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WELCOME TO VOLUME 4.

PROLOGUE

They said trees were sanctuaries. It provided some of the most common and admired ways for the wind to make itself heard. But not today. This tree had an unorthodox method to give the wind its voice to announce its presence.

As the wind blew carefully from the east, Aries heard the soft chime caressing her ears. Not a single leaf fell on her, standing barefoot under a gigantic leafless ironwood tree.

When another wave of soft wind blew past Aries, she slowly raised her head. The sound of chime resonated in her ears once more; the melody was almost calming, if not for the fact those small bells that lent wind a voice, dangled from each toe of the eleven women hanging upon the tree.

What a cruel world,

she thought, wondering what could these women have possibly done to deserve this atrocity.

"The earth tasted their blood, mortals took their lives, creatures stole their flesh, and now, the wind shames them," Aries whispered, narrowing her eyes as she kept her gaze at the bodies whose bare feet swayed along the direction of the wind. "They… did nothing wrong."

Her lips were drawn in a thin line, catching the tangerine with a golden undertone shine upon the corpse, making their shadow stretch as far as it could reach.

"The sky was stunning… as ever," she hummed, moving her eyes at the orange glow in the sky, crawling across it as if the sun bids this world a farewell with an embrace. "I wonder… if it knew how dreadful it is for some whenever he goes away while the hushed moon takes over?"

​ A shallow breath slipped past Aries\'s lips, snapping her eyes ever so tenderly. She then slowly twisted her upper body, looking back at the two figures standing several meters from her.

Her eyes lingered on the child\'s face. The latter\'s clothing was plain and worn-out, standing barefoot, holding the woman\'s wrinkled hand beside her. She had short and tousled white hair that was inches above her shoulders, eyes as green as the lush grass, reflecting what this cruel world appeared in her eyes.

The child looked at Aries squarely before the latter shifted her eyes to the older woman beside the child. She wore the same worn-out and thin dress. Her black crinkled long hair was everywhere, but it did not bother her. She also had the same clear green eyes, but unlike the look in that child\'s eyes as if she had just first seen the actual face of this wild world, the older lady bore sympathy and regret.

"Do you know them?" asked Aries after studying them in a span of a minute.

Both the elderly and the child glanced up at the people hanging on the tree. They only looked at it for a few seconds before gazing back at Aries once again. They didn\'t nod, nor did they shake their heads. They just looked at her silently, but Aries didn\'t feel the slightest discomfort.

"Will you not speak to me this time as well?" Aries asked with a deep sigh, and patiently waited for any answer but just like the first time she started having this vision, they said nothing. All they did was stare at her and stand in that same spot. They wouldn\'t even give her the slightest sign.

"I guess I\'ll just keep seeing this…" she trailed off, arching her brows as the child moved for the first time.

The child kept her eyes on Aries, raising her hand and pointing a finger at her. Aries\'s brows knitted in confusion, only to hear another wave of the soft chimes ringing in her ears. Aries\'s heart thudded as she turned.

Aries didn\'t completely turn to face the tree but stopped when she caught another woman standing beside her. This was the first time she had seen this woman, who was around her age or a little older than her.

The woman was staring at the hanging tree, her eyes gold with a tint of red. A thin layer of tears was coating her beautiful slit eyes, holding her pain untold. There was a scream from deep within them that desperately tried to escape her mouth as if her terrified soul had unleashed a demon.

"The earth tasted their blood, mortals took their lives, creatures stole their flesh, and now, the wind shames them." The woman\'s quivering lips parted, whispering the exact words Aries spoke just moments ago. "They… did nothing wrong."

"You…" Aries called under her breath, and her pupils went wide when the woman\'s eyes slid to the corner to glance at her. "... can see me?"

Aries held her breath as the woman carefully turned her head to her squarely. Her golden eyes slowly went up and down on Aries, her expression hard, and her hands were firmly held on her side.

"I wish I didn\'t," the woman replied while her eyes narrowed. "The same goes with them. I wish to not have seen them hanging in there."

She slowly set her eyes back to the hanging tree. "They screamed, \'burn the witch!\' and I thought they meant to burn her in the stakes. Not only did they take what I can give, but all I have. They had succeeded."

"This fury is burning me, creating this inferno — it seeks to harm." The woman\'s voice shook, pain, sadness, and anger condensing into one. They said anger was the body of sadness, and Aries somehow understood the roots of this woman\'s wrath.

"I did everything right and everything they have is what I made, yet they squander it like thankless children. No matter what I do, this place… had always been a God damn mess." A short and dry laugh escaped her lips, eyes shining with wrath, about to get unleashed without second thoughts of the consequences. "I was better left alone, but… I reckoned they deserve to see the nurtured fire seed they forced down my throat. They asked for it."

The woman\'s expression was stern, facing Aries. She raised a hand and stretched it to Aries, stopping midway.

"Soon… I, we, Maleficent, will have this world at our mercy." Her lips turned into a cunning smile. "Wait for me."

Aries furrowed her brows, only to hold her breath as she caught multiple figures standing around them. She glanced around, only to see the child and the older woman, and a few more wearing the same worn-out dress looking back at them from a distance. When Aries peaked down, she recoiled upon seeing she was also wearing the same clothing just like them. However, a hand suddenly grabbed her hand just as she jumped back.

"You cannot deny me," said the woman holding Aries\'s wrist until it turned red. "You are me, and I am you. They were you and you are them. We are one. We are Maleficent."