1 – THE EYE OF THANEA
"Hell is empty and all the demons are here."
- William Shakespeare, a Known from Earth
Staring up to the sky, clouds or any signs that the sunny weather would change could not be found. Almost everything was green because of variety of trees, bushes, and sedges scattered all over the place. Male birds were singing songs to attract mates. Blades of grasses were moving because of the other forms of life living around its corners.
There's a florally scent in the wind. A butterfly breezed by and was joined by two of the same species. Buzzing sounds reverberated for the bees had also joined the feast attracted not by scent, the answer lies with the color of flowers and bracts, colors only these little animals could see.
This was peace and beauty of the world from one angle, but when the girl named Thanea turned around, she was greeted by the angle of grieving combined with lost.
Nature was rejoicing without care to the humans who were in the phase of mourning. Everyone looked as if they were mourning except one.
For Thanea, the world was strangely twisted. A coffin containing her sister was about to be buried, and yet, as she stood and faced that white rectangular box, she felt the opposite of mourning. Her world was strangely twisted that a smile secretly carved on her face, the rate of her heartbeat increased, and the most dominating emotion at that moment was neither grief nor pain but pure excitement.
"R-Rinella…my daughter…"
She heard a familiar voice. The familiarity did not trigger any emotions worth reminiscing. This voice was owned by someone whose hobbies aside from cooking were slapping, kicking, and punching an unfortunate being who came to be her adopted daughter. The mere voice of her mother was the melody of torture.
"This is too much drama, Rize. Can you stop sobbing?"
That was the voice of his supposedly father. A voice owned by someone who didn't give a damn to anything and anyone except when it comes to fucking—both literally and figuratively. This person loved fucking with other people's lives. One would think aside from himself, he didn't want anyone else to be happy.
"I…I c-can't. She's leaving us. Rinella is leaving!"
Intense emotion blinds. One of those, specifically love, blinded her mother that of all people, she fell for a pathetic excuse of a human being named Dick. Thanea thought it was intentional that he was named that way. He got a dick and he's really a dick, so why not? The High Beings must had some awful premonitions about Dick's future.
When she got tired of listening to her parent's usual bickering, Thanea peered through her lashes to observe the people who came. She saw familiar faces but none of them were friendly with her. From her sister's friends to suitors and even their neighbors—they were all present to shed some tears. When that girl on the coffin was still alive, these were the people whom she loved to control. Rinella used magick to make them love her despite of her monstrous personality. Her sister was an Unknown—a title given to people of the land of Pandemacae who possess magick, otherwise known as gramarye, on their blood.
Those people without gramarye are called Known and hierarchy set them below the level of Unknown. Usually, the Knowns flocked together on the lands located on the border-most regions of Pandemacae. Dangerous lands for they were near the Forbidden Lands. Outside the premise of Pandemacae were the Forbidden Lands. The Forbidden Lands were completely unfamiliar and extremely feared because it sheltered demons of all kinds and they were under the control of the Dark King, King Ruinam. The Ever-dividing Barrier was built to prevent demons from entering Pandemacae. It was almost successful if not for the sneakiest form of dark entities, the Shades, who could still pass through the barrier so long as they wish.
Rinella was the daughter by blood of Rize von Correns and Dick von Correns. Thanea became a part of the family of monsters because Rize and Dick were forced by another noble bloodline to adopt a child in exchange for a signed treaty. This treaty was necessary to pay Dick's debt to his whores and gambling and also for the purpose of maintaining an obedient law-abiding front. If not, they would encounter the wrath of the combined powers of the rest of the ruling Royal Families of Pandemacae.
Their daughter by blood, however, wasn't obviously please with Thanea's arrival. Rinella stole things from her, tortured Thanea whenever she could, and Rinella made other people hate Thanea through the use of Rinella's own gramarye. Once, someone with gramarye was strong enough to resist Rinella's manipulation. Thanea made a friend because of a book both of them enjoyed but this friendship didn't last. A conflict rouse between their families courtesy of Rinella of course. In case of the book, Rinella, the witch, burned the book right in front of Thanea's face.
Her sister seemed to inherit her poor personality from their mother. As for her father's contribution, Rinella lost her virginity at the age of thirteen and had been bedding different boys since then. There was a time when Thanea bothered pondering if there's even a kernel of goodness left in the Correns' family, but she finally stopped when their abuse persisted, worsening as time passed.
The intercession ended after the coffin was buried. Cries filled the air.
"Were those sincere or not?" Thanea asked herself but the girl only got a question but not its answer.
Inside a carriage on their way home, Thanea's eyes were on the greenery bordering the bumpy and muddy road. From the multitude of lively colors and sounds of different lifeforms, nature still looked as if it was having a good day, definitely a great day for a feast.
Thanea could sense excitement on the air. The girl envied those under nature's care for they were so free. She wanted to be free too. Free of the shackles the Correns placed on her and free of another shackle she had self-inflicted. Maybe if she was free, she could join nature's banquet. Maybe she could discover other forms of banquet existing out there. The world was wide and Thanea hadn't even explored a dot of its expanse. But how could she explore when she's confined inside a cage? When she's imprisoned in this carriage?
For the first time in a long time, Thanea longed so much for freedom.
A powerful being seemingly heard her wish when cracking sound was heard followed by a loud shattering of glass. Cries of pain after her parents were pricked by sharp edges of shards joined the tumultuous sound. A loud thump and grunt came from the outside and to Thanea's astonishment, the driver's ass and head were positioned in reverse as he sprawled on a muddy portion of the road. The carriage abruptly lowered and Thanea was sent flying through the now broken carriage's window.
A surprised gasp came out of her mouth. As she landed Thanea realized, unlike her parents, she was unhurt.
Unlike the driver still positioned upside-down looking as if he took a bath of mud, there she slumped on what seemed to be a fluffy angiosperm bush with small, purple flowers.
Lucky. Thanea was feeling so lucky.
She found herself closing her eyes, breathing in the grassy, florally, fresh scent of nature. She made herself feel rather than think. This paradise, however, didn't last when a strong slap landed on her left cheek followed by another and another. Pain and shock made her open her eyes and there above stood Rize with a murderous expression on her face.
Rize grabbed the girl by her shirt, slapped her other cheek just as strongly, and pushed her adopted daughter so Thanea would fall into the portion of the ground with sharp, rocky protrusion. It was intentional for Rize wanted Thanea to feel more pain. Still not contented, her supposedly mother continuously kicked Thanea's slumped form.
"You stupid, very stupid girl!"
Thanea's only reply was to cry as she pleaded for Rize to stop. It was a cycle, a routine. Thanea would plead for her to stop and Rize would just intensify the force her attacks. One time, Thanea attempted to remain silent as Rize abused her, but not hearing the sounds of Thanea's anguish made Rize angrier that she almost stabbed Thanea on the heart using an old, rusty garden knife. This was one of those moments Thanea hated the most. Thanea felt so helpless and weak as her mother fed from her suffering.
"How dare you flew out of the carriage? And why is it you weren't hurt at all?"
Rize didn't make sense. Well, she rarely made sense for it's not necessary. Pure torture didn't require reason. Rize's torture only required the yearning to inflict pain and make someone suffer.
"There! Yes!" yelled Rize. "This is something you deserved! You weren't hurt so leave the hurting to me!"
On Rize's face was her usual crazed-smile displaying her golden teeth and a pair of dimple on her cheeks. Although the woman's eyes were reddened because of tears meant for the other daughter, those eyes were so pleased right now that they were crying with tears of joy.
Dick went to stand behind Rize but the supposedly father only stared at his daughter with an uncaring expression.
"Stop this assault for now, Rize." he said in an exasperated tone. "I have an urgent meeting. I don't wanna be late."
The man wasn't pleased nor saddened. He just simply didn't care.
Instead of focusing on the continuous assault for Rize didn't seem to hear anything Dick was saying as of the moment, Thanea tried to focus on remembering those whispers that occasionally visited her ears on painful situations like this.
As if there's really someone working behind the scenes, these whispers came. Before, they sounded so far away that at times, it's difficult to comprehend what they were saying, but for some reasons unknown to the girl, the voice today was very clear. It was even louder than the sounds of her mother's assaults, her father's complaints, and even louder than her own cries of pain.
It had been always a voice of a woman, its tone promising to send anyone into a dreamless sleep or into a nightmare while they're still widely awake.
The voice wasn't human.
"Why do you suffer?"
Because I'm afraid to fight.
"Why are you afraid?"
Because I might end up being hurt.
"Aren't you hurting right now?"
Yes.
"Then there's no difference. You are already hurting. Worrying, fearing, about being hurt didn't help. At all."
As if punctured by a dart, it came with a throbbing realization that Thanea was indeed uselessly worrying. She was afraid to get hurt, but just like what the voice had suggested, weren't she already hurting?
Thanea was worried about hurting. She was afraid of being hurt, and yet, hurt still greeted her in the end anyway. Her fears and anxiety didn't make any difference. Well, in other angles, it did. Her fears and anxiety turned her into a coward. Turned her into a girl who refused to fight back. Who let abused passed pretending, hoping, it would be better once her assailant get tired.
"My fears were useless," the girl thought.
Thanea inhaled deeply and it felt as if she also inhaled the pain brought by Rize's continuous abuse. Rize was still assaulting Thanea with her right foot, placing the stronger kicks on Thanea's stomach. Rize made herself an expert at identifying where it hurt the most.
The feeling of pain mixed along with hopelessness made Thanea yearned death instead of life, but the mysterious voice that nobody except Thanea could hear had other plans,
"Get up."
The voice ordered.