Sweetness

She really was growing tired walking along in this narrow rocky passage. Maybe that’s why she was thinking so much of the past.

Her heart might be missing, and she might not feel much, or she might not feel anything until later. But the pain was still there, her chest still ached, eyes still wetted, even if there was a disconnect between herself and the emotions. Her body felt the sadness in place of her heart.

She took a seat and rested her eyes. Her head leaned against the wall. She wished that dreams would overtake her and relieve her of this never-ending narrow path, but the only reprieve she found was in the darkness of her closed eyes and the wondering thoughts of her mind.

There was a sound. It was so faint she almost missed it. She hadn’t heard it over the sound of her echoing footsteps, but now that she was still, it echoed softly through the stone walls.

The Witch spun her head around, trying to locate the sound. It was coming from ahead. Rising again, she followed the sound, passing intersections. It was the sound of trickling water. The path was going up.

She came to a large cave. The air was pure with mana, and the walls and floors covered with mana plants. A small stream flowed through the room from a small hole near the ceiling. Where the water flowed, mana plants grew.

The water streamed onto the floor in a small pool in one area and exited the cave through another hole on the ground. It was faint, but the room smelled sweet, sickly sweet.

On her arm, the Witch noted down the location of the room with a flower symbol. If the others used up all the mana plants they found in the first room, they would be able to use the ones here.

Eager to find other mana plants and the water source, the Witch left the cave, following the direction of the water. If she could find the water, perhaps there would be a way to grow the mana plants themselves or bring a live one back to Bluejoy.

The path continued to go up at a slight angle. Before long, her thoughts wondered back to her past again, and all the death she had seen. The most recent person she saw die was before Bluejoy took her seat.

That person was a Candidate who was vying for the empty Seat of the Blue Rose.

The Candidate had been an apprentice of the previous Elderly Blue Rose. The aging Blue Rose had known death was coming for her frail body. However, she had left for this world before revealing her choices of successors to the Circle.

There had not been many apprentices. Over the years, some misfortune had befallen them, and where there had been seven apprentices, only three had been left by the time the elderly Blue Rose died.

It was not normal. Those apprentices either left of their own free will or were injured to the point where they couldn’t be witches anymore. No evidence of foul play was found.

As with tradition, all remaining apprentices could apply for candidacy for the empty seat.

All three of them applied, and all three were tested. Before half of the tests were finished, one of them failed, leaving two to continue.

Although it was not spoken nor was it the rule, White’s test was always last. The two made it to her test, and both passed. Even though White tested a witch’s character and virtue, her test was not foolproof.

While both passed White’s test, one of the candidates made her suspicious. However, she had no evidence. It was just a gut feeling. The Circle listened to White’s concern. Since both candidates were equally qualified, they decided to let the suspicious candidate go. The other witch became the Blue-To-Be.

However, before the Blue-To-Be had a chance to sit in her rightful place, she was found murdered by the other candidate that White was suspicion of.

The Candidate fled. The Rose Witches gave chase. It was a typical cliff scene by the time they caught up to the Candidate. Her crime was unforgivable.

Even with all the evidence pointed at her, the Candidate denied all wrongdoings. There was no choice but to force her into submission.

It was a very one-side fight. Magicked attacks were fired. The Candidate stubbornly fought back. In the end, she stumbled and fell off the cliff.

Below, jagged rocks reached up like sharp fingernails. Raging waters roared. Blood smeared all over one of the fingers, painting half of the rock red before the splashing water washed it away.

That was the last time anyone had ever seen the Candidate.

With the Blue Rose position once again empty, Whites suggested that any apprentices of the Rose Witches could apply. This time, the results were clear. Only one witch passed. It was Bluejoy. No one was harmed during the tests. It was a relief.

Even through faint memories, the White Rose could still remember the crown of blue roses being placed on the new Bluejoy’s head.

In the Rose Forest where the Circle made their home, there was a castle surrounded by rose bushes that bloomed all year round. Inside the castle, they arranged Seat of the Blue Rose on a dais for the celebratory day.

The Rose Witches and all their apprentices came to rejoice in the event, yet it was apparent that a veil of gloom covered the room. Everyone, including Bluejoy, remembered what had happened in his room only months ago. Even as Bluejoy walked up the dais, the White Rose couldn’t help but overlap Bluejoy’s figure with the dead Blue-To-Be.

In this very same room, the dead Blue-To-Be had also been beaming with excitement of being crowned. With a bright smile, the Blue-To-Be, not knowing she would die soon, had walked up the dais. Everyone had cheered and clapped. All the Rose Witch had stood at the front, giving the Blue-To-Be their blessings.

The Blue-To-Be ascended the steps but paused. It was a long pause, long enough for the Rose Witches to look at each other in question, wondering if the witch was alright.

Then, her body shuddered. Blood splayed out of her mouth in giant red plums, staining her blue chair red as she fell forward, only inches from her seat. She collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. When the Rose Witches rushed to her, she was crazed, her eyes wide and spinning. Blood sputtered out of her mouth as she coughed violently.

On the floor, the senior apprentices held off the swarming crowd.

The Blue-To-Be clutched her body in pain, begging them to kill her. The Rose Witches thought that if they sedated her, they would have enough time to find a cure to this affliction. However, before they could sedate the Blue-To-Be, the mana in her body spiraled out of control like a blizzard. The White Rose barely erected a shield around the Blue Witch before her body exploded.

Screams erupted all around. The more weak-hearted apprentices fainted. The weak-stomached retched. The calm ones paled.

Of all the ways that the White Rose had expected that she would see people die, this had not been one of them. Her first thought had been murder. She had scanned her eyes around the room. One person had been standing too still, too calm, with a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face. It had been the Candidate.

In the rising steep of the stone passageway, the White Rose realized that perhaps it was not a good idea to be reminiscing about such morbid memories when cramped by jagged walls on both sides. The darkness narrowness was doing something strange to her mind. She was thinking about death too much.

A sweet scent folded into the air. It held a ting of familiarity but was too faint to identify. The Witch looked at the markings on her arm. It had grown into a large mess like the roots of a tree. Her first marking started at the elbow, and the next mark would be at her wrist. She was running out of room.

The Witch followed the scent. As she got closer, she realized that the same smell from the stream fed the mana plants. The sickly-sweet air thickened as she spotted an opening up ahead. The Witch hurried her steps.

The Witch’s head spun from the saccharine sweetness. The sweetness made her nauseous but she couldn’t help but want to get closer like a moth to fire.

When the Witch broke into the clearing, she came to stand in a cave almost three times larger than the first mana plant room. There were monsters in the cave. They were hurt or old and moved sluggishly. No monsters paid her any mind. They did not kill each other as she had sometimes seen on her way down.

To her left, the other end of the cave, was a giant pool of red liquid. All the monsters waddled there.

The sweetness beckoned her from the red pool.

She suddenly felt thirsty and wanted a drink. She couldn’t take her eyes off crimson liquid. This room was filled with its scent.

She could taste it on her tongue, ever so sweet and quenching. The more she inhaled, the more she grew tranquil and sleepy. Wasn’t this what she wanted, to finally feel at peace?

Slowly, she approached the pool with unsteady feet. All she wanted now was to close her eyes and drown in this sweet relaxation that was sweeping through her body. Her eyes, so fixated on the red water, didn’t see the other monsters that took one lick of the water and plunged straight in.