"Ten Years Ago"
"Wah! What a pretty house!"
She did not say it out aloud, but seeing the twinkle in her green eyes, Gneiss knew exactly what her thoughts were. Her pursed lips had morphed into a silly grin, and her steps had a skip on it. He basically had to pull her back or else she would have flown all the way into the front door of the stylish white villa.
"Did we arrive?" Her plump, squirrel cheeks were pink with exhaustion and excitement. After all, they did travel nonstop for hours, despite her body seemingly and suspiciously full of energy. "Is it here? Is it here?"
Gneiss could not help but let out a helpless sigh. It was indeed true that ignorance was bliss. "We are here."
From inside, he could hear the sound of children talking and laughing. There was even music from a piano coming from the second floor. Gneiss never appreciated music before, but this piano piece sounded magical and soothing. Together with the steady chirping of birds from the trees and the gentle swaying of the wind, he knew that he had found a good place for her.
He crouched in front of the seven-year old Faye, cupping her tiny hands towards his thudding chest. His hands were sweaty. He was nervous. Anxious. "Do you . . . like it?"
"I love it!"
Frank and straightforward, as usual.
Seeing her cheerful smile, he wondered, had she never realized that they were in an orphanage?
"That's good." His gaze softened as he slowly searched her face for any trace of injury. Aside from the sallow marks on her skin caused by the submarine being submerged under the sea for days, there was nothing wrong with her. The aftereffects of the sedatives had long worn off. Even the redness in her eyes had vanished, as if she had completely forgotten the traumatizing incident days prior. Maybe in her young mind, everything was just a nightmare.
Her bright, fearless eyes curiously watched his own face. Coughing slightly, he pulled away, still not used to her bold stares.
"From now on, you will live here," he bitterly smiled.
And you will forget everything about us.
Gneiss believed that Creed would survive this ordeal. It had to. There was the Master, and 01, even his own teacher fighting in the frontlines. The Equations, the strongest agents, would take the battlefield. Once the enemies had been dealt with, the two of them would return. Only, he had no idea how long they would have to hide. It might take months, or years, or even decades.
Worst case scenario . . . No! He shook his head. The Master would never let that happen. Especially after the Mistress . . .
He shuddered, briefly biting his tongue. For her daughter's sake, he had to stay true to the rules and be the field agent he was trained to be. Gneiss struggled to put on a mask of calmness. He knew, that if he failed even this, that Abcidee Faye Creed would inevitably be placed in danger.
That would mean failing the expectations of the Mistress.
"'You'?" Faye blinked, her expression turning abnormally serious. "Not 'we'?"
Stunned, Gneiss forgot what his next words were supposed to be. Since he had met Faye, he had long accepted that she was an airhead. Living with a carefree attitude, her character normally made other people feel at loss and bewildered. Why was she so sharp today, of all days?
"Are you going elsewhere? Are you leaving me here?"
She did not sound like the playful Faye or the whiny Faye or even the idiotic Faye.
"Nice," her soft, musical voice trembled as she scooted closer, "don't leave me."
He patted her hair, combing the soft silky strands with his coarse fingers. "Don't be scared."
"Where's momma? Poppa?"
He himself had lost contact with the headquarters. How was he going to answer her? Lie? Tell the truth?
"I can no longer see the Command," she continued timidly. "Wherever I play in the island, I can always see the Command. Momma says that as long as I see the Command, I am safe."
The young girl kept her head down. Her long, brown hair was loose around her shoulders, helping her hide her pretty face. She did not sound sad, but for some reason, her words broke his heart.
"Am I no longer safe?"
"You are safe."
She was silent for a heartbeat. "A-Are we no longer in the island, Nice?"
"Faye – "
Truth be told, he found it hard to execute this mission. It was the Mistress' last order, and no matter whether it be rank or respect, as an agent under her jurisdiction, he was responsible to see this mission throughout the end. Yet, he could not release the tiny hand desperately clutching on his own. He could not bear seeing his guilt reflected in her innocent green eyes.
The Mistress burned her own life force to let the two of them escape. To buy them time. To save them.
But no matter how much he tried to convince himself, he felt wronged. His chest felt stiff and cold. In his pumping heart, there was reluctance. Grief. Anger.
Why did they have to flee?
Why did the Mistress have to die?
Why did she order him to –
He cleared his throat, forcing down his unwarranted emotions with as much willpower he had left. He was not that much older than Faye, only eight and a half this year. His hands might be steady holding a gun, but he was still as inexperienced as any trainee from the headquarters. He had never been in a real mission, never been in a life and death situation, and never been in contact with the world outside Creed's manmade island.
And because of the Mistress' orders, he had to suddenly face the big world. He was suffocated with the weight of secrets he had to bear. Secrets that he had to bear all by himself.
"You have to listen, okay?" he said slowly, carefully, his voice hoarse like he had swallowed all the pain in the world. "I am always near you. Never be afraid. You have to live a happy, fulfilled life. That is your momma's wish."
Tears burst from her eyes. He almost laughed. Even this habitually silly girl understood that something had awfully gone wrong. "W-Where is my momma?"
"I am going to have you drink this." With a visibly calm smile, he pulled out a sealed medicine box from his pocket. The silver foil was stained red. He could no longer smell the Mistress' scent lingering from it. "Your momma gave this to me before we left. You have to drink this."
Her eyes widened as if she could recognize the white pill inside. He knew that she couldn't. If not for the Mistress telling him what's inside, even he could not imagine what miracle drug this pill was. "No! I don't wanna!"
Was it her instincts warning her of what would happen once she digested this?
"Be a good girl and obey your momma."
"No!"
"Faye."
"I don't wanna!"
I don't want this too. He forced the pill inside her mouth, immediately covering her nose and mouth so that she would not be able to spit it out. He gritted his teeth, "Once I'm strong enough, I'll get our revenge. I promise you."
Falcon. This was all that traitor's fault.
He and his disgusting underlings destroyed the peace every Gifted and their families had worked so hard for.
If not for this traitor, why would Faye have to live in the mundane world, among these normal people, unaware of how much sacrifice was made to keep her well-being? He even had to hide her from her own father, his Master. But even if Gneiss was against it, he was merely an agent, a nobody as pitiful as an ant. Who was he to defy his superior's orders?
Tears continued to spill out from her eyes. Pain. Loss. Betrayal. He laughed at the absurdity of it all.
Hate me. Please hate me. Maybe that would make me breathe better.
She struggled against him with all her might, but could a sheltered girl like her win against a boy who had trained his body his entire life?
Only half a minute passed before her entire body went limp, her breathing slow and deep. Her long, feathery eyelashes trembled as she tried to fight the effects of the white pill.
Why aren't you hating me?
Till the last moment, her eyes never blamed him for what he did. Did not blame him for being so powerless.
"Set her free."
That's what the Mistress told him. In order to keep her away from the terrible fight among her Kind, she had to disappear not just from the island, but from her identity as the daughter of Creed as well.
Creed had to let her go. He had to let her go.
And he knew it, felt it, that the moment he left her in this place, he would no longer be a part of her new life. He would be protecting her, but he would be all alone. No one would ever call him Nice again.
He had lost his first and only friend.
---
Ta-dah!
Short and crisp.
Surprise, surprise!
HAPPY SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY BE-TFO!!! *throws confetti* *lights fireworks* *screams at the top of her lungs*
Whew! Just a little background. The hardcopy of BE-TFO was officially launched November 1 of the Year 2014 in the Philippines. I, the poor lil' author, was completely unaware of this, happily and comfortably sleeping on my bed while my friends and still-awake readers were bombarding me with their congratulations. *dogeza* @LadyAireen woke me up with her nth phone call at roughly 3AM just to tell me this piece of good news. (I'm soooo sorry!)
Still, it was a very happy memory.
Can't believe that BE-TFO was really published. That I can hold a physical copy of it.
A-may-zhing
I want to use this opportunity to thank everyone, both my readers from Wattpad and those who bought a copy of my precious baby. Without your support, I wouldn't be enjoying this marvelous feeling.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
P.S. Shout out to @12Anne16 and @WanderingBrain for offering prompts for this chapter. I do apologize if it did not come out the way you wanted it. Blame the poor skills of this author.