CHAPTER 12- Blessings To a Sinner
I am a phoenix,
rising from the ashes of my own destruction,
reborn in the shadows.
~ Rupi Kanr
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The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violence taketh it by force. Even the holy book speaks of evil, and believe it or not, that the verse was written because of me. Those days I was kind and had heart for mortality. Those days I smiled to those who spoke ill about me. Those days I helped the poor and fed the unfed. But it still remains those days, doesn't it? Believe it or not, when I tell you that even Jesus were possessed by the Devil. That very same devil you believe to be fictional. The very same devil you see not to be true.
…
Terror. The stillness, the quietness and tension of the stable. Nobody moved nor made any sound, as each person were occupied in their own thoughts.
As Aelin rushed and tried to reach out for the door to heed her escape, it slammed back hardly, causing her body to be thrown behind.
Swiftly, Medusa came right of out the blackness to appear in front of Aelin. She grabbed her by the neck and slammed her back at the end of the stable. The wall made out of wood shifted slightly, bending to the force and pressure.
Medusa's eyes were burning in rage. It was arrayed in an unkindly expression, and the darkness she carried among herself where almost frightening.
After Medusa had walked into her master's past, the cruelty of humans, she thought, weighed beyond redemption. The more those images played in her head, the darker her thoughts became. The urge to eliminate those kinds became too strong to ignore.
Her physical body had its own motive, and the door that locked her master shook intensively, a sign her inner soul has to be let out. Medusa did not only let her master take control of her body, she also joined forces with her serving her wrath. It was her blessing to a sinner.
The grip on Aelin's tightened and she choked further. The force Medusa extended on her neck was way capable of killing any human within her grip, but she knew it wasn't Aelin. She knew what creature she had become.
The one from her past. The one with one motive to take the throne besides the devil.
The darkness hovering around those irises escalated the whole part of her eyes, turning it shades of pitch dark. The weather itself had begun to thicken and each emotion triggered their environment, hypnotizing their surroundings.
Medusa knew it was no coincidence she was here. Whatever she aimed, is what she wanted. And she couldn't take any chances.
The lamps at the side of the stable burnt brightly on the mantel. It wasn't yet dark outside. Through the cherry laurel, the sky basked itself with the darkness brought from Medusa, forming into a wide vortex. The sunless day gave off reassuring colors to the twilight inside and the magnificent oaks, the cicadas that should be singing, and the warm spring air that eventually turned cold and harsh. It rolled her garment tossing it to the movement of the breeze.
Outside the commotion, a girl walked out to spread the clothes after washing stopped her tracks at the sight of the strange weather. The bucket fell from her hand letting the piece of clothes fall to the ground as her mouth hung open in shock at the scene. She blinked to get rid of her image, only to realize the awful reality. "AHH!!!"
Screaming on top of her lungs, she rushed back to the quarters, catching the attention of others.
"What happened?" they had asked themselves, exchanging looks between the frightened figure that ran past them and the place she ran out from.
Curious, they rushed out to witness what had caused one of them to scream in that manner.
.
Meanwhile, the tense atmosphere had become unbearable. With Medusa possessed in her own world, nothing else mattered. It was all death that dance, the cicadas swarming from tree to tree, and the flocks of black birds crisscrossing the sky. Just death, just one eating another.
When Aelin parted her lips to speak, she immediately swallowed her words due to grip on her neck. With Medusa's eyes shifting and striking like the flames from hell, caused her body weaken.
Her face reddened. Her throat ached at the pain that she could hardly breathe. But what was more painful was the sight of the dead person, alive and kicking. How?
The hand she held Medusa's arm slowly loosened, surrendering herself to a demeaning predicament. But still her questions flamed her thoughts. Those words of Medusa began to haunt her after all those years. She was trapped in her grave.
Aelin made sure her body was lost. But how? How did she return? Or did she not die physically? That was impossible. Her body was churned. But her soul. Or is she perhaps supposed to find another word for the darker yet bolder look in her eyes, for the manner her face yielded so little now at first glance and yet not for a moment with light or gentleness? Was it some sort of façade?
Aelin pushed with great difficulty. It was as though moving a lifeless statue from a fixed position. She struggled to breathe but could only feel her nostrils getting hotter and hotter. Aelin tried to reach for anything. Anything to shield her at the moment.
Very cautiously, she turned her eyes towards the other girl that stood at the corner. Esther's heart didn't cease racing at the look in her eyes. She almost jumped out at the harsh banging of the door. Oh no!
"Stand aside, guards of Dragsholm! Surrender yourself or face the consequences!" Unknown to him that the people inside were evoked in their own world.
Esther stood still in shock and yet she couldn't move. All that happened before her eyes came as a huge shock to her face. She had muttered spells to compel the people outside but she knew it was only half of a problem solved. And she couldn't hold it any longer as the power kept consuming her strength.
She stared at Medusa's figure drenched in a certain darkness that could likely consume her also. Another bang from the door brought her to her senses. Esther found herself hurrying towards the commotion with slightly shaken steps.
"Stop! You are hurting her! You will get into trouble!" She knew better than anyone all she said were better off unsaid than unheard. But just as her hand grabbed Medusa's shoulder, what she stared at shocked her.
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