The Magic Within ↠ Once Upon A Time

[Chapter 80] Banishment

~Tarza/Melody Flashback~

Tarza couldn't move, let alone think of leaving the cliff. She looks to the cliff as if the blank canvas of the fog would magically paint the picture she so desperately wanted to appear. Her broken spirit stays beside the cliff like a ghost who fails to move on. Because she can't imagine moving on.

Day passed into night, and night passed into day. Tarza barely realized the hours passing. One day, it rained yet she only thought the rain were her own tears. Still, she stayed.

When she had the pleasure of thinking with a clear head, she could barely guess how long she's been sitting beside the gorge. A day, or a year? She can't tell. The circle of thoughts eventually leads her back to the grim realization she knows. It's then when she can't bring herself to leave the spot where Kala left the precious world of life, because Tarza forced her out the door.

Then guilt consumes her faster than the congesting fog that consumed her mama.

Tarza killed Kala. She can't imagine why she did it. Kala was nothing but good. Kala was a mother whose heart was big enough to see the good in anyone. Kala cared for Tarza, cared for her when no one accepted her. Kala was Tarza's truest supporter. Yet, Tarza's powers betrayed her and killed the one being that loved her unconditionally.

Tarza lost more than her mama. Tarza lost her world. She lost the only meaning to stay in the Forbidden Jungle. She lost her rock. She lost her spirit, her heart.

Now, she doesn't know what to do or where to go. No matter what she does, she'll be plague with this awful memory for which she had a hand in making. Her heart no longer beats with life. She feels as if she can barely live without her lifeline.

All of this is her fault, she thinks.

She couldn't control her magic. Her magic is the problem that keeps putting everyone in danger. The jungle is in danger with her magic. First, Terk and Tantor; second, the humans which could've come close to her troop; finally, Kala. And Tarza is supposedly the Savior of the Forbidden Jungle. Some savior she was. Tarza couldn't be the savior that Kala thought her to be.

At the reoccurring thought, tears brush Tarza's cheek again, like some pathetic kiss that leaves her number at the touch. But her eyes spill dry. The lack of water in her system—all due to her spilling grieve—makes her want to pass out.

All of this, her fault.

Her magic is really a curse. Rumpelstiltskin makes a prime example of that. Magic is a curse. Magic is death. She caused her mama's death. Why couldn't Tarza have left like she wanted? She should've left before Kala could hold her back. Her hesitation made her one second too late. Now all of this is pointless.

Whatever promise she made to herself, it's to no avail. Control didn't come soon enough. Would it ever come? Would controlling herself now be worth it?

It won't change the past. Magic couldn't possibly be that powerful. It won't erase the grave mistake she's made.

So, what's the point?

What's the point of trying if it wasn't enough to stop it soon enough? What's the point of going on when she's failed her greatest mission? What's the point of being a Savior with magic she can't control? Better yet, how can she stop this curse from spreading? Is there a cure, a way to end it? Or does she have to end herself?

Will keeping herself away from everyone else be the only way of saving her home?

What kind of ending must she make?