That night the unforgettable, haunting image of my mother burning at the stake was ingrained deep within my mind. What I witnessed that day was something I never wished to see again.
"Mother!?"
His mother was brutally punched in the stomach, thrown to the ground with force, and had been kicked repeatedly. Her clothes were stripped apart, and everyone's eyes were looking at her in disgust. They were hesitant to even touch her skin as if she were utter 'filth'.
"Hey... HEY!!"
The child tried to break free from their grasp but they held him down and tied him up in a restraint.
"Stop... STOP!!"
It was too late.
His mother could no longer endure the pain. The screams that were held back in front of her child had finally let out for the world to hear... but the world had done nothing.
"STOP IT!!!!!"
He continued to beg desperately but they didn't listen.
His father, who was nowhere to be seen, had left for the battlefield a year ago. Although the war was supposedly over and the rest of the men from the village had returned a few months ago... his father hadn't.
No one saved his father and now no one could save his mother, or him...
[In this world, we were alone and we were weak... too weak to fend for ourselves.]
"Burn her!"
"Kill her!!"
"Burn the witch!!"
"Don't spare the child either! Anyone or anything related to witches must perish!!"
"All of them, all of these witches must be erased from this world!!!"
"Die you filthy scum!!"
"Please... Stop it..."
The village- No... The world had abandoned the mother, her husband, and most importantly her only son... who was tied up, then whipped and beaten until no end.
An inhuman howl of pain echoed throughout the crowd. A cry akin to a baby doe, crying to its mother, as she lay dying from a hunter's arrow. The screeches of despair fell upon deaf ears. The whimpering of a mother also followed but could not clearly reach the ears of anyone as the crowds raised their voices of anger and hatred.
Even when the child was bleeding they had no ounce of mercy within them. It had only stopped until his light brown skin was covered in numerous marks and wounds. At that point, his face was unrecognisable and it was time for the boy, himself, to soon be burned alongside with the supposed witch.
"Please... believe us!! We didn't do anything!! Please! Someone..."
"Just please... save us."
He was a child back then, he didn't understand how cruel the world truly was. He was naive, he was weak, he was truly... helpless. But in order to protect something, you needed power... and in order to obtain something, you needed even more power.
Back then... he had nothing.
"...Anyone..."
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The look my mother had that day, I will never forget that face. I will never forget that fear. No one would spare her life, no one would save her... No one would believe her!!!
"Sebastian..."
I looked up to where my mother's voice came from. On the stake, there she was. Dying.
"Mother!!"
"It'll be alright. This..."
[This is just... a dream.]
"When we wake up we'll be together again. So, don't worry..."
I couldn't do anything to save her... and so as I cried endlessly with my head buried in the earth, I heard the dreadful cheers continue... but I could still hear her voice.
"Sebas-tian..."
I don't think you know this my dear but I'm... so blessed to have you... I'm truly, truly glad... that I could be with you. You have given me so much happiness... I am so grateful to you... You are my beautiful, kind, and gentle son. You are my pride, my joy...
[You are all my happiness.]
"Sebastian..."
The roaring of the crowd had grown louder and louder. As it reached its peak, for a single moment I could see her past the hordes of people. Her mouth began to move and although I couldn't hear her anymore... I was certain that she was looking at me at this very moment and I could tell exactly what she said.
"I... wi--ll al-way--s... lov-"
With a howl, I staggered forwards and finally managed to break off from the bindings that had poorly restricted me. And like a human fleeing pathetically for their dear life, I ran down low and as quickly as my body could let me. Dodging past the crowds that were still shouting and cheering, I weaved my way in. But when I managed to get to the front, I was blocked off.
I was unable to avoid all of my pursuers and was then beaten to the ground once again. They hit me mercilessly, again and again, until the pain started to numb. Finally, they forced me to stand up.
At that point, I was tired. So... so tired. I didn't know exactly how much time had passed and my vision was hazy.
I had my head down but I wanted to see Mother so as I slowly brought myself up and gazed upwards to where my mother was- and when my vision cleared... I then instantly dropped to my knees as an unrecognisable object commingled together by pieces of burning wood and many 'parts' lay in front of me.
It was at that very moment that I realised...
"AAAAAAGH!!!!!!"
Nothing had remained of her but a pile of bones and ashes.
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"Mother... Mother... Mother..."
The boy was breathing heavily and continued to mutter the same words. He couldn't comprehend it. The death of his mother and the situation itself. After he continuously murmured to himself, he suddenly stopped calling for his mother... and cried out. He shrieked in despair. There was nothing else he could do. He knew that himself.
Mother...
"Why..." The boy began to hit his head on the earth repeatedly.
"Why?", Again. "Why!?", Again.
"WHY!?!" And again. Until he finally stopped for a moment and left his throbbing, bruised head in the dirt.
It began to rain... heavily, and the fire had already been extinguished. Now, that left the villagers to decide what would happen to the boy. Most of them were very uncomfortable and dissatisfied as they wouldn't be able to dispose of the boy immediately. Some were more desperate than others but ultimately they decided that they would wait for the rain to clear and left the boy tied up to a pole with a rope around the area beneath his chest.
He wasn't able to break free by himself as he was weak... too weak. The villagers didn't leave the boy but instead they took shelter and simply watched him.
The clouds had gathered closely and gloomed over the people. The air was ominous under the thickening, dark grey sky and the boy could see birds rushing wildly in flocks. The hair on his skin continued to stand on end. Rain clamoured at the rooftops of the houses and made a slight drumming noise. It pierced the boy's body, but the boy could do nothing once again and feel its coldness... He crawled up his slender body with his head in the mud and cried to himself all alone.
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He was truly a pitiful being.
For one last time, the devastated and distraught boy lifted his head and then hit it at the earth furiously. With tears streaming down his face, he looked up to the sky. With the rain pattering on the rooftops and rattling his drenched body, he screamed with all his might.
"WHY!?!?!?!..." And a thundering roar followed and reverberated throughout the village.
He wasn't looking for an answer because he knew it all too well himself. He was simply too weak.
[He was powerless.]
"Aaaah- Aaaaaghh, Aaah..."
Night had soon taken over and the boy's strained voice was drowned out by the rain. The wooden pole fell backwards, splashing to the ground. The boy, no longer restricted by anything, stood up. He stumbled for a few seconds before dropping to his knees once again...
Sebastian had realised that he had truly lost everything. He couldn't protect anything. The boy sat there and silently stared off into the distance. Overcome by exhaustion, his head tumbled to the muddy ground.
The thunderstorm was violent and relentless. The downpours of rain had created a sickening, suffocating atmosphere for the boy. He once looked up to the night sky with anticipation for a new day, a new beginning. But now, any remaining light in the sky was nothing but false hope for him.
Sebastian's eyes mimicked the bugs and worms beside him, drowning in the downpour of rain. He had given up just like them, and now his eyes began to turn still and almost lifeless.
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By then, I had fully broken down. My heart was trembling greatly, never before had it been shaken to its very core. My mind had seemingly stopped working, I simply couldn't comprehend the situation and my body had given up completely. I was like that for a while. I must've looked like a soulless body, the only thing that was left of me were memories... Memories playing inside my head.
Starting from just a day ago, everything was fine... I went further and further into the past, until the point where even I could no longer remember. And then from the start, I began to recall all the simple and small moments which I cherished with my family, all the good and happy things, everything...
I remembered everything up until now. But what does it matter 'now'? For all I could feel were the tears streaming down my ugly beaten-up face. Just tears...
Tears of sadness and despair.
[Hey, Mother... We- We were truly happy. Weren't we?]
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Was he scared? When there was no longer anyone to protect him... He had lost his father and now his mother. Faced with overwhelming power and without any power whatsoever within himself, he had no choice but to lose it 'all'.
It was already over.
And to recover what was lost, he needed even more 'power'. But nothing changed and so just like the bugs that had been overpowered by the swarms of insects, and had been predated upon and ultimately died- he had resigned himself.
"Ahhh..."
It was decided that on this night... He would die here all alone. Without anyone to hold on to. Without anyone to cry for him. No one in the village would be there for him. Not even his only friend, her parents, the friendly neighbours that he got along well with, nor the children who he used to sometimes play with.
[Mother, they had all abandoned us. Every last one of them.]
He couldn't see all of them but he knew. He saw it on the faces of some of the children. Anxious and disturbed, they didn't exactly know the truth behind what was happening but they went along with it and did nothing but watch or look away. Even the most good natured people in the village had done nothing.
They went along with the crowd in fear and decided to protect themselves. Sebastian understood their actions, because now he knew with a hundred percent certainty... that he would have done the same.
At any given moment- Sebastian would abandon all of them at the drop of a hat, to save his mother. To him, his family was the most important thing to him in his life. But, the relationships he had built up with others had broken down so easily... just because of a single accusation.
With his head resting on his left hand, Sebastian felt the earth with his right and then clenched tightly to what appeared to be a lone dead flower.
It was because of 'them'.
I remember their faces well. Those despicable 'monsters'. I mean... they're right in front of me, of course. How could I not notice them? Those bastards who entered our village, they randomly labelled my mother as a witch and led this whole ordeal! A single glance at them and you could tell that they weren't strong nor were they smart with the way they spoke and their choice of words but...
Tensions were high in the village after the war. The people were looking for something to blame... for the injured and for those that did not come back. That something was a witch and now that they had 'something' they turned it into 'someone'.
Now that Sebastian's mother was gone, the cheers had stopped. But as the rain soon cleared, the chatter amongst the crowd had been brought to a halt. Silence had fallen for a brief moment. Then all of their gazes turned towards him. It was clear as the day to see what was going to happen next and yet their intentions were as dark as the night which had now fully taken over. Any light in the sky had now disappeared...
[I was next.]
Sebastian ripped the flower from the earth and threw it away.
If the boy did everything he could right now and pleaded for his dear life it was obvious that even he wouldn't have been spared. Sebastian knew that very well. Regardless of whether he was a child or not. In the eyes of them, he was nothing but evil and so be it.
But... Sebastian had never quite understood this feeling he was experiencing. He had been hiding it very well from himself, the anger had simply dwelled within him for far too long. At this point, it was swirling and thrashing back and forth in the insides of his heart violently, like turbulent waves. Then... it began to surge up towards his face like uncontrollable flames.
Sebastian's tears had gone. The face of despair was no longer to be seen, and what had replaced it was a face filled with, not anger, but darkness. There was no clear expression to see but what had made it seem so... dangerous and evil, was his eyes. His eyes had now turned to a thickening, dark black. It felt so cold and so still, it was almost lifeless.
It truly was... the boy's abyss.
Sebastian was staring deeply into the mirror-like puddle below him and could see a distorting and disfigured being. It was his 'other self'... He had an unusual expression on his face, but it was one he had adapted quickly to. It was a silent anger very befitting of him.
A few moments later Sebastian was hung on the stake just like his mother. They lit fire to it and then all that was left was for time to pass so that he could meet his inevitable demise.
[What right do the weak have but to perish?]
With a mighty roar the flames spiralled upwards and slowly curled around him. A cry echoed in the empty sky only to be swallowed, leaving only its shadow behind. The boy flailed around as much as he could, trying to battle off the flames as if they were swarms of wasps that came at him.
The people stood there, watching the boy screaming in agony as brown cloth fell in long strands to the floor and melted into thick, black streaks. Burning flesh replaced the smell of the air and tasted bitter on their tongues but finally the screams fell silent.
The night was filled with darkness but the boy who had been set on fire was like a torch to the people. Even the occasional travellers who passed by the village would be drawn and attracted to the flickering light- and then they would watch the boy as he burned.
[Tell me... What could justify this cruel world?]
If you'd ask the boy again, "Were you afraid?" He'd say...
"No."
The boy had no future. He had no spirit whatsoever, no recognisable talent, and... destiny? Well it was clear to see he didn't have one. He possessed nothing within him like the glamorous royal knights that served the king or the hard working soldiers that were devoted to protecting the people. So once again he had nothing... but this time, he was different than usual.
This time he didn't care what happened to him- he had been scorched almost into a new state of existence by the searing heat... but a realisation had hit him deeply.
The boy could not 'die'. 'Death' would not allow him to.
"Kuhahahahaha!!!"
Quite the sinister laugh had leapt out of his mouth, an uncharacteristic one that was unbefitting of a child. The villagers throwing objects like rocks, sticks, or whatever they could grab a hold of and aim at him, would continue to look on in even more disgust. They would shout their anger and hate against him with even more intensity.
After all, despite the pain... to the people it would seem as if he was a burning creature that was still clinging on to its life. To them, he had now become a truly fearful being. A monster...
The truth is, Sebastian had some unusual confidence that everything would be okay as long as he 'died'. He believed that he had the chance to fix things. The dream he had once before on a certain day was not a mere dream but reality- just like the sensation of fire burning his body, it was one that he had now already experienced. And as long as he 'died' then he should...
He was sure of it, more than ever now.
[I truly do have... power. So now, with my very own hands, I must change 'everything'...]
And so, as the boy struggled to take his last gasp... time had started slowing down- for death had appeared before his burning body. It inched closer and closer towards him. It whispered to him... Then the boy's mouth moved slightly and his very soul came out from him.
[The power of water is its ability to take any shape.]
Sebastian's soul was exactly the same. It was a soul that had already matured into an adult, it shaped Sebastian's heart, mind and body. It was blue like the waves and it would always whisper to him. The boy's soul could be anything, it could be his past self, his true self, or even his future self. It had endless possibilities and the power it could hold was limitless.
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That day, 'I', Sebastian Quent died. That was what was supposed to happen. Yet, somehow... I could still see and I could still hear. But the truth was that I had become one with my soul. Yes... it was that very one soul that had been with me since I was born.
That's right, my soul... it continues to lead me even in death. It's that little voice, the one that keeps telling me to be strong. To believe. It helps me to discern right from wrong. It was energy in its purest form and it was amorphous. It could be light or dark, and could draw good or evil. It could radiate truth. It was what made my heart fill with compassion, or what made my eyes fill with tears.
It senses love, seeks it. It is thirsty for knowledge. It is thirsty for strength. And most of all, it is thirsty for power... just like myself.
My soul began to shake violently from its very core. It was screaming to be heard once more. It... No- 'I' spoke with a calm yet deep voice, and began to say the very word that granted me 'power'.
"Rewind."
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The world around Sebastian stopped completely, the crows circling above him were unmoving, and the masses of people in front of him were motionless like statues. The world had turned colourless- to black and white, and all that could be heard was the ticking of a grand clock.
The hands of the clock began to shift and move backwards and backwards, picking up pace each second. The world around Sebastian was now distorting until nothing could be seen except darkness. Only the soul remained.
Then after a brief moment of light within the darkness, the soul began falling downwards in darkness. It continued to plunge even deeper into the abyss before eventually meeting a halt, the soul then slowly shifted back into the boy's body. Sebastian could finally feel his breath once again. He was finally back.
He was alive...
With this power, he would save his mother and later on change the very future of this world.
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[Humans... I know you better than you know yourselves.
Foolish...Cowardly... Cruel...
"Utterly filthy creatures."
Creatures... that have already met their end.]
- The Exiled Witch