"Dear, Miss Devin
This is a letter from your future mother in law. Your mother and I agreed to allow you to pursue your education in witchcraft. Your father Councilman Devin promised my family your hand in marriage to our youngest son, Leroy Gunderson. Once you graduate from Muchly Academy of Witchcraft, we will welcome you into our family as one of our own.
Love, Madam Rosette Gunderson "
Xiao remembered reading this same letter when she ran away from home on her fifteenth birthday, before she officially joined the academy. It's not long until she mastered all subjects. It took her exactly a year to become one of the academy's youngest top students at age of sixteen. She haven't even finished her first of five years of studies at the academy yet, but her power ranked along side her older cousins.
Now that she's sitting in her dormitory cabin, reading old letters for motivation, she wondered. What's the point of all of this when she's going to graduate in four years and marry a man she barely met? What's the point of learning witchcraft if she won't have the chance to use it? She's free to satisfy her curiosity at the academy, but her life rest in her family's hands.
Tradition is tradition, after all.
If only she could change it.
She went to the only person she could in this place, David Yang, the academy's head librarian.
"Ah, isn't this our new prodigy?" David Yang greeted her warmly, his wrinkled fingers habitually tapped on the book he's reading.
"Is there a way you can null the marriage?" Xiao showed him the letter.
The middle age man adjusted his round glasses before he started looking at the letter. "Ah... Well, I'd need to write to the head of your family first, and then to your betrothed in order to get an official ban lifted. A prodigy such as yourself shouldn't be married off so soon." He sighed. "We tried before, but... You know we don't have a choice in this too."
"Thanks for trying anyway, Mr Yang."
"Of course, but I can't promise anything. Don't get your hopes up."
The Devin's letter arrived at the academy a week later. Their response was clearly a giant 'No' written in red disguised under sugarcoated words of how they wanted the best for their daughter.
Xiao clenched her teeth in anger. She really can't escape this fate, can she?
Before she knew it, she found herself already wandering out of the academy's territory.
She didn't want to be married off so soon. She's still got so much to experience in the world!
But what choice does she have?
None.
The sun is setting down, and the bamboo forest she's walking through slowly turns into tall oak trees. In that moment, Xiao remembered a temple she saw on a map once. It's in the middle of this forest, and there are no villages or roads close by. Xiao could already seen the obsidian gates riddled with overgrown weeds.
The Silverin Temple.
She hasn't been there yet, and it's not like she really has any reason to. The temple isn't tourist famous or anything, but it's still a known temple in the world since it's infamous for the lore of being built by Cross Giants, huge monsters with four arms and four eyes. It's said that if you go deep into the temple, you'll find the last of their kind. The twist? Once you go in, you can't come out.
Perfect.
A perfect place to end her miserable life because no one would suspect that she pathetically commit suicide.
The temple is in darkness once the sun sets, so she lights a candle as she entered through the main entrance.
"Hello?" Her voice carried throughout the temple, but no answer came.
She wandered around a bit, but eventually, she placed the candle in a candelabra at the center of the temple. In front of her, a seemingly bottomless large hole was curved into the floor, illuminated by the faint moonlight.
Xiao took in a deep breath before dropping her backpack and cape to the cold stone floor. Shivering, she marched onward to the edge of the hole.
She gazed down, and could've sworn she could faintly see her death spiraling.
And then she heard it...
The cling clang of chains rattling as its owner dragged it through the temple.
She took a look into the hole and saw shinny silver chains connected to four thick arms of the monster, which slowly opens its four eyes.
They're pure black, but they seem clear.
"Do you seek death, tiny human?" The immortal Cross Giant growled, sending shivers down her spine.
After a few seconds, she gathered enough courage to respond. "No, but you have my permission to take it."
"Terrific!"
The monster reached out of the well and grabbed her by the wrist. Then, she was pulled into the darkness, into her death, but she had already accepted it. Welcome it.
But before she reached the bottom, something unexpected happened.
A pair of large hands held tightly on her waist, holding her up in midair. She came face to face to those two pairs of pure black eyes.
"What the...?" She managed to exclaim in disappointment.
"Don't struggle, little witch." A deep voice said, low and dark. "Or you'll get dropped."
"Please do." Her little fists picked at his hands. "Dropping me to my death sounds nice."
"Unfortunately for you, that's not how this works, little one." He smirked, showing off his two rolls of pointy sharp teeth. Both pairs of his eyes are as dark and menacing as the night, yet she managed to look at his face without flinching.
"Tales stated that Cross Monsters enjoy eating human flesh." No hint of fear presented in her dull eyes. "What took you so long?"
"I was trying to find the perfect time." He said, dropping her onto the stone platform.
She hit the ground hard, but he caught her by the waist before she could even topple over.
"When is your perfect time?" She looked up at him only to see the moonlight outline of his face and chained wrists.
A few moments passed awkwardly between them.
"It's always the wrong time." His deep voice laced with uncertainty.
Then, he picked her up from the floor, cradling her waist in his arms before putting her back on the edge of the hole. "Especially when it comes to a little one like you."
"I'm not that young." She said back as she leaned closer to him.
"You are." He shook his head and smiled.
Xiao frowned. "Well... when are you going to kill me?"
"The night when the moon is at its fullest." The monster answered casually, so her frown deepened.
"Tonight is a full moon. You can look outside."
He paused for a bit, looking at her emotionless face, and nodded. "Yes, it is."
"So..."
"So?"
"Aren't you going to eat me?" She asked.
He laughed. "Why would I eat a kid?"
She frowned again. "Isn't it in the nature of beasts to eat?"
"I suppose."
"I'm not that young either. I'm turning seventeen in two months."
He sighed deeply. "Oh well, I suppose I can't eat a tiny little girl."
The monster tried to blink away her death glare, but it wouldn't work. The anxiety she felt mere minutes ago is now replaced with anger.
Looks like the world is against her at every turn. Her family has control over her life, sending her off how they see fit. She tried running away only to be dragged back in a week. After that, she agreed to join a witchcraft academy as an excuse to delay her marriage. Nothing can null the agreement, so soon her life will be in the hands of her future husband. Thus, what's the point in suffering when there's no reward? Even a monster wouldn't take her life away.
"You know what, if you're not going to kill me, I'll just do it myself." Xiao took out her wand from her uniform.
In that moment, all four of his eyes widened, focusing on her weapon aiming at her heart as she stabbed herself.
