by Tacori Bean
I could almost feel Damon’s blue eyes land on me when she said that.
“He awoke… Remember how I said past the hurt, there was good?”
I nodded.
“His soul was tainted with evil, just as his silver eyes were tainted with black, but Althea wouldn't give up on him. She said she still saw the silver specks. That there was still good in him. But his magic… that was the biggest loss of all. The magic that once grew and strengthened now broke things piece by piece until they were nothing but dust, but Althea still held on to that sliver of hope.”
There's that word again.
She took a deep breath and sighed, “Althea loved him. She looked at him as if he was the sun, the stars, and the moon. No one quite knew what drew those two together in the first place but once they were there, there was no driving them apart. After the incident, however, the people feared him. They shunned every thought of him and Althea away. They were opposites. Good and evil.”
This story sounded all too familiar, “It was a forbidden love.”
Nola nodded, “In a way, I suppose, yes it was forbidden love. But that never stopped them. Something did, however, stop them. Fredrick, he always had an eye for Althea and was incredibly jealous of Azguard. He was a good man and cared greatly for Althea's well-being, but he didn't realize it was not his place to worry about her well-being. He approached Althea and me one day while we were on a stroll. He began speaking of Azguard and how his magic was affecting the kingdom. He wanted Azguard thrown from the Mystics. Althea quickly shut the idea down.”
Damon stopped her, “That's not where it stopped, is it?”
She looked up, “Sadly no.” Speaking kindly to Damon.
“Azguard then approached Althea. He confessed that his magic was too much for him and that he didn't want it. So Althea devised a plan. She created vessels, what we call relics, to hold a person's magic energy apart from their life force. She gave each Mystic a relic, which embedded itself into each person to collect their magic. But as Azguard’s magic was being absorbed, he tried to take his relic from his body. We think he may have thought that taking the relic at anytime would remove his magic. He succeeded, yet he failed. Because in doing so he not only pulled his absorbing magic, but also pulled his life force. He killed himself.”
She recollected herself, “Althea was inconsolable. She then made it to where the relics could only be taken out by her. She lived with the guilt for years. Not only from his death, but of what was to come for the Mystics. Soon the Mystics’ Tree realized part of it was not being stabilized by Azguard's magic, and it began using the other Mystics’ magic as a stabilizer. This caused the Mystics’ to become weak. Soon, Nova passed. Then Fredrick, but before Emerson could die he used his remaining energy to give Althea immortality. She begged not to have it. She wanted no life without them in it, but Emerson didn't listen. He gifted her his remaining strength in the form of one last gesture of their partnership. The good that they did together. Then there was her, only her. I remember, she used to sit under the dying Mystics’ Tree and cry as she faced away from her beautiful kingdom. She couldn’t bare to look at something that meant so much to the Mystics.”
I saw it. The woman sitting, tears streaming from her glowing eyes, trickling down her face as her angel wings laid heavily against the dying Mystics’ Tree. That was her.
“What happened?” My voice was barely a whisper.
She cleared her throat, “Althea quickly lost her personality. It was like she went numb to the world. She stopped smiling, laughing, crying… she told me one day that she felt like all the human in her had vanished. She no longer knew how to smile, cry, or even love anymore, and she was right. At that point, she was nothing more than a gathering of magic energy being held together by her soulless body, and something inside her had died with the other Mystics, leaving her body empty. She was no longer human.”
“...She told me one night of a dream she had. One in which there was a girl who would come and be the human heart of Althea we all loved and missed. She would come and be our savior from the evil. Then Althea left. She left the kingdom the Mystics’ had built for their scholars and was never found. It is told she went into a special realm she made and pulled her relic and died like she had wanted to with her family. The dream was the last thing she ever spoke of. Many of the scholars say it was a prophecy.”
“I've heard of that prophecy! I thought it was only a myth.” Milku spoke.
“Some myths are prophecy,” Nola corrected.
“What about their relics?” I inquired.
She shook her head, “Hidden. They will not choose their people until the time is right.”
Damon placed a hand on my shoulder, “And the evil?” He asked.
“It's out there. It's waiting, lurking in the shadows. Something is coming. Something big. I can feel it.”
“What are we to do?” Tristan asked.
Nola looked at me and smiled, “Althea has discovered her magic. It is her you should be asking!”
Confusion spread throughout the room, but it did not come over me. A part of me knew this was the truth ever since I touched the Mystics’ Tree
“The prophecy is true!” She exclaimed, “Althea is here, right in front of you! It is her,” She gestured to me, “The new leader of the next generation of the Mystics.
~11~
WE EMERGED FROM the Dark Forest, basking in the warmth of the sun that was non-existent in the Dark Forest. It was nice to warm my face out of its pink, chilled stage.
“What do you think Nola meant by an evil is coming?” Tristan asked me.
“I'm not sure.”
Damon looked back at us with a huge grin on his face, “Whatever it is, it would be no match for Althea.”
I froze.
~~~
The cottage door slammed shut behind me.
“Journey?” Piper’s small, concerned voice called from around the corner.
I moved to put my cloak on the rack, the moment replaying in my head over and over again. The words that came from his mouth. How he so fluently called me Althea like it was the only name I ever had.
Why did I think he would be any different...
Footsteps sounded behind me, “By heavens, Journey!” Piper yelled, “What happened?” She rushed me into the living space.
She wrapped a heavy blanket around me and felt my forehead.
I was not cold. Anger boiled in my veins, yet I was trembling in my skin.
“Why are you so pale? You look sickly.” She sounded concerned.
I shrugged the blanket off of me, letting it pile on the sofa around me, “Althea…” I whispered, wishing I could make the words stop echoing in through my mind.
“What about her?” She asked.
I looked into her curious green eyes, “Damon called me Althea.”
Her eyes went wide, “Why would he do such a thing?” She said with a hint of harshness.
I asked myself that same question. I kept asking why someone like him, someone who I cared about would do something like that to me. I hadn’t found an answer.
“The rumors are true about me.”
“So, you are Althea?” She asked.
I shook my head, “No. I will never live up to what she did. I am nothing compared to her.”
“But you aren't, Journey, anyone who knows you can see that there is something special about you. Something within you that reminds us all of Althea’s spirit. Sure maybe you aren't her, but that doesn't mean you can't be as special as she was. You're just as good of a person, Journey.”
I shook my head again, “No, I'm not. I can't count how many times I've lied to all of you since I arrived. Just yesterday, I told Damon I was afraid to find out the truth, because I didn't want to leave Secret Hollow. I already knew the truth... I just didn't want to accept it. Now I do. And I know that I made a mistake staying here.”
“Why would staying here be a mistake?”
I took a deep breath, “There is
a constant fight within me over what my mind needs and my heart wants.” I paused.
The walls I put up not only fell, they crumbled. The hurt and pain I bottled inside to cope came rushing back to me. All of the sleepless nights wondering if I was the reason my father left and the longing glances towards the other children and their mothers, knowing I was forgotten by mine. It all seemed the same no matter where I was.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, viciously wiping the tears flooding down my face, “My heart is restless. It always longs for something else, something it’s never had. And this… this place is exactly what I've always wanted. People who care for me and I for them, a place to call home, and adventures beyond belief. I thought this was it. The place I could finally stop being afraid to be myself. But now that I'm not afraid to be myself… I can't be myself! Because everyone wants me to be something that I'm not.” I hiccupped, covering my mouth with my hand, trying to muffle my sobs.
I ran my fingers through my tangled hair before meeting Piper’s eyes, “I’m not Althea, and I never will be. I was never supposed to follow this path. I was never destined for this. I don't want this to be my story. I want to write my own story, make my own decisions, be who I want to be…”
“You need to run.” She whispered.
I paused, “W-What?”
I had never heard such urgency in her voice, but something about her tone made me realize she was trying to save me from something she greatly regretted.
She got up and went to the entrance, grabbing my cloak from the rack, “Run. Go somewhere that they won't find you. These expectations, the names and the comments, they will never stop. Go to Yaffu. Catch a boat to Resmen. I don't care. But you need to hold onto that sliver of hope. You need to find somewhere that you can embrace who you really are. But most important, Journey, you need to leave all the pain, all the hurt, you need to leave Secret Hollow and get as far away as you can manage.”
~~~
The howling of the wind easily overtook the sound of my feet crunching on the fallen leaves. Swiftly, I made my way through the darkness of the town to the wall and slipped through a piece of broken wood in the gate.
My back against the cold stone wall, I slowly made my way down the side, being careful of my footsteps crushing the brown grass.
Once I was certain I made it down the wall safely I hazardously entered the blackened forest.
Drip. Drip.
The noises played with my head.
Rustle. Crunch.
Something was moving.
Rustle.
I turned around and held in a scream as I stared into bright lime green eyes that appeared to glow in the night.
“Tristan?” I whispered softly.
He nodded, “Don't worry about being quiet. Damon and August are asleep.”
“What are you doing out here?” I ignored his comment.
“I'm... running away.”
I searched his face, “From what?” I inquired.
A shadow covered his face followed by a small smile, “My sister.”
Chills went down my spine.
He looked down at me, “You're running away, too?”
I nodded my head.
Perhaps what we are both looking for would be something we will learn to find in each other.
“Shall we get going then?”
A teasing glare filled his eyes and a goofy smile came to his lips, “A lady like yourself shouldn't be around someone like me.”
A smile came to my face, “Why not? I need some unpredictability in my life and I want to go on an adventure. Perhaps you are the one to accompany me.”
He nodded in agreement. Leaving Secret Hollow behind us, we made our way through the thick foliage, following a darkened path to discover who we wanted to be.
~12~
WINTER AIR NIPPED at my neck, my feet crushed the fresh snow. The trees were left bare from the harsh start to winter, and casted blackened shadows across the market of Yaffu’s town center.
I looked over at Tristan who was fixated on some of the merchandise. He was getting better. He wasn't as thin as when I first met him, the dark circles were fading, the cold had brought color to his pale skin, and the bruises and scratches had healed. But the scratches and bruises on his mind and heart weren't healing as fast.
He looked up at me and smiled a goofy smile.
“What did you find?” I asked as I approached him.
He shook his head, “Nothing much. Nola sent us for fruit, but a lot of fruit has stopped growing at this time.”
“Nola was gracious enough to house us, the least we can do is stay on her good side until we find passage to Resmen.”
He nodded, “I'll look harder then.”
We moved further through the market collecting bits of this or that.
“I've been meaning to ask you since we arrived at Nola's. I know why I wanted to run, but what about you? You had a home, people who treated you well, and true or not something was going on between you and Damon. Why would you run away from that?” He questioned blankly.
Damon…
“Um… I guess I did kind of leave the impression that I left just because Damon called me, Althea. The truth is I wanted to stay in Secret Hollow… It has been the place I'd dreamed about since I was a child, but I had to run. There was too much being placed on my shoulders, to where if I wanted, I couldn't leave. I am being held to an impossible standard, and I’ll only be a disappointment to them. I guess I just want to be able to live my life without repeating it.”
“Sounds selfish.” He stated.
You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut.
“What about you? All you said was that you were running from your sister. What happened?” I inquired.
“I made Milku's life a living nightmare.”
My eyes shot up to meet his, his eyes glowing green as he tried to fight off the beast in his blood.
“How?” I asked.
He stopped in his tracks, “It was because of my father that Milku’s father lost his life, and it was because of me that she was shipped off to the orphanage. When she found me and took me in, she reminded me so much of our mother. I ruined her life and yet she still showed me kindness. I’m not going to be a burden to her anymore.”
“Your sister is lucky to have you.” I stated.
The cold had kept many people away in their houses, and the market was quiet but still dotted with pale, friendly faces enjoying the peaceful morning.
Then a scream shattered it.
I spun around and saw a woman fall into the snow, a man in a soldier's uniform removing his sword from her chest.
People started panicking, screaming, pushing their way to the entrance, but it wasn't worth it. More soldiers came flooding in stabbing people, taking down masses at a time. Women, children…
Tristan grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind one of the booths.
“You need to put your hood up and keep your magic under control.”
I nodded, still haunted by the woman falling to the snow.
We made our way to the port, hidden among the others trying to escape. Children cried and screamed, and the town smelt of blood, death, and…
“Fire!” A woman's voice screeched.
One of the large houses surrounding the market was engulfed in flames. Sending the other houses around it in flames as well.
My gaze was fixated on the burning town until Tristan appeared in front of me.
“Journey! Come on we have to get out of here.”
I followed him trying to ignore the terror around us but I couldn't ignore the bodies and read stained snow littering the ground.
We arrived at the port and quickly dispersed from the mob of panicked civilians. Slipping through the forest we entered the Dark Forest, abandoning Yaffu and the people in it with no homes, and many with no families.
~~~
“I'm telling you this isn't a normal attack!” I yelled at Tristan and Nola as I paced the small confi
nes of the cottage living space.
“Please, Child. Kingdoms fight all the time. It is alright.” Nola calmed.
“But it's not!” I screamed, “These are innocent civilians being killed! Hundreds, maybe even thousands dead in the snow. Unless they were burned like the rest of the town.”
Tristan chimed in, “I still think we should try to find passage to Resmen.”
I thought for a moment then came to a realization, “This is the first piece of the prophecy. The evil you keep speaking off is starting their plan of destruction.” I paused before whispering, “And I have to stop it.”
“What are you suggesting?” Tristan asked.
“... I think… I think it's time to go home.”
Nola's face lit up but Tristan's was full of concern, “They stopped looking for us. This is the perfect time to escape-”
“And leave the rest of them to die! No, I'm going to protect my people!” A voice, but not my own, echoed.
A smile lit up Nola's face even more, “Looks like Althea has found her confidence.”
Tristan sighed and looked at his hands, “If this truly is your job to defeat this evil you know I will be by your side.”
“No matter who is by her side it will be up to Althea and Althea alone to defeat it.” Nola stated.
“Then I guess we should get going. Better to arrive at Secret Hollow before the soldiers do.” I suggested.
“Oh no! There is something I have for the both of you before you go.” Nola got up and motioned for me to follow her upstairs.
~~~
I checked myself over while Tristan was upstairs with Nola. She had dressed us in simple battle gear just in case we stumbled upon a fight. Not that I could fight but it was the thought that counts.
“What do you think?” Tristan's small voice called from behind me, sheepishly, pulling me from my thoughts.