A Monster Was Born ✔️

Fairy Tale (Part III)

Remembering the stones in her pocket, she quickly snatched one, and held it out in front of her. Runes and characters on her forearm glowed as she channeled ice magic into its shell. She gasped when she saw the 冰 flash before her eyes before it etched itself onto the stone, sparkling a white-blue like arctic ice. She threw it at the demon that was there between her parents, both of them drooping and lifeless without its control.

"Isabella," the Thing cooned, its voice soft like malevolent winds draining a baby of sleep. "You look so...tasty."

When the stone hit the demon, the fragments dissolved into fractures of ice that encased it into a prison, freezing the demon in front of her parents, whose bodies now collapsed onto the floor, unable to stand without the demon's magic. Inside the encased structure, the demon gave a chuckle that sent shivers down the girl's spine. "Did you really think that would work?"

The ice exploded, sending shards like cleanly cut glass flying in every direction. The girl was forced to use another stone to block them so they wouldn't rip into her skin. She gritted her teeth. How dare the demon use her parents like that. As though just eating them wasn't enough, but it wouldn't let them get their rest either. It had to use their bodies, as though they were just rags of skin to be played as it pleased. Fear dissolved into anger and anger is known for making people do stupid things.

The girl picked up another stone, once again letting the symbols light up her arm. This time she chose 絹 to print on it. The stone glowed, and then spun itself into numerous threads light and strong, wrapping around the demon like icy silk. They stuck to the demon, trapping it with their glue.

The Thing struggled, trying to break free of the cold silk threads. Grunting, it attempted to move around unsuccessfully. The spell she casted was stronger than her first one. After continuing to struggle, it finally released a roar and unleashed a storm of death air and rippling winds. The girl waited, hoping the magic would still hold.

However, when the storm was over, the threads were black and dead at the feet, eventually crumbling into ashes. Ashes to be blown away into the stream of stars.

The girl stood gasping and out of breath. She felt weak after using so much magic in a short period of time. Her body wanted to give up, but after seeing what the demon had done to her parents' bodies she felt something new awaken inside of her, something loud and angry and dangerous. She remembered what demons feared the most.

Holding her breath, she reached into her pocket for her final stone. Closing her eyes, she whispered words. The 愛 appeared before her eyes. She whispered more words and the character's glow grew brighter, until she felt it dance and rage with all the meanings it carried. She opened her eyes and called for the word to fit into the stone.

The word didn't move, no matter how hard she forced it. She tried again, unsuccessfully. Then again. Then again.

The girl knew from the stories that 愛 was a very special character, for it meant different things to different people. It's love and emotion and heartbreak and passion and affection. It was a word that meant warm kisses and souls made of light and families being happy together. Because of this, the effect it has on a demon varies based upon the interpretation you gave it. With the wrong one, you could accidentally aid the demon; with the right one, you could melt it in an instance.

It's why she was confused about why the spell wasn't working. She was sure this was how she casted it against demons previously and those were demons she had killed successfully.

Grunts sounded from the front. The girl whipped her head towards them, and gulped as she saw the demon almost completely recovered, removing the last of the silk glue that had stuck to it.

"Foolish girl. Did your instructor not teach you that those who don't bear souls do not know true love?" If the demon had a shape, it would surely be grinning. "It's why I stole yours before you could ever feel it."

But to the demon's surprise, the girl remained calm. She was crumbling on the inside but she didn't let it show; she had been pushed to her limit far too much to give in to weakness. "Thanks for telling me that."

And with that, the world blinded itself as the stone in her hand glowed a beautiful color that would be forever recorded in the stories.

When the world came back, the demon was momentarily confused. It couldn't sense the girl no matter which direction it took.

Then it saw her. And melted.

"So Isabella became a demon in the end?" Suri turned to look at me, her ten year old child eyes widening in amazement.

I smiled, patting and ruffling her white blond hair. "Yes, indeed, she did."

"But why?" She asked. "I thought the spell she casted was love. Isn't love supposed to make everything happy?"

"Yes, but as was said in the story, love can mean different things to different people. At that moment, Isabella decided that love meant the sacrifice she would make to avenge the family she cared about, even if it meant becoming the thing she hated the most. It's not something that everyone would choose, but..."

"So does this mean she has to spend the rest of her life eating people?"

"Yes, it does, until the next vengeful demon hunter slays her."

"That's sad!"

I smiled again. "To you, it might seem that way. But to those whose desires and dreams are like the streams, flowing peacefully until they rage into floods that tear down homes and destroy livelihoods, this is all a natural course of things. The only way to kill a creature of darkness is through darkness itself, but it is up to us to decide if killing the creature is worth it or not."

Suri pouted. "Then, I hope that stupid stuff doesn't happen to me."

I sighed and she cuddled closer to me.

"Hey mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can we go get ice cream right now? I'm hungry."

"Sure, whatever you want, sweetheart."