"What are you going to do Grimald? Someone is behind this. It can't be a coincident that all of this started right after she showed up in town."
I nodded my head quietly watching Alexis sleep on me while deep in thought. I was afraid of what could happen to her, what her aunt had to do with all of this and if I should tell her the full truth about my curse.
Deciding to voice my thoughts I lifted my head and meat Sybil's wide eyes.
"Maybe we need to tell her the extent of this curse."
Sybil mouths dropped open and she stared at me as if I had grown a second head. The fact that she could still look at me, a monster with a tale and wings, as if I was a freak of nature made me chuckle.
"Are you insane?!" She yelled.
"Lower your voice," I growled out, "I don't need you waking this poor girl."
"I'm sorry, but what is wrong with you?! You can't tell her the truth, she couldn't handle it! What if that priest or even worse her aunt are waiting for something like this! They are showing up because they know exactly how you feel about this girl and the innocent in general! You and I both know they have been waiting in secret for a way to draw you and use you again! Do you know what they will do to her if they find out she knows your secrets, or worse that she is your weakness?!"
I opened my mouth to argue to the last part of her rant before I quickly snapped it shut again. First of all there was never a point to argue with Sybil, and unfortunately she was usually right. Secondly, I realized that this tiny girl with a cute stutter definitely was becoming important to me. A sharp intake of breath caused me to look up at Sybil wondering if she was alright when I realized it came from me. Shaking my head I looked off into the distance before looking back at Sybil.
"Sybil, I understand your concern but what else can we do? They are already after her and she has a right to know why. We need to begin making a plan, get ahead of the order while we have a shot. Is there any way she can begin staying with you? At least give her a safe place to sleep each night and allow someone she trust watching over her. Right now it is becoming risky for me to continue watching her at her aunt's home as well as her."
"I agree, especially if that priest will be hanging around more often."
Sybil got quiet again and I went back to staring at little Alexis sleeping in my arms.
"Grimald," she whispered. "Something isn't right here. Why, after so many years, is all of this happening again?"
"I don't know Sybil, I wish I did. Unfortunately, we can only get prepared and try to smoke the out."
"I don't think that will be to hard now that she is here," Sybil muttered.
I gave her a sharp look to which she only sighed and quickly apologized.
"When she wakes up tomorrow morning, tell her about the curse, all of it. I know you don't like the idea, but she needs to know-"
Before I could finish I felt Alexis stir in my arms. I sat perfectly still, something I was good at, and waited for her to get comfortable again. Unfortunately she sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. I noticed the rings swing back and forth on the chain around her neck and felt relief wash over me.
"What about the c-curse do I n-need to know G-Grimald?"
Her soft voice made me smile despite our grim situation.
"Well love, there are parts of the curse the legends don't know and I haven't told you. In light of recent events I believe you deserve to know."
She nodded her head with the cutest look of confusion covering her face.
"You know I was cursed to become a statue every morning and it is the most agonizing experience. But, what no one knows, besides Sybil, is that they went beyond this. They decided they wanted to do more than just prove they could defeat man's greatest threat, Satan. They wanted to be able to control him."
"But you aren't Satan. Your sweet and kind, why would they think that poorly of you?"
I sighed, "Love, they were men who wanted to be on God's level. They used me to pass God's judgement on men and women they decided were beneath them, evil, or in their way in their rise to power. The lead priest found me one night, after I was finally released from my stone prison for a few hours. He decided he had a proposition for me, he promised to free me from my curse if I became 'God's right hand' as he called it. I watched him closely before outright refusing to cause any harm to others and play his twisted game. So he took another approach."
I stopped for a moment, fighting the emotions I couldn't overcome in the 500 years of this all happening. I need to stay for Alexis, but all I could feel was the grief as if I was going through all of this again. Two tiny arms wrapped around my neck and felt a head nestling into my neck. Looking down I saw Alexis straddling my lap and snuggled up against my body, my arms found their way around her waist and kept her close.
"Y-you don't have to k-keep going."
"I know but I want you to know."
Taking a deep breath I continued.
"A week after rejecting him, a few of his younglings, as they are called, attacked me and drug me the church. I remember they drug me down the steps to the basement of the building and pushed me on my knees infront of the priest. He told me that I had no choice but to become his 'deliverer of judgement'. I once again turned him down and next thing I know Alvina is being dragged by her hair naked and bruised from the side of the basement. They through her at his feet and to add salt to the wound he kicked her down the 3 steps that lead to his seat. I was given an ultimatum work for him, or she dies."
I looked up to the night sky and fought the tears that started to surface.
"All I could do was stare at her, she was unrecognizable, I truly didn't believe that she was alive until I heard her beg me to let them kill her. I shook my head and at her before agreeing to do anything as long as they let her go. The priest replied by telling me he needed some kind of proof that I wouldn't back out of the deal and I told him he could do whatever he wanted to me. So he pulled out 'Accalia' and took his cross from around his neck and began reading in Latin. All I could feel was a buzzing in my head that turned into a searing whit hot pain. The cross began to glow and I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. When it was over I was panting on the floor feeling weak and next to death."
Alexis grip on me tightened and I couldn't stop myself from pulling her even closer to my body, leaving no room between us.
"The priest put the cross around his neck and just stared at me while I was trying to keep myself from collapsing. I thought it couldn't get worse than that and, in some way, I also felt some relief know Alvina would be spared anymore pain. The priest just stared then decided to test to see if the curse had worked. He....He ordered me t-to kill her. I tried to argue but I couldn't, all I did was pathetically beg while I made my way to her. I felt my body move on it's on, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I couldn't. All the while I sobbed and begged while I spilled her blood all across the floor and walls."
I heard a sharp intake of breath and a soft voice trying to offer me some sort of comfort. Alexis was wiping the tears that kept falling down my cheeks as I began to sob uncontrollably.
"It w-wasn't your f-fault Grimald."
I just shook my head while sobbing out, "I killed the w-woman I loved Alexis. I truly am a monster."
She kept cooing and soothing me until I finally calmed down enough to continue speaking.
"They used me for awful act just like that one, they made me into the monster they accused me of."
We sat quietly in each others arms not noticing Sybil's absents, just enjoying the warmth and comfort of each others presence.
Finally after a couple minutes Alexis asked, "Grimald? What d-did the cross look l-like?"
I sat and thought for a minute before saying, "Well, it was a simple wooden cross, quite large. I did notice that to make it stand apart from the other crosses that the younglings wore it was rounded off at the top and was held to the chain by a gold piece. Why sweetheart?'
"I-I think m-my aunt has a s-similar cross."