Survive As The Brute's Wife

"But there is an interesting myth surrounding the origins of these monsters..." Flavia's face brightened up talking about it. 

Felixa looked at Flavia with curiosity in her eyes. When Flavia talks she'd give a lot of details and she needed details. Because a lot of myths and folklore has a lot of truth that is mixed with fantasy to form an embellished story that awes those who listen to it.

Flavia pulled up a chair and sat in front of Felix and Felixa rested her cheeks in her hands and leaned forward. Without knowing, her face brightened up.

"You're smiling," Flavia looked at her playfully and Felixa nodded.

"You're sitting. And this is going to be a long story…" she couldn't hide her grin.

"It's not very long, but it is very romantic… tragically romantic," Flavia said and Felixa got more excited. 

[Tragic stories are more interesting!]

"There once lived a maiden, fair as freshly fallen snow…" Flavia spoke in her immersive tone as if she was a storyteller living through the story. "The maiden of the Dagwood tree!"

"Her hair was the color of the golden autumn sun, her eyes were pools of aquamarine where invisible sirens resided pulling in the youths to sink in her beauty, her nose was tall like the tower of Heron, her lips red like strawberries in summer… She was clothed in moonbeam and made elegance and grace her ornaments. Stars crowned her head and a lion was her pet," Flavia paused seeing Felixa's wide-open mouth.

"She must have been very beautiful," Felixa said. 

Like any other human, she liked fair maidens too. Back in her days, she'd be chased around by maidens whenever they stayed in a tavern or an inn. Tubby would stand guard to protect her from those extremely handsy women. Or he probably enjoyed getting touched by those maidens.

It is probably the latter! 

"Yes, come to think of it, you match the descriptions pretty well…" Flavia looked at Felixa with the smile that is of her.

"No, no…" Felixa waved her hand and her face became red out of embarrassment. "I, in no way, am pretty…" 

"But you are," Flavia said touching her heart. 

She said it from her heart. Although it has been only days, she could visibly see the change in Felixa's appearance. Her hair has gotten more lustrous, her cheek has become a little chubbier, her scars have faded, and her skin is glowing. Sharing the room with Maximus is doing her favor. 

"What of the fair maiden?" Felixa changed the topic. Flavia loves her too much to see beauty in her miserable appearance. She might be a beauty but she is in no way comparable to her old beauty. She had to work hard to hide her beauty back then.

"Yes," Flavia continued with the story. "She lived in a Dagwood tree in the forest. The Dagwood tree shielded her from rain, protected her fair skin from the sun, provided her with fruits to eat, and it always was there for her. Covered with blood-red flowers that spread a soothing fragrance, the tree was tall and strong. The maiden would fetch water from the everlasting pond nearby and water the tree daily. For the maiden, the tree was her everything but it was just a tree... And something no one expected happened," Flavia widened her eyes and her tone turned deep making Felixa anticipate what's going to happen next. 

"When there is a fair maiden, there is going to be…" Flavia questioned seeing the anticipation in Felixa's eyes.

"A handsome young man!" Felixa answered loudly and out of excitement she slapped her thigh. 

"Love, Felixa..." Flavia smiled. "There was love."

"Who did she fall in love with?" Felixa asked. 

"Not the maiden, but the tree," Flavia said surprising Felixa. "The tree fell in love with the maiden."

"The tree?" Felixa placed her hand on her chest.

"Yes, often we dismiss certain things as incapable of love. But everyone has love in their heart. Everyone loves, even for selfish reasons. But the tree... His love was so pure as unadulterated milk and so strong as the wind that carves mountains. He wanted to talk to her in her language but he couldn't since he was a tree. Whenever the maiden talked to him, and when she wished aloud that she needed company, his woody heart would break. He wanted to keep her close to him and all he wanted was to protect her and be her comfort. He wanted to be a human to be her groom. But that is impossible. In his own way, he gave her what he wanted to give, without being able to express himself. But the maiden knew nothing of the love the tree had for her."

"That's… sad..." Felixa sighed.

She felt it in her heart when Flavia said that he couldn't express himself. She used to be that way with Luke too at first. 

"It was then a young handsome man who lost his way in the forest stumbled upon that fair maiden. For the first time, the maiden found someone who resembled her and she… fell in love with the young man. The tree watched with excruciating pain as the maiden spent time with the young man doing things he couldn't do with her. The maiden was so mesmerized with the young man who had strong shoulders and spoke words filled with honey. In his embrace, she often forgot to pour the pail of water… And the tree started to wither…."

"Oh, no…" Felixa placed her hand on her heart. Hearing this made her so sad. "How can she forget the tree who was with her all the time for a man she just met?" She asked but she felt something pricking her heart.

[Didn't I do the same thing to Tubby? After I fell for Luke, every time Tubby tried to advise me against Luke, I got angry at him and often I ignored him… I was wrong. I hurt Tubby.]

Flavia shrugged. "This is human nature. Of all the beings in this world, humans are the ones with the ficklest of hearts. Anyway, that maiden and the young lad's bond strengthened but the tree got weaker due to his suffering. The maiden noticed the tree's flowers are getting paler and the fragrance getting different and her heart broke. She refused the young man when he asked her hand in marriage and asked her to leave the forest. She asked for time to leave the forest. She decided to nurse the tree back to health."

"She made the best decision. She should take care of the tree. The tree did a lot for her and it is her duty to give back what she received even if it is not love. If the young man truly loved the maiden, he would wait," Felixa said.

Whether because of the guilt or because of how involved Flavia was as she explained everything came alive in her mind. Felixa already started to draw parallels to her story and the Dagwood Maiden's story in her heart. In her heart the tree became Tubby and the young man was Luke while she was the maiden. 

"She did," Flavia nodded. "That decision made her life a tragedy."

"A tragedy?" Felixa's heart started to pound.

"You see, that maiden was not just an ordinary human. She was a goddess and held immense powers. But unfortunately, she remembered nothing. That young man who approached her had approached her for her powers. He loved her but only for her powers and because she was a goddess," Flavia paused and looked at Felixa thinking she would add something.

Felixa was shocked.

[Goddess? Powers?]

"The tree found that young man's plan and he wanted to protect the maiden at all costs He would have let her go if a happy life awaited her but he knew it didn't. So he tried to keep her away from the young man…"

"How? He cannot talk," Felixa's eyes watered.

"He knew the maiden would leave him once he gets better. So he stayed sick to keep her with him. He had no other way to communicate with her and so he protected her by the only way he knew."

Felixa wiped the drops of tears rolling down her cheeks. She started to wonder if this is what happened between her and Tubby for her to end up on that hill with a sword to her chest that led to Tubby dying.

"What happened?" Felixa asked.

[Does the story have a different ending?]

"That young man was not happy that she is not coming to him. Since the tree is the reason she is not entirely his, the young man tried to chop the tree down. The maiden pleaded with the young man to not hurt the tree and he asked her to leave with him. To protect the tree that protected her always she decided to leave. But the moment she stepped away, the tree started to wither, and within a short time, it was left with nothing but the trunk and bark. All the lustrous leaves shed and the flowers dried up…"

Felixa sniffed wiping her tears. "She didn't know that she is leaving with an evil man? How did she leave with the man who tried to hurt the tree?"

Flavia smiled knowingly.

"She looked back and saw the condition of the tree that was there for her entire life. Her heart hurt.. 'I am not leaving' she proclaimed. She ran and hugged the tree… But…"