TIARA'S FORGOTTEN MEMORIES - THE VESSEL OF THE CURSE

My name is Tiara Hikari, and this is my lost story.

"...Tiara, my lovely daughter..."

My mother was waiting for me at an empty wide room of our Japanese-style house. She was sitting down on a mat in a traditional manner as if she was about to reveal something to a four-year-old me.

She was alluringly beautiful. Long black hair, fair white skin, and golden brown puppy eyes. All females from the Hikari bloodlines are this gorgeous as if we are the model of the word beauty itself. Some people say that our beauty can rival the goddesses of any mythology.

But behind the beauty of my mother is a pitiful suffering. I can see the passionate cries of her soul inside that crimson left eye of hers.

"Mama..." I rushed to my mom and hugged her tight.

"Tiara... Tiara my dear... I'm sorry if I will leave you this early..."

"...Mama... Don't go, please..." I cried.

"Promise me that you will have a happy life. Promise me that you will find the love of your life, who will undo the Curse of the Brightmore Witch for you and the future generation of our bloodline..."

"Mama... I don't understand... Mama..."

"You will, Tiara. You will understand once you grow up. Just promise me... that you will remove the Curse..."

"I... promise..."

Suddenly, my mother gave me a kiss to my lip. Her tongue swirled inside my mouth, and then I felt that she is pushing an orb straight to my throat! It blocked my windpipe, but after a second, I managed to successfully ingest the spherical curse.

Mama pulled her face away from me after that, and then she hugged me tight as water droplets crawled to her cheeks.

"I'm sorry for being a bad mother... But I have to do this. I can't take the curse anymore. But you, my beautiful daughter... I know you can do it. I know you can do what I have failed to achieve."

Suddenly, the walls blasted. Several people came in; men, women, children, farmers, priests, fishermen. All of them aggressively breached our house for some unknown reason.

All of them have hollow black eyes oozing with black blood. I can feel their hatred towards my mother who offered no resistance when she was grabbed and chained.

"...Everything will be okay, Tiara... I promise..."

"Mama!" I cried.

Then there was a blunt weapon that hit me to the head.

<>

The next time I woke up, I was already inside a ring of gigantic flames. I am laying flat in a hill of the haystack, and at the center of it, is my mother tied on a wooden pole. Sweat ran down to our faces as we endured the extreme temperatures of the burning stake.

I can't do anything! I'm shackled by chains! I can't even crawl to my mother properly!

"Don't worry... My daughter... For he is coming to save you. Just promise me that you will live a happy life..."

Suddenly, a tall man wearing a white hooded cloak landed in front of me. I could no longer remember his face, but I'm certain that he is the one who will save me from my doom. The white knight carried me and then dashed at an extreme speed, leaving my mother alone in the burning stake.

"Aaaaaaah!!!" My mother screamed as the flames melted her skin.

"Mama!" I cried. Then I slammed the white knight's shoulder over and over in protest. "Why didn't you save her!?"

"I... I'm sorry, Tiara...." The mysterious white man had his voice full of sorrow. "This... This is needed so that your fate will be changed."

"Noooo! No! Bring my mama back!"

The white hooded knight handed the four-year-old me to a shrine maiden with long brown hair with chocolate eyes. She looks like a fifteen-year-old in face and in height.

"Asumi. Please take care of her from now on." The white knight said.

"Are you sure about this? The Curse of the Brightmore Witch will make her suffer again and again. That goes for you too. You will just destroy your own body if you keep doing this. It would be better if you let the timeline and fate do its thing." Asumi said.

"With determination, I will never give up." The man said with a genuine smile.

The shrine maiden named Asumi just smirked in reply.

I was still crying for the loss of my loved one, so to pacify me, Asumi held my forehead and cast a spell which made me asleep.

<>

From then on, Miss Asumi Kozukata nurtured me and trained me to become a shrine maiden like her. She said that I also should follow my mother's footsteps to become a Gate Guardian.

But the other shrine maidens don't approve my existence in the shrine. I was bullied. Defied. Tortured. By my fellow shrine maidens. I never made any friends for the reason that I am cursed. My left eye is colored crimson red, which is the obvious sign that I am the Brightmore Witch.

There was one time when I was busy sweeping the entrance of the shrine when some kids from the outside world threw stones at me.

"Go away, demon!"

"Die, witch!"

"You cursed human should be roasted together with barbecue sauce!"

That's just three of the hundred hurtful words I endured. Physical bruises and wounds are bearable, but those hurtful words are different.

Suddenly, one random adult man stopped the kids. "Hey, what are you doing to the poor little girl?"

"We are just killing the witch! Look at her left eye, it's certainly the eye of the devil!" One of the kid said.

"You kids are the worst." The man shook his head. "If you're going to kill that girl, then you guys should aim better!"

Then the adult man joined in to punish me. He gave me a direct hit to my forehead, which proceeded to bleed non-stop.

"Hey, stop this at once!" A teen shrine maiden, Ayano, shouted at the wrongdoers. When the kids and the adult man noticed her, they quickly ran away to escape this crime scene.

Miss Ayano approached me and cleaned the wounds with her handkerchief.

"Miss Ayano... Am I really a bad person? Why does everyone despise me? Am I really a devil? Am I... A witch?"

"Don't believe what those judgmental people tell you. All of it is not true. You're an angel to us."

"B-But why are the shrine maidens avoiding me?" I cried.

"That's...." Ayano halted as she failed to give any excuses.

Tears ran down to my cheeks as I decided on myself that I should go away. Away from anyone else. So I ran, unaware of the path I randomly chose.

I know it.

I am cursed.

I am the devil.

I am the witch.

I know it very well that I don't belong anywhere.

"Tiara!" Ayano tried to chase me, but when I entered the mountain forest, I managed to shake her off my tail.

<>

Night time came. For some reason, I made my way to the riverbank, where some of the people gather. There are all sorts of light coming from the stalls on the other side of the bank, and the river gives a beautiful reflection that makes it look like starry skies.

I went to the river and looked at my reflection. My left crimson eye is glowing like a blood moon. Seeing this really made me sad. I curled myself and hugged my knees as I proceeded to cry.

"Are you lost, little girl?"

It was the person who talked to me casually for the very first time. He's cute and handsome. Blonde hair, green eyes, and kissable lips. He lent out his hand to me.

"I'm Alaric. What's your name?"