Chapter 8: Sorcière d'or

Had I known Liam had ulterior motives, in the wake of his recent conversion?

Not initially. At first, all I bore witness was his rather...gleeful celebration in having left his humanity behind.

He seemed quite jubilant with himself. Given that many inhabitants were regarding him with some sort of fear, I considered if he had lied to me.

He never gave me a definite answer. In fact, he became ever the more secretive. Eventually, he ended up starting some...odd construction.

After I begged him to tell me what was going on, he came right out and said it:

"If I can't get people to like me, then I may as well get some kind of revenge against them."

Revenge? Why would Liam resort to such a thing? I implored him to reconsider. Those people were but mere nuisances, and their words shouldn't be taken seriously.

But Liam wasn't swayed. 

He told me that I should just let him do what he needed, and that I should trust him.

As much as I wished to continue my attempts to change his mind, a part of me still retained loyalty to him at that point. 

Especially when he acquired his first victim. 

One day, after I had come home, he so excitedly brought me into the room, towards the far left cell. 

I hadn't seen Catarina in what felt like an eternity. To see her, merrily transmuting gold as if it were second nature to her...

If blood still flowed within my veins, it would surely have been boiling at that moment. I'd never completely forgotten what that woman put me through. 

And in fact, I was about to scold Liam, when he stopped me. He gave his reasoning for choosing her.

According to him, this was my chance to get even with the woman. 

Though this was not exactly what I wanted, I had to admit, it was an ideal opportunity.  

When Catarina saw me, she must have believed that she could sway me into setting her free. She even tried the whole "grieving mother" role when I informed her of Francisca's untimely death.

She must have realized that it would have gotten her nowhere. When her facade proved ineffective, she stopped and went back to whatever it was she had been doing. 

Liam then told me that he had her creating gold bars by way of alchemy. If she managed to create a hundred gold bars, then he would let her go. 

But that little smirk he gave...I knew he didn't intend to do such a thing. 

How Liam managed to get his hands on a Philosopher's Stone in this day and age is beyond me, but I felt it was best not to ask. 

I told him that I would keep watch over Catarina, and that he should go and do other things. Liam was disappointed at first, but then realized that it was personal. 

So, as he left, it was just me and her. I merely watched as she did what she was told. 

She was giddy about the entire thing, transmuting gold as if she were some overly enthusiastic schoolgirl. 

I was angered that she would derive joy from this. And I simply counted as she created bar after bar. I believed that she would actually achieve her goal. 

But then, just as she were to make her hundredth gold bar, it happened. 

It would seem as though the Stone had had enough of her. Perhaps it was rebelling in protest. 

And Catarina herself was confused. She asked me what was happening, and why it was acting so strangely now. 

I didn't bother to answer her. I knew what was happening. After ninety-nine items that were transmuted before, she would now become the last item changed. 

Her statue stood before me, and the man in black made his appearance. 

I will admit, I felt some perverse joy in seeing her solidified like that. She had been turned into the very element she so desired in life.

And it would seem that the one to take her away seemed jubilant himself. He was finally able to harvest the soul of this woman. 

And just as I suspected, Catarina's soul was so tainted by gold, her spirit became it. 

I saw her, begging and pleading to Death. She claimed that she wanted a second chance, that she was far too young to die. All her lies that she'd spoken, that she was kind and devoted mother, and a misunderstood beauty, she told him them all.

Death was no fool. He looked down at her, knowing full well what she had been like in life, and his answer was swift: No.

With that, she was struck with his scythe, and gone for good. 

After all was said and done, I asked Liam if he knew it was going to end that way for her. He grinned again, and said that the stone was "rigged" to do such a thing.

He never intended to let her leave in the first place. He claimed that she also had her, besides for my sake, because he needed a little extra money.

He then joked that now he could sell her transmuted corpse for a fortune. He was right. Catarina's statue sold for what half the house was worth, which was nothing to sneeze at.

But what would soon come after Catarina's death would be no laughing matter. 

(End of Chapter 8.)