"Gorgia! Gorgia!" Yelled the little boy, running after me.
"I got you!" He said, his chubby hands catching the hem of my dress.
Lifting him while spinning around, we laughed heartily. I then kissed his cheeks before getting him back to his chambers to rest.
The lovely little boy was only two years old and was already full of life, albeit his frail body did not allow him to be overly proactive, just like her twin's constitution.
Matheo was the beloved son of my late mother's sister, Aunt Ronna, who sadly died due to childbirth complications, making the boy an orphan.
Fortunately, because of guardianship reasons and the law, my family had to adopt him. And since then, I have grown very fond of this little guy. He was my second ray of sunshine!
That day, just like any other, after I had gone searching for a storybook—if I had the chance to spot one in my other siblings belongings—I came back.
Only this time, when I entered the yellow light room, I stepped into an atrocious and gut-wrenching scene. The formerly clean and tidy room had been ravaged upside down. There was filth and dirt on the ground and walls. The curtains were ripped , like a result of someone struggling to not let go. The previously whitewashed carpet was red from fresh blood. And on top of the bed remained the now-dead body of my little cousin.
My young body collapsed, unable to emit a sound. I could only muster muffled cries while clenching my stomach. I wanted to throw up, scream, cry, fight, and kill….I was going berserk from insanity and fury.
Pathetically crawling towards him, I finally took him in my arms. His body was still warm, and his cheeks were slightly wet. He had a painful expression on his face and multiple bruises on his arms and legs.
"Oh, no... You, pitiful child—oh, my little boy. You must have suffered so much..." I wispered, half-chocking.
He must have been crying and begging for help.
He must have struggled intensely with his little to no strength, desperately trying to survive.
"I am so sorry, my dear... I am sorry I wasn't there to protect you." I continued, heartbroken.
I left him all alone here, knowing how dangerous this hellish place could be. I abandoned him. I was responsible for my dear Matheo's death. Me. Nobady else.
"He's dead... He won't come back. Just like mother."
Once again, I failed to protect the ones I loved. And once again, those monsters took them from me.
Yes, they were monsters. They had no soul or heart.
Silently crying while blaming myself, I kissed his round and bouncy little cheeks one last time. I held him as tight as I could, swearing to any god that I would take my revenge.
I would shred the person who did that to my sweet little angel.
I would stop before nothing, making them suffer a thousand times, to kill that bastard.
Using my magic to recreate the scene, I soon found the culprit. Moreover, I also saw exactly how the scene went, from the beginning to the end. Whether it was outside or inside.
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That night, I had created a huge turbulence in the enormous estate, killing every servant I saw in the north wing.
I might have looked unfair since they were only servants, but I knew that even though they were not the direct murdurers, they acknowledged the horrible incident happening inside the child's room without doing anything OR notifying me.
He was only a baby!
A two-year-old child! And they let him slowly and painfully die…
They were heartless monsters, not even flinching at the misery of such a small child. And I hated them for it!
Wiping my hands with my still-blemish pink handkerchief, I walked down the stairs.
One by one mechanically.
My eyes, a pool of distress and crazed bloodlust, were still running a river of tears, mixing up with the spilled blood on my face.
My dress, soaked in blood-having grown from an originally pale green color to an ugly reddish color, trailed a road of bloodstream on the white and cold marble floor.
I silently hummed an old canteen my mother used to sing to me, which I then sang to Matheo.
It was about a lonely moon and sun never to meet again...until the fateful day.
"Nanananana~the sun mirrored his pain reflecting on the grounds~ the moon asked for his path as he illuminated the paths~ nanananana~"
Arriving at my "mother's" room, I delicately knocked, still humming.
My expression—unknown to me—was dark and cold, contrasting with my ordinary sweet and weak looks. On my face, one could see splashes of blood and red textures mixed with tears and sweat. My lips were rough and dry, my nose was red, and my eyes were dry and soulless. I looked like I had just seen hell. Which I did.
With my little hands, I had unalived dozens of people without a rest. And I still had to kill one last one.
"Mother, mother…my sweet mother, could you please open the door? I have extraordinary news for you, mother!" I said to my stepmother, one of the countless wives of his father, Feifei, while gently smiling, even though I couldn't see her.
"G-Go… Go away !" Said tremblingly the fearful woman. "I am going to call the guards if you dare to enter!" She added, screaming hysterically.
"The guards? Hahahaha… You are so funny, mother!" I laughed. "That's a good one, I must admit, mother, but don't forget your status... You are no one here! You are not even a capable egg-laying machine; who would come to help you?"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
"Oh, mother, that's not a polite way of talking, you know? You must not let transpire your low origins... What do you think people will say!"
"You little slut!" She said, opening the door violently before stopping, realizing her mistake.
"I got you." I said, my voice dropping dangerously low. "I hope you enjoyed your last moments alive." I said, reaching for her throat.
" Please! Please, don't kill me!" She begged desperately. The woman was trembling and choking on her own spit, her pretty neck squeezed in my hand.
" Why would I do that? Did you have any compassion when he begged you the same way?" I titled my head like I was really curious. But the truth was, I didn't care about her excuses since I already knew everything.
I just wanted to last the moment a little longer.
"I am sorry! I am so sorry…hukk…haagh…" She continued, desperate.
But I interrupted her, squeezing her neck more forcefully while lifting her body—using magic.
The scene, tense and sinister, was eerily weird from an outside perspective: the frame of a young girl lifting up two times her own weight, a woman's body in her hands.
A few hours later, I was sitting at the edge of my stepmother's room window, gazing into the vast sky. Behind me lay the corpse of the woman, her mouth and eyes agape. A cruel fate indeed.
I was in a trance, lost between the memories and the ruthless reality. I had become, with a snap of a finger, everything I always swore to never become: a killer. In a sense, for the first time since I was reborn, I felt like I had really lost myself. The once upright Mira was no more.
That's how, at nine years old, I had done my first kill—to the delight of my father.
Like he said, I was finally a full-fledged assassin, completely uncaring about the death of his wife.
...….
Slowly sitting up, I looked into the void.
That dream came back again, keeping me awake. However, no matter how much I tried to forget, I couldn't; it haunted me like a ghost.
This was the second time this week. The reminiscing happened more and more recently, oftentimes leaving me lost. Relying on fate, it could be a good memory or an atrocious memory like this one.
Sighing, I decided to go take a bath.
Today was Saturday morning, two weeks since I had joined the student's council.
At present, I regularly go on missions delivered by the academy, at the demand of the bureau.
Normally, it was not the student's council role to do that, but the bureau had been overwhelmed recently, leaving them no choice but to ask for the available resources. Which is ME…Because since I was a newbie, I had to take on the less "important" work.
-That's hazing, I say!
Thinking about what Sylvester told me two days ago, I raged!
"That's because you are a mage. You have more free time."
Which is true since I had basically three to four hours of class per day, but that was no reason to make me work like a mule! I also had a social life to entertain ! (Lie)
- Well…no… I don't…
Truthfully, I didn't try to socialize that much. But it was not really my fault since they had me working since the first week of my acceptance into the academy. I didn't have time to befriend anybody!
And as for Aaron, he was also busy going back and forth from his internship at the tavern—a mercenary company—to the academy. Being in his final senior course, only two years away from majoring, he had to-as a knight, go on the field to earn one's spurs.
So that left me with nothing else to do but work…
- You are all bad people!!
'Knock knock' I heard from my bathroom, thanks to the wonderful help of magic.
Finishing zipping up my pants, I walked to my room's door. I still had slightly wet hair and no shoes on.
"You again?" I asked the man before me.
Just like usual, every two to three days, he would come check on me using the pretext of being my "guide".
"Hello Gorgia." He said with a hint of amusement.
The white-haired man was standing upright, finely dressed like usual. His eyes, just as enchanting as always, told myriads of stories. He seemed genuinely happy to see me.
"So what is it this time? To see if I am alright?" I asked. " Done! As you see, I am healthy and flourishing." I added sarcastically.
"That's true. However, you will not be for long if you stay in this state." He said, grabbing some strands of my wet hair.
I looked at him, stunned. I didn't understand his gesture…What was he doing?
The man looked at me back, gently smiling like there was nothing wrong.
"Do you want me to dry it for you?"
Getting out of my stupor, I quickly dried my hair with a magic spell. I also, while chanting, magically made appear from thin air the pair of shoes I was planning to match with my outfit.
" Done. Satisfied?"
The man laughed, amused. I could see that he was amazed by my reactions and really found a "breath of air " out of me.
Mainu, contrary to what I expected, was surprisingly sweet and "special." He never acted like the Mainu my best friend described him to be.
I didn't know if he was acting or not, but if he did, he was really great at it.
To be frank, I probably would have liked him if I knew what he wanted from me—if there was a reason or not behind his behavior.
Maybe if I were any normal person, we would have been friends.
" Yes. Quite satisfied." He finally said, ceasing his laugh. "Can I enter?"
"Yes," I said, sighing.
Since I couldn't get away from him, after a while, I finally accepted his presence.
If I had to see him for the next six months, I should at least stay cordial. In addition, having conversations in the corridors wasn't a good idea. And it was less of a good idea when the person you conversed with was an academic crush.