Diana closed her eyes, "That's right. It's time I hold my end of the bargain."
She let go of me and walked closer to Fantasia, "Is this truly what you want? I could give you another chance at life. You could start over."
Fantasia shook her head, "There's a fifty-fifty chance at me having a good life or a bad one. I'd rather take the one-hundred and leave it all behind."
My tears were still falling. Right, Fantasia was trying to have the 'sweet embrace' of the goddess when she begged to be put out of her misery. So she has no means of starting over. She truly wants to stay dead.
I felt that, wholeheartedly.
Diana sighed, "The youth aren't given much of a fighting chance these days. I'm sorry that your decision stemmed from this fact."
I rushed over to Fantasia and gave her a quick hug. She was taken aback but reciprocated. It's still so surprising that I can touch her spirit.
"Wherever you go, please be happier," I told her.
"I should be saying that to you," she retorted, smiling. "Go and be happy with your new life. I'm sorry in advance."
"You gave me quite a lot to work with. I still have to undo a few things."
"Yeah, my anger got the best of me."
"Who you tellin'?"
We both laughed. I let go of her and backed up to where Diana was.
"I'll get them back for doing this to you," I told her.
"You really don't have to, but I feel like you're going to do it anyway, so I appreciate it," she sighed happily.
Fantasia's spirit slowly began to disintegrate from the bottom up. My tears wouldn't stop falling as I watched her go. Before her head could disintegrate, she mouthed off 'goodbye', her spiritual ashes rolling into the ether.
Goddess Diana turned to me, wiping my tears, "Don't worry, she's content now. No more tears, Diana."
I did a few extra sniffles before I calmed myself down and nodded, "Okay. I'm good."
My mother smiled, "For a little ball of anger, you have a soft heart."
I couldn't help but chuckle at that statement. She wasn't wrong. My main emotion when things don't go my way is definitely anger. I try to control it but sometimes my other emotions fuel it, like a curse. That doesn't mean I don't care though.
"It doesn't help the fact that your holy powers are activated by your anger either," Diana pondered. "You've inherited my wrath but still show compassion."
She turned to the flowers that I sat on. They were smashed. By the raise of her hand, she made the smashed flowers rise again, more vibrant than ever. I stared in awe.
"Eventually, you'll be able to do this too," Diana began. "It's going to take some time. Your anger and all emotions associated with it will have to be in control for you to perform such miracles."
Then she turned back to me, "We have much to talk about but we may not be able to get through them all tonight. So instead, I'll leave you with three prophecies."
I blinked, "Three?"
"Normally, I'd give just one, but this is a special occasion. Just by looking at you, I can tell that you're a spiteful one. I want to help you control it better, for it is another emotion associated with anger."
I just nodded. Whatever my mother needs me to do, I'll do it. I'm a Saintess now. I can at least do that much.
The goddess smiled, "Harken to me, sweet child. Here are your prophecies, three…"
—
Damien was stiff. His liege fell asleep right on top of him and she told him not to move. This was not the type of situation he expected to be caught in.
His plan was to simply sleep on a couch in Fantasia's room. Once daybreak hit, before the maids would come in and take care of her, he would look a little disheveled and act like he was putting his clothes back on. An act like that alone would have rumors circulating the estate.
But Fantasia took it the extra mile and had him lay with her in bed. Right now, it looks as if he was seduced by her by the way she held him.
Damien looked at her sleeping form, moving away excess hair from her face. She would have to be maneuvered in order for the act to work. She told him not to move but this was necessary.
"I'll take any punishment you see fit, my liege," Damien whispered.
With that, he slowly moved Fantasia's arms and had her use them like a pillow. As hesitant as he was, he brought her body closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. She felt warm.
A tear slid down Fantasia's face while she slept. Damien quickly wiped it away and kept her head buried in his chest. Eventually the tears stopped and her breathing returned to normal. He pulled her away slightly to take a good look at her.
It was almost criminal how peaceful she looked while sleeping. She had some type of glow on her face that made her lips pop out. Damien couldn't look away from them.
His cheeks were flushed, "I shouldn't be having such thoughts."
It was all an act. Just something to get the whole estate talking and spread a few rumors around. However, the clueless Duke Silvercrest couldn't help but stare at his liege. Without realizing, he pulled her closer, rubbing her back a little.
But it felt a little rough.
Confused, Damien ran his fingers across Fantasia's back again. It was definitely rough. There were even a few indents here and there.
He turned her around, "Forgive me, my liege."
Damien took a peak from down her robe and stopped breathing. He found a few cuts. Without thinking, he pulled down her robe just enough to get the full picture. Bruises. Scrapes. Her entire back was scarred.
Something inside of him boiled. A memory, he dared not to remember, came to mind.
Mommy! Please, stop!
You worthless rat!
Damien's mind wandered as he eyed Fantasia's scars. They were definitely not tended to in time and left deep marks. This would've ruined her chances of getting married.
Who…did this…?
He decided to cover her back up with the robe. With her back to him, he slid closer and pulled her to his chest. He couldn't think straight at the moment. The first initial reaction was to get up, find Bryant and get answers.
However, he remembered that Fantasia told him to stay put. If she hadn't told him anything, he would've already been out the door.
Damien covered them both up with the sheets, his leg laying on top of Fantasia's. His indigo eyes shimmered at the back of her neck. Then, he rested his chin on her head.
He'll figure out the answers in the morning. Right now, he felt comfortable with Fantasia in his arms. His eyes got heavier and heavier as he drifted off to sleep.
—
Damien stood on top of a large building. It was night time and the lights of what's supposed to be a city lit up.
This was not Alabastrum. This city was too advanced. He saw civilians getting into large vehicles with four wheels, sometimes two and driving off. No carriages in sight. Buildings were tall and made of glass and metal. Some were small and cozy; doubling as shops. There was even a building that had nothing but shops and entertainment inside.
Men and women were wearing some odd fashion. In this case, most of them were showing quite a lot of skin.
He turned away from them. For some reason, looking at those women didn't phase him. Instead, he turned his direction to a door that led downstairs into the building. It opened and out came a woman in her early twenties.
Damien took a glance and couldn't take his eyes off of her. She held an expression that was only noticeable to criminals. A look that said she had nothing left to lose.
The woman walked slowly to the edge of the building and looked down. It was a long way down. One small misstep and she was a goner.
Damien called out to her, "Hey! What are you doing?"
She didn't respond.
Can she not hear me?
He walked closer to her. He had a bad feeling about her being on the edge like that.
Why did he care though? It's not like he hasn't seen someone kill themselves before. But for some reason this one didn't sit quite right with him.
The woman murmured, "This is it. I'll leave it all behind tonight."
Damien's eyes widened as he raced to the edge of the building to stop the woman from falling. It was too late though. She fell fast and a large splat echoed throughout the district.
Screams were heard. Some women were crying as they were screaming for help. Blue and red flashed all over to the destination.
All Damien could do was stand there. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't save the woman. His eyes widened in horror at the bloodied scene before him.
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