Chapter 86: THE WITCH'S HEART

The witch was finished sewing her new dress,

When she noticed that Ken was still tensed.

She looked down and only smiled,

Before standing up, and leaving, "I'll be gone for a while,"

She locked the room shut, as Ken quickly hurried to search before she comes back.

There were a lot of cabinets, and he was at least hoping something could tell him where he is,

How guarded the place was, or how possible he is to be released.

His heart kept thumping as he try searching each,

His fingers were always slipping, begging they open up at least.

When he opened the cabinet's first layer,

He saw an old yellow stained picture.

In it was a young girl, with a small frail figure,

And a young boy, that was hunching over.

He wondered who they were,

if they were even her own children,

But the more he looks at the picture,

The more he began to see her.

Ken put them aside,

As he hurried to look for more objects inside,

He saw different jars, all full of hair,

Which creeped him out a little,

But he put them back with care.

He saw little dolls, and it stinks a lot,

He saw little teeth, and even tiny hats.

He was filled with more questions than answers,

Of what she really does? And how does he leave her.

He grows fixated on a large looking needle,

Adorned by a skull on the sides, befitting for a devil.

He sighs and figures its better to leave it alone,

As he searched for another cabinet, then was surprised to see disasembled bones.

He covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming,

And backed away quickly, consumed by an overwhelming feeling.

He composed himself, and closed the cabinet slowly,

As he contemplates, if he still wanted to keep on the searching.

He looks at the door, making sure no one is near,

As he gulped and continued, although he's quite in fear.

He opened another, and how upset he was,

To see little eyes, all placed in jars.

In it was written the name of Azazel,

And now he no longer was puzzled.

There were blue eyes, and green ones,

Amber, and golden eyes,

Grey, and even reddish orbs,

Ken was about to puke,

Yet he tried his best to hold.

It seemed as if they were still alive,

Looking at him, begging to be freed,

He felt something weird, pulling him to stand up to his feet,

As he hold his mouth again,

This small room sure had a lot to give.

It seems like the most beautiful eyes the devil collected,

Was given to the witch, and stuffed with petals before gifted,

Ken felt disgusted, but kept searching to look for a map,

When he heard suddenly, the door being unlocked.

He panics and tries his best to close the cabinet,

But soon tripped, and felt the near danger becoming imminent.

He stands up, and runs to the spare bed,

As prays the witch won't find it suspicious,

Or else he'd be dead.

The witch arrived, and was barely surprised,

When he saw Ken sweating obviously,

His intentions he failed to hide.

She looked at her cabinet, and saw the picture was out of place,

Nemue looked at the boy, as Ken began counting his final days.

He was expecting anger, or even the witch sewing his mouth shut,

As what he expected of her, until she broke out to laugh.

Ken was confused, and wondered why she's laughing,

Rather than ease his mind, he felt more in danger,

Is this the last thing he'll hear before dying?

He covered his eyes, and even went as far as activating his abilities,

But because of nervousness, all efforts were proven useless.

Nemue looked at him, "I just figured you'd do something like this,

I never really left, I heard everything, I barely missed,"

She snapped her fingers, and the old photo hovered above,

"This boy right here, is my only brother, my dearest love,"

Ken nodded, yet was still cautious,

Who knew what she'd do? Her smile makes it less obvious.

She looks at the picture herself,

And one could tell that it was longing in which she felt.

"You know back in the days, when you're different,

You're not one with the race.

My brother had a condition,

And...this is the last picture I've saved,

They killed him because of his deformity,

Believing he was a curse, which drove me to burn them all, without a hint of mercy...

But...I didn't do it right away,

Of course...they burned him when I was just a kid,

So I decided to learn witchcraft than simply play,

And when I reached 25, I never then aged.

Those people who mocked my brother,

Those who caused us both to suffer,

I sew them all to each other,

Doing that, they'd burn much painfully and faster,"

The witch laughed again, and this time it sent chills to Ken's spine,

She was half-crazy, no remorse as a sign,

And when she recovered,

She continued the story with the widest smile.

"My brother...ah my dear brother,

There was not a day I did not miss his laughter.

He used to be the only one who didn't find my smile scary,

Well...aside from Azazel too, that devil finds it funny.

Missing him dearly, I always ask the Princes to have a human boy once a year,

To treat him like my brother, but they were all covered in fear.

I tried my best to make them uncomfortable, but they keep committing suicide,

Which further hurts my soul, for I am still human deep inside.

I chose you Ken, because I heard you were experienced from seeing creatures like I,

You survived many troubles, and less likely to die.

Please, give me the opportunity, to make you family,

To make you my brother, I'm sure you'd be happy,"

Ken felt creeped out by her, because he's still determined to escape,

But still afraid, that her offer turns to waste.

Maybe pretending to care about her would make it much easy to manipulate the enemy,

So Ken slowly nodded, as she smiled cheerfully.

She then opened a dusty wardrobe, and there she beholds,

A lot of male outfits, which consists of mostly coats.

"I've sewn them for the perfect brother!

And you can wear them! Do wait no longer!

If you want to try them on, just do so right now,

I'd go ahead and turn around,"

Ken suddenly went red,

As be awkwardly scratch his head,

He looks at the wardrobe himself,

And found a black coat, with a golden belt.

...

(Ken's POV)

I really don't know...I mean, why is she being kind?

It makes me feel confused, and creeped out deep inside.

Sure she have a sad backstory but...she's still pretty nuts,

I can't simply give her my pity, I need to trust my guts.

Everything she does for me,

It could have some side effect that she'd put on eventually,

Besides, it's easy to pretend and change your personality,

So I need to stay firm, to prevent calamity.

I searched around, and saw a lot of coats all sewn with pride and love.

She cannot move on,

Despite unspeakable powers she still want to feel home.

She may have had her revenge,

But...

That didn't make any significant change.

Her brother is still dead,

And deep inside she's still enraged.

She still feels consumed by the need to remind her of her brother,

She still craves, of being the one to look at someone after...

I lost contact on my family too, but maybe it didn't hurt as much,

Because as far as I know, we weren't close,

Nor did we kept in touch.

Unlike her, I was used to being set aside and alone,

So maybe it made me heal faster and move on.

But her...I could tell that she was a wonderful sister,

Destroyed by black magic, and anger she can't keep no longer.

For now, I need to try and behave,

To be humble, and to be brave.

I need to save Michael, and the others who needs my help,

I pray for patience, and a stable mental health.

I need not to befriend the enemy,

I need not to reveal my life so casually.

Talking less, would reveal less vulnerability,

Which would save me soon,

One day from this nightmare turned reality.

I put the coat on, and looked at myself in the mirror,

But what I saw, was the red haired woman from before.

She was crying, and apologizing to someone,

I blinked a few times, and when I turn to look, the image was already gone.

I wondered what the meaning of it was,

As I put my hand on the dusted glass,

I tried to blink again, wondering if the vision would come back,

But to see the red haired woman again,

I simply had no luck.