Council of Sorrow

"Maiden of Despair"

I woke up with a start to see Elluko fighting three ninjas at the same time: a black, white, and yellow one. The other ninjas lay sprawled on the ground. The orange ninja lay nearest to me clutching at his stomach groaning. His mask was half off revealing a huge bruise on his head which I guessed had been caused by the side of Elluko's sword.

My head pounded where the blue ninja had hit me. Blood flowed down to my neck from the scratch I had gotten on my cheek when the Devourers had attacked. Clutching my head, I watched as Elluko continued to fight the three ninjas. He had not killed any of the ninjas, but merely knocked them out or wounded them as the red ninja rolled over in pain. I looked up at Elluko with new respect as he punched the white ninja in the face and quickly dodged a kick from the black ninja.

Something moved behind me and I turned my head just in time to see a brown ninja's foot hitting me in the side of the face. Grunting, I went flying to the side just in time to see Elluko looking in my direction. He kicked at the yellow ninja and punched the black ninja and that was all I remember before I blacked out.

…

The brown ninja picked up the unconscious girl and held a spiky disk to her neck looking over at Elluko while laughing wickedly. "Please don't..." Elluko muttered fearfully. The brown ninja seemed to think for a moment and then put the spiky disk into a fold of his suit and slung the woman onto his shoulder. Elluko stepped forward, but the brown ninja quickly let out a yell and sprung up into the trees. Elluko looked up only hearing the laughter of the brown ninja as he leapt from tree to tree carrying the woman away.

---

The warrior known as Anakuron had tripped over her causing her to drop the knife. She cried. She had been carving another scar into her arm. It was going to be in the shape of a moon with a rip across its face. It was going to match the star on her other arm. She looked down with pride at the scabbing star on her other arm. She crawled over to the knife that Anakuron had kicked, still crying.

Yina didn't want to go to the alter that held the stone. The stone was always so bloody with veins running through it like bloody cuts. It scared her. She feared the stone.

But something compelled her to go to it. Just like something compelled her to cut. She remembered being horrified of her own destructive actions at first. But soon it became a daily ritual and now she was running out of skin that hadn't felt the cut of her blade.

Yina approached the alter hesitantly; no longer fighting whatever it was that forced her there. She took the blade and casually slashed it against her stomach. Lightly, so as only to cut the first layer of skin. Tomorrow maybe, it would scab and cause a permanent mark. A tear fell onto the cut causing an annoying but somewhat pleasing sting.

She dropped her knife before the alter and reached toward the gruesome stone. It glowed whenever she went near it. But as much as she feared it, it took her pain away. She clutched her small hand around the glowing red veined stone and pressed it against her skin. Immediately, she fell to the floor experiencing emotions that were not her own as all her wounds and scars seemed to be bleeding at once.

She knew the hopelessness of Gibbus who felt as though the world had failed him. She knew the shamefulness and agony of Anakuron who had committed heinous and unspeakable acts in his past. She felt the loneliness of Shama who never knew how to express her true feelings and couldn't stop laughing at the irony of the world. But most importantly she knew the paranoia and inability to trust of the warrior named Tie.

Tie. She cried. He couldn't even trust her. She wanted to help him. She wanted to help them all but it hurt her more that she couldn't help him.

The stone cut into her skin guided by her hand. It was her own pain that she wished to escape from. They all hated her. They didn't want her there. She should just end it now. She clutched the stone to her chest wanting to be as ugly as it. But then she was, wasn't she?

How could they like her anyway? She was just some ugly scar faced girl. She wept upon the stone and its glow grew brighter. The glow from the stone somewhat comforted her. It kept her from ending her life. What a blessing that would be for the world by relieving her from it. It was the only thing that comforted her, an ugly bloody veined glowing stone. Even though she was scared of it, she was thankful for it for comforting her.

While Tie refused her hugs and Anukuron fought with invisible enemies the stone made her feel better. While Shama laughed and Gibbus shrugged, the stone relieved her of the pain. She just had to cry in order to help the pain leave her body. She just had to cut to help it escape. And the stone would absorb her blood and tears and she would be fine again. For a while...

She lay before the alter with the gruesome stone clutched to her chest. She stretched her other arm over to grab the dagger that had helped her so many times. She cut into her leg this time and pressed the stone upon her wound. It absorbed the blood leaving her wound bloodless and open. She sobbed into it leaving her eyes dry and raw.

She felt weak and the dark cloth of sleep stretching over her cut body. That is where she slept that night. Holding the stone against her chest curled around it as if she were an unborn babe inside the womb. It comforted her somehow, that ugly stone of sorrow. She feared it but it was the only thing left that kept her from completely dragging the dagger into her heart.

And Tie. She lived for him too. Perhaps one day he would look at her without pain and with trust and love. He once said he didn't want to hurt her, but didn't he hurt her every time he looked away? Maybe she really lived for the others too. But they didn't need her. They didn't want her. Why would they care? Why would they waste their time?

She hugged the stone and closed her eyes thinking of the next cut she would do. She could cut another symbol into her skin. Perhaps the next one could commemorate the stone.

She fell asleep and imagined a smiling Tie dancing with her in a ball room. Only her dreams were happy. Everything else was sad. If anyone could have seen her sleeping on the cold stone floor beneath the alter, they would have seen a smiling scar faced maiden with dried tears upon her face hugging the stone as if it were her pet. But no one saw her that night. And she slept there till morning when she was awoken by noises outside...