Chronicles of Myth Volume one: Twisted Daydreams

Episode five: Hangman

We paused at the entrance as Ashton faced me. “My mistake… this isn’t a rescue mission, it’s an extermination”. “What do you mean by that Ashton, you said--- “Elaine, what you find in there will keep you up at night, I’m going to ask you this once: Don’t hold back no matter what you see”. I walked forward and felt my legs lock up in terror, I peeked inside all I saw was darkness, it was mystifying in a sense; I took a deep breath and no longer smelled carrion, I walked in behind Ashton back to back, we circled the room with our flashlights and looked at the decomposed bodies on the ground. Ashton walked over to the wall and flipped the breaker, the lights came on; “I wish I could’ve not seen that” I said to myself stepping over a corpse, the worn and stained tiles of the bank were painted with the blood of past victims and made into the image of a peacock, I saw the center piece of the flawed ritual, a group of people were huddled together in the center of the room; but something was wrong they were turned to stone, I looked carefully and saw there were red streaks coming out of the pores of their faces and on their faces was an expression of sheer terror. Little tooth fairies ate their way out the petrified corpses, I holstered my gun and I snapped my fingers at my target; I torched the corpse in a blast of fire and heat, it turned into a scorched fragments of amber, I looked at Ashton as he took out a book of bamboo matches from his pants pocket; he struck the match head and tossed the light on a corpse at his feet; the fire burned an intense green for a moment, as it faded the flames turned the body into a pile of white ash; I cleared out the room with Ashton and when we were done we stood on piles of white ash and amber. I looked at the scorch marks that littered the floor, I exhaled my breath and inhaled, smell of burnt flesh made me sick to my stomach; I blew down the steel cover blocking the exit with a snap of my fingers and walked out the gaping hole that was the front door, I saw the gunned down bandits from earlier and gave them the same cremation as the victims inside the building behind me. I walked forward shaking inside, I took a seat on the park bench as my knees wobbled from what I’d done, I felt guilty and violated; no matter what I think, it can’t…  nothing can justify that madness. I didn’t notice as Ashton took a seat next to me as I mused over my actions, “This is what you signed up for”. I heard him pierce my thoughts, I clenched my fists; “That was wrong”, I kept myself from bubbling over with rage… “I suppose you’re thinking isn’t there a better, a more humane way of doing things”. I looked at him hopefully, right now more than anything; I wanted an explanation. Ashton smiled and in an instant his expression turned sour: “Elaine… that was the humane option”. I felt a tear escape out of my eye, “No… there’s always another way”. I said desperately, I fell into his arms; “Tell me something, you’ve never killed anyone or anything besides for defending yourself… have you”? I cried harder and his embrace tightened, my arms wrapped around his back; Ashton put his arms on my shoulders and looked intensely into my eyes, “Tell me… can you stomach what happened? I hate to tell you but this is only the tip of the iceberg; Elaine… this line of work, you’ll see things that change who you are; you’ll see things that will break you, but at the end of the day can you move on? Answer me damn it”! He took a deep breath: “Tell me would you rather hurt a person or get hurt by another”? I looked at Ashton as I wiped my tears. “Can you let go of your humanity”? “This is the test, that many fail… can you let go of who you are, and get the job done”? I stopped crying, finally Cerberus stopped nagging at me; but something inside me broke… for once I felt free and content. “Yes”. “Even that means you have to stain your hands and soul”? “Yes”. “Do you accept who you are”? I became one with my demons, I have embraced my identity completely; so this is what means to be a fae, “I am a fae… nothing will change that”. I closed my eyes and saw the demon inside me, it had awoken and I had embraced it as a part of my being… the chains of morality were broken, there was no right or wrong anymore… just the instinct to survive, my guardian beast no longer a separate entity… for once I felt whole, I felt complete. I opened my eyes and a pair of burning wings of white gas manifested out of my neck; they crystalized into diamonds, I looked at Ashton and he formed eight arms of air out of his lower back, they hardened into long pearl spears; “Our guardians are a part of us… they represent our deepest fears and insecurities; once accept who we are that feeling of inadequacy goes away and we find inner peace”. “This is the manifestation of our element, the physical form of our strength”; “Now let’s see what you’re made of”. I stood up and got into my stance, I rushed forward in a blaze of white fire; I slashed down with my blade, Ashton slid aside his foot and turned to dodge my swing, I felt my back blow out from a punch to my gut; he grabbed my collar and slammed me into the ground, before tossing me into a tree and smashing all of his arms down on me, I lay flattened on the ground, “Pathetic”. A group of three ruby dragon tails blocked Ashton’s killing blow and I saw Astoria standing beside me, “Can’t we go one day without trying to kill each other”. I got to my feet and punched Ashton square in the face, he brushed aside my fist and returned the favor; Ashton snapped out his combat focus, and looked at me as his defenses reverted back into his body; my wings faded back into me and Astoria’s tail disappeared as well. Ashton was back to his happy go lucky self, “Well congratulations on your first mission”. He helped me to my feet and I looked at him, I swung a left hook and his expression hardened as dodged my fist, he stood upright and stepped forward to knee my gut: “Don’t take it personally… you’re the only one who passed my test”. He stepped back and cracked his fingers with his thumb as he walked back to our home, I stopped myself from doubling over and stood upright taking a deep breath. Astoria tugged on my arm and I saw her eyes were gleaming with awe: “Your wings were awesome”. “Nice tail, you have”. I said trying to downplay getting my ass whooped, my legs gave out and I sat on the stone walkway. Astoria sat next to me, “Rough day… huh”? “Yeah… today’s been pretty shitty”. “You know I had a heart to heart with Lex a couple days ago”. “Oh yeah, how did that go”? I asked jokingly, Astoria helped me into a nearby bench, she sat next to me and leaned into my ear: “I think I have a crush on him”.