"Do you know anything about Greek Mythology, George?" Ann asked.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbX68Z6DSu
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"A little bit about Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and the others. I watched Percy Jackson with the Bianchis years ago. They said the books were better though, " George said, not aware that he was slowly diverting the topic.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6DRFaq2fN
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"Yes, yes, dear. But do you know that some of their stories come from reality?", Ann said impatiently.
George scanned through the very little knowledge he had gained from the Percy Jackson movies but failed to find anything that might be based on the real world. Or so just in the parts he could remember. He shook his head.
Ann Shavers started her short lecture.
"Dryads are tree spirits. They are spirits who dwell within trees, and are thought to have the same life span as the trees they inhabit. Dryads are always female, and in mythology, they usually inhabit oaks. But in our world, they inhabit almost anything, as long as it has branches and leaves. But we don't name them though. Not usually. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIP5EkYjbE1
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These things, these dryads, they have different types in mythology. Some of them came from Uranus, some of them were daughters of Dactyls and Hekaterides, and some of them were born at the same time their trees were born. In our world though, only the last part was considered true." Then Ann Shavers raised one finger." This is where we were wrong."574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdFv1erl7X
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"Before that, though. Do you know the story of the angels who fell, George?"
George shook his head, then said, "Well, just a bit. But probably not enough to know your story."
Ann's eyes took on a hurt look and replied, "This is not MY story, George. This is part of the truth."
George, who at first thought that was bullshit, realized that everything might be possible. So he said, "I'm sorry Ann. Please, continue."
Ann Shavers nodded, then continued her story. "They were the same as the angels who served God. They were all the same before. They were all beautiful, and they were all holy. But there was one, and you know his name. Lucifer. He was the most beautiful among them, the one who shone the most. But with this beauty was a thought he had formulated through time. He wanted to be the same as God. He wanted to be on high. He wanted to be as mighty as Him. Then time came that he rebelled. He had also brought with him those he had brainwashed. Well, not really brainwashed. These others had the thoughts within themselves. They already had the ambition to obtain the power they don't possess, and Lucifer used those unclean thoughts to bring them with him. And then they were banished. They fell from the heavens. The banishment had sent them all across the world, and they hid in the dark. And one of them ended up being sent to a growing tree. Her name," Ann paused, knowing that the next to worlds would bring the shock to George, "was Siera."
********
George Rozier stood with his mouth ajar, shock in his body. He felt like he was punched in the gut by someone who outweighed him by a hundred pounds. Knowing this, he bent his body forward, his mouth still open a bit, and shut his eyes closed. Then he said, "A town with a lady name. So that's what it was." George slowly straightened his body, and it felt like he was in a sumo wrestler's body, sensing that his own felt too heavy be his. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhg9NzN7OAp
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The story wasn't complete though, and George just realized it now. "If Siera was born in a tree, why was it made the name of this town?"574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1GBN1iGhX
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"That comes later, Georgie. You need to know what she is. You need to know how BAD she is." And with this, George saw fear in Ann Shavers' eyes. And he knew that the old woman was speaking the truth. Ann bowed her head, took a deep breath and continued, "Now, we move on to another story. Have you heard of the tree of Zacchum?" George shook his head. This time, he really did not know the tree (not knowing yet that he was told a story of it when his mother was alive, and when they were just starting out in the town". Ann Shavers just nodded, as if she expected this, then lectured once more. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TpZ2LEFjt
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"The Tree of Zacchum was mentioned in the Qur'an as something like the tree of hell. This tree bear fruits shaped like devils' heads. These fruits were meant to be eaten by the inhabitants of hell. The fruits would be like boiling oil in their bellies, and it would tear their bodies apart." This brought a wince on both of their faces. Then Ann asked George, "You wanted to know how Siera came to be the name of our town?"
George nodded, and Ann smile knowingly. "Oh George. You really forgot the story I keep telling you when you were new to this town? The one you always laughed at and repeatedly call bs?"
George put his hand on his forehead and thought hard. Then he remembered. He laughed loudly and struck his head with his palm lightly three times then said, "Yeah, how could I forget something so obvious. Then you and Mom would tell me to mind my language." 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygFGeqyAQm
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Ann Shavers smiled warmly, feeling a touch of nostalgia as she remembered those days they spent together with Ava. "Then tell it to me, just so I'm sure you really do remember."
*******
Once upon a time, in an unnamed village, a woman lived in a house that has a large tree in its backyard. The woman's name was Siera. No one knows where she came from. The house used to have a caretaker, and she was just found one day asleep at the side of the tree (which existed for as long as anyone could remember). She was hated, she was loathed. She was called a witch by everyone in the village. It was a fairy tale, but it exists. Siera would somehow find ways to lure teens into her house, and most attributed it to her beauty. Her devilish beauty as the village folks would say. And it was true, she was beautiful, but her beauty was overpowered by something sexual in her. Her beauty was demanding, her beauty was commanding. Then there was her eyes, eyes full of lust and power. Men who were drawn and had the chance to look at her eyes swore that they turned black all the way to the white part. It was as if her eyes were balls of black marbles. Despite the somewhat unrealistic turn of these stories, they were just used as addtional of the woman's witchcraft. The woman also had a noon habit. She hummed at her gates, staring at anyone who walked by. The hum was tuneless, the hum was constant. And when she did, it seemed as though it didn't come from her, but from the listener's own head.
We go back now to the teens and young'uns the woman named Siera lured into her house. They return intact, they return as themselves. But these young'uns were those who would grow to be bad people. They killed, they stole, they raped. And all thise years, Siera's face didn't change. Her face didn't age a single day.
One morning, the women of the village woke up being alone on their beds. Their husbands and their sons were gone, and were found kneeling in front of Siera's home. They were kneeling the same way they knelt at church. They were chanting in a different language, and when they were seen by the women, they all fell dead. That afternoon, the women saw an ark at the village's gates, and Siera's name was carved. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUIuB41gqt
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The women returned to Siera's home and burned it down. Then they found her sitting atop the branch of her tree. "Behold, my Zacchum," she declared. Then with this, the women of the village fell to their knees, their stomachs fillednwith boiling oil. "Thou hath consumed my fruit of hatred. Now, perish." And with a wave of Siera's hand, the women' bodies were torn apart, then burst into flames. And from then, Siera sealed herself within the tree and conversed with her lord.
Someday, the lady would hum again, and whoever hears her shall be her sacrifice. And when the sacrificial rite is done, she will bring the whole town back with her.
******
Ann nodded when she was satisfied with George's retelling of the fairy tale. No one tells it now, and Ann was the only who uttered the story in her time. "The story might not be accurate with what really happened, because in the story, everyone died. No one was left to tell the tale, but the tale remained. So something was wrong. But me? I'm sure of one thing. The tree was cut, and Siera was freed. Unbound to the world, and now she inhabits another vessel."
George, curious, asked her, "Tree? Where was this tree? Who cut it?"
Ann Shavers smiled sadly and said, "I heard that someone you know starting saying things about the town having a lady's name. Someone plagued with nightmares. Well, other than you, of course."
George's eyes was suddenly filled with horror and was speechless. Ann knew that George already figured out who it was, then with a voice full of sorrow, she said it.
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"Yes George. The Bianchis cut the tree in their backyard after they moved in together."
ns 18.68.41.146da2
