"I love you, Ashe." The words of my mother whispered to me in a dark and quiet place. I couldn't feel my own body, let alone move them as well. It's like I don't exist physically, but I have consciousness of my own. I'm just floating in a void with no light. Then, out of nowhere, a shadow appeared beside me. The shadow stared at me with its golden eyes. I can feel it… The deep hatred behind those eyes. Same hatred as I have.
Wait, is this… My emotions?
Suddenly, I felt the ground shake beneath me. A bright light suddenly shone to my eyes, forcing me to open them. I woke up, finding my hands and feet bound with chains. I recognized these chains… Anti Magic chains. I found myself inside a prison. Two knight guards were guarding my gate on either side while standing in a position of attention with spears on their hands. One of them glanced at me, noticing that I was awake.
"Excuse me…" I said, but they didn't budge. "Where am I?" I asked but they didn't respond. I know I was in a prison, but I don't know which location exactly. Suddenly, memories of Lady Lumana's death and the village being raided flashed in my head. "Hey! What about the village? Is everywhere safe? At Least give me a damn answer!" I shouted, but they didn't reply at all.
The door suddenly opened and a man with a brown robe that fully covered his body appeared. "There is nothing for you to worry about. They are all safe." He answered, reassuring me.
"What about Lady Lumana? Is she still alive?" I asked him.
"She is alive, but unconscious." He said, making me sigh in relief. That's good. At least Lady Lumana is still alive. Hopefully, she wakes up fine. "But like I said, don't worry about them. Worry about yourself." His tone changed and suddenly the air became heavy, making it harder for me to breathe.
"What? Am I in jail for helping the villagers? So it is illegal to help people now?" I asked amidst my breathing.
"No, that is not what you're here for, young lady." He shook his head. "You are imprisoned for the practice of dark magic."
"Dark magic?" I was confused for a second until a memory of what happened in the village flashed again. I remember it… That warm feeling. That emptiness inside me. The only emotion I was feeling was anger… Hatred… Vengeance.
"Yes. Do you remember it?" He asked.
"Yeah… I do." I answered him. "What's going to happen to me now?"
"Well, it is up to the council to decide." He said and turned around. Before he left, he took a glance behind his shoulder, looking at me with a serious expression. "Keep in mind that no matter how much of a good person you are or your actions are, the practice of dark magic is forbidden and is a serious matter." Then he left.
I clicked my tongue and leaned my back on the wall. While sitting down, I was staring at the ground, pondering what will happen to me. I didn't even know when I acquired dark magic. I don't remember practicing it either. Too many questions with no answers to find filled my head, so I just shook those thoughts away.
After waiting for a few hours, another knight appeared from the door.
"It's time. Get her up. The judges have arrived and want her." He said and the two guards obeyed. The gate to my prison opened and they forcefully took me, grabbing my arms harshly while dragging me like a lifeless corpse.
"Hey! I can walk damn it." I roared but their hold became even more tighter. After a few minutes of walking in pain, or being dragged in pain, we have arrived in the chambers where the judges are sitting. They sat me on a chair, putting chains around me so I don't escape or do anything stupid. After that, the guards stepped away from me, leaving me alone in the center where the judges were glaring down at me from their chairs.
"Well, well, well… Guess who we have here?" One of the judges asked. "Another dark magician." He answered his own question.
"Why are they popping up lately? This is the fifth dark magician we have encountered so far…" Another judge said with a deep sigh that tells me he is tired of this.
"Enough." A lady said with authority behind her voice. "We will do the same thing as usual. Tell her what her offenses are and then execute her." She said, making me flinch from my seat.
"Wait, what?" I tried to hide my surprise, but to no avail. "Execute me? I didn't even know I was practicing dark magic!" I said.
One of the judges chuckled. "Yeah, right. The previous dark magicians we executed said the same thing, young lady. Are you five connected? What are your intentions?" He asked, pressuring me with his glare. But I was so worried about being executed that I didn't even feel the air became heavy around me.
"I am telling you the truth! I don't know how I used it, but all I ever wanted to do was to save those villagers who helped me! I have no connection to those four you executed, let alone have any intentions of harming anyone." I begged, but they didn't care at all.
The lady judge finally snaps. "So you're telling me that you suddenly acquired and learned how to use dark magic out of nowhere? How does that make sense?"
"But that is-"
"Enough!" A heavy voice cuts me off. The ground around me where I was sitting cracked from the voice. "This is getting ridiculous. Execute her so we can be done with this." He said.
"Hold on." One of the judges stopped, making the other judges look at him. "Let's not jump into conclusions, yet. We all know dark magic is acquired from having negative emotions, practicing forbidden spells, or by passing it from one person to another." He said. The other judges looked at him, confused but eager to hear his point. "My point is, why not just look at her memories?"
"But, judge Leo…" One of the judges spoke. "Looking at someone's memory is illegal, not unless we have a permit of usage. Besides, she is a criminal who killed a huge number of men with a good use of dark magic. What else can we expect? She is a criminal who deserved to be executed."
I snapped at the judge. "Hey! Those men whom I killed are the real criminals! I just helped the village by fighting them because they were hurting them!" Memory of Lady Lumana being hit in the head resurfaced once more.
"Silence, criminal! I wasn't talking to you!" The judge spoke.
"Order!" The lady judge said and the room became silent. "Judge Leo, why do you want to look at her memories? Give us a reason."
"It is better to know how they acquired the dark magic. If the five of them are related to each other, that means there is someone giving them these forbidden spells. We can only locate that person by going through her memories." Judge Leo said. I suddenly wanted to scream, to just run, but fear overcame me. I'm not scared of dying, I'm scared that my identity would be found out. I have been staying low and hiding for too long to get my vengeance, and I don't care if they are the council or not, but anyone can be enemies the moment you begin trusting them. I won't let my identity be revealed… I have to get away.
"Interesting. What do you all say?" The lady looked at the other judges and they all agreed in unison. "Go ahead then, Judge Leo. Look through her memories and tell us what you find."
"Very well, madam." Judge Leo stood up and he made his way towards me. I tried to break the chains off, but to no use. No matter how hard I try to run or break free from it, the chains won't budge. I am strapped so tightly that everything became numb. Judge Leo's hand wrapped my face, I tried shaking my head to avoid it, but his grip was firm and tight. Suddenly, my vision darkened and everything… I meant everything starting from when I was a child down to the present resurfaces, making me scream in agony due to the painful memories that were resurfacing. Suddenly, Judge Leo stopped. He took his hand away from me. My vision was blurry due to my tears, but I looked at him and saw his surprised expression. He slowly took a step back. Then the judges became worried as well.
"What happened? What did you find, Judge Leo?" They asked him and Judge Leo regained his composure.
"She is not related to the four dark magicians. What she was saying earlier was… true however which I find strange." He lied. But why? Is it because he knew I was trying to hide my identity to not be found by my mother's enemies?
"What do you mean by she is telling the truth? Explain it to us."
"She said earlier that she wasn't practicing dark magic until the village incident. It wasn't triggered by her negative emotions either. In her memories, I didn't find her practicing one or using a forbidden spell for it. It just happened." Judge Leo told more lies which made me more confused. Is he… helping me?
"So are you telling us that she suddenly used dark magic out of nowhere without any practice?" One of the judges asked, making it harder for him to believe.
"It is hard to believe and hard to understand… But yes." Judge Leo replied. However, he wasn't lying though. Half of it is true. I didn't practice any dark magic. I wasn't related to the four dark magicians either. However, he knew that I have felt its powers and even until now the dark magic resides inside me. I don't understand how I obtained it, but my guess is because of my hatred. Like what he said earlier, dark magic can be acquired through negative emotions, practice of forbidden spells, or by passing it from one person to another. Obviously I didn't practice any forbidden spells and no one passed it to me, so only my hatred was explainable as how I acquired dark magic.
"So what will we do now?" One of the judges asked.
"For now, we will not execute her until we find out dark magic works. If dark magic works like an entity, then we are not facing a human, but an entity alone by itself." Judge Leo said and everyone nodded in agreement.
"So it is like a ghost then?" One of them believed his lies.
"Yes." Judge Leo said.
"Very well. Put her back in jail. Hold her off until we believe that she is safe. If what Judge Leo is telling us is the truth that this dark magic is an entity by itself that can move from one person to another, then this will be a different case." The lady said and the guards took me back to my prison.
As I'm sitting at my bunk in the jail, I was still pondering why he helped me? He saw everything… My vengeance and my identity, yet he chose to hide it. What are his intentions? Suddenly, a door opened and Judge Leo appeared.
"Hello there." Judge Leo greeted. I stood up, preparing to defend myself just in case he does something stupid. Noticing my stance, he chuckled wryly. "Don't be anxious. I am not here to fight you. I have no bad intentions."
"How can I trust your words?" I asked him, still cautious of him.
"The fallen princess… Princess Ashe, daughter of Queen Ashe. I saw everything. I know your mother." Judge Leo said, making me drop my guard. "Your mother and I used to be close friends. But then she became a queen and I became a member of the Magic Council so we didn't have time to hang out with each other. Last time I heard from her was that she was pregnant. Who would've thought that I would be seeing her daughter? What a coincidence." A tear suddenly dropped from his eyes. He wiped the tears away.
"You know my mother?" I asked, curious of what kind of friendship they both had.
"Yes, dear child." He said.
Suddenly, memories of my mother's death and fighting a war for her kingdom resurfaced. "Then why didn't you help her in the war?" I asked, anger slowly boiling outside.
Judge Leo didn't answer right away. He didn't look at me either, but he was staring at the ground pondering. "I wanted to, but I couldn't." He finally said.
"Why?"
"I am powerless to do anything, young Ashe. I am only capable of looking at someone's memories, interrogating them. That is why I am here in the council. I am not meant to fight. But if I was, I would've fought with her side by side." He said, sighing in sadness.
Silence filled the air. Then, he broke the silence first. "I'm sorry for your mother's death, young Ashe. After looking at your memories, I know you have deep hatred against your mother's enemies and you don't trust anyone. But just this once, will you trust me?"
"Trust you in what?" I asked.
"Young Ashe…" Leo looked around before he spoke, trying to find any hidden devices or anyone that could hear him. "The council right now is being ruled by a corrupt leader. This leader is related to one of your mother's murderers."
My eyes widened in surprise. Anger began to boil out from me and the air became cold to handle for Judge Leo. "Are you telling me the truth?" I asked him.
"Yes. But if you want me to be honest with you, you are not yet ready to fight her. For now, stay low and stay hidden. I will help you escape, but trust me in this one. When you are free, head to the north. There, you will meet a group of giants that have a close relationship with your mother." Judge Leo said.
"Why are you helping me?" I finally asked the question that has been in my head ever since earlier.
"Because… This is the only way for me to help your mother. If I hadn't done what I did earlier, then I wouldn't know that you are her daughter. But now is a different story. I trust in you, young Ashe." Judge Leo said and he left after, leaving me speechless. Suddenly, my eyes watered a little, knowing that my mother is not yet forgotten and someone actually wants to help me avenge my mother, even if it just a small help.
But then knowing that the current leader of the Mage Council is close to one of my mother's murderers made my blood boil in rage. The desire to kill her was too strong for me to handle that I had to clenched my own skin until it bleeds so I can calm down.
At the same time, like what Leo said… I am not yet strong enough to face her. I need more… More power.
Few days have gone by and the judges have determined that I am safe. Before I parted, Judge Leo gave me supplies for my journey.
"Young Ashe… This is the best way I can help you and your journey to avenge your mother. Please stay safe." He said, giving me a smile.
I reassured him. "Don't worry. You have been a great help. Thanks for not revealing my identity." I bowed as a sign of respect and gratefulness.
"Now, head to the north. Meet with the giants. They will surely help you." Judge Leo said.
Thus, after spending seven days in the prison, I am finally free. My journey has finally begun. Don't worry, mother. I will avenge your death. I will bring their heads to you and make sure to show the whole world who they messed with.