I Am Her - ONC 2024

Chapter 2 - The Arrival

The day that Angela arrived in Laeternas, which was the day after tomorrow, everything was miserable and bleak. She didn't know much about the village because she didn't care much about it, but from everything she'd heard, she'd expected it to be an amazing, revolutionary place that would change her outlook on life. However, everything that her eye could see was a bunch of shabby houses with peeling paint, withered grass and trees, and gloomy skies with heavy dark clouds that seemed to contain a lot of rage within them. It looked like a glorified slum.

Thoroughly unimpressed, somehow even more than she'd expected to be, she groaned and turned to leave, but then she heard a buzz as a piercing purple light appeared in her right hand. Raising an eyebrow, she turned around again, remembering very well that she hadn't had a single drink in a while. Was she going mad? Maybe. There'd always been something odd about her, and every person had their breaking point, but it still didn't sufficiently explain this supposed hallucination.

There was not much time for anything to be explained, though. A mysterious person in a white cloak showed up out of nowhere, dragging her through the purple dome that appeared suddenly, and even though she kicked and screamed for help the hardest she could, it didn't aid her one bit. In fact, it only made her situation worse. After about a minute of kicking and screaming, a purple ball of magic was thrown directly in her face. In the beginning, she didn't feel very bad, but mere seconds later, her bones were consumed by weakness and her veins by tiredness, and in no time, she collapsed on the wet grass like a limp noodle as the world went black.

When she woke up, the sun was already falling. The sky outside her window was painted unevenly by darkening pastel colours, and it was as impressive as many other sunsets she'd seen in her life, but it still didn't stand out too much, which was disappointing, for this was the most impressive part of her day so far. She knew she shouldn't have listened to Jared, and as she slowly recalled where she was - the backroom of a wretched, desolate building with peeled grey walls, bound to a cold bed that eerily resembled a coffin - she wanted to scream, frustrated by the twists and turns of life. All of this was suffocatingly unusual, even for her.

"Please calm down, Miss Keele," the person from before said, appearing in the way of the wind, and with the manner in which they moved, they seemed to be bound to it as well. "I know how all of this can seem unnerving to a stranger like you, but if you listen and comply with our terms, everything is going to be fine, trust me."

"Fine?" she snorted, hoping that her eyes would reveal no vulnerability to this imposing stranger. "Sure it will, when I get back home and get a restraining order against you! What are you going to do if you get imprisoned for the rest of your life? This little magic trick of yours may seem impressive to an ordinary person like me, but what else can you do? From what I've seen so far, your village looks depressing and miserable. So much for magic, huh?"

"Let's be civil now," the man said in a voice bereft of emotion, except for the slight note of anger that managed to slip in. "You are ignorant, and therefore have no idea what magic can do, but you will soon."

"What?" Angela said, laughing nervously. "Are you planning on killing me or something?"

The man's emerald eyes stared right at her. "You have to understand that here in Laeternas, we don't believe in discarding another human's life unless it's absolutely necessary. However, this time, it might be. You present a potential danger to us which you don't know, and which I refused to believe in, but was made sure of the moment the border let you in. Do you know why this place is widely believed to be an urban legend, Miss Keele? Because it wouldn't let anyone else in! And you know why that is? Because the blood of your ancestors flows from this very village!"

When the man began speaking, Angela thought there was hope, but the more he talked, the more she despaired. On that note, the more he talked, the more condescension his tone of voice showed. Maybe he loved that. Maybe he loved treating those beneath him as playthings to be murdered at will. She wasn't very willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the man who kidnapped her and threatened to end her life if she didn't obey his unknowable, but surely outrageous, demands. Still, a part of her refused to give up, and so she opted to play the card of politeness, saying the following:

"Hey, sir, can I please leave? I don't think I would be very useful here. What do I even do with my life? I'm a professional photographer, sure, but there's not much going on for me beyond that. In my free time, I go on shopping sprees, tourist vacations, and crazy raves. I also sleep around and drink a lot, and recently, I've allowed myself to drive after a hefty dose of alcohol, killing my girlfriend in the process. I was lucky to even survive that! Clearly, I'm a hopeless case."

The man released a heavy sigh. "As the mayor of Laeternas, the only place on Earth that has magic - there are other planets, too, but we don't pay them much attention - I of all people know when the universe gives me a sign and what it means. Conveniently enough, you mentioned your girlfriend. But what if she wasn't really your girlfriend to begin with?"

This man is unbearable. I mean, I never expected to like him, but with every passing second, he gets more and more insufferable to be around.

"I know what you may be thinking," he continued, and for a split second, she wondered if he could read her mind, too. "You've known her for years and you thought it was true love and that you would live happily ever after, but that car crash was destined to happen! I'm sorry if I sound cruel to you, but it wasn't me who made Fate so harsh and uncaring. Really, you were supposed to die in her place, so be grateful that you're even here. The Gods ordained that she be married to my daughter on my daughter's twenty-eighth birthday, which is next year. It's terrible for us, trust me. If we aren't able to host this ceremony, it will mean death for all of us - and the disappearance of all magic."

"So, what does all this mean for me?" Angela said, flinching, the dawning realisation coming upon her in the form of cold sweat that crawled up her back like a snake.

"It's simple, really," the mayor said with a limp shrug. "Cristina's spirit is bound to you now, so you either take her place and marry my daughter or my Order of Sisters and I will give you a quick and painless death."

Six women in white cloaks marched out of the corners of the room, directly facing Angela's bed, tall and looming figures Angela had previously assumed were strange shadows given new and unsettling life, more mysterious than the last, carrying daggers whose hilts were all ornate and pretty, but whose surfaces promised to be utmostly cruel and cold against Angela's tense, warm skin.

"Wow," Angela said, truly flabbergasted. "So I have to be bound by marriage to a psychopath like you for the rest of my life?"

"Why do you speak so ill of my daughter?" the mayor asked, genuinely clueless.

"Why wouldn't I? Look who she was raised by!" Angela snapped, her tone of voice indicating that she would throw her hands in the air to make a point if she weren't chained to her coffin-bed with heavy, dragging chains.

"Be glad you-" the mayor said coldly before she interrupted him.

"-weren't tortured for your gall to show disrespect towards such a highly esteemed figure? Honestly, I'm sick of your strange behaviour. Just free me already!"

The mayor thoroughly rubbed his temple, leading her to think Am I just a headache to you now?, his brief reading of her mind only confirming that nothing could make her agree with him, at least not at the moment, convincing him it was for the best that he simply end everything at once. He muttered some strange words and Angela entered Cristina's body in no time, her own body lost to the wind.

"You may leave," he said as the sisters used their expertly sharpened knives to cut her chains swiftly, and as she got up as she would from a river, she couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of those knives. "Before dawn, go to my family's estate - you should find it easy to locate because it's the big old mansion in the middle of the village - and make my daughter believe that nothing went wrong and that you really are Cristina and that you're very excited for your wedding. You must not stray from the script even a little bit. If you ever feel like you're in danger of failing through incompetence or insolence, remember this: The Sisters' knives stay ever sharp and their eyes ever open. Remember it well."

Angela - Cristina - she could hardly make sense of anything - collapsed to the floor as the seven terrifying figures, invisible in terms of physical features yet still very much present, left without any greetings after the death threat. This was all too much, even for her. She had to stay strong, as she always did, but she could afford a moment of weakness, alone and miserable as she was. She cried and screamed because no one was watching - at least she hoped not - and only got up an hour later because she wouldn't have done it otherwise, remembering the task that was now engraved in her mind. Remember it well, they said, and remember she would. She would remember it like nothing had ever been remembered before.