Fool- An Original Short Story by Thora E. Flores

One.

"Good evening, Mother" She dipped her head at the older woman.

"You're late, Esme. Haven't I taught you better?" The older woman shook her head sternly.

"You taught me to kill people, Mother, not arriving on time to your extravagant luncheons" Esme's comment earned her a slap in the face. So instead of saying anything else, she found herself collapsing on the cushioned chair across from her mother.

"So what do you want? You've never interrupted my training before, Mother."

The woman sighed. "If you'd let me speak, I'd tell you."

When Esme didn't reply, Sabine took it as her cue to speak. "You are almost of age, the plan will be put to action."

Esme's face stayed neutral. She'd been training for this "plan" since she was a child, yet she had no idea what it was.

Sabine must've guessed what she was thinking since she stated the following.

"In heed of that, it is time that I reveal our plan." And she did. Esme felt her stomach drop and the world spin as more details were put together sentence by sentence.

"So," She said as she finished. "Any questions?"

Esme gaped at that. "Any questions?" She yelled. "Of course, I have god damn questions! You told me we were making the worlds a better place! WE'RE DESTROYING IT INSTEAD."

The woman she called mother had told her when she was a child that she would bring change to our worlds and make them better. Back when she was scared of the people who had raised her when they'd hit her and they'd hurt her with their words. But as she got older, she'd realized they couldn't hurt her since she was "primordial" to their great plan.

A fake and sugar-coated smile, that coaxing smile she often had was plastered on Sabine's face when Esme looked up. It left a sour feeling in her stomach.

All that training. All that pain and fear had been for this terrible cause.

Without another word, she stormed out of the room.

Her legs carried her to the bakery without thinking, the familiar smell of fresh bread filling her senses. Alfie was in front of her in seconds.

"What happened?" She didn't realize she was crying.

He took her to the back rooms and into his arms.

"Everything I've done has been in vain... They lied to me.' His arms tightened around her and warmth seeped into her body.

"Tell me from the start, Esme."

She struggled to put her thoughts into coherent sentences as her mind raced.

If they'd lied about her bringing good into the worlds, what else had they lied about? Is her only purpose to bring destruction to this universe..? How could her mother let this group do this to her? But now that she thought about it, her mother had never cared for her. Every ruthless training session that she'd overseen, every time Esme had cried... Sabine had never comforted her. But as her mind came up with so many possibilities, one stuck out.

Sabine had sleek straight black hair, cold blue eyes and a hooked nose.

Esme looked nothing like Sabine. It was possible that Sabine was her mother but she couldn't fathom it. So what had happened to her actual mother? She'd imagined that her mother was an elf from Alluveterre, the fourth of the nine worlds. Alluveterre was an untouched version of the earth where a species of elves lived in harmony with nature and had very strict rules for protecting it. Esme wasn't sure how to picture her, but she imagined that her actual mother had the same olive skin and nose structure. Esme imagined that she had the same auburn waves and grey eyes, though she hoped that her mother's eyes were warmer than hers. She wondered how growing up with her would be, in Alluveterre.