Chapter Eight: Saving Young Souls
900 Years Ago"Naomi!"
Emi smiled and hid it with two hands over her face. Her aunt had just found the carcass of her daughter. Naomi's mouth was locked open in a silent scream. The other adults gathered around. Sandi's son, Scotti, ran forward. He was fifteen.
"Naomi! No, she-"
Anni broke down, sobbing as if her heart had broken. She pulled Naomi close to her chest, letting her tears rain down. No one could think of anything to say. They knew no matter how hard they tried; nothing could heal a mother's heart when they lost their child. It was ten times as worse for this mother; she could no longer give birth to children.
Emi felt satisfied, seeing all this pain. They deserved it. She had not always felt such hatred or desire for vengeance and power. It had begun a year ago. She growled in mere remembrance of it.
*
"Will you leave me alone?"
Emi growled and whirled around to face their historian, Amiko. The green haired gummi was seething.
"Emi, I said that love spells were dangerous. It could very well alter fate."
"Fate doesn't exist."
Amiko gasped,
"It's that kind of talk that angers us all. I'm calmer than the others but-"
"You want Fate to exist so you can explain everything that happens that has no reason."
Her eyes lit up.
"You let my father leave to defend the humans' castle even though you knew he would be in danger."
"We couldn't have stopped him Emi. Besides, it was his duty to defend the castle."
"Duty? What do the humans give us in return?"
"Emi…"
"You killed my father! If you had…" she trailed off and then spat out,
"You're all murderers!"
She stormed off. Her eyes were seething. She been trying for years to bring the humans down or win vengeance for her father's death. Nothing. Finally, as she walked off, she decided if they didn't allow her to have power, she would take it by force. She would claim power he father never obtained. In his failure, she would succeed.
*
Emi smiled as her aunt carried of her deceased cousin. She hated Naomi. The girl sided against her as all the others had done. Her mother had remarried. She was replacing her father. That filled Emi with even more hate, not just at her stepfather but also at her mother. Her mother as well as the others was trying to get her to stop sorcery. She refused. She had started out as trying to win in her father's name. But when she first felt that power flow from her fingertips, she was addicted. Every time she used it, she felt strength. Strength she desired. Her cousin had such an impact, such an influence. Emi wanted something that made her feel she had control.
She walked by the mourners and into the library. She spent a great deal of her time here. She had first caught her boyfriend cheating on her here. She had confronted him and he had replied he liked her but had found another. He claimed she was sweet but his heart had been lost to her little cousin, Naomi. She was broken hearted but then instead of using the pain to move on, she was overwhelmed by it. Hate overtook her. Now all that ran through her blood was hate. When she'd killed Amiko it had started. She had felt a twinge of regret but because she had swallowed the medallion, it gave her power. But also it had a price. It increased every spell she cast so much that it could harm gummies. But it also increased her hatred until it completely consumed her. The medallion was her power but it was also what had turned her evil. By the time it's power had worn off, she had killed so many and done so wrong that her soul was permanently tarnished. She was a slave to hate now.
The medallion had unleashed her deepest and darkest thoughts. There was good and evil in all. But when that medallion had entered her, she had been hateful. So hate erased any good she still possessed.
She was a lost soul.
She was ruthless because she lived to kill and conquer.
Emi stared at her hands. Some of her cousin's blood had stained her hands. She wiped it on her skirt, without a second thought. She had rained her vengeance on one.
"Who's next?"
Cubbi's hand twitched a little bit. He felt someone holding it so he squeezed back, faintly. A voice penetrated the darkness,
"Sir Cubbi?"
Cubbi felt his body lift from the well of memories. He was scared. If Emi was overcome by hate, she had no conscience. She would kill and kill without a second thought.
Cubbi opened his eyes.
His vision cleared. Sir Plucki was right by his side. Cubbi sat up slowly. He was shaking. He barely heard Sir Plucki's words. He just thought over all he'd seen and the memories he had yet to uncover. A hand fell on his shoulder.
"Cubbi…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.'
Cubbi stared at the older knight for a moment before he flung his arms around his neck and sobbed like a baby.