Chapter 1 - Long-Buried Sorrows

NOTE FOR READERS: Once a point of view character is identified at the start of a chapter, the story stays in that character's POV until another name is identified.

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Hecate’s pov.

"Just stop the chariot here," I ordered the horsemen, who nodded immediately. I gazed up from the cloak and let the light touch my face. The sun was setting. It was getting close to dusk.

"What exactly are you here for, if I may ask?" the man asked, still driving the chariot and not looking back. The road was jarring, and I had to hold the handle for balance.

"I am going to meet someone," I said, looking ahead. The horse neighed as he pulled the ropes too tightly.

"Nobody in the past thirty years or so has been living here; you are the first one who I am taking on this road." I shook my head. He didn’t know anything. Thirty years? This area had been left barren for the last hundred years; civilization had left this place at the beginning of the twentieth century.

"Honestly, If I didn’t want the money urgently, I would have never agreed to this place; this place is cursed." He commented and started laughing gawkily.

"What is your name?" I asked, finally taking down the cloak from my face and letting the cold breeze welcome me.

"Aiden. What’s yours?" He finally turned back and gasped involuntarily, but soon tried to cover it. My purple eyes are the first thing to attract the attention of anyone who sees my face. He cleared his throat awkwardly and turned his attention back to the road. I could tell he was intimidated by me at first sight.

It was obvious. Humans fear the unknown; I could feel his anxiety.

I have been given many names. My identity changes from time to time. Yet, people still know me by the name Hecate.

"Hecate." He hummed in apprehension but didn’t say anything. By the look of his face, I knew he was in his early thirties.

He needed money; his wife was critically ill, and he had run out of money already. He wanted to take her to the city for better treatment. That’s why I chose him. He was desperate, and so was I.

The horse neighed loudly this time and stopped abruptly. Aiden pulled the ropes tightly, trying to balance the chariot; the horse jumped on his two legs, and the chariot stopped shortly. I put on the cloak again and carried my things. It was only a small bag I carried. I didn’t need many items for where I was heading.

"Why did you come out of the chariot, miss? Let me take you ahead of the trees; it is not safe for you to travel through them alone," he said. I smirked. Only if he knew who I truly was.

"Here." I handed him twenty silver coins. His eyes widened and almost popped out of his sockets, and as if he didn’t believe his own eyes, he touched each coin and examined them with wonder. Finally, his greed was subdued by his morals. Humans still fascinated me.

"But—"

I cut him off. "Someone must be waiting for you back at home. Get going." I said dismissively and started walking in the direction of the forest.

I didn’t hear the noise of horses until I reached the trees. Aiden was a good man. I looked up at the sky; the sun had already set, and it would soon be dark.

I looked through the forest at my destination. I slowly walked through the trees; the night was as silent as the sea. There was not a single trace of any wild animal, just the occasional gushing of the trees by the wind.

I closed my eyes and opened them again as I passed through the last tree. After so many years, it still looked the same.

My feet, as if no longer under me, took me to the muddy road. I walked silently, the chafing of the shoe echoing in the whole barren field. The houses, the huts—everything had already fallen into ruins.

I passed the countless barren houses till I lost count and finally found myself in front of the large graveyard located on the outskirts of the city.

The gate was locked, and the lock was rusted as if it hadn't been touched in decades. I trailed the rusty chains with my fingers, and they fell in the next second. The gate opened itself.

I closed and opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I walked through the graves. Each name was already printed inside my head. I didn’t have to glance at the graves to read the names on the tombstones.

I felt weakened and sick as I took each step towards my desired destination. I was one of the many reasons why this city is filled with more tombstones than combined living beings.

I was one of the reasons why this place was doomed in the past. The city my sister built on her own I stopped dead in my tracks. I had already reached the place.

Before I could register anything, a single tear escaped my eye and fell on the white stone in front of me.

Selene A beloved mother and sister. Tender and kind soul A ray of hopeful sunshine.

My knees gave away as I finally let out my emotions, which I thought I had buried deep. The tears fell like rain, and they were synced with my weeping heart.

"I am sorry I didn’t save you." I touched her grave. It was covered with a thick blanket of dust. Slowly, I rubbed the dust away.

"I am sorry I was not there for you when you needed me the most." I cried, looking straight at the sky. The moon was not there; it was darkness. I am covered with darkness. The old goddess of darkness "Trivia?" I sensed her before I heard my name, which I hadn’t heard in eons. I wish I hadn’t heard it in the first place. Not by her. I wiped my tears and cleaned my face, trying to even my breaths. I don’t want to look weak. Not in front of her.

I heard the footsteps preceding in my direction and they soon stopped behind me. I didn’t move. "Trivia..." she placed her hand on my shoulder. I wanted to flinch, but as if every atom of my body had its own brain, I couldn’t. I feel paralyzed.

The tears came back in full force. I cried and cried till my eyes ran out of tears. Not for a second did she move her hand from my shoulder. I placed the flowers on the grave and, with the final touch, stood on my feet.

"Why are you here?" I didn’t turn to look at her face. I can’t face her. She slowly but gently moved her hand from my shoulder. I missed the loss of her contact immediately.

"Why are you here?" I asked more sternly, and this time I turned to look at the face of the only person I hated and loved the most after my sister Selene, Moona. She hasn’t aged a day since I last saw her. She looked the same. Beautiful and elegant, like a goddess of the moon should be.

"I am here for you." she replied, her voice low and soft like feathers. I faked a chuckle.

"You are here for me?" I mocked her by making a concerned face. "Where were you when I needed you the most? Where were you when our sister was killed?" The lightning strike in the sky concluded my statement; her eyes widened, and I knew my eyes must have changed from purple to blood red. She knows it was not good for her to push my buttons, especially at this hour.

She didn’t say anything. We stared into each other's eyes, sister to sister, blood to blood. I shook my head. "You were never there for me, nor for her or his son." She pursed her lips.

"I know you don’t have answers, and I don’t expect you to have any of them from your side," I said and walked past her, making sure my shoulder bumped into hers.

"I was there for her." I didn’t stop walking.

"I warned her, and still she chose her path." The sky erupted into one thunderous bolt of lightning. My hands started shaking with intense rage and anger, which I don’t know I still have in me. I turned back.

"She chose her path? Now you speak like the almighty. God has always been cruel, mean, and selfish." This time the clouds thundered and rain started pouring. I looked above.

"You only care about yourself." I cried. "And you, you were long dead for me since you sided with them, leaving me and your sister Selene," I said, pointing at her side, and started walking back from where I came through.

I didn’t look back. I feared she might already be gone.