The Raven's Nightmare

CHAPTER FIVE

    The mother turned to looked back at the skeleton only for her to gasp in surprise; before her was Nightmare on his knees with his hands covering his face as his body shook and broken sobs escaped him. 

    "All this time I thought... that everyone hated me... that I was going to be alone and suffer for as long as I live... but all this time... I find out that I wasn't really alone... I-I don't deserve her love, Salem!" Lifting his head to look at the women, Salem couldn't help but let a few tears fall from her eyes at the broken expression on Nightmare's face.

    "Why would she choose me out of all beings to love?! I'm no one special! I'm not made out of positive energy! I am made out of the things that people don't want! So... just... why...?"

    Kneeling down next to the broken SOUL in front of her, Salem cupped his face with her hands; with a gentle smile she wiped his tears away "Maybe it was fate that lead my daughter to you and brought both of you together." She sighed as she closes her eyes before opening them as her expression become serious, "Yes, I do believe it was fate as what I'm about to tell you regarding Raven's SOUL is extremely dire."

    "What's wrong with her SOUL?"

    Laying her hands in her lap she explained, "As you know, I have a SOUL of KINDNESS while Batair has a SOUL of PATIENCE. But my husband's trait hasn't always been that..."

    The Guardian tilted his head in confusion; Batair's SOUL wasn't originally PATIENCE? Is that even possible? How can a SOUL trait change?

    "As you know, mages have almost gone extinct due to others hunting us down. Before I met Batair, he lived a peaceful life with his family as hunters. They lived off the land and never bothered with outsiders. Until one day, witch hunters stormed their home and murdered his family right before his eyes. Due to his parents unfortunate demise, his light blue SOUL was consumed in RAGE and killed the hunters maliciously. Even after killing his parents murderers, the fire in his SOUL never quenched as it still thirsted for destruction.

    He destroyed many villages and killed a lot of people who got in his way; human and monster alike weren't safe. His RAGE consumed him to the point where he only lived for destruction and L.O.V.E. He lost his sense of self over the years he rampaged; until he came across me."

    Her arms wrapped around her waist as Salem hugged herself with tears streaming down her cheeks.

    "My parents were tortured and brutally killed before my eyes and I was used as bodily relief for my parents killers. I was to the point were I couldn't feel any form of emotion to the point the color of my trait slowly faded to white. It was on one fateful stormy night that Batair randomly barged in when I was in a middle of a 'session' with my abductor. To say he was mad was an understatement..."

    Letting out a breathy chuckle, Salem gave Nightmare a wavering smile as he gave a sad one back.

    "He killed the bastard and I hoped he would kill me to free me from my suffering; but he showed me MERCY. I begged and pleaded for him to just end me; for I have lost my purpose in this world. I had no living family and I was broken beyond repair; so who would want me? He stared at me for a while before he spoke; told me what happened to his parents and what he had done. That he regretted killing all those people and knew he couldn't take back the sins he committed; that he wanted to do something right and that when he saw me as broken as he was that it just came naturally. Do you know what he asked me to cause me to break down?"

    The Guardian remained quiet as Salem gave a dry chuckle, "He asked me if we can be broken together..."

   "Since we're both lonely, I was wondering if you want to be lonely together? Want to be friends?"