"You think my ability was sealed?" Raiden asked and shook his head in disbelief as a smile tugged at his lips. He raked slender his fingers over his blond hair and laughed even louder.
Isabelle pouted and rolled her eyes. She had heard it from her maidservant that some abilities were sealed by others. It's often done if the ability is poised to be dangerous. "Come to think of it, Raiden. Both my brother and your late mother had abilities, of course it would be passed down to you unless–"
"It was sealed by someone." Raiden finished it for her. "Alright. I appreciate your concern Isabelle but there's nothing like sealed and unsealed abilities. If there is, it's too late for that." He replied and looked out of his tiny window. Why would anyone want to seal his ability? Should he believe a high class lady who thinks everything is a fairytale? He was a sickly boy.
Isabelle stood up from the bed and came to stand at his front. She was petite and pretty with quite a curvy body. "What the hell am I thinking," Raiden whispered to himself and looked away from her. She was a walking temptation. He knows that.
"You might think it's all a farce. I won't come here to tell you that without proof. That would be stupid of me, right?" She questioned and turned to face the window. The thought of Raiden sleeping in this room ever since he was a kid shifted something inside of her. How could people be so cruel? She thought inwardly.
Hearing what she said, Raiden lost it and grabbed Isabelle's shoulder, turning her to face him as curiosity brimmed in his eyes. "You've got proof? How're you so sure that there's a chance my ability was sealed?" He asked simultaneously. There was something in his eyes. Hope.
"I didn't say your ability was sealed, Raiden. It might be or might not." She replied with a small smile on her lips. "There's no concrete proof but there's a documentary I came across in my late father's office. He had sealed someone's ability twenty years ago. There was no name or details of the person. What I found was a letter received from the Queen who gave him the go ahead to seal it."
Raiden frowned and let go of her shoulders. She was quite the high class lady she is. "How does that relate to me? If you had come here to tell me about this then you must be thinking it's me."
"It was done twenty years ago by orders from the Queen. My father, your grandfather performed this ritual and it was done the same year you were born. I would have ignored that letter but something stood out. It was a Griffins' ability that was sealed. A member of the Griffin family."
She sighed and went back to sit on the bed that was hard against her butt. "Everyone bearing the Griffin name has an ability except you Raiden. My thought is that it was your ability that was sealed. An ability so powerful that the Griffins feared it." Isabelle wasn't sure but the timeline was too close to ignore.
Raiden blinked and raised his hands to look at it. He had watched people using their abilities for different purposes. He had wished he had one. He had suffered from not having an ability. Now, he's hearing from Isabelle that his ability was probably sealed. An ability so powerful that it scared the prestigious Griffins and even the Queen gave orders to seal it. With that kind of ability, he could take revenge on those that made him suffer. That took the life of his mother. He curled his fist into a ball and looked at Isabelle to see her staring at him. Her brown eyes focussed and beautiful.
"I know what you're thinking Raiden. You shouldn't use your ability for evil. Always remember that," she replied and stood up. "I've spent quite some time here, I should go." She added and made her way towards the door. "If you want to know more, write me a letter." If people get to know that she spent more than thirty minutes in this place, her reputation would be severely tarnished.
As Isabelle opened the door, a sword suddenly pierced into her stomach, shooting out from her back. The sword pulled out immediately and her body fell limp to the ground, pale and cold as her eyes were wide open in shock. The death was so sudden that Raiden stood aghast as he stared at Isabelle's body in the pool of her own blood. Realizing that she had been stabbed, he raised his head to see who it was. Before he could react, he felt something sharp digging into his flesh. A biting pain instantly shot from his spinal cord. What was this feeling? He asked himself. The person pulled the sword back and sent it back into Raiden's body, stabbing him twice.
The metallic taste of blood filled his tongue as he coughed out blood. Raiden felt as though his body was being torn to shreds. He was going to die. Just like Isabelle. Someone wanted to kill him. Perhaps they wanted both of them dead. But why? He was losing the feel of his body as he fell limp on the floor onto Isabelle's body that was still warm. His fingers tried to move but he grasped air in return. He was going to die. His vision swayed. What was this? Was he dying? What was happening? Different questions popped up in his head.
"Goodbye dear brother," he heard a voice say. A voice so familiar but he couldn't recognize the owner or where he had heard it. The person was wearing a black veil that prevented Raiden from seeing their true face. Cold. He was cold. His heart was barely beating. He tried to breathe but there wasn't any strength left for him to do so.
Was he dying? Was this how death felt? Was this how his mother felt before she passed on? His heart beats became faint as he tried to hold on to an invisible thread but his life was quickly slipping away. The face of his mother smiling filled his vision. When he was born. When he walked for the first time. The happiness of both his father and mother. When she was sick. When he was thrown into the storehouse for the first time. When he was beaten by the mistress. Everything was flashing before his eyes. It was said that when a person was dying, their life flashed before their eyes. So it was true.
He wanted to see more of his life as a child. That part of his life when there was no maltreatment but happiness. It was the best of his memories. But time wasn't on his side. His vision darkened and his eyes turned heavy.
"Thump"
"Thump"
Then silence. Raiden's heart stopped beating as a single tear slipped away from his eye. A tear that carried regrets, sorrow, hope and regrets. Lots of regrets. It was the end of everything. If there was something Raiden had always wanted, it was a family that would accept him for who he is.