To Me…

"Tell me, how do you plead?" Mateo Diverso spoke with confidence, yet all he received in response was the gentle rustling of leaves carried by the summer breeze.

"Nothing?" he asked again, hoping for a satisfying play.

But not a single note or murmur escaped Karyan's lips.

'Ah, so this is how I die?' Karyan thought silently to himself while staring at the white clouds.

His hands were tied behind his back, with a strong spell that even the king couldn't escape. His long, dark green hair was laid back, away from his face.

The attire he used to wear was now long gone and swapped with prison clothes that were completely sealing his magic, so no snake tricks to escape this time.

'So this is really it…' he let out a long sigh before closing his eyes, 'it was a great life, after all…'

Seeing his childhood friend, the one he at first looked up to, completely given up, made Mateo's eyebrows furrow in anger.

"Pathetic!" he raised his voice. "Truly pathetic," he repeated his sentence one more time before waving his head to the executor.

"But before I go..." Karyan whispered, and Mateo's full attention was on him; he paused his hand.

"Before I go, remember this, Mateo... The snake curse I always talked about is real, and with me vanishing, the boy who will be born into your family will bring the end and chaos to the world." He whispered, so that Mateo could be the only one to hear it.

Mateo didn't take it seriously, as he thought that Karyan would say something else; he was waiting for begging.

"So…any last words at least?"

Karyan took a deep breath, calmly he replied, "fuck you…"

"Ptui!" Mateo spat near his bent knees.

"You're nothing, and your words don't intimidate me, 'peasant.'" Mateo growled while finally releasing his hand.

"Chaksch!"

A cold, sharp blade cut Karyan's head, and instead of red crimson blood, the crowd saw how green, like the same Summer's leaves, liquid came out from his body.

"Ttsscch, snakes..." Mateo sneered as he wiped his face from the blood that reached his skin.

It was supposed to be a story of Karyan, the one and only snake magic wielder, but it ended here; well, that's what they all at least thought.

~ 9 Months Later ~

"Weeh! Weeh! Weeh!"

"Shut him up!"

"I'm sorry, my lady, but the baby just won't stop crying."

"Then do something to make him stop!" Barbara yelled at her maid.

"I'm doing my best, my lady; he just won't stop..."

"Gosh..." Barbara gritted her teeth and stood up, slowly with her cherry-red curls falling down and reaching her back. "What about the other one; is he crying so much too?"

"No, my lady, the second baby is as silent as silent could be..." the maid assured her.

"Gosh!"

"Do you have a name for him?"

"I do..." Barbara stared at the baby with no personal emotions attached to him, no love, no guilt, no feeling of protectiveness, nothing like a mother should feel.

"Name him Karlin..."

"What a beautiful name," the maid smiled. "And what about the second boy?"

Barbara paused for a minute, remembering all the insults that her father, Mateo, had thrown at her. "Karyan..." She said slowly, "I will name him Karyan..."

"That's…" The maid stopped her sentence.

"I know what it means and who the person was, but if that's how he plays it, let it be."

"My lady…"

"Don´t question, they both had ruined my life, Estera…"

Before Barbara was able to finish her sentence, her elder brother, Maiko entered the room.

"Ah, sister! What a pleasure to see you here, surrounded by misery!"

"Cut it!" She replied, coldly.

"Ah, come on, don´t be like this, after all, you´re the one who brought this curse to our family. So it is really twins?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to end their lives, here and now?"

Maiko was right; it was Barbara´s fault for giving birth to these things, but it was because she didn´t know any better. She couldn´t even remember exactly who was the father of her children.

The memories she had with him were a blur, almost forcefully erased from her memories.

"No!"

"No?"

"They are my children! And the father can think of them however he wants, I will not kill them!

"Be careful, sister…" Maiko replied slowly, in a sadistic tone, "you might want to keep these cockroaches that you call "children," but I will not let the curse take over what I had planned to rule for so long."

"So everything is always about you, your needs…" Barbara turned around, "and what did I expect from such a satanic brother?"

"Watch your words, I will end you with them here and now!"

"Please do, not like I´m very wanted here anyway…"

"And whose fault is that, huh?" Maiko raised his voice.

"Don´t remind me! I know! The only daughter of Diverso family who was born with no magic, but also the one who gave birth to the fucking twins, and which one is the cursed one?!"

Barbara clenched her hands, a huge vein popped on her face, "you think I don´t know? I know everything people were saying about me…I know…" A small amount of water filled inside her eyes when she said the last word.

"Then why don't you just kill them here and right now! You know how father fears that the curse is real! Kill them both now, it doesn't matter which one is the cursed one…"

"It matters…their lives matter to me…"

"Barbara!"

"I know what you will say, but even if I don´t love them, I can't just kill them both here! They're innocent babies!"

"That innocence of theirs will bring a fate crueler than our father´s magic! Kill them now!"

"I can't…I carried them…"

A short chuckle escaped from the silent baby in the corner, 'you fool…'