Tears I Cry
By Seniya
It is never too late to have a happy childhood
Chapter Four
The hollow echo of the mournful rain purred futilely against the foggy window panes; they recited a song that had been chorused for centuries. Although never once heeded.
No one ever listened to the rain---certainly they all heard it. Its arrival was seldom ever hard to ignore. But, they never regarded the lonely hum that it always brought along with it.
The sounds of drowning children, of lost days and shattered innocence.
But, of course, the rain never crooned very loudly.
…
It wasn't natural, certainly it wasn't possible.
Four years.
He had watched her sleep for four years.
And yet she still remained, silently urging the slumber on.
It was impossible, this entire situation could never be conceivable…right?
"Caleb…"
Momentarily his eyes darted towards her face, scanning her lips for any trace of movement. None were found; certainly none were ever to be found.
"Caleb" his name sounded again, only this time he realized that its origin lay outside this room. His own body however seemed unwilling to respond, and still his eyes refused to leave the seductive lure of her mouth.
The call of his name beckoned again until it finally ceased; as outside the cold rain fell.
…
Aldarn ventured inside the tent. His clothes were plastered onto his back from the rain.
"Caleb" he said again.
For the first time his friend took in his presence. His green eyes traveled over his appearance and then quickly returned to the comatose frame on the bed.
Aldarn felt the anger stirring in his veins. He ignored it. "Caleb…we need to talk"
"About what?"
"About her…" that got his attention.
"Did someone find out how to help her?"
"No" he paused, choosing his words very carefully "Caleb…we just had a meeting, and there are a lot of people who don't feel very safe with her here"
"What do they mean…Taranee was here for years, and no one cared then"
"Caleb, don't you understand…this girl was with Phobos for years, and he never did anything to her, and now she's been sleeping for four years…Caleb, why can't you see this?"
The brunette rose from his seat by her bed.
"I'm not blind, I can tell that something is wrong, but how can I figure out what, it isn't like I can go to Phobos and ask…"
"I'm just stating the obvious…these attacks from Phobos only came after she left"
"I realized that…" Caleb's eyes moved once again towards her small frame.
Aldarn caught his gaze. "Caleb, I know how that she was your friend once, but people change, who's to say that she isn't a completely different person now?"
"And who's to say that she isn't?"
Outside the rain thudded hard against the canvas of their temporary lodging.
"He killed Cornelia, his sister, Taranee, he's killing countless children, why not her?"
"Why are you being like this…?"
"Why am I…?" Aldarn trailed off. "I'm trying to protect these people, which is odd since that's supposed to be your job--all you do is stare at her…she isn't Cornelia, Caleb"
"I'm perfectly aware of who she is" his voice had suddenly become icy.
Silence entered through the fluttering drapes.
"What did you come in here to tell me to do?" Caleb shooed the discomfort, although some still remained.
"Get rid of her, give her back to Phobos…he obviously wants her"
"I can't believe you're telling me this" Caleb returned to his seat.
Aldarn, looked at his friend, the rage had long passed, though a strong sense of pity had replaced it.
His own gaze lingered on the face of the girl…there was something about her…there had to be, but what?
He turned to leave the make shift hospital, only to be hindered by the new sound of a woman's voice.
"Caleb…what are you doing here…"
…
…
…
From his castle in the skies above, the Oracle gazed at the scene below with increasing concern.
He allowed another fragmented breath to escape his lips, pausing to critique his altered appearance in the glass walls.
These four years had changed him. He had matured; a fairly alarming truth, since he was deemed as being ageless.
Something in this world was amiss.
Something terrible.
He turned to leave his accustomed post at the casement. He enthused towards his cellar, from what he had seen, things were not going as he had hoped.
She was awakening---the one thing she couldn't do.
This wasn't possible.
…
When the cold moon rises on a blood rinsed sky;
He needed to consult the others, perhaps they could help. His bare feet slapped the transparent floor, his untainted robe dragged behind him, awakening centuries of dust in the process.
When innocence is stolen from the eyes of a child;
Fragments of the infamous anecdote rumbled within the archives of his mind. How could he have been so foolish? How could he have convinced himself that he could stop what had been foretold?
Pride; it was a disgusting human affliction, one he had condemned many for possessing, and still one he had acquired all along.
And now they would all suffer. Because of her.
When a heart so pure merges with one so cold;
Beneath him; in that dismal world, he could hear them. Screams, thousands of them.
They were never ending as of late; and he had grown habituated with hearing them. It still worried him of course, to hear the wails of a woman searching for her children, until finally her sobs ceased, and she found them at last, though never where she thought she would.
He was after all supposed to protect these humans. Protect them from him, from her…from it.
When mothers scream 'til they are heard no more;
And he had failed. He had failed them all.
The magnificent crystal doors opened to accept him. From across the walls he could again she his disturbing reflection, the wrinkled countenance seemed so unfamiliar.
"You are late Thor" the vibrations of the voices seemed to dance all around him.
"Time has no relevance here" he answered, though still certain to keep his head bowed and knees firmly planted on the floor.
"Perhaps not" they whispered again "But to those below…it means a great deal"
He was silent. Through the glass he could see the smoke, and he could imagine the scent of decay that it carried with it as it wafted towards him.
As evil spawns from a broken savior;
"You have been called here to plead the case of a Wiliamina Ester Vandom, born to a Susanna Ruth Cohn Vandom in the month of January, on the…"
The man stopped, it was obvious why. The sounds of howling children had now managed to infiltrate this crystal cage.
"Disgusting" the voices echoed in unison. "How could you have allowed this to happen…you should have killed her years ago"
"I would have" Thor whimpered. "But when I realized that it was her…it was too late"
"She came to you as a murderer!" they hissed.
"It was an accident" he stammered, "She didn't intend to… she repented what was I to do?"
"An accident…and you believed her, she and she alone controls that crystal, not the other way around, she killed two of her fellow guardians and you let her go, with the heart, and what's more you kept this from us Thor"
"Two" he muttered.
"Yes two"
"You cannot be serious…she is only a child"
"Do not try to divert our attention from the topic at hand…the crystal should have been taken away"
"I couldn't" Thor's entire body perked at the thought. 'It isn't in my power, only you masters could have…"
"We cannot be blamed for your folly, you never told us"
He fell silent.
"I have erased most of the girl's memories; she should have no recollections of what transpired with Phobos"
"It is too late now, in any case, the prophecy will come to pass" the echo of their voices faded.
"Maybe…not masters" he clung onto his next sentence for dear life.
"Why would that be Thor?"
"He, masters, has never touched her…she is still a maiden in the eyes of this court, and I have been studying these writings for moon rises along with the fallen guardians, for this prophecy to come to pass, they would have had to have been intimate…"
"How can that be—those dreams that he made the contact with her in…"
"Are only good for casting spells, it's an alternate dimension that Phobos had created, what he wanted to be real became real, and what he didn't, became a fantasy"
"But for how long will this last…we were informed that your first spell had failed, she is awakening, and how long will it be until he finds her?"
"Phobos suffers from a very destructive illness, he will be blind within months, and dead not long after that, truly the only reason he is still alive is because she allowed him to take some of the heart's power, had he taken all of it, as he had intended to do, we would have a far bigger crisis on our hands"
Only then shalt this world be covered in fear;
"This prophecy cannot be prevented Thor, if not with her, then someone else will come along, it is written, and it will not allow her death, not since they have become one"
"The only reason she is wakening is the heart; it does not have enough power within it to help my enchantment, since she had given most of it away to Phobos…" he paused to take in their faces "This means of course, that it shouldn't then have enough power to keep her alive any longer"
"So, what you are saying…is that we, in our vulnerable states should descend from the heavens and smite her?"
"No my masters" for a moment Thor felt his ambition rising once again in his chest, 'I am saying that we should allow her to smite herself"
"Forgive us if we do not understand this logic"
"It is simple my masters, and what is more, it is human" he made a motion to stand, and proceeded unhindered "Humans, and their emotions…we shall drive her to the edge of madness, we shall take away her will to live on this world any longer…and then, she shall remove herself from this world, and our hands will be left clean"
He finished ineptly, to silence; even the moans seemed to have stopped.
"Very good Thor, it would seem that you have redeemed yourself"
"It would seem…" his smile faded when in that moment the billows of smoke finally succeeded in coating the entire castle.
Thor stared at the walls, almost incredulous, as his aging reflection stared back.
When evil shall evil reign on a throne of despair.
…
…
…
Although, to those in position of divine superiority, humans seem to be a pathetic lot of terrible untrustworthy leeches, who, if left to their own devices will eventually torture themselves into extinction.
Of course, when one is as condescending as such holiness; one tends to overlook the better traits within an individual. And what can be said in the defense of mortals is that they are persistent.
Constantly hoping, against all odds, so long as they have decided what will be their preferred choice of occurrences.
But of course, this can be viewed by the oracles as stubbornness, and it would be best not to encourage them on the topic of stubbornness.
…
…
He still couldn't believe it. She was awake…never mind that, she was alive.
Certainly he had stayed by her side unfailingly over the last four years, but he had never really thought that she would…
…
She had been awake for several long moments now; still he hadn't moved to alert any of the others…if he could spend only a few more moments alone with her.
"How did I get here" her voice was barely above a whisper. "The last thing that I remember is…"
She trailed off; flashes of memories passed before her eyes, none of them seemed to make any sense, none of them seemed to belong to her. She groaned with the frustration.
"Are you all right?" Caleb moved a hand towards her, but soon recoiled.
She smiled. "Since when do you care…did Cornelia finally let you off that leash?"
"You don't…you don't remember…"
Her smile faded. "Remember…what?"
"Cornelia is…Phobos murdered her"
Her reaction was eerily stoic.
"When?"
"Years ago…I think it's almost eight"
"Where was I?"
"You don't remember anything at all?"
She shook her head, ignoring the now vivid scenes of a decomposing Cornelia taunting her from within the mist.
"Stay here…I'll go get someone" and he hastened from within the tent.
'You cannot hide dearest…it's your destiny, it's written in stone'.
A chill tickled her spine; panic overtook her as she sought out the source of the voice. But she found none. There was no one here…she was alone.
"Who are you…" she whispered.
'I am that I am'.
"Leave me alone" she drew her knees closer to her chest, and her hands over her ears, but regardless, the sound continued.
'Why do you ignore me now, when I have always been here watching you' it laughed
"Where are you?"
'Where are you?'
"Get out of my head!" she was answered with more laughter. "If you don't--I'll…"
'You'll do what, blow your head off…I'm terrified really I am…don't make idle threats little one…go on then…I dare you to do it—if you can'
She felt her resolution strengthen…slowly a trembling hand made its way to her forehead, the voices within coaxed it onward. Again, she felt the stir of energies meeting inside her arm, and then…
"Will…this is Juno…she's come to help"
Will's hand dropped limply to her side, instantly the voices contained by her mind had also stopped.
Her attention instead, went to the middle aged lady by Caleb's side. "Hello" she smiled dryly, though her eyes held an unspoken apprehension that Will couldn't ignore.
She moved towards her, and in true doctor like fashion proceeded to prod every inch of her that she could lay her hands on. Finally, satisfied, she remarked to Caleb, that she was in remarkable health, and that her only recommendation was that she be left to rest.
Caleb nodded, he was seemingly relieved, he mentioned something about memory loss, but the woman only brushed it away as temporary. She then quickly, and gratefully it seemed took the opportunity to exit the confines of the canvas.
…
After her departure, Caleb joined her on the bed.
"You should sleep" he mentioned, his emerald eyes scanned her features.
She felt suddenly self aware. Uncomfortably so. "Where are the others…I would like to see them…"
"They're not…them too Will, they're gone too"
This time, the reaction was different. "Did Phobos…" her voice broke.
"No…we can talk about this later…Juno said you should relax" again he moved his hands towards her face, although this time, he didn't recoil when he made contact with her face.
Something inside her stomach churned. She pulled away, encasing herself inside the multitude of blankets that surrounded her.
Caleb made a motion to leave.
'Do you want to remember…I can tell you, I know everything, I'll tell you what you did'
She saw herself, a younger version of herself, screaming at Caleb; Cornelia danced across her psyche, before she fell…dead. Taranee watched in horror as the final blast had come from Will's hand. She screamed as she too was struck down.
'Yes…feel it…you like it don't you…you love it'
"Caleb" Will called, not waiting for his reply. "Can you stay with me…until I fall asleep…please?"
He paused by the exit, but his hesitation only lasted for a second as soon he had reacquainted himself with her bedside.
"Phobos will be looking for you" he said moments later.
"Why?"
"We were hoping that you could tell us…never mind…it's probably the heart he's after"
Uncomfortable feelings inside her chest roared once more, though it was beyond her understanding as to why.
"Do you still have it—we…they couldn't find it…on you" he said awkwardly.
"No…I don't think so" a small lie she told herself, besides it was for the best.
He seemed to believe her.
"How long have I been here…Juno said I was asleep?"
"Four years almost" he traced a design on her bed coverings with his fingers.
"That's…"
"I know"
He allowed the silence to dominate for a time.
"I think we should change your name…it might help if no one here calls you Will…it isn't exactly common here"
She nodded; still enjoying the silence his company granted her abused mind.
"Wilfreda is a good one I think…we had a girl here called Wilfreda…but she didn't look anything like you…she had blonde hair, almost, like…"
He stopped, realizing that she had fallen asleep.
He decided he should leave, but as accustomed; he couldn't convince his stiff legs to move.
He continued to watch her, until he too succumb to his own tiredness, and fell into a slumber.
It was comical to her, exactly how people could expect her to be tired after she had been sleeping for all those years.
"Show me" she whispered to the darkness.
'Of course child…I knew that you would ask'
…
…
Author: I know…a prophecy how cliché. But I'll take refuge in the fact that it isn't about my main character becoming a princess for a long lost magical kingdom, or having to save the world by herself. (You writers know who you are…). Finally the voices, it's something…talking to her, that will be introduced in chapter 6, I believe.
Also, yes, the Oracles are the reason in the next chapter for why Will is so suicidal/depressed. They are trying in earnest to kill her off.
Will does feel remorse for her actions, and also self hatred as she can't understand why she did it. The heart is more evil than she is, and it's twisting her emotions a bit. Don't get me wrong; she's bad on her own, but like I said, it makes her do things (kill) that she wouldn't have done had she not had that in her possession.
What the Oracles do is exploit her feelings, so much that she doesn't crave life anymore. We'll get into this a bit later.