"From the very beginning I knew you were special," her mother told her.
"I had always heard horrible things about being with child.," she continued, "Our neighbor to the east had delivered a girl the summer before you came. She was always in pain. Her feet would swell until she couldn't walk, she would be sick to her stomach all day, and she was always tired but could never find sleep. It was much the same for the cobbler's wife who had given birth to a boy two years prior, and added to all those pains the poor woman was robbed of emotional control. I was dreading the symptoms of pregnancy," her mother said.
"But you, you never caused so much as a headache. I never felt sick, tired, or even upset. Your father said that during those nine months I was in a better mood than I had been in the entire time he'd known me," her mother continued with a smile.
"And its true. Your mother never stopped smiling. It was as if you comforted her from the inside out," her father cut in.
"Our neighbors all remarked on the strangeness of it," her mother went on, "and soon Mistress Yaga appeared,". Here her smile disappeared.
"You see Mistress Yaga was known as a great midwife and healer. But she lived so far from the village that usually a woman goes to her home to be treated before she is due. Mistress Yaga then could tell when the woman would go into labor. On that day, Mistress Yaga would come to the woman's home and deliver the child. I had not yet gone to Mistress Yaga so the surprise was great,".
"Mistress Yaga asked me question after question about how I felt, what I craved, how I slept, did I ever feel sick, did I feel tired, everything you can imagine. She then told me that mine was an extraordinary pregnancy. She asked to stay for a few days in order to watch me more closely. I trusted the woman renowned for her almost magical healing ability. So she stayed," her mother said.
"Right away it seemed like trouble," her father took up.
"That woman was always watching your mother. Examining her as a cat would examine a sparrow's nest. She wanted something from us, that we could tell after a few days," he finished.
"Yes. But how could we know? How could we realize what she wanted? Considering my condition, and her interest I suppose we should have realized. But we would never think to…," her mother stopped short. She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Steal a baby," her father finished the sentence.
"We could never think to steal a baby, so we couldn't fathom somebody wanting to. It never occurred to us," he explained.
"After two weeks Mistress Yaga left. We were glad to be rid of her. But then when your mother went into labor, there she was at the door again. I knew nothing of delivering babies and there was a storm that night. Going to get a neighbor would be too dangerous, so I let her in. I should have risked it," he finished with a pained expression and the last sentence under his breath. Rose saw her mother put her hand on her father's shoulder to comfort him.
"Darling, Mistress Yaga knew you had the Empath power when she first left our home. She came back in order to take you away from us. When we refused…she killed us," her mother told her.
Rose's eyes watered and she was breathing heavily. She tried to stop herself, but soon she was sobbing.
"Why? Why would she want me? Up until today I didn't even know about the power? Why would she steal me and then keep it a secret? Why would she…?" Rose cried. Her mother glided over and hugged her.
"Rose," her father said as his wife hugged Rose, "Mistress Yaga wants to use you. Just like every ability, your Empath power can be used or the good of others, or in the case of Mistress Yaga, it can be used to further one's own ends weather they be good or bad. An Empath can see bits of the future while they are in the Sprit World. Mistress Yaga wants to use you to see the future.
Rose had to sit down. It was her fault that her parents were dead. It was her stupid "power" that killed them. She started to cry. She cried with sadness, guilt and then anger. She felt hate bubbling up inside of her.
"I'll never help her! I'll… I'll, I don't know what I'll do…" she sobbed. Her mother glided over to her. Rose lifted her head to see her mother's face.
"Mother, Father," she said as she looked at them both, "I'm going to kill her. I don't know how, but I will,". It felt good to say. It felt liberating to say it. She was happy to say it. But her parents didn't look happy to hear it.
"Rose," her father said in a firm voice, "you must not do that. To kill a fellow human being, no matter how horrible they are, would take something away from you that you can never recover. Killing is a last resort, a primitive animalistic way to keep your self and your loved ones alive,".
"Killing for vengeance is a hollowing experience. It won't bring us back, and it will only diminish who you are. Darling your destiny is not to kill but to heal," her mother added.
"You," she said in a proud voice, "will heal nations,". Those were the last words she heard as her parents, and the OtherWorld faded away.