Hakai

They both danced slowly to the sound of the wind, spinning like small whirlwinds, raising flowers and leaves into the air. They exuded elegance, a heavenly beauty beyond the reach of mere mortals. Her light blue dress flew with every step, as did his dark cloak.

Their delicate movements hypnotized the curious glances of the forest habitants. The singing of the birds was their melody and the soft leaves that adorned the earth under their feet, their dance floor.

The sun shone softly, caressing their skin with its warmth and illuminating their looks full of love.

Love… Who would have imagined that a god of magic as powerful as him could fall in love with a simple human.

There was no power that could stand against the unbreakable spell of that woman. She didn't need enchanted words, her magic resided in her smiles and her eyes, full of colors.

He had found himself trapped in her voice, in her charming way of laughing, in the subtlety with which she took care of life, in the softness of her words, in the elegance of her gestures, in the intelligence of her thoughts… So many things had captivated him and at the same time he was not able to give an exact answer when she asked him “Why me?” Maybe for everything, maybe for nothing.

Could he really give a concrete reason to something so broad and abstract?

There was something beautiful in that feeling. So pure and fragile.

She was curious, she wanted to know more than she could. 

He was attentive and cautious, there was forbidden knowledge that he knew he should not reveal.

But each day, he allowed her to ask him a single question that he would answer honestly.

“My beloved, would you die for me?”

His steps slowed down because of the question of that day. He looked into her eyes and gave a small smile.

“Death will see me so many times at its door that it will already know my name. And he won't even ask me the reason for my visit, because he will know yours too,” he answered.

And they kept going around until their feet got tired.

“My beloved, this eternity is so long, monotonous and boring. How about we make a game?” She asked.

“That's two questions, dear.”

She ignored the established rule and continued explaining her idea

“In each of our lives, when we meet again, whoever falls in love first loses, and the other can make a wish.”

And so it was done. 

In each of their reincarnations they both met.

And he always lost.

“Again!” The boy had exclaimed, jumping on the bed euphorically.

"I've already told you the same story thirty times, it's time for you to go to sleep," his mother spoke to him sweetly, laying him on the bed, "I'll tell it to you again tomorrow if you want.”

"Mom..." the boy yawned. "What was the wish she asked him for in each life?"

“Well…”

"Mother," the eldest daughter entered the room, with a serious face. The gaze of them turned towards her, intrigued. “They're back.”

The adult's eyes darkened and she looked back at her little one.

“Sleep.” She left a kiss on his forehead and stood up.

That spell made the kid close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep. His mother got up and followed her eldest daughter outside.

The future of her dynasty was safe in that room, which she made sure to lock when she left.

Dark wizards had never been seen as a good thing. Those who had been granted the gift of corrupt magic were considered cursed.

They lived inhibited. Their society was being massacred by a terrible plague, called hate.

His entire family had had the divine privilege of possessing Sun’s magic. Everyone, except the youngest of her children. The young prince had suffered the curse of a spiteful witch who gave him a poisoned compliment. "What beautiful hair!" She had told him, with a broken smile. 

"Thank you," the little boy had accepted in his young innocence. 

"Never accept anything from a witch!" his mother scolded him, now to no avail.

The next day the little boy's hair had turned completely red. Like blood. Like the dry, burning sand of the desert.

A fire that indicated bad omens.

When his people found out about this, every day they showed up at the palace gate demanding the boy's death. The priestess went out to appease the crowd, but there was practically nothing she could do about the emergence of a dark feeling that was forming in their hearts.

"You must kill him, mother," her daughter told her, with cold determination. “Only then can we free ourselves from the curse.”

The priestess hesitated. What was the fault of that little creature? Why should she bathe the hearts of selfish people with his blood to satisfy their cowardly desires?

"He's just a child," she excused herself, "I'll figure this out.”

And ending the conversation, she opened the doors, letting the sunlight invade the interior of the palace, ready to calm the masses for another day.

Present

Laoth had a lot of time worried about her best friend, his visits to the hospital were more frequent these last months and he denied to confess the reason.

He gaves unconvincing excuses; “It only was a sugar downturn,”  “ I forgot to eat,” “I fell down from the shower,” this last one was the most ridiculous of all.

Everytime he bothers less thinking about something, she hopes that in this situation he tells her the truth. She was jaded of his attempts to let her apart from his side and take her away from that had him worried.

Laoth only wanted to help him, anyway, but he always denies.

This time she was in the waiting room. Hakai was in a coma for one week and the doctors didn't let her go inside the room. “Only close family,” they said. That was outrageous. She was his family too! They both know each other since they were children. Hakai was like his brother. But if there wasn't a blood bond, nobody cares about feelings.

If she loses Hakai without seeing him one last time… she won't forgive herself.

“He has to wake up,” she whispered to herself, like a pray with the hope of some divine identity listens to her and takes pity on her dear friend.