Chapter 2: Consequence

All Namine could do was watch as her dream self stared at the scene before her. The same scene that has haunted her for the past four years, from the moment her eyes opened in the morning to the moment she closed her eyes to sleep. But not even sleep allowed her to escape the past because her nightmares consistently replayed the scene she had been trying to block out for four years.

Namine would never be able to escape the horrors she had witnessed that night. The night her parents were murdered.

.

A fourteen-year-old Namine woke up with a start. After a quick glance through the window, she realized it was still dark out. However, she couldn't shake off this bad feeling that she had. Something was wrong. She decided to check on Kairi.

Namine had to be quiet to avoid the night patrol guards. She snuck out of her room, being careful not to make a sound. As she tiptoed to Kairi's room, she took a quick peep inside. There Kairi was, snoring away. Kairi was such a deep sleeper, Namine wondered how she did it. The slightest sound or movement was enough to wake Namine. Feeling relieved at the sight of her sister sleeping peacefully, Namine quietly closed the door and proceeded to sneak to her parents' bedroom.

It didn't take long for Namine to realize something was wrong. There was another presence in the room, who was giving off a dark and evil aura. She knew her parents were in trouble. Namine realized this and did not hesitate to enter the room. Swiftly she threw the door open, only to realize she was too late. Her mother was being held by her neck by a person covered in a cloak. She looked around frantically and saw her father, dead, laying on the ground. Blood was pooled around him and his eyes were wide open. Namine wanted to throw up.

"Did you really think that you had a chance against me? Foolish woman."

The queen did not resist in the man's grip. Namine's eyes widened. The queen was a dream seer, she could see into the future. She must've known this was going to happen. Why not try to stop it?

"You... will never lay a hand on my precious Namine." The man used his magic to pin the Queen against the wall and used his now free hand to draw his sword. "Oh, but I will. You have already seen the future. Tell me if my wish is granted and I'll spare your life."

"You're... a fool .. to think your wish could be... granted." The queen gasped out.

The man became angry. He raised his sword, "Don't you ever call me a fool!" He dug his sword right into her shoulder. The queen threw her head back but was careful not to scream, as to not attract the guards.

Namine, on the other hand, couldn't keep quiet. "Mother!" Namine called out as she ran to her, wedging herself between the man and her mother. She finally could see some features of this man. She saw blonde hair and blue eyes. His eyes didn't look natural, but they were piercing. It was as if he was staring into her soul. She felt petrified. Was it from magic or just pure fear?

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she was suddenly being lifted by her neck. She squirmed trying to break free, but it only made him tighten his grasp. He had her now and no one could protect her. 'I'm a fool.' Namine thought to herself. What did she think she could do? "Namine no!" Her mother called out frantically, but was still pinned to the wall by his magic.

"This girl. She is the Cursed One." The man started to laugh, "My wish. With this girl, it can finally be granted." He dropped Namine, who began violently coughing and wheezing, trying to regain air in her lungs. "I see. All this time you were using your magic to hide her presence from me. When her presence had vanished shortly after her birth, I had assumed you killed her, just like everyone else. You and I both know that her magic is the key to granting my wish. However, you had no desire to kill your own child, so you used a spell to seal her magic away. I assume you did the same with the Princess of Heart, yes? This way, I would not be able to sense them. What a shame. Your little scheme has failed and now my plan can be put into action."

He released his magical hold on the Queen, making her drop to the floor with a loud thud. "I won't harm your children. In fact, I need them to grow stronger. So, for now, I'll leave them alone." He turned his gaze to Namine, "I'll come back for you when it's time." Namine could only stare at him, not understanding what he meant.

The man turned back to the Queen, "However, I need this spell you put on them to disappear so I'm afraid your life is nothing more than a hindrance." Before Namine could register what was happening, she watched the man drive his sword into her mother's heart. It was as if the entire scene happened in slow motion but her feet were glued to the ground so she couldn't stop him.

He pulled his sword out of her mother's chest, keeping his gaze locked onto Namine as he stood up and summoned a portal. "Never forget Namine. You belong to me now." Holding his hand out, his palm facing her, he summoned a beam of darkness at her. Namine finally gained control of her feet and turned to run from whatever this man was about to do. However, he was much faster than Namine and he shot a beam right into her back. She fell forward feeling a burning sensation where the beam had hit her. She quickly ran to the mirror in the room to see what he had done to her, only seeing a tattoo of a pair of wings. The wings were small and almost looked incomplete. "Fifty two." He said before going through the portal and vanishing.

"Namine...darling" Namine rushed to her mother, "I tried to protect you from the future that awaits you but even I couldn't do anything. A dream seer is not allowed to prevent the vision she sees, and I paid the consequences for my actions with my life."

Tears brimmed Namine's eyes, "I don't understand. What future awaits me? What was so bad that you and father had to die for?" Namine's mother brought a hand up to her daughter's face, "I have no more time Namine. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent what is to come. Never stop fighting Namine, no matter how hard it gets. Always protect your sister. Take care of her." The hand on Namine's face fell to the ground and she heard her mother breathe her last breath. Tears began to spill from Namine's eyes but not a single sound came from Namine's lips.

A bright light enveloped her mother and a feather came out of her chest and floated above her, right in front of Namine.

'Take it.'

Namine took hold of the feather and a bright light blinded her. When she could open her eyes again, she recognized her surroundings, realizing she was back in her bedroom. Was it all a dream? Was it just a nightmare? She sat up, looking around once again. It felt too real to be a dream but she couldn't remember walking back to her room. She looked at her hands, realizing the feather her mother had given her was no longer there. She searched her entire bed in search of the feather and was unable to find it, which confirmed that what she saw must've been a dream. Trying to convince herself that she could be at peace, Namine closed her eyes to go back sleep.

In the back of her mind, Namine knew what she saw was not a dream.

.

The next day, the castle was in utter chaos. The dead bodies of the King and Queen were found in their bedroom. The stench of blood and death surrounded the entire castle and the princesses were not allowed to be separated. They were to be protected at all costs and no one was allowed into the castle anymore.

Namine realized then that what she saw was no dream. When Namine was taken back to her room, she quickly undressed to be able to see her back in full view and ran to her mirror. The marking was there.

It was all reality.

...

Once again, Namine awoke from the nightmare that plagued her every night. She couldn't stop replaying that man's words to her in her head.

"Never forget Namine. You belong to me now."

Namine eyed the marking he gave her that day through the mirror in her room. What was once a small set of wings on her back was now a much larger set of wings that almost completely covered her entire back side. There were much more feathers now and she had wondered how she had managed to cover it for all of these years. She had noticed its change throughout the years but thought nothing of it. She knew the man had given it to her, but she felt no evil aura radiating from the wings. If anything, she seemed to grow stronger as the wings etched further. Namine realized now the mistake of playing it off like it was no big deal. She counted how many there were. When she got the number, she stared in horror and counted again. And again. And again. She kept counting until she could stop denying the truth. She had counted fifty one feathers marking her back, with the next one already starting to form. She would soon be at fifty two, which was the number the man had told her.

Once this mark was fully developed, she knew it would only be the start of what was to come. Something was going to happen to her and maybe even Kairi as well, something so horrible that her parents died trying to prevent it.

Namine had a very bad feeling about tomorrow's celebration.