Jack stared at the scenery In confusion, to him it seemed like they had once again stepped into another world.
And he was sure, the thing standing in front of him was the white witch and....
Her child.
"So he was her child"
'Oh...I can speak again'
He turned to Harris then thought 'what an asshole'
There was no reaction.
'It seems the white death's influence has lessened'
Jack fell to the ground lost, so many things had happen in such few moments that he was finally at a lost for words.
He didn't even know which questions to ask, or who he would offer them to.
Right now he sincerely just wanted to rest.
But Harris spoke, drawing his attention.
"Isn't that the white witch you mentioned before"
Jack frowned.
He still hadn't forgiven Harris for cracking his mind open but his actions did wield results so he really couldn't complain.
Sigh.
"Yes, that's her"
"Hmm, she isn't nearly as scary or as ugly as you described her"
"Yeah. I'm thinking this might be an illusion"
"Maybe the fog is trying to trick us"
Harris scoffed then tilted his head in silence.
"Neigh"
A voice suddenly spoke
Jack winched "it's you"
"Yes my friend"
"And what you see here is no mere illusion, it is a paintingof of the past"
"Your friend was right"
"Her heart has began to beat again"
"And the fog is reacting" Harris said, cutting him off.
"Yes. To reach her you must understand her....our story"
"It is the only way you will survives"
Jack sighed again.
It seemed that their treacherous ordeal was still far from over.
And he was tired of standing at the edge of life and death.
"Am sorry my friend but it must be done"
The painting began to change, it's colours twisted and swirled, trying to express a new painting.
An old past.
...
Once again the fog changed, making it seem like they had stepped into yet another world.
The whirlpool of colours had settled, creating yet again another beautiful but ominous painting.
The calming field of flowers were gone, replaced by a pulsing sea of blood that submerged the land.
A serpentine creature laid at centre of the red sea, her glistening black scales tainted by blood.
Mountains upon mountains of corpses encircled her, reaching into the sky.
Jack staggered back, bile rising in his throat.
He clenched his jaw until it hurt.
'It's just a painting'.
'It isn't real'.
He stared back at a serpentine creature sculpted out of fog and asked.
"What am I looking at"
The creature remained quiet for a moment and spoke.
"Before my mother was summoned to the wasteland"
"There was already war"
"War?"
"Yes. Hundreds of species fought each other to the death to save their people"
"But it was different for her, she had already lost everyone"
"There was no one to fight for, no home to return to"
"So she created a new goal, she wanted to create a safe place for us"
Jack stared back into the painting, eyes wide.
'We were wrong'
'We had thought the summoning began with us but there were others, so many others before us'
Jack turned back to the creature and asked hesitantly.
"Did any of them make it back home"
"That I do not know"
Harris stood silent beside Jack, his head lowered.
To him this all seemed eerily familiar, too familiar.
He bit his lip hard and cursed.
'So that's what you're doing here william, old friend'
'Trying to prevent another tragedy, are you"
He stared at the thousands of corpses in the painting and grimaced.
'But it seems like you're too late per usual, they are all already dead'
Suddenly Jack tapped Harris on the shoulder.
"What do you think"
His dark gaze fell heavily on jack but he didn't seem to mind.
"They fought, they died"
"Let's move on already"
Jack frowned.
"Fine if you're not willing to share your thoughts, I won't force you"
Sigh.
'Fool, those were my thoughts'
'Well Harris, it seems they are not all dead'
"Yet"
The numerous colours in the painting swirled expressing an old past.
The coloured fog split apart revealing two paintings.
At one side of the fog was a serpentine creature with translucent skin standing beneath hundreds if gazes and crooked smiles.
On the other was the mother surrounded by all her children.
Jack's expression strained.
"Is that you in the painting?"
"Yes it is"
"I see....what with all the smiles and eyes"
He gestured at the other painting.
"All mother's children looked the same, only I was different, that made them unaccepting of me"
Jack frowned and stared back into the painting.
If he looked closely, he could see writings within the awful gazes.
'Unsightly'
'Disgusting'
'Not one of us'
The words were hateful to say least.
"They hated you"
The serpentine creature nodded.
"There was a lack of understanding"
Jack scoffed.
"Lack of understanding? Ha, I bet they never even bothered to try"
Jack's words shook something within it and it turned towards the painting of their mother.
"Mother was always caring towards me but also quite distant"
"I still remember her words"
'They may hate you but given time they will love you like I do'
'They are your brothers and sisters child, they will come to accept you and I hope you will accept them'
"At that time I was surprised"
"Why"
"How did she not know that I already had accepted them, I never bore any hatred for them"
"That was why i grew to have such a one sided bond with them"
"They could peer into my mind and feelings but I couldn't peer into theirs"
He stared at the crooked smiles.
"I was left outside and they relished that feeling"
"How did she not know"
"She was the anchor"
Jack couldn't exactly understand his words, he was human, he had experienced loneliness and hate yet the pain of this creature seem to cut deeper.
Much deeper and still he bore no hate.
"I thought you would be more angry, you should be more angry"
The serpentine creature shook his head.
"Are you angry"
Jack cursed.
"Damn right I'm angry"
"You should be angry" Harris said
"You have the right to be"
Jack's anger hung heavy in the air, but the creature remained calm, its gaze fixed on the fog.
Harris shifted his gaze to the second painting and asked.
"What happening there"
"On that day we all weeped"
"Mother was....sick, there was no way to cure her"
Both painting swirled then merged together revealing yet another past.
The painting seemed the same has the one before it.
The weeping children surrounded the ill mother but this time standing beside her was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Jack frowned.
"I don't suppose that's also one of your mothers children"
"NEIGH, that is an abomination, a monster wearing the skin of one of our own"
"I could tell the moment I realised I could peer into his mind, he was not one of us"
"Then who was he"
"I do not know but he infected us one at a time"
"He deceived them by using the bonds they shared"
"He wrought our ruin"
Harris muttered something beneath his breath then asked.
"What did he do"
"He lied."
"He said he had a cure."
"But the disease only spread… until it reached all of us."
"Then he blamed Mother."
"He said it began with her."
"He said that if she died… the infection would end."
"And soon they thought"
Words echoed from the fog.
'If mother loved us, she would die for us, she wouldn't want us to suffer"
The spentine creature carved from fog grimaced.
"They were afraid of death but they also did not want to bear responsibility of killing her"
"So in their twisted hearts they made her into an unwillingly matyr"
The painting changed once more.
The fog painted a grim reality.
Skies as red as blood.
Weeping shadows casted upon rocks wet with blood.
And a mother caressing the hilt of a spear thrust into her own heart.
"What's going on"
"They knew mother could hear their thoughts"
"They knew she loved them"
"And they used that love against her"
"She...she took her own life"
Jack bit his lip until he tasted blood.
For a moment he couldn't breathe.
They hadn't killed her with their hands.
They had killed her with love.
Harris sighed then let out a slow breath
'How bittersweet'
'Such is the fate of those who love blindly'
He turned towards the creature
"Were they cured"
"NO....and even in their last moments they still clung to her , never letting her go".
"They twisted her heart and they twisted themselves"
The colours vanished and the fog returned to its original form.
"And they became this"
"I watched it all happen"
"But I was powerless"
"And eventually I too died"
Jack thought back to what he saw on the river and asked in a solemn voice.
"So is this their punishment"
The serpentine creature shook his head.
"Now you must make a choice"
"And what choice is that?"
Whispering, Harris said
"that's the end to their story"
He turned towards jack.
"It seems my time is up"
"What?"
"Well it was fun while it lasted"
"What are you talking about"
Harris stared into the fog and smiled.
"This isn't something I can handle, it isn't in my field of expertise so It seems that the crude old man will be resurfacing"
"crude old man? Do you mean William Harris"
"Yep"
"Oh and one last thing my name isn't William Harris"
"It's Shaw"
Immediately he said that his entire demeanor changed.
Jack could sense it, the cheerful, playful person was gone and something else had taken it's place.
Harris glanced at jack.
"Leave this to me"
Saying that, he walked into the fog and vanished.