Chapter 1059: Chapter 1061: Bel The Witch
The sun beat down on them as Damon pulled Lilith’s hand toward the monorail station. Lysithara was far ahead of its time, overflowing with conveniences and strange magical innovations, and Damon had once lived through this very era while watching through Mugu’s eyes.
Crystal rails stretched overhead while silver carriages glided soundlessly through the city like floating serpents of glass and steel. Massive towers shimmered in the distance, their surfaces reflecting sunlight in dazzling patterns. Magical screens flickered with announcements while streams of people moved through the streets in orderly crowds.
And yet wherever Damon and Lilith walked there was only disgust waiting for them.
People moved aside the moment they noticed them. Some covered their noses. Others whispered insults beneath their breath. A mother even pulled her child closer as though Damon carried a plague.
Damon didn’t think Lysithara had such disparity. He had always imagined the city as fair and welcoming to all people no matter who they were. In Mugu’s memories the city had looked almost perfect, a shining jewel of progress and enlightenment.
Now he was seeing the cracks hidden beneath that brilliance.
His feet carried him onward while he held Lilith’s hand tightly, occasionally shooting her small glances as they walked through the crowded streets.
Lilith sighed softly before raising her head toward him.
"Considering you never shoot me glances like this in my original body, I don’t assume you’re looking because you think I’m prettier."
Damon chuckled at her words. Even in a situation like this she still had a strange sense of humor.
"No," he admitted with a faint smile. "I think you’re beautiful no matter what you look like... although that isn’t why I’m looking."
Lilith stopped walking and placed one hand on her waist while narrowing her eyes at him.
"I’m prettier right?"
Damon smacked his forehead dramatically before shaking his head in surrender.
"I think we have more important things to worry about, but yes, you are the fairest in the land."
A pleased smile spread across her face when he said that, and for a moment Damon saw the face before him grow even more familiar.
Not Lilith’s face.
Bel’s face.
Then Lilith tilted her head slightly.
"You can speak now. What’s on your mind?"
Damon crossed his arms and leaned against the side of a nearby building. He took a slow breath before lowering his voice.
"The Whispering Forest..." he muttered.
Lilith turned her head toward the direction where she assumed the city walls stood. Beyond those walls, in the future, would exist the cursed forest feared by countless travelers.
"That place doesn’t exist yet from what I remember."
"No, it doesn’t." Damon nodded slowly. "The forest isn’t what I was asking about. I was talking about you... or rather the original owner of the body you’re in. It’s a major clue."
Lilith frowned slightly, not fully understanding what he meant.
Damon looked down the street quietly before continuing.
"The name of the body you’re in is Bel, right? She’s being called a witch and shunned by society even in a place like Lysithara."
He raised his hand thoughtfully to his chin.
"A few years ago I met someone with that name. You remember the Beldam of the Whispering Forest? She was a witch who lived alone in the forest and tried to eat me and my party."
The memory still felt vivid in Damon’s mind. He remembered the rotting cabin hidden deep within the trees, the smell of decay, the laughter of that hideous old woman whose mouth crawled with maggots.
And yet he also remembered something else.
Her sadness.
Damon remembered her claiming she once ran an orphanage before the temple destroyed it. She had spoken about loving children. At the time Damon thought she was either lying or twisting half truths together to gain sympathy.
But now...
Now he wasn’t so sure.
What truly stood out to him was the fact that she had possessed the Ascendant armors, relics that should have been impossible for someone like her to obtain.
"Most of the residents of this city ended up corrupted or dead," Damon continued quietly. "So why can’t we assume that Bel truly was a witch once... and over time became the Beldam? A hideous corrupted reflection of a once beautiful woman."
Lilith unconsciously glanced down at her ragged clothes and dirt stained hands.
"Are you saying the Beldam from then is this person?" she asked slowly. "That this body would soon become a hideous old hag with maggots in her mouth who eats children?"
Damon began walking again and Lilith quickly followed after him. Though she had never been to Lysithara before, her feet strangely knew where to go.
’I know the way,’ she thought uneasily.
Behind them Ashcroft trotted silently in his small dog form. Unlike Damon he knew nothing about the Beldam and remained suspiciously quiet.
Soon they arrived outside a rundown building hidden between taller structures. It looked like it had once been a school or shelter, but years of neglect had left it broken and miserable.
The walls were cracked.
Several windows were boarded shut.
The roof sagged dangerously in some places.
Damon noticed a large demolition notice nailed onto the front entrance along with a long list explaining why the structure was unsafe and scheduled for removal.
The moment they approached, several children cautiously peeked their heads out from inside.
They looked frail.
Thin.
Sickly.
From what Damon remembered, children like this were usually adopted by academies within the city and trained in various professions. Lysithara prided itself on efficiency. The city wasted no talent.
Education was free.
Boarding was free.
And yet somehow these children had slipped through the cracks.
The children suddenly swarmed toward Damon and Lilith despite there only being seven of them.
The strange part was Damon knew all their faces and names despite never meeting them before.
The memories of Sander were beginning to settle deeper into him.
"Look! Look, Sander!" one excited little boy shouted while holding up a strange insect with transparent wings. "I caught a snape! There are lots of them near the green area. We can cook them and eat them!"
"Bel! Bel! Help me do my hair, it’s messy again!" four young girls cried while running toward Lilith.
The remaining boys immediately surrounded Ashcroft.
"Lord! Lord! I found you a bone
