204 Perfect picture (1/2)

Knucker was strolling through the grass trying to find the best angles to take his pictures.

He wanted to take a good shot of the scenery since it looked like it would make for an amazing picture, but his job seemed like it was going to be harder than he expected as the scenery continued to change with each passing second.

”This must be every photographer's biggest nightmare... a landscape that won't stand still...” he whispered before raising his head and yelling while burning with passion in his eyes, ”but you are foolish if you think this will be enough to stop me!! I'll take the perfect shot, even if it kills me!! I swear on my pride as a photographer!!!”

He was, of course, talking about Mia's constructions. After she became a full demon and began to access her own inner misery, her power skyrocketed to impossible lengths, allowing her to abuse even more of the diamond magic she got from Evlin and was now making a large fortress for herself.

The girl heard Knucker talking to himself and came down to check on him. She was bearing her usual intimidating look of a young lady around the age of twenty with long black hair, except instead of being tied up in twin tails like she normally does, her hair was tied in a single bridal ponytail by a set of vines, her long red robe was replaced by a three-layered red dress with a black cloth wrapped around her waist and a crimson veil above her head.

She was walking around bare-footed with bracelets made of vines with red diamonds attached to it around her legs, neck, and her naked arms. Her skin still bore a chestnut tone but now she had green veins spreading throughout her body.

Her back had four massive wings made of fire that kept changing color from red, to green, to silver, just like her eyes. She approached Knucker and showed him her face under the veil that showed her eyes wide open as if she was about to eat him.

”What are you doing...?” she asked while watching him play with his camera.

”I'm preparing to face my mortal enemy!!” Knucker commented while checking the battery of his device.

”You mortal enemy...?”

”Sigh... You wouldn't get it, kid... Only a photographer can feel the pain of not being able to take the perfect picture...”

Mia just stared at her diamonds that kept moving around the area as if they were alive while they continued to take the shape of a giant construction to properly guard the imprisoned demons.

”Why is someone like you even interested in this kind of thing...?” Mia questioned.

”When you live as long as we have... You start to notice that the more things change, the more they stay the same... So you need to learn to capture the essence of each moment... The identity of each time period...” he commented while taking a picture, ”it helps you to differentiate one time from another... and make each one feel unique!”

”This battle that soon will come... there have been many like those in the past, and there will be many like those in the future... So I make it my mission to try and find the aspect about this one battle in particular that will make it special! That will make it stand out from other battles...”

Mia walked closer to him, ”and did you find it?”

”I think so... But it will mostly depend on the end result...”

”The end result...” Mia repeated softly, thinking about the future that Knucker showed her and the reason she finally decided to become a demon after resisting for so long.

”Speaking of... How are you doing? Feeling nervous? Excited? Anxious?” Knucker wondered while trying to read her expression.

Mia just stared at her moving diamonds and began to dream of her final goal, ”I feel... calm...”

”Do you,  now?”

”Yes... For the first time ever... It feels like I can relax... I used to only have one goal in mind... To search for my own demise... But now you presented me with another alternative... And it feels like no matter what result this takes, I'll still end up getting something out of it...”

”What about your demon body? Still holding on to your human side?”

Mia released a wide smile that reached from ear to ear, ”just barely... I spent every second trying to hold myself from just storming into the city and slaughtering every single person I see in front of me... Just thinking about their screams... the blood splattering over the ground and the walls... the confusion on their eyes while they think 'Why me!!?? What did I do to you??'... I can almost taste it...”

”So what are you waiting for? Just go nuts and start partying like there is no tomorrow!”

”Oh... I want to... I so, so want to...” Mia commented while staring at Knucker with her eyes even wider, ”but as I said... I still have a lot of memories from my time as a human... Something still keeps holding me down... But not for long!! I can feel it, getting weaker... soon there will be nothing to stop me...”

”I see... I'm sure this will make for a great picture!” Knucker laughed.

Mia raised her arm and created a claw made of red diamonds covered in terminal fire, ”you should be careful, Knucker... If you don't watch out, you will be the first one I will go after!!”

”Oh!!! So I can get a first-person shot of your rampage!!?? Now I want you to go crazy even more!!” Knucker commented while getting in front of Mia and readying his camera, ”come on!! Do it right now!! Try to kill me while I get a good angle of your feral side!!”

Mia just continued to smile, ”soon!!! I promise that in due time, I'll be as feral as you want!!”

”I can't wait!!”

Part 2

Evlin opened her eyes and found herself back at the white void.

”Ugh... My head... What happened...??”

She was still in the form of a seven-year-old due to still feeling terrified of her recent trauma.

”What the...?” she mumbled as she gazed to her left and spotted North and Drya chained up to the ground and unconscious.