Chapter 20: The Awakening of the Crimson Witch

John Peter

Closer, nearer.

John was annoyed by the way Maricar holds him casually. She seemed to choke him by holding him closer and firmer as if she's hugging a very soft stuff toy. He can't concentrate flying, and their destination was about several kilometers away. He wanted to fly faster but his baggage was heavier than he thought and one more thing, his bones have been broken and are not yet fully healed. He was lucky that he had managed to evade that lightning hit at the last moments and was thrown away instead, the price was just some minor bruises and broken bones. He was lucky to have such a wonderful healing ability, all thanks to his parents' genes.

The night was beautiful, the moon glows like an ominous huge orb hanging in the night sky. Beneath them, the forest was thick with haze and it made them difficult to soar over the canopies of the trees instead, they are forced to fly higher, luckily there weren't much of many clouds that slow them down and they can easily slip into the horizon smoothly.

Flying ahead them were Walter and Fatima who looked like having a hard time flying together. They fly swiftly over trees. Some clearings are seen below amidst the haze that covers the forest. Meters away, Arthur's mansion can now be seen, its golden rooftop shone in unison with the breaking of dawn.

"We're close," Fatima informed, she clutched Walter's arm hard that it made his grumpy expressive face shifts into wincing.

"Could you be a little nicer in handling me?" Fatima just gawked at him and hovered above the mansion, she glides down but they were bounced back by some sort of invisible defensive barrier.

"What on hell!" She cursed as they staggered in midair.

"Let me through," John moved forward, casts a faint purple-colored swirling orb and held it still in his hands, Maricar's eyes lit in admiration. He looks at her but she automatically moved her gaze away from him. He glides slowly mooring over the invisible barrier, moved his ignited hand forward, there was a muffled screeching sound and the barrier was dispelled. A blob of sweat trickled down from his forehead as his Adam's apple moves up and down.

Fatima moved forward and glides slowly on the golden pathway. She automatically put away Walter's arm around her neck after they landed. Walter just winced in amalgamation with a grouchy expression. She then walked gracefully over the golden facade toward the entrance of the mansion. Maricar followed her as soon as they landed on the golden tiled ground. Both men who were left behind sighed and followed warily. The main doors were guarded with two fierce-looking minotaurs whose sides have hanging sheaths of swords. They moved away and let them pass, their noses flared simultaneously.

"Where's Arthur?" Fatima asked as she soon realizes that the inside of the mansion was pretty vast. There were two sets of identical golden staircases from the opposite sides that both lead to unknown somewhere. The setting reminded John of the castle of Regality. The bulls shook their heads in unison. She sighed and twisted her head.

"Let's move by twos," she ordered and together with Maricar, they climbed the nearest staircase near them. Walter looked at him and muttered, "Well," John moved his gaze away from him and sashayed towards the adjacent staircase, Walter followed and scratched the back of his head. The stair was made in gold and composed of a hundred steps that spiraled up to the next floor. John wandered his eyes and saw the dangling chandelier from the ceiling that shimmered in the incandescent light. He noticed that the ceiling was painted with some sort of a sketchy map of a certain place, probably the map of Barnania. They've reached the second floor, there were several rooms ahead and there were bronzed armored knights on the walkway, their backs were slumped on the reddish-brown wooden wall. John led and they walk past the closed rooms, several meters away they saw a passage, they hurriedly turned left and entered the dark corridor. John lighted his hands with purple-colored mists that revolved around restlessly.

The thumping of their footsteps was the only sound heard. On the far edge, they saw an open room, an ancient scent rummaged the air, it smelled musty and smelled like a library.

"I'm starting to have goosebumps," Walter whispered and moved closer to John, John inched farther. They were about to inch closer towards the room when the lights in the passageway turned on, ominous floating orbs danced from the ceiling. Heavy footsteps followed and Arthur's ghoulish looking servants paraded the corridor.

The two of them slumped their backs on the wall and looked at the parading small creatures. Walter clears his throat and asked with the slightest hint of cracks in his voice.

"Where's Arthur?" The parading women halted and looked at them with a hint of disgust in their faces. The tallest woman among them, she stood about 5'4 among the five foots, she looks different, her hair was sleek instead of frizzy, she also wore a maid's outfit and she has a tan skin instead of pale, she looks normal than the rest of them, additionally she has a pointy ear and a pair of coal black eyes.

"Let me handle them," she said in a deep girlish tone, the servants continued walking. John unlit his hands.

"Follow me," the girl instructed and she started walking. John took a glance at the open room but all he saw was a blurry image, the room is covered in thick golden mists. The two of them followed as instructed, they moved past the closed rooms and metallic knights on the walls.

"Are you human?" Walter asked curiously. The girl hesitated for a moment and then she replied, "I'm half an elf and half cursed being."

She turned left, there was a stair and they walked downstairs. There was a brief moment of silence when John broke it.

"Are we there?"

"A bit." She replied.

They walked a bit farther, the hallway looked familiar, its natured motif walls tell they were close to the infirmary. On the opposite side, they saw Fatima and Maricar running towards an open room, the curtains that cover it danced as Fatima and Maricar walked in, Walter and John run forward, their heavy footsteps mock the silence.

"We're here," Fatima called.

The room was cozy. Arthur was on the far corner facing the mattress of the red-haired gal, he seemed watching her in her sleep.

"Glad you make it in time." He said. He was dressed in a white sleeping robe and a pair of pajamas.

Fatima summoned the black roses and they appeared right in her hands, they looked beautiful. Arthur grabbed them from her hand and smiled meekly.

"I'm going to make the antidote." He said and moved to the side corner where there placed the medical paraphernalia. He pulled the delicate petals slowly, one by one, he put the petals inside a glass which is filled with a green syrupy liquid, there was a soft popping sound and the petals vanished, the content changed in color, from green it shifted into violet and it slowly turned maroon. Arthur finished pulling off the petals and putting them into the glass, he stirred it with a stirring rod and a black smoke oozed above it, the color of the potion shifted into pure black.

"It's done." He moved and walked to the lying girl's bed. His free hand emits black mists, the mists consumed the body of the red-haired gal. Just like a controlled puppet, the girl sat on the bed with both eyes closed. Arthur inched closer and moved the glass to the girl's mouth, she opened her mouth and drank the content. She lied back, Arthur inched away and dispelled the mists that covered the girl's body. Seconds later, five pairs of eyes opened wide as the girl trembled on the bed, she trembled continuously like she is having a seizure. She stopped trembling, violet mists consumed her body and they vaporized. The red-headed gal opened her eyes and dreamily asked in a soft girlish tone, "Where am I?" No one answered she blinked her black-colored eyes several times when Arthur smilingly moved forward.

"I suppose you know me already," he said. The girl moved her back and sat on the bed.

"Arthur?" She asked in a slightly suspicious tone. Her long auburn hair covered half of her face.

"You remembered," Arthur said and moved his head to take a glance at the still-gaping expressions of the five creatures who stood at several meters away from the bed. They simultaneously straightened their stance. The half-elf girl moved forward and stayed beside John.

"Is it done?" Walter asked, relieved from the tension that loomed the air earlier.

"I suppose," Arthur's face crinkled as he smiled dejectedly.

As if on cue, Walter somersaulted on the nearest bed near him and soaked his face on the soft pillows. He closed his eyes and sleep.

"We haven't eaten and slept for hours," Maricar grumbled and jumped over the next bed beside Walter's.

John sighed, at his front, he saw Fatima shrugged.

"I'm going ahead," the half elfish girl said, John looked at her and said his thanks, she just smiled awkwardly.

"Judiel," Arthur called when she was about to leave, she faced front uneasily.

"Yes my lord," was her formal reply. Arthur eyed her disapprovingly that it made her cock her head shyly.

"Tell the maids to prepare for a party tonight," he smiled. Judiel walked outside with a hint of pure desolation in her face.

"A party?" Fatima asked.

"Yes, for honoring our guests." He replied as another sheepish smile creased his mouth.

The auburn-haired eyed them mystifyingly.

"Yes, dear?" Arthur asked her as soon as he noticed her glaring.

"Why am I back here..." Her voice trailed off, she moved her eyes at John's face and she looked like some realization hit her.

"John," she mouthed, John was taken aback to hear her said his name. Anger stirred inside his guts.

"You wretched witch!" He blurted out angrily.

"Where's my sister?!" She looked shocked. She uncovered her face and swung away from her tangled long hair.

"I'm sorry." Tears trickled down from her eyes. The rage that overflowed through John's heart melted slowly in an uneasy way as he looked into the pitiful eyes of the crimson witch.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed,

"I promise I'll do anything to bring her back, I was just...no I helped her willingly. I was put to blame as well...Master, Colleen, I'm so sorry as well, but it is due time to undo your wrongdoings. I've done much in fulfilling your greedy plans, I am no longer indebted, I've paid too much, and the change is a painful suffering."

John looked perplexed as he heard her soliloquy of regrets, his brain tells him that she's just lying in order to put the blame away from her but his heart contradicts it and says that she regretted siding her witch. Fatima and Arthur looked at them intently, they looked like extras passing by, watching a dramatic scene on the side road.

"Let's take some rest and talk this through after we wake up," he said calmly and walked to the far corner, five beds away from the crimson witch, he slowly slumped his body on the mattress and sighed in utter confusion.

"To whom will I believe with? To my criticizing mind or to my pitiful heart?"

He heard Arthur's muffled footsteps walking away and Fatima's shallow breathing as she retires. He hears the sob of the crimson witch that confuses him even more. Why can't he read her mind?

"Tonight, I'll give my judgment." He closed his eyes and he slowly drifted into a long sleep, totally hungry and exhausted from finding the cure that can heal the witch, the witch who took away his beloved sister, and he helped her willingly.

"To the lands of the dead," he heard her voiced vibrated through his thoughts. He forced himself to sleep as the sunlights ignited the day.