A Word in the Breeze

The Comeback (Just Cursed III)

Long before the waterfall had been turned invisible, long before king Rodney had died a mysterious death, long before the castle of Balthazar had come to be known as the haunted, unapproachable, screaming castle of death... There was a girl who wanted to be alone forever. She despised romance in all its forms and she proclaimed that love was a disease that had taken over the planet...

And she wasn't wrong.

In her own way, she was right. To each his own. If you want to be alone, be alone, and best of luck to you. This is what all of her friends at the academy had said, no further questions asked.

But Creighton, the witch in charge of her, the old crone who had taken it upon herself to pass down all the magical secrets to this young and talented sorceress, found this to be an unforgivable fault. She was a fortune teller, after all. She believed in destiny, not choice.

"You are NOT going to be alone forever! You will fall in love, just you wait!"

"No, I won't!" Acacia had yelled back. It had been a horrible month, full of reproaches and admonitions... She could not take it anymore. "I won't because I don't want to, end of! Stop trying to control my life! Stop trying to live your unfulfilled ambitions through me!"

"Curse you - I curse you that you will live forever, until you give in! Unless you love, you will always live! And I know for a fact that you will fall in love if it means you have to wait a hundred years to find it!"

"Fine! Then I am going to get out of this stupid hut and I'm going to live ALONE for a century! Just to prove it!"

"Oh, Axa-child..." Creighton paused at the term of affection, the nickname she often used for Acacia when she felt overly tender towards her. It was only a weapon to use the nickname now, when she was cursing her into isolation. "Oh, Axa-child, even if you were DYING to be with someone for those hundred years, I curse you - you will turn to dust any living creature you touch!"

"Fine!"

And there was a white glow, bubbling from their determination, from their magical powers, and from their pain.

Before the light had dimmed out and her vision focused, all Creighton saw was the back of Acacia's head, the sweep of dark hair, and heard a sharp slam of the door.

~

"Acacia," smiled the witch, showing teeth rotting to the roots. "You returned. And just as beautiful as the day I last saw you, a hundred or so years ago..."

"Exactly a hundred," Acacia said, stepping out of the shadows. Her velvet black getup was far too impressive for the humble hut, and the elderly witch raised an eyebrow of disapproval. "I'm afraid I can't return the same compliment to you. Have you been at the gingerbread houses again? You know Hansel and Gretel made the same mistake."

"I am a traditionalist. Witches who don't inspire fear might as well be fairies. But then again, I'm not the one waiting for a kiss from my prince charming."

"No, and you shouldn't, either, or the prince in question would get ulcers just thinking about it."

Creighton scowled, but then she caressed the back of a chair and walked towards Acacia, ready to make her pay for her insults.

"Have you learned your lesson, Axa-child?" she purred in a cracking voice, walking around the girl. Acacia flinched at the nickname, at the memories it brought up... Brewing potions in the summer time, playing tricks while riding their broomsticks, the Halloween parties with friends... She mentally shook them away, feeling like she would burst at the pain in them now. Not for a hundred years...