Chapter 5 - Wingless Fairy
"I must get away," She thought to herself, running as fast as she could.
What she had just witnessed... Was a monster beyond any she had ever seen. The way he instantly killed the 6 soldiers who assaulted her without any effort or emotion. The way he instantly healed her, she wasn\'t sure how. And to have been able to withstand not just one, but two Hexes? Without using any form of defense? She could not do anything but flee for her life.
Not only was he a monster beyond any, but he was also a master of Hex. Initially, she was too engrossed in what unfolded before her eyes to even say a word. However, after she had witnessed this total stranger use a Hex so powerful that it turned his opponent to dust, she couldn\'t wait anymore.
"Am I next?" The thought rang through her head.
But he saved her from the soldiers and even healed her. Surely he didn\'t mean her any harm... Did he?
"No! Don\'t be fooled by that! All humans are the same... They\'re all the same" She said to herself, picking up her pace as she ran through the woods.
She wasn\'t sure if she could even outrun him, but she had to try. If she didn\'t struggle till her last breath then she might have as well been dead.
"I can\'t die now... I must live!" She told herself.
As she ran, her leg hit one of the roots which had risen above ground, causing her to stumble. Due to the sudden change in momentum, she could not regain her balance and fell to the ground.
"Argh...." She winced at herself.
She wasn\'t used to moving on foot. The balance dynamics were weird now that her wings were gone.
"My-My Wings..." She cried to herself.
However, this was no time for that. She had to escape first, or else...
"There you are" A voice came from behind her.
Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice. Oh no, it was...
[My Turn]
It didn\'t take me long to find her, the runaway fairy. With my heightened senses, it was no big deal, she hadn\'t gotten very far anyway. I watched as she ran from behind her. The struggle in her movement, she clearly wasn\'t used to moving without her wings, so their removal must have been recent.
I watched as she approached a root in her path.
"She\'s going to stumble and fall now," I said to myself, and so she did.
I let out a chuckle, foolish girl. It was high time I ended this farce anyway. I approached her slowly, noticing the scars on her back where her wings were supposed to be. It had healed finely thanks to the Hex I used on her, but still. The fine line of scars would still remain on her bare back, a fine reminder of what she had lost.
"There you are," I said, watching as she turned her face in surprise at the sound of my voice.
"P-Please spare me," She said to me.
Was she trying to garner my sympathy? I expected more from her. Was she not going to fight back? Or after seeing the vast difference between us had she decided pleading was the best solution?
As I ruminated on her words, she suddenly sprung up, a sharp tree edge on her hand intending to strike me down.
I smiled at the sight "Now that\'s more like it"
She charged at me with a fierce look in her eyes, it was amusing. While I was only interested in her for her story, I found everything she did to be entertaining. The unrelenting dance of desperation.
The wood was filthy so I dodged it, and, using the force of the wind by flicking my finger, I pushed the branch away from her. She was stunned to see her only weapon fly from her hands. She looked at where it had gone to and returned her gaze to me. The distance was incomparable.
She then did the most amusing thing thus far. She raised her fists and took a fight stance against me. I could see her body trembling and her hands shaking, yet she wouldn\'t give in.
"Hahahahahahaha" I laughed uncontrollably. This fairy was so amusing, never ceasing to amuse me.
She looked startled to see me laugh. She didn\'t know what I found about her to be so amusing.
"What do you want from me?" She asked me apprehensively.
Her tone was disrespectful, but I tolerated it.
"Tell me why you have those eyes..." I asked her.
"Eyes? What?" She said, further confused.
"What happened to you fairy? Tell me. Do that and I\'ll let you go" I said to her.
She hesitated at the words, she looked unsure whether or not to trust me, but it wasn\'t as though she had a choice.
She dropped her fist and fell to her knees. She looked downcast as though reliving the entire thing. The memory must have been too painful for her.
"D-Do I have to say it?" She asked me.
"Yes. Tell me, or else there would be no point" I told her.
What form of expression would she make as she told me? Anger? Rage? Self Pity?
"I was banished from my community... I did something I shouldn\'t have done" She started by saying.
She looked up at me to see whether or not I was listening, I was.
"Continue," I told her.
"I wandered around on my own for quite a while until I met them. They were adventurers... They gave me warm food, good shelter, and lovely company. I was happy." She said with a sad smile.
"But... I didn\'t know... If only I knew... That they... That they... " She said, overcome with emotion as she recounted the painful experience she had.
"Continue" I nudged her.
"They sold me to the soldiers. The soldiers who I had grown to respect in the town where we stayed. They sold me to them to repay their debt. Fairies are a rare commodity and go for a high price and they told me they would be set for life after selling me. Everything we had together, they were all lies!" She said, tears streaming down her face.
"T-They cut off my wings since I was too powerful and I resisted. They said they would sell them as a separate commodity, and I would be sold as a slave! T-they weren\'t even sorry." She was crying now, struggling to speak as she raised her voice.
"Why? How could they do that to me? I thought we were friends? I thought I had finally found where I belonged. Everything was all lies. They took everything from me! Why?" She bellowed in pain and sorrow.
"How could they...? What did I do to them to deserve this? I never did anything wrong! I have never done anything wrong! Why do they keep betraying me after everything? Why do they keep leaving me? What did I do?" She cried as she screamed at herself.
I could tell, that she wasn\'t only talking about the soldiers and adventurers. Even before that... She had been betrayed. She must have had a whole lot of pain, too much for her to bear. The pain of betrayal and loss, just like me. The only thing left that I needed to know was this...
"And? What are you going to do about it?" I asked her.
The answer she would give after seeing what she saw and after experiencing it all. I wanted to know. She had to tell me!
"I-I don\'t know! I\'m too weak... I know I am. Too weak to seek revenge. Too broken to hate them, even thinking about them hurts so much! I just want to live. Is that so wrong? I want to live. I want to be happy? Why can\'t I just be happy? I just..." She cried at her powerlessness and weakness.
This girl... Despite the strong front and tough act she had been pulling earlier, I had realized.
"You... You hate yourself don\'t you?" I said to her.
She froze at my words. She was speechless as more tears streamed down her face. For the first time, she felt it... Someone understood her to her soul. She was exposed, at her weakest and finally, she heard what she had been thinking and drowning herself in all this time.
I took her head and hugged her. She rested her head on my shoulder, still frozen. She had to let it all out.
"It\'s not your fault" I whispered to her.
"It\'s okay now... It\'s okay" I told her.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she bowled and cried. Endless tears streamed down as even I felt her pain from her wailings. The pain of this girl was much. She had lost it all, but unlike me, she couldn\'t do anything about it. She was powerless and without purpose.
She was going to live her life in emptiness and despair, that is if she had not met me.
"I will give you purpose. I will fill your emptiness. I will be your everything." I told her as she cried and rested on me, like a tender and fragile baby.
"Come with me Fairy," I told her.
She raised her head from my shoulder and while her body was still on mine she looked at my face. Her eyes were swollen due to her crying and her face was wet from the tears. Our eyes interlocked.
She looked into me and I looked into her. She then sniffed and smiled at me. This was the first time I saw her smile.
"Talia..." She said to me in a low tone.
"What does that mean?" I asked her, a bit confused.
She then let out a soft laugh. I liked it.
"It\'s my name... My name is Talia" She said shyly, still smiling at me.
"Well then Talia... What will you do now?" I asked her.
"What do you want me to do?" She responded.
We both laughed at this statement.
I rose up and from where I knelt with her, leaving her still kneeling. She looked up at me, and I looked to the sky above me. I then turned back down to face her. My smile vanished and a serious tone took over.
"My name is Hexarion, the one this world knows as the Evil One..." I looked at her face.
She wasn\'t frightened and looked expectant. Good.
"Talia... I want to destroy this world" I told her finally.
"Will you help me?" I stretched my hands to her.
She smiled and took my hand.
"This world has had it coming a while back," She said, rising from her low estate.
I smiled at her statement.
"When do we start?" She told as she gazed into my eyes.
That\'s the spirit. I liked it. Talia, this wingless fairy... She would be my first piece in the whole game. And she wouldn\'t have it any other way.
"How interesting" I mused to myself.