The Spirits of the Forest

Two lovers, two prologues

Sirius

In my whole life, I've only been in love twice. And both times, it ended ugly for me. The first time happened when I was only a child, perhaps the most untalented child. Her name was Arabelle, and she was the definition of perfection: powerful and cruelly beautiful. She was the young woman everybody adored, so why would she ever look at a loser like me? But she didn't only reject me, no, it would have been much too simple for a girl so complicated. She let her admirers kill me and watched it all with a pleased smirk. Luckily, I've been reborn.

I'm now the ruler of all who had once laughed as they watched me bled to death. I am the hero. So you understand why this time love caught me without my permission or even knowledge. Sometimes, I just sit and wonder: when did I let her break my armor? When did all the pretending became so... real?

I sound stupid, I know I sound like a hopeless romantic. I just didn't plan this. And now, that it happened, I'm like, wow, Harriot.

I underestimated her, and I mean, who didn't? It's her power or something. To hide who she really is, till you... Well, till you upset her. Or, as in my case, till you use her as a weapon to blow up her whole city. And the cherry on the cake: all without her knowing that she's being tricked.

I must add that I have observed her for a long time, learning what she likes, who she hates (quite a lot of people, if I may), but I've never found her so irritatingly gorgeous as the other day. Like a goddess of darkness and, simultaneously, like a terrifying brute. There she was, yelling at me for, as it felt, all my sins, blinding me with this unknown version of her. Compared with everything she said against me, my words sounded childish, echoing like prayers of forgiveness.

But in this world, no one listens to beggars. She didn't either. The next day, Harriot was just a memory.

-

Harriot

It's easy to fall. A dream can turn into a nightmare before you even realize.
Instead, it's harder to fly. That's what I want: to reach the dream I had lost. And honestly, I don't care if my wings rip on the way.

I've always sought after love. It's something that I never had for too long, as if the world has been afraid I might get used to the feeling.

So why would this change. In fact, I was classified as 'a nobody'. And this isn't even my worst nickname.

'Bad people' they call the ones like me, expecting for us to really believe in their goodness. As if you could define the words 'good' and 'bad' only by drawing an invisible line through our city. This half will be full of monsters, and this one will be full of elegance.

I'm not saying that they weren't sophisticated and all that stuff, but they never cared.

When the only way to survive the cold and the hunger was to let madness poison our veins, they watched it all from their big, warmed up houses without lifting a single finger. No response to our screams.

However, one person got an answer: the spirits can help you. Only five words, but they were enough for my story to begin.

And strangely, unlike other stories, it started with a happy beginning. That was my first mistake: I didn't realize that all the euphoria my numb heart was feeling was too good to really be true. Like a performance, that is repeated hundreds of times just for it to look perfect when it's finally put in action. My second mistake? I let my desire of being loved play with me. I let a man blind me. I let a man use me without even knowing what I was getting myself into.

Again, my screams shatter the horizon. The screams of pain, begging for another chance, another sweet bite from his love. Or another poisoned bite from his lie. At this point, I don't even know.

The screams of anger, promising revenge.

Wings, I put my trust in you.