Cursed

A New Hope and a Bad Decision

Will

As Eli dismisses me from the Leader's room I am restless. I'm not sure how Zachery could have accomplished such a thing. However he did it, it would have taken an enormous amount of magic. But to be able to pull something off over that much distance, and with so much accuracy.

The Empire has to have something that could store an almost unlimited amount of magic. It isn't hard to find a crystal or gem that large, but where are they getting the magic from? It can't have been stored in the crystal or gem when they found it.

Eli has advised me to go back to lab and start the preparations for the defences against Zachery, but those are almost sure to fail. Shaking my head I turn away from the lab door. I need time to think about the situation with Leaf. She is going to get herself killed. She's not easily fooled, or to listen to what others say. What could Zachery have said to unnerve her so much?

Just as I turn the corner I come up short. Inside the tower is a vast library, and they have books on all sorts of topics. I have never been all too interested in reading before, but something inside me is pulling me toward it. I try to ignore the sensation, but it just grows stronger. The urgency of it is unbearable. I haven't ever come across the Library before, so I decide to give it a shot.

The door is just like the rest in the tower, only next to it in small letters is a plauck that reads: Library. Stepping inside the cavernous room I gasp.

It's so big!

There are rows upon rows of shelves. It's something similar to a maze, but directly ahead is a neatly dressed woman in golden clothing.

She turns toward me, and I am astonished by how she looks. She is so beautiful. Unlike anyone I have ever seen. She smiles toward me, and I feel like melting. Strangely, though, she seems to glow. Also, once I have gotten over my initial star struck moment, I realize that she has flowing golden hair, and her eyes are also golden. Her skin is like polished sunlight. If it could be in a visible form I imagine that's what it would look like.

She walks, no glides, toward me. "Hello, Will. It's good to see you. I believe I can help you with something," She chimes. Her voice is wonderful. It's like the calming breeze of the summer. Gentle, and slightly caressing.

"W-who are you?" I stammer.

She smiles again, but just a light one. "I'm here to help you. I'm the Goddess Life," she replies. My eyes widen. Here is a Goddess, and not just any Goddess. In all of the descriptions of the Goddess I have never thought that they would be this, well, amazing. Her gaze drifts far beyond me, and she sighs.

"It seems things have gotten rather spoiled. Leaf is now tearing toward the Empire way too soon for her own good. If no one stops her then she will surely die. I'm here now to make sure that doesn't happen," she says mournfully.

I'm captivated by everything she says.

She crouches down so we are eye level. If anyone else had done that I would have been offended, but because of who she is it made me feel humble that I'm deserving her attention.

"Hold out your hand, and I will give you an item like no other. Also, within this Library there is a tool that I have left for you, and you alone," she tells me. I hold out my hand, and she places a rough object in it. The object is humming with life. Her skin, I notice, felt flawless. I nod again, for it is all I could do.

"I shall come to you again, on a much later date. Search this Library for the tool I speak of." And then she fades away, leaving the world a dark and cold place in her stead. Once I have gained my senses back I look down at the object. It is small, rough, and the same golden hue as her eyes, although not as vibrant. I steel myself and set about the Library.