Tale Of The Half-Blood Wizard - Chapter 121

“It’s been a few weeks but those leaves haven’t fallen yet.” One of the brides with the red camellia said. “There are some of ‘them’ who want to go back then and neglect their duties. ‘They’ think that by stealing what’s belong to the living, it can make ‘them’ come back.”

‘Did the brides use ‘they’ to refer that creature?’ I thought. Somehow, the words from one of the brides with the red camellia reminded me of that shadow creature. The two of them did share something in common: stealing what’s belong to the living. ‘Could it be that what the brides referred to the organs that were stolen from humans?’ I thought again.

I thought about it one more time, and when I looked up, I just realized that there wasn’t just one leaf that didn’t fall. If it was possible that it was ‘them’, then it would mean that there wasn’t just only one shadow creature just like the one that was near my place at this moment.

“‘They’ have killed one of the wizards, that’s what made the guards get angry and finally crossed over.” One of the brides with the white camellia explained.

Then they took me for a walk. This place made me think that I really wasn’t in my world, it was like I was going to another world.

“If every leaf that falls represents those who have died, then the age of the universe is indeed very old.” I laid down among the piles of leaves and I moved my arms and legs up and down just like when I made a ‘snow angel’, but this time that wasn’t from the snow but from the fallen leaves, while those two brides with different colours of camellias were just staring at me blankly. “Why did you two bring me here? What’s your purpose exactly?” I asked them as I got up and sat down.

Those two brides with different colours of camellias also sat down with me, and then one of the brides with the white camellia said, “I know that you’ve been to Vio to ask about what the creature was and you were also thinking about how to stop it so you can just get your normal life back.” I was just so surprised to hear the answer.

“We’ve waited for you until you came out of that house. Vio forbade us to enter because…” One of the brides with the red camellia seemed to be thinking about something. After a few seconds had passed, she finally said, “If the bodies that it has created are being too close to our energy, those finished bodies will just quickly break down.”

I was confused by the words that one of the brides with the red camellia had said; I asked her “What do you mean?”

“The red camellia makes the time around her go faster; meanwhile I do the opposite,” One of the brides with the white camellia replied” The made-up body that Vio had made just can’t accept such a drastic change in time. It’s also the reason why you can’t be too close for too long with the bride with the red camellia of being too close for too long with just me only. If there are the two of us together around you then the flow of the time will be just neutral and it will bring you no harm.” It got me thinking of the whirlpools that each of them had opposite directions while I was listening to her explanation.

Each of those two brides with the red and white camellias gave me an explanation in return. The shadow creatures that often wandered around were originally wandering spirits. Most of them were spirits of people who died as a sacrifice, the rest of them were people who died in unusual death so it made Charon couldn’t take them to the place of Kerberos.

“They are not ‘seekers’ who will only look for physical bodies, and then occupy them. They think by taking part in the human body, they can make them live again. They just really want to come back and it won’t want to be wanderers.” The explanation of one of the brides with white camellias made me think that it killed just to steal every part of human’s bodies, and then carried them on its own bodies because they thought it would help them come back.

“You have to be careful with them,” One of the brides with the red camellia warned me, “Their targets can be anyone. Even if they were human before all of this, now they are merely a collection of greed, stupidity, and anger from their human nature. With that being said, it means that how bad the character is when they are still alive, the worse the character will be now. They have only small parts of human nature, the rest of them are uncontrollable.”

Now I understood clearly the reason behind why Vio asked me to resign from this task. I was dead sure that Vio must have known who they were and how many there were. I looked up and saw—perhaps dozens of—the leaves that were still wrapped in thread, so they seemed to hang from the tree.

“I think this going to be so difficult,” I complained. “Am I even capable enough to finish this task?” I remember back then when the creature just threw Aras so easily as well as the Manjis who always asked me to stay away from them instead of possibly fighting them. They both seemed more careful than when they had faced Antonie’s magic.

“I think I just want to back off,” I said as I was lying down again and observing each tree branch that looked like bronchiole in the lungs.

Those two brides with the red and white camellias asked me to get up even if it wasn’t long after I had just laid down. “Time for you to go home,” Both of them said at the same time.

“It’s getting dark soon; it’s time for you to go home.” One of the brides with the white camellia repeated. “It won’t be good for you if you come home late or you’re here by night.” One of the brides with the white camellia helped me to stand up after that.

We came out of the park and by the time I was at the restaurant, it was already getting more crowded than before.

“Soon this place will be very crowded. All the spirits will gather and those who are still alive must return to their places.” Those two brides with the red and white camellias led me to the riverbank, and then they said goodbye.

…

I went back home through a different path in purpose. I was just so curious about the last house where the creature wrote the symbol on the gate. It was already 04:45 P.M. when I arrived in front of the house, soon the sun would set, and the lights would be turned off. It was getting dark and eerily quiet, perhaps because only a small part of this old housing complex was still inhabited. I only saw one or two passersby; it looked like they had just come home from work.

I looked around to figure out whether there might be anything else besides the sign. I walked to enter the small alley on the side of the house, thinking maybe the creature had left a mark elsewhere as well. After spending around half an hour of searching, I found nothing. There were only a few buildings behind this house that were still inhabited so it was so quiet.

Then I intended to go home since it was getting really dark now. As I was about to leave the path beside the house, I saw the creature again. It stood with a slight hunchback facing the gate. It didn’t do anything, it was just staring at the door.

I was just standing frozen there between confusion and fear. I was petrified while I was thinking that if I got out of this small street, then it would definitely see me. In the end, I could only stand still here like this waiting for him while I was trying to keep myself being alert, aware, and observant. Yet the creature never moved from that place. It was staring at the door for more than an hour now. I had to slowly and stealthily put myself to sit on the ground because if I forced myself to keep standing for no one knew for how long it would be then I would get myself severe legs muscle cramp.

Now I had to accept the fact I was stuck. I didn’t know any other way home other than the way that made me have to pass through the creature. It left me no choice other than just to sit here in silence while waiting for it to leave that was all that I could do.

A few more minutes had passed, then the creature began to show some movement. It paced back and forth in front of the door just like a human. Nevertheless, as the tips of its feet were just thin layers of smoke that were almost transparent it made it look like it was just floating. It seemed to be waiting for someone or something from the inside of the house.