Capítulo 63: The Mythical Four Eyes
Inside a cob-web-infested wooden building, a white-haired girl wept in a corner. There were wooden planks scraped with cut marks, walls covered in vines, oak cabinets wide open, and dust-covered bookshelves leaning against the wall.
She was too stunned and mortified when she reflected on how she attacked Asahi. Aletha knew that wasn't him; nonetheless, she simply couldn't allow her brother to harm others.
She pressed her face against her legs and uncontrollably sobbed. Tears slid down her skin and soaked on her stockings. Aletha didn't care for where she was; she just hoped that Asahi didn't abandon her.
Even after what Asahi did, Aletha still mumbled in an apologetic manner.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
She tilted her head toward the dusty bookshelves and tried to peek out the sunlight. What met her was nothing but smoke and dust. As she sobbed and bailed out, a faint white luminance shone underneath her chin.
"Huh?"
The four white buttons which were stretched up on her chest instantly glowed a bright white luminance. Aletha swiftly tilted her head up and rubbed her eye. She hoped it was an illusion. However, as she tilted her head down back to her chest, she saw a long white snake slither up her body.
The serpent had a beautiful scaly appearance, with black spots and curl S patterns scattering over its skin. Aletha froze in shock. She never knew who the creature was, or at least, she doesn't remember. The snake didn't look intimidating at all to Aletha. She thought in her head.
"Why is there a snake on me? Where did it come from?"
While Aletha felt the white serpent rest near her shoulder, she quietly asked it.
"Who...are you?!"
The snake shook its head and slithered around Aletha's neck. Its wet, scaly skin rubbed against Aletha's soft skin as if it was a leaf brushing against the ground. Aletha felt a heavy feeling push down on her. She slowly rubbed her eye and yawned, feeling as if she was about to faint.
"W...Why am I... so... tired...?
Then, her vision flashed to darkness. What replaced the darkness, was a memory of Aletha jumping and sprinting through bushes. She sobbed, scattered tears on the ground, and whimpered.
"Asahi... I'm sorry..." She faintly mumbled.
As soon as past Aletha reached a large stone, Aletha's vision flashed back to the present. She slowly rubbed her eyes and recollected why she was here. Those stones, her cries, it gave an uneasy feeling to her.
In a faint voice, Aletha whispered to herself.
"I... was lying against a stone. Terrified and mourning for my brother. Someone pulled me and carried me to this area. I was forced into slumber; I saw horrible visions. But then, it all vanished."
She groaned and stretched her arms out, hoping that the snake was just a dream. However, as she turned her head toward her shoulder, she saw the same extending white body of the snake dangle over her shoulders.
"What the--? It wasn't a dream?"
With absolute shock, confusion, and fear, suddenly a smooth feminine voice echoed in Aletha's mind.
"Master Aletha, is there something wrong, dear? You don't look like you remember my presence... unfortunately."
Aletha swiftly jumped out of shock and confusingly screamed.
"Who are you?!"
The deep feminine voice continued to speak inside Aletha's mind as if it was an actual conversation.
"Well, dear master, I'm Athenia, remember? The wise ally who always assisted you on problems and showed you what separates lies from truth."
"Athenia...?" Aletha mumbled peculiarly.
The snake slowly slithered up Aletha's head, smiled, and in a serious manner, the deep voice answered.
"Yes, Athenia...
The white snake crept over Aletha's head and slowly dangled in front of Aletha's face. It felt to the snake as if Aletha was ignoring her. Nonetheless, the situation was far from that. The same, woman-like voice echoed in Aletha's mind once more.
"Do you see that gorgeous white snake in front of you? That's me... dear."
Aletha's heart stopped out of shock, then out of wariness, she swiftly backed up to the wall and confusingly screamed.
"The voice... you're the snake?"
The snake steadily slithered down Aletha's face and approached her chest. It stuck out its tounge and gave a faint smile to Aletha. The deep feminine voice continued.
"Yes, and I'm here to inform you; your brother, Asahi, is on his way. Aletha, I'm surprised you have forgotten me. However, I shouldn't be surprised since it's been ages since we last met."
Aletha scratched her head and tried to recollect her memory. Her mind was nothing but a foggy empty space, with hardly any memory of her long past. Then as her gray eyes stared at the snake, a sudden vision of a gray-eyed white snake flashed in Aletha's mind.
Delicate skin, a long black tongue, and crystal gray eyes, sharing almost all the features Aletha had. As the vision flashed, Aletha gasped. Her heart pounded, her palms sweated, and her eyes trembled. The white snake that was teasing her was her long-lost guardian creature, Athenia.
As Aletha trembled in shock, Athenia slithered down to the ground and stared straight through Aletha's eyes.
"Did you forget that I had a material form as well?"
Unexpectedly, the entire presence of the snake instantly transformed into four white buttons. All of them quickly fell onto the hard oak ground, loudly generating taps on the surface. Aletha's eyes widened, she was afraid and confused.
"NO!"
Then, the four white dots slowly slid toward each other and materialized back into the white snake.
Aletha gritted her teeth and sneered at the snake. She had strong anger at the white snake's previous act. With a bumpy voice, Aletha grunted and whispered aggressively to Athenia.
"So, are you... telling me... that you were the four buttons on my shirt the entire time?"
Athenia lightly giggled as if she didn't care and slithered up Aletha's leg. Her scales lifted up, her tail moved back and forth, and her gray eyes glistened underneath the thin strands of the poking sunlight.
"Well, yes. Hadn't you remember your father? The one that made me your guardian and protected you if needed. I couldn't emerge because of how weak I was back then, but now... I finally feel better."
Aletha closed her eyes and scratched her head.
"My... father?"
Athenia sighed and shook her head. It seemed as if she was a person inside that snake body.
"You forgot him too? I'm honestly surprised that you forgot him. I... also have difficulty remembering his face; however, just by looking at you, dear Aletha, your face greatly reminds me of your beautiful mother."
Aletha faintly trembled.
"My... m-mother?"
Athenia hissed and slithered up Aletha's neck.
"Yeah, all I remembered was that her appearance was undeniably beautiful. Such a... divine body with an attractive young face. She's a goddess, alright..."
Aletha struggled to remember the face of her mother. It's been a long time since she last saw her. It felt to Aletha as if all the memories of both her mother and father were stolen after they fled their world thousands of years ago.
Though Aletha could have continued the conversation, Athenia magically lifted her tail into the air and formed a book. It swiftly fell down Aletha's lap, forcing dust to brush against her face. Athenia slithered down toward the book and latched her tail over the cover.
As Aletha rubbed her hands against the har, brown exterior, Athenia whispered.
"I saw everything that happened when I was in material form. Your adventures, your wandering, your discussions, everything. I have seen it all. I know how bad you wanted to read that book back in that eerie basement, so I found a way to transport it from that blue-haired girl's hands and give it to you."
Athenia quickly planted her face onto the ground and hissed.
"That alone took almost all my energy away. Please, for my sake... could you read the book out loud?"
It was too sudden; everything was. Aletha finally remembered a guardian following her; she recollected what had happened before waking up. She remembered the book that she had all so yearned to read ever since Aletha was in that bone cellar.
"Okay... t-thank you."
Aletha softly bit her lips and gulped. She was eager to finally read the book. As she slowly pulled the cover-up, a rising feeling of dread scraped her throat. The overall texture of the object was rough, prickling, and parched.
It almost felt like Aletha was forced to read it. Athenia slithered up Aletha's face and darted her head toward the pages. She slowly leaned her head toward Aletha's ear and whispered.
"Go ahead, read it."
As Athenia eagerly waited behind her neck, Aletha saw it.
There were paragraphs and rough sketches scattered among all the brittle pages. While the sun shined through the cracks of the wooden buildings toward the pages, Aletha began reading.
* * * * *
"The Village of Solitude, a place filled with wealth, fortune, Dreams, and loathed in the pure landscape. Years ago, I discovered this abandoned forest and took camp here. There wasn't much but only a few ancient stone structures scattered over the ground. When Pladtioa wasn't ruled by Narcissa, this land was still at its prime. Its soil, roots, and widespread landscape were fresh, new, and pure."
"I chose to squander the area for valuable resources. There, I met a tribe of green individuals who offered to assist me on my inquiries I couldn't resist, but to take the offer…."
Aletha pressed her fingers against the page. She discovered that the rest of the pages were stained with black ink. She felt a shiver of fear course up her back. She couldn't possibly imagine what occurred after the writer wrote this.
While she dropped the book onto the wooden floor, Aletha roughly trembled.
"Why are all the pages stained in black?"
Athenia shook her head and slithered up toward the next page. Among the dry paper was a numerous amount of words all scattered among all directions. Despite it being a cluster of paragraphs, it was still readable. Aletha took a deep breath and continued reading.
"Our village is sacred. No foreigners should enter. We shall restore what was lost and bow to the new emperor."
Aletha tilted her head and pushed her white hair back. As the wind howled through the open door, she continued to read.
"We will never leave. For the beast will shred our souls. We only take counts of fruit, and only us shall make our way."
Her gray eyes widened, dread twisted her gut, and her palms began to sweat. As she turned the page, more paragraphs followed with images of the interior of buildings getting covered in what seemed to be skulls and grass. Below the sketches, were this…
"They couldn't leave; they had an obsession to forever protect this village. These poor children have never seen what is outside this forest. I have to take action."
She turned the page and saw sketches of the villagers. They looked awfully close to what humans looked like.
"Days later, I found out that there have been sudden disappearances of villagers. I don't know what happened, but it seemed that buildings were getting torn down by a vicious wind. Oh God of Purity, please give me your blessings."
She turned the page and saw the paragraphs growing longer. It seemed the time segment of this book was scrambled.
"I have asked villagers what this place was. They said it was the nest for a creature who lurks in the woods. However, despite their attempts to leave, they saw walls of fire blocking their way out. Now I realize that the villager's obsession has the best of them. I shall ask more."
Aletha diverted toward the other page and saw sketches of the sun and moon above a rough drawing of trees and ground.
"I have more information on the beast. It appears that Dreamtoe Forest can manipulate emotions and cause them to wander off. This beast is the Kitsune, who never liked the village. She tried her best to get rid of them, but there seemed to be a flaw within her power.
"I discovered more information within the ancient walls of this village. The Kitsune has been alive for thousands of years, even before the Sea of White. She was the one responsible for the disappearances of my children and the villagers. I wish I could find my daughter and son sooner. I don't want my wife to be left alone.
"I asked the villagers if I could fight the Kitsune. Unfortunately, they said I would have no match for them at all. They did inform me of the reward if I so happened to slay her. This village's missing, and the curse would lift if I were to slaughter the Kitsune. Maybe, the villagers meant that the disappeared children would all return if that happened. I… have to investigate."
Aletha slowly turned to the last page and saw faint bits of crimson-stained across the pages. Only one paragraph was written with an unfinished sketch of the beast and messy ink.
"I can't… I can't… I failed. I'm behind a stone, hearing the Kitsune growl. My wooden blade was torn, my armor was melted, and my skin was bruised. The flames engulfed me, the mist returned, the villagers watched. I hear voices, voices that sound like girls and boys. Voices that yelled and screamed to me to leave."
The handwriting was rougher.
"And yet, I didn't listen. I could see the sky flicker from night to day with my legs, a. I, and body. I hope everyone's safe; I hope the villagers are okay, I hope…."
Then, the paragraph stopped with one last sketch at the bottom.
The sight of a little boy and girl with short hair, wide eyes, and tunics, surrounded by a fade of eraser marks and tear stains.
Fear paralyzed Aletha, her body grew cold, and slowly she closed the book.
Now she understood why Marina never wanted her to read it. The content was too frightening and terrible to comprehend. As she stood on the floor, a vision flashed in her eyes.
* * *
A goblin child politely asked Aletha back when they were still at the village before entering the abandoned house.
"I just want to see mommy again…."
The vision quickly flashed back to reality.
* * *
Aletha gripped her heart and tightened her fist. Tears slid down her pale face, her heart swiftly thumped, and her breath grew cold. Athenia slowly slithered down Aletha and transformed to her material appearance; the four buttons.
"S-So… that explains why Asahi was like that. His emotion was amplified… because of this forest."
She took a deep breath and pushed herself up. Aletha felt anger rush up and down her heart. Though she was defeated by the beast, she couldn't deny fighting it again.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Sunny_Shad0w
Sunny_Shad0w I apologize for the considerable absence. I was focusing on education and mental health. Now that I'm healed, I will continue to publish more chapters. Don't expect such a fast release rate though.
-Sunny Shad0w
16 Chapters Left...
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder