The Death Queen

Chapter 22

I paced back and forth across Spirit Cave, trying to think of something to do. It's just so boring here. There's absolutely nothing to do.

Petra shouted across the cave, "Get the fuck out of here, Victoria! No one wants to see your miserable face!"

Ignore her, I reminded myself. You already know what she's going to say. I rose into the air, soaring through the cave. Down below, my mother was talking to her friends. They were laughing and chatting happily. Mother waved up at me, smiling. I waved back.

This is miserable. It's a cruel existence. Nothing is solved. I'm still afraid of everything. Death still lurks around every corner. Everyone in the cave hates me- and rightfully so, but knowing that I deserve it doesn't help. I'm starting to wish there was a way to stop existing. But there isn't. I'm trapped here for eternity.

It's pointless, all of it. Why are we still here? There's nothing we can do about anything. Why are we still tied to Earth? Why do we have to float around here? There's no purpose, no meaning. No reason for us to be here.

Is this just a curse on Coven members? If I say I'm not a Coven member, will I get to stop existing? If so... I soared closer to the ceiling and muttered, "I am no longer a member of the Coven."

Nothing happened. "Why?" I asked furiously, solidifying myself and punching the ceiling. For all the damage it did, I might as well have been a gust of wind.

"Hey Victoria, come down here!"

I looked down. Ada was waving at me. "Come down here! I can't fly!"

I soared down to meet her, landing neatly on the ground beside her. "What is it?"

She led me into a secluded corner of Spirit Cave. "So how is it, being dead?"

I just stared at her. "You're not shouting at me for killing you."

"No, I'm not. You deserve it, and I think you know that. I'm glad the rest of the ghosts are making sure that you never forget your mistakes. But I don't need to do the same. There's just no point."

"There's no point to existing," I said despairingly. "Why are we even here?"

"I don't know. There wasn't much point to being alive, either. There's never a point to anything. We can choose to use the time we have, or let it slip away in front of us."

"I tried to use my time wisely. When I joined Amari, I thought she'd help me make the most of my life. I didn't know, then, what she'd make me do."

"Yeah. I'm sure you didn't have any evil intentions. But that doesn't change the fact that you killed me, my mother, more than half of the Coven, and all of the Azuri."

I glanced at her in surprise.

"Yes, I know that you blew up the Azuri cave. I flew over there one day and saw a massive crater in the ground. That was completely unforgivable, Victoria."

"I know," I replied, hiding my face in my hands. As both my hands and face were see-through, this didn't do much. "I know."

"Yeah, I know you know. I'm glad you regret it. You can't redeem yourself, never, no matter what kind of person you turn out to be, but you can help us. Go ask Amari what she's up to."

"But I know what she's up to," I said in confusion. "She's still trying to resurrect herself. And now I can understand why. You know, she offered me a second life."

"And did you accept it?"

"No. I don't even know if resurrection is possible. All our magical knowledge says it isn't. I didn't want to sign myself off for the rest of eternity in exchange for something that may be impossible."