[Corruption]
"You've failed me yet again, Black Knight. You've failed Erste, and you've failed the late queen. What do you have to say in your defense?"
In the depths of Agastia within a dilapidated cell, a solemn light shone upon a lone brunette whose eyes were currently glaring into the darkness peering towards the one who had been speaking at her. She had been stripped of her obsidian armor, leaving her clad in naught but a white leotard that covered up everything important and nary anything else. "What defense do I have to offer you, the woman who's been tearing apart the queen's legacy?" The woman, Apollonia Vaar, narrowed her eyes as she tried to call upon her powers despite the binds around her wrists and her ankles.
Only for a whip to grace her cheek, leaving a red mark behind. "You'll speak to me with the respect I deserve, you cur. Do you truly believe that you follow the queen's wishes when you've been doing your best to undermine the empire?" A silver-haired woman stepped closer to the light, illuminating her well-decorated uniform. She was Freesia von Bismarck, the current Prime Minister of the Erste Empire. And the woman that the bound knight should be answering to.
"An empire built on lies!" The furious knight barked back at her, her eyes briefly glowing a sickly purple as her hands were coated in the same substance. "If not for your machinations, Erste would still be prosperous! The queen's legacy wouldn't be trampled on, and we wouldn't be on the verge of incurring the wrath of somebody greater than us!" The fury in her eyes was mighty, as she reached towards the bars that kept her separated from the fox-eared Minister. "You know why I'm here. And it's not just for her sake." Her voice turned chilling for just a moment, as her glare reached deep into the Erune's eyes...
Freesia laughed in the face of the bluster that the imprisoned Black Knight put on. "The True King? Are you using his presence as an excuse for your heinous actions? You make me laugh, you irredeemable wench." The Minister adjusted her glasses before putting on a more... composed smile. "Your words may have truth to them, but we are developing weapons that will serve as a great deterrence. To make sure that he doesn't meddle in our affairs when he had no reason or business to. I believe you've become quite familiar with one of them over the last little while."
Apollonia's eyes fell upon a black ball of sickly energy, one that was now resting within the Prime Minister's hand. "Dark Essence. You've empowered your troops with this previously, as well as that Primal from Lumacie. Do you truly think you can get rid of him with a few measly primals bent to your whim and will? You're even stupider than you look, Handmaiden." The brunette spat at her captor while invoking a name that the latter hadn't heard in a long time.
The Prime Minister twitched as she squeezed her hand around the malefic substance, her glasses cracking slightly from her intense aura. "I always hated you, Apollonia. You and that weak daughter of the Queen. The way she spoiled the two of you, leaving me by the wayside after she had graciously saved me from a life with nothing left in it." A flash reflected off the cracked spectacles as she started laughing yet again. "You think I can't deal with an old man whose time has passed? Fine. I'll turn one of his own weapons against him, just to prove my point. You'll come to enjoy your new role in life, Black Knight."
Before the brunette had much of a chance to dodge, she felt the silver-haired bitch's palm being shoved into her chest. Or more accurately, she felt the Dark Essence that she was holding being forced into her body. Immediately, without the protective powers of her armor, she could feel a throbbing sensation spreading through her veins. As if it was forcing her blood to heat up, bubbling inside of their blood vessels. "You..." She grit her teeth as she muttered a defiant statement, eyes squarely focused on the maniacal woman in front of her.
"There's more where that came from, Black Knight." The pleasantries had been completely dropped at this point, as she pulled out yet another orb of that infernal essence. "You will no longer be kept on a loose leash, where you can do as you please. No, you will serve the Empire whether you like it or not. You will help us spread our glory across the entire Skydom, and in turn, you will receive no glory and no reward. This is your eternal duty, and you are expected to perform it with the efficiency of a machine."
As Apollonia listened to the words that left the wicked woman's mouth, she could only growl in anger. "You will not get away with any of this, Handmaiden. You will be consumed by guilt over what you've done, how you've failed your queen. How you've failed the future queen, and how you've failed your country. Mark my words." Even despite the pain that was being caused by the naked influx of Dark Essence, the Black Knight still managed to hold on with all of her dignity intact. An impressive feat for sure, but not one that was necessary at this moment in time.
Freesia smirked as she pushed up her cracked glasses, casting them in shadow as she began to speak. "Prattle on all you want. You will break one way or another. And you will not only serve Erste for all eternity, but you will abandon your personal quest for the Queen's daughter's resurrection." The words that slipped off her lips made the captive Knight flinch. "Oh yes. It's my turn to strike a nerve. A weak spot that has been left behind by the way we've grown up. The soldiers that had been assigned to assist you do not exactly keep their lips tight. You've still been thinking about Orchis all this time, haven't you?"
"YOU DO NOT GET TO SPEAK HER NAME AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE, FREESIA!" The Prime Minister managed to strike a nerve, quite potently it seemed. The Black Knight dove towards the bars, bending them with her head as she pushed her arms through the holes in an attempt to reach towards the Erune's neck. Specifically to choke the life out of her after uttering those awful words.
However, as her fingers got close to the vixen's throat, she suddenly felt a massive spike of pain running through her body, one that sent her barreling backward. A scream slipped from her lips as she tried to suppress the internal sensations, to no avail. It didn't help that the Minister proceeded to laugh at her current predicament.
"I see the Dark Essence has responded to your anger, Black Knight. As it is made out of concentrated emotions, you're merely accelerating the process of incorporating it into your body. However, I do not need a mad berserker, far from it. I need something that will listen, something that knows how to aim its fury towards the right targets." Freesia was smirking as she spoke while rearing her arm back to prepare for a throw.
Before the brunette had a chance to move again, still having been paralyzed by the pain running through her system, she suddenly felt another spike run through her. This one had a different purpose, as she felt the damage and the paralysis leaving her. As if she was free to continue, get up and try to harm the Erune for all the wicked stuff she had done to her and her companion...
Or, that's what she thought she would be able to. The second Apollonia got back up on her feet, she felt something else pounding at her head. As it turned out, the only reason that she wasn't feeling the pain from the first piece of Dark Essence was that the second piece had begun to affect her brain immediately. It made her ignore the sensations that should be paralyzing her, replacing them with something a bit more bearable.
Pleasure, to be specific. Her cheeks were quickly flushing red as she felt an overwhelming wave of pleasure rush through her body, turning all of the pain that she had been feeling into nothing more than an overly dramatic case of masturbation. She could feel every single inch of her skin reacting to the smallest and dryest piece of wind in the cell, incapacitating her in a much different fashion.
The Black Knight grit her teeth, ignoring the cry that left her lips while the intense feelings of pain were turned into more and more pleasure. "What... What are you planning exactly, Freesia? What are you doing to me, how exactly is this supposed to be torture...?" She asked, knowing that she would still be ridiculed. Even if she gained an answer, she knew it would be awful. Considering the woman it came from.
Freesia scoffed as she pushed up her glasses, pulling out yet another piece of Dark Essence. "I'll put this as simply as possible, so even a rabid dog like yourself can understand. I will erase everything about you, to forge you into a proper piece in my little game against the world. Your muscles and prowess with a blade will be replaced with seduction and an irresistible body. You will be turned from a frontline warrior to an agent of deception, only revealed when it is far too late to counteract." The Prime Minister explained, smirking as she gently caressed the latest piece of her master plan.
"You'll become a Demon. A demon under Erste's command, mine especially." She ended her explanation by boiling the Knight's future down to its essentials before she threw yet another ball towards the brunette. "Now, it's time to scrub your mind while your body continues to alter itself! You need neither to be a perfect tool, a perfect weapon for my sake!"
Apollonia did her best to stand back up on her feet, working through the pain and the pleasure still overwhelming her body... only for the murky ball to follow her as she dove to the side. It sunk into her head, causing her mind to slowly turn into static. She could feel her memories growing fuzzier by the second, causing no end to her current grief.
"Make... MAKE IT STOP!" The formerly rugged warrior screamed as one by one, her memories were being swallowed by the Essence inside of her mental scape. Memories of the Queen. Memories of the allies and enemies that she had fought against. Memories of even the young Freesia, when the two of them weren't constantly at the other's throat.
Only as the memories of two special girls floated to the forefront did the tears start flowing. The tears representing all of her pent up emotions, the ones that she was hiding away for when everything was over. The memories of Orchis, the princess that she had sworn her everything to... And the memories of the doll that took her image. The doll that was supposed to serve as her vessel, once her growth had completed. Only as everything was starting to crumble did she realize how much the doll meant to her... How much both of them had meant to her sad excuse for a life.
The brunette's eyes widened as all of those precious memories with the two gentle-hearted girls faded into static, like everything else. She let out a scream, filled with her anguish and her rage at the current predicament. She was losing herself faster than she could handle... And she still felt the pain and the pleasure running through her body, making her weaker by the second.
"FREESIA!" Still, she wouldn't give up. She leaped onto her feet, eyes growing static-filled as she mustered up one last bout of resistance. She launched herself at the bars, aiming to pry them completely apart before going for the Prime Minister...
Only for the bars to rise, opening the cell and making her effort worthless. In fact, her very act of running forward just resulted in the Minister holding up yet another piece of Dark Essence, one that she ran face-first into. The brunette let out yet another scream, one filled with all of the pain still lingering in her soul...
Until she fell silent. Finally, the rabid dog had been tamed. Her spirit had been felled, and her body had been tempered. Due to the overdose of Dark Essence, she was currently at the mercy of the silver-haired vixen, who could only continue to wear her wicked smirk in response.
"Apollonia Vaar. Black Knight of the Luminary Knights. The thorn that has been stuck in my side for far too long. Now is time for your rebirth as an eternal piece of the Erste's forces. But your rugged look does not fit your future role. Here, how about I help you with your makeover. Make all of your new features really stand out." Freesia's chilling chime was unnerving, at least that's what the Knight would've called it if she were still properly conscious.
The Prime Minister cackled as she opened up her coat, revealing dozens-or-so samples of the infernal substance. Each of which would empower a normal soldier to ten times their normal output... But for the Knight, who had been such trouble to deal with, that many would ensure her future obedience and her total devotion to her Empire.
One by one, the Dark Essences left the Erune woman's coat, each of them floating straight into the leotard-clad woman's body. All of them gradually chewing away at her former body to change her into a form that was much more fitting, something that would illustrate her future role as clear as day.
At first, her muscles started smoothening out until there wasn't a single visible ridge left. Her skin had become completely smooth to the touch, which would be more than useful during an infiltration mission or during negotiations. Then came the matter of her clothes. A leotard was sexy, but not nearly sexy enough for her future occupation. Instead, the Dark Essence turned her clothing into a black dress. One with a skirt that left little to the imagination, as well as a cleavage window held together with straps which made her breasts even more enticing to the common onlooker. Finally, to complete her outfit, a devil-winged heart served as the pin that held a Mantle together, one that draped her shoulders. With this newfound attire, she looked like an overly sexualized countess, ready to seduce anybody that she might be ordered to.
Of course, her outfit was but one part of her changes. Her eyes grew darker, the whites being replaced with blacks as her irises turned a grim yellow, while the innermost part's shape changed from a circle to a slit to make her look almost bestial. The tears that had run down her cheeks sunk into her skin, turning into sharp black lines that made it look like she had been dragging a sharp nail down her face. As she ran her tongue across her teeth, some of them turned into fangs, perfect for an intimate bite that would leave the receiver a thrall to her new Dark Essence-filled body... And most importantly, a wing-tipped heart appeared on her forehead, a marking that would forever show her new wicked nature to the world, should it be revealed too early.
To put the final touches on her physical transformation, the former Knight shivered all over as a pair of bumps on her back grew outward. The bumps turned into protrusions, until a pair of wings tore themselves free form her flesh, flapping to shake all of the stiffness out of them. These two wings would carry her across the sky, to wherever the Empire might need her. To wherever she could bring glory to Erste. A demon such as her would find no greater joy than in serving somebody greater, regardless of the task that she was to carry out.
While all of the physical changes were being carried out, her unconscious mind was being overwritten by the Dark Essences that had been eating away at her memories. Her old, useless and rugged personality was no longer needed. The human woman named Apollonia Vaar was to be cast aside, replaced by a stronger and better demon. One that had loyalty to Erste above all. One that would never hesitate to do what was necessary to bring prosperity. One that respected and adored the Prime Minister for everything she had done for her...
A sly smile snuck unto the former Black Knight's face as she slowly ran her hands along her exposed thighs, gasping audibly as she felt a heat welling up within her. Her mind was being filled with more and more propaganda. Worship towards the Erste Empire. Adherence to any law or rule that they may put out... But above all else, total and utter loyalty to the Prime Minister. To Freesia, the woman who cared for her above all else. Her Mistress and Queen. The only one that truly knew what she needed.
"Freeeeesia..." Apollonia licked her lips as her new consciousness was brought to the surface, her eyes peering straight ahead at her mistress as she fell onto her knees, wings tucked in to hide behind her mantle. "How may I serve my beloved Queen? Perhaps you'll allow me to have a little bit of fun, so I can reach the climax I've been seeking... Haaah..." Already, her speech pattern had become much more acceptable. There were no more insults that she wanted to hurl at the woman. She wanted nothing more than praise from the woman that owned her soul forevermore...
The Prime Minister smirked as she put her hand on the kneeling demoness' chin, feeling the Dark Essence trying to work its way back into her hand in the process. Thankfully, her gloves served as a counteracting agent against the Essence to ensure that she wouldn't be falling prey to the same issue. "You're singing such a sweet tune now, Apollonia. I wish I could've heard this from you when you were still a Knight, but this demonic visage fits you so much better. Doesn't it?"
She immediately started to nod like a little puppy, cackling ever slightly. "Of course, Mistress Freesia! I've never felt better! Becoming a demoness that serves her empire was the best thing that could've ever happened to me! I am truly glad for everything you've done for me!" The demoness replied earnestly, even as her breath grew warmer... "So, please... Please, let me have a taste of your hand once more, Mistress! I need release, desperately so..!"
Freesia's smirk remained as she sunk her hand into the former Knight's tit, squeezing tightly to make her nethers gush in turn. "You will have no such thing until you've proven yourself worthy. I trust you know what I mean, considering your previous traitorous actions?" Her silver tongue was working its magic, as she noticed the demoness' eyes turning into static for a brief moment...
"Oh yes. I know what I have to do, Mistress. My former allies... The former Princess' soon-to-be body... All of them have to be erased or turned into loyal pieces for you to play with. They shall all be yours, my Queen..!" Apollonia smirked in the exact same fashion as her owner, as her wings started to spread open. "With your permission, I will deal with them all shortly. They won't even know what hit them until it's far too late..."
The Prime Minister merely pointed upward. "Make them ours, Apollonia. Tear them apart and make them Erste's once more." That was all she needed to say to make the Knight break through the ceiling, taking off to another part of the Agastian complex. The parts where her former allies had been captured, just like she had.
Or rather, where her prey would reside. Orchis' Doll, and the two mercenaries that she had hired... Oh, how delicious they would all be.