Ekaterina Kurae
| Ekaterina Kurae | |
| 300px | |
| Allegiance | Requiem |
|---|---|
| Race | Ventus |
| Gender | Female |
| Born | 2838G.C (28) |
| Profession | Ventus Mana Tool User, Fourth of Requiem's Adepts |
Ekaterina Kurae was born on Sylvarant, the second world to be colonised by Edolas explorers in the Lacrima System. Her father was a prominent billionaire investor, and her mother was a famous actor renowned for her critically acclaimed roles in tragic movies. Her mother's movies were all Ekaterina watched growing up as a child, learning only about the fictional worlds inside the movies and giving her a warped perspective on life from a very young age. When she was of age, her parents sent her to an elite private school where they expected nothing but the very best from her in terms of grades and behaviour. She had managed to make many friends, but throughout her life she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong; that some aspects of her life were somehow "empty".
One night, when she was in high school, she had accidentally came across a boy who was standing on the precipice of a bridge; preparing to jump and end his life as blood dripped from his right hand for some reason. Ekaterina quickly rushed up to the boy, trying to prevent him from suicide, but she was too late. The boy jumped over the bridge, falling down to the ocean far below and disappearing into its blackness as Ekaterina fell to her knees with her hands over her mouth in shock; barely holding herself back from throwing up as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. But as she looked down, she noticed a large dark red book on the ground where the boy had once stood, and upon its face in faded letters was written: Façades of Existence: The Truth of Depravity.
She picked up the book, and saw the author's pseudonym "Kirei" written upon it's cover; which she remembered meant "beauty" in Japanese. Other than that, there were no identifying markers; but the book was very meticulously organised, separated into several chapters with the exact amount of pages for every chapter. She took the book home, her curiosity at what had driven the boy to suicide overwhelming her, before she opened the book began to read the first chapter: "First Baptism: Introduction". The chapter introduced the author as a survivor of a war, and spoke about his experiences in the brutal life which he had lived. He had once been an innocent soul, free of sin, but even before the war had taken that away from him; he had still held doubts, doubts as to what the true nature of existence was and what living truly meant. He argued that desire was what pushed forward all innovation, all happiness, and all advancement; but desire was also the sole reason for war, for murder, for rape, and for all the 'evils' that sentient life propagated.
Ekaterina felt herself agreeing with Kirei's words; they were reasonable and rational, and they reflected her own ideals as well. It was during the second chapter "Second Baptism: Questioning" that she began to see the true nature of the book, as the author asked her a question in the very beginning of the chapter:
"But then, what makes these acts evil?"
The book went on to explain that knowledge of good or evil is nothing but the joy or sorrow felt from an act so far as society is conscious of it. That no one person is truly evil, and that only acts are truly considered evil by society. He claimed that the actual root of violence is the very concept of evil itself; as when a person labels someone as bad or evil, it invokes the desire to punish or inflict pain. It also makes it easy for said person to turn off his feelings towards the person he is harming. Therefore, the concept of evil itself -he claimed- was inherently flawed; and society had no right to decide on whether or not an act was 'bad' simply due to the negative connotations associated with it, because 'bad' did not actually exist on a universal scale. He continued on with his arguments, slowly eating away at Ekaterina's moral values, as he convinced her that there was no such thing as evil.
By the third chapter, "Third Baptism: Attaining Freedom", Ekaterina truly began to change. As her logic was already twisted to forgo traditional notions of evil, the book began to detail how she would rightfully attain the true freedom denied to her previously; the liberty to do whatever you liked whenever you wanted it. Following Kirei's instructions, Ekaterina began sowing discord in her school; turning friends against each other, causing students to fail their subjects, stealing men and women from their former lovers before rejecting them completely when they depended on her, and creating scandals to fire teachers from their jobs. It was all great fun, just like her mother's movies and the book had told her, and she was feeling happier than she ever had before. Finally, her life was complete; she didn't feel empty anymore, and she felt like she could just keep doing this forever.
She then soon the fourth chapter of the book, eager to learn more of the book's lessons, but she paused when she saw the title: "Fourth Baptism: The Meaning of Depravity". The chapter spoke about that though she was now on her way to attaining freedom, she did not yet understand the meaning of total depravity: That all people are inescapably predisposed to commit acts that please themselves prior to any actual choice regardless of how it may harm others. That sentient life at its essence desired to live with a total lack of morals, values, and even regard for other living things; and that there was nothing wrong with this. There was nothing wrong in living for herself, in going against the idiotic whims of society and giving misery to others; because society was not her, and they have an equal chance and equal desire to bestow misery upon her at their slightest convenience. Total depravity was the definition of life itself, given a negative connotation by society for no true purpose other than to limit freedom itself.
This chapter brought her to the edges of her depraved acts, committing rape and violence with her devoted followers from the school as she convinced them all to give in to their baser desires and do whatever they felt like. One night, as Ekaterina's followers grew to include almost the entire school, she gathered up a posse of the students to descend upon her town and commit a spree of indulgence in that one night; to do whatever they felt like to the people of the town and themselves, and to attain true freedom from the shackles of society. They raped and burned, they assaulted and they destroyed, and they caused such a rampage of gratification that Ekaterina felt herself cry with happiness at what she was witnessing.
But their rampage had attracted the attentions of the local police, who dispatched riot forces and Knightpolice Frames to disperse the rioting students and arrest them. They fought against the police, but to no avail as they were beaten down and arrested en masse; with Ekaterina getting a broken jaw from the scuffles as she was taken into custody by the police. It did not take long for her former companions to rat her out, to her shock, as the leader and instigator of the riot; and she was too old to be considered a minor under a court of law, and as such she would he the one to take the fall for the destruction and violence which had occurred. Her parents managed to pay her bail, taking her in until she was due for trial in a week, but her father was even harsher than the police; berating her and shouting at her for even thinking of doing such a thing.
In her panic, she looked towards her mother for salvation; believing that she would definitely take her side. But she simply looked away, crying as she came to Ekaterina and questioned her to how she could have ever gone so wrong. Her faith in her mother shattered, Ekaterina began crying as well; shouting at both of her parents for abandoning her, for casting her aside in her time of need and refusing to take her side. But her mother simply replied, without question or hesitation, "After all you've done...after all the lives you've ruined and destroyed with your selfishness...you're asking another person to save you? You don't deserve to be saved, you depraved little wretch."
Ekaterina's face contorted in horror, as the reality of her actions finally hit her and she ran away upstairs; ignoring her parents' shouts as she went into her room and locked the door, running towards the book for answers, for a way out of this situation. She quickly went to the fifth chapter, but her eyes widened in confusion as she beheld the title: "Final Baptism: The Truth of Suffering". The author spoke as if he was speaking directly to Ekaterina, stating that by now she should have felt the consequences of her actions; and that she had already passed the point of no return. She had transgressed the limitations of society, and for that reason society would end her and her way of life; bringing misery to her for the rest of her life just as she had brought misery upon it. The Truth which Kirei explained was that nobody could ever be truly free, nobody could ever attain liberty from the judgement of society as they did what they felt like; for each and every person was part of society, part of the constrictive body that defined evil, bestowed suffering, and punished freedom.
The author ended his book, not with a way out, not with advice, but with a simple question:
"So what will you do, now that you finally understand the Truth of Depravity: The Façade of Existence?"
She turned the page over, knowing that there were more pages after and seeking the answer in her desperation, but what she found almost made her throw up in shock: Signatures, dozens upon dozens of fingerprints, names, and signatures were inscribed upon the remaining pages of the book all of them written in blood. The book was passed down through the ages, bestowing its many readers with the wisdom of the author which drove them to kill themselves in their desperation, and Ekaterina felt like she now knew what it was she had to do. She brought a knife to her finger, slicing her pinky with it and letting the blood drip onto the pages of the book as she brought out a pen and wrote the name 'Ekaterina' in big, looping letters before letting the name dry before closing the book and resting it on her bed; maybe somebody else would someday come into contact with the book, and attain the same freedom that she did: The fleeting liberty that she did not regret one bit. She brought the blade to her wrist and slit it in one fell motion, falling to the floor as she screamed out in pain and bled rapidly. It was the most pain she had ever felt, but she somehow felt pleasure as she lay dying on the ground; content as she felt herself fall into an abyss of darkness.
