Collateral Damage
The town square is where my feet led me. As expected, this place is brimming with most of the towns' folks and travelers. If I'm lucky, I can find the witch here and even her son. On my way, I watched how the milkman delivered his goods to some parents and some other kids. I also saw a paper boy happily distributing today's news for the entire town to see. Then, along the fountain in the middle of the square, I unintentionally glued my gazes upon a child. A young boy with familiar messy brown hair and emerald-colored eyes.
"Your hair is red." The boy said, looking at how the wind sent a few of my strands flowing. "It's beautiful."
"That's right. My hair is red." I reply, smiling genuinely. There's no doubt. This is their child. "Yours is to. I mean, it's beautiful." He laughs at me. "Where is your mother?"
"She's probably in the market. We always go there whenever Father is hunting. I can't wait to see him again. I will tell him I met a beautiful woman today." This boy is as cheeky as his father.
"Oh, really? And who is this beautiful woman you speak of?" I play along.
He points at me enthusiastically. "You!" He exclaims, giggling.
I laugh with him when I notice a dirt stain on his right cheek. Reaching out for it with my thumb and forefinger, he took a step back but when he noticed what I was about to do, he let me wipe it away. However, when my hands left his face the dirt stain was replaced by splotches of my blood. Panic threatens to erupt within me. I've already triggered the curse on Stragis, right? This kid should be fine. I try wiping off my blood from his face with his clothes but I only spread it even further. My attempts were all for naught when I felt a change from within the boy.
"Miss, I don't feel so good." He comments, sounding sickly.
Chaos will ensue so I have to keep my distance. My heart breaks for this child. I may not mean to bring him to harm but that may be the very will of the Gods. From afar, I can see other children approaching the boy. Then, all of a sudden, screaming breaks loose. As the children surrounding the boy collapse one by one, I can catch glimpses of his state from where I stand. The boy is frozen still, eyes wide open along with his mouth. Immeasurable amounts of blood are gushing out from his eye sockets and from his throat. He's a living nightmare. The ones who collapsed also exhibit the same fate. Not too long after, the boy is crowded with other townspeople who also perish the same way as the children have.
The consequences of my actions were served on a silver platter. I was told about the risks of exacting this revenge I'm bottling in. Father adamantly pointed out that curses such as this one eye for greater sacrifices but the one I have in mind is only miniscule compared to what actually transpired. I realized it when the wounds I cast upon myself didn't heal as rapidly as they should've. My immortality has been taken away. I won't be able to wrap my head around it but nevertheless, I wanted it so I either have to live with it or find a way to take it back.
Not only my godly trait has been gone but a number of my followers are dying one-by-one. As soon as they make contact with Stragis' son, their lives are being bled out of their flesh. I saw the witch come into action as she dragged the kid away from the scene but as I see it, the kid has become lifeless as well, dangling around his mother's arms. The aftermath is devastating. All these corpses, this massacre breaks my heart. The one peaceful land has become a wasteland with just one mistake. My mistake.
I can feel my essence as a nymph fading away as my followers dwindle further in number. The remaining residents rush towards their dead relatives as they all cradle them on their shoulders, trying to wake them all up as if they're just falling asleep while they're being drenched with their own blood. The wailing and screams of the ones who were left alive send another wave of despair throughout the entire island. Then, I saw something shift as all the despair transitioned into anger and I already knew what they were about to do.
The blood of that child caused a deadly plague that drove away most of the residents and the ones who stayed died horribly. When the plague passed, the island became a trading spot for various pirate groups. Rarely, there are castaways washing ashore but they don't last long. They're either captured as slaves by those pirates or I sacrifice them to the Gods in the hopes of granting my abilities back but to no avail. On top of my immortality being ripped off from me by Stragis' son, the encounter I had with the witch stripped most of my remaining abilities as a nymph. My appearance has also become younger with less magic left in my system.
One night when I thought a random group of pirates or stray castaways were wandering deep in the forest, I was slightly taken aback when I saw a familiar man sleeping peacefully under the star-filled night sky. I have my thoughts about the guy but I have my doubts as well. It doesn't feel right if he's a pirate so a castaway he is which means I have another sacrifice for the Gods. Maybe I'll be able to regain my former self this time, go back to the realm of the Gods, strengthen myself, and then I can finally face the witch once and for all.
Eventually, my initial suspicions were all confirmed when he managed to heal himself with the lethal wounds he had from his panther and my arrows. This young man is my former lover and the witch's son. My desire to take revenge has been reignited that I couldn't help myself but to watch him sleep as I plan out everything so in the end of the road, the witch will experience the truest agony she'll encounter. From my forged background story to my made-up personal goals, I will make good use of this man.
* * *
The storm has been going on since Stragis died. I can never say why but the island hasn't seen the sun since that faithful night and it's been months. But, I can say that the raindrops hitting my skin feel so refreshing compared to the day I learned that Stragis and that witch is with child. And with this storm, no pirate businesses have been going around lately so it feels like the entire island is all mine to enjoy but I know that they're still in that cave of theirs. If it wasn't for that barrier the witch conjured, I could've ended them years before.
I wonder what Vatic is doing now. The witch is still doing her monthly strolls to gather some herbs for her practice and I know in my heart that she has the knowledge that I still linger around contrary to what she thought years ago. She probably had the impression of her ending me when we first had an encounter back at the rocky mountains but obviously, I live on. And with me manipulating his son and killing her husband, I'm confident that she'll have something up her sleeve to use against me and get rid of me for good.
Vatic is nowhere to be seen. I left him dying back in that dungeon but I know he didn't pass on. I just feel his spirit grabbing firmly onto his mortal being. Is doing fine? Did killing his own father finally take a toll on him? Did he finally learn about his true history? His parents' history? Did he learn about me already? The last one is highly unlikely for me for some reason but the rest is possible to happen. Why am I even worried about that man? He's just a pawn in my splendid game. It's not like I truly fell for him. That's just an act for me to manipulate him. Right?
There were attempts of me trying to summon the portal to the Gods' realm but I fail every time. With my current state, I can be comparable to a mere witch. I'm not a normal person but not someone who's akin to the Gods. Luckily for me, I still kept some of my abilities like my concealing magic which helped me hide my presence whenever I deemed possible, I can still talk to the island creatures to some degree, and finally, my ability to negate the Vatic's blood to myself. Those remaining abilities of mine were the only ones I needed to keep myself alive all this time and I thank the Gods for that. However, that's not enough for me. I want to have the whole me back.
Some nights, I still find myself dreaming about Stragis, our unborn child, and the life we could've had. I imagine the happiness I witnessed him to be in when I visited him years back and I imagine myself being in the witch's shoes. I wonder how complete I would feel if that's the case. After that incident, I could never allow to open my heart again. Not with my fellow heavenly figures as the link I have to their realm has been severed. So, I looked to who still lives on the island. Pirates and castaways are my only options but if they don't die by natural causes I'm the one ending up killing them. My love for Stragis and his love for me will never be matched.
"No." I say, panting. My usual dream became somewhat of a nightmare.
My common Stragis dream took a turn for the strange when Stragis' face was replaced by Vatic. The things Stragis and I like to do in my dreams were now being done by his son and me. Vatic and I stroll happily through town as we savor the laughter and chatter from everyone, we swim gleefully in the seas as we splash water to each other's faces, and we enjoy ourselves as we set camp on top of a mountain range. It hits me hard when the vision of him and I dancing underneath the majestic shine of the moon becomes a regular sight. This is not happening. Falling for him is just one of my great ruses. I'm not falling for him. My heart has already been frozen for years. I could never let myself be.
There's one thing I can do to set my mind and heart straight once and for all. I will visit him. I know where he is and I know he's not dead yet. If he is, I would know. There's the problem I have with the barrier the witch set up so I have to find a way about how I can deal with that. Also, I have to time my visit when the witch isn't around. If so, a brawl will definitely commence. My strength isn't up for that yet. Once I confirmed that I'm not in love with that man, then, I'm all good. If I am, I will end him myself so I won't let myself fall even deeper.
I can't understand myself and I feel like I don't want to. The mere idea of seeing Vatic makes my heart rise, my insides flutter, and my breathing slightly heavy. I can never acknowledge this. This is definitely part of my grand plan. I must squander this curse of mine so I can completely see this through until the end because I'm not yet finished. I still have things to do to make the remaining people who hurt me suffer. I'll make them feel what I felt when the love of my life has chosen someone else and a filthy witch at that.