On the day when the sun and moon met, a tragedy had set its foot in the peaceful country of Amane. It's not a monster nor a calamity, but a mere human being.
At the main gate of the border of the country, a young girl in a ragged one piece dress, barefooted, unruly hair, and unfashioned masked had presented herself to the guards. The moon has yet to cover the whole sun and everything is still visible.
"I don't see any resemblance in you as one of us. Who are you?" one of the guards asked her and pointed his sword to her throat.
One of them realized and noticed that despite of the young girl's appearance, she have a nice body and beautiful skin.
"Come on, mate! Don't be too hard on a woman! Tell me, are you lost and needs some place to rest?" he asked. The girl stayed quiet.
"Come on! Don't be shy." He added wearing a grin on his face.
"I am a traveller from the land of Helvede. I have been to different villages but they denied my entry. As darkness is starting to eat away the light, I'm afraid this would be the last village I could ask for a shelter." The girl talked nonchalantly.
"So, you are asking us to provide you shelter?" the last one of the three guards said and the girl nodded. The three guards exchanged mischievous look with each other.
"Did you know? We don't take in strangers for free." One of them moved closer to her with malicious look.
"If you are talking about payment, then I am very willing to pay with gold." The girl said.
"No girl. We just don't need money." The other said and moved closer to her until her face is just inches away from his chest.
"What then?" she snapped. Despite the mask she is wearing, her eyes showed an annoyed look as she looked him in his eyes. The guard felt an urge of hesitation but still he thought she is just a girl that can be taken down easily. However, they're wrong.
They surrounded her chuckling maliciously. One of them went behind her. He whispered:
"How about join us for a night? We would be very glad to be of your service." And he laughed and the others too. The girl stood calmly and sighed.
"Yes milady! But first, we need you to take off your mask!" said the other.
"Oh yes! Show us your face!" the man behind her said.
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't do that." The girl pleaded.
"You can't? Well then, I'll do it for you!" the man behind him said and took off the mask from her face.
"I said no!" she exclaimed and turned to face the man behind him but it was too late. The mask had taken off from her face.
"How dare you?!" she added. Anger was evident in her voice and eyes. The guard who took off her mask stood in awe.
"You're beautiful" he said in disbelief and chuckles. However, her eyes looked at him as if she's going to take away his life just by her gaze. And that is true.
"You're beautiful! What's wrong?! Hahaha! You're----" he exclaimed but suddenly stopped. His voice suddenly faltered. His face became pale and his body can't move. His eyes widened as well as his mouth. He looked pained.
"Hey what's wrong?!" the two other guards rushed towards him hut it was too late. His body suddenly turned red and released intense heat. His appearance looked as though he was an ember, a dying fire in a coal.
"What's happening to him?!" one of the two said.
"I-I don't know! You! What did you do to him?!" he shouted at the girl.
"I've warned you not to take my mask!" she snarled at them looking at them with the intent to kill. The place was engulfed with silence after her voice echoed.
"W-What did you do to him?!" one of them turned to her with rage. But suffered the same fate. The other one froze in fear.
The girl calmed herself and went to get her mask from the ground. But as she was dusting off her mask to wear it again, the last guard stood and grab her arm.
"You monster! What have done to them?!" he screamed in her face. His eyes widened and suddenly let go of her arm.
"You're right. I am a monster. The sole reason why I left my home. Some people told me I should've not live. I wish so too." She said with hint of sadness in her voice.
The wind blows along with the miserable scream of the dying human.
"It's my curse that killed you. However, if you had just listened to my words, none of you will die." If only people would listen. She thought.
She was about to wear back her mask when loud footsteps were rushing towards the gate. More guards appeared and few of them shot arrows on her. She is able to dodge some but, one hit her on her thigh and she fell down on her knee. She grasped her mask and then realized that she's not holding it any longer.
I must have dropped it when I was dodging, she thought.
"Who are you?!" one of them shouted.
"Don't you dare look at me or you will regret it!" she shouted back.
"Don't say any word! Don't move! Or else, we will shoot you to death!" the commander said.
"Okay! I'm not moving! Just….Just don't look at me!" she pleaded.
The commander walks towards her slowly, with caution.
"Don't go near me!" she snarled.
"I won't hurt you. No one will." He said.
'I won't hurt you. No one will.' A voice so familiar suddenly popped in her head. The voice that said the same voice. A voice that came from the man he once trusted.
"Come now." The commander said and stopped when he was a meter away from her.
She just stared down at the ground shaking as she remembered that voice. The commander knelt down to look at her face.
"I said don't look at me!" she snarled angrily.
"I won't hurt you. No one will." He said once again which made her heart burn and rage ran down to her system.
"You liar!" she snapped and looked at him. At first he smiled as he thought she was very beautiful but few moments later, he suddenly screamed. Just like what happened to the three guards, the commander had vanished as ash after he was burnt.
Murmurs of shock and confusion beat the sound of the wind. The girl panted and didn't know what to do. With many onlookers, she realized she caused too much trouble.
"What-What are you?!" one of them shouted. Others then threw many questions that only screams and shout can be understood. But one thing is for sure. They are angry.
This can't be undone. The girl thought. Even if she explains it to them, they wouldn't listen. She doesn't want to kill as much as possible. But, she doesn't want to get killed either.
She got back on her feet and heaved a sigh. Men who gathered stood alarmed not letting their guards down. Especially, that there commander had been taken down. The girl lifted her gaze and in an instant, all guards who looked in her eyes, burned like an ember and washed away by the wind as they turned to ashes. The wind whistles to break the weary silence. She is panting but forced herself to get it all together and gathered her things again. She picks up her mask and stared at it intently. It brings a sudden pain on her chest and her eyes are starting to swell. She clenched her fist and screamed.
She hates herself for bearing such curse. She despise herself for having a life. She hates herself for killing people. She stood their for few moments shedding tears until she heard another sets of footsteps. She realized that now that she had done it, it would be impossible for her to take shelter on that village. She quickly dried her tears and ran towards the bushes to hide. With her small figure, it was not hard for her to hide herself. After few minutes, some people arrived at the place of tragedy. They gasped as they had seen that the only thing that was left are the clothes of the guards.
"What happened here?" one of them said with the tone of disbelief.
"It's burning hot." Another one said as he squatted down to touch the clothes.
"What kind of monster did this?"
"And how did they do it?"
"What are they?"
Those were the confused questions that were flooding their curious minds.
"Whoever did this shall pay! They will feel the wrath of our revenge for our fallen men! We must not let their death go down in vain! We'll be looking for them when the morning comes! I'll be on the lead." A man with a skinhead and furrowed eyebrows announced. He speaks with much superiority.
"I shall be on lead Lord Zereko." Suddenly a man said out of nowhere. All attention turned to him as well as the girl who's hiding in the bushes. "I shall be…. The one who will search for that person." He continued with a proud look on his face despite of its nonchalant façade.
"Prince Adlai." The man who was called Zereko exclaimed and all at once, they all down on their knees.
"I must be the one to find that person and if you may Lord Zereko, I will borrow some of your men." The said prince speak with authority.
"I understand you highness. I , too must accompany you. I want to avenge some of my men." Said Lord Zereko.
"No. You will be task to look after my sick father." The prince said.
"Very well, your highness. In honor of the brave men who died protecting the kingdom, can you please allow me to see the dead body of the one who killed my men." Lord Zereko asked.
"You will be able to see her….in full shape." Said the prince and went back inside. Lord Zereko and his team followed him.
The girl who was hiding in the bushes until now felt too much rage. She will be killed if she'll stay here so she decided to take tracks on the mountain instead. She thought that if she will take an ordinary road, she will always end up in another kingdom which might also be dangerous for her.
She went to the mountainous area still near the country of Amane. She looked so tired. After all, she wasn't used to this kind of things. Climbing mountains, running away from strangers, not eating well, and just thinking how to survive. She wasn't aware that this kind of life really exists. She walked and sometimes she stopped to catch some breath or eat. Probably two kilometers away from the gate of Amane, she stopped to eat. She rummaged her bag only to find a piece of bread.
She sighed, "This is the last one. What about tomorrow?" she spoke to herself. With a very deep sigh, she ate the bread. What will happen tomorrow, stays tomorrow. That's what she thought. When she finished her food, she continues to walk. Few feet away, she suddenly tripped on something. When she regained her footing, a huge shadow appeared in front of her overshadowing her presence. She gulped as she slowly lift her gaze to the giant figure in front of her. It was so dark that all she could see is a wide, tall, and surely enormous creature.
"Five….. No, Seven?.... What? Ten feet?" she was counting how many feet this creature is. She was dumbfounded to found out that it is beyond her sight. It was so huge for her to measure.
"No, I don't have time for this." She realized that she needs to get out of here.
With legs shaking she forced herself to run as fast as she could. However, fear, exhaustion, and hunger had taken its toll on her body. Everything is in slow motion. In her mind, questions of her existence had flooded.
'I'm tired. How long is that thing gonna run after me? I'm running out of breath.
'Wait. Why am I running away? Would it be better to end everything here? I am cursed after all. My existence doesn't mean a thing in this world. I only give misfortune to every----'
She was interrupted in her thoughts when she suddenly lost her footing. She then realized that she was falling from a cliff. For a moment, the time seem to stop. She opened her eyes and laid on the eyes of the giant creature. It glistened as the light from moon reflected on it. She knows she's falling but she doesn't want to. She closed her eyes once again and images from her past came to view.
'I shouldn't have gave birth to this monster' mother said.
'Don't say ridiculous thing! She will be a weapon for our country!' father snarled.
'But I couldn't bear to live with this monster!' mother cried.
'I understand but we need this weapon to protect our country. I will confine it to another room.' Father comforted mother.
Even if I was still a baby, I can hear them. I can understand them. Though this truth doesn't affect me, when I slowly grew up, surrounded by four white walls and just a small window to light everything. It's just a bird in the day and a moon in the night. I thought of them as friends.
'I wish you could talk to me and tell me what its like to be outside. Was it nice there? I wish I could fly too and touch the moon.' That's just my only wish when I was inside. And now, I'm outside. If you only two could talk to me, then you can tell me how hard it is to be outside. Or maybe it's hard because it's me. Look at me, I'm flying but I'm not touching the moon. I'm falling.
That's pretty much what's on her head. She looked at the moon with sad eyes and smirked. Nevertheless, she's glad that she's able to make it outside even if it's kind of ridiculous. She closed her eyes. It's cold outside, she thought. Minutes had passed but she felt it's strange. Her fall seem to have slow down and felt something warm. She opened her eyes and saw a person. She wasn't able to see its face but she knows it got a very nice skin. It reflected the light coming from the moon. Her strength seem to subside even more that made her retire to sleep.