Author: I participated in the competitions that were held to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day. But our class lost to all the competitions and our seniors were having a feast, taking most of the prizes while I could only watch them taking the prizes.

- Flesh- Eating Silver Butterflies -

'Why I'm not strong enough?'

A drop of tear fell into the water, creating small ripples on it.

Looking at the river, there was the reflection of a small and little young girl with short white hair. Her silver eyes were wet with tears as she hugged her knees, sobbing.

"What's wrong?"

A boy's voice asked.

The boy looked like he was around 5 or 6 years old as he walked next to the young girl. The boy who had white hair like snow and dark purple eyes, who else could that boy be but the young version of Noah?

"I failed again...."

Little Noah sat next to his sister and said, "Failing isn't something bad. Anyone will fail plenty of times in his life."

"But I've practiced this technique for more than a month but I still couldn't do it perfectly" said Celeste as she looked at Noah who lied down on the grass with his arms behind his head. "But you, brother, managed to master it within one week. How are you able to do it?"

"... it's just because of swordsmanship is one of my talents" Noah said. "We all have our talents. You also have one, right? Like, you are a really patient person. I'm not as patient as you."

"... but what I want is to get stronger. In that way, I could protect others."

"Do you learn that line from comic books?"

"Brother, how do you know about it?"

Little Noah sighed and sat down as he patted Celeste's head. Celeste closed her eyes while letting Noah to pat her head.

"You know, there are many important things in this tower... more important than being strong. You may not be talented in swordsmanship, but I'm sure that you are talented in another things. I'm certain of it."

"Do you take that line from comic books as well?" Celeste innocently asked.

"What?!" Noah's ears became red. "No- !! Of course no! Do you think I will read comic books just to show it off to you? What am I? Three years old?!"

Celeste just believed in her brother's words and didn't question it anymore. She lowered her head as she thought of something that made her felt uncomfortable and sad again.

"But... but... papa said that my body is weak from the beginning. I can't even awaken the flowers just like you. I also don't have talent in swordsmanship or archery. Why does God hate me this much?"

The last question scared the poor boy Noah.

"No! What makes you think God hates you? God loves you! He loves everyone! Otherwise, how can you be born as my younger sister and be this adorable?" Noah asked, comforting the sobbing Celeste again. His voice was rather loud that you could consider it as shouting in panic instead. "Aw-- don't cry! Listen, Celeste, don't you know that having great talents aren't enough to be powerful?"

"B- but... I'm not even talented... doesn't it mean I- I'm worse...?"

"N- no! You're the best! The best among the bests! A prodigy! Don't cry...."

Noah wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, "Look, you may be not strong now, but you area hard- working person! One day you will definitely awaken your power and unleash your power! Trust me!"

Celeste looked at her brother with the hoping expression, "R- really...?"

"Yes! Now, don't cry anymore" said Noah as he hugged his little sister like she was the most precious treasure he ever had. "Mama will kill me if she knows you are crying. A grown- up doesn't cry, you know...."

Little Celeste hummed and nodded her head, trying not to cry anymore and trying to stop the tears from falling from her eyes again.

'But when will that day come?'

The warm and loving gaze of her father was mysterious replaced with the cold and lonely gaze. Those fierce purple eyes looked straight at her, sending chills to her. Those purple eyes were looking at her without feelings and warmth.

'When I lost everything?'

Little Celeste wasn't used with that gaze. After all, she and her brother were always doted by their parents. To see her parents suddenly ending up like this, she was bewildered and scared.

"Go."

She called her deceased mother, begging her father who she knew had changed to save her mother.

"I give you a chance to survive."

"MAMA! MAMA!"

"Go and get stronger."

As her brother pulled her away, she reached out her hand towards her parents, crying and begging. But neither of her family members listened to her cries.

"When you are strong enough, come back and challenge me."

The strong but cold one had a great change in his heart. Another one lied on the ground as a corpse. The younger and weaker one who was trying to separate her from her parents understood the situation better than her and with sadness, he took her away from her precious people. Without asking for her consent.

"I give you the chance to kill the murderer of your parents."

And there was the young girl crying the whole night with the hope praying that this was all just a nightmare. But what kind of nightmare will be this painful?

"But if you aren't strong enough when that time comes, then remember that you will be the one who I devour."

The loving family had reached its end today. Right at that night, the November, that loving and warm picture of family had shattered. It was the end for their trusts to each other and the start of the cold battle. Whether she liked or not, whether she wanted to believe it or not, it was the truth that she will have to face.

She could cover her own senses with lies. She could always stay asleep towards the reality. But it was just a temporary shelter. Sooner or later, she will have to face the storm called "reality".

A lie was a lie. There was nothing more than that.

Her fate was predestined. It was either she betray her father or betray her mother. And it was her desire, to attempt to run away and break through this predestined fate.

Her strong desire to get stronger, to not feel the pain just like that night and her desire to escape from her predestined fate changed her. As she ran away from her father along with her brother, she experienced many things. The naive girl was forced by fate and by her father to struggle in this tower, facing life- and- death situations, betrayals, bullying and many more when she wasn't ready yet.

To survive this far, she depended on her brother. She depended on her luck and a little of her skills. Because she wasn't strong enough. She wasn't that cold or ignorant. She was never raised by her parents to be a heartless and scheming person. But just because she wasn't heartless, just because she was nice and kind towards the others, it didn't mean that the others will treat her the same.

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

"Haah... haah...."

After jumping between the branches of the trees, Noah landed on the ground while holding his shoulder. As he frowned, it was pretty obvious that he was in pain and injured.

Celeste stopped running. She landed on his left side. Her left hand was holding his back as she asked him worriedly, "Can you continue the journey?"

"I'm fine," he answered. "We can't stop right here. If we stop right here, they might be able to catch up with us."

The two of them heard the sound of footsteps. When they glanced at their back, someone had jumped off the branch and leapt towards the sky, pulling the bow right on his arrow and released it towards them.

BOOM!

The siblings leapt forward, dodging the explosion that was caused by the arrow.

Right on the center of the cracked ground, the man landed safe and sound. Unlike Noah who was injured, he was unscathed while holding one bow on his left hand.

"Tired, aren't you guys? Well, you can't help it. After the cruel fight you guys had, you can't run away anymore."

There was the sound of excitement and happiness on his words, as well as anger.

"Freeing those slaves from us, the two of you are very nosy, don't you think? It doesn't matter now anyway. You have nowhere to run again. After killing all my friends, guess you don't have that ability to summon weird vines or wield sword, right? You are also wounded by my arrow. Without the antidote, you are pretty much screwed up."

Celeste hated to admit it, but it was true. Both of them had messed with the wrong group of people just because she can't stand seeing some people being enslaved, trampled under their foot. In her opinion, people shouldn't be treated like that, for she was taught that everyone was born the same. They were born with the same right. It was only because of greediness that status and authorities appear.

While holding her sword tightly, she clicked her tongue.

She wanted to step forward to defend her brother, but her brother was one step in front of her.

"You want to kill her? Step over my corpse first!" He declared.

His right hand was firmly extended despite of the wound on his right shoulder. Bravely, though he was more wounded than Celeste, he declared that he would protect her no matter what was the cost.

In Celeste's eyes, her brother had always been the person who he admired. He had always been hard- working and solemn. In the same time, he was a loving older brother. He may be a little bit mischievous, teaching her to hide their father's socks and persuaded her to join him to draw on the walls to prevent being punished alone by their mother, but she can't deny the fact that he was the person who she had always relied on.

She always watched him. She watched how he was training his swordsmanship before he decided to not wield sword after seeing their mother died murdered by the same swordsmanship he learnt. She followed his instructions to write words like "our mother is a tigress" on the wall and was punished to kneel for hours along with him. The four of them once sat in the same table to have dinner, where he would be refusing to eat vegetables and scolded by their mother. Their father laughed when he saw his eldest son found his cheek pinched hard by his wife.

And she was always there. She wasn't exactly a lively person like Charlotte. She wasn't even as lively as her brother when they were young. But just because she didn't smile often and appear to be cold doesn't mean she didn't have a heart.

If one asked why she was so protective of her brother, then she would answer that her brother was the mountain she could rely on, the flowers who could cease his worries, the breeze that would never leave her alone.

He was always a great man in her eyes.

"You want to protect her?" He snorted and laughed at his words. "Very well then. Many people I've encountered said that they were loyal and faithful. But in the face of danger, they turn around and abandon each other real quick. Let's see how faithful you could be."

He pulled another arrow from his bow.

Noah gritted his teeth and was prepared to sacrifice his body to withstand the attack if it was needed, though he wasn't sure that his body could take it. Considering how longer this arrow took to be prepared, he was sure that the attack power must be stronger.

'I'll catch that arrow and return it to him as a present. If I can't, then I'll just have to let it explode with me sooner to allow Celeste to survive. No matter what, I have to ensure her safety!'

The arrow was released and Noah suddenly ran towards it, much to their surprise!

"Have you gone mad?!"

He ran and caught the arrow that burned his right hand before he spun around and threw it back towards the one who shot the arrow. As surprised as he was, he was still an expert and knew how dangerous his own arrow could be.

BOOM!

This time, the explosion was harder than before.

"... Catching my poisonous and explosive arrow with your bare- hand, does your sister matter a lot for you to make that sacrifice?" He asked to Noah who was now half- kneeling on the ground. His right hand has been burned and in the same time, poisoned.

Celeste ran towards him and put her right hand on his back. Her left hand was holding her sword. She looked at him worriedly, "Brother, are you alright?"

"I... I'm fine," he answered. "You have to run and leave now.

Honestly, he was stunned. Perhaps he wasn't lying when he said that he was to give his life in exchange for a survive path for his sister. The boy standing before him may be a child, but he had the bravery and ability to prove his words unlike the hypocrites he encountered in the past.

Though they have killed his friends, he had to admit that they were faithful.

"But that must be your last time," he added. "You won't be able to dodge this."

He had prepared his arrow one more time. Celeste threw her sword from her left hand to her right hand and stood before Noah.

Just at that moment, there was the sound of yawn. Turning their heads around, behind the siblings, there was a youngster walking forth, stretching both of his arms in laziness and sleepiness.

"You guys really don't know how to respect the people living here," he spoke in a friendly manner. He put his right hand on his waist and had a friendly grin, though those black- colored eyes didn't look quite pleased with the noises around.

"Those who don't know will think that there is an earthquake or something. And what's this? Are we having some kind of festival and drama? Seeing you guys coming here with fireworks and stuffs... saying those cliche lines... unfortunately, there are no audiences here."

"Who are you?" The man asked, pointing his arrow at the youngster.

"Who I am?" He repeated his question. He closed his eyes for a moment and looked away. He grinned and scoffed before he glanced at him coldly and asked, "Do you have that right to know my identity?"

"What?"

The ground then rumbled. Beneath him, there was a large hole that immediately swallowed him alive.

"AAHHH!"

The man fell into the hole. Neither Celeste or Noah know where the man ended up in. They didn't know it in the past, present, or future. He was swallowed by the ground and vanished completely without leaving any trace behind but the bow that he let go by accident.

The two of them were surprised and in the same time, both amazed and terrified.

"This place doesn't need outsiders, nor do they welcome them," the dark red- haired man spoke again as he turned around to leave the siblings. "Leave this place, if you don't want to end up like him."

Celeste also didn't want to stay in such a dangerous place. But with her brother's condition, there was no way she was going to travel alone.

"Please wait a moment....!" She decided to speak to the stranger who had the power to kill them easily in their current condition.

The stranger stopped and glanced at her.

"My brother is heavily wounded. Would you please help us to heal him?" She asked. "After my brother is fine, we'll leave this place immediately!"

"Celeste... no...!"

The dark- red haired man stared at her for several moments. He had to admit, she was quite beautiful and pretty.

'Such a delicate flower.'

He wanted to test her a bit.

"Why should I be willing to help you?" He asked.

She knew what that question meant. He wanted to receive a payment. There must be something advantageous they could give to him if they wanted to receive his help.

But the two of them were simply runaway children. The word "travelers" were just an excuse. They were children who were trying to survive without relying to their parents and trying to live their own world while forgetting their past. How could they possibly have something valuable on their hands?

"... I...."

What could she give to him?

'That's right.'

She took off a necklace that she has been hiding from everyone else. The necklace with a silver butterfly as its ornament that she received from her parents back then right on her birthday. She had always been wearing that necklace without any intentions of letting it go, even when her parents no longer existed.

At least, one of them wasn't the same as before.

She never had the idea of letting go that necklace. But compared to that necklace, her brother's survival was more important. Reluctantly, as it was the only precious and expensive thing that they had, she took it off, hoping that necklace would be able to interest him.

"This necklace is the only thing we have," Celeste said. "Is this enough?"

It saddened Noah how she had to give up her precious item just for him. He wanted to stop her, but he was wounded that it was hard to speak now.

The man's expression remained calm.

"... why do I need an old- fashioned necklace?" He asked, surprising her and destroyed her expectations. "It's not like I lack of jewelries or precious items. And why do I need a necklace when there is no one who I could give that necklace to?"

"..........."

When one found her expectations shattered into million pieces, the bigger the expectations she had, the worst the disappointment would feel. She really expected him to accept that necklace, and now when he refused it bluntly, the disappointment really wounded her.

"I- I see..."

She held her necklace with a bitter smile.

She put her sword back into the scabbard and assisted her brother to walk.

"C- Celeste...."

"I'll take you out of here," she said. She then looked at him with a bitter and disappointed smile, "Then we won't bother you further. Good bye."

"Wait a moment."

Hearing his words that told them to stop, Celeste felt another ray of hope to save her brother.

"Yes?" She quickly responded.

"How about this?" He asked with a grin on his face as he walked closer towards her.

"I'll lend you a hand," he offered. "But in return, you must pay me with yourself."

Celeste's smile stiffened.

"What....?"

"What do you want with her... you, bastard...?" Noah weakly asked while glaring at him.

"A dying person should not speak a lot," he spoke and annoyed the white- haired man. "What I mean with paying with yourself is I'm requesting for your time."

"My... time....?" Celeste did not understand.

"Yeah. It's kind of boring to be trapped in one place for hundred of years," the boy spoke. "The two of you are outsiders, certainly you have traveled to some places in this tower, right?"

"Well... we did travel to some places."

"Then it's good. In exchange with me curing your brother-- don't look at me like that, snowman, I know how to deal with poisons and stuffs like that-- I want you to tell me the stories about the outside. What you know about the outside and everything. Things have been bored within the city lately, and I hoped that you could bring me new surprises."

"Then as long as I give 'some of my time' to you, you will help my brother, right?" Celeste asked straight to the point determinedly. "Then you have my words."

Noah actually disagreed, but it appeared to him that the disadvantage being a dying man was that no one listened to your words when they were talking about something for your sake.

"Haha, then I'd say we have reached an agreement," he spoke. "Your name is Celeste, right?"

"How do you know?"