linger, in the world she's left behind?

For now, it remains to be seen.

The Black Dog, who couldn't defy her fate.