STIGMATA.

Blue hydrangeas symbolize apology, regret, forgiveness, and gratitude.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

The girl who used to be Elizabeth asked herself, as she lay in the bed of blue hydrangeas, awaiting her doom. The village witch had foretold great horrors, should the dragon's bloodthirst go unquenched. Her existence was to fulfill the prophecy, a sacrifice to the great lord. But one often meets their fate on the route they take to avoid it. The night she tried to escape the village, the girl was chased right into the dragon's den. She found herself within a beautiful garden of flowers. It would've been paradise, if a beast hadn't been in the middle, awaiting her arrival.

Despair washed over her. Death awaited her at the end of either path she could take: sacrifice her life for the village, or escape the dragon and be slain by the villagers. With no home to return to, what use would she have for life? As such, she surrendered herself to the dragon. But martyrs were always more delectable with a side of resistance. Even the dragon didn't want her, for her lack of life was too bitter to swallow. Instead, she was taken in and raised, for the day she would be a suitable sacrifice. 

As with any child, she grew attached to this new parental figure in her life. The dragon treated her kindly, like how the village farmers would tenderly raise pigs and chickens, until the day came for them to be sent to the butcher. The day the dragon decided to collect its debt, the girl's heart was shattered by the betrayal. She had forgotten why she had been sent to the dragon in the first place. In a fit of rage, she slaughtered the dragon with all the skills she had been taught by it, and swallowed its heart whole.

With the blood of a dragon rushing through her veins, she returned to the village. Perhaps a home awaited her, now that the threat was gone. As she stood before the cowering villagers, she found herself wondering what they were afraid of. 

"The beast has been slain," she declared.

"What do you mean?" the villagers replied, "The beast is standing right here, in front of us."

As she gazed at them, her own reflection in their eyes gazed back. Her clothes were torn to shreds, and blood dripped from her chin. She had done them a favour by getting rid of the village threat, but instead became the monster in their eyes. 

"To sin is to be without remorse. Thus, I shall be absolved of all, once I find it within myself to guilt."

This was a quiet whisper of a prayer, before she let go of herself. After suffering betrayal after betrayal, her heart grew cold. An ungodly sensation tore through her skin, changing her into a terrible dragon, much like the one whose heart she consumed. That night, the village was razed to the ground. 

She will be the one to exact fairness onto this world.

• originally blind in her right eye, but after consuming the dragon's heart, she regained sight. 
• she now suffers from double visions, with her right eye's vision being that of the dragon's last view: the bed of flowers it died in.
  • when she ate the heart and regained sight, there was a moment where she saw herself from the perspective of the dragon, and felt a stir within herself. had it been fear? regret? power? she could not put words to it.
• over time, as the dragon's carcass decays, the flora becomes more nourished, eventually growing up and over the eyes, rendering her once again unable to see out of her right eye.
• eventually, she returns to visit the dragon's grave to investigate, and she sees that even terrible beings return to the soil and give hope to others. this makes her believe in redemption for herself, but only in death.
• voice claim: soldier 11 - zenless zone zero (JP VA)