Esmerelda Destoulia

And the priests did cry at my birth.

"The savior. She came." They decreed amidst stone and dust.

Lux and umbra did dance amongst stars and entropy. In their wake, a child cried.

The cry was not of confusion, but of demand. Demand for blood.

My parents did answer. A pod they brought me. Eternity in steel. To taste blood where I saw fit.

And the priests sang praises once more.

"Immortal!" they decreed. "Immortal is her reign! We will make love over ashes of our fallen. And bring spring to rise again."

Nothing was handed to me after. One hundred hands gripped my metal shell, and tried to keep me grounded. My first test... my first spilt blood. Their flesh peeling from their hands... dying, smiling. My will to soar proven, they became blackened by flame, as I took to the stars.

"Find God." they said, in timid reverence. "Find God, and kill him... and we may all be free."