Chapter 6 — A Promise with the Serpent
"From now on, you will never be free again."
Enver's voice was soft, yet sharp like an ancient incantation. He leaned forward, his face just an inch from Medusa's bloodied one.
"Speak your desire. I can grant it... on one condition."
Their eyes met—one cold, one trembling.
"You must bind yourself to a promise with me."
Medusa shivered. Black blood oozed from her wounds. Her serpent-children—born not from a womb but from pain—flew toward the jasmine wards and vanished. Not a single one returned.
Her body shrank, thinning, nearly transparent. Her existence was fading beyond the veil.
"I... I will make the vow," she whispered, bowing before Enver.
And in that moment—Enver stabbed a sword into her back.
Not out of hatred.
But as the seal of a pact.
Medusa disappeared. Leaving nothing—only silence, deeper than death.
---
Inside Xelix's subconscious…
A world opened—dark, red, cracked. A small hell nested inside her soul.
She saw herself. Her past self.
And two children.
Held in the arms of a monstrous, sumo-like figure. Each embrace snapped their bones. The cracking sounded like a hailstorm inside her mind.
Xelix screamed. She cried. But she could not approach.
The infernal ground swallowed her.
"If you want them to be free," the creature said,
"bury their bodies... with your own hands."
Otherwise, their suffering would repeat.
Endlessly.
Xelix fainted.
---
Marva carried her to bed.
Enver stood outside on the veranda, silent, letting the cold night wind graze his skin.
In the distance, a crimson ki-ki beast tore at a jasmine flower.
Enver didn't stop it.
He only watched—wordless.
---
The Next Morning
Enver lay asleep on a long sofa.
His tarot cards fluttered out the window—seeking souls worthy of purification.
Every Purificazione drained body and spirit.
Thirteen hours of sleep was the price.
In another room, Xelix awoke. Her breath heavy.
Marva stood beside her with a tray of food.
"I'll be taking you somewhere," Marva said flatly.
"If it's my home, I can go alone."
Marva looked at her.
"Do you know a sacred place... to bury innocent children?"
Xelix froze.
"You should've died that night," Marva continued. "But you're still alive. Because of his mercy… and because the souls of those two children begged for you."
Xelix's body trembled.
"The pain in your stomach? That was from them. A warning.
A mercy."
Tears dropped silently as she stared at the bread.
Her hands shook.
"Take me there," she whispered.
"But... I don't know where their bodies are."
"They're still at the hospital.
Unclaimed.
Discarded."
Marva clenched her fists. Her rage was quiet. Cold.
---
Outside the room, their steps halted.
Enver stood there.
Three shirt buttons undone.
Hair wet.
Water dripping down his neck to the floor.
Oddly, he always swam fully clothed.
To him, water wasn't for cleansing.
It was for purification.
"Do your duty properly," he said quietly.
Marva nodded, not daring to speak.
---
At the Hospital
The staff refused access.
"We were sent by Lord Enver," Marva said, calm but firm.
"Still not allowed."
Suddenly, a figure stepped in.
Tall. In black uniform. Sharp gaze.
Thadric.
He stared at Xelix.
A blurry memory flickered—of that night. Of a touch that never became intimacy.
"If we don't give them what they want, are you going to start a storm?" Thadric sneered.
"Tell your master... heal your patients properly. Don't do things halfway."
He leaned toward Marva's ear.
"Enver's weak. Needs hours of sleep just for one soul. Pathetic."
"Take that back!" Xelix snapped.
"He's strong. I saw it.
Even when his body was almost destroyed... he fought.
To protect me."
Thadric fell silent. His jaw clenched.
"Give them what they need," he finally said, walking away.
---
In the Mortuary
Two small caskets opened.
The children's bodies moved on their own.
Quietly.
Slowly.
---
At the Sacred Burial Ground
Xelix knelt. Marva stood beside her.
"I want to say something," Marva said.
"It wasn't necessary... but I've changed my mind."
Xelix turned to her.
"You carry a curse. Enver made a pact with the being inside you. That's why you're still alive."
"If I die... will the curse move to someone else?"
"Yes.
To the nearest woman."
Xelix stared for a long moment.
"You… love him, don't you?
Your master."
Marva didn't reply.
But her eyes told everything.
---
In the Prufen Wing
A place reserved for souls that have been purified.
Marva opened the door.
Xelix saw them—children, elders, teenagers.
All silent.
But at peace.
"Those who have been treated… can't return to the normal world," Marva said.
"Their bodies are too pure.
Astral beings would cling to them easily."
Xelix said nothing.
Her regret deeper than any wound.
And among them—
Enver sat in the corner.
Eyes closed.
But he knew who had entered.