54 | THE BINDING FATE OF ANIYA

"Alpha Aniya . . ." Elyse muttered under her breath. Even though Aniya has been called a villainess in numerous books — but indeed she is a striking beauty. Her silver hair flowed gracefully, curving her hourglass shape body, her tall figure and ethereal golden eyes gazing back at her.

Indeed, she can be mistaken as The Goddess's Daughter for her appearance.

"I finally meet you in this form, Elyse!" She said with an elated tone as she smiles brightly at Elyse.

"Do you mean... we met before?" Elyse asked and she nodded her head.

"Indeed, have you forgotten?" Aniya slowly approaches her and touch her forehead and there, Elyse remembered the mysterious woman wearing a cloak appearing in her dreams sometimes.

"I have been with you all these times, Elyse," Aniya whispered softly while she gave Elyse flashbacks of the past.

"Ever since you were brought into this world, I have been watching you and with you all these times." She continues and Elyse's tears fell down her cheeks.

Aniya gently caresses her cheeks and wiped out the tears from Elyse's face.

"Being your descendant is painful. Whatever I do in this world, everyone still recognizes me as your descendant — a villainess. I didn't do anything wrong; my intentions were pure yet they look at me with dirt in their eyes. I have been suffering because of you, because of you Aniya I hate you. I blame you for killing my Family. If only I weren't your descendant, then maybe my life must've been better." She spoke with honesty in her heart.

"I can't even understand who am I. Everyone's been telling me I am your descendant, and yet, everyone is also talking about me Tina's Descendant. I am both hated and loved. I keep asking myself, 'Who am I?'. Tell me, Aniya if you are really my Ancestor then tell me who I am." She spoke as if she were commanding Aniya with her eyes sparkling with anger.

"You are my descendant," Aniya answered.

"Then how come I have Tina's abilities? How come I awaken Cain when it's supposed to be Tina's Descendant if I am truly your descendant? Why am I taking half of her pain, and half of yours?" She screamed letting everything out from her heart.

Aniya sigh. She doesn't want to open up — nor does she ever wants to bring the past back again. But in order for Elyse to understand, Aniya must take a step of facing her fear.

"Before I died, I became Tina's little assistant. Everything she did is because of my work with her. When the day comes of destroying the Ancient Civilization, I decided to keep a huge part of my soul shared for me to 'save my memories'. But Tina killed me, and a tiny shard of mine entered her body which made her think and feel like me." Aniya spoke.

"Your father is Tina's Descendant. Whereas, your mother is my descendant. When you were born, you became the Descendant of the two powerful people. But you were chosen as my descendant, yet half of Tina's power is inside you."

"You have two shards, Elyse. The small one in your heart is from Tina while the huge one circling in your body is mine."

Elyse was left frozen, dumbfounded to hear what Aniya told her. Questions keep rising in her head, and yet there is no answer she found.

"However, Elyse, Tina's half of power is inside you. Since you are chosen as my descendant, Tina's power should not be able to activate when you encountered Cain's soul orb. Tina's small shard is powerful even though it is small, but it should not be awakened because you are my descendant." Aniya explained further.

"Then... who am I?" Elyse asked with her sorrowful expression.

Aniya grins and caresses Elyse's cheeks, "You are you. No matter who your Ancestor is. Or who you have a connection with is, in the end, you are you. And there's nobody can snatch that away from you."

"Then... how come you only come here today? Why you didn't appear at me the moment you were watching me?" Elyse's tears start to fall down from her golden yellow eyes. Aniya only giggles.

"That wasn't the right time, and I might pressure you more if I do appear in those times."

Aniya only stood there in front of her as she watches Elyse's eyes glow golden yellow and the locks of her hair turn silver, Aniya smiled with a painful expression in her eyes.

"Your Ancestor is not really as strong as you have thought. I am weak, I don't have my own power to protect the one I love. Just like you, Elyse. I lost two important people in my life. You may have lost many, but those people — they're very important to me." Aniya spoke with honesty in her heart.

Elyse stopped crying and Aniya only caresses her cheeks and starts to stroke her hair.

"I don't have any excuses, I'm sorry, Elyse." She said Elyse only bursts out of crying and Aniya is only there to comfort her.

Two people whose fate was bound in a painful way. One lost a family, the other lost two people. For Aniya, family is not that very important for her. Or so she thought when she met her father who gave her the world even just for a moment. She already felt the warmth of having a loving parent in those fast memories. Aniya thought those memories would always last but she is wrong. It was her first mistake — she failed to save her father from her mother. Fortunately, there is still someone beside her who can she lean on. However, that certain person also wanted her mother to break them apart.

Aniya resisted, and because she resists, her mother almost killed him. Traumatized by what happened to her father, she left the only person she could lean on. Ever since that day, she lost her sanity. "Whatever I do, whatever I say, I am just a marionette for my mother. You try to speak; she will snatch away your mouth. You try to walk, she'll cut your knees in half. I chose this path; I cannot escape anymore."

Every day, Aniya felt that she has changed so much she couldn't recognize herself anymore. Only then she felt free when Tina killed her that night. "Ah, I see, death was the only answer for me." And yet Aniya felt guilty for making Tina a terrible person, so she did things that shouldn't be done.

One lost a family — her whole world. Living in the countryside with only a cottage house and a farm built by her father. She loved the idea of staying in her cozy house with a room filled with their smiles and laughter. She wanted to never lose this moment — this happiness. But fate is always cruel to those who wanted happiness, one night her family vanished in an instant. As if last night was the best night of all their nights when they're laughing and smiling.

As if it was all just a dream and she has been awoken by the truth that her family died. She wanted to save her family, so she tried to cooperate with a strange group she hasn't been to since her birth. However, she was discriminated against, everyone saying she's her Descendant and because of that, she can also be the villainess.

She just wanted to save her family, yet as if fate wanted her dead, she suffered more from them. She tries to be strong, but some nights aren't just meant for the strong — but for the weak as she cries in secret underneath her pillow. She hated her for being blamed for all her wrongdoings. Yet she also felt guilty for blaming her when she also knows it wasn't her fault.

Two people lost their loved ones, and they're finally reunited with arms together.

****

"Elyse, I have to tell you something," Aniya spoke after their long chatter in Aniya's realm of consciousness.

"What is it?"

"Look out for Louisette, in the near future something will happen that can ruin your reputation," Aniya spoke with a hint of warning in her tone.

"What do you mean?" Elyse asks with confusion in her eyes.

"You will find out once you're back to your consciousness. Also, I have one more."

"Hmm?"

"Your family is alive." Elyse turns to look at Aniya with her eyes surprised to hear what she just said.

"What...?"

"A woman named Mara gave them a life essence. But that's not all, your family is in danger." Aniya said.

"What do you mean? My Family is inside Maria's Mansion how can she kidnap them...?"

'Unless someone planted a spy in the circle of leaders and kidnapped my family' a thought entered Elyse's mind.

"Wait what do you mean danger? How can they be in danger?"

"If Louisette is worst in your eyes, then Mara is much worse than her. Mara is the human lady who I worked with in the past. She's in love with Cain and is still serving Cain until now. And Cain wants you because you have something special inside of you — he wanted your power to destroy Tina."

"Well, she is indeed a human but at the moment Mara is not human anymore."

"Then, I should find Mara then. There's no time to lose," Elyse said and quickly stood up but Aniya stopped her.

"No, it's too dangerous. Mara is not someone you can just play with. She's dangerous, a clever and manipulative girl." Aniya spoke.

"Then what should I do? I can't lose any minute now that I know my family is in grave danger."

"No, you need to search for Tina. Do what Maria told you to do so and bring the old Master back here." Aniya said and Maria's words flow into Elyse's mind. She now understands why Maria's tone was like that when she told Elyse to find the old master no matter what.

'Does that mean, Maria already knows someone kidnapped my family?'

"I will," Elyse said without hesitation. There is no time to think about who betrayed who. For Elyse, if what Aniya said is true then she needs to save her family from Mara.

"The Grand Ball will be coming in just days, Elyse. Find the Princess of Chetan, and be prepared for what's coming up next." Aniya spoke softly.

She caresses Elyse's hair again and smiled, "Our time feels like bliss but it was worth it. Let's meet again when the time comes, Elyse." Aniya kissed her forehead.

The moment Elyse opened her eyes, she realized it was already morning. The moment they shared felt like a second in the dream, but when she came back to reality — she wanted to meet her again.

At that same moment, she froze. She realized her hatred for Aniya washed away all of the sudden. Indeed, just like Aniya, Elyse is having some trouble expressing her emotions sometimes. She's having mixed feelings sometimes and it is now happening. The only thing that Elyse wanted to hear and to see is that she meets her true Ancestor and be comforted by them. Elyse smiled, and she starts to look forward to her meeting with Aniya again.