A Price Willingly Paid

She was 5 when she learned what the world was. When her parents were taken from her, she was left in the care of an orphanage that treated the kids like animals and often turned their backs on the ones who were defective.

Her long pointed ears, fangs, and black whites of her eyes showed that she was one of these ‘ruined’ children. Her wraith heritage made the caretakers make her wear a hat to cover her ears and lock her in a closet whenever potential parents came to visit so that she wouldn’t scare them off.

Yet through years of banging on the door and begging for a chance, she still held on to hope that she would find her family again.

She was seven when the orphanage started to force the kids to walk through the streets and beg for donations. Seven when they started to hope kids wouldn’t make it back for dinner, so they didn’t have to feed them.

She had seen a family going from stall to stall, shopping at the market for something fresh to eat. The little girl smiled up at everything, while she was forced to keep her hat on and eyes on the ground.

It wasn’t fair.

When she walked up to the family, hoping for some donations so that she could eat, the little girl tried to take the one pretty coin that she had in her cup.

A struggle started, and in it, she lost her hat, narrowed her eyes, and bore her teeth. The mother saw. The mother screamed. A crowd gathered around them, all of them chanting threats of death to the demon that attacked a young girl.

Yet, somehow, even as tears ran down her face and she was forced to flee the one home she’d ever know, she held onto hope that one day, she too could smile like that little girl.

She lived on the edge of the forest outside of the town for a while. When she turned eight, she had made friends with a boy who had a hunter’s spirit.

The boy wanted to play and swore to keep her a secret. When the boy complained that she never put up a fight, she had.

Yet, the one time she left a mark after he left scrapes and bruises on her for weeks, hunters showed up at her hiding spot and almost named her right then and there.

She could see the boy at the center of it all, a frightened expression on his face as he watched her get attacked.

She ran and hid, for that was all she had known, and despite the betrayal of the boy, she held out hope that she would have a friend in this world.

She was ten when she was captured and forced into a soul farm. Wraiths were the only ones with the ability to steal and preserve souls from living creatures, so she was forced to take and watch the live leaves out of the animal’s eyes.

Many people bought from this place. From corrupt rulers to gang members, she saw it all.

She had given up hope for this place but held onto her life. There was nothing left to save her, not when she was forced to sleep in the same barn next to the animals she was bound to kill.

When she was 15, the doors to her barn opened with a loud slam, leaving her confused.

Voices called out, looking for anyone inside. She didn’t see a reason to hide anymore, so she stepped out into the light with her hands by her head.

To her shock, it was a group of adventures dressed in white armor with blue accents. Smug smiles crossed all of their faces as their horses stood in the background.

“Wraith, right?” A girl asked as she held up a burnt cloth orb with a swirling blue flame inside. “We need your help.”

The orb the girl had was a soul orb, a sphere with the ability to rip the very essence of a human out of their body and send them to the underworld.

They were the group sent by the Oakland gild to stop the dread ruler from coming to earth. A demon by the name of Daphga, which is the wraith’s word for eternal chaos.

Her armies threatened to break out of the underworld and lay waste to their own. The one reason they hadn’t invaded yet was the soul orb, which held the only portal to the underworld in existence.

It could only be destroyed with the same type of flame that was inside of it, essen light, anyway else would lead to the army being unleashed.

However, only wraiths could hold the soul orb. The only reason that the woman, whose name was Amy, could have it in her hands was because of the cloth that the orb was trying to burn away.

Wraiths didn’t have normal souls, it was why they were able to take souls, and why the orb couldn’t take theirs.

The adventure excited her. Her hope heightened. Maybe this was the chance she needed to do something good with her life– To finally be accepted and appreciated.

Oh, how naive is she?

“Let’s move it, wraith!” Amy shouted in front of her. Sophie rolled her eyes. She had tried to tell the girl who came from a family dripping with jewels that she had a name, but the other didn’t seem to care.

“Why are you smiling? What are you planning?” That was Deven. He always accused her of plotting something. Always saying that she was a traitor. Yet, when she asked about the plan of getting her out of the temple safely, they all blocked her out and shooed her away.

Getting rid of the orb was dangerous. Essen light was bad enough, burning a portal in essen light? It was bound to cause an explosion, and she needed to know what was their plan for getting her up and back safely.

When they entered the woods Daphga’s temple was in, the days passed in a daze. Memories of fear and helplessness came rushing back to her and left her tossing and turning in her sleep.

She tried to hold out hope for the mission, but it was getting harder by the day.

She almost ran into Amy, who had stopped suddenly.

She looked at the woman, then to where she was staring, and her eyes widened.

In Front of them stood a stone pyramid with pillars on each corner. At the very top of the temple, there was a box with an eye design engraved into it.

This was it. This was Daphga’s temple.

They slowly approached the temple. Sophie’s eyes traced over it as she stared at the twisting vines and moss that grew on it. A thick layer of dirt and dust settled on the stone, which was cracking with age.

Sophie noticed that the others started to hang back a bit as they walked. She glanced behind her as her hands started to shake a bit. She bounced her leg and tried to ignore the feeling of dread that looked over her like the temple’s shadow.

They reached the entrance, and she was forced to get off her horse to try and open it. As she glanced around at the stone wall, she noticed that she was the only one who got off her horse to try and open it.

As she studied the rock carefully, she heard Deven speak.

“Can’t you hurry this up? We’re burning daylight out here?” Sophie scoffed. “Well, I don’t see you helping to open the thing,” she mentioned.

Silence followed as she ran her hand along the engravings in the stone. She noticed how the engravings came together to form a circle. She looked at the ruins on the wall and noticed them as her language.

“To all that the souls who enter– Beware of the thief. To the ones without, join the feast.”

As she muttered this, the carvings glowed a neon blue and the stone shifted out of her way.

She smiled and turned back to the others, seeing that they were still on their horses.

“What are you guys waiting for? Let’s head inside,” she offered, a smile on her face.

The two only looked at her. Shame and unease mixed into their expressions.

Her smile slowly started to fall.

“Guys?” She asked, her voice wavering. “Come on…”

Deven didn’t look at her. “Listen, Sophie… Some of us have to survive this–”

“And there’s no room for a wraith on this plane. You’ll finally be at peace now.”

In those words, Sophie’s world shattered.

She was dragged all this way– Had endured countless days of scorn– Just for this? To be left to die.

She sucked in her lip and looked down, hiding her eyes.

“Alright. Fine. I get it.”

Anger rested in her voice. She turned and walked away from her glorified handlers.

When she stepped into the temple, the door slammed shut behind her. She let out a shuddering breath.

The temple was damp and cold. Shadows hung in the air and danced around her. The inside was wide open and almost empty. Statues showing humanoids of various species in pain lined a path to stairs that led up to the top of another pyramid in the middle of the room.

At the top of the pyramid, a blue glow was seen.

Determination fueled her as she started to march up the stairs, yet hesitation and regret heavied heavily on her body.

The lack of sleep pulled her like chains as she walked up the stone stairs. Nothing but her, the sound of her footsteps kept her company. A chill ran up her spine.

Here she was, most likely about to die, and the people who brought her here couldn’t even be bothered to be with her.

She couldn’t see past her resentment as the blue mist rose. It swirled around her feet and crawled up her body.

It was only when she was coughing on it that she realized it was even there–

“Sophie.”

Fear rushed through her veins. She whipped around and scanned the temple.

It was filled with blue smoke. The smog encased the floors and made it impossible to see more than a foot.

“Why are you angry, Sophie?”

Somewhere inside of her, a primal need to run was ticked off. Her eyes went wide as sweat dripped down her face. Her hands were shaking.

“Is it because, despite all of your attempts to be good, you’re still treated like the bad guy?”

“Or because right outside, the two who have hurt you are getting everything they want, at the cost of your life?”

She couldn’t move. She felt frost build up on her legs, hands rose from the myst and grabbed onto her calves. She felt hands placed on her shoulders.

“It’s always at the cost of you, isn’t it?”

Memories flashed before her eyes. Reminders of the fear, pain, and confusion she has always felt. The hurt and betrayal of knowing that everyone wants you dead because of how you came out, because of something you can’t control, weighed on her, pushing her down, making her question why she kept going.

“I understand, my kindra.”

That was when it clicked into Sophia’s head.

This was Daphga’s myst form. The only form she could take without the portal being opened.

She’s harmless if you’re not in her domain.

“And I can help you, you know?” With a flick of her wrist, the mist moved. “I can bring them back.”

Tears welled into Sophie’s eyes as the mist grew into two forms she has had to reimagine time and time again. The faces of who she thought were her parents stared back at her.

They looked at her with a pleasant smile. They looked at her without the fear they were used to. They looked like they loved her.

“I can give you them and so much more,” the voice purred. “I can make you a world where you can shine as bright as you want, where people are drawn to you, and where you don’t have to hide.”

“If you give me the means to make this world a place for people like us.”

She watched as her mother, who was the one her wraith DNA came from, turned to her fully and approached her.

“Go on, Sophie.”

Her mother reached out a hand to her.

“Let go of the orb.”

Sophie couldn’t hold on anymore, even if she tried.

The orb shattered on the steps, and her world snapped to black.

—

Sophie’s world was suddenly filled with bright colors and soft sounds. A smile immediately overtook her face as she got out of her bed and rushed through the small house.

She headed downstairs to the dining room where her parents had thoughtfully laid out her favorite breakfast for her to eat.

That breakfast was filled with laughter and smiles. Sophie leaned in as her mother stroked her hair just like she did when she was a child, and her father said kind words and support to her.

When breakfast was over, there was a knock on the door. She came rushing to see who it was, and to her delight, it was her friends.

She had a group of people close to her that she was currently working on a project with– Where everyone took up what they could of the work and supported and appreciated each throughout it all.

As she was walking through the streets, she beamed with pride at the people who passed by. They smiled back at her. No screaming. No fear. They were just greeting each other on the streets like equals.

She was heading to the part of her hometown. She wanted to meet up with one of her closest friends to discuss what had been going on in their lives.

It took longer than she expected to find her friend, yet when she did, they immediately got to talking. They laughed and smiled at each other as they complemented one another's looks and what they did this morning.

As she sat in the park with the friend she had grown close to, she felt a tingle ripple up her body, making her silver.

A sense of unease settled in her gut as she looked around at the world she found herself in.

The tree’s leaves were too round. The park stretched on as far as she could see, as though there was nothing left but the park and the town she had lived in. Her friend was calling out her name, but it was monotone, lacking the usual concern someone may have.

Her mouth was a bit too wide. Her fingers are a bit too long.

Sophie froze when she heard a grinding sound.

Turning around, she watched a tear slowly open in her world. Ripping through the fragile fabric and peeling back the mask she had so blindly followed.

She stood and walked over to where the hole was, her world felt blurry. It was almost like she was on autopilot, her body was moving toward it completely on its own.

On the trip, she could see the world she once knew. The one she used to live in.

Flames scorched the earth below. Rivers of lava flooded the streets. Some parts of the earth were frozen solid.

Her mind was left spinning, and her breath hitched.

What had she done– Oh, gods. What has she done?

The world around me started to look flat. Paper-thin trees surrounded her, and people with drawn-on smiles stared at her. Waiting for her reaction.

She watched as the world she once tried to love burned, her heart pained with guilt, but what could she do?

She couldn’t go back and change her actions, and what good would she do if she went back?

She betrayed that land. She had allowed an army unlike anyone's worst nightmares to enter the realm. How could she go back there? How could she face everything that she had done?

… Why would she want to go back? What did this world do for her? What reason did she have to go back?

That world wronged her. Tormented her. She had held onto hope for so long– Hope the world would change. Hope that the world isn't cruel.

She couldn’t keep holding onto hope. Not when time and time again she was kicked down and harmed.

With a deep breath, she turned away from the crack. With that last breath, she turned away from the world– The real world– That had caused her so much harm.

She smiled at her friend and walked toward her, she waved at the people with drawn-on smiles in the streets, she walked back to the paper-thin buildings, and she ignored all the signs. All the ways that the world was ripping apart at the seams went by her. She looked past the holes that revealed how the real world was burning due to her.

She had everything she wanted now. She had a world of her own. Where she didn’t have to hide. Where she was loved. Where she had friends.

Yet, it was fake. She knew it was fake.

So if that’s what it takes to be accepted… Living in a world made of paper is what it takes to be loved. Is watching the world that harmed her burn all that it cost to finally be happy, even if it’s all fake?

Then let her ignore the cries, just like they ignored her. Let them burn the same way she did.

She had held on to that world for so long.

And it felt so good to just let go.