The Devil's Cursed Witch

​ As Leeora placed her hand on the crystal ball, she closed her eyes and inserted a thread of the same spiritual power she used to purify the essence of herbs during elixir-making. Spiritual power was the power of the soul, a different kind of power that was unrelated to one's element attribute, and through it, witches who are gifted with powers of divination could somewhat take a peek on the experiences that troubled the soul's owner.

Zelda mumbled an ancient chant as her hands moved around the crystal ball, their motions fluid as if she was trying to lift a veil in the chaos of truths and untruths. Beautiful rays flashing in various colors swirled inside that originally pure black crystal ball, making it look like a glass orb that contained misty otherworldly light.

The witch then placed her hand on that ball as well and closed her eyes in meditation.

"Think about the vision you had, Leeora," she said. "Imagine yourself walking once more, from the very start..."

Guided by that soft yet enchanting voice, the elf took on a look of deep contemplation as she tried to recall what she saw, and through the fragments of memories--the images of someone being stabbed, the delicate hand holding a bladed weapon, the splash of blood, the whirlwind of herbs, a gust of wind, the darkened sky--more details she did not notice started to emerge from her mind, and those scenes were also being shared to the witch sitting in front of her.

It was as if the two of them fell inside a dreamland--no, their consciousness trapped within a nightmare. Their transparent bodies floated in midair and they were swept about by the whirlwind of fragmented images that were starting to align as if they were pieces of a puzzle, and when the vortex of images stopped, the two souls found themselves in an empty sea of darkness illuminated by flashes of lightning.

In a blink of an eye, the sky appeared from the empty darkness, pleasant and perfectly blue as if it was a painting, but the flashes of lightning did not cease, and heavy gray thunderstorm clouds rolled by like an army invading the sky, the loud sound of wind and thunder announcing the arrival of a terrible storm.

Heavy, suffocating, and ominous-- the dangerous atmosphere was telling, no, warning  both of their senses that a catastrophe was about to hit them.

Another flash of lightning more terrifying than the last enveloped the dreamland, its intensity so severe it even affected the real world. The spiritual power wrapping that crystal ball flickered, and in shock, Leeora's hands were flung away from the ball, causing her transparent body to be thrown out from the nightmarish vision.

With a loud gasp, the elf realized that she was struggling to breath, her body covered in cold sweat. Zelda still had her hands around the ball of swirling light, her expression stiff as a statue, implying that her consciousness was still existing inside the vision.

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"Zelda...?" Leeora called out to the old witch.

"Danger is awakening," the raspy voice of the witch mumbled as if she was speaking to herself. "One which has been buried for long is going to be shaken up. Pain... tears... blood...it's going to bring anguish to the people...it can't be stopped...death...someone is going to die...This kingdom is going to face another disaster...no one can stop it..."

Tears of blood rolled down Zelda's closed eyes as she remained immersed in that vision. As it was Leeora's vision, the witch had temporarily taken hold of the elf's identity inside. Zelda was no longer a mere audience but the owner of the vision. She was hurting, feeling the same pain Leeora felt...no, at this point, given that a witch has a stronger, more sensitive soul, what Zelda was feeling was more than what the elf originally felt. She was drowning in the pain as if she was personally witnessing the death of her own beloved.

Leeora called for Zelda once more, before asking the important question that was yet to be answered, "Zelda, can you hear me? Did you see who is going to die?"

"A person so dear to you...someone who you can't bear to lose... I cannot see his face but yours, I can see...I see...Grief...Immense grief...You cannot stop crying, my friend..."

"Can we save him? How can we stop his death? The attacker, can you see that person? The face of the person holding the weapon?" Leeora asked.

"I cannot see the face, but I feel divine power...the weapon does not exist yet...It's a weapon created out of magic..."

"So that means the attacker is someone who has divine powers, and only beasts with divine blood or their descendants have divine power in Agartha..."

Leeora mumbled, and her heart squeezed at the thought. There were a number of beings with divine powers in the kingdom, and though this had limited the number of suspects, no divine beast had an ordinary status. All of them were leaders and important figures of their respective families or clans.

"That person's death  will bring disaster...." Zelda mumbled.

"Can't you see who it is? The one who is stabbed or the one who stabs him? Is it impossible to see their identities?" Leeora asked.

"A woman...a woman with divine power, she will stab him."

"Who? Can you see her face? Can you see anything that will determine who they are?" Leeora got impatient.

"That weapon...it is made from sacrificing part of her divine powers... The power was corrupted by her negative emotions. Hatred, anger, fear, inadequacy...She is determined to kill..."

"Who can it be? Is it murder caused by a grudge? Revenge? Maybe there are other factors in play?" Leeora mumbled but Zelda had no specific answer to her question.

"Graveyard...don't let him leave it... keep him there... Don't let him go to her...He needs to stay away from her..." Zelda answered.

"But  if this is supposed to happen on the day of mourning, we will all be present in the Netherfields. I don't think it is possible to isolate female divine beasts on that day without causing confusion and offending their clans, especially when they learn they are being suspected of murder that's yet to happen."

"Don't let him leave the graveyard and go to her...only then did the slim possibility of his survival be ensured...Otherwise,  that corrupted weapon will kill him...His energy core...I see it disappearing...and it will be impossible to save him..."

Though Zelda could not give exact answers to Leeora's questions, the things she discovered could help narrow down the list of people involved in the incident she saw in the vision. She was also able to at least give Leeora a glimmer of hope.

"Anything...anything more you can tell?"

As the witch continued to immerse herself in Leeora's vision, a stream of blood escaped her lips, and she could not help but cough.

"Zelda! You should stop! Your injury--"

However, the witch continued. "Fire," she whispered with her forehead creased. "I see fire ready to destroy everything...It will burn and kill people..."