Long ago, in the mist-veiled kingdom of Thaloria, there lived a man beloved for his words.
He was a storyteller—one of the greatest. With his voice, silence turned to fire, and dreams became kingdoms. Beside him stood his wife, a gifted bard whose music gave his tales breath and heartbeat. Together, they wove stories that built worlds, and from those worlds… a child was born.
The boy grew up wrapped in legends, knowing dragons before he could walk and devils before he could speak. But he did not know—his father had written something he was never meant to touch.
☽ It began with a book.
Ancient and bound in black, it lay hidden beneath the royal archives, sealed and long forgotten. No title. No author. Just pages… blank.
Until his father wrote upon them.
> He called it The Gossipers' Karma—
A playful tale about liars and whispers.
Nothing serious.
Nothing dangerous.
Or so he thought.
But the book was no ordinary parchment. Each word awakened something deep and ancient. Something that watched. Soon, those who spoke the tale's name began to die.
Whispers turned into screams. Gossip became grave silence. Mouths were sewn shut by invisible hands.
The father—once adored—became feared. When the curse could no longer be denied... he vanished.
Some say he was taken. Others claim he burned the book—and himself with it. His wife, the bard—whose music once breathed life into his stories—vanished not long after. Some say she went searching for him. Others whisper that the book took her too. No one ever saw her again.
☽ But the boy remained.
He had a sister once— youger, softer, always clinging to their mother's skirts. But one day… she vanished too. No note. No farewell. No trace.
Some say the curse took her. But Leo believed otherwise. He believed… she ran.
Now, he was truly alone, burdened with a story that should never have been told and a name people only dared speak—in whispers.
☾ The Dream
Years passed. The boy became a man. Yet the curse never left him.
One night, he dreamed of the book again. He saw it—floating above a broken city, soaked in silence. He walked the ruins of Valmora, where laughter once echoed. Now, only whispers remained.
And with every whisper… someone died.
> "Did you hear what she said—"
"It's about that story, the one calle—"
"The Gossip—"
Gone.
Each voice vanished mid-word, erased by an unseen force. And in the center of the ruins… the book waited.
Its pages turned without wind. Its cover glowed faintly, marked by a cursed title:
> The Gossipers' Karma
He couldn't move. Couldn't speak. He felt it watching him. And then… he heard it:
> "The story isn't done."
☀️ The Realization
He woke in a cold sweat. For the first time in years, he understood.
The curse was still alive. Still listening. Still killing. And it would not end on its own.
That night, beneath a moonless sky, he stared at the horizon and whispered:
> "It ends with me."
"I will find the book."
"I will stop it."
"And if she's still out there… I will find her too."
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