He tried talking to Demral after that, but that was easier said than done, for Demral rarely ever left Fia's side.
Fia was usually somewhere around, watching him. Sometimes he would even see her sitting on top of a cloud or floating island looking down at the village. He assumed that she was watching him because she did not fully trust him, but he would always wave at her brightly and greet her whenever he saw her. After a month, however, she started appearing less. When he asked the others about it, they said that she often disappears to a void place she created. "I think this is actually the longest I have seen her out," one of the mages said.
"But why?" asked Liam, a bit concerned.
"We don't really know, Fia doesn't share much with us about stuff like that."
"And what if someone needs her?"
"Well, then she always comes right away. But we do try not to trouble her too much. She's already keeping us protected and safe. It's such a huge burden for such small shoulders still."
"Mhmm," he hummed agreeingly. The more he heard, the more he wanted to know just what exactly happened to her.
A few days later, luckily, he finally had a chance to know. He spotted Demral taking a nap, alone.
"Hi there Demral!" he greeted cheerfully.
Demral opened his eyes, yawned, and closed them again. "What do you want?" he groaned.
"Sorry to interrupt your nap, but... it's important." He sat down in front of him.
"Hm?" He opened one eye.
"I... Can you please tell me about Fia?"
His eyes opened wide, not a sing hint of sleep remaining. "Hmmm." He examined Liam, his tails wagging skeptically. He already made his decision, but still asked for safe measures, "Why?"
"She is... a nice person even if she tries to act otherwise with me. She's really kind, but... she always looks in pain. And I hate that," he said, his expression full of sadness and sorrow. "I... want to help her, if possible, in any way that I can," he said, almost desperately.
Liam recognized the look in her eyes, the pain and agony behind it. He hated to see it on anyone else, and he hated it all the more on the person who saved him, who gave him a chance, who helped him when she did not have to, when no one else would. "I want to repay even a fraction of what she's given me. Please."
Demral sighed. "Alright. I'm not sure if you can do anything, but..." he considered for a bit then nodded, "I think you might be her best chance."
Relief washed over Liam. "Thank you."
He took a deep breath, and stood up. "Come with me. There is something I have to show you first."
Liam followed quietly as Demral lead him deep into the forest. When they reached their destination, Liam froze, eyes opened wide.
"What happened here?" he breathed as he took in the sight around him.
While all of Zemeria was filled with colors, this place was... mute.
Dead.
The flowers, the grass, the trees, the plants, all dead. And in the middle was a big hole in the ground that suggested there being a lake there once.
"Fia," Demral answered plainly.
Liam gave him a perplexed look, eyes filled with questions.
"This was her and her parents' favorite place. They would always come here. Since before even I came." He stood there reminiscing for a moment. He took a deep breath and began, "It started nine years ago, on Fia's fifth birthday-"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fia was awfully excited for the night of the full moon, it was, after all, the night her magic finally awakened.
She could not sit still the entire month, constantly talking about all the amazing things she was going to do once her magic awakened, talking with the eagerness of the world in her voice, beaming with a fiery glint in her eyes.
She knew her life would change, for the better, she knew, once her magic awakened. She knew.
She thought.
If only things had gone as they should.
Children mages awaken their magic on the night of the first full moon after their fifth birthday. However, they should never be awake that night, for the magic is usually wild the night of the awakening as it has not familiarized itself with the body that will be using it yet. Therefore, it's best for the process to happen while they were unconscious so that their bodies would not try to resist the foreign powers awakening inside of them and for nothing to go wrong.
Fia, however, being the reckless curious eager child that she was, wanted to be awake when her magic awakened. So, she snuck out with Demral that night and went far away from the village so that her parents would not find them easily.
She eagerly waited for the full moon as she stared up at the sky impatiently, as though urging the moon to hurry up already, but when it finally appeared, the excitement in her eyes turned to anguish.
She understood why her parents warned her not to stay awake.
Unbearable pain seared through her, she fell to her knees, screaming, as her magic and mark started to manifest. It was as though her head and her entire body, her small fragile body, were being torn to pieces from the inside.
Demral quickly ran to check on her, but the moment he got too close, her rampant magic lashed at him, slicing one of his tails off, as he luckily managed to use them as a shield in the last second to protect himself, and sending him flying into a tree, rendering him unconscious.
"No!" she shrieked. She wanted to get up, to run and check on him, but the pain would not let her. She could barely even hear her own thoughts over the agonizing pain.
"I have to... get up." She gritted her teeth, desperately fighting against it. "I... have to check ... on Demral." Her vision was clouded by pain, but she could make out a pool of blood spreading around Demral. Please, she begged desperately.
She shut her eyes resultantly and fought against it. She fought against her magic with all her might, with every ounce of strength and stubbornness and fear inside of her, until, finally, after what felt like ages of endless agony, she managed to push it all back to where it came from. There was no time to relax, though, the moment the pain started subsiding to being bearable, she immediately ran to Demral.
"Demral! Demral, are you ok?!" she shouted frantically, her tiny, already exhausted, voice seeping with desperation, eyes flooding with tears. "Please, please answer me," she begged with a shaky voice as she hesitantly placed a tiny trembling hand over his chest. She froze. It was moving.
He was breathing. His heart still beating.
He was alive.
But just before she could be flooded with relief, her eyes fell on one of his tails. Cut. Bleeding.
Her fault.
She started shaking, her breathing getting shallow. No, no Demral, no I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I-
Her thoughts were cut short as she felt her consciousness slowly fading away. She could no longer fight against the exhaustion the awakening, and all the pain that ensued had caused her. Demral was breathing, was alive, that was all that mattered, that was all she cared about. And she was tired. So very tired.
Thankfully, her earlier screaming had caused enough ruckus that the creatures and her parents, who had already been looking for them, found them shortly after she passed out. They quickly took them back and tended to Demral's wounds.
They had guessed what happened: Fia's magic went out of control because she was awake on the night of the full moon and attacked Demral. And Demral, who was the first to wake up, confirmed it, but did not clarify any further.
He did not care about his injuries though, for they would eventually heal. He did not care about his tail, for he had a lot of them anyway. He solely and only cared about Fia who had yet to regain consciousness even after two days had passed. He went to her bed and sat there, waiting for her, patiently.
After almost a week, she finally woke up, startled. "Demral!" she shrieked as her eyes shot wide open. She quickly sat up and looked around. And he was right there, by her side.
He looked up at her and smiled. "It's ok. I'm here."
A wave of relief washed over her. Then her eyes fell on his wrapped-up tail. "Demral- Your tail-" her voice broke into a sob.
"It's fine, you don't have to worry about it." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I have many after all!" he said, showing off his eight intact tails.
That did not make her feel better, however. "It's my fault," she said between hiccupping sobs, "I should have listened. I shouldn't have stayed awake. I am sorry. So sorry."
Demral moved closer to her and rubbed his head under her chin to comfort her, and her hands instinctively wrapped him in a hug. "I am so sorry," she continued sobbing.
"It's ok. I am fine. Really, it's ok."
The two of them stayed like that for a while until Fia finally calmed down.
After that, her parents tried to ask her what happened exactly, but she would also not answer.
They were rightfully confused after all. It was not uncommon that a curious child would sneak out the night of the awakening, but never before did that stop their magic from awakening. Never before was that magic rampant and powerful enough to severely harm someone around them.
But they could tell that what happened had traumatized her, so they decided not to push the matter any further.
After the year had passed, though, with no Guazeria appearing, everyone guessed it: Fia was the Guazeria. But for some reason her magic had not awakened. Or had disappeared? None of them were sure exactly what happened that night after all.
And Fia was just a kid back then, she had not realized what she had done. She had not realized when her powers were manifesting that she was the Guazeria.
That the future and safety of all of Zemeria depended on those powers.
She just wanted the pain to stop. She just wanted to make sure Demral was ok. But ever since she buried her powers, she could not recover it.
Every time she tried summoning them again, she would remember the pain that tore through her, she would remember Demral's severed tail as blood poured out of it, his body lying unconscious, not knowing if he was alive or not, if she had killed her best friend, and immediately stop, panic surging through her. Fear kept her powers sealed, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She did, at least, live happily with her parents. They made sure of it. They saw the terror in her eyes after that day, and they vowed that they would never let anything bad happen to her ever again.
They wanted her to stay as their cheerful little girl even if she did not have magic. They even made a habit of going near the border to pick up yellow tulips for her, her favorite. "Sunshine in your smile" was their meaning, and what a perfect fit it was.
The creatures were a little worried that there was no Guazeria, but some thought that maybe it meant that they no longer needed one. They had, after all, grew naïve after all those millennia of peace. However, they were soon to learn.
Three years passed, and the Humans attacked.
Fia was at Ramona's house with Demral when a little fairy came rushing in frantically.
"What is it, Lily?" Aunt Ramona asked worriedly.
"The Humans! A huge army stretched beyond the eye can see, there's no way we can fight them. From the forest, they're heading here, we have to run!" the fairy sputtered frenziedly.
The world stilled around Fia. Humans? At the border? But mom and dad- They went to get me flowers- They-
"Fia!" Ramona called after her, but she was already gone.
No no no no no. It can't be, they're alive, they must be. She ran, she ran faster than ever before in her life, as fast as her tiny legs could, ran as though her life depended on it. They're alive. She repeated hopefully, naively, desperately.. They're alive. They're a-
But once she spotted the army in the distance, she froze, realization hitting her. Monsters clad in iron holding sharp weapons mercilessly slaughtering and burning any and everything in their path.
The corruption.
Nothing could survive that. No one.
A single agonizing shriek sounded out. Her magic heard the calling and this time, she welcomed it, all of it, the pain, the power, and the cries of the monsters.
Her magic exploded into an enormous dark wave around her that engulfed any and everything, screams echoed throughout, and when it was gone, so where the Humans. Only pools of blood remained.
She woke up with empty eyes staring at the ceiling. She recognized that ceiling, it was Ramona's.
"Mom and Dad," she began, her voice hoarse, sounding distant, unfamiliar, even to herself, "Are they really dead?" she asked, barely turning to look at Ramona who was standing beside her.
Ramona nodded gravely.
She stared back at the ceiling, a tear escaping her hollow eyes. It was getting difficult for her to breath. So very difficult.
She felt agonizing pain tearing her body from the inside out, but it was not her powers this time, no, she wished it was. It was far less painful then, far less permanent.
It's all my fault. This time, it was guilt.
I killed them. All of them. Despair.
I had the power to protect them. I could have protected them! I should have... Regret.
She snapped out of her thoughts as she felt something lie on her chest. She looked down from the ceiling and found Demral resting his head on her, silently. When he saw that he got her attention, he fully climbed on the bed and rested next to her.
She embraced him, and, as his warmth seeped into her, she finally cried.
A short while after the incident, Fia went to visit a lake. Their lake. The lake they always spent time together in. Their quiet little haven.
She saw her memories. She saw herself running around cheerily, saw her parents sitting there smiling warmly as they watched her with eyes filled with nothing but love and affection, as though they saw the universe and all its stars in her tiny little frame, in her bright carefree smile.
A breeze passed by, and it was empty.
She was brought back to reality, the harsh brutal reality.
It was empty.
They were gone.
She would never see them look at her like that again. She would never see them smiling again.
She would never see them again.
And it was all her fault. If they had not gone to get her tulips, if she had not stayed awake, if she had not suppressed her powers, maybe they would have still been here. But they were not. They were not, and it was all her fault.
She killed them.
Soft sobs started escaping her lips and tears flowed down her face. One tear, two tears, then a river. She broke down crying, screaming, a horrifyingly heart wrenching sound that echoed throughout the forest.
Yet no one heard it. No one was there to hear it. Not anymore.
This place was meant only for the three of them, but she was the only one left. They were gone, everyone was gone, nothing mattered anymore, noth-
"-ia! Fia!"
A familiar voice brought her back to reality, she looked back and saw Demral breathing heavily, a frightened expression on his face.
Why is he- She looked back around her and realized why he looked so frightened.
A dark black cloud that was her magic had engulfed the entire lake area, and the entire area had just been turned... colorless. Everything was wilted. She killed everything. Again. Huh.
When the dark cloud vanished, Demral quickly ran to her. "Are you alright?!" he asked frantically as he scanned her looking for any injuries.
She slowly turned to him, her expression utterly blank and empty. He was still breathing heavily. Did he...
"Why are you here?"
"What do you mean 'why'?! You suddenly disappeared! I was looked everywhere for you! Then I heard your scream and I- I- You scared me half to death!"
Her eyes started tearing up again. "You...... Demral... I-" her voice broke off. She threw herself at Demral and started crying again. This time instead of the turmoil rising inside of her and tearing at her mind, she felt it all fading away.
Her heart still hurt, but at that moment, it did not matter, nothing mattered. Demral was there, he heard her, he came for her. She was not alone.
She knew it sounded silly, but, at that moment, that meant the world to her.
"Fia?"
"Thank you," she whimpered between her sobbing.
Demral decided not to say anything and just sat there still until she was feeling better.
When Fia calmed down, though, she did not heal the lake.
She just gave it one last look and walked off with Demral, leaving her, their, beloved lake behind, dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Demral sighed as he finished the story, looking around at that same lake they now stood on. "After that, she noticed that her powers would go out of control whenever she was overcome with a strong emotion, sometimes it's anger, fear, regret, grief, ... despair," he took a deep rattling breath. "That's why she created the void, to protect the creatures around her. To protect herself. She wouldn't bear another creature dying because of her. She's barely even holding it together now. She's only living to protect Zemeria and its creatures, she... sees it as her redemption. The only thing she's good for. And she thinks it's her responsibility to hang on to the guilt all the while doing so. Until the day she dies," he spat out the last part. He was shaking with anger as he talked, his face a mixture of pain and sorrow for his dear friend, his only family.
Liam gravely nodded. "I see."
Demral turned his head towards him, tentatively. "Can you... help her?"
He looked as though the question took him by surprise. "I-" he thought about it for a moment then said, "I can't promise anything, but... I will try. That's... the least I can do."
Demral gave him a curt nod before turning back to look at what once was a lake. "She... said you reminded her of herself... in a way."
"O-oh," he had an unreadable expression on his face, "She did?" His eyes drifted away for a bit, seemingly lost in deep thought for a moment. "Huh," he muttered to himself with a distant, almost sad, smile. "I guess there's no hiding it from the Guazeria."
He turned his head to Demral, smiling. "Thank you for telling me, Demral. I really appreciate it."
He gave him another nod and settled down by, what once was, the lake, resting. It was not easy talking about all this, Liam could tell. And he appreciated that Demral trusted him enough to tell him.
He was going to try his best.