They said I woke up a week after they found me, whether that was true or not, I didn't care. I soon found out that the people who saved me were villagers who happen to be near the catastrophe as it happened. They said they were lucky, happy that they were alive and get to see their..... families again. I, on the other hand, was a failure. Ayano my younger sister, I led her to her death, I made us go to that place. I was foolish. I asked the villagers if they found a grey-haired girl near me, they said no.
The thought of not seeing her again drove me to despair.
I wanted to die, those villagers cared for me, will mourn for me if I died but that was it. I let the person whom I loved to their demise. I was given food day after day but I never ate it, I no longer have a reason to live. I was happy that I will meet Ayano again. Until he came. I don't know when or where he came from, but what I did know was that he was..... Annoying.
He kept nagging me to eat so I kept ignoring him, but when I was at my deathbed he came to feed me when I was weak that I couldn't lift a finger. I felt humiliated, even
when trying to die I failed in that too. I wonder what kind of face will Ayano make? Each day he would always feed me, again and again. When I asked him why he gave me this as an answer—
"Do you really think your sister would be happy? Do you really think that you should die when she died for you?"
That enraged me and I lashed out. He talked like he knew me and my sister, I told him to get out, that he did. He did not visit me the entire day. I thought he would give up by now, oh he didn't instead he got bolder and started asking me questions. I did not answer any of them.
He then asked me about my life and family before the catastrophe. He immediately remembered me lashing out, so he scratched his head and started to leave. I was happy until I did what neither him or I expected. I held onto his hand and asked him to stay, he widened his eyes and for the first time I felt warmth, I felt warmth in his ruby-red eyes. I didn't know what was happening to me but I did so anyway. I perhaps didn't want another person whom I grew.... accustomed to, to leave me again.
After that moment I opened myself up, day after day we talked about what we liked and what we disliked. I even laughed, I started to have hope for a better future. He always helped me but I never asked why. He was kind, not just to me, but to everyone else in the village. He helped me get acquainted with my new life.
Though I started to have nightmares, images of my dead sister with blood running down her cheeks as she tries to grab me with her decapitated arm, I was scared again. It showed me my greatest failures, my family whom I lost during the catastrophe. I thought I was alone but one night I woke up because of the nightmares, I felt arms hugging me. When that happened I thought to myself, "So the Grim Reaper has come to personally to kill me huh?" I was wrong, very wrong.
Instead of the bone-chilling embrace of death, I felt the warmest feeling of life. Once again he showed up during the moment of weakness and comforted once again. I.... started crying. Within his arms I cried, I cried and cried and cried and cried, to the point where I thought I would lose my ability to cry.
"Don't be afraid." He said in a gentle whisper to my ears. "You're no longer alone." He reminded me. " I will try my best to be there for you." I hugged him as tight as I could.
After that night I asked him about it. He said he doesn't know what I was talking about while smiling and laughing. I felt my cheeks turn red and my face get hot. I was humiliated, but I know for a fact that wasn't a dream.
Even when the nightmares ended it didn't mean my dreams did. I dreamt of my other sister, Ch'en. She was my twin sister so I also wondered what happened to her, actually rather than what happened I wanted to know her reaction. Ch'en wasn't there with me, Ayano and our parents, she was with our Uncle Wei. I felt sorry for her.
Our parents died protecting me and Ayano. now that I and Ayano are gone, she is probably lonely. If, If only I was able to find Ayano we would be on our way back but not that it would matter, for I don't know where I even am, in fact, no one does.
I wanted to be stronger, to be able to have the power to protect those whom I care about, so I did. The catastrophe didn't only mentally affect me, but physical as well. I became an "infected" as the villagers would call it. I was surprised that they didn't leave considering I have a disease but to my surprise they also have it, he also has it. No wonder they live so far away from the moving cities to the point that we can't see them.
Being an infected means that we don't have a lot of time but it does give us a ton of power. I asked the villagers around to be trained, they all refused. It's not that they didn't want me it was because they don't know-how. When I almost gave up on my dream again, he was there to help me.
I was impressed that he can fight to be honest. He was such a gentle and kind person, that's why I didn't expect him to wield the sword as he did. It was... Majestic.
He taught me how to fight and protect myself. I trained harder each day to become strong, I earnestly gave it my all but some didn't see it that way. They came one night and barged into my house that was generously been given to me. They complained about how I kept getting all the stuff I wanted and living a privileged life, even though we were "infected". They were traveling merchants that came to stay for a rest, suffice to say they hated the "infected".
I didn't want to harm them for I was afraid of hurting others, then all of a sudden, red. All of those who tried to hurt me was all bleeding on the ground in a flash. He came, he came to save me once again. I was overjoyed that he arrived but when I looked at his eyes, the gentle gaze was gone, replaced by something...Sinister.
It scared me that a person could have those types of eyes. He turned towards me and I shivered, I was scared of the man who saved me. What I saw there wasn't him, it was a stranger only knowing how to kill. I don't remember much after that but I and he seemed to have a silent agreement to never talk about it.
What I saw that night was rage, yes it was indeed rage but there was something else that was hidden beneath it, fear and loneliness.
I asked him, I asked him what he hid from me and that's when I learned of a grave truth about the world. Everyone is merciless.
He was shocked like he didn't expect me to even think about asking the question, but I did. He explained his life, his hardships and what he had gone through.
He was running away from his past. He and his parents were infected that ruined their lives. Just like me, he lost his parents because of a catastrophe. "I helped you because you and I are not so different," he said while glancing at my direction.
I understood now
Why he helped me, why he taught me how to fight, why he comforted me, he was trying to be the person he didn't have when he was in my scenario. That was probably the point where I felt an emotion I didn't I would feel again, love.
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Years pass by as I confessed my love for him. He was shocked to hear that I loved him and he didn't believe me in the first place. "I wasn't going to let him go," I told myself and kept of showing my love for him, over and over again. I didn't wanna let go of this feeling, I knew that I was being selfish but I wanted him to know that I cared for him so I kept telling him until he said "Yes".
He was a bit awkward at first well both of us were, after all, we married after a week of dating. Everything was the same as they were until he asked me " do you wanna see your family again?"
I blinked several times trying to see what that meant when it was just as he said, I had this longing for my extended family so of course, I said yes. Giving our farewells and thanks to the villagers, we traveled towards the direction where there was a city but not before doing the "thing".
We moved from village to village and it was fun. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, with the person most dear to me. One morning I started vomiting so we went to the nearest hospital and got me checked.
Low and behold I was pregnant and it was going to be twins! We were happy that we were going to become parents so we stopped traveling for the time being. He was able to find a stable and part-time job while we were there and each day I would stroke my stomach waiting for my children.
But I was worried because we were both infected meaning they would also be infected, making it hard for them to live a good life. Then the fated day came and I gave birth to them.
The doctor came and said it was a boy and a girl, with the girl being minutes older than the boy. Then the next words he said shocked us, he said they were both healthy! No sign of being infected which was a miracle. My daughter whom I named Kiyo, had light green hair from her father and inherited my dragon characteristics, my son Zenith, on the other hand, inherited my silver hair.
I was happy, genuinely happy about my life. I finally had children and almost forgot the reason we were traveling for. Knowing that I had to care for my cute babies we settled down in a city nearby and bought a house.
Each day I would watch them grow up, Kiyo would always be protecting her little brother with her tail which was adorable. It made me smile as I remembered Ayano and me being overprotective with her, it was nice to see it passed on to them.
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I and Zenith were out for groceries and to buy birthday gifts for their tenth birthday. We were strolling around the city while trying to squeeze through the massive crowd on the streets. As we were about to go to the last store before heading home, a white-haired bunny girl bumped into us and mouthed "sorry". She looked ragged and seemed like the same age as my son, that's when I noticed my wallet was missing. I told Zenith and he immediately ran after her and leaving me behind with the bags of groceries.
Zenith and Kiyo are being trained by their father and me respectively. Kiyo is proficient at using Originum arts and using her dragon characteristics to enhance her fire abilities. Zenith, on the other hand, is...ok? He doesn't have the talent Kiyo has but he does have the determination to keep up with his father. He has always been looking towards his sister as a goal he wants to reach but because of the difference between natural talent and skill, his chances are slim. It's not to say that he won't grow stronger, it's just that he probably can't go beyond Kiyo's power.
I still remember the day he asked his dad to become stronger to protect his family. It was so adorable! Kiyo also started to ask me to train her, of course, I helped my daughter. Like I said before, she is very skilled, perhaps she can even grow stronger than me and my husband combined.
Back to where we were. I found them cuddling near a forest with the girl crying on his shoulder. I knew I shouldn't barge in and distract them. Go son go! I cheered on in my head.
—Break—
After letting them have their moment I asked what was wrong with her and how could we help. Her eyes widened as I said that all with a smile.
"Y-you won't hurt me?" She asked in a meek voice, I felt pity for her.
"Of course not," I said looking at my son.
"It's not wrong to save others, and that's not the only reason" I added. Zenith blushed beet red as he realized what I was talking about.
I asked her several questions, and her answers enraged me. Did she use to be part of an orphanage, why? Because she was infected. Her parents were killed as they were afraid of them too. They were forced to work inside a mine, inside a min infested with Originum! Those bastards will pay, I reminded myself. They basically sent her to her death with the amount of exposure she got from the mine.
This made me realize how oppressed the infected are and how things should change. I thought long and hard, a place where the infected can unite and help each other. A movement where infected and non-infected alike can make a difference and I think I know the perfect name for it...
Yes, it shall be named as Reunion.
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A/n: This is my first time ever writing a story so if its a bit rough that's why. Feedback would also be appreciated and let me know your thoughts on what's going to happen in the future chapters. This is just an intro and a way of fleshing out Talulah as a character, as the story hasn't given us many details yet. Also thanks to Apachkoti for helping me edit this story.