VERMILLION: The fall of Zaleon

Chapter 13

The life of Belinda and Morco had taken a turn when they agreed to remain with each other when dear Belinda had already been married off to Morco’s brother: Afir. They had maintained an affair for years, and the three had been the lucky escapees of the war that came which meant that Belinda, Morco and Afir happened to be the last remaining Vermillion Witches of the planet, alongside the offspring that were born from Belinda and Morco. Of course, Afir had thought all along that the children were his, but in fact they had belonged to Morco all along, which then started creating an entire new space for messed up family history for Elize and Daraz. Belinda had done whatever she had to do to keep Afir in the dark and make believe that the kids were his, and though that meant a tough time for Morco and herself, it hadn’t ended their secret relationship. Belinda’s mother had doomed them to a hidden lifestyle for the rest of their lives, and despite her passing and everyone else's, they saw no reason to hurt poor Afir in that way. For years after their birth Morco had felt a pain in his heart that he could not tell his own kids who their real father was, and despite feeling the same, Belinda did her best to get their uncleeal father involved in their life, more than Afir, which sooner or later he caught on to. 

After the birth of her children it had become increasingly harder to find time for her secret affair and mate with the man she loved so dearly in private without anyone noticing, though she had never given up on it. 

It wasn’t till one late afternoon when all the kids had gone out to play that young Elize, aged 6, had been running around her private quarters that she noticed sounds coming from her mother’s bedroom. She was sure her father had stepped out for only a moment, so what were these intimate noises and who did they belong to. Opening the door only slightly, the sight that young Elize had seen traumatized her, it was the sight of her own mother with her uncle, but who was going to tell poor Elize that in fact, it was her uncle that was her real father? She had shut the door immediately, and trotted off to find her father and brother, to whom she revealed the truth. Afir dashed upstairs and saw the sight for himself, but decided to keep it to himself as he too, shut the door and walked away without a complaint. 

‘Why aren’t you angry papa? That’s mother-’

‘You will not mention this to anyone, alright Elize? None of you will, do you hear me? You will both love your mother as usual, and go on about your lives. You mother, she loves you very much, it is me she could not ever bring herself to love, and that is alright. Sometimes that happens, it is nothing to be angry about. Now both of you forget what you have seen and go play outside’ he commanded, taking off and drowning himself in buckets of drinks. It was that day that Afir had learnt the truth, and he had kept him to himself, living a torturous life of knowing that his wife, the very one who pretended to love, did in fact, love his brother. The secret of his children’s true identity became clear to them, and he knew he was nothing more than an uncle to his own children, and who was meant to be their uncle was their father. He put himself through the misery of staying in the same house for years, bearing the pain of watching his wife and brother go on about their thing, and his children began looking more like his brother with every day that passed. He felt like an outcast, and after Gregov Doirekh’s departure in Leanna’s life, decided to confide in the life of the only other person who might have understood his pain. 

Leanna Doirekh had always been gifted with the art of listening, and upon hearing the truth could only worry for the man and his children, knowing that Belinda could have ended this charade years ago at the start of the original war. Had she just told Afir the truth, then Belinda and Morco could have raised the children as their own, Afir could have walked out of the picture and perhaps found himself his own woman to love. But the lies that ran in the family remained in the family, and that had spiraled into a pit of more misery and fuckery. 

Despite understanding the man, the mother of Doirekh’s had been loyal to Gregov, even in his disappearance, and refused to give into the deepest intimate wishes of Afir, letting herself be taken by the flame before things could get worse. Soon Afir too, found no meaning in being alive, having been cheated by his wife, having no real kids of his own and no life around him, he too, let the flame take the man away to a world more peaceful. 

Till the very end Belinda and Morco had been completely unaware of the fact that Afir had known the truth, that was, until the day of his passing, when dear Elize, then aged 18 had felt the loss of her father the worst. Daraz and Elize had grown up with a certain hate towards their mother, and despite only being an uncle had considered Afir their real father, for he had done far too much for them. And so at his passing, as Belinda tried to comfort her children Elize found no reason to keep her mouth shut about the tragedy she had seen more than 10 years ago.

‘This is all your fault!’ She began, accusatively pointing a finger at her mother. Morco had stepped in immediately not liking the tone his daughter was using. Little did they know the truth would affect them more than anyone else. 

‘Elize, don’t speak to your mother like that!’ He exclaimed, having not the faintest what she was on about. 

‘Darling, I understand this is hard-’

‘You have no idea do you?’ Interrupted Elize, and Daraz stepped forward, concerned what the effect of the truth would be. 

‘Elize, don’t. He told us not to-’

‘Well he’s gone now, isn’t he Daraz? He’s gone and it’s all her fault! And she doesn’t even know it!’ She yelled and a concerned Belinda looked upon her daughter, more confused than ever. 

‘Elize darling, what are you on about?’ She asked sweetly. 

‘He knew! We all did! I saw you two, 12 years ago I saw you two together, and he did too. We all saw it, and he asked us to keep quiet about it. Told us to be nice to you because you loved us. He lived in misery after knowing the truth. He kept it from you because he loved us. Because he loved you. But he was suffering. We know uncle Morco is actually our father, but Afir was more of a father and mother to us than you two traitors ever were! We hate the two of you, we despise you. You hurt an innocent man for no reason, and you will pay for it’ announced Elize, and both Morco and Belinda’s eyes widened in complete surprise. 

‘Elize, we can explain’ began Morco, but Elize lifted her hand to silence him, dragging him up the wall with her magic, watching the man lose the life in his eyes. 

‘Elize, what are you doing? Put him down!’ Shouted Belinda, attempting to counter her daughter’s magic, but failing to. Elize had been far too angry for far too long. It didn’t help that Daraz had been supporting her sister’s magic from behind, and they both faced their mother with the greatest intention of making her pay.

‘All you had to do was tell him the truth, and free him from this life, but you didn’t. You tortured him and us. You don’t deserve anything good. Neither of you do. So now you will watch the one man you love die right in front of your eyes. Say goodbye to him, mother’ she spoke as Morco choked and flailed around to save himself. Belinda, incapable of countering her daughter’s powerful curse had begun bawling her eyes out helplessly, attempting to save her loved one and also sympathise with her daughter. 

‘Elize, I never did it on purpose I swear. We fell in love ages ago, their mother and mine schemed this whole thing and we were too afraid of telling your father and hurting him. Try to understand please, we never meant any harm to anyone’ she begged. Though it was too late, with a thump Morco fell to the floor, absolutely lifeless and an ear piercing scream escaped Belinda Vermillion. ‘What have you done?’ She screamed over and over again, holding Morco’s body in her arms and she wailed. 

‘You deserved it. You ruined our life and our father’s, now you deserve to pay the consequences’ rescinded Elize with not a hint of emotion in her eyes. Daraz too, had remained nonchalant and silent as he watched his mother hold their lifeless real father’s corpse in her hands. 

‘I didn’t deserve it, my only mistake was to love’ whispered Belinda, looking fondly upon Morco before she placed a kiss on his lips and forehead. ‘One day you’ll know the meaning of true love, and that love will be taken away from you. You will hurt, and I will not be there to hold you and help you. One day you will understand all that I did, and when you do, it will be too late to change anything’ added the mother, letting herself be taken by the flame immediately after. 

Elize shrieked, and began screaming at the flame in anger for having taken their mother. She wanted her mother to live, she wanted her mother to live a most miserable life like her father have, and experience the pain he did in the 12 years that followed the discovery. But she was gone now, and that was the day Elize and Daraz not only lost their parents, but also began truly despising the flame. They had been given a most terrible fate, and it hadn’t gotten any better in their present day as their loathe had only gotten stronger and stronger with the war against the planet.

‘Elize, calm down-’ Daraz had began, but the glare on his sisters face had told him to stay away from her for she was far too angry. 

‘She wasn’t supposed to die like this. She was supposed to live. She was supposed to experience the torture and hell Afir went through. She was supposed to-’ her words were cut down by the entrance of the rest of the Vermillion in the room, who looked at the scene in shock, absolutely horrified. 

‘What happened?’ Stregov asked, rushing to her side to be there for the woman he very much loved. 

‘The flame, the flame took my mother and uncle!’ Faked the woman, pretending to have been heartbroken at her mother’s taking. She certainly hadn’t been happy about it, but not for the reasons they had all been thinking of. Daraz glanced briefly at his sister and knew better than to reveal the truth. He had looked upon Amana, who had seemed too terrified to be in the room, though she remained stationary and silent, refusing to move from her place, not even to comfort Daraz. His sister had gotten all the comfort in the world for something she perhaps didn’t even deserve, and yet Daraz remained in the back, lonely as ever, unloved as ever. 

‘We’re so sorry darling’ Mr and Mrs Vermoca had uttered from the corner, and Liem had simply observed, unable to say anything at all. Soon the scene decided to empty up, and as the bodies vanished into thin air, Elize was taken away by Stregov, who had decided to take her in for the night. As for Daraz, he approached Amana with all the bravery in the world, and had embraced her into a hug where he faked his sorrows. 

Initially the woman knew not what to do, and held on to him, patting him on the back gently knowing that he had been going through a tough time, though she had not expected, in their lonesome, for him to try and press his lips against hers. She moved back before they could collide, and moved back from him immediately.

‘Daraz, I know you’re going through a hard time right now, but this isn’t right. I cannot comfort you just for the sake of comforting you, I don’t love you and in the long term this will only hurt you. I know that your sister has Stregov, but you do have me, as your friend’ she explained, and he raged on the inside, his heart obviously wanting anything but her friendship. What he craved was a night with her, in his chambers, mating like there was no tomorrow. He wanted that experience, that pleasure, that feeling of being loved that he never had in his life before. 

‘Please, just one night, give me one night and I won’t trouble you again. I just need comfort please’ he begged, and she began feeling bad for him. It broke her to see him so desperate, and wondered why he was so desperate in the first place. Sitting down, she embraced the man into a hug, holding him for the longest time until they parted, and their closeness had made Daraz initiate another trial with her. He leaned in, and she pulled back yet again, frustrating the man. 

‘Daraz, I told you, I can’t give you what you want. I don’t love you like that. You are my friend, and I want to be here for you. I will stay with you all night, I’ll hold you and comfort you, but I can’t be intimate with you just because of this, it would be wrong’ she stated, and his anger began unveiling. 

‘What difference would it make anyways? It’s not like we have mates, or any other people on this planet besides ourselves, it’s not like you can find someone else to be with-’

‘I am very much aware of that, thank you Daraz’ she interrupted, now getting a bit frustrated herself. ‘That does not mean that I will throw myself into the arms of the first person I see. I value love, and I plan on getting it the right way if I ever do, if not, I will not just do things for fun. Stregov and Elize love each other, perhaps they will have people to carry on the offspring of the Vermillion, and if it comes to it then I may contribute with you, but right now I am too young to foresee the future and pressure myself into a lifestyle I do not want. I’m sorry Daraz but I only see you as a friend, nothing else. Now, I know that it’s hard for you because your sister has someone she loves who can comfort her, but like I said, I’m here with you. I’ll stay all night, we can talk, I will hold you, you can cry, but I cannot and I will not be able to give you more than that. It would just not be right’ concluded the stern Amana, who had officially angered Daraz. 

The man stood to his feet, and decided to play games with the woman, games that essentially would not fool her. 

‘Is that what a good friend does? I’m in a time of need, I need this kind of comfort, my mother, father and uncle have all just passed away and I have no one else to give it to me. It’s not that big of a deal anyways I don’t understand why-’

‘Maybe not to you, but to me it is. Look, I came here to comfort you and help you, but clearly your ulterior motives with me are something else, so I’m just going to leave now. I really wanted to help you and be there for you, I honestly did, but if this is how you’re going to be with me, I’m afraid I cannot. I can send Dregov if you’d like and he can keep you company during the night if you need someone to talk to’ interrupted the woman, barging straight out the door. It was the day she had learnt of the man’s intentions and had commenced disliking him. From that moment onward the frictional relationship between the two had initiated, and Daraz’s lack of patience had gotten him exactly what he deserved. His intentions may have been to toy with her mind, but in the end his curse rebounded against the strong minded woman, and he was left with an even larger pit of lack of love and rejection from the one woman he was willing to love.

He had barged out of the mansion for the rest of the night, hoping that being outside would be enough to drag the woman outside out of pity, and would finally convince her to sleep with him. Though to his disappointment, as he remained in the woods for the rest of the night, his sister remained peacefully tucked in with Stregov, and Amana had been happily sleeping in her own room, unconcerned and not bothered about the man who tried to force her into something she frankly didn’t want. 

This had brought only more rage to the man, who snuck into her bedroom that night, and attempted to seduce her through the use of his magic. Soon he realised that there was absolutely nothing he could do to get her to sleep with him, not even magic was doing the trick, and instead of trying, he erased the memory of his magical attempt at seducing her from her mind, and finally returned to his room, broken and beaten on the inside, allowing himself to cry for the remainder of the night, becoming the man he became in the future: an angry, heartless and silent Daraz Vermillion. 

No one had ever learnt the truth about what had happened to Belinda and Morco Vermillion. They had all just believed the flame had decided it was their time, and so it remained for the rest of their lives. With no one to spill the secret and Elize and Daraz being tight lipped, not even Stregov had learned of the truth. The main question was: would anyone ever discover the truth?

Over the years as Elize and Stregov had finally gotten together, the woman had ignored the words of her mother and embarked on a journey to prove her wrong and embrace the fact that she had a loving partner who loved her more than anything else in the world, even his own sister. She had gone anova and beyond to hurt Amana and yet Stregov had stood by her side the whole thing. The whole charade had been one large, pointless test to prove to her dead mother that her words meant nothing. Though if that truly was the case then why was Elize taking her mother’s words so seriously in the first place?

Daraz on the other hand, had turned out to be as angry at his own life as he had been at his mother. Never having loved or received love in the correct way, his only attempt at getting love was trying to force it. There was no telling if he really had loved Amana Doirekh, but he knew that he was desperate for love, and she could have given it to him. He wanted the passionate love that his sister had gotten, and not getting any from her, he enforced it upon himself to get it from Amana. Albeit the woman’s rejection had done the man no good as he only spiralled downwards in hopes of finding love ever again. 

He was an angry man, with nothing good to look forward to, existing a doomed life as fated by the flame. It was unfortunate but necessary, and there was no way they could turn back now. The only other way to break the prophecy would have been to give into the flame, but that seemed highly unlikely in the case of the remaining 4 Vermillion that were doomed.

If it was one thing their mother had left them with before her departure, it was the ironic thoughts on love, and how powerful the tool was: enough to create and destroy all in one go, and depending on how Elize and Daraz planned on using their love, their fate could certainly change forever. For either the best or the worst. Though for the time being those results had to look like they were taking a turn for the best.