TW: Mention of Death
"But I never wanted to be someone who's destined to die upon turning eighteen." I mumbled to myself and roamed my gaze on the bright streets of Luriya, the city of light. I giggled upon realizing something.
A child of a witch and demon in the city of light, sounds wicked.
How did I come to existence? Obviously because my mother and father had a passionate night.
My mother is a pure-blooded witch who was able to take command of magical elements namely; fire, water, air, earth, lightning, and ice. She was so powerful that many feared her existence, but she was proved to not bring harm to anyone because of her neutrality in the past wars. May it be a battle of the kingdoms, or of any race, she never cared, as long as her territory would never be touched.
There was once a brave soul who tried to infiltrate her land, but that being ended up tortured and went out of the place half-alive, shaking the entire world to the core.
Why was it such a big fuss? Simply because that brave soul was a dragon. A dragon tried to snoop in and steal some things from my mother's house, thus it suffered from being attacked with a barrage of high-level spells from every element.
Divine punishment, as they say.
My father, on the other hand, is a contract demon. In this magical world, there are different races, like dragons, and demons are one of them. Many often have a prejudice that being a demon equally means violence, wicked, or evil. Well, that's not entirely false, but not entirely true either.
In this world, there are also civilized demons that make connections with humans and other races without abusing their power, and those demons are called contract demons. There are other so-called "demon clans" but I'm not quite familiar with those. I only know two main clans, which are the contract demons and rogue demons. Rogue demons refer to those who have succumbed to the darkness and should be executed.
My father is a contract demon who was often called by humans to help them slay rogue demons in their lands or to protect them. He was said to be also powerful, but not quite known since he prefers to only appear once he would gain new knowledge with his contracts. If there's one thing in common between demons, it would be the fact that they use their own blood to get power. In my father's case, he often used a blood sword when slaying rogue demons, but he can also cast curses or summon other beings by using his blood as a medium, somewhat like sorcery.
The question now is how did a witch who never cared about the world and a demon who is aloof met and decided to have me?
Long story short, my mother decided to have a contract with my father just to have company for a week since she was bored in exchange of teaching him on how he can cast common elemental spells by using blood as a medium. My father, who was too weak when it comes to new knowledge, went and agreed to my mother's offer. For some reason, that week was extended into a month, then into a year. In that same year, my mother was pregnant with me.
None of the outsiders knew about my existence, considering that my mother's territory is very secretive and not open for anyone. Only my parents knew that I were to be born, which they highly anticipated since it was the first time that a half-witch and half-demon were to be born.
It isn't prohibited, but halflings in this world are often discriminated, so it is highly discouraged. However, my parents are not bound by rules or common sense in this world, so they were excited for me.
However, upon being born in this world, instead of tears of joy, my parents cried tears of sorrow. My heart wasn't beating when I came out of my mother's womb, probably because of the blood that flowed in my veins.
My body can't handle such strong and pure bloods mixing into one, causing my heart to stop once I was outside of the protection of my mother's womb. Thus, they decided to die… all for me.
In exchange of sacrificing their whole existence and magic, they were able to balance the strong bloods inside me and my physical body. It didn't change my physical appearance as I still looked like a human in my original form, however, the curse was placed on me. A curse that will kill me by the time that I exactly turn eighteen, and in exchange, I wouldn't die within those 18 years.
Although they probably wouldn't know that.
I knew about this because by the time I opened my eyes in this world, I experienced death as a newborn child. Although it was to be expected since I can't even walk or do something to help myself at that time. I was alone in an empty chamber, with nothing but just pure white pillars, floor and ceiling. There was no one else. I even expected that I was going to die, since no food or water was left in the chamber.
And I actually did.
I really cursed whoever gods were present when first thought I would really lose my life that easily as a baby. Hunger and thirst came, but it all went numb after a few days. I couldn't think straight and I just let my consciousness fade.
However, I was able to wake up and by the time that I did, my body was already big enough to walk, maybe a 5 year-old body. During that day, I still don't know how that happened, but I immediately tried to adapt as I felt hunger pangs on my stomach. I didn't have time to wonder what happened to me because my first instinct was to find food.
By the time I went out of the chamber, the rising sun rays greeted me. A vast grassy land, with lots of unknown fruit-bearing trees, registered into my sight. I immediately climbed the nearest fruit tree, and though it wasn't easy with such a small and weak body, I had no choice.
It's for my survival.
I can't forget the bliss that came when the sweet and juicy taste of the fruit invaded my whole senses, stimulating more of my hunger. I continued to eat until I finally get to sate my desire to eat.
Then that was the time when I thought of my situation. I even panicked when I realized that I must have died then lived again. Fortunately, there was a nearby hut and that place was my parents' home.
Upon entering, the scent of herbs with a tinge of citrus greeted me. It was so refreshing that I almost lost my thoughts for a moment. The whole place was empty, much to my disappointment. There weren't any furniture, only a place with a wooden interior. However, a book materialized in the middle of the room, creeping me out but I still headed for it.
It was a thick black leather book, with nothing written in the front. There was no lock, so I carefully opened it, only to find a blank page, or so I thought.
[ Zeshia Kylio Edregburn ]
Just like how the book materialized in front of me, these words magically popped up, as if someone was writing them as I read.
Then it continued to talk about my mother and father, the witch and the demon. Even though it was a lot to process, I was still able to understand the gist of it. Just when I thought that it was over, the bigger revelation appeared in the form of a short phrase.
[ The Only Death Of One Life ]
Then I learned that I was bound to die when I turn eighteen. Nothing could kill me, except for this curse.
The same day I first learned about my name, was also the day when I learned that I'm bound to die.