2 Althea

Dying, I didn't know what Eden and Azier were. The Church preached that Eden was where the Goddess Luminaire resides. That only in her loving embrace that our soul would forever know peace.

With my soul now, I doubt this was Eden.

While Azier was nothing but home to the condemned souls, who lost their faith in the Goddess and therefore banished to eternal damnation.

Yep. I was most likely in Azier with me still raging in furry.

Looking at my surrounding with nothing but endless clouds, and the floor reflecting the landscape above . . . I was afraid I turned into a lost soul, stuck in either Eden or Azier.

Not that I believed any of it.

Should I return to GrimHeart and hunt Silvia and Rhazien for eternity? That would be an exciting revenge, but at the same time, I was too tired to even care, nor did I have the energy to even walk myself out of this dimension I was stuck in.

I sighed and lay on my back. If only the floor reflected my face so I could look at how miserable I was.

How long was I stuck here?

I didn't know. The whole concept of time faded into the distance. I heard his voice . . . his promises . . . but it was all buried in the abyss of time.

Looking at the slow-paced clouds, I thought that it wasn't such a bad place. Maybe I'd stay here and see which would die first. My rage or my sanity.

*chuckle

I scrambled to my feet when I heard a giggling sound.

"Who's there?" I asked, but I saw none, and I thought that it was probably my sanity that would perish first.

"That's an interesting thought."

A snarl pushed through my throat, but I forgot that I was initially a witch before being a vampire. My fangs didn't come out. Did my vampire status disappear when I died? I hope they had taken away my heart too.

"Show yourself!"

"I'm right here."

I shifted my gaze but couldn't find the voice until I was shocked when bright golden eyes encased in thick white lashes zoomed on my face.

I jumped back and assumed a fighting stance. Damn, I almost forgot what it felt like to have a dragging mortal body. My reflexes and speed were worse than Silvia in fifty pounds dresses and gold.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The woman giggled. She was short, but her breasts were abundant as her hips. White curls of hair reached her feet. Small face with big round languid golden eyes and sensual pouting lips.

She was an alluring sight . . . and also . . . familiar.

"My name is Althea. I am your grandmother."

My gasped hitched in my throat. No wonder she felt familiar. It was like staring at my own face.

"Then . . . I really am dead . . . ," I muttered, a bit disoriented.

Althea nodded. "But I held onto your soul and brought you here. In a nameless dimension for wandering souls."

I took a giant breath and let it out in one long blast. I knew it. I guess I have to start practicing my hunting game if I want to haunt Silvia. Come to think of it. Was she scared of spiders?

Althea shook her head. "That's not the reason why I brought you here."

Did she just read my thoughts?

"The reason why I brought you here is because the faith of GrimHeart rests in your shoulders."

My brow rose so high it strained my forehead. "I'm dead. What's it got to do with me?"

"Allow me to explain from the very beginning." With a whiff of Althea's hand, the floor changed.

I was startled when images after images flashed before my feet.

"Originally, we are not citizens of GrimHeart. We belonged to the world of magic called Netier. But one day, a horde of shape-shifting fiends' known as Shadowfell consumed our lands."

I remained quiet through my pulse drummed in my head when dozens of beasts cloaked in dark haze invaded towns and massacred people.

When I was alive, these creatures were a constant pain in the head for both Rhazien and me. They couldn't be killed with normal weapons. It had to be a special weapon blessed by the Saintess. Or weapons imbued by Rhazien's blood or made from werewolves' fangs.

"These creatures consumed negative energies that are present in human emotions. And once they consumed their prey, they could control its mind."

The scenery on the floor changed to one of destruction, and I couldn't do anything but watch. My eyes couldn't tear away from the sight of my fellow witches that were surrounded by their own controlled by the Shadowfell.

"At the edge of destruction, Raphaela, the leader of the witches, unleashed ancient magic to conjure a portal to another world. We fled through it and sealed the Shadowfell on Netier . . . and we found ourselves in GrimHeart. Its forest and lands were abundant, its sea vast and merciful, and its seasons changed, making it possible to grow all kinds of food. It was the best place to start a new."

Althea's eyes dropped, and her voice had a tinge of sadness when she spoke, "But this world, its citizens didn't take kindly to ours. The vampires turned us into their slaves. The Church burned us in front of their people while the werewolves hunt us for their amusement."

Sharp pressure clamped my heart. Yes. I knew of that story. Nothing's changed. Everything was still the same. The witches were still hiding in the dark while everyone was hunting them down, either to claim their powers or for fear of it.

Althea took in a large intake of air. "But when the first sign of the Shadowfell appeared, everyone had a change of heart. The king of the Vampire, Razim. The Saintess at that time, Seraphim, the leader of the Werewolves, Loki . . . and Raphaela, the leader of the witches. Together they formed an alliance and placed a barrier around GrimHeart to repel the Shadowfell back into the plane of shadows."

"Making the barrier that enveloped the entire world of GrimHeart, Razim, Seraphim, and Loki sacrificed themselves. And for the might of the barriers to withstand the forces of the growing numbers of the Shadowfell each passing year, Raphaela made a promise to sacrifice her and her descendant soul in exchange for our people to live in GrimHeart in peace. And our duty since then was to make sure that the barrier remained unbreakable."

". . . Huh?"

I was willing to shed tears from her story until the part that we came to the sacrifices and such.

Althea looked at me with her golden eyes. "After hundreds of years, the barrier grew weak, and it was supposed to be your mother's turn. Your mother was meant to sacrifice her soul. But since she died and her soul was shattered without fulfilling her duty, neither her telling you your responsibility, I exchange my soul with the Cosmos to tell you your obligation."

"My . . . obligation . . . ," I said, not minding that my grandmother would never appear in the cycle of reincarnation for sacrificing her soul.

"You are the only remaining descendant of Raphaela. Using my soul and your ancestor's souls in exchange, we shall return you in time to save GrimHeart."

". . ." I didn't know that the dead were capable of getting confused and dizzy, but here I was with a pounding head and a constricting chest.

"You want me . . . to return in time and die all over again?" I wanted to laugh at the joke if it wasn't happening to me.

Althea nodded with a serious face. "That is your duty besides leaving a descendant that would carry on our responsibility."

Furry set my heart ablaze. "You're telling me that the only reason why I was born is to die?! What duty? Why? Even after all these years, that peace you were saying didn't happen! Witches are still hunted and burned to crisp." My words tumbled from my lips like boiling water

"Let that world go asunder! And let those people die in the arms of their loved ones just like those creatures did to ours!"

"Heh. Duty," I spat, "I have no obligation nor responsibility to them."

My life was nothing but hardship in GrimHeart. The vampires loathe me. The mortals threw stones at me. The Church couldn't wait to burn me alive, and the werewolves were nothing but mindless beasts who wanted me as leverage over Rhazien. At the same time, my fellow witches condemned me as a traitor for siding with the vampires.

Only in the embrace of Rhazien did I feel peace, but that was even stolen from me.

I went numb as death. "Let everything be destroyed, and I'll exchange my soul to have a first-row seat as I watch GrimHeart burn to the very pit of Azier."

". . ." Althea briefly closed her eyes. "Your rage is understandable . . . Loki and Razim's descendant and the succeeding Saintess forgot all about the treaty after hundreds of years of waging war over each other. They even forgot about the barrier and the dangers waiting on the other side. They chose to live in comfort rather than to confront the impending doom."

Althea shook her head a little. Her face was cloaked in sadness. "Maybe in the first place, they didn't care as long as they could live a happy life. They didn't care about the future at all."

Of course, they didn't. The vampires would rather hold orgies each night, and the Werewolves were busy finding their mates and fighting each other to take over Alpha possessions. While the Saintess was busy fooling the masses and lived in luxury surrounded by beautiful men.

I smirked and crossed my hands. "Why should I care?"

". . ." Althea huffed a sigh. A sad smile tugged the corner of her lips. "Because we made a promise, and witches don't ever go back on their promises."

". . ." Her words entered my ears, bounced inside my head, and descended into my heart with a loud crash. "Are we done now? Can I go back to being dead?"

Althea sighed. "If that is your wish, then . . ."

Of course, that's my wish! Who'd want to go back in time and sacrifice herself so that she could save the world full of people who hurt her?

I am neither a martyr, nor I am an idiot.

Althea smiled, eyes melting. "Before I released your soul, allow me to show you one final scene."

Before the words of protest burst in my mouth, the scene on the floor changed again. Shadowfell appeared when the barriers cracked and controlled some people until their numbers grew. And when the barriers finally shattered, thousands and thousands of Shadowfell descended into GrimHeart, laying waste and destruction in its wake.

The battle scorched the earth, smoked the skies, and sullied the water. All life withered and died, and the once majestic Church was nothing more than forgotten ruins. The prideful pacts of werewolves were nothing more than a bunch of savages fighting their own for food, and the once towering Kingdom of Razim was erased from the map.

". . ." Without blinking, I watched as the scenes flashed to another.

Covered in blood and bruises, I never saw Rhazien appear so weak and helpless in front of hordes of Shadowfell. But what caught my attention was Silvia holding a silver sword in her hand with her eyes black as obsidian. And with one swift, Rhazien's head fell from his shoulder, and the floor reflected the horizon once more.

. . .

. . .

Ah . . . how sly . . . He took my heart and didn't give it back even in death. Love didn't disappear when you were dead. Even I wish it would.

I looked over the horizon . . . my deceased heart was beating loudly than it should. Thumping and thumping and thumping . . . it was irritating.

But what's irritating more was the realization that I was indeed an idiot . . . and a martyr of love.

My features buckled slightly as I spoke, the only betrayal of my emotion.

"What year will I go back?"

----

A/N

I think this will be the last long chapter. Hopefully . . .

It's taking me a bit of time to write because I am writing multiple novels all at once. T o T

Please continue to vote, comment, review and give gifts. This will help the story a lot and also gives me motivation to continue writing this novel.

Love,

Miu ^^