The Sins of the Malum Purpura

 “We’re running out of time.” Shirley gasped, her hands trembling as she clutched a crystal close to her chest. The once brilliant colours a mere shimmer of faded hues. Kevin’s eyes flashed to Shirley in the rear-view mirror, too scared to mention that her once vibrant red hair is now a dull copper grey. Shirley lifts her hands and with a flick of her wrist the car lurches to a higher speed, Kevin grips the steering wheel. “You’re not going to help the situation if you get us killed before the time” he snaps through clenched teeth.

Shirley’s eyes flash a brilliant violet causing Kevin to flinch, his mother always said “Violet for violence, fear the hue that is a powerful purple”. He thought she was crazy then, but he was five and that’s what the doctors said, and doctors are supposed to be smarter than five year olds. 

A whimper brought Kevin’s attention back to the present, Shirley’s eyes was closed and her face scrunched in pain. The crystal was even duller now and so was Shirley’s hair. Shirley let out a long sigh and opened her eyes which was now the chocolate brown colour Kevin fell in love with that first time he met her.  

Six months ago 

“I wonder what time the food is going to get here” Kevin moaned to Noah, his co-worker and best friend. Kevin worked as an assistant at a law firm, not very manly, but he enjoyed it for the most part. Kevin and Noah met on his first day at the office, Noah was the receptionist and all around office gossip. 

They became instant friends and through the years it became a tradition that at least once a week the one would order food for the both of them, today was Kevin’s turn. He looked at his phone again, the app said the food would be ready 10 minutes ago. How long can it take to make a damn sandwich. 

Just as Kevin was about to moan from his office, the intercom buzzed, he heard a faint “Delivery for Kevin” and got up from his desk. Noah rolled his eyes and buzzed the speaker in “Has anyone ever told you that patience is a virtue?”. Kevin was about to snap at Noah when his eyes locked with the most beautiful eyes that he has ever seen. They reminded him of chocolate . “Delivery for Kevin” a soft voice floated towards him, snapping him back to reality. “That’s me” Kevin waved awkwardly and stepped forward to take the package. “Hi, my name is Shirley, sorry the order took so long, it’s my first day on the job” Shirley smiled and tucked a red curl behind her ear. “We’ve all been there, honey” Noah reassured her and Kevin nodded his head in confirmation, he was never very good at small talk. Shirley thanked them and left while Kevin was left to continue his day filled with Noah’s teasing remarks about his crush on “Shirley, the delivery girl”. 

About a week later, Noah ordered food again and as soon as Kevin heard Shirley’s voice over the intercom, Kevin’s stomach made a flip and his palms got sweaty. He hasn’t felt this way since he asked Rachel to the Valentine’s ball all the way back in middle school.

 Shirley was pleasant and brief in her exchange with Noah and started moving towards the door when she stopped, turned and walked back past the reception desk straight to Kevin’s door. Kevin who had been eavesdropping on the exchange realised what was happening and started voraciously typing away at his keyboard. Shirley peaked around the corner “ I just wanted to say hi, and thank you for being so nice to me the other day, you really made my day better”. Kevin cleared his throat, “I’m glad I could help, people tend to forget what it’s like to start as the newbie” he chuckled nervously. Shirley nodded, “Well I’m off, enjoy the food”. Kevin shot up from his chair, “wait, I was thinking maybe we could go for dinner some time?” Shirley raised her eyebrows. “Unless of course you have a boyfriend, or .. or a girlfriend then I’d understand; or if you’re not interested! No pressure really” Kevin rambled off. Shirley laughed and wrote her number down on Kevin’s desk pad and left. 

Kevin texted Shirley that night and they made plans to go out the following night, Kevin couldn’t believe his luck. Though his father did use to say, if something is too good to be true, it usually is and that sure as hell was the case with Shirley. 

Present day

“Please drive faster you imbecile, what part of we’re running out of time do you not understand?” Shirley spat. Kevin repressed another comment and sped up as much as possible. “How far till the bloody tree?” he asked, frustration seeping into his voice. “You’ll know when you see it” Shirley said, but a flicker of doubt crossed her features before she composed herself and looked at the crystal. 

Kevin glanced at the sky and noticed something odd, he could see a line of stars , in the middle of the day, on the highway and in the middle of nowhere. Shirley noticed the direction of his gaze and shot forward practically climbing over him. “Follow the stars Kevin, follow it!” she bellowed and Kevin felt fear grip him unlike anything he has ever felt before, not even when his mother was carried away by men in white coats or when he found out the truth about his mother and the world he lives in. 

Shirley’s eyes flashed violet and Kevin was reminded of the first time he witnessed it about 3 months ago. 

Three months ago 

Kevin and Shirley had been actively dating for three months, Kevin was in awe of her, her beauty, her smell, her grace, her laugh, everything made him fall in love with her over and over and over again, so why would it be weird if they moved in together. Shirley was the one for him, she was the love of his life, there will be no other so when Shirley suggested that they move in together, he could not think of a single reason not to. 

So here they were rearranging his furniture to make space for Shirley’s. All was going well, but the trouble came when Shirley started unpacking her books because most of the boxes consisted of books and not just any books, but books about witches and magic and spells. Book after book, he recognised some, such as Harry Potter, The Discovery of Witches, Practical Magic but some looked like some ancient artefacts that belonged in a museum or on the set of Charmed to be honest. Kevin made a joke and said if his father was here to see it, he’d call her crazy and have her locked up. Shirley did not appreciate the humour and for a second Kevin could swear her eyes turned purple, almost exactly the way his mother used to describe in the bedtime stories she used to tell him before she was carried away to the psychiatric ward never to be seen again. But the purple was gone so quickly that Kevin assumed he had imagined it, a mere effect of being reminded of his mother’s illness. 

But as more and more obscure things started happening the less he could chalk it up to imagination. The violet started to linger and the tea definitely started to taste funny. Shirley became distant and aggressive the longer time went on. Soon Kevin dreaded going home after work; and on a whim and on Noah’s insistence Kevin went out for drinks and only returned home in the early morning hours. 

Kevin was sneaking in through his back door, it was less squeaky than the front door and tiptoed through the kitchen until he heard something that sounded like chanting. He looked at the time on the microwave which informed him that it was 03h25 am. “Witching hour” he chuckled. Kevin in his drunken state found it hilarious that he was hearing chanting in the middle of witching hour in his house on a Wednesday. Kevin followed the sound curiously all the way to his room. What he saw shocked him to the core. 

There was Shirley, hands shrivelled up, vibrant violet orbs where her eyes should be and skin covered in wrinkles and runes glowing with every word she chants. Kevin gasped and the purple orbs focused on him, she started to shriek and the next thing Kevin knew his mother appeared . 

His supposedly dead mother was standing between him and this thing he thought was the love of his life. 

His mother’s appearance seemed to shock Shirley too because her shriek was cut short and with one slight flick of her wrist Kevin’s mom sent Shirley flying across the room which knocked her out instantly. 

“My dear, sweet, ignorant boy, why did you not run when you saw her eyes, why did you not listen to my warning” his mother asked , she turned and flecks of gold and green followed her like someone had dumped a bucket of glitter on top of her head. “I know this is a shock but come, listen, we must be quick. Time is of the essence” she grabbed Kevin by the hand and suddenly it was like he was following Alice down the rabbit hole and as he was falling he absorbed knowledge, relived the history that is time, the truth of where he came from and where he was going. 

He learned that his mother was actually not crazy but in fact the last of the Pax Magus who have been the protectors of the Crann Bethadh, the source of magic, balance and virtue. The Malum Purpura has been the enemy of the Crann Bethadh since its inception. The Malum Purpura wished to obtain the root of the Crann Bethadh and use it for personal reaping, to take control of the worlds of the people and of the sorcerers, to wreak havoc and become the rulers of chaos. 

The Crann Bethadh had sensed the evil and peril that will follow and as such, unlike the Malum Purpura, who was created from air and magic, the Pax Magus was forged in battles and scars. Humans who have proved themselves true and so pure of heart that the Crann Bethadh extends its power and envelops it in its heart and in turn the Pax Magus vows to protect it and ensure that balance and peace prevail. 

As the world grew older and the humans more corrupt the Malum Purpura took advantage and laid with humans creating children born with the gift. As virtue faded from the human race so did the Pax Magus with only a few being forged every year.

He learned that Shirley is the oldest and strongest Malum Purpura , in fact she was there when the Crann Bethadh sprouted its first fruit.

It was Shirley who caused the Pax Magus to go extinct, she had realised how they were made and believed that if she could corrupt them before they are forged she would succeed in claiming the power of the Crann Bethadh and so one night she stole the fruit of foresight. 

She gained the ability to learn who will be forged into a Pax Magus the moment they entered the world, she would then send out a coven of the Malum Purpura to the future Pax Magus to either corrupt them beyond compare and if found impossible, to then be killed. 

Once the last Pax Magus was destroyed, being Kevin’s mother, Shirley gathered the corpses of the slain Pax Magus and carried them to the Crann Bethadh and with the swoosh of her arms staked them to the tree as a sign of victory. 

Kevin witnessed the macabre sight as if he was there and felt the air that swooped around them. Suddenly the corpses started bleeding, but instead of a river of crimson, it was a river of green and gold like nature was seeping through them, mourning for the loss of its children. 

Kevin felt the wave of heat on his face and embers scattering around him as this majestic and proud tree erupted into a ball of fire causing the world to glow a bright red and orange getting louder and angrier and then… nothing. There was nothing, no light, no dark, no forest, no tree, no bodies, just silence and nothing.  

Then Kevin knew, the Crann Bethadh was dying and so was the Malum Purpura and looking at Shirley, so did she. 

Present day

Kevin looked at the sky, they were getting closer he could feel it and so could Shirley. Fear settled in his stomach like a bad stomach bug. Shirley looked at him, a bit of colour had returned to her hair and the crystal in her hand flashed a prism of colour through the car which made Shirley giggle. 

Since his trip down the rabbit hole that’s all he and Shirley’s been doing. When he returned to reality his mother had disappeared again and Shirley was standing over him Kevin surrendered and went willingly. 

The thing is because Shirley was the beginning of the Malum Purpura, she was the source of their powers and because of her greed she had consumed so much of the Crann Bethadh’s power that she was now reliant on its existence. And the Crann Bethadh needed to be nurtured just like any other tree but instead of sunlight and water, it required balance and peace. 

The Crann Bethadh appeared like it was called, suddenly it was in the middle of the road taller than a skyscraper, wider than a house and not a single scorch mark on it. 

The car came to a halt and Shirley stepped out moving towards the tree apprehensively. Kevin followed suit although he wanted to run and hide. A sudden movement caught his eye and he saw his mother emerge from the base of the tree, and then another and another and another, like a chain of each and every Pax Magus that ever existed. They formed a link around the tree all in unison dusted in gold and green specks. 

Shirley looked just as shocked as Kevin felt and suddenly dropped the crystal she was still clutching, instead of it shattering as Kevin expected the crystal hit the floor as a rotten spill of cherries. 

In a thunderous voice the Pax Magus spoke, warm and cold, comforting and threatening and in unison they started to speak. “Shirley Malum Purpura, you have sinned against humanity and sorcery. You have left pain and suffering and chaos in your wake. You have abused the purpose that was bestowed upon you. You ate the fruit from the Crann Bethadt and tried to use it against it and it’s protectors.” Kevin glanced at Shirley, it’s almost like every sentence they spoke was sucking the life force from her body. Her hair was white and so was her eyes. She crumbled into the rotten pile of fruit. 

The Pax Magus witnesses this in a cold and unwavering stare and opened their mouths in unison once again “ But in your path and in your destruction you woke something that has been lost for a very long time, you gave hope to a hopeless world. You forged a new Pax Magus” simultaneously all eyes flickered to Kevin who chuckled nervously and before he could say anything, a single voice came forward. “For that you will be spared, you will lose your magic and your sorcery but you will remember all that you had and all that you did. You will remember the pain that you caused and that will be your punishment “. Kevin’s mom broke the link and touched Kevin’s face and in turn touched Shirley, who became revitalized with long red hair and beautiful brown eyes. 

When Kevin looked back at the tree, it had disappeared like nothing had happened. Shirley was still on the floor, her face hidden from view and when Kevin touched her she started to scream; stuck in her head with the pain she had caused never to be forgotten and never to be healed.