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What is more unfair
than having to choose
between being a monster
or being a hero?
(When you have to be both.)
When you learn that
the road to hell
is paved with more
than just good intentions.
- you are not heads or tails; you are the coin || m.a.w
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Cosmos had been one of the earliest gifted organizations to have sprung up in Japan, and had subsequently proven themselves to be the most lethal.
Essentially, all of the members were assassins for hire. Clients with the means to contact them got in touch, revealed who they wanted done away with, paid the specified amount and that was it. The more knowledgeable ones would occasionally request a specific killer-- usually a Zodiac.
Within Cosmos, the Zodiacs were arguably the most skilled lot. They had clawed their way to the top, and earned their thrones with bloodstained teeth and blackened hands. Furthermore, they were strong enough to keep their titles despite the constant attempts at having them snatched away.
If you wanted to survive in Cosmos, you killed or you would get killed. There was no place for the weak. There was no space for trust. There was only survival.
Aries formed the head of Cosmos-- the most experienced and the strongest of them all. They were not exempt from the fight for their mantle either, however. Often, the Zodiacs would make attempts on each other's lives for a more 'secure' position, and the most common attempts among them would be for the title of Aries.
When (Y/n) was twelve, Libra had made a particularly vicious attempt for Aries's title. Irked by Libra's ambition, Aries had figured that he might as well get either amusement out of the situation, or get rid of Libra. And so, he had scoured through the non-Zodiac members of Cosmos and had finally settled on prodigious, little (Y/n)-- their current Cassiopeia.
She had been the product of the exclusive Shadow program-- a training regimen that had been comparatively short-lived because of how quickly she had wiped out the competition. Her instructors had promised that the survivor of Shadow program would be given a home and a well paying job, and that was all it took.
For a kid who'd been abandoned in Tokyo at the age of four, that had sounded like a faraway dream, and she had put up with her training and tests with the singular goal of making that dream her reality.
Her ability-- Ater Umbra-- was almost too good to be true for the path she was walking. Control over the shadows was the ideal ability for any assassin. And she was very clever about how she used it to her advantage as well, making her quite successful despite her young age.
A prodigy indeed. And exactly what Aries needed in order to get rid of Libra.
So, he had approached her in secret and told her that if she committed this one sin for him, she could ask him for any favor when the time came. And she had seized the chance to have the favor of Aries bestowed upon her, and barely blinked when she ordered the shadows to swallow Libra whole.
Now she became Libra. She was to take on the name of the scales that symbolized justice even though their world knew no such thing.
Aries had doted upon her since her inclusion with the Zodiacs. (Y/n) spelled promise to him with every shred of her being, and he harnessed her talent until he had honed it into raw skill. He taught her how to not just survive, but thrive.
In the hidden world of shadow organizations, Aries of Cosmos would always be the very best of all killers regardless of their affiliation. With the mercilessness that all Aries displayed, they'd always been nicknamed 'The Devil'.
When she had held her previous title, other organizations had jokingly begun calling her The Queen of the Night. Her actual name had been leaked by some mistake when she garnered recognition as the youngest Zodiac in history. Now, under Aries's tutelage, she had been given another name-- 'The Devil's Apprentice'.
The other Zodiacs suspected that Aries was training her to someday take on his title and head Cosmos. He would only let someone he deemed worthy be the one to take his metaphorical crown, and there was no one more suited than (Y/n). Perhaps, one day, she might've even done just that and become head of one of the most skilled group of assassins.
But fate had other plans.
The fall of Cosmos was one of the most unexpected occurrences for the criminal world, and the only one who even knew the whole truth of what happened was (Y/n).
As the only thing that could be expected from a community of lethal ability users that was entirely based on "Survival of the fittest", Cosmos tore itself apart. What had started out as an internal power struggle within the members of Zodiac had spread over to the entire organization once the remaining thirty-six realized that this could be their chance at snagging a higher title.
They had all begun killing each other like they were at war-- barbaric and brutal. Drunk on adrenaline and blood lust. They killed for envy, for ambition, for love, for revenge, for protection. They killed and killed and killed, until they were painted in blood and sin.
(Y/n) had killed nine that day-- three Zodiacs and six otherwise.
She had killed until she stumbled into the large, circular room that had been deemed the Zodiac Wheel and was the chamber they used to discuss matters of their concern. It was built almost like a throne room with twelve chairs arranged in a semicircle in order of their hierarchy. Directly opposite to the entrance of the room was the largest seat-- Aries's.
It was occupied-- Aries slumped into it, covered in sweat and blood, the latter of which was not of his own. He looked battered and resigned to the massacre that had just befallen Cosmos, but he smiled when he caught sight of her trudging in through the doors.
"Libra," he pronounced thoughtfully. "The Scales. The Judge."
"Aries," she breathed, coming to a stop in the middle, right in front of him. "You're alive."
He hummed, smiling sardonically. "As are you, my dearest Libra. I'm glad-- my training has not gone to waste on you."
At her sides, her hands shook, blood dripping down her fingers and onto the mosaic floor. "I-- What are we going to do now?" she whispered, eyes wide as she stared up at him, wanting an answer more than anything else after the hurricane of bloodshed and confusion she had just survived.
Aries's smile didn't waver as he stood up, climbing down the dais and coming to a stop when he stood at an arm's length from her. "You tell me, Libra," he returned, tilting his head. "You are called the Judge, aren't you? Then tell me: what is you judgement?"
She frowned, licking her chapped lips and grimacing when the taste of iron filled her mouth. Blood that was not her own. "There is no more a Cosmos," she said hesitantly, unable to discern anything from his constant smile. A smile that said he knew something she didn't. "Only Aries and Libra."
"Soon, there will be only an Aries," he told her, chin rising when she clenched her jaw, her eyes flashing with something that looked a lot like hurt.
"You wish to fight me as well?" she confirmed, stare turning cold and feeling her defense rise.
Aries shook his head, making her frown in confusion. "You know that they call us monsters, yes?" he began, and she nodded slowly in reply. "It used to bother you-- I remember. Over time, I have learned that it is a fitting name for me."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because only a monster can kill another monster, (Y/n)," he told her.
She took a step back from, eyeing him carefully. "Do not call me that."
Aries stepped forward, once again closing the same distance. "Is it the first time you've been called one? No. I know I heard Leo and Pisces say it to you when they cornered you in the entrance hall. Where are they now, Libra?"
She looked away from him, remembering what had happened only an hour ago. "Dead."
"You killed them." He nodded. "And I want you to kill me, too."
At this, she shook her head, blatantly denying his request. "I refuse to do so," she stated. Not Aries. She couldn't kill him. "Consider this the favor you promised me. I will not kill you."
"A broken promise means nothing to me, (Y/n)." He laughed. "I've lived long enough. Let Cosmos die with me. I beg of you to release me of this burden."
She clutched at his arm, desperation filling her. "Don't you see?" she pleaded. "I can't do it."
But he ignored her, his eyes burning intensely. "You must, (Y/n). Survival is all that has ever mattered at Cosmos. They call you monster, don't they? They call you the Devil's Apprentice-- my apprentice. Where is the monster I made you into? Why bother hiding what is part of you now? Let this be your final test at Cosmos. Kill, or be killed."
There were a lot of things (Y/n) could do in the name of survival. Cosmos had raised her to value that over any relations she may build. And so, she had looked Aries in the eye, tears slipping down her grime covered face, and killed him with a shadow from the back, suffocating the life out of her mentor until he lay in a heap at her feet and she felt nothing inside. Aries's face still sported his smile, she observed dully.
Mechanically, she stepped over his lifeless form, crossing the room to the largest chair and slowly lowering herself into it. She supposed it was hers now.
When nearly twenty-something minutes later, a highly confused Mori entered the Zodiac Wheel after wandering through the bloodstained hallways, he found her still sitting there. Pale and tragic and completely still even as he approached her, flanked by a chosen few as his guards.
"The Port Mafia had a dealing with Cosmos today," he remarked, bringing the girl's gaze to him.
She stared, eyes glassy and dazed like she was looking through him instead. "There's no more a Cosmos," she informed, her voice hollow and hoarse, tinged with sorrow and something numb. She sounded like war.
Mori had figured as much, absently looking at the corpse of the man he'd known to be the head of the organization and back to the girl who now sat in his place. "You're the one who controls shadows, aren't you?" He studied her appearance, noticing the pendant that hung around her neck and glinted under all the filth she was covered in-- a golden set of scales. When the girl nodded in confirmation, he peered back up at her. "Libra, wasn't it?"
At this, her gaze focused, a metallic clarity resonating in them and suddenly transforming the fragile air around her into one of something lethal. The dimly lit room suddenly seemed to center around her, the shadows on the walls seemingly leaning towards their mistress. The only survivor of Cosmos.
The victor. The monster.
"Libra?" she repeated, briefly glancing to the body of the man who had been her mentor. Until he had requested death by her hand, and she had never refused him. "No. I am Aries."
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I was created
to strip lungs
of their breath.
to destroy pretty little things
and burn them to the ground.
to bring the world to its knees
and hear my name spokenonly in fearful whispers.
I was made to be
to be a monster.