I’m not a monster
Every world has that one fantastical tale.The youngest child born of royalty would bring Fire and Ice to a combination that would be the very ruin of Ataxia.
A destiny that was farcical at best and against every possible reasoning at worst, so love and logic should overwhelm fear and superstition, especially when it comes to your own child right?
That’s the question I asked every day since I was left to die on the ramblings of a mad man.
Powers I couldn’t control, fear I could never suppress, the things I had to do to survive scarred my very soul yet no matter what, I’d never cross that line to become what they said I would.
We weren’t meant to be monsters
I learnt to control the fire, to suppress the darkness, to blend in with the lost and forgotten yet I knew I’d never find peace without answers so one night, I slipped back into what should have been my life.
The castle was easy to breach, the guards barely noticed the shadow in their midst, I knew I’d gotten good at stealth but it was too easy… I should have known something was wrong.
Yet as I walked through the halls and saw the glimpses of life that should’ve been mine, I ignored the warning bells ringing inside my mind.
I vaguely remember staring at the throne, wondering what kind of ruler I could’ve been as visions of what if raced through my mind, only to be cut short by steel nipping at my throat.
The veil lifted as the entire court stood before my eyes. The soldiers, the knights, their most trusted warriors and the fabled Queen and King. My parents who tossed me aside like I was nothing.
Flames burnt brighter than I’d ever seen as I begged for answers into looks of purest stone. I could’ve forced them through pain and suffering but I didn’t hate them, I never wanted to harm them… all I wanted to know was the truth.
And as the flames dissipated and I felt the ice close around my throat, I knew I’d die without ever knowing why. So I closed my eyes and I let the cold in.
We’re what you made us
When I opened them once more, the halls were frozen with a brilliant shimmering flame, pieces of bodies littered the floor like diamonds and the so-called all powerful deities of fire and ice stood there completely helpless.
Their anger turned to fear as they echoed out pleas and sorrows, empty platitudes and last minute regrets. Every word that I had ever hoped to hear from their voices.
And I felt nothing.
The cold may have given me the power I needed but it took away everything that I was. Every emotion, every sense of being as it left me hollow and empty.
I had become what they feared, I was the monster that would freeze the very soul of Ataxia and beyond and the only thing keeping me going would be the slightest twinge of hope.
That someone, something out there could do the impossible.
And make us feel something again.