The Curse of the Midnight Rose
I remember it like it was yesterday, though in 4EverMore, time has a way of stretching into eternity, bending, warping, like the shadows that stretch across our land. It was the kind of night where the stars seemed to flicker with a strange, almost malevolent glow. The air held a sharp bite to it, the kind that would freeze the soul of any mortal who dared venture too far into the heart of our kingdom. But we weren’t mortals. Not in the slightest.
The Midnight Rose was a mystery wrapped in danger. It grew only in the darkest corner of the Enchanted Forest, where shadows clung to the trees like forgotten secrets. A flower of pure darkness—its petals as black as the void, its thorns sharper than the fangs of a NightStalker. Legend said that whoever plucked it would gain power beyond their wildest dreams. But the cost? The blood of the one they loved most.
At the time, I had no idea how deeply that curse would entangle us, nor how dangerously close I would come to losing everything.
It all began with Seraphina. She was always the reckless one, the one who danced too close to the fire, daring it to burn her. I knew it was only a matter of time before that fire caught her.
One evening, she came to me, her eyes wide with something—excitement, perhaps? But beneath that spark, there was something darker. Something colder. "Sonia," she said, her voice trembling with the thrill of discovery. "I found it. The Midnight Rose. It's real."
I should’ve slapped her then, scolded her for chasing after the forbidden, for playing with magic that even the darkest witches feared. But Seraphina had always been a step ahead. Her fingers had brushed against the cursed petals, and with it, a change had swept over her. The magic of the Midnight Rose had latched onto her, transforming her. She became colder, more distant—like a stranger wearing my sister's face.
"What have you done?" I demanded, feeling the chill of the curse settle deep into my bones.
But it was too late. The curse had already taken root.
The price had been set. The only way to break it was to sacrifice what she loved most—her heart’s blood. And I knew who that was.
Me.
There was no other choice. The cost had to be paid.
And so, I made the hardest decision of my immortal life.
I gathered the darkest magics, whispered to the shadows that twisted beneath the earth, and called upon ancient powers that slumbered in forgotten places. The ritual was treacherous. It tore at the very fabric of time, bending space itself to my will. I stood alone in the cursed garden, surrounded by the twisted trees, the fog thick and suffocating, as if the very land itself mourned what was to come.
The magic burned through me, searing my soul, but I didn’t falter. I focused only on one thing—saving Seraphina. She was my sister. My blood.
As the ritual neared its climax, the world seemed to fracture. The Midnight Rose bloomed with an unnatural, violent light, its petals glowing with an eerie energy. I felt the surge of power crash through me, like a storm too fierce to control. For a moment, I thought I might die from the force of it all—but I held on.
The magic took everything from me, and when it was done, the garden fell silent once more. Seraphina was free. The curse had been broken.
But at what cost?
I’d saved her, but a piece of me was lost forever. A part of my soul was bound to the Midnight Rose, a dark link that would never fade, no matter how many centuries passed.
The thorns of that flower had left their mark on both of us. Seraphina was free of the curse, but the darkness we had awoken would always follow us. It would haunt us, whisper in our minds, a reminder of the price we had paid.
And that, my dear, is one of the many stories that haunt the halls of 4EverMore—a tale of power, sacrifice, and the consequences of tampering with forces far beyond our control.
