Cold droplets of water fell from the gray clouds above, with deafening chatters washing over the damp earth.
It was somewhere within fall, winter was fast approaching.
The trees stood with visible branches, their last leaves torn away by the cold.
The rainfall was heavy.
By logic everyone should've been inside their homes enjoying its warmth but a lone figure stood withstanding the cold onslaught of the rain.
Augusta stood by two graves in the cemetery, her expression was blank and detached.
To her, the harsh rain was much warmer than her father's mansion could ever be.
The place had never quite remained the same, not once did she ever feel alive in there.
Every shadow seemed ominous, every movement felt like the steps of a grim reaper.
And the curses, they lingered.
Not around her… for some reason they were scared of coming close but they made sure she never had a moment of repose.
Her father on the other hand was another anomaly, the curses lingered around him but not once did they cause him harm physically at least.
Instead it felt like they wanted him to suffer as slow and painful as he could.
Her gaze was heavy.
On the gravestones were two names, each etched with regal grace.
They read
Mariam Van Astraea
And
Avankel Van Astraea
A soft sigh escaped her lips.
It'd been a little over four months since their deaths and she still hadn't gotten over it.
Not after what she'd experienced.
She stared at the grave for over an hour under the cold rain, her lips pressed into a thin line full of unspoken words.
A voice slithered into her ear or rather her mind, its tone was calm yet firm.
"Child, why do you resist, it is your destiny as a child of war." It said.
Augusta's face instantly morphed into a grimace.
"You've been invading my mind way too often lately you pest, I thought shadows weren't supposed to talk."
The voice snarled, clearly offended.
"Do not associate me with such lowly creatures, I am a divine relic not some punisher meant to torture the accursed."
Augusta frowned.
"A divine relic? What a load of crap, stop talking to me and stop invading my mind.
The voice fell silent, it lingered for a few seconds then added.
"It is your destiny, child. You are meant to leave your mark upon this world as a champion of kretus and a child of war, you can't deny destiny."
Augusta scowled.
"I said shut up!"
Her gaze flickered towards the graves, for a brief moment her features softened then irritation quickly found its way into her face.
"Tch! I've had enough of this."
She stormed off, her pace aggressive yet unhurried.
It didn't take long before she arrived at her chambers.
She didn't linger, she grabbed a pair of scissors then a fist full of her hair.
Her hands worked skillfully, like she'd been long accustomed to giving herself haircuts.
Cold steel bit into her damp hair while the remains graced the floor below.
She stared at the mirror, her reflection glanced back.
Her hair—now short and still damp from the rain—closely resembled her late brother's.
Her green eyes hardened into a sharp glare.
"I must have forgotten myself, none of this is real… it's just a mirage of what happened years ago but…"
She paused, her eyes glinting with malice.
"When I get the retard who made me relive my trauma, I will pay them back tenfold."
Taking off the wet clothes, she changed into a fresh pair, one which made her appearance look boyish.
She grabbed a quill and ink then quickly began recording the events that had played out on a piece of paper.
From the first loop to the current one which was the seventh, the similarities had between them had always been her father's nonchalance about her mother and sibling's death, the date and time.
The shadows… until the last loop likely followed the same pattern, they never did try to mess with her mind until the seventh.
'Everything is wrong about this seventh loop.' She thought.
And she was indeed correct, everything about the seventh loop was different.
First the shadows who'd always lingered around her family without making any moves suddenly became active, they didn't harm her physically but psychologically? They broke her.
They made every moment a living hell.
They made her anxious, made her scared, made her wish she was dead.
Her expression darkened, following a scene which played out within her mind as clear as day.
Avankel's death.
"I can help you."
"You again!" Augusta snarled.
It was the voice, the same annoying voice that had been pestering her since the day her dead ones were buried.
It was also another variable which didn't appear in the other loops.
"Won't you at least listen to me?" it urged.
Augusta snapped back.
"Why should I? You tell me I've been hearing whispers from those vile shadows and oh how convenient a highly suspicious talking voice just seemed to appear from nowhere and is claiming not to be one."
"I assure you I'm not—"
"Shut up! Stop talking." She yelled.
Her body trembled in fury and fright, her eyes were wide with rage.
Veins snaked up her face with teeth gnashed together.
"I'll kill you… I'll kill all of you." Her voice shook, caught somewhere between a suppressed sob and a murderous declaration.
The voice stilled, then it spoke, softly this time.
"If you just listen to me I can help you leave this place, you know it too… this is all just a recreated past meant to test your worth, you've met the conditions but you're still reluctant to accept me."
"Accept you?" Augusta turned slowly even though she couldn't see what was speaking, she still did so anyway. "What conditions… did I ask for a trial? Did I ask to be tested? Which person thought it'd be a good idea to test me using my past? And all for what! To what bloody end!"
"Whether you desire it or not you are the only one meant to wield me, its the only way to stop the curse that has been following your family for generations, that was the price they paid for stealing the war god's relic from its chosen." the voice replied.
Just then a knock sounded from the other end of the door of her chambers.
The person only knocked thrice before turning the door knob.
The door opened with a soft click and a figure stepped inside.
The figure was a man with chestnut brown hair, honey colored eyes and a Knight's build.
He strolled with regal confidence.
His face was impassive, embodying no particular emotion, yet the dark circles under his eyes told a different story.
The moment Augusta saw him she growled.
"What do you think you're doing!"
"Augusta…" the man called but she cut him off before he could continue.
"Don't… don't call me that, I renounced that name a long time ago, I'm not your daughter and I'm no longer a member of the Astraea family, don't act like you care… after all you never said anything, not once after they died. You never really loved us did you."
The man let out a weary sigh, for a moment his façade cracked and for that single moment beneath that hardened expression was just a broken man.
His lips parted.
"Augusta… we're a family no matter what happens, your mother and brother has left us due to my recklessness, if only I had just…" he paused. "Forget it, don't do anything reckless is what I came to tell you, you've been ignoring your body condition for months, you—"
Augusta cut him off.
"I told you not to call me that, I don't have a family, they're dead and you're dead to me, I'm Nathaniel Taylor, a wandering mercenary not your sheltered daughter, we have nothing between us. I severed all ties with this family the day they died, let that sink into your damned skull, Duke Mason Van Astraea, don't act like you care now."
"Child." A familiar voice slithered into her head. "At this rate you'll be devoured by your past, accept me and be done with the trial."
A strange feeling tugged at Augusta at the voice's words, she couldn't quite name it but if felt like a part of her was missing, a yearning she wasn't accustumed to.
She hesitated for a short while then she asked using her thoughts.
'You said I could leave this place if I accepted you, what is it that you want and why me.'
The Duke's eyes widened in horror, he reached out his trembling hand to her, too stunned to utter words correctly.
"A-Au… Augusta? No… no, what do you mean by that? Renounced your name? That's ridiculous, when did that happen!"
Augusta shot him a cold glare then stepped backwards as though the mere idea of touching him sickened her.
The voice sounded again.
"Yes, this was a trial for you to claim me, I am Apeiron the relic of the war god and my only purpose is to serve and guide the champion of kretus. Will you accept me as your companion, child?"
"Augusta?" Duke Mason called out.
Augusta raised a finger at the Duke then sneered.
"I hope you wallow in despair even in the real world!"
She exhaled.
"I accept."
The moment she spoke those words, a bright light enveloped her, illuminating her frame.
The space around her bent like reality was unraveling before it.
And then, she vanished into thin air.