Tales from the Other Side

Chapter 02

       They were three Gods. Zynius the god of death. the underworld was one of his kingdoms. Thesia, the goddess of light, heaven was her kingdom, a sister to Zynius. lastly, was Orisy, their father, the God of the livings, lord of spirits. Universe in a whole was his empire. each had a stone, the blessed charm as they call them. If a creature had them all would be able to cast any spell, undo any curse.

The trick was, none saw such stones. witches nor warlocks gave a good enough description. some would say they were crystals, some would say they were crowns or objects. some would go far into their imagination and say they were souls or some kind of angels. Oh how wonderful it could be to have them, yet, they were nonsense. You can't just believe something mentioned in a book of myths, which eventually Van threw away and put on his boots to head out.
the first light after sunrise. if you call that shy yellow light in the horizon beyond the mountains a sun. however it was another cloudy day in the damned village of black hills. he wondered sometimes what was the count of the village doing? never seen on streets, never done anything to make it less miserable. probably just gaining money he never earned.

Through the small allies into the witch cave in the back streets. he opened the door and there she was as every day, early in the morning cleaning her upper shelves. her long braided hair flew down her back. his steps against the wood caught her attention. She turned with a wide bright smile that faded away once she saw him. "You again?". she climbed down the ladder. "What is it this time?". she kept holding her long brown skirt up.
"Take my heart". he said casually while leaning against a wall with folded arms.
"How romantic". she rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious. Open my chest and take this thing out. Don't say that won't kill me".
She sighed and shook her head. "You can't be serious"
"I definitely am"
She stared at him with hesitation and questions kept locked in her head while his was numb. no thoughts, no images, nothing but the desire to get rid of this world.
"Why do you want to die so bad? why can't you live like everyone else. many lost their families and kept going, some even found someone"
"I don't want to find someone. and come on, you call this life?" his face spoke of disgust.
"You can start over. find another village where sun shines". her words were nothing more than a meaningless mist would go with a blow.
"Why don't you find another village where the sun shines?"
"That's none of your business"
"And why I want to die, is also, none of your business. so now, are you going to take this thing out of my chest?"
she sighed deeply. "Fine. follow me and close the door well". she walked away into a room at the end of the store. He stepped in looking around. nothing much to be impressed about. a chamber of stones, few shelves to hold tools, books, few jars and boxes. Stoned table of grey in the middle. "Lay down and take off your top". she walked to one of the shelves picking a dagger. he did as she told and lied his body on the iced stones. Ivy walked back with small jar and a dagger. drops of a warm oily potion spilled on his forehead while she whispered underneath her breaths a spell as he assumed. few more drops on his chest where his soon to be dead heart. it stung where it touched like heated needles. her words lit the candles around him and all over the place. the air misty and thick to breathe. the cold tip of the blade pressed into his chest. he hissed and threw his head back waiting for the end. it went deeper and a little bit more deeper until it stopped midway. Ivy put on more force to push it down. He yelled, the pain was unbearable. blood streamed down to the floor.
Crack!
Air was stolen, replaced by black fog shielding him.
Crack!
His heart clenched and bumped faster. it hammered in his half open chest forcing the blood out of his mouth. Ivy forced the dagger deeper but it kept cracking without moving.
Crack! the blade shattered into pieces throwing Ivy to her knees while the fog going back to the wound, into his body like nothing happened. leaving a small scar which faded. He gasped for air until his vision found the light again.
Ivy was on the floor chocking on air trying to pull herself up. Van reached his hand to her and she held it until her feet found a solid ground. " Who in the name of Thesia cursed you?"
"Some bitch" Said Van as he grabbed his black top from the floor.
"That's not a normal black magic, Van." She took one last deep breathe. "This is a curse of Enuses." Her voice cracked in a hidden tone. Van sensed odd fear in her features.
Van looked her dead in the eyes waiting for an explain. "Come, I'll show you." She held her skirt up and went back to the store as he followed. she picked a book from the top shelves, dusted it before placing it open on the desk. "Look here." Ivy pointed. "Enuses, the highest dark magic. all its users belong to Enusia, the daughter of Zynius. the queen of the underworld. this curse was meant not only to keep one immortal but to steal away their emotions. block every feeling other than pain. to blur truth off, to mess up with the brain. it's a hell on earth. I don't know what did you do to anger an Enuses witch."
He did not. probably his mother did. now he got to suffer for her mistakes. "How to break it?"
"I don't think it's breakable. Why do you think it's forbidden?"
"All curses have a weakness. just look for it"
"Van. for the last time, I never practice black magic."
"I'm not asking you to practice it. I'm asking you to find a way to break it. I will, myself, break this fuck."
The bell of the door interrupted them. an old woman walked in. Ivy gave him quick last glance and went towards the woman with a bright smile. He questioned that theory. with the book left open he couldn't not to look. flipping through the pages, bored eyes and empty mind.
Van tried to remember how it was to feel. more than once. death was not his option since day one. all that Ivy spoke of he tried but darkness followed him wherever he went, no matter what he did. perhaps death will reunite him with his family and long gone friends. and maybe death was a birth of another life. no one knew for sure, it was their nature as humans to chose something to believe for they hated to live upon possibilities.
"Ivy." he called to get her attention. she looked up waiting for him to shoot the question. "Do you believe in what we know about the gods?"
Her eyebrows knotted. "What kind of a question is that? of course I do."
"Do they answer your prayers?"
"Sometimes"
"If they are gods. why don't they always answer. whatever we ask for will never effect them in any way, neither they care. so why sometimes?"
She paused her work and gaze fixed without blinking. her eyes wandered for an answer. "Because..." she tried to speak yet he cut her short. "You don't know why"
She blinked it off. "What brought this question to your head anyway?"
"Just wondering." his gaze went back to the book.
A tool of the devil. Van always questioned the gods, for that he earned the name ,heretic, not like he gave a shit nor minding any. his mother was a witch, not many people liked her. Van was young, not fully aware of what magic was, yet he heard she was practicing dark magic.
Gapes filled his memories. blurry lines between dreams and memories. that witch who cursed him, killed both of his siblings yet kept him immortal in suffering without desires, wants, nor feelings of any kind. Left him as a shallow shell, living trying to find a way to die. His tragedy could never get worse.
Eyes locked on the wooden ceiling. rain pouring outside, thunder hammering the night sky. The same questions of every night before falling asleep. why the witch cursed him? Was I a kind of threat?
Sleep never seemed to present. he jumped out of bed and walked to his mother's old room. it had been closed for five years. not daring to lay an eye on it, but since he was a shell with no feelings. he would walk in and out numb. and he did open the door with steady heartbeats yet slow steps. Van looked around, eyes did not tremble nor knees to shake. what was sadness anyway.
Slow steps in the dusty chamber. spiders built homes, rats as well. dumb and dim, deadly cold as if ghosts took it as a home. in the far corner by the bed was a chest of heavy wood and steal. locked for years and key lost. but destroyed by time, it was easy to break. it creaked blowing dust. Van pulled away for a second coughing the dust off. She used to keep her spells and books there and they were still. some eaten by time and ants and some had the ink fading.
Back leaning against the rough bed with all of what was inside beside him along a necklace around his hand. her necklace which she told him once it was his father's wedding ring but after he died she kept is around her neck. he read letters upon letters and nothing in them other than how much his father loved her. no smile crossed his dead lips, nor tears found his tired eyes. He picked a small book of thick papers, words were almost fading he couldn't read any of them. page after another, nothing more than spells, instructions and more of nothing. the only word which caught his attention was Enuses, whatever before and after was gone. melted ink on papers.