The Protector and the Tormented

The Protector and the Tormented (warning: pg)
By~ aREonn


    The world was created by ancients, when their own world had died. It seed to them not so difficult to create a new world in which to have their people live, although none of them being the Writer, and so not meant to create, it would come with a price. A prophecy was made that a child of destruction would be born. His only sign would be his green eyes in a world where all eyes shown yellow. The child would grow older as any; until one day bringing forth the destruction of all they know.
    Many peaceful generations passed as the the people lived on in this new world, until the world became old and its time was nearing an end. A child was born in the usual way. To the delight of his mother; a fifth healthy son. It was not until his eleventh day of life that little Zephaniah opened his eyes and all the world knew of the power nestled within his tiny form. His eyes were green.

    And so Zephaniah grew, hated by the world. The elders worked to convince the people nothing could be done, that the boy should be left to live. What was meant to happen, would. His mother sheltered and protected him from all the cowardly seeking to destroy their destruction itself. Zephaniah was not let outside without escort of three or more grown brothers, even then being a rarity.
    In his isolation, family was as far as Zephaniah's social circle extended. Arabella was his youngest sister, who looked very much like their mother. He became quite fond of her, and she of him. One day in his sixteenth year, her twelfth; they left home unannounced and alone (for whatever reason, it no longer matters). They were attacked.
    Arabella was thrown aside as their attackers were only after the child of destruction. Terrified she ran and hid in the nearby bushes,  watching helplessly as they held Zephaniah down and beat him. only slightly older than their victim, the attackers were just boys ridden with fear and hate. They focused their anger upon his eyes, for that was the sign setting him apart from the rest. His eyes that glowed green through the tears and blood they took from him. They began to cut out his eyes.
    Already half blind, Zephaniah lashed out with the uncontrollable power locked within him. The darkness was unleashed in giant waves, first killing his attackers, then causing the world to tremble as it was demolished at its end.
     In the end Zephaniah was thrown from the world, and Arabella (although separated) also thrown and let live in his love for her.


    he woke up alone and without memory; not knowing where, who, or even what he was. all he could recall was a name; Zephaniah, and pain. Zephaniah put a hand to his right eye where the pain focused. blood trickled down his arm as he touched the shredded flesh. that eye was mostly gone...
    Zephaniah found that he did not age one day, and that he did not need food or sleep to sustain him, for he was not truly existent here, not being meant for this world. The local people could not see or touch him, nor he touch them.
    Left with nothing but the small amount of magic he still retained and unlimited time; mastering it became his only goal. Once this was done, he was again left with no purpose. This became the subject of his search; find purpose, to gain existence. Zephaniah was left to wander the world for 73 years...


    In his purposeless wandering; Zephaniah tended to watch the people in longing for what he had lost. They still could not touch him.
    One day he happened upon a small girl, no more than 6 years of age. Something about her was different... She had a separate feeling from this place. Could she also be of another world? He watched this girl from afar for two days, then came close to her. As soon as he was in a room with her, she looked up- she could see him.
    Looking straight into his bright green eye, and the girl asked him his name.
    Zephaniah was still. Had he finally gone mad- that he heard this person address him, that he might have a remnant of existence after all this time? after minuets of silence, Zephaniah was able to speak. he told her his name.
    "Zeph!" she exclaimed, then ran to hug her new friend. she had none in this place, for she was tormented here.
    the girl jumped into his arms and he was able to hug her back. he could touch her.

    Zeph took it upon himself to be this girl's protector. he held and comforted her from the thing that was her tormentor, keeping it away from her and letting her heal. she became more herself in the protection of his arms; and he became more existent to the world as he was close to her. something about her made him more real when close. when he was near her he felt the substance of the world around him; the ground beneath him, the wind around him. and when he touched her, he himself had substance. she made him real.
    The two grew close in more ways than that. she had decided he was to be her adopted older brother; and there was nothing she could ask of him that he would not give. his life was happy with her. they were best friends. she confided in him and they took care of each other as he needed her almost more than she needed him.


    years went by and a thing came about that was rather problematic: Jewel, the protected whom Zephaniah loved, grew older with every birthday of every year. this seemed nothing at first as she was small and young in age when he had found her- but she now steadily climbed past the innocents of a child. Zephaniah never aged a day, yet she would grow up before his eyes.
    and as her body and mind grew; so did a deep lusting in her heart as she longed to cover the scars left by the torment she had been subject to, long ago.

    one must not forget that the closer he came to her, the more existent he was in this world. as they kissed, he drew closer still. his faint pulse grew that much stronger, his eyes a little brighter, and all the chemicals in his body just beginning to react. no matter how long he had lived or how old he would seem, Zephaniah was still sixteen. Jewel, out of her rebellion and resurfaced torment, unpurposefully found this weakness in him and exploited it. as they became closer, he grew more real, and it was that much harder to stay away. he made one mistake: accepting this.
    that night he became one with her; giving in to his longing to be close. to be real. but there was more than that. he truly loved her; and in going about that love the wrong way- he gave way to what past torment leads. what torment demands...


    days went by as they continued on this broken path. it seemed rather harmless at first; covering up the first mistake with a second... and third. they found it to be the easy way out of feelings, of troubles. any thought could be temporarily forgotten with sex. the problems built up as all temporary solutions are just that; temporary. this pattern continued until it was evident to Zeph that Jewel was suffering. he, the protector was bringing pain to the very being which he was to protect. could he be becoming the torment?

    the pattern needed very much to end. Zephaniah knew this and yet was unable to correct it. every time he was close to her, he longed to be closer. she had to be protected from him. Zephaniah realized he must leave. his being was fully existent now, even away from Jewel; and she was no longer under the same torment as in her childhood. they didn't need each other anymore.
    Jewel could have died at the suggestion that he leave her. not after all she had been through could she possibly survive separation from him after they had been so intimately close. Jewel screamed through sobs as her precious Zeph said goodbye. her heart was connected to his and felt as though it would rip from her when he let go. she was tormented. Zephaniah had become the very tormentor he so despised all those years ago.
    she fell apart in his arms, crying, screaming, begging... he could not leave her this way. she had already been destroyed. he destroyed her. Zephaniah calmed her and made her straighten. he said not to worry; that he would fix it, he knew how to fix it. Jewel calmed, though in the quiet he heard her whimpering: don't let go, don't let go, don't let go, as she clung to him. he cupped her head in his hands and bent down to touch their foreheads together. Zephaniah muttered forgotten words and a magic darkness enveloped them before disappearing.
    Jewel looked up at her Zeph with confusion, her eyes asking who he was. he had taken every memory she had of him. the pain would go away. she wouldn't care if he left her now. he whispered his love for her before she was taken by sleep. this would seem but a dream to her. and Zephaniah left...

    in the end, the best way to protect her- was to leave. her world would continue as if he had never existed. he would never learn that this child who brought him into existence was the very essence of the Writer. he had brushed paths with the creator of all their worlds.