Chapter 7: Lies

*Kirami's POV*

I haven't seen Mari since last night. She told me that she had to go take care of something, but I have no idea what she's doing. Anyway, I have to go pick up some groceries in the market for mom. It's not a super market, it's one of those medieval markets with a bunch of booths around the plaza. It's kind of neat but I really wish there was an upgrade or something. This village never changed since I left.

I look at the list that mom wrote and a couple of food items are on there: bread, tomatoes, and eggs. As I'm walking around, I notice a woman by the booth that sells bread. She had pure white hair that's in a long braid down to her legs, pale skin, and she's looking away from my point of view. I can't see her face. She's wearing a beige sweater and a long gray-ish skirt down to the ground. I assume she's just an old woman getting bread.

I go to buy a loaf of bread and I'm standing right next to the white haired woman. She's looking at the menu of different breads and when I take a peak at her face, I was amazed. Not only is she super tall, she has a beautiful young face. She has to be at least six foot.

"Excuse me" I jumped and the white haired woman looked at me, speaking in a polite and elegant manner. Even her eyes are white. "Can you tell me what that says?" She pointed to the corn bread and it's price. I quickly answer "Oh! It's cornbread for $15". She smiles. "Thank you so much. As you can see, my eyesight isn't good. May I ask what your name is?" I tell her my name is Kirami Hanarama and the white haired woman says "Oh, you are Miss Hanarama? I am Amelia and I'm supposed to talk to you about something. Do you mind walking with me?" I guess the groceries have to wait because she pulls my hand and we start walking.

Amelia seemed very eager to talk to me, it must be something important. We got farther and farther away from Ninjō and into the woods. It gets foggy, so foggy that it's like the tall strong looking trees disappear when we walk pass them.

"I'm sorry for being so pushy earlier. What I need to tell you is very important. It's about Mari". I look at her and ask "What about Mari? And how do you even know her?" Amelia chuckles. "Oh silly girl, do you even know her? She's not who you think she is. She is a very, very bad person" I'm confused by what Amelia's telling me. Mari's been so kind to me. She even opened up to me about her dark past. I tell Amelia this and she shakes her head in disappointment while letting out a heavy sigh. "She's already gotten to you".

We ended up being in a cottage. Vines grew all over, grass is uncut, the cottage had no windows and there's a large hole in the ceiling. The place looked abandoned. "Do you live here?" I ask. "Yes. Isn't it beautiful?" I'm front of the cottage is a clothesline, an old rocking chair on the porch, and there's also a mossy stone path leading to the front door. A tall man barges through the door carrying a crossbow. I yelped, hiding behind Amelia and the man shouts "Who is this Amelia?!"

Amelia calms him down, saying "It's alright Jackson. She's a friend of mine" She then faces me and says "Miss Hanarama, this is my brother Jackson. Don't mind him, he can be very protective".

The man named Jackson is the same height as Amelia. He has spiky white hair and baby blue eyes. There's a scar on his left eye and a few more on his shirtless upper body. The sunlight shines on his scars and on his right shoulder he has a weird tattoo. I can't tell what it's supposed to be. He has baggy pants that have been through a lot, they were covered in dirt and there were a few rips. And he's also barefoot. Is Amelia barefoot too? Who exactly are these people?

"Miss Hanarama, would you like to come in for tea? I would like to continue talking with you" Jackson holds Amelia's hand and guides her inside as I follow behind.

~

I look around the interior of the cottage. there's not a lot of space. there was only one bed that Jackson and Amelia share, a small kitchen, and a table with two chairs all in the same room. I sat at the table with Jackson while Amelia makes tea by herself. Jackson stares at me the whole time wondering if I'll attack him, making me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

I try my best not to sound rude and I ask Jackson "Isn't it dangerous for her to be over there?" Jackson looks at Amelia in the kitchen and says "She always told me that she'll be fine. She never likes asking for help". Amelia carefully brings two cups of tea to the table and gives one cup to me. "I hope you like it. It's green mint tea, it numbs any pain that you have" I don't know what she meant by that, but I take a sip while Amelia stands by her brother. "Oh I'm sorry Miss Hanarama, you must be confused". I told Amelia "Yeah a little. How do you know Mari? And what are you guys?" Amelia and Jackson brushed their hair behind their pointy ears and Amelia tells me "Me and Jackson are Elves".

Oh great. Gods and Elves? I sigh heavily and Amelia explained "We'll talk more about us some other time, what's important right now is you. As I told you earlier, Mari is not who you think she is. Do you even know what she is?" I tell her that Mari is obviously The Goddess of The Red Sea that grants wishes. Amelia laughs and Jackson has a disgusted look on his face when Mari's name was mentioned. "Is that what she told you? Miss Hanarama, are you prepared for the truth?" I gulp and slowly nod my head, feeling a bit anxious about what she's going to say.

Amelia takes a deep breath, looks into my eyes, and says "Mari is not a Goddess, that was just a story she made up. She is a very dangerous Demon that sleeps with humans, eats their hearts, and leaves them to die". My mouth is dry, I have nothing to say. Mari lied to me. I look down and say "I...I thought she loved me" Amelia puts her hand on my shoulder and tells me "Sleeping with someone you barely know is not love. Lying is not love either. Do you know that a man was drunk last night and now he's missing? Theres been posters all over the village". A drunk man? Last night? I remember that he left and I didn't see him nor Mari that night. I thought "Oh god..." and I cover my mouth while putting the pieces together in my head.

Amelia then continues to explain. "She already has you wrapped around her finger. I do not know what she planning on doing with you, but my guess is that she's eventually going to kill you".

She lifts my chin up so I can look at her and she tells me "I put a special medicine in your tea so that your heart would heal" Amelia then please her hand on my chest and says "Because your heart is very poisoned. I could tell the moment I met you that you were under Mari's spell. You do not have to believe me if you do not want to, but all I'm saying is be careful around her. She's toxic, manipulative, and hungry for human hearts. Do not let her get to you".

I listen to Amelia's words very well. I'm still a little skeptical, but I'm going to try to be careful from now on. June immediately popped up in my head and I ask "What about my wife? Mari said she'll bring her back!" I start tearing up, I completely forgot about June. "My Junes going to come back, right?"

I start crying and Amelia comes to give me a comforting hug. I then felt Jackson's hand on mine and he says "We don't know what'll happen to your wife. Mari probably lied about that too".

I then wipe away my tears while Amelia rubs my back. Jackson holds my hand for too long and quickly let's go. I think I noticed his pale white face turn slightly pink. All three of us look out the window and notice the sun setting. "Oh dear, It's getting late. I should walk you home. And I would love to talk to you more about your wife and just..... more about you. Of course if you don't mind". I say goodbye to Jackson and finish the mint tea that Amelia made. We both then started walking back to my house. Amelia was explaining more about her and Jackson, that they grew up in Ninjo as well but they were hiding in the woods. Their parents got slaughtered by Demons and Amelia became blind because of that traumatic event, but she said her vision loss can be cured and has been slowly healing since. It's true that she doesn't like asking for help, so she does things by herself without her brother. She stays home and keeps watch for danger while Jackson goes out and hunts for food. they've been doing that ever since their parents got killed.

Then I talked to her about my life and how I met June. There is nothing special about my life, I guess it's normal. I use to have really bad depression, I guess it's not as bad anymore because if June. She's helped me so much through everything and I would do anything for her. I feel awful that I let Mari use me and make me forget about June. I can't imagine what's been happening with June or where she is right now. I miss her, more than anything. I'm going to get her back, I'll do whatever it takes.