Invincible

Chapter 6 - Edith and William

    Years were beginning to go by for me like seconds. Decades blended together into minutes, minutes into moments. Now I only remember the important things, like Edith's death.

I had known it was coming. As the years went by, she'd discovered I was immortal, so she knew it was coming too.

Painting was big in the Renaissance, and being around for thousands and thousands of years meant I had a lot of practice with it.

So, when Edith was on her death bed, I made a portrait of her. Not of her in her old age as she was at the time, not of her dying—but as she was when we'd first met: full of youth and excitement, and hope for the future. I painted her eyes shining, her cheeks full of color, her hair wild, and her face smiling, as if she knew something the viewer didn't.

The painting was one of the last things Edith saw before she died.

And her last words to me were, "Take this." She handed me a big sheet of paper, rolled up into a tube. Then, all the light faded from her eyes and her hand went limp.

Strangely enough, I was reminded of the mammoth. How I'd slain it so long ago, and I watched it as it lived out its final moments. The same light dying from its eyes. The same feeling of hopelessness, then peace, as it knew it couldn't do anything to save itself. Its calm ascent into the spirit world was strange to me at the time, because why would it be calm? I had stabbed it. It must've been in pain.

But now I understood. Death was something no one could prevent, something everyone had to make peace with. It was an end point that kept us all motivated to live another day. I wished it was still the same for me.

The thing is, the pain of losing someone who meant something to you, like Astrid, or Catori, or the farm family, or Edith, or anyone else I'd ever befriended, it never fades. Not even after all these years, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

But, in fact, pain is the only thing that reminds me I'm still human. I may not age, or die, or fall ill like a natural living thing, but I am a human being. If I didn't feel pain, I might really be doubting that.

It was the 1500s now. I was beginning to pass the time by utilizing the current entertainment of the eras. I got into fashion in this time period.

I wasn't royalty, but like I said, I had a lot of leftover money from working jobs around the continent, so I could afford fancy dresses and accessories.

I think I looked pretty good in a big dress.

It was in this time period that I met a boy named William. He was a boy of around 8 or 10 years old, and his family was very poor. He grew up on a farm, practically living in a shack with many younger siblings. His mother was a widow, and they all worked very hard.

I met the boy as I was taking a walk one day. I was in a fairly rural area, and he dashed down the path and said, "Miss! Miss! Hello!" He seemed excited for some reason.

He caught up to me, gasping for breath. "Would you like to buy this corn?"

I looked down at him. Corn? I noticed his ragged, dirty clothing.

"C-can you spare any money for the corn?"

I took some money out of my pocket, realizing he probably needed as much as he could get. "Here..."

He handed me an ear of corn and looked down at the money I'd just given him, and his eyes widened. "Really? This much?" Then he looked up at me hopefully.