Heritage

I was running. The forest was dark and the branches of the trees leered over me, tearing through my kimono and hair. My hands hurt and I glanced down at my hands. They were completely burned and raw. The pain was numb but at the same time, it felt just too much to bear. I could smell the smoke in the air as I fled from the burning building. I gasped when I ran into someone.

“It’s alright. Ssh…”

I trusted him so I hugged him. The figure cradled me gently as voices surrounded us and he carried me away. He put me down after a while and crouched down. I couldn’t see his face clearly as he cradled my hands in his and pressed a pair of cold lips onto the raw skin. I noticed that his skin was blue which struck me as both odd and intriguing. He ran his hand across my burns again.

“It’s going to be alright, Zelda. Once you’re safe, we’ll tend to your burns, I promise. You’ll be safe.”

“Mama…” my mouth moved by itself.

A cool pair of lips pressed themselves to my forehead and those cold hands ran themselves through my ruined hair.

“I’m sorry, Zelda, I really am. But don’t worry. She’s in a better place now.”

He embraced me tightly before picking me up and running off again. I clutched onto him, burying my face into his growing hair. I felt safe, I was going to be alright. But the feeling of security was short-lived. We were attacked, voices were raised.

“Zelda, run!”

I ran. I ran through the dark forest as I heard the sounds of swords clashing one another and magic being cast. I could hear hooves galloping and ran faster. I ran until I tripped over and realised that I had reached an old looking building. I reached to pull the cord of the bell that hung above me and everything went black…

I woke up to raised and panicked voices below me. I sat up and spotted the spirit woman glaring through the gaps of the floorboards and saw Zack’s office’s light was on with Zack and someone else. Zack had his face in his hands by his desk and I could just see the long dark green hair of his guest. I felt a bit more cautious when I realised that he had grey skin. This man wasn’t human.

“You do realise that your plans will have to change dramatically now that you know you’ve failed in converting the young elf and you’ve lost her?” his voice drawled, making my spine shiver.

“It just doesn’t make sense!” Zack sounded inferior to the other “I gave her lessons on being a normal human girl, I taught her how to apply make-up, I convinced her to take better care of her appearance and she’s been getting nothing but my undivided attention. She should have succumbed, my plan should have worked.”

“Are you quite sure that she’s only been getting views on humans from you?” the man leaned across the desk and I saw Zack’s hesitant gaze “No other supernaturals have made contact with her since she’s been in your care?”

“No, my colleagues and I had influenced her,” Zack nodded “I assure you, she was raised as a normal human girl.” An impatient growl left the other’s lips as he turned away from Zack.

“I told you to kill her when you first found her but you ignored my advice,” he hissed “I may not be the best but my advice does tend to work if followed.”

“I needed a beautiful girl to wed Johnathan’s son,” Zack explained and I felt my stomach churn when I pictured the snobbish character that was the offspring of Johnathan, Zack’s financial advisor.

“You chose to adopt her at the wrong time, the best time to ever influence a child is when they are five years of age,” the man turned on the spot to face Zack “That rule applies to all races.”

“But I thought she was dead when she was five,” Zack argued feebly.

“Then you should have killed her when you had the chance!” the man snapped irritably, making Zack wince “You wanted to wipe out the elf race, you should have killed Zelda right away! She is the light for the elf race, you need to snuff it out!” My eyes widened when a cold breeze blew through the attic from a window that had been left ajar. The pink petals moved with the breeze, one slipping through the floorboards before I could snatch it. I watched in horror as it fluttered down the office and the man spotted it. He snatched it with two clawed fingers and breathed it in thoughtfully. He snapped his head up and I could tell by the ethereal glare in his eyes, this man was definitely not human. He didn’t even look like he belonged on Ethylias.

“Ah-ha,” he grinned at me and held out a hand, beckoning me “It seems I have found your little princess, Zack.” The spirit woman gave me an alarmed glance and I stood from my place. “Come here, Zelda,” his voice crooned.

“Zelda, run!” the spirit woman hissed and I glanced at her.

“Where to?” I hissed back in a panic as I snatched my kimono up, shrugging it on hurriedly.

“Far to the east from here there is a palace in the forest, there should be a palace anyway,” she began giving instructions “Look for someone called Paradox, say that Zereria sent you.”

“Zereria…” I said carefully then nodded.

“Take care and whatever you do…” Suddenly a pentagram appeared beneath my feet and I shrieked in horror as everything disappeared around me and I was on the office floor. My heart thumped against my ribcage as my head spun from the sudden transportation. I stared up at the figure with wide eyes as he snatched my chin with his clawed fingers. I shivered as those nails dug deep into my skin.

“Do you really think I would let you flee so easily?” he purred as I heard Zack stand up with a surprised gasp. I shivered under his gaze and swallowed. Those startling green eyes stared down at me and I felt swallowed with envy. Envy? What could I be envious about? After a couple of moments, I felt my stomach churn when I realised why the feeling suddenly came to me. This was a demon.

“Who are you?” I croaked and he grinned.

“Cannabec, at your service,” he purred and licked his front teeth thoughtfully. I moved away from him, my back hitting the solid oak desk. He tilted his head curiously at me. “You must be hurting, Zelda.”

“Excuse me?” I croaked as I pressed my back against Zack’s desk.

“Your parents, ripped away from you,” Cannabec’s voice turned soft as he leaned in close enough for me to feel his breath on my face “Your race, threatened and endangered. All those chances of picking yourself up and starting a new life with a new family, ruined. And do you know why, Zelda?” I felt myself relax as Cannabec stood then pointed to Zack. “It was him!”

“What?” Zack spluttered as my heart lurched.

“Who went and personally slaughtered your poor family?” Cannabec hissed as I slowly looked up to see Zack’s shocked face of betrayal and disbelief “Zack did! Who discovered that you were still alive and squandered all your chances of having a new family so he could adopt you and make you think like a human? Zack Brodka! Who ordered for Vincent, Dune and Aura’s families to be killed? Zackary Julian Angelo Brodka!” I stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes when he mentioned Vincent, Dune and Aura and he snatched my chin again. “Oh yes, young Zelda. I have been watching you for a very long time now. I’ve been watching you very closely.”

“Get away, don’t touch me!” I screamed as I jerked out of his grip and ran for the door. I skidded to a halt as flames consumed the door and fell back to the floor, backing away from the hot and fiery wall.

“There’s no escape, young one,” Cannabec said and I heard his footsteps approaching me, my eyes fixated on the flames as I tried to control my breathing. I shuddered as his hands gripped my shoulders and a cold breath caressed my ear, my skin crawling with goose bumps. “Why are you running, Zelda?” he whispered into my ear, I could barely feel his warm tongue touching my earlobe “Don’t you want to get back at Zack? Don’t you want to avenge your parents? Don’t you want revenge?” The temptation of burning Zack alive was there at the back of my mind, I won’t deny it. But I closed my eyes and focused on what was right. Yes, he killed my family, if that really was true. But killing Zack will not bring back my family nor pleasure to me. I lifted my head and regarded Cannabec behind my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t mind revenge,” I whispered and lured Cannabec in front of me “I wouldn’t mind avenging my parents’ death.”

“Yes, Zelda,” Cannabec crooned as he curled two fingers under my chin, his nails nearly digging into my skin “I can give you revenge, I can help you get back at Zack. I’ll help you restore your race, help you make supernaturals feel welcome in Aurallion. I can do anything for you.”

“Anything?” I whispered and leaned in to Cannabec.

“Anything that you desire,” he said. I lifted a hand to cup his cold grey cheek.

“For so long, I haven’t been able to picture my family because I lost all my memories of them,” I whispered and my eyes brimmed with tears.

“Aw, I know,” Cannabec purred as he cupped my cheek in turn. I suppressed a shiver of repulse and sniffed softly.

“You will really do anything that I ask of you?” I whimpered and widened my eyes pleadingly.

“You only need to say it and I shall do it for you,” his grin grew wider as I sighed and closed my eyes.

“Get out of my face.” As quick as I could, I retreated my arm into the sleeve of my kimono and whipped my fan out to slash across Cannabec’s face. He let out an inhumane screech and I jumped back to my feet, jumping away and landing onto Zack’s desk. I glanced back at my guardian, he was cowering in the corner pathetically. I felt my lips turn into a sneer. He enlisted help from a demon in the first place, this was his problem.

“You little ingrate!” Cannabec screeched and charged at me. I whipped my second fan out but it felt like a pretty redundant when Cannabec’s hand was engulfed by green flames and he revealed a slim blade. I retreated warily briefly before jumping out of the way and he sliced the desk in half. I stumbled from my landing, knocking into a bookcase and stared as he slid his blade out of the desk and stared at me with his burning gaze. “You have nowhere to run, Zelda,” he purred and held his blade up to me “I would be a generous demon if I was not powered by the sin of envy. I am going to kill you.”

“I am not afraid of you,” I said even when my blood was running cold from Cannabec’s mere presence “You may kill me but it will take a lot more than that to drag my soul into Hell.” He smirked at me, he could see me trembling. I glanced at the window and took a deep breath. “I pity you,” I spoke as he raised his blade “Being powered by envy? That has to be the weakest sin to be powered by.” My plan to anger him didn’t work as he smirked.

“You’d be surprised by how many humans fall to the power of envy.” He turned over to the cowering Zack and advanced towards him. “Those who truly feel envious of their friends, others who have achieved so much and so many other petty reasons. They beg for my assistance, prey for me, see me as God…”

“Only a demon would dare say that,” I commented as I moved myself carefully in line with the window. I froze and spotted the bookcases, a handful of books had fallen onto the floor after I had stumbled into them. I crouched and carefully picked up a particularly heavy book.

“Zack had dreams, you know,” Cannabec continued speaking with his back to me as he snatched Zack’s chin “But he needed power. Vampires, werewolves and elves like yourself were in his way. So what better way than to get rid of the races.”

“And there would be more humans,” I said as I withdrew my fans into the sleeves of my kimono, carefully weighing the book in my hands then picking another heavy book “The majority of humans are known to hold weak minds. You will reap more souls if you can lure more humans into the seven deadly sins.”

“I really must say, you’re a very smart girl, Zelda,” Cannabec turned and grinned widely at me.

“Yes, and you’ve just been outsmarted,” I said before throwing one of the books into his face. Cannabec cried out as the corner of the book hit him in the eye and I snatched another heavy book, throwing them as hard as I could at the window. The window cracked, making the glass weaker. I charged with all my might as Cannabec dropped to his knees and began healing up his eye. I smashed through the window and closed my eyes, focusing on a safe place. I needed to be anywhere but here. As I fell, I felt the petals graze across my body until I received a very soft landing. There was a surprised groan as thousands of petals fell and blanketed the room. I sat up as surprised mewls sounded in the room and glanced at the basket in the corner.

“Zelda…?” the figure next to me sat up in the bed “Ugh…” Aura yawned loudly and a couple of petals fluttered into his mouth. He spat them out then glanced over to me with tired pink eyes. His beautiful golden hair was ruffled and I paused briefly to admire this scruffy yet adorable look. “How…when…what?” he murmured sleepily and rubbed his eyes. I got up and brushed myself down. Petals fluttered out of my kimono sleeves and I shook myself out to get rid of the petals that were stuck. I can’t wait to learn how to not summon so many petals when I teleport.

“I’m sorry but complications arose,” I said as Aura rubbed his eyes again then continued staring at me in surprise “Aura, we need to leave.”

“What…why? Is this a dream?” Aura mumbled and I marched across the room to pick up the basket of Nekaroses.

“No, Aura, I’m sorry for dropping in on you like this,” I apologized “But we really need to leave.”

“To where? What about Dune?” Aura yawned and stretched his arms out. He slumped against the headboard of the bed sleepily.

“Dune…it’ll have to wait,” I sighed and shook my head “Come on, Aura! Snap out of it!” I rushed forward and snapped my fingers in front of his face to get him more awake. “We need to head to the eastern forest, we should be safe there for a while.” Aura blinked blankly and yawned.

“Zelda, it’s the middle of the night,” he whined and buried himself underneath the covers of the bed again.

“No, it’s near to dawn and I’ve got a demon on my tail. Get up!” After placing the basket of the Nekarose family, I shoved Aura out of the bed. Aura grunted as he landed on the petal covered floor and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

“What do you mean you’ve got a demon on your tail?” he grumbled as he got up onto his feet.

“I mean that my guardian was under the influence of an envy powered demon named Cannabec and now he’s after me because I know why they want to wipe out the supernatural races,” I explained while picking the basket up.

“Wait, did you say Cannabec?” Aura seemed alarmed but at least he was awake properly. I nodded and he rushed to pull one of his new shirts on with the shorts he was already wearing. I felt a bit wary at his sudden haste. “Do you know who he is?” he hissed and slipped some shoes on.

“An envy powered demon?” I raised an eyebrow “I’m sorry, Aura but I don’t know that much about demons and angels.”

“His power is from the sin of envy but he’s the top of his rank!” Aura hissed and nearly slipped over the petals “He is one of Satan’s Seven Sons. He created envy.” I nearly let the basket slip out of my grip as he regained his footing but soon slipped again and fell on the bed. I had angered one of the most powerful demons ever known. I don’t know any stories about Satan’s Sons but from Aura’s sudden panic, I realised that we were in serious trouble. I swallowed harshly then shook my head.

“We should be fine then!” I whispered as I shifted the basket into a more comfortable position for me to carry “If he really is Satan’s Son then he should be here by now! He might not be so interested in killing me after all!”

“Zelda, Cannabec may be the youngest of the sons but he is cunning. How do you know you’re not falling into a trap?”

“Just trust me!” I begged Aura and gripped his hand “We need to leave Aurallion now!”

“But what about Dune?”

“Dune can take care of himself. We don’t have time and I don’t know where he lives.” Aura hesitated and nodded warily.

“So where are we going?” he asked and I brushed some petals off the Nekarose basket.

“I’ve been told to find a palace in the far eastern forest,” I explained “We’re looking for someone called Paradox.” I took Aura’s hand and squeezed it. We stared at each other for a while before I spoke. “Don’t worry, trust me. I know what I’m doing.” He stared me in the eye then squeezed back, nodding.

“I trust you,” was all I needed to hear to lead him out of the apartment.