Chapter Thirty-Six: Snake

Jasmine's steps came to a halt, at the edge of the stairs, close to the opening, hidden by the original totem, the most sacred treasure in the eyes of Jantyr's worshipers. Jasmine suddenly howled in pain and dropped on her knees. She grabbed her head in agony and bent forward, covering her ears with her hands. Tears streamed down her young face. Yet the sound was completely blocked and so was Jantyr, for the moment he was completely helpless. He couldn't interact with his worshipers at all, not even Jasmine.

On the back of Jasmine's right hand a mark appeared. A black and white snake, circling itself and biting its own tail. A sword was implanted in the snake and went right through the snake's head to the other side, piercing its stomach. The mark was slowly burning itself into Jasmine's hand, then out of nowhere the book Jasmine had left behind in the library appeared in her hand. The diary of Sable Marth, something she wished to stay away from for the moment, had now merged with her.

Jasmine left all the grace she had accumulated over the years and rolled around in pain. The powerful, prideful girl, the facade she's built over the years crumbled and gave into the fear. She was scared, the mark on her hand made her feel such hopelessness.

Jantyr watched everything with gritted teeth, having no real way to interfere for the moment, he simply hoped for the best.

'I'm a god, a freaking deity, why am I helpless in these kinds of situations?' he thought, watching his first worshiper go through tremendous pain. He's never seen her like this, even if she went through hell in the ruins he wouldn't know, for he was blocked from interfering. From even seeing what happened there, long before she even arrived.

~Pov Jasmine~ (First person)

Kill me, please! It hurts, it hurts so much. My mind, it's collapsing, what's happening to me, someone help me. My hand, where is it, no why is it, where am I? Right, I'm home, with Jantyr, I'm safe, why am I afraid, as long as Jantyr protects me, I'll be safe.

My inner monologue came to an end as I came face to face with a dragon. It was big, way too big, it towered over my small frame, like a falken with an ant. It was made entirely out of bones, some even had scratch marks, like it had been fighting recently.

The dragon looked at me and I stared back, what was I supposed to do, run? No way in hell, I can't run away, it'll kill me, I'm too weak.

"Arggh" I yelled, as the pain return, my vision faltered and the dragon started fading away. I stumbled to the ground and felt the hard ground bruise my skin, but compared to the pain I'm experiencing this one was joyful. I'd rather fall against this floor for all eternity, than to go through this pain for even one more second.

"Be careful what you wish for!" I heard. Like a distant hiss, it traveled through my ears and made them vibrate, effectively making my ears leak blood. But the pain in the hand, it was gone, replaced by a intoxicating headache.

"Arrgh, who are you?" I yelled. Suddenly a new vision filled my mind, a mighty snake, similar to the tatoo. It was darkgreen and had a sword pirced throught its head, making a red blood leak, siziling against the black void benath us.

"Me, I'm but a whisper!" the snake said, slithiring closer to me. Its body grew with eah second, becoming a gigantic monster, hundreds of meters long. It started circeling me, curling around itself, trapping me within its grasps.

Its head raised itself and stared down at me, blood still leaked down the sword, made out of an anncient meta, I've never seen. The pain subsided as it watched me and the snake said.

"The diary has chosen a new host, as per the deal, you belong to me!" the snake hissed and launched at me, swallowing me. My vision turned dark once more and I was back.

Jantyr voice echoed throughout my head, resulting in an exploding headache, enhanced by his loudness.

"Be quiet!" I blurted out, not even getting the time to regret my words. For the third time, my vision turned dark.

(Some hours later)

"Aghh" I groaned. My whole body ached, but the headache was gone from before; right, before, I almost forgot!

I hurridly sat up and instantly felt my body protest. My actions didn't go unnoticed, because seconds later there were three people over me, pinning me down.

"Jasmine, I was so worried!" I heard, it was my mother's voice. The soothening voice that always made me feel safe when I was younger. Her encouraging words and my father's protection. My little brother, who I tresured dearly, why, why, why? Why can't I feel anything? Why isn't my fear gone? Why am I not comforted by their embrace and wory?

A coldness, a tremendous disnatce, right, were not the same, what could they know. I'm not the one who's being kept safe, they are, they're useless, now I get it.

"GET IT TOGETHER" Jantyr screamed in my head. Hulking down, my fingernails digging into my mother's skin, I screamed in pain. I felt my shoulders growing wet, as my mother's grip tightend, hugging me even harder.

'What am I doing? Why am I hurting them?' tears streamed down my face, "Mom, I'm sorry!" I said, losening my grip and taking my fingernails out of her back. I could feel her blood staining my own hands, my mothers blood, I hurt her!

~Pov Jantyr~ (First Person)

The hell is that? Jasmine, she's changed, her aura is different. Usually I can't tell someone's aura, but her's, it's different. There's so much blood, hatred, revenge, she's reeking of death, it's like she's an entirely different person. I feel scared looking at her, me scared. How can a mortal scare a deity? That's not possible, meaning, something is wrong. Someone has interfered with Jasmine and I couldn't even protect her! I'm a Failure.