[BL] Guardians of Fate
Chapter 62 - 18: Curses and Sacrifices [2]

Chapter 62: Chapter 18: Curses and Sacrifices [2]

Everything seemed to freeze in that moment. The words stood out in front of him, black ink against slightly yellowed pages, seeming to pulsate in his vision. For a moment, Luke forgot to breathe.

The owner of this house didn’t look that old when Luke had caught a glimpse of him back at the Church. Instead, the person seemed to be in his early or mid-thirties. If this information in the entry happened years ago, then there should be no mistake.

The Otherworlder Guardian that this person was talking about in this entry... should be one of Luke’s Guardians.

He leaned back in his seat for a moment and gazed up at the ceiling. He didn’t know what to make of this newfound information. He figured it must have been a misunderstanding, but that was usually the life of Otherworlder Summoners and Guardians. Even if it wasn’t really their fault, people would still blame them. That was their fate.

Luke smiled wryly. He was a Summoner, but he had never, not even once, taken the initiative to look for one of his Guardians. With Zach, he didn’t have to do anything because they had grown up in the same village and had naturally become best friends.

Other than Zach, Luke didn’t see the need to search for anyone else. Why should he? Even if he completed the Final Ritual to become a full-fledged Summoner, the people would never respect him. Some even thought that because of his cursed existence, the Calamity would return sooner than expected.

In a way, it was true. After all, it was believed that his kind carried a curse with them. Over the centuries, Otherworlders had been seen as harbingers of destruction, and it wasn’t entirely unfounded.

Otherworlders were connected to the dark energy of the Calamity, which meant that the demonic entity was attracted to them and would follow them around the world no matter what. It was basically hungry for their souls, and that included the Otherworlder’s Summoners and Guardians.

Otherworlder Summoners were typically identified by their unique ’Marks’ and colors. The normal Summoner’s Mark consisted of two swirling lines forming something resembling a circle, with three small stars in the center. Whenever a Summoner used their magic, the mark would glow a distinct orange.

An Otherworlder’s Mark, on the other hand, also had two swirling lines, but with a slightly larger crescent moon symbol in the center. This symbol would usually glow blue whenever the user would cast their magic.

A cursed symbol, Luke thought to himself absently as he returned to the journal entry.

It was strange. Even though he wasn’t a full-fledged Summoner yet, his chest tightened at the thought of his Guardian having a bad childhood. He had never met this person before, but there was already an attachment in his heart.

He turned the page and started to read.

‏‏‎ ‎

[A strange family moved in that day. I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was the peak season in the village. The weather was beautiful, the crops were thriving, and my business was doing well. I had proposed to my love, Pennie, and we were to be married the next month.

They were father and son. The father’s name was Arthur, and the son’s was Kael. At first the villagers welcomed them warmly. They lived far from the center, near the woods.

But a few days later everything changed. Perhaps someone found out by accident and told everyone. Since then, no one had trusted them. Whispers of curses and bad omens followed them like shadows. Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the village soured, as did the mood of everyone there.

I, on the other hand, did not like the villagers’ treatment of the family. When I was young, I didn’t appreciate prejudice, especially when the hatred was unfounded.

I was a fool.

My family became a fool along with me. We decided to ignore the gossip and warnings and invited the family over. At first, Arthur and Kael were shocked, but after some prodding from our side, they finally accepted our invitation to dinner.

Apparently it was Kael, the son, who bore the Otherworlder Mark, not Arthur. This only elicited more sympathy from my mother, and I remember she took the child into her arms to comfort him.

I honestly do not remember much of what happened that night and my interactions with them. I was busy helping my fiancée in the kitchen. She had always been the better cook. I miss her so.

Maybe I talked a lot that night. I do not know. But I do not wish to remember. If it’s unconsciously blocked from my mind, it’s better that it stays that way.]

‏‏‎ ‎

Luke flipped the page to read more.

‏‏‎ ‎

[Two days after that dinner, everything had gone wrong. Mom fell ill, and it was spreading fast. We took her to the village doctors, but they couldn’t cure her no matter how hard they tried. The villagers gave them all the herbs they could gather, all the potions and magic spheres... but it was no use.

Maybe it was a new disease, but that didn’t matter. All I knew was that my mother was dying, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Everyone was dumbfounded. What happened? Was it something in the air, or in the water? Nobody knew.

Everyone began pointing fingers at Arthur and Kael. My father recalled my mother’s embrace of the child that night and began to accuse the family of carrying a deadly disease. Some people suggested that it was not a disease, but a curse, and that my family and I were fools for inviting them into the house in the first place.]

‏‏‎ ‎

Luke took a deep breath and flipped to another page. He could already tell that this was going to take a turn for the worse.

‏‏‎ ‎

[A week later, I lost everyone. My mother, my father, my brother and my fiancée. They were all gone. The village had also turned its back on us, thinking that we had somehow inherited the curse.

I began to spiral. The grief was unbearable, even now. Perhaps it was irrational, but I could not bring myself to feel the slightest bit of kindness. I could not forgive them. I still can’t. The pain is still here, deep in my heart.

None of the other villagers had contracted the mysterious disease. Only those of us who had interacted with that family. It was surely no mistake that they were the cause.]