Requiem

Chapter 7

Kain

It was nearly midnight before I got ready for sleep. I took off my shirt and stared at the puckered pink whip markings that marred my chest and back. These markings presented such a sharp contrast against my pale skin, a reminder of the past. Despite being immortal, the only wounds that never healed immediately were the whip markings I had received over a hundred years ago, at the very beginning of my slavery. I touched the leather chain with the key around my neck, my mind wandering back to the prophecy as it had done since setting my eyes on Aida. She was nearly eighteen, the last day of her life, the day when everything would end.

I splashed water on my face from the basin and then laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I saw her bright smile flash in my mind and how every time she stared at me like that, it made me feel a bit more human, as if I still had a soul. I cared about her, but I could not allow myself to come closer. After all, she was going to die, and there would be nothing that I could do to stop it, at least as far as I knew. I had pondered over this prophecy for over a hundred years and I still did not completely comprehend it.

Bless'd with angelic blood

taint'd with a demon's blissful kiss

foreordained for glory

sentenc'd to slay thy people

condemn'd to death.

thou enrich the land,

thou eradicates the world

bless'd with a demon's blissful kiss

taint'd with angelic blood

I had told the king the entire prophecy on the night I had brought Aida to the kingdom. Obviously, the king did not care for the last half of the prophecy, and instead focused on the first half. With Aida, he believed that he could control her and use her to gain power over the other kingdoms. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and touched the key again, the silver tarnished after years of bloodshed. Another image of a much younger Aida running towards me after training with a fistful of pink, purple, and yellow wildflowers in her dirt-streaked hand. She had told me that I worked so hard and always had a serious expression on my face, that I needed some flowers to cheer me up. I remembered taking the flowers gently and placing a hand on her head. She had beamed up at me, and I found myself giving her a genuine smile. It was the first time in years that I had smiled like that.

She not deserve to be kept in the dark about her past and future. She needed to know, even if it meant that she hated me. It was too late in the night to tell her now, after all she would be sleeping by now.

"Tomorrow then." I whispered.

A scraping by the open window caught my attention. My eyes shot open and I sat up in bed to see Aida perched at the entrance of the window, holding an open bottle. "AIda? What are you--" I began to ask, but then smelt something vanilla hit my senses...And then dull them. My eyes began to droop, and before I could even react or slap away the bottle, I slumped backwards onto the bed. I was not in control of my body, even though I tried hard to climb out of this drowsiness,

Aida's face swam in front of my eyes, her face grim. "I'm sorry, Kain. You left me with no choice," she whispered.

"Aida." I mumbled before losing consciousness.

I was going to tell you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aida

It was not an easy feat climbing up this tower. I nearly fell off and cracked my head open, but luckily Sanjay's head was there to save me. I used the rocks that jutted out to climb up the tower, focusing on just holding to dear life, but it was hard since I had to grip onto an inch of rock. I tried to control my rapid breathing as I clamored onto the edge of the window and popped open the bottle. What I was doing was dangerous, maybe even foolish...Okay...Very foolish, but it was crucial. I held in my breath as the stench of the incense wafted out of the bottle.