Lerna's Poison

Second Story of History of the Twelve, previous Story Nameless Child of Nemea

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"I suppose now you want my sob story." she said.

"That would, I assume, make the most sense chronologically, Hydra." Thoth replied. Hydra, still sitting on the bench of her cell, rolled her eyes at Thoth. He seemed to be trying really hard to be polite and civil, even though he and his guild members were responsible for the deaths of six of the only people she had ever thought of as family.

"Fine." she sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot since the white haired man came to speak to her. "Well, I had been orphaned since birth. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father left me for dead shortly after that. I was found by some nun who took me to her church and they did what they could to raise me until I turned five."

"Um...where was all this happening?" Thoth asked, interrupting Hydra.

"You said you wouldn't interrupt again." Hydra retorted.

"For Lion's story." Thoth replied. "But you also left out information."

"Right..." Hydra sighed. "This was happening in a town called Lerna, in the country of Joya across the boarder of Minstrel. Now...where was I?"

"The church raised you til you turned five." Thoth said.

"Right," Hydra said, her train of thought back on track. "When I turned five, my Poison Magic made itself known and killed everyone in the church. From that point I couldn't get close to anyone, everyone dying whenever they came near me. Even food withered and rotted away so I couldn't even eat."

"Must've been rough." Thoth commented.

"What else would it have been?" Hydra demanded. "I was alone, starving and to make matters worse the town's people hired some mages to drive me from the town. They succeeded in getting me out and exiling me, but they died from my poison shortly afterwards. Leaving me, at five, starving, alone and exiled."

"Who were the mages who drove you from the town?" Thoth asked.

"Some nobodies from some no-nothing guild that never amounted to anything." Hydra spat. "Anyways, like I said, I was alone, exiled, starving and on the verge of death when Cerberus and Lion found me. I was shocked to see people actually approaching me. I asked how they were able to get so close without my poison killing them. Cerberus replied, saying that Lion's magic protected them and told me it would protect me as well. I was sceptical, but they came closer and I was wrapped in Lion's Wave. Cerberus picked me up and carried me away from the town and towards their camp. They fed me and that's when I realized that Cerberus wasn't lying."

"Did he name you Hydra, like he named Lion?" Thoth interjected.

"No, that was a name the town's people gave me when they realized that the poison killing everyone was coming from me." she replied, a little sad. "After I got my strength back, Cerberus told Lion to take me back to the town. I thought they were going to leave me there, but Cerberus reassured me that Lion was only taking me back there to help me get revenge on the town. We got to the outskirts and Lion went one way and I headed for the Town Square."

"Why the Town Square?" Thoth asked.

"To poison the well and all the other water." Hydra said with a small shrug. "If I was going to get revenge, where better to start than the water? By the time I reached the center of town, screams were already echoing from the direction Lion had gone. When people saw me, they began to panic and scream as well, throwing rocks and sticks and rotting food at me. That's when I learned I also had the ability to use Water Magic. I used Torrential Whip, after pulling the well water up and turning it into a whip. I used it to block the things the town's people threw at me, then I used Nine-Heads Strike, basically using nine Torrential Whips at once. I lashed the town's people and they all began dropping like flies. I figured my poison had seeped into the water and I was depositing the poison more directly into their bloodstreams."

She paused long enough to take a breath and let a smirk appear on her face.

"It really didn't take long to kill everyone in town." she continued. "Especially with Lion running around and splitting people open. After that, Lion took me back to Cerberus and he offered to let me stay with them. I said yes, and had been with them ever since."

Thoth sighed at the story. Such sad beginings for both Lion and Hydra, and they may've become great mages for good, but because Cerberus was the first person to offer a hand to them...

"Well, that's it for my sob story." Hydra said with a shrug. "If you wanna know how Hind joined us, you'll have to ask her. She and Cerberus were the only ones who knew that story."

Thoth nodded, said thanks and headed down the corridor towards the cell that Hind was being held in. As he drew closer, his wounds began to ache even more.

"What a rediculous man." Hydra sighed, getting up and going back to the corner in the back of her cell.

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Continued in Keryneia's Uncatchable Theif