Dark Waters Ch.6P.1: Taste of Reliving

[heretichero666]

Part 6: Taste of Reliving. Part 1​

Myrine stood in a wide open room with one side black and the other white. On the black side there stood horrific statues of demons and other ghastly beings. White side featured heavenly beings on white dove wings and dragons of the Orient. As she looked closer, she could see a slight curvature to the ceiling leading to the back of the room where the coffin lay. The room was in the shape of a heart with the statues meant to represent the two sides of the heart and what resided in it. Myrine felt some admiration for the architects of the room but this upcoming trial was making her uneasy. If the sorcerers who took part in crafting this room and trial could really look into her heart then Myrine would have to face her inner demons which she felt was extremely unfair for someone like her who wasn't groomed to be taking this trial. Myrine knew who she was and what she wanted in life. But what she was and what she wanted were not entirely good things. The maidens who were put through these trials were more likely to be women of great virtue than women of piracy. Whatever power oversaw this trial would see the bad in her heart and her life's ambitions and would judge that with the same zealousness as the maidens who were probably groomed for this day. Myrine felt like she was turning herself in for a sort of execution. But there was no turning back now at this point. If she had to be judged spiritually then so be it.
"Sisters of The Sole, if you have been with me all this time, please let my judgement be fair. Please let whoever or whatever judges in place of the Serpent God see the good in me as well as the bad." Myrine knelt down, held the gem added to her anklet and prayed. Her spirituality was being tested as much as her body. She would need both if she hoped to survive.
Myrine approached the stone coffin in the back of the room. Next to it was crumbled statue holding a chain and shackle. Myrine knew immediately to attach the shackle over her anklet. After doing so, she looked inside the coffin to see it laid out perfectly to fit a body, but in the portion where her feet would be there were slight uprises in it with an arch like shape typical of foot stocks. Myrine ignored this detail. She wasn't afraid to be tickled again after the horrific tickling she had endured earlier in the journey. As she lay down in the coffin with her feet in the stock holds, runes lit up along the sides of the coffin pulling the lid over her activating large set of runes on it that shined a bright light blue. Myrine suddenly felt tired and her eyes grew heavy. Without any resistance to the spell, she fell into a deep, blissful sleep with all her tensions put at ease.
As the girl slept, another being had awakened from a slumber that had lasted centuries. This formless being opened its eyes on the lid of the coffin to look down at a beautiful black haired young woman with a red bandanna lying in it's domain. As it looked at the rest of her, it saw clothing not of a maiden who had been given the rights to partake in this ritual but that of a pirate. Even more off putting was the fact that this woman clearly had the ethnic traits of a gypsy.
<"What is this?"> The being said in the lost tongue of the people who worshiped the Serpent God. <"What trickery is this to bring such an unacceptable wench to my court?>
Runes spread on the outside of the coffin and lit up throughout the entire room. In doing so, the judge, as the being had come to call itself, connected with all the other beings like it in the temple alongside the other spirits left to watch this place. It was made aware immediately of how much time had passed since the last time it was given a maiden to judge and why the woman before it now was so different looking than those who came before. The judge cackled as it then turned its attention to the beautiful pair of gypsy feet now helplessly trapped inside the coffin.
<"So you have no doubt come here to endure this trial to gain the remaining treasure of my lord given to his maidens."> The judge said as two magical hands with mouths in their palms appeared. <"A gypsy pirate like you could only be motivated by greed. Let's see how far back I can take you with these.">
As the hands took hold of Myrine's feet, goat tongues came out of the palms and began to lick her soles. Myrine was in too deep a sleep to be awakened by the tongues, but the tongues were effecting her dreams. They were making her dream of the past, the past which the judge could see......


.....

A five year old gypsy girl with short black hair and green eyes sat in a giggling fit as the kid tied to the nearby post ravenously licked the salt water off the sole of her right foot. The girl did nothing to escape the torment as she willingly let the animal tickle her. The boy who had applied the salt water to the girl looked at the sight in bewilderment. He was surprised to see a girl so willing to do this.
"How does it feel Myrine?" The boy asked as he put down the pail and brush to sit and watch his friend be tickled.
"It feels rough and scratchy!" Myrine laughed as the young goat attempted to lick between her toes. "It just won't stop!"
"It's going to have to stop. You two are not supposed to be playing with any of these." A woman with long black hair and a red bandanna wearing cloths typical of a gypsy mystic said as she found the two children. "When given playtime you shouldn't be using it to practice things you are both too young for."
"But mama, I want to do the fair stocks like you do when I'm older." Myrine said with an innocent laugh. Her mother was not amused. "They look so fun and you get so much praise for doing so."
"Because that is the blessing of your mother's side of the family. But you are still too young to be learning of this and the head gypsy is yet to decide what would be best for you in the troupe." A man, Myrine's father, said as he butted in on the conversation he had overheard. He looked at the boy with the tools used to set up Myrine's torment. "Boldo, how could you agree to doing such a thing?"
"I simply wanted to see if it would work and practice setting up this display too." Boldo said as he turned his gaze away in shame. He had never felt so guilty before and knew that this would lead to the swift hand of his own mother once she found out. "Myrine insisted."
"I will let this incident go today but should you two try this or anything else you are too young for again then there will be consequences." Myrine's mother said in a scolding tone. "Do you two understand?"
"We do." Myrine and Boldo said in guilt as they had their tickle tools taken away. Boldo was sent back to his parents while Myrine was taken away by her father.
"Ion, be sure to intensify Myrine's practice for this. If I can't be the one to discipline her this time, then you shall." Myrine's mother said as her father took her by the hand leading her back to the flatland.
"She will be dealt with Amira, just don't fret over it." Ion said to his wife as she left to go back to her own chore work in the troupe. Ion then knelt down to face Myrine as Amira left. "Do not take your mother's anger to heart Myrine. She just doesn't want you exposed to something that even she still struggles to endure with during fairs. You will understand one day."
"Yes papa." Myrine said with some reassurance. With that, the two began to practice their dance once again for the day.
Nightfall came upon the plains which the troupe traveled and everyone had retired to the caravan tents that they all called home. Inside one tent sat Myrine and her family. Despite the upsetting events of earlier, Myrine still found joy to be with her family and take in everything about them. Ion her father sat barefoot and cross legged in front of the dinner pot with his dance attire swapped for evening wear. He had bold green eyes and tanned skin complimented by his brown hair. He was easy on Myrine for a lot of things but still put his foot down when disciplining her. What Myrine loved most about him though was his passion for the arts and performances the troupe had to offer. Whatever he found joy in, he would put his whole heart into making that thing perfect and took pride in his work. Myrine felt that if she could find the amount of passion that he did for his work then she could be limitless in her potential. Then there was her mother Amira who she admired the most. She knelt in front of the dinner pot wearing a short night gown with her long, beautiful black hair still held back by the bandanna she always wore. While she was the primary disciplinarian for Myrine, she also served as a strong role model for her. Amira was determined and never let anything deter her from what she set out to do. She was always the first one to take action and the always stood her ground when obstacles came her way. On top of that she was so beautiful with her lighter complexion, long hair, and majestic body. Myrine wished for nothing more than to be like her mother; beautiful and unstoppable. Finally there was her older brother Myrcus, one of the troupe merchants who had just returned from a trip to a nearby village to trade supplies. He had only just returned for the day so he still wore his work attire at dinner. He was uncanny in his resemblance to their father with only his long hair tied back in a ponytail being the differentiating factor. Since his work took him away from the troupe more often than others, he was always filled with stories from the locals about the world beyond the small part of the continent that the troupe lived on. Myrine owed her sense of wonder to him. With all three of these people on the endless plains of grass they traveled, Myrine could always say happily that she was home.
"Myrine, you are much too eager and too young to be prepared for what is to come in the tickling stocks." Amira said as she put down her plate. "While it can be fun for both you and the crowd, the intensity that you receive it at is at near torturous levels. If that were the real thing, you would have fainted after less than a minute."
"I just want to be like you mama. You're always the first one to go, even when you are at your worst, you're able to take it. And in spite of how scratchy those tongues are, your feet ares still so soft and beautiful." Myrine said with a bit of spark. She wasn't trying to argue with her mother, but she could still recognize when her mother was upset with her and hoped that maybe a little flattery would convince her mother to not be as upset with her. "The sooner I can be like you, the sooner I can get to have your bandanna."
"It is in our blood dear to have beautiful feet. That is why the women of our family must be strong, we will always be the centers of male desire in the entertainment of tickling." Amira said with a sigh. She knew that Myrine was being honest but she could also tell that she was trying to avoid getting into any more trouble by trying to flatter her. But Amira was still feeling more forgiving now despite her daughters clear attempt to amend her actions through words. She remembered having a similar conversation with her own mother at a young age. "It is a blessing and at times a curse. When you're older I will better explain it to you. As for the bandanna, you may get it sooner than you think. "
Amira loved her daughter but always had a sense that Myrine was capable of so much more than what this lifestyle offered her. She would never wish that her daughter leave her or anything of the sort, but she did wish that Myrine could be able to do more than just dance or entertain. She could see her own level of conviction Myrine's eyes and knew that if Myrine could put her mind, heart and body into it, she could do anything.
"I could explain it to you now that way you're a step ahead of the boys and know which ones to keep away from your stock performances." Myrcus said with a mischievous grin as he knew exactly of the sexual content of tickling that his mother was trying to keep Myrine ignorant of.
"Myrcus no!" Ion barked as he could tell what his teenage son was trying to do. Myrcus simply laughed at his father's anger. "If you are going to be a bad influence on your sister then leave! It may be funny to you but she has no right to be learning about that now!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Myrcus said as his laughter died down. His parents were both still scowling at him. "Besides, I have something to give Myrine that I think she'd love."
Myrcus reached into his satchel and pulled out an olive seashell the size of his palm and threw it to Myrine who caught it with an awestruck face. She had never seen a seashell before.
"That is called an olive seashell. A man at the market gave it to me after he found it washed up on the beach." Myrcus said as he watched his sister spin the shell rub it on her palm to feel its smoothness. Myrcus loved how cute his sister was in her bewilderment. "That is a very lucky find. Shells normally do not get that big and survive making it to the beach. They usually can only get that big in the stillness of the ocean floor."
"What is a beach and what is an ocean floor? How do these shells come from these places?" Myrine asked in excitement. She knew what towns, villages, and the various places that non-nomadic people lived in were. But she had never heard of a beach or ocean floor before.
"The ocean is a body of water dear. Something you can't find in the plains." Amira answered with a small grin.
"Imagine the endless plains that we travel not being solid, endless grasslands but an endless stretch of salt water." Myrcus said with the best analogy that he could come up with. "People travel not on wagon caravans but on floating vehicles called boats and ships. By traveling the ocean, people can reach other continents like this one where there are different plains or maybe even no plains at all. Sometimes those continents have vast forests, scorching desserts, or even mountains that can reach the clouds. All the places in the world can be found by traveling across the ocean."
"There's really that big a world outside of the plains!?" Myrine asked in excitement. All her life she had known only the grassy plains that the troupe circled with only a few passages into some towns and villages. She saw the same things over and over again each year. But the thought of a world outside of the little one she knew, one where nothing ever looked the same fascinated her like nothing else. Not even thinking about it, she immediately asked her parents. "Mama, papa, can we go see the ocean!? Please!? What if we crossed it with the whole troupe!? We could dance and perform in new places with new people! We might even meet other gypsies there too!"
"That would be very wonderful to see Myrine. But traveling over the ocean is expensive and can sometimes be dangerous too." Ion said. He felt guilty in telling Myrine this as he saw the joy fade from her face as she was denied this visit. "Not to mention the fact that a ship captain would never sail an entire troupe of gypsies across the ocean. Our people don't have the best reputations in other parts of the world or some urban areas."
"Our place is here with the troupe and on these plains. Our tribe is one entire family." Amira said as she went and sat down next to Myrine to comfort her. As she placed her hands on her cheeks, she wiped away the tear buds on her eyes as her dreams were falling apart in front of her. "But we can still go see the ocean, the four of us together for just a short time. That way you can know what it looks like and see all the things that come from the ocean and even from across it."
"When you want to find the ocean towns, head west, in the direction of the setting sun." Myrcus said to reassure his sister that her dreams of seeing the ocean wouldn't be gone entirely. "When the time is right and we are closest to the ocean, we will all go together. I promise that you will see the ocean even if its the last thing I do."
Myrine's heart lifted with joy. The chance to see something different from the grassy plains and endless fields of green she was accustomed to. Myrine's imagination began to soar as she thought of all the shells and wonderful things that the ocean could hold.......


.....

<"Such an innocent beginning. From being a wanderer on land to a sea drifter, how unexpected."> The judge said as it stored the memories of Myrine in its own memory bank. <"Those memories are too early to brand you a thief. Your innocence was still in tact. But now that I know where you started, perhaps this will reawaken those early memories that will show the budding of your vile nature.">
The judge had two blades of tall grass come out of its palms and began to brush them against Myrine's soles and between her toes. The judge took hold of Myrine's feet again and viewed into her past once again........


.....

A seven year old girl stood in wet grass as she caught her breath. The town that the troupe had stopped in was near a lake for fishing. Myrine had been jumping off a dock for the entire week the troupe was in town so that she could learn to swim. It would still be a while before the troupe made another circle back on their usual route nearing the town farthest to the west that they always passed through. But Myrine wanted to be ready for when they did reach that town. She didn't want to just see the ocean, she wanted to swim in it as well. And after her persistent efforts, she finally learned how on her own. She had been swimming for a solid hour in order to make sure that she had really learned how and could keep herself afloat. To her great feelings of accomplishment, she had despite being how skinny she was. Myrine's strong will had not changed a bit.
With her breathing back to normal and her heart rate finally steady, Myrine made her way back to the camp before anyone could notice she was gone. The sun was hot that day making her cloths dry easy. However, it was not hot enough to dry her hair by the time she walked back and her now shoulder length hair sat wet on top of them. As she tried to hide behind one of the wagons waiting for her hair to dry a little more, the voice of another girl called to her.
"Myrine, what are you doing?" The voice of a teenage girl said as she approached Myrine while carrying a bucket of water.
"Oh, Silvia, it's you." Myrine said as she looked up at the 15 year old girl with raven hair dressed as one of the mystics in the troupe. "Please don't tell anyone you saw me."
"Myrine, did you fall into the lake? Is that where you were on your day off from work this morning?" Silvia asked in a concerned tone. Though they shared no connections by related clans within the tribe, Silvia still saw Myrine as a younger sister. She still played with Myrine even though they were several years apart. She just felt so close with her. "Why would you go there of all places? What if you drowned while no one was looking?"
"I've been going to the lake every morning of this week. I've been jumping off a small dock at the shallower end of the lake teaching myself to swim." Myrine confessed. She could trust Silvia with her secrets. Her parents would throw a fit if they had heard this.
"Are you out of your mind!? A little thing like you jumping into a lake trying to swim your way out!? You could have killed yourself!" Silvia said as quietly as she could. She was in complete dismay that Myrine was so bold in doing something so dangerous on her own.
"I'm stronger than I look! I always kept a rope nearby so I could pull myself back to shore if I needed!" Myrine said defensively. She hated how everyone underestimated her because of her size. "I finally did learn how to swim today all on my own and I did so for an hour! But I can't let anyone know otherwise my parents will kill me! Please, you have to keep quite about this until I'm dry enough to go back to the camp! If I walk in like this then they'll know what I've been doing!"
"I accidentally splashed my bucket of water on you, that's what happened." Silvia said with a sigh as she poured the bucket over Myrine's head. She couldn't believe she was actually helping Myrine cover up her actions, but it was better than what would happen if she were found out by someone else. "I was talking with Ein, he started teasing me, I threatened to throw my water at him, and when I did, you showed up to find me and accidentally got splashed with it instead. That's what you are to tell anyone who asks."
"Thank you Silvia." Myrine said with a smile. She was grateful to have someone like her looking out for her.
"We're Sole Sisters, sisters in arms when it comes to the display of the tickling stocks and the alluring of men with the beauty of our feet." Silvia said with a smile back. "We have to look out for one another."
"And I will return the favor in full one day." Myrine said with a bounce.
"Don't worry about it Myrine. Besides, I'd rather help you than anyone else in the troupe." Silvia said. "Now run along. I need to get more water now."
As the two girls went their separate ways, Myrine walked into the camp telling everyone who asked the story that Silvia had made up for her. While she made it back to her family's wagon, she was relieved to see that none of them were there and she was able to change her cloths quietly. As she made her way out with dry cloths, she then left to find the other children. On a beautiful day with no chores needing to be fulfilled today, she and the others were free to play all day. As she cut through the camp and made her way to the town, she spotted the other gypsy children playing with the local children. She stopped for a moment when she spotted Baldo among the crowd. He was taller now and his hair was wilder. His lighter skin tone seemed to radiate in the light of the sun as it glistened off of him. He was Myrine's best friend but Myrine couldn't deny that she was beginning to form a little bit of a crush on him. Maybe she had listened to too many love stories from Silvia about her and Ein, maybe she had read one too many fairy tales, or maybe it was because she was just a silly little girl who wanted to grow up fast so she could be like the older girls. What ever the reason, Myrine did sincerely have feelings for Baldo. Her fantasy was cut short though when another girl her age called to her.
"You really think your suited for that boy?" The girl said as she approached Myrine while followed by two other girls she kept as minions. She was of darker complexion with her hair tied back in a bandanna wearing the cloths of a dancer in training like her. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself there Myrine."
"Araunya, I see you've crawled out of your cave for the day." Myrine said with a glare. "I see your peons Jaelle and Gildi came along too."
"Don't talk like you're better than us." Jaelle said. "In case you haven't noticed, there's three of us and we're all taller than you."
"That doesn't make me afraid of you." Myrine replied. She was readying herself to fight.
"Awfully brave for a skinny little worm!" Gildi said looking as if she were ready to pounce on Myrine.
"Don't waste your energy Gildi. There's more important things at hand." Araunya said with an arrogant smirk. "Such as letting the worm know that all her feelings are in vain!"
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Myrine said angrily. Myrine had built a moderate tolerance of the bullying from Araunya about her size to be moderately annoying, but her now claiming to know about her crush got under her skin.
"I'm saying your feelings are one sided. You may like him but he doesn't like you." Araunya laughed with her cronies. "Thanks to a certain mystical sphere, I know all about the love lives of the entire troupe as well as their futures!"
"You're lying! There's no way you saw the head gypsy's crystal ball!" Myrine said now beginning to be flustered. She didn't want to believe Araunya but if it was true then she would surely tell Baldo about her feelings and try to ruin things between them. "She doesn't let anyone other than her own direct family members see it!"
"Who said we needed to ask her to see it?" Jaelle said.
"While you and the others are out acting like toddlers, we actually took time to be more thoughtful about our futures and snuck into her tent to see the crystal ball while she wasn't looking." Gildi said with a smirk. She was feeding off the rage in Myrine's face.
"Oh if only you knew what was to befall you and your crush. Maybe then you'd save yourself from the heartbreak coming." Araunya said in an over dramatic way to irritate Myrine more. "Seriously, what made you think that anyone would ever want to love you?"
"Shut up! You don't know me or who I like!" Myrine shouted now even more flustered. Her heart was racing in fear of Araunya telling the truth about the crystal ball.
"Well then why don't you go see the crystal ball for yourself then?" Araunya said with a provoking grin on her face. "The head gypsy isn't back yet so you can still see it."
Myrine didn't want to give Araunya the satisfaction of being able to bully her into doing something wrong, but this was too personal a subject to let go. In spite of how people often told her that she looked like her mother, Myrine was insecure about how she looked. She was smaller than all the other girls in the troupe and she hadn't grown enough to show any signs of being beautiful one day like her mother. She feared that she wouldn't be pretty enough for Baldo when they were older. Myrine gave into the temptation and set her mind on getting the crystal ball.
"Fine! I'll go look myself!" Myrine said as she ran off trying to hide her angry tears. The other girls laughed as soon as she was far away enough.
"I can't believe she actually fell for that!" Gildi laughed.
"She's actually going to go find the head gypsy's crystal ball! Oh gods, the trouble she will be in!" Jaelle laughed.
"Wait, but she can still tell her that we were the ones who set her up." Gildi said with concern. She wasn't about to get in trouble again with the head gypsy and her parents again. "Won't we still get in trouble?"
"We were never really there so we can deny everything even if she does say that we tricked her into going to look at it." Araunya said with a confident smirk. She was sure of herself getting out of this joke without any negative repercussions. "Either way, she's going to be dead after this."
Myrine made her way past the adults and snuck into the head gypsy's tent without anyone seeing her. As she made her way in, she spotted her map of the continent, a pile of cloths for changing into, a bookshelf with her arcane arts filed alongside various materials needed for magic, and her crystal ball sitting on a table in the way back of the tent. Myrine wasted no time getting up on the head gypsy's chair and peering into the crystal ball. She placed her fingertips on it, shook it a little, and even slapped it to try to make it work. Nothing happened to the mystical sphere, it only showed Myrine's reflection.
"There must be a way to make this work." Myrine said to herself as she got down from the chair and began to scavenge through the arcane books. "She must have a spell she uses to make it work."
As the little girl climbed the shelves trying to reach the higher books, she accidentally knocked over a black book which opened as it hit the ground. A small box covered in runes also fell off the shelf too. The box began to light up as the runes came undone and the being within crept out and read from the pages of the book. Myrine climbed down from the shelf looking through the books she had grabbed unable to make sense of what they were saying when suddenly the air became frigidly cold. As she slowly turned around, she saw a black ectoplasm of floating flesh behind her. Myrine was frozen in fear.
"We are many, we are reborn." The floating mass of astral flesh said out of a decaying mouth on one of its sides. "We need more to live. We need more to be whole. This troupe shall do finally. We will devour you first!"
Myrine screamed as she threw up her arms trying to shield herself when suddenly the whole room went pitch black and Myrine couldn't see anything. She couldn't feel anything either. She held her hands up in front of herself able to see them perfectly, but everything else was black. She couldn't feel herself standing but she couldn't feel herself floating either. She was simply paralyzed in some sort of realm of limbo unable to do anything. Suddenly a blue aura began to emit off parts of her body flowing off in a fashion similar to blood caught in a gentle water current. There she saw the ectoplasm's mouth again feeding off the blue aura coming off of her. Myrine wanted to run but she couldn't. She wanted to scream but she couldn't. She was trapped and helpless in the snares of the ectoplasm.
"Be silent child as we feed off your soul." The ectoplasm said. "You are powerless against astral beings human. Know this well as we consume you so that you may find peace."
Suddenly the ectoplasm coughed up the aura of Myrine's soul and began to twist in grotesque ways before her vision finally blacked out. Myrine awoke back in the head gypsy's tent breathing heavy as if she had just come out of a coma as she looked up to see the face of her mother.
"Myrine! Myrine are you alright!?" Amira shouted as she shook Myrine trying to bring her back to her senses. She looked past her mother to see the ectoplasm still there but now in battle with the head gypsy who was using her arcane abilities to seal the creature back again. Myrine screamed as she saw the beast still in the world of the living.
"Run! Mama we need to run! It's going to eat me! There's nothing I can do!" Myrine screamed and cried in hysteria as her mother tried to calm her.
"Myrine hold still! If you leave you may never get back the parts of your soul taken by that thing!" Amira said as she held her daughter close. "Mysterica hurry!"
"Return to your eternal abyss unholy creature!" Mysterica, the head gypsy, shouted as the remaining pieces of Myrine's soul were squeezed out of the ectoplasm and shot back into her body with a painful jolt. With that, ectoplasm was sealed back into its container with a much stronger seal so that it would never return again.
Myrine sobbed into her mother's chest screaming in terror of the experience while Amira held her close stroking the back of her head. From that day forward Myrine would forever be haunted by this experience. She would forever fear the supernatural and all things she could not combat on a physical plane of existence........

.......

<"You who fears the spirit realm of all places came here?"> The judge laughed in its own way at what it had just read from Myrine's memory. <"You truly are facing your fears here girl. There is no one left but the angry spirits haunting this place and the angry spirit of my master. This is the place where your nightmares will be brought to life but you probably already know this from the previous trials.">
The judge scoffed as it tried to think of another tool to extract her memories with. It couldn't believe that Myrine was foolish enough to come to a place haunted by the things she feared most. Perhaps this was the strong spirit of conviction in her that it was seeing. She came here willingly even though her fears were brought to light in this now unholy place. The judge almost wanted to admire her, but it was far too soon to think of her in a positive light just yet. The judge took hold of Myrine's feet again, this time with feathers in its palms brushing her soles.....

...........

Myrine sat on the back of a wagon in a giggling fit as Silvia brushed her feet with a feather playfully. Today was Myrine's 9th birthday. She was now officially old enough to dance in the troupe's performance and tonight would be her first dance ever. To make the moment even sweeter, the town the troupe had stopped in was the one farthest to the west making it close to the ocean. The head gypsy had given Myrine and her family permission to go to the harbor town and see the ocean for a day before needing to return. Everything Myrine had ever dreamed of was about to come true on this day.
"You're as ticklish as ever still!" Silvia laughed as she stopped tickling Myrine and let her get down from the wagon.
"And still perfect for the day I get to be in the stocks!" Myrine said with a laugh. She still dreamed of doing that one day but she was more than satisfied with what was going on tonight.
"At least you're looking forward to it. I'm getting tickled tonight and I'm terrified about what's in store for me." Silvia said with a shudder as she pictured buckets of salt water and goats. "It was bad enough when they had to clean my feet for this. The scrubbing was more than enough to send me into a laughing fit!"
"You could just walk barefoot all the time like me and my mom. Then your feet would have enough toughness to stand a little washing." Myrine giggled.
"Unlike you two, the rest of your sole sisters aren't able to keep soft feet while walking around barefoot." Silvia said with a smile. She envied Myrine and Amira for being able to have such beautiful feet like they did while being barefoot all the time. "Unfortunately we can't all have as beautiful feet as you."
"And unfortunately your birthday gift is going to have to wait till after your performance." A familiar voice said as he came in on the two girls. It was Myrcus. "Better get ready squirt!"
"Hey! I'm not a squirt anymore! I'm 9 years old and almost a teenager like and Silvia! You can't treat me like that anymore!" Myrine said angrily. She wasn't about to be treated like a little kid again.
"Relax, you know I do it because I love you." Myrcus said with a smile. "You better go find mom and dad. You'll be performing soon."
Myrine nodded and ran off to find her parents while Myrcus began to show signs of distress the moment she left.
"What's wrong?" Silvia asked. She never thought she'd see Myrcus so worked up.
"On my way back to the camp I almost had a run in with some bandits. When I got away I saw a lot more of them on the horizon. I'm a little worried about being here right now." Myrcus said.
"You don't think they followed you do you?" Silvia asked now worried.
"I didn't see anyone trailing me, but I don't know for sure." Myrcus answered. "I just hope they don't think that we're holding a stash of stolen loot like some other gypsy tribes might. Otherwise they may search for us after we leave here."
Myrine ran to the town square where she saw her father gathered with the other dancers getting ready for the night. Her face lit up when she saw him dressed and ready.
"I see our new star is here." Ion said cheerfully. "But she isn't dressed for the part yet."
"That's why I came to find you papa. I need to find mama so I can get ready." Myrine said with a smile.
"You find her in the place she normally is for the festival. She may even have a birthday surprise for you too." Ion said causing Myrine to jump for joy before running off. Ion couldn't believe how much his little girl had grown. 9 years old now and in just four short years she would be a teenager. Ion tried not to get emotional over the thought as he checked his dance whip to make sure the feathers were in tact on it.
Myrine went to the area that she had always dreamed of being in. The stock area of the festival. Here, all the beautiful women of the troupe would be locked in place for the play humiliation ceremony of tickling. While some of the other girls were okay with it and the local women were terrified of the experience, Myrine still enjoyed the sensation of having her feet played with. She couldn't wait for the day she was old enough to experience full thing. As she walked into the area she immediately spotted her mother sitting in a chair waiting for the stocks to be locked on her ankles. Myrine jumped into her lap and her mother wrapped her arms around her.
"My, my, what beautiful dancer you have become." Amira said with a smile. Her daughter was growing up so fast and she couldn't take it. "Happy birthday my dear."
"Thanks mama." Myrine said with a smile. "Papa said you had my dance outfit and a present for me."
"Oh, I have a very special present for you." Amira said as she reached for her bandanna and watched Myrine's eyes widen in excitement but stopped as she reached the knot in it. "But, it can only be given to a full fledged gypsy woman so you'll have to wait till after your dance."
"Mama...." Myrine said in an annoyed tone. "I guess I shouldn't expect to get a chance in the stocks either."
"Don't worry, you'll get this bandanna after tonight." Amira said as she kissed Myrine on the forehead. "Now run along to the back caravan with the supplies. You'll find your dance outfit there."
"Why would you put it all the way back with travel supplies?" Myrine asked.
"Mysterica and I know about those girls who are always picking on you. We didn't want them to sneak in on you or anything like that where they could get a chance to destroy it." Amira said. "Its made from very fine silks and I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to it. You'll look like a gypsy princess with it."
"Oh mama thank you!" Myrine said as she kissed her mother's cheek before taking off to get her dance outfit.
As Myrine made her way to back caravan, she spotted one of the wagons with a green flag sticking on top of it. This had to be the wagon with her dance outfit. Myrine climbed into the wagon and began to hurry as she heard the music of the first performance going off in the distance. As she looked inside the wagon, she found a chest in the back. She opened it up and under a pile of tools, wrapped in simple cloth Myrine found her dance outfit. As she held it up in admiration, she suddenly heard the music stop. It now sounded like screaming and shouting. Myrine stood up in fear of what was going on suddenly she heard the roar of a bull like creature come in from behind her. Whatever the creature was, it rammed its head into the side of the wagon flipping it upside down. Myrine screamed but was quickly silenced as one of the contents of the wagon hit her in the head knocking her out cold as the wagon came crashing down. Myrine couldn't make sense of what happened, but she swore she heard the words "Kill them all" shouted as her consciousness slipped away.
Myrine came back to her senses. Her head was throbbing, she was cold and hungry. As she struggled to lift herself up she pushed aside the barrels and other contents of the wagon, she saw her dance outfit torn to shreds by the splintered wood that had fallen down on it. Myrine felt upset by this but this was the least of her worries now. She quickly crawled out from under the wagon to feel dew beneath her feet and the crack of dawn on the horizon. She could smell smoke and nearby and heard the cawing of crows. Myrine's heart began to race in panic. She didn't know what was going on. All the other wagons had been destroyed or flipped over and now a sickening scent like a gutted animal filled the air. Myrine ran past one of the many destroyed wagons and froze in her tracks in shock. There, lying against an uprooted tree was Baldo's half scorched corpse being picked apart by carrion crows. Myrine brought her hands to her mouth in utter shock of what she was seeing. Baldo was dead and left to rot. The death and destruction could mean only one thing. Bandits had raided.
Myrine went to the town to see all of the buildings in it destroyed and some with dying fires. Everywhere the scent of dead humans filled the air while mixed with smoke. Myrine felt sick to her stomach on the verge of vomiting.
"M-M-Mama, p-p-papa?" Myrine stuttered while trying to hold back her tears. There was nothing but silence. "Myrcus? Silvia? Is anyone here!?!?!?"
Myrine approached the plaza where she was supposed to dance last night only to see more dead members of her troupe sprawled out in a bloody mess on the street. Myrine ran away from the sight in tears as she approached the caravan area with just as much destruction. Her heart was racing, her stomach was turning, no one was anywhere and there weren't any familiar faces. Suddenly she reached where the head gypsy's tent was and found a massive pile of corpses now being picked apart by the crows. As Myrine looked away, her eyes grew wide in anguish as she saw a body lying against a crushed wagon. It was her dear mother.
"MAMA!!" Myrine screamed as she ran to her mother's body. A huge stab wound could be seen going through her chest and into the heart of the body behind her. It was her father. Her mother had tried to to protect him. "NO! NO! PAPA NOOO!!"
Myrine fell to the ground just barely able to hold herself up on her side she was so consumed by grief and horror. But she soon moved away from the grass she lay on as she felt the dried blood on it. As Myrine moved away, she looked up to see where the blood had come from. There was a line of impaled corpses sitting in front of a fire. The corpse in the middle o the line was her Brother Myrcus with a half burned face and all of his limbs cut off.
With that, Myrine lost it. She buried her face in the ground and bawled her eyes out. Everyone she had ever known and loved was taken from her. She was alone with no family, no clan, no troupe, and no friends. She was the last of her tribe and with nowhere to go. The lone survivor of a band of gypsies with no place in the world. She sobbed for an hour before finally finding the strength to lift herself off the ground and bare the disgusting scent in the air.
She took her mother's bandanna and tied it around her head holding her hair back. She kissed her mother's forehead for the last time. She then took her father's whip as a final memento before kissing his cheek for the last time. She then found a pole and pushed her brother's body off of the pike that he had been impaled on. When his body hit the ground, she held his head and sobbed for a good ten minutes as she tried hard not to picture the torture he must have gone through before finally being put out of his misery. She kissed her brother for the last time when she noticed his satchel sitting next to the pike he had been impaled on. She opened it to find the birthday gift he had meant to give her. It was a green sash made of fine silk. Myrine began to cry again but this time not so much out of sadness but in gratitude that she had something to remember her brother with now. Myrine then carried his body to over where her parents lay. She found whatever wood she could from the site and buried her family in it around the remains of the broken wagon. Using a torch still burning from last night, she lit the wood pile and gave her family a funeral pyre. While doing so she fell to her knees praying to all the gods, known and unknown, to take the spirits of her family and the rest of her troupe so that they could find peace and enter paradise.
After laying her family to rest, Myrine began to look for the corpse of the head gypsy. She wanted to find the body of Silvia but she knew her heart wouldn't be able to take it. Eventually she found the body of the head gypsy and thankfully with her bracelet still on her. Myrine knew that this bracelet was strictly for the lead family of the troupe, but with her own daughter and grandchildren gone, she had no true heirs. Myrine would have to take it upon herself to keep the tribe alive.
"I won't let this be the end of our tribe or the clans that made it up." Myrine said to the corpse of the head gypsy as she took her bracelet and held her cold, dead hands in hopes that her spirit could still hear her from beyond the grave by doing this. "I'll preserve it to the best of my ability. Just please, find peace and paradise for me. The rest of the troupe will need you in the afterlife."
With that, Myrine left the scene of the horrific massacre. The light of dawn still barely upon the land, Myrine went west with the light at her back. She set off into the darkness not knowing what would await her there or where she would belong. It was the only place she could go. No light or hand to guide her, Myrine would have to face the harsh world alone.

And with this the Tickle Theater is now up to speed with Dark Waters. I'll be sure to post the next chapter here as soon as it gets posted to DA. Sorry for making you guys get overloaded with this.