VIRIDESCENT SHADOWS III
GEMMA CHRONICLES
BY DARING D.D. DANGER
LOG EIGHT: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?
"What does she even want!?" I stretched my arms to the sky looking for an answer.
"No clue. Maybe she just hates you," I said to myself.
"Cicily could never hate me. We're like sisters."
"Really? Then why'd she abandon you these last few decades?"
"She's watching the camp."
"Yang can do that, she always has."
"What about the Alp attack?"
"Just go kill the next one before it kills anyone else."
"I'd love to, but Cicily put a curse on me that prevents me from leaving my house." A knock ended my conversation.
"Come in!" I yelled, slouching further in my bed.
"Hey, Gemma," Cicily said.
"Are you here to let me out?"
"And what would you do if I let you out?" Cicily asked, clearly talking down to me.
"Kill the Alp."
"Then no. I'm here to drop your clothes off."
"You know we need to deal with it," I noted.
"Yes, that's why I'm doing it."
"Like, alone?" I pondered.
"Yes, Gemma." She rolled her eyes.
"Let me come, at least."
"Gemma, you have the only thing worse than two left feet. None. How do you plan on fighting it with one foot and a broken sword?" She left before I could answer.
"I can still do magic," I muttered. I turned in my bed and slid off, immediately falling to the ground. I looked to my leg, mad at myself for already forgetting about my foot. I crawled over to my books and began flipping through the pages.
"What if I translocate? Does it count as leaving the house?" I'd never gotten translocation spells to work. They were only for sorceresses due to the danger. The fires are safer, albeit more limited. I read through the book on it as fast as I could before pulling my wand out. I chanted the spell, but nothing happened.
"Miss Oket!?" Yang was yelling from outside.
"Come in. And just call me Gemma." I heard the rustling of Yang coming into my home before she appeared in my bedroom.
"Why are you on the floor, ma'am?"
"My foot, Yang."
"Let me help you." She knelt down and put her arms under my body, before lifting me onto the bed like I was a toddler. She grabbed the book I was reading.
"Translocation?" She looked puzzled.
"It's like teleporting through the fires, but without needing the fire."
"Interesting."
"What did you need?" I asked.
"I just came to check on you."
"Well, I'm fine, thank you, Yang."
"Miss Oke- Gemma, may I drop formalities?"
"Sure, Yang, after all this time, that's fine."
"No you aren't," she said sternly.
"I'm... sorry?"
"You're not fine. Gemma, you've spent two weeks in bed. You are wearing the same clothes Cicily put you in after she knocked you out."
"Your point? Cicily locked me in here."
"She locked you in the house, not your bed." I locked eyes with her, trying to not look angry.
"Okay, fine! I'm not fine. I was just trying to do my job."
"Hunting the Alp is not your job. Protecting your people is. Maybe you don't lead like a king, but people love you, and support you for creating a village hidden from the eyes of normal people. People lived, died, had their best lives here. Their kids and their kids' kids live here. And they all look up to the immortal bog witch, Gemma."
I thought about it.
"We don't want to see you like this."
"I guess you are right. But the Alps… that's my mistake."
"Do you want to die?" Yang asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You nearly died against the last Alp. You don't even remember how you won. You were broken into pieces like a dropped vase, and never got your foot back at all. You would've certainly died if you went out again immediately, like you wanted. Clearly, your wish is to die."
"No! I can't die until my work is done."
"Yes, you can. Maybe that's your problem, Gemma, you think yourself immortal."
"Bullshit! I am immortal!"
"Stop lying to yourself! We all know Marra can die! Did you forget all your friends? Hundreds of the original Marra?"
I grimaced as hard as I could, but it couldn't hide the tears.
"I promise you can die. I will prove it right now if I have to. Cicily is losing herself trying to keep you alive and I'm sick of it. Cicily is wasting herself on you. And you return the favor by getting more and more self destructive, and narcissistic! You keep putting yourself in danger and ignoring others."
"She sent me to fight the Alp alone!"
"That's not the point! You took the Alp out fine, the problem is that you tried to go right back at it, without healing at all. You weren't even going to say hi. When's the last time you cared about anyone but yourself and fighting Alps?"
"I care. I lead this village, and I love Cicily!"
"You do? Okay then tell me, who's Cicily's romantic partner? Surely you'd know if you love her."
"Cicily has a partner?" I was baffled.
"It's. Me!" Yang hit me full force in the face with an open palm. The sound echoed through my room.
"How long?" I asked.
"The year after the Alp leveled half of our home." She was much more quiet now. "You're not the woman I always looked up to. I don't know if you ever were. You're nothing, Gemma Oket."
My head rang suddenly and I let out a pained scream, before burying my head in my pillow and bawling my eyes out.
"Are you done?" Yang asked.
"You win," I said.
"I wasn't competing."
"You're right. Huld was right. I'm nothing." I looked up at her.
"Do you know your eyes are glowing?" Yang asked. I looked at my reflection in the window to confirm, I had glowing green eyes, reflecting and disturbing the view from my bedroom.
"It happens when I think about Huld," I whispered.
"Did Huld tell you that you were worthless, too?"
"All the time. When you said that, I got a splitting headache and remembered Huld casting some kind of spell at me, when I stood up to her.
"You're traumatized."
"I'm fine, it was so long ago."
"The only times I've ever heard of your powers working are when you think of Huld. Or the one time on the boat where you saved Cicily but you went unresponsive after."
"What makes you so smart?"
"Cicily taught me to read, and I have a lot of time on my hands, being undead."
"I want to change," I said.
"Do you mean that?"
"Yes. I want to help the marsh again," I said.
"Fine. I'll help you."
"How so?" I asked.
"I'm going to help you sort through some trauma. Maybe if you can get your Marra powers back, you can just fly. Then you won't need that foot to fight."
"How long does that take?" I asked.
"Years. Sometimes a lifetime," she said. I stuck my hand out to her, which she took and shook, right as my door slammed open. Cicily walked in and threw an Alp head on the ground.
"What did I miss?" She asked.
"I think the better question is, what did I miss?" I said.
This log certified accurate by the High Witch Gemma Oket.