Character Spotlight: Sakura

Sakura can be found in Unleash the Beast: Coalition of Strangers Book 1, my first published novel. The 13 Realms of Eternity IP inspires all of my character and world building. Many of my works, UtB included, takes place on a fictional reimagining of Earth.

Innocent mundane minds consider all the humans in the world to be the same species, but this is their delusion. Far stranger creatures share space and time with them. Sakura is rather complicated, but for starters she identifies as both singular and plural. The twins in body share thoughts, feelings, and opinions with incredible speed as they aspire to be a singular entity. Sakura’s soul was once broken after suffering death and the two halves were captured separately, sequestered from one another.

The one responsible for slaying their captors became their savior and liberator, a creature known as Eylam, the Archduke of Nightmares. The freed souls connected themselves with a thread of love to their champion, and then surrendered to the pull of Fate. When they eventually reincarnated, the two halves of the same soul were born as twin girls, but were far from ordinary. Their parents were infernals, the only species of demons on Earth. There is too much to explain to dispel the common misconceptions between our society and that of Illusion Earth in this blog, but there are similarities as well. Infernals are unbound divine creatures, turned predatory and cunning with capabilities far exceeding those of mortals.

Not even such inherently powerful entities are immune to the dangers of the world, however. Sakura found their way back to their savior and pledged themselves to his service. Whether years, decades, or centuries were spent as agents of Eylam, perilous situations would become their norm. They didn’t experience the world the way we would have, separated out at birth, and then again in adulthood as they immersed themselves in the shadowy wars of an invisible empire existing layers beneath the secret societies of mankind.

Psionic influence is the strongest supernatural source of power and potential for change in the world. Sakura dedicated themselves to mastering it and using its versatile nature to create their own aesthetics, cultivating mystique in their exploits and mannerisms. Like many of Eylam’s agents, Sakura was plunged into bloody battles and fought against terrifying forces, devouring the souls of Eylam’s enemies to divide and subjugate others much the way they themselves suffered. Entwined as they still were, they embraced their often renewed vengeance against the world that tore them apart.

Facing down another death, Sakura lay broken on the battlefield, struggling to keep hold of the countless shredded souls they imprisoned for their master. To their surprise and delight, their savior returned moments before the angels sent against delivered the final fateful blows. Sakura slipped from life into death, their bodies nearly annihilated by the sweeping strikes of the angels that tried to defeat the Archduke of Nightmares. Spirits slammed at the walls of their prison, and Sakura felt those they’d trapped break free, no doubt swearing vengeance upon them much the way they once had on their slain captors.

With Eylam close at hand during their moments of death, they returned from the brink of utter defeat, reanimated with undeath. Their savior sacrificed much and weakened himself incredibly to accomplish the task of bringing the pair of them back. Losing both the battle, their lives, and the captives once held, Sakura was overwhelmed with their master’s mercy. He had driven the angels to rout, escaped with his fallen servants, and blessed them. It would have been a fitting end if he had let them die for their failure. Instead, he embraced them and took Sakura as his unliving daughters.

Since the day of their reanimation, Sakura has strengthened her bonds with the various entities close to their master’s heart and mind. They serve not only their edacian (technical term for their strain of undeath) father, but offer support and aid to anyone earnestly loyal to their master. Should one prove false in their intentions and betray their saviour’s trust, these furies of hell would feel compelled to deliver justice to the traitor(s). Yet failure, a pain Sakura remembers all too clearly, is capable of being both its own punishment and a fine teacher.