The Dark Night

The Legend Unraveled

Shaking his head, he continued, "So the legend says that when darkness starts to overpower, when peace ceases to exist, then the Gods themselves will step down."

The starting of this so-called legend had me rolling my eyes. I thought Jacin was an intellectual person and here he is, believing in such bullshit.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, it might sound made-up and nonsense but it isn't Raven. You see you have these potentials in you. Why do you think it's only French people that have it. Centuries ago, there was this woman, Anna, who gave birth to a girl, except that the girl wasn't normal. At the age of just 5, she could channel, control the elements, and you out of all people should know exactly how kindly society takes to uniqueness."

Of Course I knew, I've been treated like shit for years. I felt pity towards the child.

He continued, "People looked at her with disgust and fear. They thought of her as a danger. They suppressed her. More so, her own father used to abuse her for dooming their family name and being who she was. He used to curse his own wife for giving birth to such a 'horror', he called her. Anna didn't hold any power against him. The abuse continued regularly. Her father would get drunk and come home only to torture her until she was begging him to kill her rather than the torment he put her through. He was merciless. He was ready to disown her even, if only Anna would allow it. She couldn't help the torment but threatened to leave the house along with her daughter if he disowned her. That only fueled his disgust. Imagine a father who wouldn't accept his own daughter. Alessia, her name was Alessia. She could take the world against her but what broke her was the hatred her own father held against her. "

Even if this story is bullshit and seems made-up, the idea of being abused by one's own father had me writhing with anger. It wasn't her fault for who she was. She didn't deserve to be tormented like that, at least not by her own father. And it did not help that her mother never took a stand for her daughter. She watched it, witnessed it all but never raised a voice against such wrong. I am a SIN, which is bad, but it's not exactly the end of the world. At Least my parents are with me, at least they love me.

He continued, "All of this continued until 'The Dark Night'. Alessia had had enough. She was having a particularly bad day. She had enough humiliation from society, she did NOT need anymore from her ruthless father. She lashed out. Turned the elements against her father. Her father of course wasn't prepared for this, and even if he was, he couldn't fight nature. Alessia killed her father. By the time she was done with him, her mother had become a crying mess on the floor. She tried to stop her daughter, but Alessia's rage took the better of her."

I felt satisfaction at Alessia's actions, but the satisfaction was short-lived when I heard his next words, "WHAT!? Her father abused her for years and her mother just watched and now when she finally acts, her mother goes against her!?" - I shouted, almost popping open the nerves of my neck.

"Raven, calm down, it's the past, you can't do anything. Shouting at me won't help. Besides, she didn't go against her, she just tried to save her child from the worst," - He tried to explain

"Excuses, what could be worse than years of tormenting?" - I muttered

"No Raven, things could ALWAYS go worse. The villagers already had the idea that Alessia was a witch and a grave threat to the village. That last thing she needed was to confirm their speculations. They came running on hearing the screams of her father. She didn't give him an easy death. The elements gave him a taste of his own medicine before ending his existence. It was a new moon night. The weather was stormy. Winds were moving fast enough to rattle the houses. The villagers had made their decision. They decided to burn her alive."

"WHAT. THE. BLOODY. HELL!!! They never came to help the little child when she was being beaten for nothing! Those biased bastards. They had no right to do that! Not to a CHILD!" -At that time, I wanted nothing more than to go back in time and snap their necks for their horrible attitude.

"Still think Anne was wrong? No one heard poor Anne's cries, they held her tight and tried to console her by telling her that she would thank them in the long run. Ten people had to hold Alessia to keep her down. The woods were quickly procured and set up. It was almost like they were waiting for an excuse to end her. With a lot of effort, they tied her down. Alessia had regretted killing her father the moment it had happened. Her grief was so strong, that all the fight left her, and despite holding the elements at her hand, she let them tie her. She pleaded with them to let her live or at least give her a quick death, but no one gave a damn to her pleas, or her mother's. And guess what, if things couldn't go worse, her own grandmother lit her body. They were inhuman monsters. They just watched as she screamed in agony. Anne was trying to fight, but everyone held her off. This land that we're sitting on, this is the land she was lit on.."

I gasped, understanding dawning on my face. I wanted to know more but he stood up, clearly signaling to call it off for today.

"Hey, hey, hey. Where do you think you're off to, huh?"

"Girl, it's evening, don't you think your mum's gonna be suspicious? And besides, we still have a three hour walk back. It'll be seven before you reach home, so we'll meet tomorrow, OK? Same place, same time."

I knew he was right but I just couldn't fight the curiosity gnawing in the pit of my stomach.

"Can you narrate this further on our way back home? PLEASE!?" - I added an extra big please but I already knew the answer

"Nope, absolutely not, I don't understand, when will you understand this 'being discreet' thing, huh?" - He said sounding annoyed

I pouted at his words but didn't counter. I knew he'd disagree but it didn't hurt to try my luck, which apparently is always against me. I fought back my desire to know more and moved to stand.

"And by the way, –" - He abruptly turned, causing me to take a step back and bump my head right into the wall. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I glared at him while rubbing the back of my head, "Maybe you could stop with the abrupt motions" - I snapped at him.

"No one ever told me you were such a sensitive baby..." - He teased with a laugh.

"You'll pay for that one Reynard" - I said, mischief clearly glinting in my eyes, before I took a run towards him, determined to give him a good one for that.

He continued to laugh as he stepped outside the cave, or what I suppose is a cave.