I slowly started to sense things around me again. I felt a bit cold and I could see the edges of the cave as they passed me…or was I passing them? It felt like I was moving somehow. That was when I started to notice something pressed against one side of my back and under my knees. I gently moved my head up and I saw the slightly changing cave rooftop. Then I moved my head even more till I could make out a chin. I was feeling a bit dizzy, but I could still make out the chiseled features, the strong jaw and the intense brown eyes. Calypso was carrying me as we sped down the path. I must have lost some weight already from being in this cave because he was moving with such ease. That or he had weird Sigil strength.
For a while I just let him carry me. He did not say anything or even acknowledge that I was awake so I just let it be. I wasn’t ready to face everything again. I didn’t want to move on my own just yet. Instead I wanted to float and pretend I was still not fully conscious. I just…didn’t want to push myself. I mean look at what just happened. Plus he was moving really fast while carrying me. Much faster than when I moved on my own next to him. There was definitely something different about this man, something extra, something unfamiliar, inhuman even. Yet none of that scared me. What was terrifying at the moment was the possibility that I was more like him than I had previously thought.
“You going to stay like this forever?” I looked up a little too quickly and felt dizzy again. Calypso was now watching me. Then he paused and lowered me down. I put both feet on the floor and waited a bit. We both just stood there holding direct eye contact, not saying anything.
“Thanks for carrying me along,” I offered after a while.
“I told you we had to keep moving no matter what,” he said to me as I watched his mouth move as he talked. His mouth had not been doing that a sentence ago. “How long are you going to keep doing that?” I looked away from his mouth and up at his eyes. He was just watching me watch his mouth. I guess it was weird.
“So that’s the sign, right? That I am an ‘other’ like you?” I waited for him to clue me in.
“If you mean that you are a Sigil, no. You are not a Sigil. You are a power source like I said. Not a creature or magic user. You just hold more spiritual power within you than others. You have power potential that Sigils can tap into and convert into their fuel.”
“Is there a name for what I am?” I asked slowly. I went back to looking at the cave floor.
“You are still human, princess. That has not changed. All humans have innate spiritual power potential within them. Some are just born with more, and that extra power allows for you to connect with Sigils, while other humans cannot.” He made it sound so simple, but it wasn’t.
“But you still have a Latin word, right? A word for what you call those like me. That is why you said it was better that I knew Latin, less explaining.” I couldn’t lift my eyes up from the floor. I did not want to see what his face looked like at the moment.
“I told you from the beginning your highness that I did not want to explain anything to you. I just no longer have a choice it seems. My other form is convinced that you need to make these revelations in order for us to make it out of here. So here we are.” He was being obstinate. I guess we were both in positions we did not want to be in. I really didn’t want to know more, but a large part of me was sure that I needed to.
“What is the word Calypso?”
“Sure. As soon as you look at me.” There it was again. He was testing me. That stupid bat was testing if I was ready for it. And I wasn’t. But I looked up anyways. “Sancia Vindex.”
Latin could be so confusing. Words could hold multiple meanings depending on the context, and in this context it really could mean many things. My first thought was holy defender, but what did that mean exactly. That we were meant to defend the world, that we were these great protectors? Or maybe this ‘holy’ referred to power, which would make us, those like me, protectors of Sigils, the embodiments of spiritual power itself. Even so, Vindex could also mean avenger instead of defender. A slight difference yes, but this difference meant a lot. The word avenger had more of a negative connotation. It led me to believe that those like me could rise up with the Sigils against kingdoms, against other humans.
“So that is what I am? A Sancia Vindex.” I just needed to say it out loud. I could only say this part out loud.
“We need to keep moving,” he told me as he pulled me along with him. “We can keep talking, but pick up the pace.” I did as he said, but I really did not know what to say anymore.
Not too long ago I knew myself as a controlled woman, a princess stuck to her duty, a member of this kingdom. But now…now I saw myself so differently. I no longer felt a strong connection to this kingdom, but instead to this seemingly fictional companion of mine. And I myself was this made-up sounding being. No way I would have believed any of this if I had not witness it all firsthand. But I had...just now...with him.
Yet this could not be something that just developed. I mean my newly remembered memories showed that these beings like Calypso and myself were present in the kingdom years ago, but I knew nothing about them previously. I did not even know about myself, about my own ability. How did I not see it? Well it seems I actually did have something else to talk about.
“How is it possible that I did not notice any of this before?” I asked Calypso who was walking right next to me. We both were facing forward, and avoiding each other’s eyes. I realized he didn't exactly want to share all of this with me, but his other form had tied his hands, not me.
“Do you remember how I said that magic was complete crap?” I nodded my head, but kept facing forward. I did not want to see if his lips were moving or not. Not now. “Well it is. It is a manipulative substance used by those who want to fool others. Magic is not like spiritual power. It is not this out flowing force that can be used to defend or physically harm. Instead it focuses on the mind. I guess you could say they are like hypnotists, these magic users.” I could almost feel the hostility springing out from him. His voice was rigid and cold. Just how bad were these magic users?
“So they what? These magic users...what did they do to me?” I couldn’t stop myself now from looking directly at him. I needed to see in his eyes how bad it was. As I searched his eyes and avoided looking at his mouth, he turned to look at me at the same time.
“Don’t overreact. Magic is not all that powerful.” I guess he could hear the worry in my voice. I really wasn’t all that good at hiding my feelings from him despite all my princess training to remain composed. “It is more underhanded than anything else. Yet it is constantly used by you humans, and seen as a good alternative to having any Sigil around. That is, at least in this kingdom.” There was clear bitterness in his voice too. Just what had this magic done to him? Or more accurately, what had my kingdom done to him? What had they done to us both?
“Just tell me, please.”
“Like I said, it is a form of hypnotism. These magic users, Sagas as they are called, messed with your mind and had you forget key memories. It also looks like they numbed you to abnormalities so that you would not notice the difference between when someone was actually talking to you and when you were…”
“Using that ability,” I interrupted. I was not ready to hear it out loud just yet. This was the one thing I did not want him to say, which he probably picked up on because he just nodded at this.
“This magic only wears off when it is pointed out to you.” Ah, like how the shadow bat did so with the memory of my mom in my dream, and how Calypso did so about my…ability. “I am assuming no one was allowed to be near you for very long.” I nodded my head at this slowly. That better explained why my guards were constantly changed. It was so that none of them felt sympathy for me and got the inclination to point out the truth to me. Or maybe I would have eventually noticed that quite often my guards were not even speaking to me out loud, but I heard them anyways. “The king must be very scared of you princess.” That hint of darkness was starting to become more evident in his eyes.
“Doubtful. He was just using me. Finding a husband for me who would keep up this charade, as long as this marriage would lead to diplomacy and better connections for our kingdom.” My father was all about politics. I knew that from the start.
“If it were only about riches, then why would he try so hard to keep this from you? Sagas are not cheap you know. And this Saga seems to have not only hidden memories from you, but also made you unaware of other magic or spiritual powers being used around you.” Saga was witch in Latin, I was sure of that much and only that much. Why was this man hell-bent on confusing me further?
“Other magic is going on around me? Like in here?” This was getting really annoying and his way of telling me things was just...stupid. Jeez, this stupid bat needed to give me some real answers, not just more to worry about.
“Many things clearly have not been pointed out to you including within this cave. And you never seem to think any of it is weird, so yes I am thinking a rather expensive and powerful Saga has numbed you to any use of magic or spiritual power. That way you would not be suspicious.” I started to look around both of us. What had I not noticed about this cave? It was a strange place, but I never really questioned it.
“Like how there aren’t any bugs around anywhere? Even though this is a cave that normally would have them crawling about, right? And that weird thing about not being able to drink water with moss?” My words were coming out a lot faster. It was all starting to click again. Now that he had mentioned it, many things were off about this cave.
“Well it was artificially created and spiritually sealed. Magic would not have been able to do anything to stop me from escaping. This,” he continued as he waved his hands around motioning to all of the cave, “ is due to spiritual power. Not much can survive in here, or would want to in the first place. Those supposed plants you saw were not nature made.” Well that was reassuring.
“What else? Something else is off,” I told him as I continued to look around.
“Well the dim light for one. They need to be able to see where I am at all times somehow.” That was right. I looked around and saw no torches anywhere. How could this cave be lit like this without any fire? Sure the light wasn’t all that bright, but I could still see throughout the cave. Something was making this possible.
“I cannot believe he would go to this much trouble…that he would do all of this.” My father sure was an ass. He actually went out of his way to make sure I was this unaware of reality.
“He knows to fear your potential. Your power is like no other.” Calypso’s face quickly became distorted again. It was clear he had not meant to reveal that last part. So what did it mean? How was it like no other? He quickly turned away from me and quickened his pace.
“Oh no you don’t!” I shouted as I sped up and grabbed at his arm. He resisted but I did not let up. “You mean other Sancia Vindexs are not just like me? What makes you so sure of my power?” He continued to tighten his face. “You are trying to stop my ability, right? How did you know so quickly? From the beginning you were so sure you could use me.” I was practically pulling myself into him, but I couldn’t stop. I was so close to the truth. I could feel it.
“I knew it after you... used your ’ability’ on me a few times. You did not even realize it. It was just so natural.” I still was not getting it. How did that make me so special?”
“Calypso, what is a sign that those like me are extra powerful? Just feeling the connection?”
“That is part of it.” There, I had caught him off guard. So I continued to push.
“What else? What more?”
“The connection showed our compatibility, but I had realized your power even before we made our connection during your dream.” He had switched from not moving his mouth to moving it again. I was watching his face quickly as we sped down the path, me clinging onto him.
“How?”
“Really powerful Sancia Vindexs have extra abilities. They can do some things on their own, not just give their power potential to Sigils. The abilities can differ greatly, but only appear in those with great potential.” So that was it. My power came through this ability of mine. I thought that was what made me a Sancia Vindex, but obviously that was wrong. My strong connection to Calypso made me a Sancia Vindex. All the while, me being a scarily powerful Sancia Vindex came from this ability of mine. That was why I was isolated ever since I was young. That was why my father kept his distance and used hypnotism on me, why my mother gave up her life to protect me. Why I was limited in every way possible.
“All of this! All my life, all that has happened comes down to this!” I was now shouting. I had let go of Calypso and practically fell to my knees. He tried to pull me up, but I swatted his hands away. “It all is because of me! They all fear me. No one was allowed near me! I was left alone because of this stupid….” I held out my hands and saw that they were shaking slightly.
“It is far from stupid,” Calypso said gently, trying to calm me. Too bad I was far from calm by that point.
“It’s why my father was never near me for longer than five minutes. It caused everyone to prioritize me, to lock me up to make sure no one got near me and found out. It got her killed!” Calypso shook his head violently at this and started to say something, but I didn’t hear it. I was starting to shake more and more “It made me miserable…it took away any chance of mine to make my own choices! And I didn’t even know it. I mean I was practically alone my entire life all because I…all because I am…I’m a…”
“Mind reader,” Calypso finished for me. Stupid bat.
Well, there it was. I finally heard the words. He said what I was. It could no longer be denied, and I could no longer control myself. The shaking had taken over and so I fell completely over my knees. I was crouched in the fetal position with my head touching the ground, weeping over all that was now true.
Comments (0)
See all