“Grow up, and become a good person.”

“But… how?...”

∞××∞

Third day of Sapta’xahr, 4043 AOT

Aesbyl Region. Arbhur City, Wave 5

Azalea stands in front of a scrappily made grave. Her only light comes from the sun that is only slightly peeking from the horizon. The symbol for the Ascendance to Heaven is drawn on an uneven piece of wood that was slightly buried on the ground to make it stand in an upright position. The foundation is weak enough that if someone steps on it, it will fall. Most of the now dried flowers on the grave have been blown by the wind. Somehow, looking at it reminds her of an unpleasant memory.

“You woke up quite early.” Mary says while walking closer. Her voice is soft and low. “Is the attic not comfortable after all?”

“It wasn’t the attic that made me uncomfortable.” Azalea responds without looking back. She keeps her eyes down at the old man’s grave.

Mary’s twin, Mark, is following a few steps behind her. They are standing beside the grave. They are taking the moment of silence to read into Azalea’s expression but her eyes are dead and her face shows no emotion.

“It would have been fine if you were only selling rags.” Her tone is flat. “The symbols on your jackets are quite popular among those who are in the business.”

“We aren’t expecting that an outsider would now about this.” Mark crouches down to pick up the dried flowers.

“And?” Mary scoffs. Her tone is full of scorn. “You are not going to start some grand speech now, are you?”

“We are going to protect this family.” Mark grips the stalks of the dried flower tighter. It makes a small crunch as a dried petal slowly falls.

“Say… How did the old man die?”

“Please don’t dig into this any further.” Mark stands up with the crumpled dried flowers in his hands. His tone has become deeper as the tension in the air rises. He makes eye contact with Mary, telling her to stay quiet. “We only have each other. There is no one else that can protect us. I will not let anyone harm my siblings.”

“Even though you know that you are destroying other people’s lives?”

“Everyone’s the same here.” He responds without a shred of guilt.

Mary sighs deeply. “In this place, people destroy themselves… because that’s the only salvation they have from this nightmare you call life.”

Azalea then suddenly turns to look at the twins. Their eyes are fixed at her. Their gazes spell the determination they hold to keep up on what they have started. She knew that something is off, but she is not expecting it to be this bad. It is true that she is just a passing stranger, and she has no idea how people live in this kind of place. She has no right to preach to them about justice and dignity based on her experiences. Still, the unpleasant feeling inside her chest is not going to just disappear.

“You said that you won’t be staying for long.” Mark adds while he lightly taps Mary’s back. “Please leave. In exchange, we won’t tell them your location.”

“I… I see…” She turns her sight towards the rising sun. “I guess it can’t be helped. However, I can’t leave without my armor.”

“Brenda and Leika tended to it.” Mary replies before turning her back to follow her twin.. “I saw them put it in the sofa of the living room. Just take it and leave.”

∞×∞

Third day of Sapta’xahr, 4043 AOT

Arbhur City, Wave 5, Elteb Canyon, outside of the slums

Not far from the end of Wave 5 is a large maze-like canyon. After her conversation with the twins, Azalea wants to be alone and somehow gather her thoughts.

She is feeling so lost that she silently took her tattered and scraped armor before leaving without saying a word to the rest of the children. After changing into her armor, she left that small slightly dilapidated house. Her mind is recalling the events that happened in the past month which lead her into this situation. She slowly walks out of the slums and without realizing it she finds herself standing at the entrance of the canyon. She stops for a while to look at her surroundings before continuing on her way.

What the hell am I doing?

The sun has risen high enough. She enters Elteb canyon to look for a shaded and quiet place where she can rest and think. In her head plays the things she has done that might have affected her current situation. She thinks over and over again.

Where did things go wrong?

The land is dry and dusty. The towering walls of rocks are hard and rough. At this point there are barely any forms of plants around. Small critters run and hide in the tiny cracks on the ground. If she continuous to walk deeper, some larger monsters might start showing up.

At the core of Elteb canyon is the territory of a demon. It has not shown any aberrant behavior yet so it is still not considered as a threat. Though there is a high chance that it is going to start leaving its territory soon and wander in larger areas.

With these in mind, she finds a small shaded area in between the rocks and the walls.

Not far from the demon’s territory is a mine that no one can easily enter because of the threat of running into the demon or high rank monsters.

She spends some time staring at a collection of moss that is growing on the cracks of the canyon’s wall. She stands staring blankly as she remembers what Jad told her a day ago.

“There is a gang of reveils in their teens has started gathering the strong kids. They haven’t found out that Leika is a strong contractor, so for now, we’re safe.”

She balls her hands into a fist so hard that her finger nails are digging into her palms. She grits her teeth while deep in though.

This little gang seems to be involved in the Fairy Dust business. But they do not have knowledge in Mary and Mark’s job, so they must be from a different faction. The problem is that they are gathering reveils. Someone wants to take control of the flow of that dust in this area. A turf war might get ignited in the future. Whoever gathers a stronger group would win. However, that is not the case for Mary and Mark’s family since they are going to be dragged into it and get stuck in the middle of the conflict whether they like it or not. Being uninvolved in neither side means they may take blows from both.

And in worse case…

All of a sudden she punches the rigid wall. She punched the rock-like wall with so much force that her knuckles have gotten skinned deep enough to start bleeding. Her passive healing immediately activates. Small magic circles are now glowing, appearing and disappearing around her injured fist.

What the hell am I doing?

It is clear that this is not just some kid’s gang fight. The adults in the syndicate are behind it. They are starting to build a group with younger and powerful reveils. Not everyone is welcome. It is not long before they get dragged into it. Mary and Mark will be absorbed deeper into their trade and will be forced to comply with their rotten system. If nothing is done, they are just going to continue spiraling down into a future of inescapable misery.

She balls her hands into fist again and then proceeds to punch the hard canyon wall more. She cursed herself… for being so powerless when it comes to protecting something valuable. It is like the helplessness she felt three years ago has returned to haunt her again.

She has been standing in front of newly made graves quite a lot this year.

Is there a way to prevent that future?

What the hell am I doing?

She stops punching. She catches her breath. Her arms are trembling. Her knuckles are scraped and bleeding. Beads of sweat run down her cheeks. Her eyes are fixed at the wall that is now stained with her blood. Her hands are lit up by the healing magic circles that flickers up and away.

She takes a deep breath.

“What choice do I have?” Her voice is low and rough.

She lifts her head to briefly look at the sky before leaning on the rocks beside.

“I’m tired.”

Her eyes are cold and dead.

“What exactly am I up against?”

Droplets of her blood drip down and make tiny splatters on the solid dusty ground.

“To protect those kids and to change their life, making it a little better… What can I do? The last time I did something, it ended up becoming a huge mess.”

She looks down again recalling the events of the past month.

“Everything I did was for naught.”

There is that cloudy feeling inside her chest. As time passes by, it only gets worse. It is unpleasant and heavy but she cannot find a way to just get rid of it. It sticks inside and it is suffocating in ways she cannot physically describe.

What the hell am I doing?

“I guess I never really put much thought into it. It was a reckless move… A selfish impulse… Not only did I fail to save anyone, I might have made things more difficult for many… I’m a mess.”

To help them…

To make a change…

What can I do?.. I’m just-…

…

Goddamn it all!...

Everything should just get burned until nothing’s left…

If the future cannot be stopped then I’ll just destroy it all!

For a moment, everything has gone dark. She has not noticed how much time has passed. As if she was in daze for a very long time. The ringing of her phone snaps her back to reality. As she picks it up she notices that the wounds on her knuckles have already healed. She only holds the phone to her ear without saying a word.

“H-hello, Azalea?” A young man’s familiar voice cracks from the other line.

After hearing Qin’s voice, some ideas entered her mind. There might be some other options. To prevent the war, then she just have to crash the forces behind that is trying to start one. Then, let the people establish a new balance of power.

“Why are you so quiet? You’re making me nervous.”

“Mhm.”

“You’re Azalea, right?”

“Yeah…”

She hears him taking a deep breath from the other end.

“Have you decided where we we’re going to meet up? I’ll pick you up and directly accompany you to Westar.”

“Actually…” Her voice is a little hoarse, as if something is stuck in her throat. “Forget it. I have a favor to ask, Qin.”

“I do not like the sound of this.”

“…”

“Weren’t you going out of that place?”

“I am not going to leave Aesbyl yet.”

“No!” He suddenly raises his voice. “You need to leave that rotten place now. Just follow the directions I sent you and I’m sure you’ll easily lose your pursuers then.”

“Listen-”

“I do not know what you’ve gotten yourself into this time, but is it really worth risking your life?”

“Do you know why I’m going to Westar?”

“You’re…” He pauses for a moment before uttering the next words. “Visiting… your friends’…um… in Cappleasyo City.”

She grips her phone tighter. “I am going to visit my friends’ graves, the people I considered as family for four years.” She takes a deep breath. Her eyes are soulless. “I don’t think I’d still have the right to go and tell them about my adventures if I turn my back at this place and run away.”

There is only silence from the other side, as if he is at loss for words.

“That day… I was running around the city… asking for help… looking for help… I was desperate, it was really hard. That night while I was burying them… I thought that if someone… anyone… if one person, only if someone had lent a hand, then maybe something would have changed. Maybe some of them had been saved and I wouldn’t have to bury them alone.”

Qin can only listen to her as her tone goes lower and colder as if all the warmth she used to possess is being drained away. He is now able to picture what she is going through, even though the situation is still unclear to him.

“I want to change things. I want to help save them… because I would have wanted someone to save me back then too.”

“Okay, I understand… but do not put your life in danger.”

“Thank you.”

“I want to hear your plans. What do you want me to do?”

“First, do you have trust-worthy connections that work in the armor-crafting industry? I need some who are willing to do business here.”

“What are you planning?”

She smiles coldly while looking far deeper into the canyon. “I’m a demon hunter, of course I’ll go hunt.”