Revived as a Mutant in the Apocalypse

Crippled, or Not?

"Welcome, please come in."

A smile spread across her wrinkled face as the old woman, Mrs Zhang, urged her inside. The sky was dark and the illumination outside was minimal. Only after Xie Yi entered the door that the old woman was able to see her entire figure clearly.

"Oh my goodness, you're heavily drenched! Please follow me. I'll lead you to your room."

Mrs Zhang gasped, the worry in her tone evident. Xie Yi studied her reaction once more, before nodding as she thanked the woman for her kind intentions.

"En, thank you Auntie."

Mrs Zhang's eyes turned into crescents when she saw how obedient and polite the teenager acted.

"You don't have to, Miss Xie. Here, let me help you."

The old woman offered to help her with her luggage when the teenager suddenly stepped back, narrowly avoiding her outstretched hand.

"I can carry them by myself, Auntie. Thank you for the offer."

Mrs Zhang raised an eyebrow, surprised by her sudden reflex. Still, she didn't insist and simply led her to her current stay.

Since it was now at the dead of the night, most of the Xie family members were resting in their rooms. She would have to wait for another day to be introduced to the other family members.

"Alright then. I'll ask for the maids to bring some towels to your room. Please follow me."

Xie Yi nodded, pressing her lips to form a straight line before she silently followed behind the old woman.

***

Once the old woman left her alone in her room, and only after she heard the crisp clicking sound of the closing door that Xie Yi dared to loosen her breath and threw herself onto the large single bed.

She let her weight sink into the soft mattress as her eyes fluttered close, easing the fire burning under her eyelids that served as an evidence to her fatigue.

After the uncanny tragedy that befell her two months ago, her combat prowess took a huge nosedive, plummeting her worth to a degree that automatically exempted her from her military duties. And after that, she was allowed to return – to the family she never knew she had, not until a few days ago.

Xie Yi stretched out her arms and propped herself up. She studied the room she was assigned to, the light in her eyes calm and without any ripples as she moved her gaze to her luggage.

Glancing at the mirror near her, she pulled the edge of her wet shirt, about to take a quick shower when her hands stopped midway, exposing her whole stomach to the chilly air. There, on her lower abdomen, lies a hideous line of scar that had turned dark brown in color, left after the wound was stitched.

On normal times, this kind of scar wouldn't take more than a couple of days to completely fade away. However, it was now impossible for her to do so anymore. Not after her supernatural abilities, alongside with her rapid-regeneration skill, were stripped off her.

Xie Yi reverted her gaze, her mind traveling to the night where she seemed to have lost everything that amounted to the meaning of her existence.

She couldn't exactly remember what had happened that day. All she could make out was the images of her figure moving agilely amongst the swarm of mutants clawing at her, taking their lives without much struggle. There seemed to be a lot of voices colliding within her mind at that time. But after that, everything went blank – That was what she told them when they had interrogated her.

The investigation team concluded that the squad must have met some kind of a high-class mutant with psionic abilities that might be able to delude the human mind.

The case was closed when in truth, Xie Yi could relay everything that had happened at that time as clear as day. That night, after she traced the source of those voices, she met 'her,' the mystical creature who called herself 'mother.'

That creature took the shape of a humanoid figure with hard iron-like dark purple skin, the whole part of its head covered by a helmet made of pure precious purple 'rocks'. Beyond the semi-transparent glass, a pair of eyes that were purely black shone like polished obsidians, sending shivers down her spine as they landed on Xie Yi's body.

What lies underneath that majestic mask crowned with a golden triton was a similarly well-toned body that was neither too muscular nor too skinny. A full body of purple jadeite armor pressed onto her skin, outlining her beautiful curves, cutting a flawless figure worthy to be called as the epitome of perfection.

Rocks. Her comrades once told her that they all are born out of rocks and thus, with no families to rely on for their entire lifetime. They were all laughing and trembling in between their giggles, and she thought that they were merely joking. So, this was what they meant as being born out of rocks. This rock-made monster before her, was 'she' truly her mother?

Xie Yi couldn't understand the foreign feeling drowning her at that moment. It took control of her body and prompted her to take a step closer, before sprinting without any fear into the creature's embrace.

Probably, such was the instincts of a child, wholeheartedly trusting their parents no matter what they were like, craving for their love. Her mother's arms were hard and without any hint of warmth, as expected of a living rock who breathed air. However,

"My child... my child..."

Her heart that was frozen still like a millennium-year-old glacier seemed to have melted upon the arrival of her soft melancholic voice. This was her mother, her family that she thought never existed!

And yet, "Stab!"

Xie Yi coughed out blood, her eyes staring wide in disbelief at her mother's purple hands that had turned into sharp jade blades before they drilled into her lower abdomen, her sharp fingers wrapping around the trembling core that was giving out a brilliant light as if it was revolting against her touch.

Her mother's fingers curled and in one swift movement, she pulled out the roots of Xie Yi's superpower, sparking pain all over Xie Yi's nerves.

'Why?'

Xie Yi's reddened eyes glazed over as they turned to question the humanoid figure, her emotions turning even more complicated when she saw tears streaming out of the creature's pitch-black eyes.

'Aren't you my mother? Why... did you betray my trust?'

She felt the creature's arms tightening around her, as if the creature's heart had hurt a hundred-fold more than the pain Xie Yi suffered when her core was pulled out of her, awake and alive. Still, she couldn't understand her motives.

'Why did her supposed 'mother' take her powers away from her?'

'How could she have survived from all the blood loss after her core was torn out of her?'

'And most importantly, what had she exactly done to her body that night?'

Xie Yi ran her fingers along the coarse line of the stitches on her stomach, feeling the churning power lying dormant underneath.

Two months ago, right after the accident happened, she was sure that her powers were no longer there. The pulsating surge of powerful energy within her was gone and she had been turned into a cripple.

However, she couldn't say the same at this moment as under the tip of her fingers, distanced by the numerous layers of her skin, right at the spot where her energy core once stood but later emptied, she could feel a similar surge of power that was horrifyingly not of the same energy.

The sensation was both familiar yet unfamiliar to her, and she couldn't exactly put a finger at what it might be.

Maybe, just maybe. She hadn't been seized of anything but rather, bestowed a different kind of power that will prove to be greater, and way more powerful than what she could ever imagine.

And this secret, the only connection she had with her mother, shouldn't be known by anyone but herself.