REJECTION PART 2: THE CURSED ONES

8

"Well, your power is useful for one thing." He trails behind me as we walk across the lake. An ice path forms with my every step. The two elves swam in front of us. We are in the isolated part of the lake so there is no human around and it is dusk already.

"Your power is useless without my ice dome." I reiterated.

"Do you believe that a guardian's power is only that limited?"

"Do you believe that I can let you swim across?"

He scoffed. "We're not friends. I don't have to tell you everything and so do you. You can keep a secret for all I care." He stepped out as we reached the shore. He knows that I saw something. Right. It's not like I can trust him. I don't know his origin, he kept Lucy from the start and he killed Duke. Why should I trust him?

We went inside what looks like an abandoned cabin. The door was left unlocked. There are no lights.

The hanging trinkets around and the symbols engraved in the walls proves that the seer used to live here.

*Zap*

The fireplace lit up. I found Ajax standing beside it.

"What? It's better to have some light." I think he needs a light source for his power to use his power. The presence and absence of light, he can control it.

We searched the house but there is nothing. There are very faint scent of wolves but it must have been years since only small traces are left.

"Strange, isn't it?" Something's wrong. Ajax can sense it, too. No. The opposite. I can't find the scent of the seer or anyone that used to live here.

"Where are the elves?" They disappeared.

"This is a trap." I reached for the door but I cannot touch it. It is like water? Everything is like water. The fire is dimming and the room is changing. Water envelopes us and the walls and the ceiling is... falling. It will drown us. I raised my hand to shield us, making an ice dome. The amount of water is unexpectedly heavy and the dome is slowly breaking. I cannot freeze the remaining water. And...

*Splash*

The water receded and so, I let down the dome.

"Are you alright?" I asked Ajax who is now staring somewhere. The cabin disappeared. The room, no, it changed to what looks like a cave with a pool of water inside. Something is moving from the water.

I can hear... a humming. A song... I don't know if I can actually hear it or it is only in my head but it is enticing me to go near the pool. To... dive in... Such a beautiful voice. It is...

*Zap* *Spark* A wall of electricity prevents me from going any further.

"Wake up, idiot."

Wait. What was I doing? I turned to my right and found the source of electricity, Ajax.

"Seems like my theory is correct. Come out or I'll electrify the water." He spoke to the pool?

Then, something, someone swam up. Porcelain skin reflecting the moon above the open ceiling of the cave. Ears are pointed but not like the elves. And sapphire eyes stared at us. Half her body is still below the water. A smile drew on her lips.

"Don't be strangers, young ones." She spoke, her soft voice are like music in the air.

"Stop messing around." I heard Ajax said.

A giggle. "Alright." She rose from the water. And half her body is or was a tail, and it slowly turned to feet.

"Mermaid."I mumbled.

"Well that's not how you address your elders." Her body is enveloped by the water and it turned into a flowing dress. "The name is Elena. Guardian of the Sirens." A guardian? Is that why my powers were constricted?

"Apologies for my welcome. I have to be careful, you know. Especially with your kind." She glanced at me. "Sit." She motioned. The two elves from earlier appeared behind us pushing two chairs made of... twigs and shells.

I caught Memos eyes and they were apologetic.

"Don't worry about them. They are harmless."

"They are but deceiptful." Ajax commented as he sat down.

"Oh, I was talking to my elves." She smiled.

"Hmm. Enough of this. You are the seer, aren't you?" He asked. Wait. She is?

"You caught on, that's good. You are correct."Then that means that she is behind my father's actions? If she is a guardian, she might be manipulating my father, not the other way around. Enough to make him believe that she is dead.

"Let's just say, something's are meant to be sacrificed to reach a goal."

"You admit that you manipulated them? Us?"

"Yes. I understand your anger but I will not apologize for my actions." Although she did not smile, there is something in her tone that makes me angry even more. "To be honest, I was not expecting that you will be a guardian."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Because of the curse. Guardians are cursed. You are too young to fully comprehend but I have to do what I did. The pain of thousands of years is unbearable. I know I speak for all of us, the first ones. And you are slowly experiencing them too."

"Tell me, what does it have to do with killing her?" My fists are clenching.

"She is the only one who has an executory curse. It means that once a certain condition is fulfilled, she can die. I know I took someone from you, and I don't expect you to forgive me, but that is the only way. She has to die so we have a chance."

"You--- Stop saying that she had to die because of your selfish desires."

"Selfish? Maybe. But if you are in my position, you will somehow understand. If you lost her and your pain is too deep what about us? Who lost and loved, who loved and lost. I don't want to be a guardian anymore." She bowed her head. "It hurts and I am tired to not be able to do anything about it. So, I did what I did."

"What is this chance you're talking about?" Ajax asked. I couldn't speak anymore without feeling angry and guilty at the same time. I don't know their pain.

"This." She opened her hand and a stone appeared. That is the same as the vision. "This is a moonstone. It can only be made using the soul of a guardian. Using this, we have a chance to break the curse. We have the chance to be free."

The stone glows in an unearthly sight. Like the sky changing every night. The glow of thousand stars. It was her sacrifice.