For more information on the entire series, read the "'Demon's Due' Defined" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… or the "'Demon's Due' Plus" journal entry here faile35.deviantart.com/journal… .

The next page is here.

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Mature Content

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With this reversal in flow of her belief, the grand mural speaks to Maladyne in a harmonious choir of voices, all distinct, but all undoubtedly her own. Their words are haunting. "One mural ordered, but two murals painted. You would have us see only one, but both are there, one in the palace, and the other in the shadows. One highlights the hope, the courage, the compassion you would share, while the other vomits up the dismay, the fear, and the weakness that are the inevitable result."

Confused, Maladyne's heart pounds in her throat. "I... I didn't understand..." she chokes.

The chorus cuts her off. "You didn't understand what we are. You tried to make us something else. You failed. You paint yourself in a mural, but it is not you we see. You, just as we, are Mystery. Unpaintable. Unknowable. Uncertain. You would make us Other than we are, but we are not Others. We are infinitely and only you, and we each can hold only to one mural all our own." The voices pause, allowing Maladyne to hear her own quick breathing, frozen in place on the stone altar. "Gaze now upon what you have painted for us..."

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This is probably as deep as the philosophy in this story can get. I don't think it's all that impressive, and it's a bit shameful how long it took me to craft the thing, stated well or not. But, I think the idea I'm after is in there, at least, and it sounded cool enough to go long with the illustration, anyway.

Also like I've said several times now, minokura performed some minor acrobatics to provide me with photos for this and the following pages. She and her photographer did a great job!

Also of note is the Vision of Maladyne Mitesceru now updated with a new face of Maladyne based on minokura 's awesome imagery.

Enjoy!

Note: Web of Betrayal and Demon's Due are a work of fantasy and fiction. The artist/creator in no way condones real mistreatment of this kind toward any woman or man, by living person, gremlin, plant, assassin, ratman, viscous fluid, programmed device, animated home furnishings, or otherworldly spiritual beings. Furthermore, the artist opposes the marginalizing and restriction of women in general by any institution, political and/or religious, including those which have individual women amongst their membership touting/promoting their own happiness within that institution as evidence that ALL women should feel the same way. This includes the religion I was raised in and which I have utterly discarded from my life over this and other issues.