If I had to guess based on what I witnessed, I'd say that two out of every ten homes showed signs of occupancy. The bare minimum that I expected was some furniture and personal effects thrown around the place. I looked through a lot of windows, but resisted the urge to lockpick the doors and look inside for clues. This was exactly not what I wanted. Without a group of witnesses around my chances of finding the cursed object were fading by the moment.
The gardens.
The gardens were something special. Aside from the obvious question of how they were maintained when nobody lived here. I was never one for gardening myself in my previous life. I lived in Tokyo – the best you could hope for in most homes was a balcony with some planters or a small back garden with no space to spread your wings. But I was aware of some of the really fancy gardens that people made for competitions, they did a feature on them during a morning talk show once, and for some reason that really stuck with me.
Outside the front of each building there was a wild explosion of colour. Each garden was themed around one particular element, be it a well-crafted stone pathway, a swinging bench or a water feature. They were meticulously planned, planted and landscaped. The plants were in full bloom and didn't show a single blemish or wilted leaf.
We'd rounded the entire 'block' of houses at that point. While I was liable to enjoy a sightseeing tour of a well-kept neighbourhood, my primary concern was finding the cursed item. There were so few people around that I wouldn't have to think very hard to pick out the correct answer. Finding those people was the real issue.
Tahar and Cali had aired their own theories about where it could be, but Tahar's understanding was much more limited than ours. I was starting to get frustrated already. I needed to find where everyone was meeting. My first thought was the local tavern later in the evening. It was the only social gathering location from what I had seen. If anyone lived here, they'd be there.
Before we returned to the middle of the crossroads and made our next move, one of the gardens caught my eye. The plants that encroached over the stone wall were so large and exotic that they blocked an outsider's view of the building behind them. I had never seen anything like them, outside of a botanical garden with careful climate control. Surely such a tropical piece of flora required different, warmer conditions? Sull was a large continent with a large diversity in terms of weather and climate – but nowhere was it as hot as Versia.
"Huh, wonder how they did that."
Tahar studied the plant closely, "I agree. Strange to see it here."
The plant emitted a strong, sweet scent that stung the back of my nose. Was it some variety of fly trap? I knew that they utilised strong, appealing smells to lure in their prey. There was no opening and no teeth though so it didn't line up with what I'd seen before.
Suddenly I heard Cali crumple to the floor behind me. I turned around to try and catch her but found my own stability wanting. I could barely stop myself from falling over. Tahar staggered over to the wall and tried to steady herself using it, but soon fell in the same way.
What?
My mind slowed down. Something was happening, something was making us fall asleep or inflicting us with dizziness. The wheel was spinning and I couldn't stop it. My vision blurred and my breath quickened. The last thing I saw was the ground approaching me.
Then I heard the birds chirping outside my window.
It happened in a second. From the second that my eyes closed, to the place that I now found myself in. Crumpled sheets caressed my fingers. A plastered ceiling bore down on me from above. I was awake.
A bad dream.
A bad dream.
Was that just a bad dream?
I was in a bedroom. My bedroom. The bedroom in my house that I had purchased with Cali and Tahar. The house we had bought together. The house that we lived in. The house with my bedroom that I slept in every night. The bed that was covered with my sheets. The bed we slept in together.
Tick, tick, tick.
Morning. You have to get up, have to prepare for the day ahead. I rolled out of bed and onto the floor. My body felt light. I wasn't wearing my armour or wielding my weapon. The weapon that I had used to gather my fortune. The fortune I had used to buy this house. The house that we lived in. The house with my bedroom that I slept in every night. Above the mantle was my sword.
The garden.
The garden.
The garden I could see through my window. Our bedroom lay at the front of the building – so we could see the wonderful garden when we awoke every morning. When we got out of bed. The bed we slept in together. Tahar, Cali and I. In the house we bought together. I found a shirt and some pants and headed through into the kitchen.
Tahar and Cali were waiting for me. My wives. My wives. The wives I had met during my journey. The journey where we had earned the fortune we used to buy the house, the journey we left behind to settle down and live a quiet life in the country together. Both of them were my wives. We were 'married,' I remembered it like it was yesterday.
Domestic bliss, it washed over me like a wave. I sat at the head of the table (like a proper man should) and awaited the arrival of my breakfast. Punctually prepared by Tahar and her cooking skills. On the dot at the same time every day. Every day. Every day.
"Good morning Ren," Cali said.
"Good morning Ren," Tahar repeated, placing the plate in front of me. She had done an excellent job as always. Tahar could take her skills and work as a professional cook, but she wanted to stay in the home like a good wife and take care of me. We had been discussing children.
Children.
Children.
Our children, the children we would care for in the home we bought together. The home we bought using the spoils from our adventures. Cali had also indicated an interest. I never thought she was the motherly type before, but she is full of surprises. A smile threatened to split my face clean in two. This was the life. A happy home with two wonderful partners and the shared dream of starting a family together.
Multiply.
Multiply.
After I finished eating, I headed out to the garden. The garden. The garden where the flowers grew. My pride and joy. The garden I had been given guardianship of. The garden that I wanted to win the contest with. The air was clear and the sun was shining. Even the voice shouting in my head couldn't dull the good mood I was in.
Wasn't this so much nicer than putting my life in needless danger over and over again? This was what I wanted. What I wanted. What I wanted. A home to sleep in and a woman on each arm. This was the dream of all men. This was the apex of what life was about. The hard work was over, and now I could enjoy what was left of my time on this earth.
I knelt down in the flowerbed and started my usual checks. I had a big responsibility to keep watch on all of the gardens that surrounded our home. Nobody lived there right now, but soon enough the place would be much livelier as new friends moved in. And with such beautiful homes and wonderful front gardens, who could resist the offer?
Time to get my hands dirty. I tilled the soil and watered the plants. I grabbed a broom from the inside of the porch and swept the pathway free of dirt and grass. A sense of calm came over me. Just ignore the voice Ren. Ignore it. It wants to make you suffer, to take you away from the privileges you enjoy.
The garden.
I lay down the trowel clutched between white knuckles like bone. My head dipped downwards to the dirt. I stared. Gnashing teeth and torn flesh. A body torn asunder by an ancient curse. I would break them on my teeth and come out darker. A tribute of blood to a wretched being. A small child plumbing the dead for their valuables. A black splotch on my cheekbone, a bruised welt that ached to the core.
The orphanage…
I stopped. My breathing, my blinking. I knelt there unmoving.
The orphanage where I grew up. The place that my young body was left abandoned like the clippings of a starved plant. Nothing more than a mind and a body. Nothing more than a mind and a body. It was cold, no place for such a young boy. No place for a young boy without a parent to care for them. I became an adult earlier than most, when the struggle of everyday life started and covered my heart in ash.
The bruises, goodness the bruises. Hide behind someone else. You had to. Keep your head down. Keep your feet moving. Don't let them steal your food, bite and claw at them if you have to. Don't let them take your blanket. Don't let your body die of cold. It'll seep in somehow. Then comes the time of liberation. One set of shackles exchanged so eagerly for another.
The lilies were growing well.
There was nothing to enjoy about that. Picking through rotting corpses at ten. Feeling the muddy water getting in through a hole in my shoes. A face twisted into violent agony. My hands covered with blood. I didn't have to do that anymore, not anymore. I didn't have to pick through the bodies anymore.
Not now that I had…
A new life. One in the countryside with a nice house and two loving wives.
Was that correct? Were they the ones who showed me the way?
It didn't feel right. Cali and Tahar were capable, but not enough to overthrow the ways of the world I lived in. It was a change I made for myself. A resolution to do more with who I was and what I had become. To use every tool available to me to crawl out of the pit and into the sunlight. Twisted horns peering from my fringe like an oni.
Black blood leaking from the tips of my fingers. I had cut myself somehow, cut the arm where the infection had started. The infection that started when I first took up my sword. I followed the veins up my arm. Pale, so very pale. The veins were black. My blood was black. Something was wrong with me. Something was wrong with me.
Why had I been ignoring what was wrong with me?
The panic subsided. What was I worrying about? I had to enjoy what I had earned. There was no need to worry about my body – everything was fine. Everything was fine. Living in the house that we bought together. The house that I bought with Cali and Tahar. Our house in Stillbrook with the lovely garden. The garden. The garden that I was in charge of. The garden that I maintained with skilled hands. The garden that would win the competition.
The competition.
The competition.
I needed to win the competition.