Mystic Quest

Chapter 18

"I was only ten when it happened. My father had changed the day he saw I possessed blue hairs. He... He told me he couldn't believe he had sired a demon child. I've never known why I have a hair colour so rare.

This day was like any other..."

"You little brat!"

Solarys stepped back toward her mother. "Mommy!"

Her mother stepped forward, however someone observant would have seen her slight shivers. "Stop. Don't touch her."

The young girl with blue hairs knew her father wanted to hit her. All because she didn't feel like taking a stroll today.

"She has no right to oppose me!" The man bellowed.

"It's not a reason!"

And her mother was protecting her, as always. Thus was the everyday life. But this day, all would change. The father came closer and pushed his wife.

"Move, woman!"

If the man had looked at the mother instead of raising his hand; he would have seen the moment something snapped. Eyebrows went into a frown, and the gaze of the woman turned dark. As the hand of the man fell, the one of the woman grabbed it.

Solarys' mother violently pushed back her husband before slapping him with all her strength. "Enough! I forbid you to hurt her!"

A dumbstruck silence followed the mother's wrath. She stepped back to her daughter to take her hand. She glanced down at her. And it was the fatal mistake she made. The man charged suddenly, and before Solarys could warn her mother, he plunged a knife in her heart.

Solarys cried out for her mother, then yelped in pain when her father grabbed her by the hairs. In her pain, the child threw a kick. Her father was forced back and he fell. His head hit the small table's edge.

Solarys put her hands in front of her mouth. She glanced between her mother and father. She understood why none of them were breathing. The tears fell; then she turned and left running.

"I went to see the village chief. He took care of me after."

Yuna tightened his arms around his love, torn between sadness and fury. He breathed in deeply before planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"I am so sorry. I just hope you know I will protect you now."

Solarys smiled at him. "I know. The chief of the village helped me a lot. And when I met you all; I became so much happier."

Yuna smiled. He tightened his arms one last time before letting Solarys cuddle with him. Both went back to sleep quite quickly, peacefully.

The morning after, at breakfast, Yuna couldn't help but notice that Solarys seemed to still be lost in painful memories. He took her hand under the table and stroke her palm. Solarys smiled faintly at him.

But what also worried the swordsman, was to notice Lyria and Emerys seemed also haunted. He wondered what could make them like this; however he didn't ask what ate at them.

After all, he too knew about the pain of sorrowful memories.

"Lyria... I was wondering..." Solarys started, hesitant.

"Yes?" Lyria smiled at her, encouraging.

"Do you know... Why I have blue hairs?" The archer swallowed. "Is it possible that... It has a link with the demons?"

Yuna glanced from the corner of his eyes at his lover. Even if he hadn't known the truth about Solarys' past, he would have understood what she was really asking. Was she a demon child?

The angel frowned. "Not at all. It is simply a sign of your purity."

Solarys widened her eyes in surprise; while Yuna and Emerys listened curiously. "What?" The archer asked in a small voice.

"Well you see, purity in the heart of anyone like to manifest by unusual colours. It also likes blue and green. And contrary to popular belief, white is only the colour of light magic. And healing magic, but healing is, like you all know, a part of light magic." Lyria smiled. "So seeing you with blue hairs and green eyes; we can guess how much you are pure."

Solarys couldn't help herself then. Tears fell like waterfalls. However, they were tears of joy. She had grown up believing to be an anomaly. But no! She was the opposite!

Lyria became alarmed. "Eh! What is it?"

Solarys smiled at her. "Nothing serious. I always thought that my hairs meant something bad."

Lyria shook her head with a sigh. "Why do humans have to treat differences as bad?"

This brought a laugh from her friends. Then, Emerys looked at Yuna and Lyria, fixing their blue eyes, then scratched his cheek, thinking of his heterochromatic eyes as well as his red highlights. "Stop me if I'm wrong, Lyria; but we all have a sign of purity, right?"

The angel smiled. "Indeed. Your eyes and your highlights, Yuna's eyes, my eyes and my highlights." And all knew the signs for the archer.

"Your highlights? But blond is not rare?" Solarys wondered aloud.

"Blond no, but gold yes. It is the sign of great magical powers." She offered them a grin. "I am happy my disguise worked well."

Her friends looked at her hairs, dumbstruck. Now that they knew it, they could see that the blond wasn't blond. The highlights reflected the light of the sun, but this didn't hide for their eyes the golden colour.

Emerys started to pout. "Are you saying that I have not enough magical powers to have gold on me?"

The angel laughed. "No, silly! Gold is rare on humans, almost never present. It is as rare on other races. But the fact you have both eyes and hairs of uncommon colours is a sign of both your purity and magic."

Yuna crossed his arms. "And so, since I am no magician, and I'm not from another race; and I am not as pure of heart as Solarys, I only have blue eyes as a sign."

"Exactly. Solarys possesses more signs for a non-magician human because she is pure and innocent."

A small silence came while the four friends finished their breakfast. Then, as they stood up, Emerys whistled. "That's good to know. We are pure!"

His three friends smiled at him, and Noriran the first, they left. They had planned to leave just after breakfast, that was why their travel bags had been at their feet, ready.

The rest of the journey started in silence, as all thought of the past. So much that if Noriran hadn't bark, they would have gone right into the path of a caravan.

"Hey! Isn't it a bit dangerous to travel with so few of you all? Hop in, we're going to Gandam!"

Solarys and Lyria glanced at each other. This was tempting. Gandam was a small village two days from here on foot, only one in caravan. The problem, if they accepted, it implied they would put in danger said caravan. The heroes had understood the demons were trying to kill them before they could reach their chief.

"We accept. Thank you."

The two young women threw a surprised look at Emerys. Did he not understand the danger of this decision? They looked at Yuna, but the swordsman nodded. The two female warriors exchanged a look.

Why did their two males companions seemed so wary and determined?

To be continued...