Bonedenda

Long ago there lived a beautiful woman. She seemed to have everything: a loving husband, a glorious home, and a child on the way. Her life was perfect and all the people in the land admired her. But all that changed as war and poverty stole her husband away to a far away country and she was left all alone. And as fate would have it, the beautiful woman fell ill with a wasting disease and died soon after the following month. But in her death, a baby girl was spared, and Ginta was born from her mother’s lifeless body.

When Ginta was 5, she noticed it. She noticed how the adults feared her, and how the children mocked her. She was hated amongst the village, and Ginta resented that. The children would laugh at her and call her names like ‘demon girl’ or ‘bonedenda’, which meant “one that is not dead, but not alive.” The adults treated Ginta with a terrified respect that showed her that they considered her a threat. She despised them.

Eighteen years have passed since her birth, and her eyes were a beautiful but empty maroon as she used those cursed eyes to gaze across the field. Smoke fled from the scorched outlines of the village she knew all too well. Her past etched in the black soot that lay in the houses’ wake. Ginta turned away and walked down the path away from the memories and didn’t look back. Today she was reborn. She burned her history away with no regrets. She would start her journey by leaving what she once knew behind, and head towards a new beginning.

She walked down the long path leading away from the ruins, her long black hair, streaked with white floating in the breeze. The sun was shining and birds were singing a soft lullaby, but peace was far from her mind as storm clouds rolled in her eyes with unforgotten anguish. She cursed it. She cursed everything.

Into the forest she traveled. Into the dark and foreboding brush and trees. Hiding herself from the world that shunned her so. She didn’t know what or why, but she felt something deep in her soul. A deep longing for someone that understands. She slapped herself with the strength of a wolf’s bite, as if trying to knock the emotion out of her body. She continued to walk with no real destination in mind. Nimbly, she dodged low branches and avoided large tree roots. Ginta scanned the lifeless forest with her soulless eyes and decided to go deeper. So farther into the shrouded belly of the woods she clambered.

The trees made snarling faces at her with their rich bark as she looked around her. Their branches were long arms reaching out to grab her with their green claws. The knotholes opened menacingly at Ginta to suck her soul right out of her body. Standing with a strong aura about her, she broke through the forests spell and continued to stride through the dense undergrowth. She would not allow herself to become any weaker than she felt she already was.

The young woman made her way into the heart of the dark green monster. When she arrived, she noticed a small circular clearing with a creek running off to the side. She felt at ease here. Like all her troubles couldn’t reach her through the thick tree line. This is where she sat, meditating on her future. Where would she go? How would she live? What would she eat? The questions slinked their way around in her brain before dying in a cloud of dust.

When she opened her eyes to look around she was shocked to see that where there had just been empty grass, there was now a beautiful little cottage. She blinked and realized she was now holding a rather large grapefruit in her hand. All the questions and worries in her mind had been answered. Magic resided in this opening and it wanted to help her. She wandered into the cottage and looked around the quaint home. She felt that she was safe for once.

Ginta wandered around slowly. She had long since decided to stay here, and she was familiarizing herself with the home. She sat down in a comfortable black chair and stared into the fireplace, where large maple logs burned a beautiful green fire. She felt a smile tug at her lips as she whispered to the mythical nothing, “I’m home.”

Morning struck Ginta in the face with such force it made her feel like she had just been knocked off a cliff. The sun shone bright onto her face but there were no sounds in the forest. No happy birds chirping away songs, no rustling of a squirrel looking for acorns in the bushes, nothing. Ginta smiled at the silence. She found peace in the silence, no annoying noises to break her from thought.

Clambering out of bed, she walked down the small hall to the kitchen, where a large selection of fruits and meats were on a table. Ginta thanked the magic of the forest heartily in her mind before digging into her breakfast like a starving animal.

Once her stomach was full and her table cleared, a small book was resting on the table she had just cleared. Ginta made her way outside, new book in hand. She sat down underneath a peaceful tree beside the stream and cracked open her Tales of the Damned.

Just as she finished the first page, a sound like a gunshot erupted from the forest beyond her home. Ginta jumped up and a long sword appeared beside her. She picked it up and stared in the direction that the intruder was coming. She knew it was an intruder from that sound. She remembered that sound from when she had been struck by a spell for stealing bread. A wizard’s wand makes that sound when it stops a curse.

As if on cue, a tall man walked out and into the clearing. His proud, noble face was unworried as his dark eyes locked with Ginta’s maroon ones. “Lower your weapon, Bonedenda, I don’t wish to fight.” He said in an almost bored tone. Ginta narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the sword. “No.” She said with venom. The intruder didn’t seem to care.

“Lower your weapon, Bonedenda.” He said again, with a forceful tone. Before Ginta could stop herself, she felt her arms lowering. He was magic alright, and magic people could control her with the mere word ‘bonedenda’ and Ginta cursed herself for being half-dead and giving him that control. This infuriated Ginta to no end and she glared poison daggers at the man.

“Do not stare at me like that, Bonedenda.” He said, his voice calm yet with the same force he used before. Ginta couldn’t help but stop glaring at the man she would very much like to kill at the moment.

“Why have you come here?” She spat at him. He didn’t look threatened at all, and with Ginta being as defenseless as she was, who would? The wizard had been looking around the clearing with vague interest, but upon hearing her words he turned back to her.

“Oh, my apologies. I am here for you. I caught word of you, Bonedenda, and since you are so rare, I had to have you in my possession.” He said as if the thought of being his servant was a gift from the heavens. Ginta, obviously didn’t react the way he had thought when she threw a rock at him, which hit him in the head.

Blinking at the assault, the man looked back at Ginta. “ONE: I have a name, and it isn’t Bonedenda.” She snapped, “TWO: I am no one’s possession! Nor will I ever be!” The intruder wasn’t fazed at the girl, who was shaking with anger. He simply stared at her.

“You are an unusual one. Most bonedendas are timid and mild-mannered. You are hotheaded and ill-tempered, making you an even more rare find.” He murmured while looking at her as if she was an interesting painting. This did not aid in cooling the girl down. She growled at him and bared her teeth as if she were a wolf.

Ginta couldn’t understand why the magical protection of the forest and clearing wasn’t kicking him out or at least aiding her in the process. ‘Help me…please!’ She silently begged the mystical clearing, but to her misery, nothing happened. The odd man blinked in slight amusement, and Ginta felt like crying. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone?

“Alas, poor girl, you have need of a teacher. Your powers are so underdeveloped, have you not been practicing?” Ginta looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Powers? What powers?” The man chuckled and shook his head.

“Indeed you are an unfortunate soul. Bonedendas have many powers. Magic in their blood, you see?” Ginta was blinking at him. “You’re crazy,” she said with disbelief. The man merely chuckled again. “So much to teach you, child, and so little time!”

The girl was amazed at how relaxed this intruder was. “Who are you?” The strange man smirked. “I am Bengamin, a necromancer of sorts, and you, young bonedenda, shall become my apprentice.”

“Hold on just a minute! I never agreed to anything of the sort!” Ginta hollered at Bengamin. The necromancer just shrugged. “You will do it…for your need to protect your new home shall spark a want to learn how to control the magic you possess.”

The black haired girl stared at him with a puzzled look before looking around her new home with a worried look upon her pale face. Bengamin followed her gaze. “I entered…what makes you think someone else can’t?”

Minutes passed before Ginta opened her mouth to answer. “I will learn the magic.” The taller male nodded and walked forward. “Then we begin training today.”

Never in all of Ginta’s life had she ever worked as hard as Bengamin was working her now. Even when she was sold to an old man as a personal slave once she was too old to live in the orphanage, this was the hardest work. Bengamin had her running twenty miles, meditation while she tried to keep her balance on a small pole, carry forty-six buckets of water from the stream to the other side of the clearing, collect wheat that Bengamin rose from the ground, turn the wheat into flour, churn butter, and climb to the very top of trees to collect maple.

The girl collapsed to the ground, panting, after she moved the four hundred and ten buckets of fresh maple sap to the house. “Why, then, did I have to get that many accursed buckets of tree sap?”

Bengamin shook his head at her. “You’d do well to just trust me. I have my reasons for making you do all of this. Now, take the flour and water and turn it to dough and make pancakes.” He said before turning back to the book he was reading under the tree.

“Why should I do that?” She asked him with a puzzled look. Without looking up from the book, Bengamin replied, “Because I’m hungry and you should be too.”

Ginta resisted the urge to kill, stood up, turned on her heel, and marched into the house all the while cursing under her breath. The male chuckled softly at her wild attitude and sighed. She was going to be an interesting companion.

“He is so infuriating!” Ginta was scowling and slamming pans and pots around as she made the food. The maple sap she had obtained earlier was now syrup and the wheat and water was batter. She poured the pancake mixture into a skillet that was over a nice fire and watched as the cream colored goo bubbled. After waiting a few minutes, she took out a spatula and flipped the pancake over, revealing a wonderfully cooked bottom. She smiled at the perfect pancake as she set it on the plate beside her. Ginta wasn’t the best cook and pancakes were not her specialty, so this was a feat for her.

“How goes it?” A familiar voice announced the presence of Bengamin. He blinked when he noticed a finely set table for two, with stacks of pancakes topped with syrup and butter. Two glasses of milk sat beside the plates and freshly picked flowers rested in a vase in the center of the table. “Nice.” He said before sitting down in one of the dark wooden chairs.

Ginta appeared in the doorway with an exhausted but pleased smile on her face. Her long black and white hair was up in a messy bun, her cheek had some flour on it, and she had a batter-covered apron on. “Thanks. It was hard work for me.” She replied as she sat down across from him. They both nodded to each other before Bengamin took the first bite. Ginta watched his face eagerly, hoping for a sign of approval. His face was impassive as always, but he inclined his head and she took that as an approval. Ginta then dug into her own stack of pancakes.

The dinner was quiet and the only sounds that were heard were the soft clinking of silverware to plates and the occasional sound of a cup being placed back down. It was a few minutes before Ginta couldn’t stand it any longer. As she opened her mouth to speak, though, her guest cut her off. “You are starting off well. Strengthen the body and the mind, then you will learn to do magic.”

Ginta nodded in understanding. She was not strong enough to control her magic, and so she must learn to do so. “Pray tell, child, what should I call you since you don’t wish to be called bonedenda?” His voice rang clear, but Ginta couldn’t help but look puzzled.

“Your name?” Bengamin said with a slight eye roll. She then blinked and looked down at her plate. “My name is Ginta.” Came her soft reply. Bengamin nodded. “And you may call me Ben.”

Ginta was amazed at the day’s events. She was so comfortable in her new home, and then a stranger came along and rudely started ordering her around…and now she was his apprentice. How on earth did everything take such confusing turns in so few hours? Ginta mulled these thoughts over for the rest of their meal. As soon as Ben was finished with his portion she stacked the plates and left for the kitchen. Ben had seemed to find (or conjure up, she couldn’t be sure which) a spare bedroom and retired to it for the rest of the night. After Ginta finished doing the dishes, she bathed and went to her bedroom. It was surely around two-thirty in the morning when she finally laid her head upon the pillows. The second Ginta’s head touched the soft down she fell asleep.

“Ginta, wake up.” The forceful voice pried the tired girl from her slumber and she rolled over, while grumbling obscenities to the older male. Ginta’s protest was answered when she was flung out of bed and landed roughly on the hard floor.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” The red-faced girl yelled at Ben while jumping to her feet angrily. His face was impassive but amusement was in his eyes when he replied, “You are the one that wouldn’t get up.”

Ginta threw a pillow at him and smirked as it hit him in the face. Ben raised an eyebrow as the fluffy attacker fell to the ground. “That was real mature.” He said and Ginta stuck her tongue out at him. “You should never wake a woman up when she’s sleeping!”

“So if you fall into a coma, I can let you sleep forever?” A small smirk played on Ben’s handsome features. “NO!” Ginta crossed her arms. Ben laughed at her. He actually laughed! Ginta was shocked, in the 19 hours that she had known him, he had always been impassive and stoic. She had suspected he didn’t have any emotions. “Don’t look so surprised, Ginta, I am human.” Ben had seen her surprise and found it slightly annoying that she thought him to hold no emotion.

“I’m sorry.” Ginta said with and small voice. Ben just nodded and walked to the door. “Get dressed and meet me outside.” With that he shut the door behind him and Ginta stared at it for a moment before shrugging off her pajamas.

It was a good twenty minutes before Ben saw her again. She blinked as she took in his form; meditating under the tree he seemed fond of being under. Ginta walked up quietly and stood in front of him. It was a few more minutes before he cracked open one eye and looked at her. “Sit beside me and we shall meditate.”

She did as she was told and sat next to him. “I don’t know how.” Ginta had never really understood meditating; let alone how to do it. Ben sighed but didn’t look upset. “Close your eyes and clear your mind. Just focus on breathing.”

Ginta did as instructed and closed her eyes. Her breathing became deep and calm. Ben closed his eyes as well and went into meditation as well. When Ginta heard his breath become measured she stole a glance at him. He seemed to be focusing deeply on meditating and so Ginta took a moment to observe him.

Bengamin’s face was proud and strong and his hair was a deep chestnut that could be mistaken as black in certain light and was waist-length and tied at the bottom. He had very pale eyes, almost white but a slight purple tint without a pupil or iris. His body was very toned and muscular, and despite the unflattering clothes he wore, one could tell he was strong. He sat straight and tall and Ginta could tell that he had been raised by people of higher social status. Ginta felt herself blush. He really was a handsome man and she couldn’t help but appreciate that.

She closed her eyes once more and faced forward. If he would have been to open his eyes, he would have surely caught her staring him over and Ginta wasn’t willing to risk that embarrassment. She forced herself back into meditation with that last thought.

Ben opened one eye and glanced over at the girl next to him. He had felt her look at him for a few moments before meditating more. He couldn’t help but look her over like she did.

The slight blush on her cheeks flattered her and her long hair was pulled up into a messy bun like the night before. She was wearing a short kimono that was white and had a simple blue flower pattern on it with a light blue obi around her waist. While he sat with his legs crossed, she however sat with her legs folded under her and she perched on her calves.

‘In other words,’Ben thought to himself, ‘she’s beautiful.’ Ben couldn’t help it. Ginta was so different from any bonedenda he had ever met and so special. He was pulled to the forest by his curiosity when he heard rumors that there was a murderous half-dead woman taking refuge in there. Bonedendas were not violent creatures normally; and they most certainly didn’t burn down entire villages. His curiosity increased once he met her. Ben didn’t know why he made her his apprentice, or why he felt the need to teach her magic and why he decided to stay with her. He felt something pulling him to her.

“You’re staring.” Her soft voice pulled him from his thoughts and he realized that she had her eyes open and was staring at him. He made sure to keep his face impassive as he could. “So were you.” She blushed and he resisted the urge to laugh. Even the slightest look on her face could make him happy and want to laugh.

“Why did you burn the village down and kill that old man?” His question came out before he could stop it. She looked down and he thought he had upset her, but she looked up and sighed.

“I was treated like the Devil himself my whole life. When I turned 15, an old man came to the orphanage and bought be as his servant.” Her expression told him that the old man had much more that cleaning in mind for his ‘servant’. “After three years I was sick of it and tried to leave. He threatened my life and attacked me with a knife. I had no choice and killed him in order to save my life.”

Bengamin couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sorrow for her as she continued on. “When word got out that he was murdered, the village that shunned me so, went against me. I had no choice but to fight back. I burned the entire village down and ran away.”

Ben now knew what made her so different. She was more alive than dead. Most bonedendas were barely alive. They were basically just puppets and she had a soul, a heart, and a mind. Ginta was so close to being a full human.

“I can help you.” He said quietly after a few moments. “I can turn you completely alive.” He watched her beautiful eyes widen and her face brighten up like a candle freshly lit. “You have to want to become alive, though.”

“I do!” She said with excitement. “I want to no longer be called ‘bonedenda’. I want to walk down the streets of a village without people cringing in fear at the sight of me.” Ben understood and nodded. Standing up, he walked a circle around Ginta, the backwards. After chanting a few words, he pulled a knife from his sleeve and stood with his hand over Ginta. She looked wide-eyed at him and opened her mouth to stop him, but before she could say anything he did it.

“Vexion MORTRAS!” He said deeply and stabbed his own hand with the blade. The blood from his wound dripped onto Ginta’s pale and scared face as she stood up and clutched him, holding him steady and pulling the knife from his hand. Ben was pale and his hand was bleeding profusely.

“Ben! Hang on!” She ripped her sleeve off and wrapped it tightly around the man’s wound. The white of the cloth was slowly turning red as the blood soaked into it. Ginta ripped off more of her dress and wrapped his hand tighter. She laid him down in the grass and held onto the hand, trying to stop the blood flow. She was crying harder than she had ever cried before. Then, before she knew what was happening, her hands glowed a deep green and she stared in awe and shock as Ben’s hand was healed.

Ben opened his eyes and looked up at Ginta, her eyes red with crying and tears still flowing from them as she stared at him. “You…could have mentioned that you’d have to do that.” She said softly before she fell upon his chest, crying and hugging him.

“Well…you wanted to be human…” He said with a pained voice, though smiling at her all the same. Ben waited a few minutes for Ginta to stop crying before gently pushing her up so he could sit up. “You are now alive…fully…and you still have your magic. Don’t waste this gift.”

She looked at him with now soft blue eyes. “Thank you, Ben, so much.” He smiled at her more. She was so beautiful. Before he could even think about it he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Ginta was surprised, but not upset with his actions as she leaned into the kiss. “Come with me. Come live with me in the real world. We can be together.” He said softly after breaking the kiss. Ginta felt tears well up in her eyes again, but in joy. “Of course.” She replied before kissing him again. The two left right away, hand in hand, and for once Ginta walked down a street without fear. Without being feared.