Side effects

"Seven shards. Seven towers. Seven great cities," Pacificia said. "That was how the world was before all this madness."

Natalia followed her, with Black following them closely behind. That was what she called him now; Shadow sounded way too ominous.

Pacificia turned back. "I didn't believe it when I saw your hair, but it seems you have the blood."

Natalia knew she was talking about the fire, but she didn't know anything else. She wanted to know more. "You've talking gibberish till the time I brought Black to you. Things about color, towers, cities, and now, you say something is wrong with my blood."

Pacificia gave out a laugh. "Oh, child. There is nothing wrong with your blood. It just means you're special. You have the blood of a guardian In you – A guardian of chroma."

Natalia was again confused. "Again with difficult words. Can you start from the beginning?" she had to know, even if she didn't want to. She was part of something even if she didn't want any part of it, and more than that, she wanted to forget that her mother had died.

But she was not sad, not as much as she hoped she would be.

Pacificia stopped walking. "Do you know the state we are in, or even the name of the continent?"

Natalia frowned. "It's Dark Lands, I know that much."

Pacificia sighed. "This is going to be a long talk."

But before the talk, they would need food, and in the dark lands, food was scarce. They walked amongst shriveled trees, hoping to find some fruit. But all they found was some bushels of berries. And for meat . . . Pacificia looked stressed. "I guess I have to kill my rats again."

There were no trees for them to take shelter, and luckily they found a cave. "No fire," Pacificia warned. "They will be looking for him now."

Natalia didn't know when the old woman had packed, but she had a knife and a canteen for water with her. "This is the only water we've for the time being she said." And then, she started to speak.

Pacificia signaled the girl to come closer, and when she did, she pulled a strand of hair without her asking. "Hey," Natalia covered her head.

"Relax. It's not like I shaved you bald. Now where were we?" she adjusted her seating position. "Ah yes, this my child, is red."

"I get that. What's so special about it?"

"There are six more like this."

Natalia remembered how Black took down the blight men, and how those lights scattered from the fists. "Big deal, they make stuff look different. What else is there to it?"

"That's where you are wrong, girl. It has got to do with everything.

"You may have noticed it now, but when those flames escaped your fingers, didn't you notice that something was missing?"

Natalia's eyes widened. "From the look of your face," Pacificia threw away the strand of hair. "I guess you did. That's what I meant, girl. The colors not only define the way we perceive the world, but how our emotions play around it."

"So that means?"

"That every time you burst out those flames, you will lose a part of yourself. In your case, you being a Flamebearer, you will lose a memory where you felt love."

Natalia fiddled with her fingers. She felt she was strong now, being able to burn monsters. Being able to protect herself. But now, she learns that she must be careful. Or else, the few good memories she had of her life would fade away.

"In fact, there are other symptoms due to over usage," Pacificia continued. "Delirium, paranoia, lack of empathy, frostbite, etc..."

Natalia felt she would laugh. "No wonder we all lost against those monsters."

"It wasn't always like this," Pacificia shook her head. "Near the towers, these symptoms were minimal, most of the times non-existent. But when he came, it all changed."

"He?"

"He calls himself The Plague. No one knows from where he came, or why he is doing all this. But his powers, they were different from the seven – and deadly. Small good does it do against boils if you could raise some waves?"

Natalia couldn't believe her ears. "What?"

"Oh, girl. You haven't seen anything yet," she smiled. "For now, let's get some rest. And hope that the monsters won't bite off our necks in sleep."

The night was cold, and inside the cave, it was colder. But Natalia was thankful that the monsters didn't find them. She recalled all the things she remembered while she lit the monsters on fire. "It's all still there," she felt relieved.

Black was still by the opening of the cave as if he was standing guard. It seemed he needed no sleep, and neither he felt hunger nor thirst. In a way, he felt closer to the blight men in nature.

Natalia went and sat by his side. "Who are you?" she looked at him curiously.

Black looked silently in the distance. "Still can't talk, huh?" Natalia stood up and walked back, while Black sat there – silent as a statue.

"Who am I?" he wondered.

He still didn't know what he was. He wondered why he was following these two. For now, it was the only thing that he could do. There was one thing that bugged him. The black face that he saw when he touched those monsters – the face that looked like his; who was he?

Morning came and after a meal of boiled rats and berries, they were off. Natalia was still wondering about last night. She was still tired from sleep and travel, but more than that, she wanted to take her mind off things. "Say," she asked Pacificia. "How does Black fit in all this?"

Natalia noticed the old woman's brows were tight. "I'm sorry I ate him," she was speaking to air.

"Hey," Natalia snapped her fingers. "Have you finally gone cuckoo?"

Her eyes snapped back. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I went on a daze. Must be because of age," she smiled.

But perhaps, it was not age after all.