Some time later, I woke up once more. But the feeling of pain, and the illness mysteriously disappeared. My pale skin turned back to it's usual, normal and delicate white skin, my sunken eyes faded as it's now full of life. And my messy hair that is as white as a cold white winter were comfortably fixed for me.
"Ugh..." I struggled as I try to get myself on my knees with my frail and weak body. Just then, a voice of a woman echoed through my ear as it speaks to me. "You're awake, are you okay?"
My eyes caught the girl's face staring at mine. "Looks like it." the woman spoke to me once again as she fluttered her brows on her purple eyes. Her bright smile shows that she was relieved for me.
"Is she okay?"
Just then, another female voice spoke. But it sounded like it came from a little girl that is definitely younger than me. speaking of which, the little girl did appear before my eyes as the two stares at me.
"Yes. She's fine, I cured her just in time." The adult girl responded to the little one. The girl turned to face me once again and said, "Now then, think you can walk?"
The girl was talking to the white haired girl whose sitting on the ground, but I was too busy to turn my attention to the adult girl.
I was rendered speechless when I saw the little girl standing before me. Her frill of black hair that overshadows her from behind, her tiny body that only a bit tinier than mine. That moment, I thought I was looking at my little sister, looking well as if she didn't get hit by the plague, but that little girl is not my sibling.
After I taking a closer look on her, she really did look exactly like my little sister, but what makes her different is her eyes. It was gleaming red like a bloody sunset, staring down at me as I sat on the soil."
"That girl is me, right...?" Christa followed Aina's story with a question, The girl then looks at Christa and tells her, "Yeah, it was you."
With that, Christa finally determined the reason why Aina is calling her as her little sister. "So you're calling me your little sister I look exactly like her the first time we met?"
"Yeah!" Aina enthusiastically replied. "More than that, we actually became sisters, you know!"
"Huh? How come?" Christa then curiously asked her. Which then, Aina continues her story.
After staring down at each other for quite some time that even the adult girl began asking them if the both of us were okay, "Hey, you two, are you okay?"
I couldn't resist myself from saying it on the little girl in front of me. "Little sister..."
I forced myself to try to get up on my feet, all in order to approach and embrace the little girl. But my frail body couldn't do exactly what my mind wanted, instead, I fell on the ground once again, but my hand manages to catch the little girl's.
I gently wrapped my fingers around the little girl's soft hand. And then I called her once again, "Little sister..."
The lady was staring at the two little girls with brooding eyes, while the little girl with the crimson red eyes looks rather confused as she responded to me in decline.
"Sorry, I'm not your little sister."
I already that it was not her the moment I saw her eyes, but I couldn't help myself but think she was my little sister. But now that she answered and told me truth, tears started pouring down on my cheeks, I froze and could not say a word. All I did was to cry while the two of them are watching me and comforting me.
Suddenly a loud growl echoed through the lady and the little girl's ears, something was approaching from the tall grass. The two watched as a giant vampire boar came out of nowhere.
It was heading straight towards me who failed to notice the monster who seems to be running wild. The boar was quite fast, but thankfully, The girl was there to pull me out of the way.
"That was close!"
But the boar was not done yet, the boar stops its dash as it turns to where me and the adult girl was, it then began rushing once again. But that time...
"Haa!"
The same little girl stood in its way, with the wooden sword in her tiny grasp, holding the boar from approaching and hitting us two. The girl holding me from the back spoke and tells the little girl, "Kill it, Christa!"
Light came flowing from her grip to the edge of the sword, surrounding it completely. And with a single yet, poweful enough swing, the boar was sliced into two, even the grass growing tall around also got caught by its force and ended up getting trimmed in a good length.
The little swordsman spoke to the adult woman as the light from the wooden sword fades away. "Aunt Angelika, that beast was acting strange."
"Yeah, and I think I know what's happening now." Angelika stares at me whose been quiet since then, but my tears speaks of my sorrow and despair.
Angelika wraps her hands around me as she gently lifts and carries me like a baby, having decided to go to where l came from, she spoke to little Christa. "Let's go to where she lives."
After that, they took a short journey towards the path I took. When we arrived, a village with an ominous scent surrounding its entirety meets our eyes. Dead people who seemed to have suffered from a deadly illness, causing their skin to turn pale and withered as if they've been dead for years was scattered around.
Angelika began to cast a magic, a light that acts like barrier that conceals us three from the poisonous scent. The three of us went inside, we went deeper and deeper inside the village, until both the little girl and the adult lady carrying me saw person, who is still alive, but was lying on the ground, coughing blood as his body is being tortured inside by the plague
After that, more people started showing up, perhaps they were being attracted by the light covering me and the two others with me. The people started pleading for help as they all fell on the ground one by one. They didn't even managed to reach a permitted distance to talk to her.
In that moment, Angelika instantly casts another magic, A magic circle spawns in front of her as she spoke, "Cleansing Miasma!"
Misty wind came out of the magic circle and started storming the surroundings, until it engulfs the entire village. The ominous scent had disappeared, the people who are pleading for help had passed out, including me and Christa.
The day after tomorrow, I woke up, facing the ceiling of my home. My eyes began to wander, until I saw the little girl, sitting on a chair as she was sleeping with her head lying on the side of my bed.
I went up from my pillow, looking outside the window, with the sunlight staring back at me inside my room. Shortly after, the little girl woke up as well. We looked at each other before she greeted me, "Good... morning."
"Ah, good morning!" Aina replied.
Then, the door opens, with the same lady who went and saved her from death comes in, carrying a wooden bed tray table with a bowl of smoking hot soup and a hot drink on the side, delivering it to me who is sitting on top of my bed.
"You're finally awake. I'm sorry if I use your kitchen to do this, but please help yourself with this. It's a warm soup with the boar meat as the main ingredient, eat it while it's warm."
After she introduced the soup she made, I responded to her, "Thank you, thanks for the meal." I started sipping the hot soup, as I picked one of the sliced boar meat with the fork, cooling it with my breath before eating it whole.
I took my time chewing the tender meat before it goes down my throat, that which hits the spot and wakes up my eyes, sparkling bright by the deliciousness of her meal. "It's delicious."
"I'm glad you like it." the woman responded.
"This... It tastes just like what my Mother's..."
Having reminded of my Mother suddenly with the lady's cooking, the bright atmosphere around immediately disappeared, and was replaced with gloom expression on my face.
Before my eyes started dripping with tears once again, the lady spoke, introducing herself and the little girl to me.
"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Angelika. And that girl with me..." Angelika points her open hand on the little girl sitting on the side of the bed, I followed her direction as she stares to the girl.
"Her name is Christa... She's my student."
"Student...?" I turned to Angelika once again as I asked.
"Yes. She's my student, I've been training her to become a good swordsman." Angelika continues to speak. "Now then, I'm going straight to the point... it's about your family..."
"I know... I think I know." I put the fork on the bowl of soup as I responded to Angelika. "They all went away, right? They're all gone and left me behind..."
Angelika understood her sorrow behind her words, and so she went closer and embraced Aina tightly to comfort her.
"Now that I think about it, why didn't I go with them... why am I saved...?"
Emotions running through me, my tears were unstoppable as it gushes out of my eyes. At a young age, I lost something very important to me. And I couldn't do a thing to stop it.
Some time later, all three of us went outside of my house, as Angelika wanted me to follow her. The three of them went on their way with Angelika leading the way.
The three of us ventured on the land of Eisvel, watching the surviving villagers working together as they all try to move on from the plague that strucked us not too long ago. In the skies overhead, the sun blazes fiercely while peeking behind the certains of towering clouds, watching over us three as the surface crunches on our footfalls. After a short travel to somewhere not far from the village, somewhere safe from beasts and monsters lurking around.
Piled rocks were placed in front of them, hiding behind the shadow of tree leaves from the heat of the sun. I approached the pile of rocks as Angelika told me what it was for.
"We wanted to do it with you, but you've been asleep for more than a day, so we had no choice but to do it by ourselves..." Angelika continues as I sat in front of the pile of rocks. "Your mother, your father, and your little sister are all resting peacefully under that rock."
After that, Angelika and Christa went far back behind the trees for me to be alone with my late family. For a few moments, I kept silent, fervently praying in my head over my family. Soon after, I stood up on my feet, and the two who are waiting from the back approached me in a distance. Angelika asks me.
"Do you feel at ease now?"
"Yes."
"Now then, I hope you don't feel like you were left behind, I hope you don't feel any disappointment on to yourself." Angelika went and approached the rocks as she continued.
"There's a reason why you're still alive. That is, because it is not your time yet, you have a far future that you haven't gone through yet. A future that is meant for you to see before you follow them. The right time will come to everyone. But until then, try to stay strong and enjoy your life together with the others who also felt the same like yours."
"Yes. Thank you, Miss Angelika." I wiped the tears in my eyes before it falls. "Really, thank you."
Time goes back to the present, with Aina telling Christa the end of what happened in the past.
"I couldn't remember everything that had happened after that moment, but Angelika decided to live in my home and takes care of me for a while. For those days that we've spent living together, Angelika teached me a lot of things, especially when it comes to medicine."
Aina shows Christa a room filled with different kinds of medicinal herbs and other healing ingredients and such.
"Not only that, the good old days that we've been together, I felt that I'm not alone anymore. Why? They may have left me back then and went to a place where I couldn't reach them. But I got Angelika and You now. And I know that even if we parted ways tomorrow, I can always follow you to where you are now."