Chapter 22 – Envy’s first attack.
”I don’t know what to do, Annelka.” Unique sighed. “It all seems so impossible.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something, dear.”
Unique looked at the woman. Was there actually anything she could do? She was stranded on earth, with no way of finding Sion or getting in touch with the other Gods. It all looked terribly hopeless.
Not to mention all the odd information that she stumbled upon—it had taken the better part of a night to get somewhat used to the fact that she had been married to Sion. Unique had tossed and turned while replaying the visions in her mind. Finally, she had decided not to think too much about it. It was what it was, and she couldn’t trust whether it was true or not.
“How about that girl you mentioned? The scared one?” Annelka asked.
“Feara can’t be of any help, she’s scared of her own shadow. She fears everything.” Unique wouldn’t admit it to Annelka, but just the thought of going back, sent shivers down her spine.
“How about that holy place of yours? Would there be any—“
Annelka stopped speaking, and Unique snapped up. What happened? The old woman in front of her was clutching the handle on a bread knife, twitching it in her hands.
“I don’t get it,” she said and turned the knife over, throwing it playfully between her hands. “I did everything in my power to get blessed by the Gods. Everything!”
“Annelka….” Unique scrambled back, her chair tilting over in the process. The sound of the wood falling on the tile floor resounded between them.
Something was wrong with Annelka, sweat was pouring down her face, and her teeth were gritted.
“To waste such extensive power on someone like you, it’s beyond my imagination. You aren’t equipped to handle powers, and you have no idea how to use them.”
Oh, crap. The realization of what was happening was fast catching up to Unique—she just didn’t know how to respond.
“Annelka, you need to fight this. It’s not you talking right now,” she said. Her attempt at reasoning with the gypsy woman was wasted though.
“You betcha it’s me talking. I don’t get how you can be such a failure, and still be blessed. You don’t deserve it.” The woman took a step closer to Unique, the knife still twitching in her hand.
“And you suppose you do?” Unique asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
Second after, Annelka charged with the knife held up high. A roar came from the woman, and Unique tried to escape the onslaught. The knife slashed through the skin on Unique’s arm, and she screamed. Flee. Get away.
Her whole body screamed to escape, and she obeyed. Her powers weren’t active so she could use them to defend herself, and even if they had been, she wasn’t sure she would have hurt her only friend on earth. Not even when her friend turned into a mad gypsy woman with intent of hurting her.
Unique ran through the house, grabbing a small backpack she’d acquired a few days prior, she concentrated on transporting. She didn’t care where—she just knew that she needed to get away.
“Unique!” Annelka screamed.
She ignored the woman. Focus. Annelka barged in and charged once more. Unique had no hopes of defending herself; instead, she closed her eyes, and breathed slowly. Transport. Anywhere, but here.
Pain followed in her arm before she lost balance and fell. When she opened her eyes, she was in a grass field.
It was near the tree house. Her arm ached, and she checked the injuries. The first slash was deep, but it was healing. Sighing, she rose from her spot on the grass.
“Back to here,” she muttered. What was it that Annelka had said? Something about going here, before she’d turned envious. She looked around, the scorched spot on the ground was visible among all the green.
The sight still made her sad. There had been memories in that house, both some she’d apparently forgotten, but also memories from the brief time she shared with Sion.
Sion. God, she missed him.
Unique’s feet started walking on their own accord. She didn’t know where they’d lead her, but she couldn’t stand still.
She didn’t have any ways of lining up everything, but it would be a fantastic way to start. What exactly had happened while she was here? There had to be something that could be of help.
Her memories were fuzzy and blurred out. Sion had mentioned a trigger to the tree house. He had looked up her skirt while she found it.
Perhaps… She started to run, despite the continuous pain in her arm. Why didn’t it heal already? Running over to a neighboring tree, she looked up. The crown was close and she had trouble spotting anything, but it was doable. She narrowed her eyes and skimmed the trunk. There.
A tiny trigger was placed just above her head. She ran over to another tree and spotted the same.
For every tree she encountered, she saw little triggers, and handles that could be used. She wandered deeper into the darker part of the forest. Only a little sunshine penetrated the tree crowns, and she shivered in the cold. Goosebumps covered her bare arms, and her palms stroked across her skin, to give a little heat. Her fingertips touched the slash wound from Annelka. Surprised, Unique stopped and surveyed her arm.
It was healing, but extremely slowly, blood still seeped out. Her other gash hadn’t started healing yet, and the sight of her life-blood spilling out made her dizzy. It shouldn’t take so long, so why was it?
She sat down on the grass and leaned her head between her knees. Her head hurt.
All these questions were draining her, perhaps that’s why her healing wasn’t working up to scale. It didn’t help that every time she had one answer, two questions popped up. Quietly, she tried to collect her thoughts.
She had to catch the Gods attention—she had to do it by acting good.
She had no memories of her childhood nor of the supposed marriage between her and Sion.
Sion had said that he didn’t want her to look for him, yet the vision form Envy seemed different.
Envy had gotten to Annelka and Unique was alone.
There were other cabins here in this forest.
Her powers were failing.
And she had forgotten to recall the memory of—
Her head snapped up. What was it she had been supposed to remember?
“Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap,” she muttered. Sion had told her to remember something every time she used her powers. What was it?
A tear slid down her cheek. This couldn’t be real.
She was the Goddess of Retro-cognition. She could see the past of others, but she was senile when it came to her own memories? The whole idea seemed so unrealistic and hopeless. Unique sniffled.
She missed her father. Even though they weren’t always on reasonable terms, he’d been able to calm her down for the larger part. She missed Aunt Amora and Uncle Fury. Granted, she didn’t socialize with them that much, but they always greeted her as if she were a close relative, and not just the weird offspring of Retro.
Most of all, she missed Sion. It was almost painful to admit, but it was the truth. She missed his stupid and lame jokes. His endless source of crude pickup-lines. Without him, she felt lost. He’d been the one with all the answers, and he’d been taking care of everything, despite her being whiny and ungrateful.
Unique was scared, sad and helpless right now. She didn’t know what to do, or where to go. She didn’t know anything right now.
A gust of wind caught her hair, and the white locks blew in front of her eyes. A strand of hair cluttered to her tears. Annoyed, she wiped it away. Couldn’t she be allowed to sulk in peace? You’d think that an abandoned, holy forest would be a decent spot to cry out.
“Noo, there just had to be an annoying wind to annoy,” she rambled in a mutter.
Her eyes caught sight of the tree across from her. Looking upwards, she saw that the branches were fairly easy to climb, and they continued high above the other trees.
If she climbed up there, she’d be able to see the whole field from the top. Unique wasn’t sure what it would help, but her gut instinct told her to try anyway. It was simply made to be climbed.
A/N. I hope you're still enjoying it.