Chapter 708: Wendy and Maria (1/2)
”...way to go me. Getting captured due to carelessness.” Maria rolled her eyes as she mocked herself in a whisper within the confines of her make-shift prison. ”This is what I get to being too cheeky. I really regret coming here.”
Maria is not on the most favorable position. She is this human's prisoner now, all of her freedom was taken away from her, even the choice of killing herself. She really provoked the wrong person.
She wanted to say that it wasn't her fault, and that this was just all due to bad luck. However, if she just remained where she was, didn't exit the swamp where her sister is, she wouldn't be in this position so in the end, it is her fault. Now, even though she wanted to desperately call for help, she couldn't. Well, its not like she could contact her sister to ask for help in the first place anyway.
Maria chose to cooperate that's why she's still alive at this point. All defiant thoughts on her disappeared the moment Vendrick neutralized the silver lining between her spirit and body. She told him everything without any falsifications, giving him a clearer perspective of the history between the Hag and the Forest Witch.
The name of the Hag is Wendy, both her and sister of them were once human believe it or not. They were citizens of a previous civilization, most likely from the one that Vendrick encountered during his chase of the Lightning Source.
They were born from a poor family. The sisters were close, Wendy was the older one and thus she acted as Maria's pillar. Maria on the other hand, was born with an affliction that was passed onto her by their waste of a father. They were abandoned and helpless, Wendy tried everything she could to cure her little sister since she's the only one left for her in this world. Unfortunately, fate hasn't been so kind to them.
The sisters possessed unnatural beauty despite their social standing, this didn't make them happy since they knew that their appearances will only attracted trouble from the perverted men that has power and money or attract the ire and envy of the rich ladies who will make their lives miserable. Their looks were something they inherited from the mother who sold her body to make a living, she died after giving birth to Maria.
Wendy tried everything she could to make their lives better but trouble seems to have taken a liking to them. Maria was coveted by a perverted and obese man who promised to make her life better and possibly even cure her if she decided to marry him.
The older sister originally wanted to go against this but Maria was tired of being a burden. She accepted the offer, wedded the perverted guy, suffered all sorts of trauma in his 'care' but her life did became a little bit better. At least she has no problems securing food for her and sister.
The perverted husband never had any plans of curing Maria though. To him, she was just a plaything, something that he could use to release his perverted habits whenever he felt stressed. Other than that, he doesn't give a whit about her. Maria was treated more like a prostitute than a wife as the man always leave her a bag filled with coins after each time he uses her.
Despite her traumatic past, Maria steeled her resolve. She saved the money she got from him and actually managed to cure her disease much to Wendy's joy. They kept this a secret from her husband though as they planned to escape, change their identities and seek a more peaceful life.
Maria endured for some more until the day arrived that they've gathered enough capital to leave. Unfortunately, things didn't go well as they planned.
The perverted guy caught wind of their plans. They caught them red handed at their escape. Wendy was pinned to ground, she was forced to watch as the perverted man molested her sister. Wendy's spirit was shattered as she saw the hopelessness and despair on Maria's eyes while experiencing this, she was reaching out to her but the gap between them wasn't closing.
To add insult to the injury, the perverted man decided to 'share' Maria to his guards. After they were done, they killed her on the spot, leaving Wendy there with her spirit thoroughly broken from what she just witnessed.
Wendy lifelessly carried her sister's corpse in the wilderness, wanting to find a place to hopefully bury her. Only coldness was left on her heart and body, she's no different from a walking corpse.
Eventually, Wendy succumbed to exhaustion. Before she died, she found herself in the middle of a large swamp with her sister's dead body on her arms. In front of her was dying tree. For the last time, she grieved and let out her frustrations, screaming on the top of her lungs for the unfairness they experienced. After that, she died...
At least she thought so. When Maria regained consciousness, she's in her Spirit Form. She found her body bound to a sprawling tree that almost reached the skies. She tried returning to her body but she couldn't.
She also saw her sister but she's a far cry from being human. Wendy woke up much earlier than her. She found out that she seems to have awaken a strange power that allowed her to control the swamp according to her liking. She also saw Maria's body on the tree and tried numerous times to get her out of there but to no avail.