"Mom..."
"Evelyn?" Malthane's voice cracked with shock, his sword still dripping blood.
The world tilted on its axis. Her beloved mother stood motionless, four blades piercing her like grotesque sculpture, surrounded by men she had trusted with her life. Even in death, Athena remained upright, a statue of hope and wisdom that not even betrayal could topple. One of the killers shared Evelyn's blood. Words fled her throat.
The chamber that had always been sanctuary now felt like a tomb. Sapphire lanterns cast their eternal blue light across walls that seemed to weep crystal tears. The balcony where her mother had spoken her final words stretched toward a sky that would never again hear Queen Athena's voice. Every detail burned itself into Evelyn's memory with perfect clarity.
Then the world went white.
One blink, and she stood somewhere else entirely, a white space, that extended to the horizon.
Before her waited a figure that defied easy description. Neither hideous nor beautiful, it simply was, as if the concept of appearance had been worn thin by eons of existence. Its back curved like a question mark carved in bone, a dense beard cascading down its chest. Withered arms hung from shoulders that had forgotten strength, while legs barely adequate to their task supported a frame that seemed held together by will alone. Small horns crowned its head, and eyes that might once have held fire now gazed from deep caverns of exhaustion. Pale grey skin stretched taut over what remained of its form, and in one hand it clutched a staff of unremarkable wood.
Behind the figure loomed a door. No handles marred its seamless stone face, and though its material appeared ancient beyond measure.
"Bring me back." Evelyn's voice cut through the otherworldly silence like a blade. "Bring me back now, or they will escape. I will kill them. All four of them. They don't deserve to live."
The ancient being smiled, a expression that spoke of countless visitors and eternal patience. "Young woman, do you know why you are here? I believe you should have guessed by now."
Surprisingly, fear seemed absent from Evelyn's features. In all his eons of receiving guests, the entity had rarely encountered such composure. "This is the place where mortals receive their cur, "
"I know where this is." She screamed at him. "You're going to offer me a curse, a power that seems impossible to refuse. The price won't be explicit, but you'll slip in something that will make me regret it later. You're the devil, I suppose? My mother's stories were accurate."
The being's smile widened with genuine delight. How refreshing, how utterly unique, a human who felt no fear in this realm, who wasn’t even surprised at his arrival. Such visitors were so rare he himself couldn’t remember the last one.
"You are correct, you will regret accepting it. But since the dawn of humanity, though I could only interact with mortals during cursed epochs, hundreds of thousands have been invited here. Never, not once, has a human refused my offer. And every single one regretted their choice. That's why you mortals began calling them curses. If you ask me, I would call them deals."
"Just send me back." Evelyn's voice trembled with barely contained fury. "They're going to escape."
"And how exactly do you plan to accomplish that? Those four men consumed beast hearts, powerful ones, granted in exchange for their loyalty. You stand no chance, not even if you had a million years to prepare."
Evelyn's mind suddenly pulled her backward through time, and she was eight years old again, standing in the orphanage courtyard. Snow was beginning to fall, and she could see her breath in the cold air. Mathian had helped her load everything into his cart that morning, his weathered hands gentle as he arranged the precious cargo she was bringing to her friends.
"These are for everyone," she announced to the gathered children.
Adam had grinned, as he helped her distribute the heavy wool cloaks. "Your mother's going to notice her entire closet is missing."
"She already knows," Evelyn had replied. "She told me yesterday that sharing what we have is the most royal thing anyone can do." She had pulled from her pack not just clothes, but treasures carefully chosen for each friend, ancient texts borrowed from the royal library for Noah's insatiable curiosity, and puzzles for Adam, always the most challenging ones she could find, though she never quite understood why she spent so much time searching for the perfect ones for him.
Zoe had run up then, tears streaming down her face, clutching the broken pieces of a small doll, the only gift she'd ever received from her birth parents. Without hesitation, Evelyn had pulled from her traveling pack the most precious thing she owned: a music box that played lullabies in three languages, crafted by master artisans for her fifth birthday.
"But it's yours," Zoe had whispered, staring at the beautiful painted dancers that spun inside the crystal dome.
"And now it's yours," Evelyn had said simply, placing it in Zoe's small hands. "That's what family does."
Later that evening, back in her chambers, Evelyn had sat in a bed that epitomized every fairy tale dream. Rose-pink curtains framed windows that looked out over gardens where flowers bloomed in impossible colors. The room should have been filled with dolls from distant kingdoms and books bound in leather and gold, but half the shelves stood empty, their contents gifted away to children who needed them more.
Athena had settled beside the bed. "Mooom, it's bedtime story time! Where did we leave off yesterday? Oh yes, the man who was walking through the enchanted forest. What happened when he met the mysterious merchant?"
"Well, young angel," Athena had said, "the merchant appeared from the shadows like smoke given form. His wares were unlike anything the traveler had ever seen, promises wrapped in silver, dreams bound in gold, and power that gleamed like starlight."
"But they were all tricks, weren't they?" Evelyn had asked, snuggling closer to her mother's warmth.
"The most dangerous gifts are often the ones that aren't tricks at all, my darling. They're real, and they work exactly as promised. That's what makes them so terrible." Athena had stroked her daughter's hair. "The merchant never appears unless he knows the traveler will accept his offer. He can see into hearts, you see. He knows when someone's need has grown greater than their wisdom."
"I would never accept anything from someone wicked, Mama. I would be too smart."
Athena had kissed her forehead, and now, Evelyn remembered the profound sadness that had flickered in her mother's eyes. "The merchant doesn't visit smart people or foolish people, angel. He visits people whose hearts have been broken in just the right way. And when that happens... well, even the wisest soul can forget who they used to be."
The memory shattered as Evelyn returned to the present. The ancient being was watching her with knowing eyes, as if he had witnessed every moment of her recollection.
"Weapons," he said, savoring each syllable. "I offer you the Curse of Leftover Weapons."
Evelyn waited, her silence demanding elaboration.
"Every single one of those four men, each of them you kill, will transform into a weapon only you can wield. A weapon capable of cutting through their stone hearts, for you will become one of the cursed humans in this epoch. Four weapons from four traitors. No, actually five weapons. Your mother's soul will also become a weapon, your first weapon. Consider it a gift to ease your path."
The chamber fell into absolute silence, broken only by the sound of Evelyn's breathing.
"And the price?" she asked finally. "What do I lose? Half my lifespan? I only live for the next thirteen years? Perhaps an arm and a leg?"
The devil's laughter rang out like broken bells, hysterical with mirth. "You've heard too many children's stories, haven't you? Those cliché bargains are not how my curses work. The prices you mentioned only exist in fairy tales meant to frighten the young. You underestimate me." His smile grew wide. "My deals work differently. And you know what? The standard terms I usually offer, I won't be extending them to you."
He leaned forward, his ancient eyes gleaming with interest. "The curse I'm offering isn't really changing you, child. It's simply... revealing who you truly are underneath all that royal training?"
Something cold settled in Evelyn's stomach, but beneath it burned something far more powerful. Through her body traveled an unfathomable wrath, a hatred so pure it seemed to have its own heartbeat. She was no longer the innocent princess who had entered that chamber. The only thoughts in her mind were painted red, blood, death, the satisfying weight of a blade in her hand. She imagined killing them, tearing them apart piece by piece, and even that fantasy couldn't quench the fire consuming her from within.
This was revenge, perhaps the worst emotion of them all.
She walked toward the ancient being. "What must I do?"
His voice carried the satisfaction of inevitable victory. "Walk through that door. The handles are the unspoken desires of yours."
She moved toward the scarred stone surface without hesitation. Questions about the true price of the bargain flickered through her mind, but they were drowned by the roar of her need for vengeance. As she reached for the door, the devil's voice followed her like smoke.
"Don't attempt your revenge yet. You're not ready. Hold your emotions, let them sharpen into something useful. The time will come when you can claim your justice."
She didn't look back. The door opened slowly, revealing a void that seemed to swallow light itself.
One more blink, and she was back in the world of the living.