Fading

This short story is about the origins of The Memory Scrambler - a powerful being that was once a young bride named Sofayna that has been used for centuries by Sithmora under the orders of Demise.

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Standing in an empty clearing outside a small church near the woods was a tall, muscular man next to a small, cloaked woman with messy black hair. Her skin was pale and her gray eyes were currently bloodshot. The god’s hair was long and dark auburn. He had tan skin, and his eyes shimmered with a dark green hue. Occasionally the veins around his toned muscles glowed with a faint emerald light.

Despite the overwhelmingly eerie silence, the god could sense consistent internal shrieking radiating from inside the church that stood before them. The victims within the cursed walls couldn’t speak or move, so each of them only could mentally scream; the witch couldn’t hear their internal voices, but he could. When the god strained his focus to pinpoint one of the tormented entities, the green brilliance from his veins intensified. He locked his attention on Sofayna’s thoughts, and abruptly he caught a flash of her vision, but before he could hear and see more, he pulled away.

“Demise approved of this idea so much he pressured me for days to Bless your curse,” he stopped for a breath as he observed the scene from afar. “What is this darkness of yours doing to them?” quizzed the god as he locked eyes with the brunette witch.

“Why do you care?” She snapped. “Demise needs this for her spirit to be transformed into something useful.”

The god was taken aback but shrugged. “I never said it out of care or concern for them - I’m just asking to satisfy my own curiosity,” he grinned.

The witch rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. “The torment of their souls is necessary to force the change within her essence - if we are to mutate her spirit, we must crush it with negative energy.

“They are all slowly being picked apart in front of her. Gradually they fade with a burning sensation like they’re being burned alive, but this takes far longer, and they can’t speak or move; they’re just frozen in place, unable to comfort or console. Only staring at the other, watching pieces of them fade away with scorching agony.

“Sofayna’s precious groom will be the last to go in front of her, leaving her spirit alone in sheer turmoil.” Abruptly the witch spun toward the god, her eyes piercing through the night with a menacing glow.

“He was supposed to be with me!” She screamed her throat raw, tears gushing down her soot-covered face. There was no fire burning around them - ash and smoke had commenced surrounding the witch as her emotions escalated out of control. “For years I did everything for him! Everything I sacrificed! Everything I lost—I lost for him!” She paused as her body shook. “But in the end, he always had a soft spot for her.”

“Now her spirit will soon be a powerful tool for Demise, you’re welcome!” She cackled manically. Before the god could respond or hardly even react to her mental breakdown, the witch curtly vanished in a cloud of smoke as her laughter continued to echo around him. His eyes narrowed as he stared toward the church.

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Ten years passed - moss and other forms of vibrant plant life had swarmed the church, covering it in a sea of green. Inside the eerie tomb, behind the locked doors and boarded-up windows, Sofayna’s lover was almost completely faded from her sight. As he slipped away from her, a shadowy mist crept along the floors of the church and rapidly engulfed Sofayna.

Promptly a loud explosion erupted from inside the church with the blood-chilling echo of a woman’s agonized scream.

“Finally,” a deep voice grumbled. Outside of the church stood a cloaked figure with four women dressed in black with various weapons strapped to their bodies. “Go in and retrieve The Memory Scrambler. This new beast will be a challenge, so be prepared. Demise has commanded we start using her immediately—so, no playing with your prey. Just get it over with as soon as possible.”

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Once the word of this event got out and started spreading faster and faster, witch-hunting became more popular and even taken beyond “celebration of liberation from fear,” with some women being accused and tortured wrongfully on purpose to be silenced so they couldn’t speak out against the real evils among the people.

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Thank you for reading! :)

The Chronicles of Enchantments Wiki

— Demise — Sithmora — Sofayna —

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Sofayna was a smart young woman about to marry the love of her life, but their wedding was ripped apart and many were destroyed, not quickly slaughtered but slowly methodically picked apart with powerful, sinister magic - as they all slowly faded, frozen in place, unable to move or speak, just stuck falling apart, watching each other.

- They were locked inside the church; the “entity” floated through the room, then “vaporized” into the atmosphere and infected the people - frozen in place while they are slowly “faded” - felt like “burning” slowly - they can’t speak or move.

- This tragic process gathered a lot of negative energy that cursed the spot and the spirits. Some were lost into Periat Animas once they were “picked apart” - the last one to fade was Sofayna, watching her friends and family and then her lover stripped from her - slowly frozen in place. Being the last one, this center of powerful dark energy mutated/cursed Sofayna’s spirit, giving her the abilities she has now - The Memory Scrambler.

- This was done a long time ago so she could be “used” by Domorda, Sithmora, Demise, etc.

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