Curse or Blessing?

The water had fallen with such strength that it had partly swept away the rocks Henox had summoned. The path hence unsewn sank stone by stone, disappearing into the abysses.

     The waves began to fall back, mirroring the alchemist’s anger.

“Henox?”

     She kept her eyes fixed on where the sorcerer had stood, horrified by her own actions.

     Though horror soon gave way to stupor as water uncovered a rocky sphere. Until then undamaged, the rock cracked, crumbling away to reveal Henox. Perfectly unscathed. Perfectly able to cast Kemishi a smile, the corner of his mouth unveiling his teeth. Far from being as sharp as an animal’s. Though… they aroused the same feeling of unease.

     A sneer escaped him as he raised his head to stare at her.

“Did you really think you’d be able to cause me any harm with such an attack? I’m sure you’re capable of better than that.”

“No, it’s not what I wanted, I just wanted…”

“To kill me? To silence me? If it shows one thing, it’s that I was right.”

“Don’t you think that it’s enough, me knowing that myself?” Kemishi clenched her fists. “Why do you feel compelled to rub sand into the wound?”

“Well, well, you’re shaking.” Henox moved forward on what was left of the walkway. “Let me ask you a question. The person you’re trying to save, is it really Lennac? Wouldn’t it be you in truth?”

“What?”

     He stopped on the edge, stone scraps breaking off and falling into the water.

“This sense of guilt, you want to get rid of. But as long as Lennac will be ill, you can’t forgive yourself what you did. It gnaws at you, it infuriates you. You’re well aware that he’ll live longer than what the world may offer him, yet you persist. The reason is, if the illness that is his doesn’t disappear, then until the very end you’ll continue hating yourself.”

     She didn’t answer.

     Instead of it, gouts of water ascended from the surface, shaping into a gigantic snake. With its tail it tried to sweep the sorcerer away.

     Vain attempt, because an enormous hand covered with crystals arose from the cave’s ceiling to grab the aqueous tail. Crushing it in a strong blow.

“You’re truly easy to understand. If you want to startle your opponent, don’t make the moment you attack that obvious.”

“Oh, so you think you understand everything about me?”

     From behind Henox, a second water snake had arisen taking advantage of his attention being focused elsewhere to close its jaw on him and pounce with its prey against the cave’s walls.

“To understand me, you would need a heart.”

     The shock sent rocks flying along with splatters of water that had so far formed the snake’s head.

     Mid-closing her eyes, Kemishi sighed.

“Strange…” His voice raised from behind her. “An alchemist should know that a living being necessarily have a beating heart.”

     Jumping, Kemishi turned around to recoil.

“How had you…?”

     The ground gave way beneath her feet.

     Unbalanced, she fell backward.

     A quick glance allowed her to catch sight of stone pikes piercing the rock.

     As she was about to get impaled, Kemishi narrowly managed to clutch the pikes, using it as a support to accomplish a somersault, landing on her feet.

     There wasn’t room for hesitation.

     A moment was enough for claws to break through her shoes, thickening… until bluish feathers grew along her legs, becoming a bird’s ones.

     Straightaway, Kemishi rushed on the stalagmites she shattered into pieces with a powerful leg’s blow. Finding herself facing Henox, she launched a series of attacks with furious velocity, pounding the sorcerer without giving him a respite, forcing him to step back.

“You can’t keep yourself from doing it! You make everything ugly!”

     She turned around so she could give more impact to her side offensive, a straight leg extended towards his neck.

“Lennac isn’t an impediment! I changed, thank to him!”

“Change? People don’t change that easily.”

     Though before the blow struck him, Henox had stopped it barehanded.

“We can always pretend to. Though, what is the truth?”

     With both his hands he seized Kemishi’s leg and sent her flying through the cave. Bumping into the wall in full force, Kemishi coughed up blood.

     As she was about to fall back and get submerged, she just barely caught hold of a rough edge. The front of her body hitting the wall, she grabbed onto it with both hands.

“Ghhh…”

     She glanced below.

“If I fall, it’s over…”

     To disappear beneath the waters now? When could she expect to reappear? Probably not in time. It was out of the question to let the slightest probability to this prospect.

     That’s why leaning one of her legs against the wall, she suddenly released her hold while her leg propelled her backward, allowing her to hover over the water.

     A blue halo illuminated her body, covering up with feathers. The tunnel’s width didn’t allow her to, but here she would have enough space. Anyway, she didn’t have the luxury of choosing.

     Her body was mushrooming, wings spreading from both sides before revealing an immense bird with elegant features.

     Beating her wings, Kemishi began to fly briskly towards Henox when a noise caught her attention. Above them, the rocks were crumbling from the ceiling, threatening to tumble.

“Our fight had weakened the cave’s structure… If we keep on, everything is going to collapse.”

     But if a landslide happened… if the cave got buried in the rubble, where would she find the stone she needed to allow Lennac retrieve some strength? If she couldn’t at least prepare him that simple remedy then his body would never last, even until the end of the world.

     If she did nothing, he would soon die. Then, she wouldn’t need to take care of him any more. Gone these days spent doing researches that probably wouldn’t ever come to fruition. She would at last be able to let behind her this cumbersome human whose presence only reminded her of her remorse. Such an absurd life, while freedom would be so simple to grasp. Bury her mistakes, write a new page.

     Really?

     Really? Was it this way she perceived things?

“Lennac…”

     Massive chunks of rock were about to come off when the water-feathered phœnix flew straight to the ceiling. Clinging to a steady part with her claws, Kemishi pressed her wings against the ceiling.

     Yes. It was a desperate move.

     But despair was the greatest strength she had left.

     Some rubble escaped her, without it being too significant. Her wings were shaking, but she could hold on. A moment. Another one.

     Anything, as long as she had something to cling to.

     Was the sorcerer going to take advantage of it to attack her? She didn’t have the time to glance backward that the steady section of rock she’d been grasping gave way in turn, taking her down along.

     The rocks’ falling around her hindered her moves. Flapping her wings was impossible for her.

     And then she recalled the day she met Lennac, the day she brought him at the bottom of the lake, to the words he had addressed to her. The expression he had at this moment.

     That ingenuous smile. That dumb smile.

     A weak laugh crossed Kemishi’s beak.

     These were the smiles owned by people with a simple heart, too generous for their own good. These people died faster than they should.

“Lennac… Forgive me.”

     The water’s surface rippled.

“I failed to save you.”

     Her eyes closed while she left stray tears in her wake. Underwater, it wouldn’t even be possible for her to cry.

***

I saw his lips move to shape words that held no meaning. Was it war which had driven him mad?

“Have you gone out of your mind… You’re bloody stupid.”

“That’s possible. But I’m happy I’d been able to love you. I never felt that… such a soft warm.”

     Fool… I felt something tighten inside me, a burden. A discomfort. What had compelled me to act like this? Ah yes…

     Because it’s what undines do.

     He was a mere man. He was a mere prey. His name, his thoughts, his feelings… I didn’t mind. We ddin’t belong to the same world.

“Thank you.”

     Fool… Fool… Fool…

…

     Lennac! Lennac, don’t die!!

***

At the moment she was supposed to hit the water and become irremediably bound to it that was, however, a rough and dry surface she collided with.

     Not understanding, Kemishi opened her eyes to behold the rocks stuck in the air, floating on the spot. She raised her head only to realise she had crashed in the hollow of the hand of a dark stone giant. The latter leant forward, and with its free hand it collected the rocks one by one so it could replace them at the ceiling. As if it was reshaping a simple puzzle.

     Feeling lost, the alchemist observed the scene with an amazed look. The relief she felt at this moment had blown the remainder of her feelings like a dandelion.

     Reaching out its hand to the embankment to place the phœnix over there, the golem gathered instead the stones in the palm of his hand, straightening so it could finish to reassemble the ceiling.

     Once facing the sorcerer, she stood still.

     Her feathering casting bluish reflections all around.

“Attacking before reaching out. How clueless can you be?”

     A pause.

“You weren’t misleading. All of this, I do it for myself. I would do anything to save him… because the thought that he may die before I do terrifies me.”

“Committing crimes may happen to anyone, I think so.” He shrugged. “Instead of losing your time to gnaw at your soul, sometimes you have to resign yourself to acc-”

     Before he could finish, the phœnix surged forward in a flutter of wings, knocking down Henox while keeping a claw on his chest.

“But the reason isn’t the one you’re thinking about.” Kemishi calmly resumed. “Of course, I feel guilty for making him sick. It would be a lie to say it doesn’t give me nightmares.”

     As she was speaking, Kemishi took back her human form. However keeping her claws.

“But my desire to heal him goes beyond. I simply want to see him happy and in good health. Once I have healed him, we will be guiltless. At last, I would be able to let him go…”

     Frowning, Henox couldn’t help but wonder if the poor thing was aware of the inconsistency of the words leaving the threshold of her lips. Did she randomly choose a blending of words?

     Her sincerity seemed blatant.

     A gift she had maybe.

“If you value this much his company why do you consider quitting him?”

“That’s simple. Someone who harmed him that much doesn’t deserve to stand by his side.”

     Kemishi leant further forward, overhanging Henox with her weight on the claw pressed against his chest.

“A person’s heart is far more complicated than you seem to think. Maybe now you’ll be able to understand me better. Maybe you’ll need more time. To be fair, I don’t care. What I would like is to understand who I am dealing with. Let’s play on a level playing field. Each one conceals a part of himself, and I showed you mine.” She mid-closes her eyes. “And you, what do you hide behind your mask?”