Aapep - Chaos Incarnate and Guardian of the house of Guzzler. Part 1

Nolamine remembered coming there but could not remember what for. His memories of the place seemed distant and he could not grasp them.

The place had a large pool of water almost the size of a football field and with some rocks protruding in some areas. The water was so dark that it seemed no light would go through. At the edges, there were smooth rocks that gently sloped into the pool, but with some that were steep.

If you followed the sloping rocks by the edge of the cliff that the water fell from, you would find a tree as tall as an average person growing between two rocks, like it had cracked it open as it germinated from inside it. It was as black as the water but the leaves as red as blood itself.

The Grand Witch looked at Mi-sun and nodded, not needing to say anything as she understood right away. She looked at Nolamine and talked as loud as she could so he could hear her as the waterfall raged on.

"This is where he sleeps."

She said to Nolamine and his heart started to beat faster as he did not know what followed next.

"Those who want blessings or who have curses so dangerous such that the five protectors cannot exorcise it without risking their lives are sent here. They are submerged in the water and it sucks their curse away, but it is greedy and those who are sent here almost always then live good lives as all that has to deal with bad luck or curses are sucked clean from their bodies and essence. So, only those deemed worthy are now sent here and none is always to speak about this place."

As amazing as it was that he was hearing, his heart still could not stop racing.

"Some are given the potion you were given and through Curse Manifestation, they vomit their curses out, with some being the most dangerous in history and like a wave that pulls you to sea, the water would rise up and come take them away."

She said as she turned and looked at the water.

"They do not know how long it has been here, but many believe it was here even before the great river passed through here, like the great river had cut through the southern continent trying to locate it and thereafter finding it, it continued on."

She said as the Grand Witch went in front of Nolamine. He had no time to digest what she was saying as something unexpected happened.

"Pha!, Pha!, Pha!"

'What the F**k?'

He could not dare finish the last word he was thinking. His left cheek was throbbing in pain even more than his right cheek.

He had received three claps. Two on his left cheek and one on his right. It would be a mistake to call Nolamine confused at that point because his mind had gone blank after holding his cheeks and seeing her face.

"This day has been fated."

She said, lifting her hands to the sky together with her staff. She struck his head and blood came out. It ran down his forehead and dripped down. As soon as it hit the rocks, the water started to climb up them and swallowed the blood.

At this point, you would have been wrong to think that his mind was blank, for it was full of questions and fear. The thought of the old hag flashed through his mind.

The staff hit him on his stomach with so much force that he kneeled down on the ground and started vomiting.

The water did the same thing and swallowed it.

At that point, fear and regret were eating at his brain. He looked at Mi-sun, thinking she would help him but she did nothing. She had closed her eyes like she was expecting this. He wanted to run away, but for some reason, the attacks he had received made him weak.

The Grand Witch's hand grabbed his head and picked him up. She then touched the staff against his head and he started crying like he had never cried before. Tears fell down like he had manufactured a waterfall with his eyes.

He did not know why he was crying, but each second that passed as he did, the part of his eyes that would make him grow stronger in a fight started to burn contently and brighter.

The water did the same thing with his tears.

He had fallen to the ground again as he cried. The Grand Witch made him stand up and then looked at him. He stopped sobbing as soon as their eyes met.

She hugged him thereafter.

Nolamine at that point would have been conceded crazy as he could not think of anything to say or do. He was a vegetable with his mouth wide open, in bewilderment.

"What was fated for your father has fallen into your hands. You have received the beating of the damned, those fated to die as you meet your destiny. With this, you shall have no regrets."

She said as she put her hands on his shoulders and made him stand properly.

She then kneeled to him, something she had only done to the tree across the pool. Mi-sun did not look at them, only standing a distance and acting like she heard and saw nothing.

"Please, do not forsake the village."

She said as a tear came falling down. Mi-sun who was stealing a look at what was happening saw this and panicked. She went through her bag and found an empty flask.

She quickly went to her and put it against her cheek. She collected the tears like it was the most precious thing in the world.

'What the hell is going on?'

Nolamine finally had a thought

The Grand Witch let her collect it as she had lowered her head to him. After Mi-sun finished collecting it, she raised her head and looked at him straight in his eyes, still kneeling.

Nolamine's heart skipped a beat.

Her previously completely white eye now had a crescent moon as its pupil and iris.

"I see the worlds crying."

She said, sending Nolamine into all sorts of thoughts. Through all those thoughts, there was one thing he remembered, and that was the fact that Mi-sun had said the same thing before going there.

He had no time to dwell on what she said as what happened next scared all of them.

The water stopped falling down the waterfall and everything went quiet. It was like the sound was taken away from the world, like time stood still. It started back up again and the water come crashing down the cliff, the sound returning like a bomb just exploded. miraculously, none fell onto them.

The Grand Witch, who was still kneeling at that point stood up and held his still bleeding head.

"Wash him."

She said to Mi-sun who was still holding the flask with her tears like it was gold.

She then walked to the tree while Mi-sun took him closer to the water. Using a jar, she poured the water over him. As soon as it touched his wounds, steam was produced and the wounds healed themselves.

To Nolamine, the day was now just like the day of the storm, with the day having many things happening to him that he could not comprehend.

The Grand Witch kneeled by the tree and Nolamine could see her talking to it. After a while passed, what he saw surprised him even more.

She gouged out her white eye and threw it into the pool. Her eye bled black blood. She then took out a blade that looked menacing from even where he was standing.

She let out her right hand, the one she would use to always hold her staff and then she chopped her hand off. The blood spread everywhere.

After the events of the storm, his mind was numb to shock, but the event awoke the feeling and shock ran through him again.

She threw her hand into the pool of dark water and it sank while she held her hand to stop the bleeding.

The ground shook and they got away from the water. The pool vibrated and a pillar rose from the center of the pool.

As it was like it was the order of that day, Nolamine was shocked again at what he saw on top of it.

It was Nala, sitting there in a meditative pose. After she reached the surface, she coughed up dark water and lumbered down onto the stone, and laid there with no energy left. Nolamine instinctively wanted to jump in and go grab her but Mi-sun stopped him.

Water got under her as the pillar retreated back into the abyss. She floated on the surface of the water as the small ripples gently took her to the sloping rocks.

"A new Grand Disciple has been born."

Mi-sun said.

"Now her grasp and understanding of this world's powers and insight into the unknown shall be immeasurable. Through the Grand Witch's sacrifice and her own will, learning her new master's powers shall take less time than anyone else in history."

Mi-sun said as she went to get her from the water.

Nolamine looked at her as she did. Now it was clear to him, Mi-sun knew more about this world than she was letting on. He also wanted to push her into the water for not warning him that he would be getting a beat down. He touched his cheeks that now felt like they had never received a clap that shook his brain a minute ago, he had a thought.

'What was that all about?'

He asked himself, thinking about the beating he had received, but to only have more questions as he did.