Confession

[Madvillain]

826 A.S. - Pico de las Nieves, Gran Canaria

"Blaaaa" The goat bleated as it got pulled forward through the thick snow.

The young lady that handled the goat was wrapped in a thick black woolen cloak, forming a little dark speck upon the huge snowy mountain.
As the duo of woman and beast climbed, the lady softly spoke to the goat. "We are almost there Cabro, don't give up on me now." The goat seemed to reply in the form of more bleating.
It took the duo a few more hours of climbing through the harsh terrain to reach the entrance of the cave of Pachamama. A large man guarded the entrance that was blocked off by a heavy cast iron gate. His gaze slowly turned from the young woman to the goat and then he spoke:"Bienvenido peregrino, you may enter.". As he said these words he opened the gate and the woman and goat ventured down a narrow hacked out stairwell leading deep inside the mountain. The orange glow of flickering fire from torches guided them down the frozen slippery steps as it reflected against icicles hanging from the ceiling.

At the end of this descent the duo found themselves in a large room, the heart of the sanctuary. In its center a man sized rock lay on its back as an altar and the air smelled sweet, herby and metallic. Behind the altar stood a wooden structure with two doors. One was painted in bright red with plated golden inlay, the other was painted black and in the dimmed light nearly invisible due to its insignificant nature. The structure was shaped in the form of a bull's head, with the doors situated in its mouth and the whole thing adorned with two large twisted horns pointing threateningly towards the entrance of the cave. The woman softly stroked the goat behind the ears and mumbled "You did well Cabro, this is the end of the journey.".

She gently led the goat forward upon the altar and gave it a piece of carrot as it climbed upon the altar out of its own free will.
The woman whispered something sweet in the goat's ear while gently stroking its back. She then unsheeted a ceremonial dagger and said "Hasta la Muerte Cabro.".
As she plunged the knife into the goats neck she showed no sign of hesitation though she turned her eyes away, towards the bull's head.
The smell in the air turned more metallic and the sound of dripping blood echoed against the walls and stalactites of the cave.
The decorated door opened.

[Madvillain]

The young lady pulled her cloak down letting shade obscure her eyes and most of her facial features. She then entered and inside found nothing more than a small stone bench upon which she sat down, facing a small hatch in front of her on eyesheight. She opened the hatch and through a thin wooden roster stared at an elderly lady wearing a skull shaped mask in the fashion that many priestesses of the Corsair cult of Santa Muerte wore. The Priestess stared at her through the empty eyes of the mask and then spoke in a clear voice: "Bienvenido Pelegrino, I am the priestess Pachamama. Who are you?". The young lady replied "My name is Eliza, Pachamama, and I have come here to confess my sins.".

"It has been a while, Eliza, since a pilgrim ventured to my sanctuary. Gran Canaria is in a state of turmoil and its children weep. You are not weeping, are you here to confess?" Pachamama asked.
"Si, that is why I am here." Eliza replied in a solemn tone as she stared at the cold skull shaped mask.
"Then tell me your story my child." The lady behind the mask replied.
"I will Pachamama. When I was a child I loved to dance. My familia would encourage me to do so yet becoming a dancer is not the life they had in mind for me. I was to become a warrior. A warrior needs to be in tune both body and mind. Dancing is good for a child that is to become a warrior". She showed a faint nostalgic smile and continued. "When I was about seven my training started, it was harsh, mi padre who is a powerful hombre saw to it that I had the best instructors and tutors. As I grew older and graduated la Academia, I got my first share of life as a warrior. Due to my agile dancer's body many of the stronger hombres did not take me seriously. They found me attractive, not intimidating. So I used loción capilar on my face and grew a big bushy beard. Even that did not help, many hombres said they felt mesmerized by my beauty". She chuckled and mumbled "Idiotas" before continuing her story.
"This did not go unnoticed by my father, who was eager to put his daughter to full use. I was to conceive a child from the visiting leader of a competing familia,
a powerful marauder of Cadiz named Espi."
"You mean thé Elder Espingarda?" Pachamama interrupted with surprise in her voice. Eliza looked up, made a waving motion with her hand and muttered "It matters not."
She then continued her story.

[Madvillain]

"My father's will was law and so nine months later I set foot on Cadiz, handing Espi over a little boy, whom he inspected. He was not impressed.
We quarreled, he walked off with our son and I never saw them again. I was told not long later that he threw my son out of an airlock. My child! I was barely of age and he murdered my child."
For a moment she was silent, staring at the mask.

"Such was the will of the gods Eliza, one can only accept the will of the gods, you and your child will be reunited in death." Pachamama replied.

"After that I focussed on serving my familia, I took the greatest of risks, stared muerte in the eyes and fought odds some thought impossible. The warrior in me received much praise from my compañeros. I killed everything from Outcasts to Zoners, Hessians, Bretonians, and wherever my warband went I flew at its head. I greased the hull of my ship with the bodies of fallen enemies."

"So you were a pilota?" Pachamama interrupted again, tilting her head to one side. Again Eliza replied a short and blunt "It matters little." and continued speaking.

[Madvillain]

"My misery made place for pride. I found rejoice in dealing death, knowing that I had the power to make other mothers cry, to make them feel a fraction of what I felt. It made me feel strong.
At the top of my strength I met an adversary I could not kill,not only did I lack the skill but I could not bring myself to end his life. He changed everything. See, my battalion was tasked with hunting down a mercenary company, a feared one. During one patrol I lost both my compañeros, leaving me alone, facing one mercenary. He was fast, he flew like the wind, we fought for hours dealing one another hit after hit. We fought until we were both exhausted. During our fight we went way off course and a strong ion storm prevented both of us to call in reinforcements. With both our ships heavily damaged, our weapon systems overheated, we ended in a standoff.

We started to talk. The bold mercenary, who went by the callsign of Peaches asked me about...my life, my opinions, my feelings. He was very gentle Pachamama, not like Corsair hombres, I believe he was the first hombre in my life who was in awe not with my skills, my profession, but with me. I told him about my child, he told me about his life. I felt a connection with this hombre I never felt before. Eventually more Rea- erh... mercenaries showed up and he successfully pleaded for my life. They left me be, and knowing it was but a matter of time before another patrol would find and rescue me they cruised off."

Upon hearing Eliza's mentions of the mercenary Pachamama nodded disapprovingly.
She slowly raised her hand as if to buy time for searching for the right words before speaking them aloud:

"The last reincarnation of Santa Muerte came to us in the form of a foreign mercenary.
You speak ill of your fellow Corsairs, yet in a way I too have great love for a foreign mercenary so for that I cannot judge you Eliza."

Instead of pondering these words Eliza released a sigh and spoke:
"Pachamama but this is not my confession, and not for you to judge upon. Months later I visited a Freeport while on furlough.
I could tell you it was a matter of pure coincidence but then I would be lying. I hoped that I would meet him there and in fact I did. He recognised my voice and I did his.
His Bretonian voice rang into my ear like music Pachamama. We spent a day and a night together before we had to part ways. I carried this secret with me for months,
without telling even those who were closest to me a word. Alberto, Cesar, Werss, close to me as they were, they all noticed something in me changed but they did not know what.
I could not allow them to know."

[Madvillain]

"Then one day, one cursed day, I was leading a large patrol towards one of our installations under Hessian attack. We dealt with the enemy quite easily until the mercenaries showed up. And then I heard his voice. His soft sweet voice telling us to disperse. Pachamama, we had the numerical advantage, we could have easily kill every last one of them and everyone flying on my wing was aware of that. Especially an older more experienced hombre called de Santi. He envied my position as commander, and was more than eager to point out that retreating was going against our orders, was downright treason. I did not listen, I repeated my orders and as one of my wingmen, a good young hombre called De Soto ignored my orders I opened fire on him, resulting in my compañeros opening fire on me. I had no chance, I had to eject and was taken captive by my own wing. Due to all the commotion my wing retreated, the mission a total failure.

I was taken to battleship Fes and I do not know how long I spent in the brig, chained up to a chair in a little cell. I had few visitors. Some came to reason with me, Alberto gave me sweet words of comfort, Werss who once was my tutor gave me a strong speech after that left the cell with tears in his eyes, claiming that I was like a daughter to him. De Santi and others came to interrogate me, torture me, laugh at me. As far as I remember my father never visited though. To him I was already dead. It was decided that I was to be sent to Cadiz, that rotten place, for Elder Espingarda to probably sentence me to death or to join his harem. I suspect that was supposed to be some sort of a final insult, no doubt one of my father's ideas."

Pachamama sat and listened in silence, her mask blocking out any hint of emotion.

[Madvillain]

"I was thrown in the back of a Correo freighter, caged up, my arms and legs chained, and I felt the artificial gravity field of the Fes fainting, signaling I was, for all I knew on my final journey. I dosed off tired from the hours of torture, the pain it inflicted, my mind still ringing with de Santi's repetitive questions during interrogation. And then my mind drifted off to those who always seemed to care about me. Alberto Rodriguez, Trueno Benitez, Valeria Benitez, Jeronimo González. All the other people I grew up with... The “Spartan hope” of the Empire.

A large shockwave woke me up. The convoy was clearly under attack. I closed my eyes since there was nothing I could do. I expected a Hessian missile would end my pain soon enough. Instead the lights went off, the engines made a loud noise and died down. An EMP hit us, it is some sort of projectile that fries up the electrical systems Pachamama, erh.. complicated matter for one not familiar with interstellar warfare. There was a loud bang, then for a moment pure silence. I then heard the panicky voices of the crew as they scrambled, weapons in hand towards the airlock.
It blew open with a loud and bright explosion, I could not see much but could hear a firefight going on. As my eyes cleared, dazed and confused I saw a pile of bodies in front of the airlock.
It was the crew of the Correo, all dead. Then Silver walked out of the airlock, flanked by Sangria and... and Peaches. They risked their lives to free me, they di-"

Pachamama knocked her hand against the thin wooden roster, interrupting Eliza for the third time.
"Why do you speak lies Eliza, do you really think I would believe this tall tale, Santa Muerte herself freeing you from imprisonment?"

Eliza remained calm.
"It is exactly what happened Pachamama, every single word of it is true. They released me from my cage and released me from my father. It was Peaches that payed his own company to bust me out, from his own pockets. Silver promised me a good pay if I'd work for her but did not force me into anything, neither did Peaches. It was the first time I made a choice out of own will, a real choice. And I chose to become one of them." Pachamama sighed deeply and mumbled "Dios mio..." in a tone that could only be described as a mix between angry and terrified.

"My choice did not come without consequences. The Brotherhood hunted me down relentlessly, especially de Santi. He never got me, but he got Peaches. During a fight we got separated, and de Santi took him out. He did not kill him outright, but left him in his ship, drifting through space as a way to draw me out. My first impulse was to go for him, even though I could not save him. Silver talked me out of it, I knew she was right, that I should not have given them the satisfaction to kill me right there alongside him. It is a decision that weighs on my mind until this day Pachamama.
I worked for the Reavers for a few more years, then settled down here in Gran Canaria, under a false name, in a Zoner colony. My vengeful feelings never settled down though,
it is a fire that burns inside me, over all these years it consumes me from within"

[Madvillain]

Pachamama leaned closer to the thin wooden roster, so close that Eliza could see her eyes through the sockets of the mask.

"Eliza, I have heard your confession. We all make mistakes, we all walk strange paths. If you speak the truth, you have done horrible misdeeds towards the empire and you should turn yourself in. This is my opinion as a Corsair. As a priestess, I can only advise you to speak to Santa Muerte, the real one, not this fantasy you made up, and ask for her embrace to come to you soon.Begone my child, begone and turn yourself in."

Eliza leaned closer too, unveiling her face. She had a sick grin on her lips. Fire reflected in her eyes.

"Pachamama, I feel glad we had this talk but what I did was never a mistake, and what I have told you was not my confession.
I came here to confess what I am yet to do. I am to hunt down those that oppressed me and took from me what is most dear. I am here to start my true path of vengeance. To use everything and everyone I encounter to get closer to my goal. To murder your precious Pontifex Maximus. To murder every sheep that blindly follows my father Juanez Buonocore out of greed, out of self interest, and out of stupidity instead of honour dignity and pride. And I am starting with you."

With a swift movement Eliza punched the ceremonial dagger through the roster that shattered in splinters. She punched the dagger right through the left eye socket of Pachamama’s mask. Punched it with such force that she skewered Pachamama as the knife went straight through her head, its tip poking out the back of her head. A stream of blood sprayed in Eliza's face turning her into a dark red grimacing monster with only the white of her eyes and her teeth showing through her grin resembling anything human.”I am Baila Morena, Hasta la muerte!”
Eliza shouted just loud enough to feel relief, but not loud enough to alert the lone guard.

When Pachamama stopped moving, Eliza calmly stood up and dragged the lifeless body upon the offering table, next to the dead goat.
She then put on Pachamama's blooded clothes and put on Pachamama's mask.
Calmly she went back up the stairs passing by the big brutish guard who was totally unaware of what just happened.

He gave her a glance and spoke with a confused voice:
"Pachamama, you are covered in blood!"
Eliza turned towards the guard and said: "It was a good offering." before plunging the dagger into the guard's heart, laughing as his screams faded.

As she later descended she left behind a thin red trail upon the huge snowy mountain.

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Baila Morena | Toilet Trouble | Elder Presidente[TBH] | The Titan Combat Manual | Confession