The Search for Freedom

I could see nothing but darkness. Everywhere I'd look, there was nothingness waiting. I was in a place of emptiness. I didn't know how I got into that kind of place. What I only remember was that I was fighting with the rocks man and I slipped off consciousness because of the rocks that he threw at me. I didn't know how to go back to the real world.

My world suddenly tottered. I used all my power to stop the earthquake, but it was so strong that it wanted to destroy my whole world. There was someone destroying my world, the world of emptiness where I could do whatever I want, because I have freedom here. When I opened my eyes, I saw Alicia looking at me.

"Oh! Alice, what happened to the rocks man?" I asked.

"Good job, Kaila!" Alice exclaimed. "Your mission to that man has already been completed; you killed him. I'm sorry because I did not help you in killing him, but you still proved that you are powerful."

"That's nothing. I know that you are still helping me to search for those people who were destined to fight me, am I right?" I replied.

Alicia didn't say anything, and I couldn't predict what she was thinking right then.

"Your body was full of bruises. Are you okay?" Alice asked.

"No more words, I'm fine. You better bring me to the next person who was destined to fight me, so that we can end this nightmare quickly," I suggested.

"Can you stop thinking about that for a while? Let me use dark magic to heal your wounds first. You had told me that you could kill all your enemies. Well, look what happened to you. You were nearly killed by the enemy."

I sighed. "Alice, can you stop pretending that you care? I know that you only care for yourself and for your freedom. So stop acting like my mom."

"No-can you stop pretending that you don't like me to care about you? It's true, I really care about you, and I care about you more than myself or anything else," Alicia stated solemnly. I could see the sincerity in her eyes.

She gave me a hand and helped me stand up. I didn't feel any pain anymore. It was because of Alicia's dark magic, as she healed my wounds and even the pain that I felt about everything. I was full of vitality and my weight was reduced half from the original.

"Why won't you bring me to the next person? You're just talking nonsense. How can you say that you care for me though you cannot even care for yourself?" I asked.

"Kaila, can you please give me a little time to explain why I care so much for you? I have been telling you that I care for you, but you are always changing our topic and won't even let me talk and listen."

"Alicia... there is nothing else more important for you, and there are no other things more important to me. What is most important to us is our freedom, and have you forgotten that what we are doing this for our freedom? That we are fighting for freedom? Because some people gave us curses, as their minds were our prisons and their eyes were our cage," I said while my tears were falling to the ground because of the feelings that I could not explain.

"You don't need to be free anymore because you are already free and what you must do is to enjoy the time that is left in your life. You can do whatever you want, but enjoy every day that comes because life is too short to worry about anything. Enjoying life is the best thing to do so that one day you will not regret wasting your time on doing the will of others. Do not do the will of others if you will not be happy."

"Alicia?" I asked curiously. "Is that really you? Why are you saying that? You are a heartless demon, aren't you? You are the one who put a curse on me, aren't you? You are the one who wants me to fight because it is for our freedom, aren't you? Why are you telling me these things now?"

"Why are you doubting my words? Why do you need to search for freedom if I am giving it to you? Why won't you believe that I care for you?" She asked.

"Why won't you just tell me the exact reason why you care for me? Are you really just a concerned citizen?"

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Alicia's face was telling me that she was crying, though there were no tears coming out of her eyes. Her words seemed to be saying farewell to me. Maybe she was just saying farewell because she was going to search for the next person. I knew that there were still eighty-six people left that I needed to kill, even though I couldn't even kill one, in order to be totally free from the curse.

"Because you are my granddaughter," Alice said.

I was surprised of what she said. I was drowned by my feelings because I did not want to be a granddaughter of the evil spirit who put me under the curse and cheated me. I could not believe that I have a grandmother like her. Even though her eyes were telling me she was serious, I couldn't accept her! I didn't have a grandmother that was so wicked. I hated her my whole life!

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" I screamed until I lost my voice. "I don't want to be your granddaughter!"

I suddenly sprang from my bed. The first thing that I saw was the table inside my bedroom. The window was open just a crack and the hither and thither movements of the cold air entered my bedroom, as if they were trying to calm me. It was incredible. I could not believe that everything was just a dream and that I was still there, inside my bedroom, awake and alive. I realized that nothing in this world was permanent and that everything had an ending. Though many things had happened in my life, however long my journey was, I would consider them a dream.

But before I totally woke up, I heard someone say, "A year elapsed and I had finished my task: killing a hundred people never became easy, but nothing happened; everything stayed the same. Is the prophecy accurate? But why didn't it happen? That demon told me that I needed to kill more people to prevent the curse from inflicting it. If you were me, would you obey him?"