• Tale of the Witch

    Once a long time ago there was a young girl named Persephone, she was tall and slender and had dark brown hair to match her piecing dark eyes , yet she was devout religious child that served her god and the people of her village most earnestly. One day during her free time she went into the nearby forest to pick fruit from some of the trees. She was the only person that knew the most delicious apples grew on a tree by a lake she called Almery Lake.

    She quite enjoyed her secrete area and would not tell anyone about it under pain of death. What she most enjoyed was the fact that she could be free the mental chains that bounded her when she was in company of others were broken as she climbed the trees and ate and swam without thought of others. It was one day while taking fun lying in the trees that she saw a sight that took her young eyes by surprise. In one of the apples there was a slit and inside was a shiny object.

    Taking hold of the apple she broke it apart to reveal a small black shard. Surprisingly enough the shard was black with a dark purple shimmer about it, even more surprising however was the fact that it seemed to whisper a song to her. It sung such beautiful filling her head with honey and wine as it showed her all types of colors and stones that shined all types of brilliance. The voice was that of silk as she listened for such a long time forgetting that the sun was almost gone. She didn’t want to leave the shard but knew that if she took it with her she risk it being found or stolen.

    The shard was clever as it was mystical for it whispered to her a plan that would allow her to keep it without fear of loosing it. Holding it tightly in her hand the young girl stuck it inside her body where her heart lied falling to the ground instantly as her head filled with different thoughts and colors. She felt drugged as she struggled to get to her feet finally finding the strength to make her way home. Once she was there she discovered that there was no wound where she had plunged the shard and that her mind was free from outside thoughts.

    The girl pretended that everything was normal as she ate with her mother, father and younger sister and said her daily prayers wishing good things upon the world that she loved. The next day she went back to Almery Lake and began to climb the tree again, unfortunately the tree branch broke as she tried to climb on and she fell to the ground crying. She looked under her dress at her knee and cried harder as she felt the stinging of blood as it met the air. Yet the tears stopped flowing as the silk voice return and assured her she was okay.

    She placed a hand over the wound and pressed firmly feeling the pain for only a brief moment before it vanished along with the wound. Persephone was surprised as she got to her feet the tears in her dress had disappeared as well as she looked up at the apples. Smiling she waved her hand knowing that she would get what she wanted. The apples began to fall one by one softly onto the ground not one even coming close to hitting the young girl on the head as she fell to the ground laughing. The apples rolled themselves towards her and she began to eat them enjoying her new power.

    Persephone spent the day playing at the lake making the waters do tricks for her. She was more happy then she’d ever been in her life as she danced with a few of the smaller trees and yet something inside her made her feel sad. She was lonely now that she had powers and wanted to share her special area with someone and show them everything that she could do. It was hard to decide but at last she made up her mind as she made her way back home, it was much faster this time as the trees seemed to move out of her way much to her delight.

    She ate her meal lovingly as she spoke with her family not letting them in on her secrete. The silk voice told her not to just yet and without hesitation she listened with earnest. The next day however she took her young sister with her to her special lake laughing the entire time as she did love her sister very much and her sister loved her. At last they found themselves at Almery Lake and Persephone ushered her sister to sit on the ground.

    “Why are we here Persephone” the young girl asked looking much like her sister in everyway except she was smaller in stature. “Chloe I have something I must show you!” Persephone cried with excitement as she waved her hand over the water. At once the liquid began to sprout as if it were a fountain spewing all over yet not touching the girls. Chloe ran up to the lake wide eyed and mouth open “You found an enchanted Lake!” she cried excited.

    Persephone smiled at her sister brightly knowing that for her age and gender she really was intelligent. “No silly, it’s not the lake it’s me” Persephone cried as she told her all about the apple and the shard. The younger sister listened in patience not interrupting or saying a word until her older sister had finished. When that time came she smiled and asked for another demonstration of her sister’s powers.

    The older sister stood and waved her hand once more as the ground began to tremble and creatures made of mud and stone roused from the ground. They were tall and strong as winged Apes flew from the sky yet from nowhere. The younger sister held onto her in fear tears welling up in her eyes “make them leave!” she cried as Persephone simply smiled. With another wave of her hand the creatures vanished and the two sat on the still ground as a few apples rolled over to them. “Why did you summon such horrible demons?” the younger sister asked hesitantly.

    “I didn’t really, I just wanted others to appear and they did” Persephone explained calmly “you shouldn’t judge harshly based off appearance though” she scolded to her young sister knowing that the creatures had a gentle spirit about them because she had made them that way. The younger sister looked at her in doubt but still filled with the same curiosity as she asked another question. “What will you do with your gift?”

    Persephone smiled “isn’t it obvious, god has given me this power to help others that is why I hear his voice from my heart” she cried with excitement. The younger sister was a bit jealous as she took an apple and ate it’s delights wanting to know more about what her sister planned to do. “I think I will make myself Queen and you my princess along with mother and father and instill peace and love while teaching others the way of god like he would want” Persephone answered kindly.

    “You would make a kind Queen” the little sister said in awe excited that she would get to be a real princess. “Shall we tell mother and father then?” Chloe asked in curiosity. Something inside her told her ‘no’ yet staring into the eyes of her sister Persephone chose to ignore it. “Do you want to?” she asked a bit hesitantly wanting to know what her sister thought. “I think we should, after all they will be living with us” Chloe said with a laugh as the pair got onto their feet and began to make their way home.

    Laughing and singing they walked into the house and asked for their parents attention, Persephone then began to tell them about her Lake and the gift she had found there, she even waved her hand and made the dishes wash themselves. Both girls were shocked to see their mother crying and a dark look appear on their father’s face “That is witchcraft!” the father roared at the scared daughter as her mother grabbed the younger sister in fright.

    “Mother it’s alright, she’s a kind Queen who’s going to preach the word of God” Chloe cried hoping that they would listen. “A witch cannot preach the word of God!” father roared as he grabbed the nearest knife and held it out defensively staring at his daughter as if she were a demon from Hades. “father please!” Persephone cried falling to her knees tears flowing from her eyes and her hands crossed. Her mother simply cried as she clutched their youngest daughter tears flowing from her eyes as well as she tried to explain that sister wasn’t evil and that they shouldn’t judge someone based off appearance.

    “I will not watch you burn at the pyres witch!” The father cried as he raced forward and plunged his knife into his daughter’s heart. The younger sister burst from her weeping mother’s arms as she ran to her sister tears flowing harder then the blood from her sister’s body. “It’s alright dear Claudia, everything will be okay for the lord will protect me” Persephone said gently using her sister’s real name and not the nickname she’d given her.

    The father had tears in his eyes as he stood by his crying wife who wheezed as if unable to breathe. Claudia watched as the life vanished slowly from her sisters eyes noticing a glimmer in the blood that lied on the floor. It was a shard that spoke silkily to her using the voice of her fallen sister ‘the witch’ as the young girl reached and picked it up unnoticed by her family. Without thinking she plunged the blood soaked shard into her heart and stood covered in her dead sister’s blood. Her head spun as the shard whispered things to her and she agreed.

    Her father stared at her as she stared back a dark coldness in her eye as she raised her hand, a pain laid in her heart not caused by the shard but by the loss she felt for her sister. She wanted her father to feel the same pain and within an instance he did, screaming in agony as he fell to his knees the pain of a thousand knives flowing throughout his body. “Murderer” a voice that was not quite hers said as her mother reached out for her.

    Her eyes flared bright green as her mother fell to the ground instantly dead, for she was just as guilty allowing sister to die. Father died shortly after as Claudia left the house a body floating next to her as she did so. As she made her way into the woods the house she had been born in busted into flames, she still had blood on her yet had a large dark cloak over her as the table clothe laid over the floating body that followed her to Almery Lake. She felt not the love that she had that morning, for it had died with Persephone. Instead she felt the pain and suffering that her sister had felt and the pain she wanted to spread as creatures roused from the ground and began to attack the village, killing everyone.

    In the center of the lake laid a tomb made of trees and apples and in it laid the body of a young kind heated girl who’s blood now flowed in a dark shard that rested inside her sister’s heart. The shard seemed to be excited to be inside Claudia rather than Persephone something that Claudia was too young to detect. For the shard was evil and brought chaos to all that touched it , pleased it had been to be found but worried to discover that the girl was a pure soul that could not be corrupted, it was through luck alone that murder would bring it too Claudia someone that would not only reject the light but welcome the corruption that it brought as she mourned the loss of her sister by the betrayal of her father. Claudia was now something that would bring about pain and suffering to the world when their could have been peace and love, from the death of a white witch came the birth of a black witch.