151 Cursed life II

While the bright moon was glowing in the middle of the sky, a young girl with twin ponytails found herself lost in the middle of the woods and freezing to death.

Ria did not come to play with Mia in the following day. Or the following week. Or the following month.

It was reaching a point that Mia was actually starting to forget the last time the two of them ever enjoyed some time together.

Her sister was now more occupied than even as her father increased the number of duties she needed to fulfill, while the rest of her siblings, as always, just completely ignored the situation and simply disregarded Ria's distress.

Mia couldn't stop blaming herself. Because she couldn't keep her curiosity contained she ended up losing the only family member that truly cared about her. And now, as far as she knew, the two of them would probably never see each other again.

She tried to ask for help from her sisters, ask if there was something they could do, maybe try to speak with her father to convince him to give Ria a little room to breathe, but they just looked at her with eyes filled with confusion, as if wondering if she was crazy to try and anger her father again.

It took a while to realize it but Mia finally noticed that no one in that house was going to help her. The whole family was terrified of her dad and wouldn't dare stand up against him. He was a very influential man that had enough resources to make someone vanish from the face of the planet with a snap of his finger if he ever so desired.

Apparently he was some kind of individual from another world who was brought into this land after being resurrected by the gods, and while making use of his vast knowledge from his early life, managed to achieve great levels of success as a businessman.

He would often present ideas from his own world that the people from this place would never have heard of, which granted him enormous popularity and power over the market.

If she wanted help, she would need to search elsewhere. Mia didn't know what else to do, and decided to sneak out towards the city, to see if someone could solver her problem.

Despite how well-know her father was, there was bound to be someone out there who was not afraid of challenging his word. If she could only go outside and find that person, maybe things would go back to the way they were.

The only problem was, her mansion and the city were separated by a huge forest, one that Mia had never dared to enter by herself without being in a carriage.

She considered asking for one of her servants to help her cross it, but she feared to put someone else in trouble for her selfish desire. She didn't want anyone to get fired just because they helped the 'unwanted child'.

She started to walk, trying her best to keep moving in the direction she assumed the city was at, but it didn't take long for her to give up and just admit she was completely lost.

She decided to take a small rest by leaning against a tree and pondered about what she should do while realizing the situation she was in. She had no idea of where she was or what time is, no light to guide her besides the faint glow of the moon, the cold breeze starting to make her body shake uncontrollably, and an immense hunger starting to overtake her.

"Why is this happening...?" she whispered, completely terrified of the idea of being left to die there.

She began to hug her own arms to try to warm her body but the coldness of the air was much stronger. She also started to wonder if maybe she should try and call for help, try to scream loud enough for someone on the house to come after her.

But even if she did, who would come? All her siblings kept acting like she didn't exist and all of her father's wives would often just stare at her with eyes that said 'Why are you still here??'

She began to wonder if being frozen to death in the middle of nowhere would be such a bad option after all.

But in the end, she at least didn't want to lose Ria. Her true sister, the only person that showed indications of affection and kindness towards her. Mia wanted to at least help her sister, but her body would not respond. She could barely stand up, and even if she did, the forest was so dark that she had no idea of where to go.

She then heard a sound coming from deep inside the woods and turned around to see what it was. She could hear what appeared to be a couple of steps coming in her direction. The steps were getting louder and louder.

Mia wondered if it could have been one of her family members who came looking for her, but she quickly gave up on that. She left in the middle of the night without warning anyone, there was no way any of them could have noticed the she was missing.

She then spotted a figure. A shadow coming out of the woods in the shape of a person with a very strong physique. Mia adjusted her eyes to make out what she was looking at and finally cleared the figure's appearance.

It looked like a huge bald man with green skin and eyes covering his whole body, all looking straight at her. On his head, there were two horns, both with the shape of an "S" and behind him, a lizard-like tail with spikes all over it. His mouth was located not on his face, but on his abdomen, and it was drooling while looking at Mia with a huge smile.

"Wha- What... Who are you??" Mia began to shake even more, and now was crying as well, trying to slowly back away from the creature.

The green man raised his arm and pointed at her, "Is that it?" he asked with his huge belly mouth.

"Yes... That's her..." answered a female voice that Mia didn't even notice it was right beside him. It belonged to a woman in an expensive-looking dress with the same skin tone and hair color as Mia. At first, she assumed it was her aunt Tula, but the reality was even more shocking, it was the person that knocked her out and placed her in a bag.

"Mother?? Mother what is this??" Mia asked, trying to understand why her own mom was hanging out with that creature.

"I'm sorry Mia... You shouldn't have entered Kio's room..." her mother answered.

"Wh- What??" Mia asked again, trying to back away even more but being stopped by a tree right behind her.

"Thanks to you, your father has decided to spend even less time with me and won't stop giving attention to your aunt... But if I tell him that I became heartbroken after having my child be eaten by a demon, he will have no choice but to console me again and give me the affection I deserve!"

"E- E- Eaten by a demon??? Mom?? What are you saying???"

The green demon started to approach Mia with his huge open mouth and a whip-like tongue came out to latch onto Mia's leg, proceeded by slowly pulling her in.

Mia tried to resist but she was too tired and weak from her walk. Her hands tried to grab the ground but it was no use.

"Mommy!! Please!!!" Mia begged.

"You brought this upon yourself, Mia... What did you think was going to happen after angering one of the most influential men in the country? Just take this as divine punishment."

"Mommy!!! He's going to eat me!!! Please help me!!"

"Ah, who knows... Maybe this time if we have another child, he won't be so judgmental over my family's background..." her mother whispered, completely ignoring her daughter's plead for help.

"Someone help!!! Please!! Save me!!!" Mia yelled even louder, "Please!!!!"

Mia was inches away from being eaten by the demon. He bit her leg, which caused her to scream in extreme agony.

"Delicious..." the demon commented.

"What are you waiting for...? Just swallow her..." her mother ordered to the demon.

"Not so fast... Flesh tastes nice, but the flavor of suffering can never be matched by anything... I want to enjoy this..."

Mia couldn't stop crying in pain. There were huge mark of fangs engraved into her leg. The demon was going to just take his time chewing her off little by little.

Her fear, her pain, her anger, her despair, all of it started to emanate from her body and turned itself into energy for the demon.

"Yes!!! Yes!!! Give me more agony!!! Think about the family that abandoned you! The mother that discarded you! The father that rejected you!! Think about the family that you hate so much!!" said the horned man.

Mia looked at him and at her mother, who were both just gazing upon her torment. She realized that she had truly been abandoned by everyone. She began to develop a lot of hate inside of her. She cursed her mother, she cursed her father, cursed her whole family, cursed everyone who did not help her in any of her times of need.

She wished she could make them pay, make them all suffer just as much as she did, make them taste their own medicine.

She glared at her mother and the demon, and gave her declaration, "I wish you all would just die!!!"

At that moment, a pillar of light descended from the sky and obliterated the demon completely. All of the cursed energy that he absorbed from Mia was released into the air and slowly began to enter the girl's body being attracted by her negative feelings.

Mia and her mother stared at the light with mesmerizing eyes and gazed upon the sight of a muscular man with blond hair in a white robe surging out of it.

"Greetings..." the man said while looking at Mia.

"..." the young girl just glared at him as well, not sure how to respond.

"It is a pleasure to meet you... Young one..."

"Who... Who are you...?" Mia asked. Her mother on the other end, simply stared at the pile of ashes that used to be her green friend and decided to run away back to the mansion.

"My divine name can not be understood by the common human mind... But you can refer to me as the god of the north..." the man said while bowing to her "I came here to give you an offer!"

"A god??? And you want to make me and offer...??" the girl said, completely lost at what was happening, "What would a god want with me??"

"Your conviction!!" the man said as he lowered his hand and healed Mia's leg.

Mia rubbed her body and noticed that, indeed, there were no bite marks anymore.

"Lady Mia... Would you give me the honor of being my champion?"

Mia just tilted her head, "Wha- What is a champion...??"

"It is one who fights in the name of the gods... One who embarks on journeys to bring peace to the world and achieve glory by slaying demons and erasing evil!"

"But... I'm just a kid!" Mia replied while pointing at herself.

"That matters not!! As a god, I can bestow you a power that can make you the greatest warrior to ever live, if you accept it, that is..."

Mia started to ponder about that offer. If what this weird man was saying was true, she could use her power to finally stand up to her father and the rest of her family, and maybe free Ria and herself from his torment.

"But... But why me??"

"Because... I see in you the true fighting spirit that I can so rarely spot among the people of this world... Even in the face of death... Your final words were not of one begging for mercy, but of one declaring her thirst for justice!"

Mia just stared at the man in silence while he raised his fist towards the sky. The god then simply pointed at her and continued.

"And that!! Is exactly what I need! I want a champion who understands the value of justice!! That has a desire to win!! That can bring ME victory!"

"..."

"What do you say?"

Mia honestly was a bit weirded out by this guy and wasn't sure if she should trust him. But he did save her from the green demon and her mother, and if he could grant her some kind of power to finally get what she wanted, maybe it was worth it taking the deal.

"Su- Sure... I think... I'll be your champion..." she answered, still unsure if this was safe.

"Magnificent!! Now!! All that remains is to complete the ceremony and bestow upon you my divine blessing!!" the god explained while showing a glow coming out of his hands.

"Ceremony...? Blessing?"

"Every champion needs a blessing! His weapon that will be used to purge the evil in the name of his god!" the blond man said, while taking a careful look at Mia.

She noticed that he seemed nervous about something.

"What...? What is it??"

"It appears you have been cursed..." he told while holding his chin.

"What?? I have??" Mia yelled as she tried to inspect her own body.

"Indeed... A small glimpse of the demon's energy seemed to have been attracted to you... Perhaps due to your mother's family ability of controlling cursed beings..."

Mia heard that last part and felt like a rug had been pulled from under her.

"My mother can control cursed beings??"

"Indeed... And this is most worrisome... If your body absorbs even more cursed energy, you might end up becoming a demon one day..."

"WHAT!!?? A DEMON??? I don't want that!! Can't you do something??" Mia begged while clinging into the man's robe.

The god of the north pondered for a bit and gave his reply, "Your bloodline seems to make it so that even I can't purify you from that power... But I could seal your negative emotions... To make it so that the curse won't grow stronger inside of you..."

"Seal my negative emotions...?" Mia repeated as she released his clothes.

"Indeed... You will never feel pain, hate, sadness, or any kind of emotion that could make the cursed energy inside of you progress... It's the only way to keep your human form."

Mia wondered about that. She would gain the power of a god, stop the demonic energy from spreading, and even gain the ability to never fell pain or sadness again, what was the downside in any of that?

"Please do it!!" she said, without a single drop of hesitation.

"Have you made your resolve?" the god asked one last time.

"This is what I have always wanted my whole life! Please, make me your champion!!"

The north god began to charge both hands with divine energy and prepared to start the ceremony. Mia stared at the sight of the diety and closed her eyes as she prepared to say goodbye to the life she hated so much and readied herself to be reborn as a champion.

"Then so be it!! Today marks the birth of the new weapon that shall slay the demons in the name of the north god!!"