Chronicles of Terra

As We Suffer, We Grow

As Victoria and Jackson ran through the woods, the large floating skeleton head and arms followed close behind them. They ran through the dense forest, Jackson getting hit by branches from time to time, whilst Victoria swiftly dodged the hazards. While the two were running for their lives, Venessa was currently building the house. The house just looked to be a simple one story room with measurements of sixteen feet by twenty-four feet; but it stretched deep down, with rooms splintering from the central shaft that contained a spiral staircase that headed downwards. Every room was built to the same specifications, every room's layout was the exact same, and every room had the same design except every room had a different theme to it. It was a neat-freak's paradise, and Venessa loved it. They all had three chests for their items, each with a specific sign above the chest so everyone living in that house, Zach, Victoria, Jackson, a merchant named Mortimer, a nurse named Claire, and Venessa herself, could know where their belongings were. Venessa breathed a sigh of relief, it took her what seemed like ages to build this house, though it only took about a week and a half. She was content though with the progress, and she went to the library she built for herself.

"Vennie, we fucked up!" Victoria said, bursting through the door of the underground library. She was panting and was covered in blood, though something told Venessa that it wasn't Victoria's blood.

"What happened? And what's with the blood?" Venessa asked, walking towards Victoria.

"Big fuckin' skeleton. Huge arms. Jackson dead. Monster." Victoria said, panicking. She feared death, and now death came to reap the fears of Victoria. Venessa looked deep into Victoria's eyes and saw the horrors of what Victoria saw. To Venessa's surprise, she suddenly entered Victoria's memory, and witnessed what all happened as if she was a bystander. She saw the man turn into the massive beast, she saw Victoria and Jackson run through the forest, she saw Victoria try and save Jackson, and then she saw Jackson get ripped in half by the monster, his guts fertilizing the forest. She looked at Victoria's face, which lost any sense of joy there might've been. Her face went pale as Jackson's blood splashed on Victoria's face, and she saw the innocence of Victoria leave her body. A white manifestation of Victoria as a child. Victoria as a child. Something Venessa had thought she'd forgotten long ago.

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"Vennie, when are we gonna go esplore?" Victoria said, her missing tooth slightly impeding her speech. Venessa looked up from her book, named Mea Certamen, and looked at Victoria. Venessa had a face of annoyance mixed with a bit of happiness. Her and Victoria were friends. Well, Victoria was Venessa's only real friend when they were younger. Venessa wasn't one to talk with people, she never having any desire to do so. Victoria on the other hand, she liked to talk to people. Victoria was walking home from the pigpen one day when she saw Venessa walking around and decided to become friends with her. Venessa tried to keep away from Victoria, but Victoria was more stubborn than a cranky mule. Eventually, Venessa submitted and decided to be friends with Victoria, and Venessa never regretted it. Victoria was her muscle, as Venessa was physically weaker than everyone in the village, so Venessa relied on Victoria to do the heavy work, defend her, and open the jars. Venessa in return, gave the brains. Victoria was quite dumb, only knowing basic math, speaking, and maybe writing. Venessa always attempted to teach Victoria, but Victoria couldn't understand high-probability parabolas with the concept of infinite numbers potentially equaling the variable to the solution, which itself was another variable. Many time Venessa had to dumb the lessons down, but she made progress. Slowly.

"Where are we going to explore Victoria?" Venessa asked, wanting to read her book, but wanting to entertain Victoria. She was beholden by favor to her, as Victoria did just scare the town bullies away from Venessa. The bullies where boys of about thirteen years of age, heavily muscular from extensive physical labor, and were filled with anger towards people. They came to Venessa one day and pushed her to the ground, dirtying up her white dress with mud and gravel. In the moment of fear, Venessa saw what would happen. The bullies would've beaten her to death. She curled up, praying to whatever being was there to defend her from the bullies. Suddenly, she heard one of the boys scream in pain. She opened her eyes and saw Victoria, who was ten at the time, sock one in the face. The bully fell to the ground, unconscious. The other bully socked Victoria in the face, knocking her front tooth on the right side out of her mouth. She started to breath heavily. She cursed under her breath, and Venessa saw what looked to be streams of red mist drift into Victoria. Suddenly, Victoria threw a right hook into the other boy's face, and Venessa could hear what sounded like bones cracking. The other bully did not get up, but when Venessa went to see what happened, the bully was also knocked unconscious. She ran to Victoria and felt Victoria's knuckles, and was shocked when she felt that Victoria's knuckles were broken. What shocked her the most was that Victoria showed no sign of pain. She saw Victoria's face change from defensive rage to the soft caring face she always saw when Victoria wanted to hang out.