CHAPTER III: AN ENDLESS WAR (2)
Thence, the queen started to narrate the event that shook her memory, as she detailed the scenes that happened the night before, starting with a single conversation with her grandaughter.
“–Granny, it's late! Isn’t it?” Ada asks.
"So it is, sweetie," Leyra answers. “You should rest; tomorrow is your big day! I can't believe you're going to be six!”
“Why not? I'm already a big girl, granny!” the girl answers. “And I want my mom to see how big I am!”
"I am sure she will be impressed."
“What do you think she will give me?
"I have no idea, sweetheart" the queen answers. “But if you don't fall asleep soon, I won't be able to take you to your father, and receive whatever she’ll bring you with a giant kiss.”
“Well, it's okay granny. I'll go to bed now!”
The girl quickly turned from the balcony where she was talking, descended the hidden stairs. Below them, was a secret camera, where her little room made by Leyra was; Although, Ada could not sleep, and when she was looking for a book among the queen´s library, she found one that caught her attention. A tale about a foreigner.
She held the book, and decided to go upstairs instantly, since she wanted her grandmother to tell her about it; holding the excuse of trying to sleep, and the fantasy of dreaming in her mind.
Reaching the main level of the delicate dome, she noticed her grandmother was still sitting on her balcony, but heard a sudden sigh, which made her ears sharpen. It was a soft breath, inviting her to get closer to it.
The whisper seemed to come from the main entrance to the small dome; slight currents of wind touch her hair, and in loss of the notion came present. At the moment, the girl heard three knocks on the wooden door, sharp, rough, intense.
Ada approached, and her innocence lead her to open the door slowly, as see she was trying to see who was behind it.
“Hello, sweetheart” whispers a soft voice. “Have you forgotten me?”
The little girl remained silent. Astonished, before the darkness that approached to her. She didn't even dare to blink.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you" the being continues. “I´m here to talk with your grandmother, do you know where she is?”
The girl took a few steps back, and with her sharp eyes, pointed with her trembling hand behind her, pointing towards the distant balcony.
"Thank you, my girl" says the mysterious woman. “You have grown a lot, and yet, your heart remains noble. Good for you, my niece.”
The girl remained in the corner; her little instinct told her to run downstairs and leave, but she was petrified, she couldn't even move.
The black hooded woman entered the dome, and in her first steps, took a deep breath, as she stroked the girl's hair. For a brief moment, a stained heart felt a touch of empathy, and after eighteen years, she offered her blessing to the little girl, the most divine and sacred act among the Raen. This would become her second in her lifetime, and the final one.
“Get away from her!” the queen shouts. “Ada, I told you to go to sleep!”
"It´s okay, mother" answers the strange woman. “I'm just giving you the blessing”
"Next time, look at your hands first, Rita."
The white energy emerging from the woman of the shadows dissolved in the presence of a bluish power that gushed from around the girl's head and body. The blessing vanished in the air, not entering the soul appropriately; rejecting power, and causing it to disappear in streams of cold air upon them.
“Go to sleep Ada, I will not tell you again” exclaims the queen. “And if you want to speak young woman, it´d be better immediately.”
Leyra turns and walks towards the balcony, Rita then leans in and kisses the girl on the forehead. She pulls out an amethyst crystal from her pocket, and hands it to the little girl.
"It's an amulet for good luck, Ada" exclaims Rita. “The best from the rocks of plasma. You may think I'm a monster, and your grandmother is an angel. But always remember, not everything looking good, is that good. Not everything bad, that bad. It´s a matter of knowing how to be steady in balance, and generous in energy.”
The girl held the glass with both hands, and the woman turned her gaze to her forehead. She walked easily towards the balcony, while the girl hid behind the pilaster, peeking at a distance, the next to follow.
"Ada has an energy field that protects her from all impure energy" exclaims. Leyra.
"Do you think I didn't notice that?" answers Rita. “Still, I thought it would work. It is a blessing after all, don't you think?”
“What kind of blessing do you think you can offer? If these hands of yours are the name of an impurity these kingdoms have never seen before.”
"I didn't come here to argue, Leyra," Rita replies. “I just want to see how this war is going, along the sweet company of my pretty mother, shall we?”
The women jumped impressively from the balcony; one behind the other. Rita reached a nearby mound, where small streams of opaque waters were found. The queen subtly put herself beside Rita. And between the cold and explosive night, both saw upon the distance, the exhaustive battlefield between lights, energies, and dimensions inexplicable to the eye.
“This is endless right” exclaims Rita.
“I'm tired, we´ve given everything we possibly could” says Leyra. “Argon and I, we–we just can´t go any further. We never expected this. It´s strange to wonder, this is what Elgoneth was preparing us for, after all these years.”
“So, where is he, now? Now that, you know, you need him?” exclaims Rita, sarcastic. “Fighting some sort of injustice?”
“You know the answer to that question” responds Leyra.
The queen then, stopped talking in a smooth way. She looks to Rita in her eyes, and returned her gaze to the wide parade of the nocturnal.
“You´re a witch now, aren't you?” asks the queen, rhetorically.
The princess of the darkness did not say a word. She just smiled, and stood quiet, as she stopped looking at the queen, and join her in the ponder of the night.
“What are you planning to do, Rita?” asks Leyra. “What are you going to do with her?”
Rita looks behind her, for she foresaw the energy surrounding her. Upon the distance, hidden in the shadows of the balcony, was the little girl. Quiet, and attentive. The curiosity invaded Ada, but when Rita find her gleaming blue eyes, the child returns to the mystery of the shadow; distanced, unattainable.
“She must survive” responds Rita. “I can't guarantee that, nevertheless.”
“I know” responds the queen.
“Could you do that for me?” asks Rita.
“I'll do the best I can”
“I want to ask you something” continues Rita. “All this time, you knew about Mihalis didn't you?”
The queen did not respond.
“You were the only one who could knew” continues Rita, “you look through his heart and yet, you didn’t tell anyone. Why?”
But the queen just closed her eyes, and stare at the nothingness invading her mind.
“You wanted him to kill me right” says Rita. “You wanted me to lose.”
“I've learn through the years, that some things are better off the table” exclaims Leyra. “Sometimes we can influence, and create our reality, but sometimes we don't have any control over this complexity. I didn’t know what was going to happen. First it was you, then Mihalis. Argon loved you both so much, he was so happy with what we had. I’ve never seen him happier. He loved his family, and he loved what we created. I didn´t wanted to tell him anything, because I didn’t know what exactly I was going to tell. I had no idea what was going to happen. Everything was confusing, everything was a paradox. When I pushed, it seemed I was incorrect. But when I let these things go, they tried to whisper me, I was right. I just wanted things to happen, the way the where meant, annd support Argon as long as I could. I was devastated, I’ve always felt things before him before his feelings, before his vision. So you know, the chaos just happened, and we didn’t really witness it. We came back, then war instantly started. We move on, and try to fight for our people, for our family, for our lives. Elgoneth keeps us blessed, so we keep up going.”
“How can you be so soft?” asks Rita. “How could you keep being hopeful?! I killed thousands of your people! I destroyed your annoying kingdom, I overthrone Aramordt! I screw everything you both built all these decades! I killed all your pride, I killed all your home, I killed your only grandson, I kill your faith, your glory, I kill all your dreams, and you still behave like this?!”
“No. You know what you did?” asks Leyra. “You killed my youngest daughter”
The princess of the ashes smiles, and after a few moments of silence, she turns around and starts leaving.
“I'm going to come to the war soon” says Rita. “You know what that means?”
“What does it mean to you?” asks the queen.
“The end” responds Rita. “Deliver this message to my father. I don´t want him to make me hurt him.”
La capucha negra sobrevolaba por los vientos gélidos de la noche. Por sobre la vista de la reina, quien asimilaba los mensajes entre las líneas delgadas que salían del misterio de la voz de la princesa de la oscuridad, cuando esta de pronto, detiene su caminar, y se voltea una última vez, antes de adentrarse a la laguna oscura.
“You're still my mommy” exclaims the princess from the dark. “You know that right?
“I don't know who you are, Rita.”