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On the farthest corner of the farthest world, on an island surrounded by the Sea of Sorrow, there sits Affina, the saddest sister of Lorelei. Her only companion is a silent seeing glass.
Affina once was part of the world of man. But the world of man cracked and through the cracks seeped the Incoupus, an even more reckless species. These creatures celebrated death and extinction, even amongst themselves they could not distinguish between the two sexes, so vile they considered natural reproduction. The replicated themselves more like a virus, hijacking natural tissues, perverting it into the creatures they are. They would steal the eggs of man to reprogram them. They would dissect living organisms, using those parts to replace their expiring ones. They were necromancers of a sort, but of the kind that cheated life instead of studying it. They were not alive in the sense you or I are alive, the Incoupus are a death encased in living tissue.
As the cracks in the world deepened, so too did the decline of man and of all forces that could resist the invasion against life. As men became weak and lost to themselves, the creatures ran free, erecting magnificent empires of trash. The ingenuity and cruelty of the Incoupus surpassed even themselves, growing ever more cruel and gaining ever more destructive ingenuity.
I cannot say exactly when or how Affina was snared during these events, only that she was. Through some form of trickery Affina was reduced to a possession. She knew there existed things worse than death, and one of those things was the living death before her. The creature desired her heart, for some vile purpose not even the worst of us could guess. However, one great protection granted to the living is death if the heart is taken. So then Affina was subjected to another form of deception. The dead thing took her to the farthest island, abandoning her alone with only a looking glass to see the truth of the world. It was said through knowing truth she may change herself and adjust her ways.
Affina's island was not a completely desolate place. Birds could travel there. So it was that Affina lived on her island and attracted birds of many beautiful sorts through growing plants and berries that they cherished. They would visit her, often returning with friends. And Affina lived with the birds, assiduously tending to them and her gardens, enjoying their company as they relished their treats. But there was an omnipresence of loneliness, for she was no longer part of the world of man, missing pleasures once savored. Being pushed and pricked by this constant pain she raised the silent glass to glimpse the world, circumventing her solitude.
As Affina watched the world, she felt great sorrow, both for her own loneliness and for the destruction of all she loved and all that was beautiful. For each cruel truth she learned, she wrapped it neatly as a tear to shed. These tears each contained a moment of melancholy. In this way she kept that infinite sadness from poisoning her. It was from these tears that grew the great Sea of Sorrow.
The Incoupus was not wrong in his designs. For in this cruelty, Affina's heart began to weaken. And in that weakening, a new type of parasite took root. It was not a heart worm, nor a lung mite, but something not unlike both. As she cried, these bugs took bites. And as these ate away at her heart, they cocooned themselves in hard shells that hatched into heads of a great monster that swam in the sea.
The Sea grew ever greater from Affina's tears. As the Sea expanded, fewer and fewer birds could make the journey across it to her island. And then it was only the waterfowl, who could rest from their long flight on the sea until they regained their strength. And the monster grew ever more heads from the heart mites. At the core of each head was the bite it had taken from Affina's heart. She desired not to destroy this monster, for each part of it contained a piece of her. As the monster grew, so did its hunger. A time came that any creature attempting to cross the sea to her island was eaten.
Her loneliness now grew without bounds, her hopes of escape drowned in an abyss of nothingness. As sister of Lorelei, she was able to call out to the minds of men, but even the few left that could hear her cries, could not make it to her island. So it was that Affina sat on her island, the saddest siren, alone with a silent seeing glass. Then the day came when a little duck with a white face made it to the island. Affina had kept one single berry plant alive, of which she fed all to the little bird. And she asked the bird to leave the desolate place and carry a piece of her with it, that part of her may escape. She warned the little bird that the only way to carry that piece was to absorb it into itself.
I know all this to be true, because I am that little bird, and the piece I carry is her story. And when I sing, I often times sing the sad song of her lamenting, for it is a part of me. One day a poet overheard the tale of Affina, feeling a kindness and sympathy for her suffering he said to me, `` Little bird, your story need not end in wretched despair. For your friend may merely eat the beast that guards the island then recover her heart that was taken. It is known the world will experience a drought. In greed the creatures will steal her tears of sorrow, allow the Incoupus the knowledge and consumption of the sea. Why, this ending is much more fitting, that she simply walk away from the island, whole and herself again.''
The more I thought about those berries, the more I agreed with the poet. I am going to make it back there, I must try, those berries are exquisite.
