Chapter 36: Shrieking Vesper

After leaving the hidden world of the zombie population behind Misery and Zerelda began on the road remaining towards saving Zaí.

Misery felt a twinge of fear from inside herself knowing that she had no real plan for when they arrived or how she could protect herself with no weapons. Eventually she decided to break the ice with her travel companion.

"So, are you 100% sure you want this? I don't think the witches are going to go easy on you." she said honestly.

"Gee thanks for remaining positive." Zerelda answered.

"I can be nice, or I can be honest, I can't be both at once!" she answered exasperated.

"I can no longer just sit around and wait for this whole ordeal to solve itself, I need to do something. I could never relax knowing Zaí is in danger, she's all I've got left."

"Wow, sounds like you two must've been pretty close." Misery assumed by Zerelda's statement.

"Well...not exactly." Zerelda said with a look of guilt on her face.

This intrigued Misery as she raised her eyebrow in a questioning way. Her look alone was enough to tell her "I don't understand" as they continued along the dark cavern tunnel.

Zerelda sighed. "Ok, it's time I was fully honest with you."

"I never wanted to be the parent who played favorites, but somehow I didn't pay as much attention to Zaí as much as I should have, and as far as Zaí's father went he pretty much had nothing in common with her."

"Wow, so I guess Zaí didn't really have too good of a childhood huh?" Misery replied curiously.

"Not the best, not the best. Usually parents try to love all their kids equally, but we kinda fell into the stereotype of ignoring the middle child. My ex-husband, our general always favoured our first daughter Zoë, she wasn't even close to a girly girl she loved to fight and he loved to train her to fight any battle she had to face in life. But our kind has been at war with the witches for over 50 years now and Zoë. She had a bit of a superiority complex over her sister. Whenever Zoë played a game with Zaí and Zola, if she won she would gloat about it, and if she lost she was a sore loser. Zoë always thought that with all of her training she could easily take on the witch armada without so much as a scratch not even anticipating that they might pull something unexpected out of nowhere. Such as a surprise attack complete with weapons that would leave deep wounds that would never heal, and not stop until she was dead."

Misery took notice on how Zerelda's face was welling up with tears, she could only imagine how awful it would be to be a parent who outlived her own children.

Zola however was always pushing the envelope, he was impulsive and reckless. He never took the time to think before doing anything. He wouldn't put his nose in a book if you paid him. He loved extremely dangerous sports and activities, safe to say he was a big adrenaline junkie. But because of his lack of common sense it ultimately proved untimely as he thought that witches weren't that big of a problem, it was just an issue that would just blow over and eventually solve itself. Or that's what he thought.

As for Zaí herself, she never had anything that truly interested her. She was a timid person and an introvert who would spend hours by herself. Until she met DeDe she really never had any relationships with anyone outside our household. On and off Zaí had her moments here and there, she would always accompany me on errands and help me with dinner. I guess I never realized how close we were before.

I myself tried to be close to all 3 of them but over time, Zaí's lack of accomplishments caused her to become more obscure to us. To summarize, we both could've been better parents to her. And her siblings could've treated her nicer, but now that's all in the past. Gone. Faded like a forgotten memory buried ceaselessly in the recesses of the mind, for eternity.

Misery was in shock from such an enthralling tale. She had no idea what Zaí had gone through just to find a home with them, and what her parents and siblings had sacrificed for her, their very lives.

"Wow. I didn't know how much Zaí means to you."

"I just wanna see her safe, so that I can see that she can make it on her own. That's why I sent her away, I loved her so much I couldn't be with her anymore."

"I see, I'm not a parent but if I was I'd imagine I'd probably do anything to protect my children." Misery stated.

"Would you want to have children someday?" Zerelda asked changing the subject.

"I don't know, I tend to have bad luck, very often, like all the time. I guess you could say I live up to my name. And I don't know if I could even keep a husband or boyfriend safe from misfortune, let alone kids."

"Never say never, anything is possible. Perhaps if you found someone who made you happy, then your misfortunes could be reneged." Zerelda explained.

"All I know is that I've never been able to keep anyone safe." She admitted.

"Maybe you've just never had anything worth fighting for until now."

Immediately after hearing those words, Misery felt inspired, like she could save her friends from the witches as long as she had the chance.

"Just curious Misery, do you have any...weapons? You know to defend yourself?"

"Nope, violence is never the answer back home so we just try to stay away from it."

"I brought something along for this mission, but I think you need it more than I do." Zerelda said opening her rucksack and pulling out a cylindrical object.

"This is a weapon that can help your crusade, I can no longer use it, my body isn't what it used to be. Please use it to save my daughter, save your friends and end the war." She said sage-like.

"I-I don't know what to say. Thank you. But what is it? I don't see how this can help."

"Press that silver button right there."

As she pressed the button the cylindrical object unfolded into a brilliant scimitar. One that could be weilded to defend the innocent and fight for what's right.

"Weild this scimitar well, for its might alone has earned it a name, a name that echoes throughout our world.

Shreiking Vesper

Keep Shrieking Vesper with you and you can do anything."

Misery was speechless. She, and she alone had been entrusted by Zerelda to wield this mighty scimitar, and she would do her proud she raised Shrieking Vesper to the sky and proclaimed herself a warrior.