Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 5.13

SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE DARK AGES
BETHANY

The day Bethany met the heart keeper, a gentle rain was drumming against the canopy. Every now and then a large drop fell to the lower levels of the forest, splattering against the cold green of the palm fronds.

Bethany didn't mind the rain. She didn't get much of it from her spot under the giant palm. Her notebook even managed to stay dry,

Her eyes scanned her latest story.

'The Girl With the World on Her Shoulders

Though the world didn't belong to her, it sat on the girl's shoulders and wouldn't leave. She felt everything. Everyone's pain was her pain. Everyone's grief was her grief. She wanted to help, but she couldn't. There was always a claw gripping her heart, and it squeezed and squeezed until it was too late.'

She was happy with it so far, but she was stuck on what to write next. She started to write something, then stopped and scribbled it out with a sigh. Why wasn't her mind working today? It was clogged, like a drain that only let little bits through at a time.

She rubbed the rain from her eyes and started something else.

'Mama was sculpted from fire. Her hair was neither yellow nor black, but a deep scarlet, and her peridot eyes were always ablaze, as if she was lit from the inside.'

There was a rustle from the palms ahead.

Bethany paused. "Onyx?"

No answer.

Then, with no warning, there was an old woman in front of her. Bethany jumped back. The old woman was misshapen somewhat, like she had grown in all the wrong directions. She had small red eyes, an untamed mess of grey hair, and limbs like the branches of a barren tree.

"Who...are you?"

A swirl of wind whipped up leaves at Bethany's feet. It calmed in an instant. Bethany didn't often lose control of her powers, but this stranger felt odd. It was like a part of the forest had risen up and taken human form.

"She has power," the old woman muttered to herself. "Great power, yet she is not one of us. No, no, not one of us. She is something else." A cloud passed over her red eyes. "Sadness and fear. Helplessness. Who has hurt you, my child?"

Bethany avoided the woman's outstretched arm.

"So afraid, so afraid. Why? Ah. Rikamu sees. The child was afraid. It has shaped her heart."

Bethany didn't know what to think. Could this strange old woman really know what she was like as a child? It was true, she'd always been afraid of making Mama shout, but she was older now. What did she mean that it had shaped her heart?

"Rikamu can take it away." The stranger edged closer. Tears had sprung into her eyes. "Rikamu can help."

Everything about this felt wrong. "That's alright," Bethany replied, scrambling to her feet. "I am fine. I...thank you for the offer."

The old woman stilled. "No?"

"No," Bethany confirmed, though she didn't know what she was saying no to.

The woman closed her eyes sadly, and, with the touch of a gentle breeze, was simply gone.