Evil

We Caused It

A triangle. It was just like mine, only hers was azure in colour.

She was someone just like me. Someone born on earth,"You're from Earth too." I answered without thinking.

"Indeed, dear Arakan. While I am unfamiliar with this name of yours, you should be very familiar with mine. I'm Artemis. Artemis Blythe."

She dropped another bombshell on me, sending a wave of shock through me, my mouth hanging agape,"A-A-A—"

Standing before me, was the most notorious murderer in a hundred years. Her kill count was in the hundreds but had been dropped to thirty after she pleaded guilty for a 'lighter' sentence. This sentence had been death.

So, begs the question: Why was she here?

Wasn't she killed? She was famous not just for her murders or sadistic methods but because she was the last person to be on death row.

"It seems you know me? I appear to have become quite the celebrity back on Earth," She had a smug smile of mockery gracing her beautiful complexion.

It was nothing like previous face. On Earth, she was nowhere as beautiful. Her face and body were marred with scars from serving in the nuclear conflict. Sunken eyes, crooked nose, messy, oily asphalt hair, plump body. Nothing like this goddess that stood before me.

"I can't let you die like this Arakan," She chuckled softly,"Come along, I'll bring you back to the Darleen Kingdom gates."

"Why did you save me?"

"You know my nickname, don't you?"

The whole world knew this name that held a moniker: Huntress. There was a reason beyond her murders that earned her this nickname. It was her style of killing. Brutal and savage weren't even close to describing a fraction of her sadistic methods.

Making family members pick who to kill before disposing of the last one. Burning down a house with a man strapped to a chair in the attic. Dismembering limbs and forcing them to crawl out of a chamber that slowly filled with carbon monoxide. Crushing with a hydraulic press. Sewing two children, barely eight, together and hanging one by the neck whilst the other could only helplessly look on as they died of dehydration in the days to come. These were merely a few in the hundreds of elaborate ways she had of eliminating an innocent life.

I felt a chilling shiver down my spine just thinking about those innocent lives that had been taken. God knows how many she had taken to become so strong here.

"Rather appropriately, having been named after the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, I rather enjoy the build-up before a kill. More often than not, it is not the kill that grants me satisfaction but rather the hunt that ensues before it," Her eyes exuded a chill. Lethal. This was an extremely dangerous individual. Even without magic, she had managed to kill hundreds, let alone now,"Now, tell me Arakan. If you see a skinny deer nearly dead, would you kill it immediately or let it fatten up a little more before getting more out of it in the end?"

The alarming revelation rocked me to the core. It didn't take a genius to realise what she was implying.
Her target was me. Letting me die here would be unsatisfactory in her eyes, thus warranting her saving me.

I stood, frozen in absolute dread, panic sinking into every atom of my being as two warm arms rested on my shoulders from behind, soft breathing fanning on my ear, making me quiver more than the cold winter ever would,"So don't you die on me, Arakan. I'll only let you die by my hands, okay? So you go back to your little girlfriend in your little kingdom and get stronger. Live knowing that at any moment, little ol' me could stop by and claim your life. Let that thought sink in. Internalise it. Make it your drive to become more powerful, okay?" She whispered in my ear with a sickeningly sweet tone.

"I sincerely look forward to the day I get to tear you limb from limb and make you scream louder than any beast would. The day I get to dye the world with the great hero's blood. The day you take your final breath dying in the arms of the one who killed you. The day you see all those you love be struck down as you stand helpless at the side, merely awaiting death. So if you don't want that to happen, train. Train as if you and everyone you hold dear's lives will be lost if you don't. Because, Great Hero, you can be sure that that will happen if you don't."

"Now,"Stepping back, she flashed everyone a casual grin,"The kingdom is just beyond the woods. Heed my words Arakan, or you'll regret it. As for ol' me, I have other matters to attend to so I'll take my leave. Goodbye!" With wave of goodbye, she disappeared entirely from sight, the tension between us dissipating.

"Great Hero...Was that—"

"EVIL! I SENSE GREAT EVIL!" A maddened Archbishop of Valek screamed like a maniac as he rushed out the gates,"WHERE ARE YOU DEMON?! STEP OUT! DO YOU DARE FACE THE ALMIGHTY RIGHTEOUS FACTION WITH HONOU—Great Hero! Thank goodness you're here! I just sensed the presence of that prophesied evil! Did you see anything?!" Hearing the Archbishop's words, my face paled to a shade whiter than the snow that surrounded me.

I staggered back, only to be caught by Yue. It seemed as if Artemis had healed her and the other soldiers too,"Arakan..."

"I-I'm fine." Having a few minutes to collect my scattered thoughts, I finally managed to start thinking rationally.

"Great Hero?"

My face was set in a grim expression,"Archbishop, it seems you have fallen into a trap."

"I don't know how or why, but it seems the prophecy came true only because you decided to summon me."

"What?!" A look of shock appeared on Yue and the Archbishop's face.

"I know that person. That evil you prophesied. We came from the same world. Only, back on that world, we had no magic. Despite this limitation, she had managed to kill hundreds alone. Now with magic, it's like giving a tiger wings," I slowly pieced together the information,"I was given two powers. It is likely the same for her. The powers were definitely granted by the same person. By the looks of it, we seemed to be summoned into this world at around the same time."

"So..."

"We caused it. Quarvantcoatl. By summoning me, you inadvertently summoned her to this world. I'm not 100% sure, but this might be the case."