The Writer - Chapter 15

The Silent

Forrest swore revenge on the stupid Generals who had sent him on this blasted mission in the first place. The next time he saw them, he would punch the living daylights out of them. 

Coral was fine, of course. It was the rest of Forrest’s team that he had a problem with. 

Specifically the fact that there were four other girls and only one other guy. And also that they insisted on getting to know each other. 

The group stopped just where Maconia and the Crossover Forest met to rest for the night. No one had spoken for the majority of the trip so far, and Forrest knew almost nothing about his companions. 

They started a fire in a small clearing and laid out some blankets. Coral sat at Forrest’s side, her stormy eyes never leaving the flames. 

“So, uh, are any of us going to talk?” one of the girls asked. 

Forrest shrugged. He obviously wouldn’t, but he supposed it would be better if he knew the people he was forced to work with. 

“Um, my name is Rae,” the girl continued, her cheeks turning a rosy red. Rae. What an interesting name. She had long, blonde hair and bright eyes. At her side was a sword, the hilt worn. She must be a good fighter. 

“Where are you from, Rae?” Coral asked. It seemed like a childish question to Forrest, but if the girl was Blessed or Cursed, it would be helpful to know. 

“Quigon,” Rae responded. “I’m Blessed.” 

So now they possibly had animals on their side. Forrest guessed that was a good thing. The more he looked at Rae, the more he realized that she was the youngest one there, maybe fourteen. Not much older than Clara and Beckett, then. 

“That’s cool,” another girl responded. She was rebraiding her bronze hair for what seemed like the sixth time since the group had sat down. Her almond shaped eyes grew wide as everyone turned to look at her. “What?” She seemed to realize that they were all waiting for her to share, and gave a small humph. “Fine. I’m Calli, and I’m from Ibeni but I’m just a Normie, so don’t expect special magic from me or anything.” 

Rae sent an encouraging look Calli’s way, but Calli rolled her eyes. She carried no visible weapons, but Forrest knew that she had to have some sort of defense concealed on her somewhere. She didn’t seem like someone to mess with. 

The remaining three on the team looked similar, the two girls almost identical. All three shared the same wavy hair and mischievous gleams in their eyes. 

“Are you guys related?” Coral asked as if reading Forrest’s thoughts. 

The boy was the one to speak. “Nah, we met just about a week ago.” He paused like he was expecting a laugh and then rolled his eyes when everyone stared at him. “I’m kidding. Of course we’re related.” 

“Siblings or cousins?” Rae asked, giving the boy a look that Forrest couldn’t interpret. 

“Triplets,” the girl on the left corrected. “But we were born in Viridi, so each of us has a different patron goddess for some reason. I’m Bethany, and this is Margo, my sister, and Morgan, my brother.” 

“It would’ve been cooler if you all had ‘m’ names,” Rae sighed. 

Margo - at least, Forrest was pretty sure it was Margo - laughed loudly. This would be challenging until he learned to tell them apart. “We get told that all the time.” 

“Along with that we look alike,” Morgan added. “But you can tell Margo and Beth apart once you learn who they are, though they don’t like me to spoil the … fun.” He grinned, his smile something that reminded Forrest of a forest demon. 

The triplets made some more jokes about who had the best looks, but Forrest observed that Margo and Bethany were actually very different. Margo was louder and more open to conversation. Her face had more freckles and she played with a set of knives like they weren’t dangerous. Bethany, however, was more secluded. Where her sister had freckles, her skin was smooth. She carried a quiver and bow. 

“Wait, so you all have different patron goddesses?” Coral asked, snapping Forrest out of his thoughts. 

Margo nodded and Morgan responded. “Since we were born in Viridi - where the patron goddess is dead - the goddesses of the Green Kingdom had free reign over us. My patron goddess is Zachryona, but I’m a Normie.” 

“And I’m supported by Maconil,” Margo continued. “But I’m Cursed, so I have a deathly fear of heights. Beth’s patron is Farosha and she’s the Blessed.” 

Forrest absorbed all of this slowly, trying to determine the skill set of his team. 

They had Rae, a Blessed from Quigon who could possibly turn into an animal but could communicate with them. 

There was Calli, who was from Ibeni but showed no outer signs of fighting skills. 

Margo was Cursed by Maconil, but she could still fight well if she was sent on this mission in the first place. 

Bethany was Blessed by Farosha, so she had ice magic of some sort. 

Morgan was a Normie, but he had to have some sort of special skill. 

And he already knew he and Coral were more than capable of fighting. He knew there was still much to uncover about his team and who they were as fighters but also as people. 

“I’m Coral, and this is Forrest,” Coral announced. 

Rae snorted. “We know who you are. I think everyone does.” Forrest felt a blush rise to his cheeks, but he ignored it. Everyone? Surely that was an exaggeration. 

Coral was about to respond when there was a loud crack like a twig breaking. 

Forrest’s muscles tensed under him and his fingers grasped for his sword. Coral reached for her bow beside him. 

A large, black bear came hurtling out of the trees. 

Forrest had been taught that bears would leave people alone, but there was something different about this creature. It held no fear for humans at all, and its claws glowed with a deep light. 

Rae stood abruptly. A snarl escaped her lips, but it sounded like she was communicating with the bear.  

The bear, apparently, didn’t want anything to do with what Rae was saying. It let loose a ferocious roar, spit spraying at Rae. She ducked instinctively as the bear swung a paw at her head, narrowly missing. 

Coral let an arrow fly and it embedded itself in the bear’s neck, but the creature seemed only angered by the pain. 

Forrest dove into a ball under the bear, slashing at its legs but doing little damage. The bear’s skin seemed as tough as leather. He finally managed to slide away as the bear started stampeding on the ground. 

Morgan and Margo had dove for cover, and Morgan appeared to be attempting some kind of plant spell. Bethany was helping Rae to her feet and the two darted away. 

“Where’s Calli?” someone shouted, echoing Forrest’s thoughts. 

He spotted a flash of movement to his left and Calli appeared beside him. She still carried no weapons, but her eyes flashed with intense heat. 

“Buy me some time,” she ordered him and Forrest took action. 

He couldn’t speak, so he lunged straight at the bear, swords pointed forwards for attack. The bear seemed surprised to be stabbed in the side, and it wheeled around to see him. 

Forrest spun away at the last second, nearly crashing into a tree. 

Words danced through the air, but he didn’t understand them. The bear froze too, and the tension in the clearing was immeasurable. 

Forrest’s muscles seized and his knees gave out. A crash not far away told him that the bear was also incapicitated at the moment. Calli’s voice flowed over him like the waves from the Beach of Lost. He wanted to get up, but he was frozen on the ground. 

And then came a voice, another one. It sounded eerily familiar but something was missing. This isn’t real, break out of it. Kill the girl! 

The thought jolted Forrest out of his state and he grit his teeth through the pain as he contorted himself in an attempt to get free. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Calli with her hand outstretched, palm glowing as she pointed at the bear. 

“Finita!” came a shout from the girl. 

A soft hiss escaped the bear’s body as it crumbled to a large pile of ash. Calli stumbled backwards, rubbing her eyes. 

Rae and Bethany appeared from behind a tree, eyeing Calli warily. Morgan and Margo also cautiously made their way into the open. Forrest hauled himself to his feet, finding and sheathing his sword. Coral was at his side a moment later. 

“What was that?” Margo asked, her eyes wide. 

Calli was staring at her hands, her cheeks flaming. Forrest tapped Coral on the shoulder and made a few gestures. 

Coral smiled. “Forrest already figured out. It was a spell, and Calli is a witch.” 

“I prefer the term sorceress,” Calli mumbled after a long moment of silence. “Witch is… derogatory and I’m not even a full fledged one.” 

“I dunno, that was some pretty powerful magicky stuff,” Rae replied. “Did you graduate from that magic school in Ibeni? I don’t remember what it was called, but…” 

Calli nodded. “I attended a sorcery school back in Ibeni before Baelle came around, though as I mentioned before, I didn’t graduate. I don’t have a familiar and my use of magic is limited, but I spent the majority of my childhood at the institute.” 

“So you really do know magic?” Coral asked. 

Calli raised the palm of her hand into the firelight. On her right palm was a marking that looked almost like a scar, pale white against her skin. 

It was a circle, perfectly round, with a leaf on the left and a crescent moon on the right. Forrest had never seen the mark before, but assumed it had something to do with witchcraft. 

Calli offered no explanation, she seemed embarrassed of her abilities. 

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of that,” Morgan whispered after a long while of silence. His eyes were wide and if anything, he looked impressed. 

“I know,” Calli sniffed. “But my whole life I’ve been scorned for learning magic. I’m glad it came in handy though.” 

Forrest could sense that she still wasn’t sharing something but he didn’t press. 

He made a few gestures and Coral translated. “He says thank you.” 

Calli nodded. “I can’t have my team dying on the first day, now can I?” She paused, as if contemplating the idea of a team for the first time as well. Forrest understood her entirely. “I suppose we should get some rest.” 

“Of course,” Margo agreed. 

No one spoke as they loud out the blankets and rested their heads. But for Forrest, sleep only brought nightmares. 

A young Forrest waited by his mother’s side expectantly. This was the fourth doctor he was seeing this week, and Forrest was already getting tired of the constant poking and prodding. 

“This one is different,” his mother repeated. “We’ll find a cure.” 

“Maybe you should look for an exorcist instead?” Forrest suggested, not bothering to hide the bitterness seeping into his voice. He immediately regretted it when his mother’s face fell. The times had been rough, especially without Brooks supporting them. 

The place didn’t look like a doctor’s office, and Forrest’s heart thrummed in his chest. An overwhelming scent of perfume filled Forrest’s nostrils, and his mother gripped his hand tightly. The walls made of colorful cloth and Forrest realized he was in a very big tent. They stopped in front of a doorway to what Forrest assumed was another small tent. 

A blonde boy was standing in front of the doorway, his arms crossed and his expression bored. He looked to be about Forrest’s age, but the similarities ended there. This boy had a rebellious spirit, Forrest could sense it radiating off of him.
“We’re here to see the Reader. Is she in there?” his mother asked. 

“The Reader has a name, y’know. And this is just the entrance to the waiting room. Just remember that you have to pay,” the boy said as if reciting a script. 

“Thank you,” Forrest’s mother responded politely before stepping through the doorway, Forrest in tow. He sent the boy a pitying look, but the boy only responded with a devilish grin that told Forrest that he was fine. 

They waited in the waiting room for hours. It was crowded, many mothers pressing toddlers and wailing children to their chests. Forrest’s mother held him close. 

A few times, other children like the first boy darted into the room and out the back, returning a few minutes later seeming even more beat. Forrest knew this was a circus, and he wished that he could actually see the acts instead of hiding back in the waiting room. He knew Readings were important, he had learned that much at school. But he didn’t really want some old person telling him that he was going to die one day, especially with their well known flair for exaggeration. 

Finally, Forrest and his mother were called into the back. She tugged him along and they entered a tiny room. 

There was a man and a girl in the back. The man looked grumpy and mean, kind of like Forrest’s last memory of Brooks. The girl had dark hair and bright green eyes. At first, Forrest wondered if she was the Reader’s secretary. 

Then he realized she was the Reader, even though she was about his age. 

“Master Zoro,” his mother murmured as she folded into a polite bow. The girl rolled her eyes and Forrest snickered. 

“Miss,” the man - Zoro - replied with a scary smile that made Forrest tremble. “Is the boy who we are Reading today?” His mother said yes, and the man wrote that on a piece of parchment. Zoro continued to ask questions about Forrest - his age, his name, if he was Cursed or Blessed, and where he was from. When the questions were done, Forrest was instructed to sit on the table and remove his shirt. 

“No,” Forrest said, taken aback by the odd request. “I’m not stripping in front of strangers, mom.” 

His mother offered him no comfort, but surprisingly, the girl did. She took Forrest’s hands in hers and looked straight in his eyes. “It’s just part of the process. I have to see all your Markings to Read you, and you want to find out your future, don’t you.” 

“Echo,” Zoro grumbled in warning, and the girl stuck out her tongue at him. Even if Forrest didn’t feel safe with Zoro, he trusted the girl. 

Forrest did as he was told and laid on the table, his back exposed to the chilling air. His vision went dark for what seemed like a second before he saw Echo stumbling away, clutching her temples as if in pain. Guilt shot through Forrest like an arrow as he tugged his shirt back over his head, quickly getting to his feet and attempting to apologize. 

Zoro pushed him back. “She’s fine, boy. Give ‘er a minute and she'll have your Reading ready to go.” 

True to Zoro’s word, Echo recovered within a minute. She whispered some things to Zoro, who scribbled hasty notes on the parchment. Echo seemed to hesitate before each word, as if choosing carefully. Almost like she knew what would happen if she deviated from procedure. 

Forrest felt nauseous and excused himself from the tent before running outside to vomit. Echo watched him go, her eyes filled with immense pity even if Forrest didn’t know why. 

When Forrest’s mother came out of the tent, she was grinning brightly. “Your Curse will all be washed away one day, darling. We just have to wait.” And with that chipper thought, the mother and son returned home. 

Forrest’s consciousness returned full force and he thrashed for a moment, panting heavily. He hadn’t remembered that moment until he had relived it. 

Newt and Emmeline - he had known them since he was about six - even longer than he had known Coral. The thought made him a bit sad, even if he didn’t know why. It felt like the thought tore his relationship with Coral. 

But then his mind fixated on the end of the memory. Your Curse will all be washed away one day, darling. “Washed” away was a peculiar choice of words, as if the end to his Curse had something to do with water. A thought struck Forrest so hard he thought he was going to throw up again. 

He sent a look at Coral, still sleeping peacefully. Washed away. Washed away. Washed away. We just have to wait. 

Emmeline had foreseen it from the very beginning. Forrest would some day no longer be burdened by his Curse. And maybe - just maybe - Coral would have something to do with saving him.