"We are beings that aren't human."
I freeze, and I want to laugh like a hyena before her if only her face is not stern and serious. Her red eyes are staring right at me, as if she is daring me to stifle a laugh, and if I do, she will cut me into ribbons. The air in the manor suddenly turns cold, and my head turns to the other side just to avoid her stare, yet I can still feel her looking at me. Sxy continues to walk off, heading to the garden, as I follow behind her. The bright sunlight is temporarily blinding me, but the scent of the flowers makes me forget about it. There are lots of colours in here—red, purple, blue, pink, and white. It has been a long time since I have seen fresh flowers, and it certainly feels refreshing. I can feel the wide smile on my face as I bend down to smell the budding flower. And as I do, Sxy begins to speak.
"Witches, sorcerers, wizards... They call us so many names." She waves a hand, and the flowers bloom. My mouth agape as I stare in awe. How can she do that? Her curly hair sways along with the wind that passes through the door to the garden, almost covering her whole face. Then she turns around, her red, flaming eyes glaring at me as if waiting for me to respond, but she beats me to it before I can even open my mouth. "But what we are... is cursed."
"Cursed?"
"Up to this day, we still have not found the source of our power. Each of us possesses a power that is unique, and I assume that yours, you have not discovered it yet. Perhaps you think that I am messing with you, but I swear that I am not. And while I want to know how you survived that day, to me, telling you about the entire Do clan is more important." Sxy raises her hand once more and a green vine dances up in the air, as if welcoming me. I lift my own hand and wave back at it. At the corner of my eye, I can see the smirk on her face, and then she swings her arm. The vine grows thorns and moves so fast and quick towards me that I almost thought my eyes had failed me. I shield myself with my arms. "We can become dangerous, too. We can attack, and we can kill."
My breathing is uneven as I lower my crossed arms. The thorny vine drops to the floor with a soft thud. The fast beating of my heart steadies. I put a hand over my chest, and my eyes turn to the beautiful and yet vicious woman with red, fiery eyes. "You're telling me... that I have superpowers as well? That is impossible. There is not one weird or strange thing that has happened to me. Ever."
"It may not have been awakened just yet, but it is in there," she says. "Maybe, just maybe, after this encounter, weird things might start happening to you."
"You..." I begin. I take a step closer to her, and I do not take my eyes off of her red ones. "How did you survive that day? I believed that I was the only one who ever made it out alive. Did someone save you?"
"I saved myself," she declares. Her eyes grow dark, and her jaw clenches tightly. I made her remember the gruesome scene on that day—how our entire clan screamed out each other's names, how they sacrificed themselves for one another but died in vain still, and how ruthless and determined those people were to eliminate every member of the clan. Sxy keeps staring at a white rose, and then it turns black. I gasp in surprise. "I can never forget everything that happened that day. And since then, I've been going all over places, looking for them, tracing them."
"Do you know who did that to us? Did you find them?"
Sxy shakes her head with an exasperated breath. The black rose's petals separate from the stem, and it tumbles off, striking the hard, cold ground. "I was too young then. I couldn't do anything. All I wanted was to save myself. I wrapped myself with vines, using them as my stealth, and I watched... I witnessed their deaths. I saw how hard they fought against those heartless people. They were all so desperate to live, to survive, but they didn't let them."
"If—if we're not humans, if we have powers, why didn't we use them to fight? We could have all survived. We could have won. Why? Why did we not do anything?"
Another defeated sigh escapes her pink lips, her eyes dropping to the ground where the dark, almost black vine lays. Biting on her lower lip softly, Sxy glances at me. "I told you; it was a curse. It is not a gift. It is not something we can use to save the world or those we love. If you are thinking of it like that, you are entirely wrong. These powers..." She lifts a hand, sparkles floating around it as a bright light emits from her palm. "They feed off of our souls."
"Our...souls?" Sxy nods her head. She keeps her gaze on me as I swallow. Walking back inside the manor, I watch her fingers brush along the sketches and the paintings that are hanging up against the wall.
"Greed," she whispers without taking her red orbs off of them. "It is that we are up against. The more we use our powers, not only do we get greedy for more, but the curse, too, until there is nothing left of us, until we are no longer ourselves, until we let it take over us. We become a vessel, and eventually, die; but not our bodies. The powers, the curse, can control it."
That is why they never fought back—in fear of succumbing to the curse and losing themselves. Dying is more acceptable than accepting the curse that is imposed upon them. Now I understand why she calls it that rather than a gift, and deep inside, I feel thankful that I have not discovered my own power yet. I might overuse it for my own benefit or for others without knowing that it can actually kill me. I might even regret ever relying on it.
"But there was somebody who did it," Sxy continues. She stops in front of a particular painting. It is a man—his hair is black, he has tanned skin, a tall nose, and a pair of beautiful hazel green eyes. Underneath his picture is where his name is written—Elios. My eyes turned to look at her with a questioning gaze. "He sacrificed his life to wipe out those who are responsible for every Do's death. He was a witness—a survivor just like the two of us. He spent almost half of his life searching for every one of them, killing them, until he reached his limit. By the time he knows that the curse is beginning to take over him, Elios ended his own life. He was a legend; he did something that nobody can ever do, and yet, almost none remembers him, acknowledges what he had done for the Do clan, or even appreciates his heroic deed."
There is a hint of sadness in her voice, as well as anger. I cannot help but assume that Elios is somebody that was important to Sxy—a lover, or just a man whom she loved dearly despite himself having no knowledge of it. Sxy traces his features. Her fingers stop on his hazel green eyes as she bites on her bottom lip. It is at that time that I decide to speak and break the silence between us.
"But we are here now." She turns her focus back on me, a puzzled expression on her face as she tilts her head. "We know about his sacrifice. We know what he had done for the rest of our family, for those who died cruelly under the hands of those people. And I thank him, Sxy, for doing something so great, something so brave." A drop of tear flows down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away. Despite the fire in her eyes, Sxy is still a maiden who is in love and who is capable of showing and feeling emotions. She takes a couple of steps closer to me before she mouths the word "thank you" and then proceeds to the gate of the manor.
Taking in the sight of the whole manor once again, I cannot help but feel so amazed. I wonder who originally lived here and why my parents decided not to stay here and buy another piece of land where their own house stands now. Sxy does not forget her wrap, putting the hood over her head and hiding her face once again as she begins to walk ahead of me. I follow. The gates are closing behind us as if they have their own mind, causing me to jump in surprise, while Sxy remains calm and collected.
"So—so when will my powers show?"
Sxy looks over her shoulder and then back in front. "You will know."
"And—and if Elios has already wiped out the ones who killed our family, why are you still hunting them?"
"I believe that some of them are still alive; just like how we were able to escape that day, I think that some of them have run away from Elios."
"Don't you think it's good enough that he has killed most of them, though? Is this ever going to end?"
Sxy stops in her tracks, turning to face me and glaring right into my eyes. The fire in her own burning, and I swallow. "Can you live all of your life knowing that your life is in danger? Can you bear having to walk with your head hung low until the day you draw out your last breath? Are you able to trust someone after what happened to us?" I am silenced. I do not know what to say.