It was a warm spring day in a faraway land in a city known as The Village. The Village had many visitors, yet few inhabitants. The Village looked like your typical fantasy land--mainly shrubbery, small homes, inteligent wildlife, and no sign of technological advancement. The few citizens of The Village knew each other well and seldom fought, or even argued, for that matter.
The two most prominent citizens of The Village were Normic and Tristessa. Normic was the mayor and always had the final say-so in everything. Tristessa was known for being his wife and the owner of a bed and breakfast called Le Maison de Tristesse.
Each citizen of The Village possessed a power within. However, none them knew what power they possessed or how to use it, not even the all-powerful Normic himself. They made do with what skills they did have. Normic with his strength and pyro skills, Tristessa with her knowledge and stellar skills with her bullwhip, Arcon's swordsmanship, CoCo's creativeness, Galetta's sharshooting skills, the list goes on.
Tristessa sat under a willow tree next to Lake Wichahochie that afternoon writing poetry. This was a normal thing for her. However, she noticed that the last few poems she had written were sad-sounding. She sensed she was decoming depressed, however, she could not pinpoint the cause. She wished for a cure for her excessive sadness, but The Village's one and only alchemist had been drawn and quartered two weeks earlier for mixing a cure for Normic's earache that resulted in him having a rash, the runs, and E.D. for a week. No matter how sad Tristessa got, she never cried.
As she wrote, Tristessa could hear gunshots off in the distance. Galetta's catching dinner, she thought to herself. She thought of all the ways Galetta could prepare wild game. She thought of his famous pickled possum and began to salivate.
Tristessa stood up and began to run home in hopes of it making her feel better. Home was a good half-mile away, but she didn't care. She ran, with her dark auburn hair and black skirt flowing behind her, past La Maison, past the Town Center, past CoCo's house, past Hearst's house, finally reaching her house, which, of course, was the most grandiose house in The Village.
When she entered her house, she noticed Normic wasn't there. In fact, she had not seen him since earlier that morning. She shrugged it off, drew a bath, disrobed, and relaxed in it.
By the time Normic did come home, Tristessa didn't question him. Instead, she greeted him with her usual kiss-and-hug. Normic was rather distant and quiet throughtout the rest of the evening. Tristessa decided it was just stress and decided not to bother him about it.
Tristessa rose the next morning to the sound of someone rapping at the front door. Normic was already gone. When she answered the door, there stood Arcon Addr, one hand holding a sword, and the other on his hip. Tristessa greeted him warmly. "Good morrow."
"Good morrow, Tristessa."
"Here, come in, Arcon. Normic's alread gone." Tristessa let him inside and they sat down on the sofa. "What can I do for you?"
"Do you know where I can find Normic?"
Tristessa sighed. "No. I sure don't. I've noticed he's rarely ever here. Have you asked Hearst?"
"He has no clue."
"What about CoCo?"
"Can't find her, eiher."
"That's strange indeed. Oh, where are my manners? Can I get you something? Some cherry cider or picked possum?"
Arcon shook his head. "I need to be on my way. Have a nice day, Tristessa. I'll see myself out." And with that, he left.
Later that day, Tristessa stood under the tree in the central part of The Village where she had met Normic years earlier. She traced her index finger along the initials Normic had carved into the trunk before they were married. N.M. & T.L. She sighed and thought back to when everything was great and Normic lavished Tristessa with so much affection. She began to wonder why Normic did not treat her the way he used to and why he always seemed so distant. Tristessa did not cry; she never did. Instead, she just sighed.
She leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. It was then that an arrow came flying out of nowhere. The point stuck into the trunk, just missing Tristessa's head. Her eyes flew open and she jerked in shock. She looked around for the source of the arrow and saw nothing.
Tristessa ran to find Normic. He was nowhere to be found. However, she did find Arcon fishing off the banks of Lake Wichahochie. "Somebody's trying to kill me!" she panted.
"You're kiddding," Arcon said, setting his pole down.
"No," she said trying to catch her breath. "An arrow was fired at me. Just barely missed me. Where's Normic?"
"I have no clue."
"Who could have done this?"
"Probably one of those crazies that stays at your Maison de Tristesse."
"Impossible. Oh my God, I wonder if CoCo's okay." Tristessa began running back towards the central part of The Village.
When she reached CoCo's house, she could hear cries of pain from inside. Tristessa gripped her bullwhip and kicked open the door. "CoCo? CoCo?!" She reached the bedroom and saw on the bed a blanket with what appeared to be two struggling bodies underneath.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with her?!" Tristessa screamed as she yanked abck the blanket. But instead of seeing what she expected, which was a stranger trying to kill CoCo, she saw her there naked with Normic, who was naked as well. "What th-"
"Tristessa!" Normic and CoCo cried together in surprise.
Tristessa sttod there with her mouth open, but said nothing. She began to shake. She turned around and ran out the house. She ran a good ways before she came face to face with Hearst. "Oh my God, I just saw Normic and CoCo together, and they were-"
"I know, Tristessa. I know." He reached behind him, pulled out an arrow, and positioned it in his bow. "And he hired me to do away with you."
"But Hearst, why?" Tristessa said, her voice shaking with fear.
"Greed, mainly. And my loyalty to Normic."
Tristessa dropped her bullwhip. "Hearst-"
"Sorry, honey. Duty's duty." He began to pull the arrow back.
"Hearst, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Hearst and Tristessa looked to see Arcon behind Hearst, pointing his sword at him.
"Well, if it isn't Arcon himself here to save the day!" Hearst said, smiling.
"If you lay a finger on her, you're gonna be tasting steel," Arcon warned.
"Oh, I'm not going to touch her," Hearst said. "However..." He held up his bow and arrow.
"And you're about to become roadkill!" Arcon lunged at Hearst with his sword and missed. Hearst threw down his bow and arrow and kicked Arcon in the abdomen. Once again, Arcon lunged at Hearst, but got kicked in the head. As Arcon fell back, his sword flew up in the air, and his right foot hit Hearst in the head, knocking him unconscious. Arcon landed on his back, and then the end of his sword came down on him, impaling him.
Tristessa gasped. "Arcon!" She stood there for a second, shocked at everything that had happened. She picked up her bullwhip and waked to the tree, pulled the arrow out of the trunk, and tied the whip tightly around a branch. As she did this, she began to sing one of the songs she had written. "I never shed a tear for you. I never shed a tear for you. All I did was sigh and say, 'Ev'rything's gonna be okay...'"
She formed a noose with the free end of the whip, stood on her toes, pulled the noose over her head, and tightened it around her neck. She looked up intothe night sky and saw Orion, a symbol between her and Normic. A single tear began to well up in her eye. Her first tear ever. She bent her knees, and she hung there from the tree.
Just as this had happened, the entire population of The Village began to crowd around the tree and Tristessa's lifeless body, including Hearst, who had just regained consciousness, and Normic and CoCo, fully clothed. They saw Tristessa hanging and kissed each other victoriously.
Normic walked to the middle of the crowd and held his hands up to quiet the people. "Tristessa was never a happy person," he began. "So this comes as no surprise. So let's all go home, and we'll take care of her later."
The tear in Tristessa's eye began to roll down down her cheek. It dripped off her jaw and splashed on the ground. As that happened, a small fire flared up from the tear and grew larger and began to spread in all directions.
"Everybody, RUN!" Normic yelled to his citizens. They began to run, but it was to late. The fire began to consume everything in its path. People, houses, vegeation. The fire continued to spread, destroying everything. The entire village population screamed and moaned in agony. The houses began to crumble and collapse. Nothing was spared in the inferno. Only La Maison and the tree with Tristessa's body remained standing.