This is from Shirin's POV – expect some weird stuff to happen.
Chapter Twenty-four: New Memories
I hoped that Farah wouldn't put two and two together and realise that what I said about me not experiencing anything when I passed out was a lie. As we walked under the golden entrance to the Temple, we found ourselves in a long walkway. On the smooth, stone walls of the corridor were worn away ancient characters; the Prince asked Farah what they said, as he couldn't understand them but to his surprise neither could Farah. I couldn't read it either, but I doubted the Prince would ask me, mainly because he knew my reading-ability was terrible. I could barely see the room at the end of the corridor, but I could see the glimmer of the water that held all our memories at the end of it. I took this time to reflect on the past few months. I looked at the other two and I guessed they were doing the same, it probably distracted them from the feeling of both excitement and tension in their stomachs, I knew that if I was feeling it then they were more than likely feeling it too.
I first thought back to the night I met the Prince. I had gotten into Persepolis on the back of a merchant's cart, stealing some of his merchandise on the way. I'd only been looking at some 'standard' things to steal - the usual kind of stuff I stole, stuff I needed to survive such as food. However, when I saw the palace, I could barely take my eyes off it. Then there were all the rumours about it being the palace that King Sharamen kept most of his treasured possessions in - that was inviting enough, when I heard it was a palace that King Sharaman practically never stayed in the thought of robbing didn't leave my mind at all. I'd managed to get in reasonably easily, when I was actually in the palace it seemed so easy I practically let my guard down totally. Maybe that was a good thing, because if I had been alert, I would have totally avoided the Prince and would have never met him.
My thoughts drifted ahead to when we were being robbed, it still annoyed me considering that I was a thief yet I had been robbed. If Visha's group hadn't found us, then we most certainly would have died. But even when Visha's group found us, out came the revelation that the Prince was to die; and I am sure, that even now, that the Prince is denying that secretly. I can't lie and say I wouldn't do the same…
I remembered back to when we were in Amber. I thought about when I had to kidnap Farah, I don't think I will ever forget that…mainly due to the fact I have a slight bald patch on my head now to remind me. I felt slightly bad about the jealousy I felt towards Farah, at times she would be so kind to me, treat me like I was her sister, but even at these moments my envy of her wouldn't vanish. I knew now for sure, that I had only really liked Amalendu as a distraction, hoping my fake feelings for him would mask my true ones. When Ankur told me about how the Prince and Farah were 'together', I was sure a part of me died inside and a feeling of numbness shrouded my body as I felt like I had lost something that I wanted so badly and it was something that I knew I could have had…
My thoughts shifted to darker ones. When I found out the Dahaka was my creator, my father, I became incredibly confused. I lost my identity. I wasn't sure whether I was Shirin the Thief or if I was the Assassin of Dahaka. For a long time after this revelation came out, the thoughts of who I was played on my mind, but I hoped, after what I said to the Spirit, that the idea that I was definitely Shirin was secure in my mind. I began reflecting about Damini, I still and probably would always know practically nothing about her or what her motive was to kill me, but she was dead now so my thoughts on her should have been brief, however, my thoughts on her lasted up until we entered the chamber that contained the fountain. The room was small, unusual as I expected it to be massive and to look very extravagant. The walls were of a golden colour, but the texture; it was different, a little bit like stone. The floor seemed to be some sort of mosaic with perfectly laid, smooth tiles; it appeared to be some sort of sepia spiral, twisting in from each corner of the room. In the centre of the small square room was the fountain, and once again, my expectations of some sort of excessive object were incorrect as I saw a small fountain that in all honestly, had a stronger resemblance to a decorative birdbath than some sort of mystical fountain. It was a slight greyish white colour; it looked like a type of marble and the texture appeared smooth and polished. The stand of the fountain reminded me somewhat of a tree bark; it appeared to be 'rooted' into the ground; due to this the ground and tiles around it appeared a little bit…'uprooted'. The wall opposite the entrance - or the wall behind the fountain - had a large, rectangular, grey plaque mounted on it with the ancient Indian language engraved on it. My sights moved to my side and I immediately jumped with fear as I saw a motionless beast. I eventually realised that the beast was still due to the fact it was made out of stone. It appeared to have the head of a horse, yet its ears were more of that of a cat's, while its actual body appear very agile, similar to that of a puma's or a lynx's and finally its tail was long and thick; almost like a body of a boa constrictor or an anaconda.
"You have proved the strength that resides inside of you, whether it is of your mind or heart, you have all right to receive the memories that you sought. Know that you are truly blessed to be in this sacred place, this is a place of the highest form of holiness; anger mustn't be expressed on these grounds, if the blood of a being, whether they are innocent or not, is spilt here and corrupts the pure waters that contain the memories of all, then the one that spilt the blood must face the wrath of the Guardian of Memories. The victim, and anyone who has been given this penalty is most definitely a victim, shall be encased within a nightmare unless rescued and the creature is killed by ones that were scarred or exposed to anger, however, those that have been scarred within this Temple are heavily urged to not do such a thing, as the Spirits of Sight shall turn against you and will destroy the Temple, so act with caution. Once you have drank from the fountain you shall find the vortex awaiting you, this will take you to safety," Farah read off the plaque. We approached the water; it was amazingly still and almost of a silver colour, it gleamed with our reflections that made the water appear more like a solid mirror then a liquid. Farah placed her hand on the water, it rippled, distilling it; it had obviously been still for many years, possibly thousands. I watched Farah bow her head as she cupped some of the water in her hands, both her and the Prince's attentions had been lifted completely off me, leaving me with a few minutes to follow through with the act I had been wanting to do. I was much quicker then Farah for I knew it was now or never, I swiftly moved my finger across the water, I didn't need much, and licked up the globules of water. A chill moved across my body and I shuddered as numbness took over. My eyelids dropped of their own accord and immediately different scenes began to flash around me. I knew I couldn't waste time feeling dazed, I had to pay full attention to what was going on around me. I couldn't really make out the actual environment for it all seemed a dark blur but I could make out the characters within it. There was a woman; she was pretty and tall. Her hair, it was black and sleek but short, it was only just shoulder-length. Her nose was small and sharp and she had a tanned complexion. But her eyes, they were incredibly unusual; they were black hollows like the Spirit's eyes. She was wearing a halter-neck styled dress; it was of several different yellow shades, varying from a pale whitish colour to a deep yellow that was closer to orange, red even. I suddenly realised the obvious. I was this woman; I obviously didn't look the same in my other life; I recognised her, or to be honest, the dress, from the dreams I had had. As I turned around, I was on the verge of screaming as I was confronted with a horrific beast. It was about as seven times as tall as I was, it had the rough design of that of a Human, with two arms and two legs, yet this dark creature was no human being; the gargantuan horns and extending tentacles that I feared greatly confirmed that. I knew who it was, it was the Dahaka, I had only seen him in a weak form, but this was obviously his strongest.
"Dahaka, my creator, I am your servant and I shall follow through with any given orders with the utter most loyalty," the woman said. Her voice appeared much more mature than mine was.
"Those who live in this timeless reality must die for they should not be alive in this realm," a shadowy voice ordered. The woman bowed briefly, a sign of respect to the beast in front of her. In her hands, she appeared to conjure up weapons as if from nowhere and then teleported with a black flash, vanishing and leaving no trace of her being. This was the first scene I had seen; therefore, it must have been close to my creation.
There was a flash, a new scene; a new memory. This time I saw I was in some sort of dark, ancient, building, the design reminded me of a temple of some kind. I was stood on a balcony but I saw something occurring below and moved closer to the edge. I saw a young man running, he looked reasonably human yet he gave off a slight aura, and his clothes, they were similar to those I had seen the Spirit wear. He had a panicked face on as he ran up a number of stairs until he came to the highest platform and he saw no means of escape. I then saw myself, or at least, the woman in the yellow dress that was the past me. She walked slowly, the look upon her face, dark and devious. In one hand, she held an axe; the blade was shaped like a crescent moon; in the other, she held a sword with a black blade that was totally jagged.
"Please! I did not choose to be alive in this realm!" begged the man. I then thought about the order that the past-me had been given. This man was no human, he was a creature created by a disruption in space and time - my other self had to kill him. I watched him beg and plead; my other self just stared darkly. In barely seconds she had raised the axe and threw it at the man's neck, jamming it in the wall and decapitating the man! I jumped back as the blade clashed into the stone wall. The room was lit dimly by candles - some of which where put out by the spurt of blood that gushed from the man's severed neck. I gasped as fear began to envelope me; I couldn't take this in - I didn't believe this scene, I would never do such a thing as to kill a man in cold blood!
Another flash, another new memory. I (not me, the woman in the dress) was now running along a building, the building - it seemed familiar, it was of a slight gothic design but things moved so fast I could never actually ever see the surroundings in detail. The sky, it was black but the stars twinkled so brightly and seemed so close and as I looked down, I saw nothing but blackness, as there appeared to be no ground. I was running along various rooftops holding the same black sword. The other version of me seemed very agile and skilled, unlike the creature that she hunted. I looked at it and to my horror it was a child, I wouldn't say it was past the age of twelve. It was a young boy that in his sheer panic and confusion made a wrong turn to find a dead end as he looked up at a wall that was too high for him to grab up to. I knew that this boy was another creation caused by a fluctuation in the relation between time and space for I knew that this realm had no time in it and therefore should not have had any creations other than the Dahaka and I existing in it.
"Please," I heard him beg in his young voice, "have mercy!" Yet, the words had no effect on the hunter. She ran, raising her sword and making a swift slice across the guarding child. She smiled with glee as she heard the death rattle. The need and extreme want to be sick entered my body as I saw this scene. I felt like someone was placing a large shard of glass deep within my mind, it was torture.
The scenes continued. I wished them to stop as I saw more and more unnecessary bloodshed. I saw that I had been merciless, believing mercy was only for the weak. The more gruesome the kill the more delight I took. I screamed out for the scenes to stop and I knew that I didn't want these memories! Yet, all my screaming was done in vain, as I had become a mute within the world. As I fell to my knees, my face awash with tears and my heart filled with shame, anger and sorrow, I finally felt calmness and as I looked up, I saw the scene was one of no violence. I was in a room that I had seen before, before when we were walking with Damini. The room that I had seen the hourglass in. However, it seemed slightly brighter in this reality, candles burnt brightly and I saw that in the centre of the room was the hourglass, and surrounding it were the Dagger of Time, the Staff of Time, the Sword of Time and the Medallion of Time. Shadows cloaked the very corners of the room for where there was light there was darkness; I sensed that Dahaka hid within in these shadows. The woman that was I walked past the Sands looking at them darkly with a look of extreme dislike. She took a seat on the large chair that was rather lavish at one end of the room.
"Why do constantly bring these creations here, to my temple? Have them banished away from here now or I shall do such an act to you!" she ordered, I could see she did not like the Sands; we had one thing in common then…
"Do not challenge me, you know that I am stronger and could have you and this temple destroyed, it is not I that resides here nor do I need you. You're eradication would not effect me," a monstrous voice from the shadows stated somewhat harshly.
"You will have plenty of time to ogle the creations when they have actually been created. I have little understanding of why you have written it in the timeline…and while on the matter of time, all the errors have been destroyed so I see little reason why you should not begin time now," the other version of me said. By 'errors' I believed she was referring to the many glitches she had killed. No answer came. "The place that these objects will be created, what is it called?"
"It shall be called the Island of Time, they will be created by the Empress of Time," the voice from the shadows replied.
"Quaint. You conceive the idea of these objects here, in the Temple of Time, and then you decide to have them created on the Island of Time. Lacking some originality were you?" mocked the woman. I could never think of her as I, we were nothing alike. I was trying to understand and pick up things from this conversation. The Empress? I wished I had listened to Dahaka more when he talked to me for when I did I had heard of an Empress. It appeared to me, that before time existed, I, or at least that other version of me, resided in a realm known as the Temple of Time that seemed to be a building created in the middle of absolute oblivion. Here Dahaka was creating the timeline and designing creations (such as the Fountain of Sight) that were to be created in time in due course. Therefore, in a sense, the hourglass I saw here was a 'work in progress'. So initially, if you were thinking on the basis of the existence of…well, absolutely everything, not just time, then the hourglass was created on the Temple of Time. However, it appeared to me, on the basis of just time; then the Empress, whoever she was, had created the hourglass and Sands. The conversation continued.
"Those various weapons and tools," started the Dahaka, I heard an unusual 'whoosh' sound and I could tell that Dahaka had changed form. He emerged as a cloaked figure from the shadows; he was now in the form that I often saw him as. I had noticed now that as well as not being heard in this state - I wasn't seen either, it was almost as if I was just a fly on the wall. "Maybe you should take one, use it as a personal weapon. No one needs to create them if you wish to have them," he said calmly in the voice of a man, it was a dark and shadowy voice that seemed to suit the darkness of Dahaka's character. I saw the woman look slyly at him; I could sense the lack of trust she had for him. She stood and walked over to the various weapons and tools. She turned sharply to look at Dahaka.
"I do not want to use any of these," she stated quickly.
"It is your choice, Shirin," said Dahaka lightly. I saw the woman look at him quickly.
"Shirin?" she enquired obviously not use to being called by the name or any name for that matter. Dahaka walked thoughtfully around.
"It's a pretty name isn't it? It will be from a land known as Persia that will start great to eventually crumble and become a shadow of its former self. The name means 'charming'," Dahaka explained.
"Why did you call me by it?" the woman asked, I heard something unusual in her voice, fear; she feared no one but Dahaka.
"Because that is who you are going to become," Dahaka replied. There was stillness in the room for a few seconds but then Dahaka suddenly snatched up the dagger! The fear that was inside of the other version of me became clear on her face. She turned and fled; the hunter had now turned into the hunted. She was no match for the human-form that Dahaka had created and he threw the dagger and it immediately lodged itself in her back. She fell, I looked at Dahaka and I found though the hood to his cloak had fallen, his face was a total blur but I could make something out…a smile.
I found I was drowned in darkness. I figured that this must have been some sort 'break' between the memories. I tried hard to gather my thoughts. My dream, or, to be more exact, my nightmare, the one I told the Prince about…was only a nightmare, but somehow it had entwined itself with my lost memories. For many years, wherever that place was, I had always considered it home, and in a sense, it was. Yet the nightmare had become contorted and each inverted aspect represented something. When I dreamed I always saw brightness, where there was light there was darkness; I was that darkness in that reality. A sea? There was sea, a sea of blackness, a see of nothingness that the Temple of Time had been created in. In my dream I would walk to then run, it represented my change from the confident woman I had been to the fearful victim I turned into - I still didn't like her in even when she was 'killed'. Then there sky darkening and everything rotting? Rotting occurs when something died, the old me had died, from darkness came light, the light represented the new me. In a sense, everything Dahaka had said to me was true - the weapons of Time could have belonged to me and in a sense they were mine, Dahaka was telling the truth about the Sands being created originally in the Temple and then the Island. All of it had been true…except; did he really become weaker when the Prince released the Sands? Was that a lie? Maybe it was just something to manipulate my mind, to create a false-fear for the Prince to make me want to kill him…too many thoughts were running through my head to understand them all. In what must have been a few minutes, I must have seen plenty of people, varying from all ages, being killed by my hands. I'd drank from the fountain because I wished to know more about me, and to know who I really was…and now I did, I was Dahaka's servant, I was a cold-hearted killer. There were no more secrets about me now…all those years of not understanding my abnormalities, all those years of searching in books and receiving tiny bits of unclear information…and now, I was seeing everything clearly and in one go. A feeling of emptiness was left inside of me. I didn't cry, I didn't laugh; I didn't say anything. I just sat in the darkness.
I wasn't sure how long it'd been, but eventually the darkness seeped away and I found myself in another scene. I was in a room, it was day and I saw that I was in some sort of Persian city as I walked to a window and saw people wearing Persian clothes and speaking in Farsi. I found the room was a bedroom as I saw a woman sat in a low bed. The room wasn't kept terribly clean, it was dusty and pots and pans were laid all over the place with food that was either stale or rotting. I figured the woman was hardly rich if not just plain poor and from the lowest caste. I saw in the woman's tired eyes a lot of sorrow and sadness, that and shame. She was young and I would say she was aged between twenty-two between twenty-five. She was dark; she had a tan similar to mine. Her nose was also like mine, small and pointed, and her chin; again, it was pointed like mine. I began to notice she looked a lot like me and I soon figured out that this woman was my mother. This was the first time I had ever seen her face clearly, I wanted to ask her questions, but I knew she wouldn't hear any words that fell from my mouth and so I remained silent. My attention was removed from my mother as I turned around as I heard a distressing cry that was from the mouth of a baby. A saw a man of around fifty holding a baby slightly…insensitively, he didn't seem to care if he was hurting the child or not. He was hard to describe but I sensed he was quite a 'cold' person; his frosty black eyes gave me this feeling. His eyes were small and beady and his features seemed proportioned incorrectly, as his nose was incredibly prominent while his eyes were small and his lips were thin. He wore the clothes of a sage or a magi. He frowned at the squirming baby. The baby had a head black hair but was skinny without much fat. It had been clothed in a small dress and so I was aware that this baby was a girl, I was this baby…
"She carries a dark aura, an aura that only surrounds creatures not of this world," stated the Sage. My mother wouldn't look at the baby. "Have you named her yet?" the Sage enquired. My mother shrugged.
"No, not yet, I didn't want to until you advise me on what to do…I was thinking about Alaleh or maybe Kismet," replied the woman. I couldn't really picture myself with either name, I wasn't pretty enough to be named after a flower and have such a name as Alaleh, and Kismet, meaning Destiny would be slightly ironic for me to have what with me being the daughter of the incarnation of fate. The Sage passed the baby back to its mother. The baby's cries silenced as it found comfort in the warmth of her mother.
"Delkash," the Sage started looking at my mother. Delkash? My mother's name? "I advise you greatly to rid yourself of this child immediately," I looked at the man wide eyed. I wish to silence him, I knew it was written for me to never know my mother but if this man had never said anything…then maybe I would know my mother. From what I was seeing, mother wasn't as cold as I had thought she was.
"You can't be suggesting…that I kill her, I gave birth to her - she's my baby, I can't do that!" rebuked my mother.
"Then allow the child to grow, but she will have demonic abnormalities and will be nothing but a murderess," the Sage warned. The mother was having second thoughts; I could see it on her face. This was hurting me so much…to see that my mother was going to abandon me due to some stupid words of an old man. The Sage was preparing to leave as he opened up the door to the room. "Choose what you wish to do carefully, Delkash," he said before leaving the room. My mother looked down at the baby that gurgled happily in her arms. It didn't matter how evil I was suppose to be, she was my mother, she would always love me…
Things darkened as I found myself in another scene, it was the dead of night. A small horse-driven cart was making its way through some deserted lands, they were familiar; I had seen them before. I was near the temple that the warriors trained in. I saw in the cart, Delkash, my mother cradling me along side a woman that looked similar to her but her hair was much shorter than my mother who, like me, had hair longer than her back. I didn't know this woman, my aunt maybe?
"Thank you for helping, Azin," my mother murmured. I saw the woman smile.
"Anything for my little sister, but, Delkash, are you sure this is right? Just say if you want us to turn back, Rasheed will turn round won't you?" said the woman known as Azin to the man controlling the horses, he wore heavy cloak so I couldn't see him. He turned round to look at Azin.
"Azin, please, I love you very much but this is a ten hour journey, don't ask me questions like that," he replied trying not to sound harsh in any way. I guessed he was Azin's husband. Azin scorned at him and then turned back to look at her sister and niece. I wondered whether Azin or Rasheed had children, if they did, then I would have cousins, I could possibly track them down - however, as no second names were being mentioned, such a task would contain a ridiculous amount of difficulty. The cart suddenly jerked to a stop. Rasheed and Azin didn't say anything; they watched Delkash cradle her daughter for a few final moments.
"Sister, no one is forcing you to do this, you could just move to Babylon with us, no one would know about you or your baby so neither of you would carry any shame," Azin tried to reassure. A thought wandered across my mind, if my mother had gone to Babylon, then would I have still met the Prince? Well, with my constant desire to steal I probably would have been caught eventually and then sentenced to death, possibly catching a glimpse of him. When such a thought disappeared, I began to wonder about Azin's words; I understood what my shame was but not that of my mother's. My mother looked severely depressed and I could see a feeling of faithlessness shrouded her. No answer came to Azin's offer; my mother removed herself from the cart. It was the first time I had seen her standing and I saw she was only a mere five feet or so tall, I actually seemed taller than she was. She seemed to wonder, slightly drunkenly (her footfalls were heavy and her bare feet swerved slightly unsteadily) and absent-mindedly to the wooden double-doors of warrior's temple. She hit into it and slid down onto the dirt ground. She looked down at me, or, the version of me that was the baby. She was murmuring something to me, I couldn't hear it though - she was saying it so quietly, what I think she was saying were words of comfort, possibly to herself. I could hear her voice tremble and I saw her eyes began to glaze - something that became obvious as the moonlight reflected itself on them. These were the last moments I had had in my mother's arms…
Slowly, the scene melted away from me, for a long time, my mother sat with me in my arms and I knew that for an even longer time that picture would remain in my head. I didn't immediately understand where I was once the scene had left me, but eventually I got my bearings back and realised that I was back at the Temple of Sight, however, my world was that of a silent one as no words or sounds registered in my mind, and so, although I saw Farah, with a face that was split between one of a frightened grimace and one of unrivalled happiness, repeat the words 'I've seen it, I've seen it all', I did not hear her voice. An empty feeling was left inside of me; it was like no feeling I had felt before, a sort of manic bleakness that gave birth to an even deeper feeling of futility. I, Shirin, had been nothing more than a cold-blooded killer, I was no better than Durjaya, Neelkamal, Visha or Damini; the way I had acted gave such people an angelic appearance. How could I differ at all from what I had been? Admittedly, those that I had slaughtered had only been errors, glitches and therefore where not real, yet no matter what form they took on, I had no fear in killing them. I watched Farah and the Prince. This was the moment the Prince had waited several months for, to finally know whether Farah wished to just return home and have nothing to do with him. Such a question was answered very quickly as Farah almost immediately pulled him into a tight embrace after collecting all her thoughts. I knew she was crying, maybe down to fear of the sand creatures, but I guessed it was more down to the sheer happiness that swamped her, she had heard everything, including anything the Prince had said. The things she said were a slight garble between apologies for trying to betray the Prince, and words of affection. I was unaware of how I knew such knowledge, for like I said before, I heard nothing.
I watched them only for a few moments, but already, anger and jealousy was welling up inside of me for it was only now that I realised, that as soon as we came to the next city or town Farah and the Prince would want to get rid of me immediately. They would not wish to have me in tow, they had got what they had come for; they didn't need me anymore.
"That's right my servant, they just used you, they never cared about you, they only made sure you lived so they could have what they wanted," A dark voice stated quietly in my ear. I saw no owner to the voice but I knew whom it belonged to and I knew that it was only I that heard it. A part of me agreed with the voice, but then, another part disagreed greatly and this part of me began thinking things that the voice seemed to hear. No, you're wrong, they do care about me; they came running when Damini attacked me.
"Ah…but notice how you suffered before they came? They do not need you anymore; he doesn't need you anymore now that he has Farah. She'll be the one there for him, not you,"
He'll still want to know me; he can't just forget me!
"But he will, it is not like he ever felt anything for you, he only loved Farah,"
B-but…I love him…
"And there is only one way he could possibly feel the same towards you,"
There is? What
"It is simple, rid him of Farah, kill her, if she is not around then he will love you,"
But…that's wrong; she has been kind to me, that wouldn't work…
"But it would! Kill her now! It is your duty! I promise you, you will get what you want!
What I wanted. The words of Dahaka continued to press into my mind and then suddenly, the opposing half of me gave in. Yes, everything Dahaka said was true! I should kill Farah! I felt the heaviness of the dagger's scabbard at my side. I would kill her! The Prince and Farah had separated from their embrace and now they were looking at me, wondering what on Earth was wrong with me. There was silence for a few minutes as my face darkened with a look of dementedness. The feeling in the air, it was an odd lull right before I would commit the murder. I was not sane, I was not thinking straight, but at that moment in time, I believed I was seeing things clear for the first time ever.
"Shirin?" I heard Farah ask. My eyes, that had turned a darkened green shifted to her and glared, they portrayed the darkened thoughts and feelings that ran through me. I did not mutter a word, instead came out a horrendous scream that contained my total anger, my envy, my hatred. I must have moved abruptly and quickly for Farah did not expect my attack at all. She was practically grounded immediately, with one hand, I held her neck; I didn't know how tightly I held it, but she gasped madly and fidgeted for lost air. In my other hand, I held the dagger. I struck the blade crudely across her head, hoping it would go across her face, but it only cut her forehead. Die! Die! DIE! I just wanted her dead; I wanted to gorge her eyes out! I wanted to scar her face! Destroy her beauty. However, before I could hurt her anymore, I was kicked harshly away from her. She immediately gasped in air and got to her feet. It had been the Prince that had beaten me away.
"Shirin! What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?" he demanded, shocked by my behaviour. It was only now that I realised my face was awash with tears.
"D-do you remember when we first met and we were in the library - y-you said about me having sand inside of me like a sand creature, you were wrong, I don't," I sobbed loudly and slightly incoherently, rather annoyingly, that total overload of saliva you get when crying made it hard for me to talk. The Prince, who now held his two swords looked at me oddly, Farah too, stood with her bow and arrow ready to use. "But, do you r-remember when I joked about me being related to Dahaka, w-well, that was true - I am!" I bawled. The Prince stared at me with wide eyes.
"What?" he quested in utter surprise. "You mean…Dahaka sent you? You've just been following me?"
"N-no…but…I have to do this, I have to kill you Farah!" I cried. However, before I could try and launch another attack at her, the Prince immediately split us apart and the dagger and his swords clashed.
"What do you mean you have to do this?" he demanded. I did not give up although my wrist and hand that held the dagger's hilt was hurting and being bent backwards.
"I…I just have to!" I cried back. Once again, Dahaka's voice entered my head and began to twist things.
"You should kill him too now! He won't listen, he won't understand! Kill him!"
But, I can't - you don't understand; I can't just murder him!
"You can! I won't betray you, they've betrayed you, but I can promise you, that if you kill him, you will find someone that loves you and you will live the rest of your life filled with happy emotions,"
You promise…fine, I will kill him too!
He said he wouldn't betray me…I believed him, I wanted happiness, I wanted to be loved, and if by killing the Prince, no matter how insane an act, would get me this…then I would do it! I stepped back quickly, swiftly moving to my side. I caught the Prince not guarding and struck him hard across the face! The dagger drew from his right earlobe, across his chin, down across his heck and onto his shoulder, leaving a bright red mark.
"Argh! Shirin you little freak!" he screamed in his pain. As soon as the word fell from his mouth I couldn't give a damn what happened to him! I accompanied my previous attack with a powerful kick. He stumbled, grabbing onto the rim of the fountain to remain standing. But suddenly realisation of what could happen dawned on both Farah and I.
"No! The blood will go into the fountain!" cried Farah. But before the Prince could move, he felt a drop of blood drip from his chin. There was a slight sound that was near enough indescribable as it hit the water. Nothing appeared to happen, and the Prince's eyes looked down at the water, the blood twisted, defusing itself. There were an odd few seconds of total silence as we all held our breath. But then suddenly, the air we had been holding was shook out of us as the ground shook as if there were an earthquake under our feet. A voice screamed something at us, I didn't recognise it at first but then realised it was the Spirit's voice mixed with a man's voice that sounded just as mystical.
"Fools! You have contaminated the water that contains the memories collected by time. Now face the consequences!" the voice explained loudly, it was louder than booming thunder. My eyes swiftly turned to the stone statue of the unusual beast. With a dark red flash, the creature came to life. It was totally black with red eyes, but the pupils were large and white. It gave a tremendous roar as it leaped off the altar it was stood on. The Prince grabbed his sword and Farah shot an arrow at the creature, but it didn't cringe at all, it simply carried on walking. It first walked slowly, trampling with heavy feet to the Prince, the Prince backed off and came closer to Farah, I couldn't move - fear glued me to the spot. However, it appeared the creature didn't do much harm to the Prince and Farah. It simply distanced them from me, herding them like sheep, then when they were at the door to the room, it swished its thick tail at them, smacking them down the corridor. The beast wasn't after them, it was after me. It then began to walk slowly to me. The earthquakes seemed to get harsher, the walls of the room I was in were weakening. I trembled when thoughts of me being trapped in the room with beast ran through my mind. I was shouting at myself to run - I could possibly roll past the creature; it was obviously heavy by the way, it moved slowly…or at least, that was what I thought. Using the power of its puma-like hind-legs it leapt up and landed on me. I hit the ground and the first thing I saw where the slightly off green blade-like teeth of the creature. My scream was stifled as I felt my world darken, as blackness swallowed me up. I felt a fast falling sensation, the air running through my ears, making it sting. I couldn't understand what was happening. I heard the barks and growls of the creature, I heard my own screams of pain, I felt the beast tearing away at me but I did not see it anywhere; I just felt myself falling constantly in blackness. It was like I had become split between two worlds. I could feel the monster clawing away at me again and again, I knew I couldn't push it away, I was weak. It was mauling away at me but I could do nothing in my defence for I was trapped in this nightmare! But then through the agony and screams I heard another voice, another scream.
"I'm not just going to leave her back there with that thing, Farah!" It was the Prince. Was he saying what I thought he was? My mind had cracked, I could not decipher the difference between good and bad and whom was good and bad, right at that moment, Dahaka could have told me black was white and night was day and I would believe him. Suddenly I found myself being thrown back into my own body. I was back at the Temple. I was lying on the floor still; a pool of blood was rooting its way from my deep wounds. I found myself choking badly on something; with a deep breath I brought it all up and found I had been choking on my own blood. My clothes had been ripped terribly, and were revealing a little bit too much than I would have preferred, but that was the least of my problems. Something was still wrong with my breathing, I was gasping in sharply; the beast's claws had dug right into my ribcage. Either its claws had pierced into one of my lungs or my one of my own broken ribs had. My eyes looked at the rest of my body, to my disbelief, certain parts of my body had been so badly clawed at the bone was actually exposed. The creature had torn off one of my fingers, the top to my right thumb and my left smallest finger was hanging on by a small thread of skin. I caused myself great pain as I blinked; I soon realised that the creature had actually ripped my left eyelid into two parts. I did not understand. Dahaka…he promised me, he said if I tried to kill both the Prince and Farah then I would be happy…but I was suffering now. He lied to me…he betrayed me. He used me; he was just made me attempt to do what he wanted! Tears were running down my face, possibly due to the pain, but probably more to do with the anger I felt towards Dahaka and myself. I began to wonder through all the turmoil I felt, why I had come back into this world. The creature had backed off. I saw the Prince; he had struck it with his sword. It made the creature somewhat dazed, but I knew that was only a temporary effect and soon it would attack the Prince for it was what the plaque had said. However, before the beast could regain its steadiness, the Prince threw one of his swords at the creature, this totally deterred it as it keeled. Finally, I saw a fired arrow strike into the creature's head and lodge itself in its brain. The creature gave a short, hellish yell of pain, as some of its brain matter was in fact on the arrow, and then it immediately fell with a great crash! I saw Farah stood at the entrance to the room we were in, she had shot the creature; she had killed it, she had saved me. The beast crashing to the ground hardly helped the situation…the walls were already falling down and apart. We had to get out NOW! But then there was a problem with me, I could not walk, I was dizzy and even now my mind was becoming vaguer and vaguer, I couldn't think properly. Although the Prince and Farah had come back and killed the beast, I did not expect them to come back and take me out of here. However, a lot of things I didn't expect were happening, and the Prince scooped up my rather mangled body and quickly rushed to the exit to the room…I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe I had been so foolish, I couldn't believe he was actually trying to save me. Then it dawned on me, I realised something; something I would have rather not know and would have liked to have pushed to the back of my mind but couldn't. My thoughts eased, and the pain I felt was pacified as I became more disconnected from my body than I had ever been before, and gently, reflecting thoughts ran through my mind…
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Right, if any of you are confused then here is a quick summary: Shirin has found out that she was just cold-blooded and a total murderer (she's a bit like what Shadhee is to Kaileena), since she was feeling weak and unsure, Dahaka twisted her thoughts and was trying to make her follow his orders because although she is no longer the Assassin she is still under his control and now basically, after actually trying to kill the Prince and Farah, she has suddenly realised that she has messed big time…isn't that always the way, you think you're doing the right thing and then you just get a big smack in the face to open your eyes to the fact that what you did was totally futile…
Okay, now I have one thing to request of the people reading this fic. Now I'm asking you this here because I just don't feel the next chapter will look right if I just started speaking either at the beginning or end. The next chapter is the first chapter I've ever done when it's totally based around someone's death (odd due to the fact I actually do kill everyone off - except for Dahaka - in my POP: WW fic, even the Prince - twice) and I would kinda appreciate it if you gave your opinion on this chapter, mainly because although I have been told it's good I personally still feel a little unsure about it.. Now, it's written from Shirin's view, yes I know it is short (I did consider combining it with the Linkin Park song Crawlin/Numb/ Somewhere I belong or even Don't Stay – in which case it would be her talking to Dahaka not the Prince - for these are the sort of songs I associate with Shirin but it didn't look right), yes I know it is a little vague. The next chapter DOES NOT end this fic.
By the way, KK you may notice I have changed some things to loose contradiction, re-arranged some things and added a few bits.