Taking Black Maria Away

The night, like silk soaked in ink, faded inch by inch, and the horizon turned the pale white of a fish belly.

Deep within the pleasure district, Black Maria's room was still steeped in the lingering aftertaste of the night before.

The bitter-sweet scent of burned tobacco mingled with powder, sweat, and a more intimate, ambiguous fragrance, hanging heavily in the air until it seemed to have weight.

Clothes lay scattered across the silk tatami like fallen petals. Black Maria lay on her side, her eight-meter-tall body outlined by the morning light like a rolling snow-covered mountain.

Her emerald eyes were half-lidded. A thin stream of blue smoke rose from the long pipe between her fingers, and the smoke rings slowly spread through the dim room before striking the ceiling and dispersing without a trace.

Her gaze settled on Dawn.

"You said you wanted to buy my freedom? Take me away? That won't be simple. I'm a gift meant for that man. Though that gift was... unwrapped early by you last night..."

She took a drag, the scarlet ember glowing and dimming in the darkness.

"The true owner of this pleasure district won't let this go. You touched something you shouldn't have."

Dawn tied the last sash of his clothes and looked up. His gaze passed through the thinning smoke and met hers directly.

"That isn't the question. The question is whether you're willing."

Black Maria laughed softly. The laughter flowed from deep in her chest, making her full breasts tremble faintly.

She leaned down, her long loose golden hair cascading like a waterfall, nearly enveloping Dawn in her shadow and scent.

"I've lived here for nine years. Because of these horns on my head, because of this enormous body... from the day I first entered this place, I was