Chapter 2 — Burned Bodies and Mother's Eye

It was very painful at first and I can't stop shouting and kneeling on the ground. Voices were trying to calm me down but I focused on the pain more. In my right eye, it was as if something was carved in it. Pricked by something sharp and it hurts so much I wanted to cry!

"Princess, tell me what's wrong?" Lumin asked beside me. I forced my eyes to open and suddenly, colorful flowers bursts in front of me. And Lumin's voice was gone! I heard shouts around me and when I turned to face them, my vision was filled with flowers, birds, butterflies in all types of colors. They splattered everywhere in my sight and the noise grew louder each second. I can hear children's voice, too, and when I search for them, they're gone! Only the large butterflies, the rainbow-colored flowers, the unique small birds with colorful flapping wings filled my sight. I was breathing hard until I can hear nothing anymore. No cries, no voices. Completely nothing!

"L-Lumin?" My body shook uncontrollaby as I stepped above the scattered colorful trashes. It looks really good in the eye but why does it feel so wrong? I yelped when I tripped over something. I stumbled to the ground and gasped when my eyes stung again.

Trembling, I covered my right eye and what I saw next totally threw me out of sanity!

I shrieked and covered my mouth. Then the colorful plaza was back! What is wrong with me?! What happened here?!

"Lumin, please answer me! Johanssen?! Where are you both?! I'm afraid now!"

I looked everywhere but I can't see anyone. I sobbed and stood up again.

"Please don't play with me! Johanssen! Lumin! I want to go home! Please!? Show yourselves!"

But what only answered me was the echoing of my voice. My crying intensified and I can't think straight now. I watched my hands again. When I covered my eye with my hand, I saw something horrible!

I couldn't see it clearly because I was afraid, but...what was that? What are those things?

Gathering all my courage, I slowly covered my right eye again. And in an instant, the colorful plaza was gone! It was replaced with bodies, lots of them! Burned, bleeding inside the flesh, unrecognizable! I was shaking to the bones as I turned around. Piled bodies were everywhere, all that's left are the decorations and stuffs. The people... They were all burned dead around me! I couldn't take in the gore scene anymore and I frantically stumbled to the ground, hugging my knees thightly.

They're all gone and dead and I don't know why but the fact that I am the only one alive here in the plaza, makes me think I've killed them all!

But how? How can I? Is my eye did something about this?! Is there a reason why all I can see are colorful things and when I cover my right eye, I can see dead bodies? What is wrong with me? Is this... Is this black magic?! Am I cursed? Did I really killed them all?!

The thoughts even made me whimper and felt cold. I'm sorrounded by dead bodies and two of them are Lumin's and Johanssen's! I don't know what to do now. I felt like sanity is going to leave me.

I stiffened when I heard horses approaching. Then, I heard Cassio's voice. He's calling me!

"Stop! D-Don't go near me, Cassio!" I panicked and tried my best not to open my eyes.

"Princess Ciara, are you okay? W-What happened here?"

I bit my lip and hugged my knees tighter. "I don't know! Can you see them, too? Are they all really dead?"

"Princess, tell me what's wrong? Stand up and look at me-"

"I can't, Cassio! When my eyes started to hurt, this happened! They were all dead and burned! E-Even Lumin and Johanssen! So please, I don't want to hurt you, Cassio! Go away from me!"

"Princess, let me help you. Tell me, what exactly happened?" His voice is calm now and near me.

I sobbed again. "I don't know... I was about to get food in the table. Then, my eyes stung. My right eye always stung! Then when a woman approached me, she screamed and I see colorful smoke going out of her body... Then, I looked around me and I can see no one. Just flowers... And birds... Butterflies..."

I cried once again when I remembered Lumin. She's just somewhere beside me but I can't recognize her now! Nor my friend, Johanssen! I killed them all!

"Commander! No explanation would best suit the situation other than black magic!" One soldier shouted from afar.

"Quiet!" Cassio hissed. "Princess, tell me more about it. What happened next?"

I stifled a sob. "I covered my right eye and suddenly, the colors were gone. And I saw what's really happened here! Tell me, it's not what I saw, Cassio! Tell me I'm just hallucinating!"

Cassio didn't answer for a while. "Go back to the castle and tell the king of what happened!"

"Yes, Commander!"

"M-My father will be furious! He will despise me! All this time, he was keeping a witch in our family! A killer!"

"You're not a witch, Your Highness! You said, your vision can see reality when you cover your other eye?"

"Y-Yes."

"Then, I have a solution and please bear with me because anytime soon, the townspeople will come for you and we won't like that."

I cried loudly again. "Maybe it's better to leave me here... I deserve their rage! Might as well I die! I killed the people of Lamacre and my death is not even worth i-"

"Your Highness, stop!" He shouted. "Until we don't know how this all started, you're not going to die, understand?! Now, close your eyes and I'll come to you! I'll put a blindfold in your eyes and mount you in my horse so we can go back to the palace now!"

"The townspeople are coming!" Another voice informed.

I stiffened when I felt large hands in my shoulders. "Let's go home, Princess. Don't worry, we'll sort everything once we go back to the palace."

I couldn't agree nor say anything. I'm too shocked to do so. But Cassio executed his plan. I felt a rough fabric wrapped around my head. Although it covers my eyes, I still didn't opened them of fear that I might inflict harm again through it.

He carried me and I can't help but snuggle closer to him and cried harder.

"Don't be afraid, Your Highness. Believe in yourself. You didn't mean to do this so don't blame yourself..."

But with all the blood and burned bodies, it's hard to not to blame myself. As hard to believe this all happened. The people that I loved were now gone...

*

Cassio grasped my waist and lifted me so I can ride the horse. I touched the fabric on my eyes and a sob escaped my lips. I felt Cassio mounted, too. His body was pressed against my back, his arms were sorrounding me.

"Princess, hold this." He led my hand to a rope and I grabbed it tightly. Then, he ordered everyone to go. I was crying as he maneuvered the horse. I still can't get it out of my mind.

The wind rushed around me throughout our travel. After several minutes, I heard the opening of the gates and the horse eventually stopped.

"We're here, Princess."

"Ciara!" Father's voice boomed through my ears and that made me cry even more. Cassio helped me climb down the horse and immediately I was wrapped with a warm embrace.

"Father!"

"What happened, Ciara?! Are you okay?!"

"I-I'm not okay... I killed them... I killed them all!"

"Your Highness, we better talk about this inside." I heard Elias said.

My father assisted me as we went inside the palace. I can hear him, Cassio, and Elias talking about the possible explanation how this all happened. Cassio filled them in with details that I couldn't do because of my quivering.

"One of the soldiers believes that this is caused by Black Magic your Majesty. Tho, there is a possibility that what happened might be caused by terrorism, too."

"I-It's not terrorism!" I uttered. "There's no need to look at any angles because I also believe that this is black magic. Everything that I saw, I attest to that. Father, I killed all those people but I don't know how. It all started when my right eye began to hurt so much!"

"Ciara, don't say that again. You didn't kill them."

"Perhaps not intentionally but technically, I did. I won't deny that, I'm not afraid to deny that. I am so guilty I just wanted the people to take my life, too!"

My crying was uncontrollable and they didn't say anything. I touched my right eye again, under the fabric. "I know, I'm the reason why they died. But there's one thing I want to know Father. How? How can my eye kill someone? Am I cursed? Am I... a witch? Black Magics came from witches, right? Perhaps-"

"Your Majesty, my men said that people of Lamacre are chaotic in the plaza. Rumors also spread 'til the nearby towns and they believe that Princess Ciara is to be blamed and put in trial immediately." I heard Cassio said. "Some people are outside and forcing their way in."

"Your Majesty," Elias interrupted. "I have a cousin and he's a mage during the times of Black Magic. I can summon him for help."

"Then, make him come here as soon as possible. We need to know what Ciara's situation is. Cassio, please accompany her to her room and have her guarded. I want you to be in-charge of her while we settle everything."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

I felt another embrace and a kiss on my head. "Don't worry, my princess. Everything will be fine."

I heard their footsteps going away. I bit back my sob and sighed shakily. Then, I felt large hands on my elbow.

"Your Highness, we should go to your room."

I nodded and Cassio guided me towards the noisy hallways. I can hear the soldiers marching back and forth, giving orders and whatnots. This morning, it wasn't like this. Hiwnit happened so fast felt surreal!

"Cassio?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Do you... Do you think this is really Black Magic? Do you think I'm cursed?"

"I'm not sure, Princess. But most likely, it is."

I smiled sadly. This is no doubt what everyone is thinking. No matter how they deny it, I know it's the truth. But Black Magic had been gone for years. It vanished and left the Nations in peace. What is this? How can I have this?

When we reached my room, Cassio said that I need to change my clothes and he'll just wait outside and call me if I'm done. I sighed and nodded and the doors of the bathroom locked. Slowly, I untied the fabric covering my eyes. They were shut tightly and after gathering my strength, I slowly opened them.

I expected to see something weird but nothing happened like that. I can see normally. I'm in my wide, bright bathroom. There's a mirror in one corner and cautiously, I went there.

I gasped when I saw my right eye. It was different! I walked closer to the mirror and a tear fell when I noticed that it has changed. The once light green eyes that I had has changed into a golden one. My fingers lifted to touch it. It's real because it hurts!

Golden eye sorrounded with white lines and it's pupil... I moved closer to the mirror to see my dilating pupil. I can't believe it has lots of colors! They're moving, as if dancing in that little space. It looks alive!

I scrambled away from the mirror, covering my right eye. I can't believe what I saw! My eye changes colors. What does this mean? Is this really a curse? Or a witch's doing?

But why? Of all eyes, why does it have to be similar with my mother's eye? I always thought that her eyes, although I haven't seen it actually, are beautiful. Because people say so! But now that I know it caused the death of many lives, having her eyes are giving me goosebumps!

I stared up at the mirror again, staring at my own reflection. My other eye remained in it's original color, though. What does it mean? Did I inherited something from my mother? Something that has to do with black magic?

I haven't known her aside from father's stories. She was an enigmatic woman that visited the town of Lamacre. No one knows where she came from nor my father. But he married her because he fell for her.

But...what if my mother was not really normal? By any chance, is she a witch? And as her child... I inherited the witch's blood?

Can all of this be possible? Can I really be witch?! Am I cursed or am I capable of making curses myself?