Danila inhaled sharply as a hand landed on her shoulder. She veered around to see Arya mirroring her look at her. She smiled ruefully before turning back to the graves in front of her.
"Not trying to make jokes or anything, but staring at their graves won't bring any of them back," she stated.
"None of them deserved what happened to them," the fae managed to speak. "Even with my newly found abilities, I couldn't stand up against Hex and his henchmen, I…" she stopped and raised her head to the sky, trying to stop the tears from pouring.
Arya rubbed the back of her head and groaned. "For someone who has died so many times, I'd say you should be happy they don't have to feel the pain of death again, and that they don't have to witness the chaos Hex is causing any more."
Danila turned her head to Arya who shrugged. "Sorry, I'm not good with sentiments," she stated.
They stayed quiet for a few seconds before Arya spoke again. "But seriously though, if they were my friends, I'd be glad they don't have to endure this cruel world anymore and pray they are happy wherever they are." She turned to leave but stopped as Danila spoke.
"Eryth," said the fairy.
"What about him?"
She hesitated for a second before finally speaking. "I saw a vision when Hex stood in front of me," she said.
"What vision?"
"Eryth was standing by Hex's side like they were… partners."
Arya furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Since I merged with Maleficent, the Fae goddess, I've been getting visions, some of which have come to pass, and the most recent one is Eryth standing by Hex's side."
"Have you told the Monk?" Arya probed.
"No I haven't," she revealed. "After I found out that Hex was his student, for some reason I feel like I shouldn't… trust him."
Arya raised her brows. "And you trust me?"
"I just needed someone to talk to."
The emerald green-haired woman slipped her hand into her pocket. "Right, right… so, is this the first time you've seen something about him?"
Danila shook her head no. "The day I merged with Maleficent, I felt a large amount of Chaos Energy manifesting inside him, not an amount a person should have," she continued. "And it felt as though the energy was being used to suppress a part of his mind like his memories are being altered by a powerful Chaos being."
.
.
.
• Hlret Forest
[I seriously can't go through your whole life story right now, just show me the important part already,] Eryth chipped.
"Right."
'It was something that turned into a norm in the village.'
The villagers gathered around the dark-haired woman with glints of joy flickering in their eyes. It was once again night and they finally got to see their loved ones once again.
Wendy, the Life and Death Act user, an Act that was very rare, and powerful. She was able to revive the dead at will but to preserve the veil separating the underworld and their realm, she only revived them partially and for a short period of time.
As they did every night, the villagers all gathered around the Mage, granting her their energy so she could have enough to revive as many souls as she could, and especially so she could use their energy to identify the one they wished to be revived.
Wendy shut her eyes and placed her hands on the ground. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, letting her and the villagers' energy emanate from the place.
A straight beam of light shoots from the ground and into the sky, signalling the success of her act. Men and women, children and adults, old and young all suddenly appeared all over the place and went on to embrace their loved ones while the dark-haired girl collapsed on the ground. It didn't matter the amount of energy that was given to her, it didn't matter how much she trained and improved her Energy, reviving that amount of people always took a toll on her.
Being a Life and Death act user was like walking a part similar to that of the Necromancer, Laziu, Keeper of Souls. The user would have to compensate for having Laziu open the gates to let the souls out, and the compensation they offer is unknown to all but Laziu and the user, a sacred contract between the two.
[What is the compensation you offered?]
'Just watch.'
The villagers all got up and left with their loved ones, looking to catch up on missed time while leaving Wendy, weakened and on the verge of death.
She managed to drag herself to her feet and walked up to a hut belonging to the head of the village.
"Ahh, Wendy, what brings you here? Please, sit," Sven said, pointing at an empty chair.
She pushed back her hair after sitting to reveal seven vertical slightly glowing black lines on her forehead.
"What is that?" He asked.
"Sign that I can't do it anymore," she said. "I can't bring back anyone any more."
Sven sighed and picked up a cup of tea that was on a table in front of him before leaning back on his chair. "We've been through this already, Wendy. You tell me you can't do it anymore, I persuade you, and then you do it anyway… do you think things will be any different because you got a new makeup?"
"It's not makeup Sven, it's a sign that the Spectre is after my soul."
"Then have that Necromancer friend of yours to fix it?"
Wendy dropped her hands and sighed. "It doesn't work that way… this is called the Ten Marks of Life and Death, and it appears on users of the Act when they have meddled with and revived too many souls. Once the markings get to ten, Elder the Spectre appears and takes their soul."
The head of the village rolled his eyes and crossed his legs."Come on, Wendy, stop with this already. Haven't you looked out? Everyone is happy, and you are the reason why that is," he said. "Don't you want to see your friends keep having that smile on their faces?"
"Fuck you, Sven." She got up on her feet. "Fuck your dead family, fuck your friends, fuck everyone in this village, fuck you," she barked. "I'm not going to keep reviving the dead at the cost of my life, so tell everyone in this stupid village that I am done."
She turned and stormed out of the room. Sven exhaled and took a sip of his drink.
[Wait, if you were not in the room, then how'd you know that he took a sip of his drink?]
'Pay attention to the important part, please.'
'Later that night, I sought to leave the village to try and recover my lost energy, and clear the ten Mark of Life and death.'
[Is that possible?]
"Could take a few decades, but yeah."
Wendy stuffed some clothes and other stuff into a backpack. She then reached for a drawer and took out an old book that was covered with dust, a sign of how long it had been in the drawer.
She let a small smile slip off her lips as she wiped the dust from the book. But just before she flipped the page open, blood dropped on the cover. "Huh?" She blinked as her vision began to blur up and more blood gushed down the side of her head.
Wendy managed to drag herself up and send the assailant back with a punch. She placed her hand over her bleeding head as she rushed out of her hut, but the injury made her slow and sluggish. She eventually crashed on the ground as her consciousness flew out of her body.
-----
The dark-haired woman slowly opened her eyes while groaning weakly. Caught sight of Sven and a few others standing around her.
"She's awake," one of them called out, causing the others to turn to her.
"I can't… I can't feel my legs." She tried to move but couldn't move her feet and her hands were tied with chains over her head.
Sven approached her with a smile on his face. "Yes, Wendy. I had to make sure you wouldn't attempt anything stupid." He reached for a tray that was kept on a table in the room and picked up a small diamond-shaped stone.
He raised the stone over his head with both hands and muttered some words under his breath before approaching the Mage.
"Don't… Sven, don't do this, please."
He raised his brows. "We simply want to be able to dine with our loved ones at least once in a while, nothing more."
"Sven…"
"Don't worry Wendy, all I'm doing is extracting your energy with this Telluria's stone… with it, I'll be able to perform all your acts, I'm sure you've heard of this before."
He pulled out a knife and stabbed the dark-haired girl in the abdomen, causing her to help in pain. He pulled the knife and stabbed her again and again. He continued until the ground which she stood on was covered in blood. He then raised the stone to Wendy's chest level to begin the ritual, but just before he uttered the first word, Wendy screamed and abruptly raised her head to the sky while outstretching her chained hands, causing the head of the village and a few others to draw back.
"What is happening?"
A strong wind blew all around as her eyes rolled backwards and the seven markings of death on her forehead increased to the highest number. Multiple dark beams emerged from the ground all over the village and across the desert, immediately followed by beings that looked like ghouls, but they were all translucent: Phantoms.
Wendy's body broke out of the chain and flew into a nearby well. A larger beam burst out of the well before slowly subsiding.
"And so I bound my soul to this well to get energy from the water and earth to power the Act to keep going for as long as I want."
"Wait, but if the Mark of Life and Death reached its final limit, which is ten markings, shouldn't you be dead now? Taken by Elder the Spectre?"
"Only Elder the Spectre does not go after souls that are sealed or bound to an external source, it is why I am still alive and this body is merely just a vessel."
"I see." Eryth slipped his hands into his pocket and groaned. "So what you're insinuating is you were forced into the situation I found you because of the people up there?"
She nodded yes.
The dark brown-haired man scratched the back of his head. "Why should I believe anything you say?" He probed, prompting the Life and Death Act user to shrug.
"You believe whatever you want but I can tell you know the true story from the two you've heard," she said. "Those people whom I thought were my friends betrayed me, and they will do the same to you too."
"Hmm," Eryth pinched his jaw. "Alright then, how about this?"
….
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