6. The Trials Of Zuri.

Years ago, she had lost people dear to her and one day, she admitted to herself that she was not worth having companions. Bad things followed her where ever she went.

Yet, seeing those people before her... It was the most magnificent scenery she could ever wish for. If only the humans could see her for what she truly was. If only things could go back to the way they used to be, and her mother would gladly welcome her in her gracious embrace once again.

She decided to grab their attention by clearing her throat a little loudly. It worked because immediately, all eyes turned towards her.

"Hey, you're back!" Exclaimed little Gavil who instantly rushed forward and squeezed Zuri into a tight hug.

"Oh, wait what... A hug?" Now it was just an ordinary type of hug, but to Zuri, it was a gift. A very treasurable one. Seconds passed, until Gavil finally decided to let go.

"Come, sit with me." He took her hands and carefully, dragged her over to their camping site. Gavil sat next to Ciara but held Zuri's hands tight, motioning her to sit with him. Over to her side was August, who couldn't take his eyes off Zuri's the moment she sat down. The floor was cold but it wasn't anything new to Zuri. She'd spent most of her life in the woods.

"I know that I will surely regret this," she said without rushing her words, "but, why have you two come find me? What do you even want from me?"

"We uh-" August was saying, almost instantly as Zuri had asked, until Ciara cut him off.

"There's an evil queen on the loose," she said, her voice brusque and hasty. "She has been killing people and we well, we need you to kill her." Her eyes met with August and a face looking like thunder frowned back at her.

"I think what Ciara here is trying to say is-"

"You want me to kill the people who did this to Gavil, huh?" Asked Zuri with a furrowed brow.

"Yes." Confirmed Ciara. Her reply only grew a blank stare from Zuri, who observed with silence as though something ill had just happened. "Are you... alright?"

Zuri's gaze slowly diverted towards August's, "Is she insane?"

August moaned a sigh, planning in his head the right words to construct. "Uh, hey-" For a while, he had actually been tempted to call her by her generalized name; Dark One, but he knew she didn't deserve the morbid title. She never asked for any of that and he was going to respect her for that. "What's your name?"

Without hesitation, Zuri barked out a reply. "The Dark One, lovely to meet your acquaintance."

"Wait," he smiled thinly, a warm hearted one that melted her heart at once, making her steal a glimpse of what was supposed to be a past of hers; the innocence and goodness she never had the chance to reveal to her people. To her own mother. "You have to trust us, you know my name, you must have heard of their names before," as soon as he mentioned, both Ciara and August quickly introduced themselves. "See?" said Gavil to Zuri. "Now it's your turn. Tell us your name." A slow, comprehending smile worked its way up to his chubby fat cheeks.

Gavil had a round friendly face, and Zuri could feel an air of importance about him.

A warm smile swept across Zuri's caramel serene face as dimples artlessly formed on both cheeks. She was flushed with happiness. "Zuri," with much joy, she announced. "My name is Zuri."

"That's a lovely name, you know." Complimented Gavil.

"Thank you." Replied Zuri, but a wrinkle of lines quickly formed on her head as her eyes squinted in confusion. "Wait, but you want me to defeat this queen how?"

"Your powers of course." Ciara said instantly.

"My powers?"

"Yes." Confirmed Ciara. August just observed in silence, and smart Gavil followed in his footstep. "I've heard that just one thought in the Dark One's mind could kill a man. The Dark One is the most powerful being in the whole world-"

"Well, thanks for the praises my dear but uh," Zuri's eyes held dispirited looks in them, perhaps they had been too inattentive to had noticed. "The power of the Dark One, the power that I possess... They possess me. I mean, I can't control myself, much less, kill a woman." Instantly before anyone could object, she added, "and that's not how it works. It's much more complicated, believe me. I cannot just wish for something to happen and it happens."

"No, you lie. Why do you lie, Dark One-"

"-I prefer the name, Zuri-"

"You are wasting your life!" Ciara uttered firmly, cutting Zuri off. "The reason you were born was because of this, it was a destiny you could not avoid!"

"Who are you to decide my own destiny for me, you bloody moron!" Anger had begun to rage inside her, but she was keeping calm. Only she alone knew what would happen whenever she got furious, and she knew damn well that she was not going to let some other innocent lives suffer for her misfortune. Heaving in a deep sigh, she reached in for a more soothing tone. "Ciara, I take?" Getting a slight nod from an angry damsel's face, she continued. "I understand that you need my help, for this reason. But I would have to disappoint you because, I do not have that type of power." With a tinge of frustration in her tone, she cried out, but in an irked manner. "I really don't, damsel in distress." Zuri was flaring up, but luckily, only on the inside.

"But that's what everyone says about the Dark One-"

"-the Dark One that you all have made up!" A fit of helpless anger simmered in her as she spat out her thundering rage freely. Her face hardened with infuriation. One that soon dissolved in despair, causing her whole body to tremble with resentment. "The Dark One that you all never gave a chance. You just made her up. You made her a demon without even giving her a chance to... to...," her voice became croaky from suppressed sobs. "t-to... You..." Crying out loud in a choked voice made her heart sank in dismay.

Perhaps in that moment, all of the emotions of pain and heartbreak that she had denied herself from feeling, came back in an overwhelming manner, second by second, ripping out her tattered heart. Zuri frowned at the terror and fear she was feeling and more importantly, the vulnerability that went to reside in her heart. She'd promised herself never to cry about it again, but in that moment, she couldn't help herself." I wasn't given a chance!"  Her voice froze in her throat as her heart pounded uncontrollably. With eyes flaming and filled with icy fury, Zuri drew in a sharp wheeze, and in that moment, she was certain of one thing.

Those humans would be the death of her.

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