Tales of chronicles

Nevertheless, when Lita reached the part of the garden where the mist hung thick around her like a forbidding wall, she hesitated. The fog was heavy, and beyond it stretched an impenetrable darkness. But the voice was so very close now. Almost she could feel it.

Lita summoned her courage and took a really long, deep breath. With that, she stepped into the mist.

Everything was different in an instant. Warmth from the garden faded into a biting cold spread all around. The fog swirled about her, but still hindered her viewing ability. All absolutely she could see were the faint outlines of trees and shapes in the far horizon. Below her feet, the ground felt uneven. And she had an odd feeling that the world was swelling to a soft embrace, as it were.

"Oh, Lita ..."

almost whispering, the voice repeated.

She inwardly squinted into the fog toward the figure. Gradually, the form before her morphed into a shadowy outline; a well-skeleton, tall, skinny woman drapped in long robes across her. Her face was still hidden, but she wore a powerful aura. Lita, at the same time, was very attracted to but highly terrified by her.

"Who .. who are you?"

Lita hissed, her voice trembling.

The woman took a step forward, her movements being kept yet fluid.

"I am one waiting for you,"

she said, her voice soft but with an ancient power behind it.

"You will not yet know yourself, but you will."

Lita swallowed hard.

"What do you mean? Why do you call me?"

The woman paused, her eyes piercing through the mist.

"You are a blood descendant of a great power, but your destiny is your own. You were kept in ignorance of the truth-all this time she felt protected. But now, it is time to see."

Lita felt her heart quicken.

"See what?"

The woman reached a hand out. The fog intervened, parting as she began to gesture. Slowly, the world before her become clear.

"This… this is the world outside,"

the woman said quietly.

"This is what your mother has hidden from you. What you have in your life is a lie."

Lita's mind reeled. The enchanted lights, the perfect garden these were all illusions made to keep her protected from the truth. But why? What was so terrible about the truth that her mother went to such great lengths to protect it?

The very thought had crossed her mind when the woman further explained

"Your mother feared the truth. She feared what you would become if you knew. But you are stronger than she ever imagined.

Lita shook her head and backed away.

"I don't understand! What am I supposed to do? Why do all these people say I Am important? But no one would even tell me why?"

The woman gave her a soft smile.

"You will find these answers in time, Lita. But first, you must choose. Will you go back to the safety of your illusion, or will you step forward into the truth no matter how painful an experience it may be?"

Lita stood frozen, a storm raging in her mind. For so long she had wanted to know the truth, but now, teetering on the brink of this new understanding, the weight suddenly seemed unbearable.

Could she do it? Could she walk away from everything she had known in her life if it turned out that all of it was a lie? 

"Choose, Lita,"

said the woman, her voice fading away in the mist.

"The world will not wait forever." 

Lita closed her eyes again, her heart galloping in her chest. She knew what had to be done. 

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the familiar unknown. 

The woman half-smiled, and her form began to melt away into the mist while Lita continued into the dense blackness. The chill grew stronger, the fog thicker, but Lita forced herself onward, intent on finding the truth of her family, herself, and the world that had been so obstinately hidden from her.

Anything in her way, she would confront. While plunging deeper into the uncertainty, the weight of her fate rested upon her shoulders, for with this weight rested an even heavier certainty: that her journey was only just beginning. 

Lita trudged on through the thick fog, the decision weighing heavily on her heart. The world shifted again with her steps: rough and uneven was the ground moving under her quickening pace.

The air was now thick with mist, curling and twisting about as if it were alive, making it difficult for her to see two or three feet in front of her. Yet the need to find the truth, regardless of how horrific it could become, granted her strength to continue.

Now she was growing colder, and far ahead in the distance, she saw a dark, jagged shape piercing through the fog, like a mountain rising from the sea of mist. Her heartbeat danced with excitement. The view of the landscape felt like an unfolding of a nightmare barren and dead.

Old ruined castles, burned-out villages, and toppled towers dotted the horizon. Everything about this world felt so unlike that illusion she had lived in. This was the real one. Broken, twisted haunted.

Suddenly, a flicker moved before her eyes. Shadows darted through the mist, silent and swift. Lita's heart skipped a beat as she stood frozen, trying to make sense of them. And then she heard them again: faint whispers, like before but now the murmurs were many.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Lita heard the murmur closer now, behind her. She turned to meet a figure that was wrapped in shadows. Its eyes flickered dimly in the fog, and the face did not provide any help either with a black hood. This, however, was not the same lady who had called to her before for there was something sinister and different about her.

"Just who are you?"

dusted Lita with keeping her voice tremulous and even, with a growing crescendo of determination.

There was a light chuckle from the figure which sounded like the scraping of the wind over rocks.

"A seeker of truth…but you are not yet ready."

"But I am ready,"

she replied.

"Tell me the truth concerning my mother. Tell me who I really am."

The figure stepped closer, rising to tower over her.

"Your mother caused this destruction for the world,"

she hissed. Her blood, her power; kingdoms wasted. Lita, daughter of hers. The world will see you as legacy.

Lita felt these words sting in her heart.

"But I'm not like that,"

she whispered.

"I'm not a destroyer."

The figure's eyes lit with malice:

"No…but you could be. The power in your blood, Lita, is beyond anything you can imagine. Your mother feared it. She feared all you might become if you ever knew."

Lita clenched fists.

"No,"

gained strength in her voice.

"She didn't tell me the truth because she wanted to protect me."

"Protect you?"

jeered the figure.

"Or control you? Think about it. She kept you in that mansion, surrounded by illusions, feeding you lies to keep you from discovering the truth. She didn't want you to see what you could be what you are meant to be."

Lita shook her head.

"Whatever her reasons may be, I am going to find out for myself. I will make my own decisions."

The figure leaned in, whispering it into her ear:

"Earth waits in agony for you, Lita. Waits for its new queen."

A shiver ran down Lita's spine as she took a step back.

"I'm not going to be anybody's queen."

"Are you so sure?"

the figure replied with a voice full of dark amusement.

"Your destiny is greater than you realize. But the world beyond this fog will not care who you are. They will only see your mother's blood in your veins. And they will fear you. Or they will use you."

Before Lita could say anything, there was a bright flash of light from behind her, and the dark figure flinched back, hissing, as a voice she had known very well called.

"Leave her alone."