On the soles of a harmonious inertia, Sao's eyes unseal forcefully. His eyes' emphasis swings across the room: the window with the world peering through; the fastened bathroom door on his left; the unfilled surface on his right. She's missing. Lower than the duvet: unfurnished. Lower than the frame: hollow. Elsewhere away from the house: nothing. On the other verge of the front door?
Swoosh.
Crash.
'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'
'Aaaaaaah!'
And there she is found, pail of water in her right hand and a cloth in her left. And there she finds Sao, his sword in his right hand and air in his left. From discovery arose exhales of reprieve by both parties; Sao holding his head in thanks, while the Girl drops her tools of labour, covering her mouth in shock.
'Thank God, you're still here,' exhales Sao, letting his hero persona slip.
'You're alive! Cough,' She inhales in reply.
'Huh, why wouldn't I be alive?'
'Why would I not be here? Where would I have … wait, what did you say?'
'Why wouldn't I be alive.'
'Well, you were unconscious when I awoke, and you did not wake for a week, so I assumed…'
'Ok, ok, I understand, I get it. I'm just shocked you stayed here this entire time. I guess she doesn't remember much before the chains. Never mind that, just get used to me doing that, think of it as me hibernating.'
'Hibernating? Why must you hibernate? You are not human, are you?'
'No, I am, but, well, you're not, ugh, forget it, no I'm not human. I'm different to you for one main reason. Do you know what that is?'
She shakes her head hoping for the answer to be thrown out. The missing chains still lock away her knowledge of her personal history.
'I'm not the same as you, my world is somewhere far, far, away.'
'So, that means you're …'
'No, I'm not like him. He isn't exactly what I'd call one of my own anyway.'
'But, then why aren't you human, we look the same when compared with other animals, what makes us different?'
'That's not for me to decide.'
Sao heads to his sword's temporary resting place but is stopped by a light tug on his sleeve. A look down his arm puts the girl back into view. She stares at the carpet below, pondering the words she struggles to comprehend. Her white hair falls before her, masking her mendaciously fair face like a blizzard.
'What am I?'
Her eyes fixate on Sao's; the red of her eyes paint dread. Even though she grips hold of his cloak with all her might, a fly wouldn't struggle to break her grasp. Her legs fight to keep her from collapsing into a heap of bone and flesh. Sao's brain twists and contorts searching for a suitable answer, the answer she wants, the answer she desires.
'Don't worry too much about it. You are you, that's all that's important, okay. Don't stress too much over it.'
'But how do I know who 'you' is? I don't have a past, I didn't think of my future until now, what do I do?'
'If you don't know now, you will know soon. If you have nowhere to go, you will find somewhere soon. If you don't have a past, so what? That just takes away the expectations. You can become whoever you want and no predetermined decision or starting place will tell you otherwise. You have equity, an equal start; and so, what if you don't have a future, make one. And if you can't do it yourself, then I'll help you. Not just me, but others too. That's the beauty of your world, around each corner humans will be prepared to help you. You'll be fine, in time, 'you' will become whoever you want 'you' to be.'
The red of her eyes leak into the water falling from her face. Her nose begins to contract; her bottom lip begins to quiver. The pail of water ripples.
'W-what others? There are only two people I know in this world. One is dead, I thought the other was too. I am scared, I am lonely. Why is that? You are here, but I still feel alone. I did not want this. I did not choose this. Why is everything arranged for me? If I cannot choose my life, then how can you say it is my life? I do not own it, I cannot. Not even the good things. Yes, you saved me, but why? I cannot tell, you do not know me. We have no past. We have no future. Why did you choose this for me? Why?'
Legs giving way, she falls to the ground, the pail spilling onto the floor washing over the stains that her tears left. The years of suffering within her spew out of her optical lobe like a fountain. Her black memory takes physical form on the floor.
'Because you're lucky,' answers Sao. 'I didn't choose to save you that morning. I was being paid to help all of… a job, I was there to do a job. I killed those guards because I knew they wouldn't die; they are like me. They aren't human. I believed that, truly, I didn't think that my people's wrongs could grow so dark, until I looked down on the last guard…'
'What made you stop? Sniff'
No words followed. Sao kneels, meeting her eye to eye, once again tapping the right side of his neck with his left index finger. She copies his movements, attempting to put a meaning to his actions. And then she finds it. The outline of a petal, indented into the right side of her neck, is felt by her frail fingers.
'A petal? What does it mean?'
'That's for you to discover, I can only guide you. Mostly because I'm not too sure myself.'
Springing to his feet, Sao retrieves his sword and races outside.
'Well, you have a future to find. Chop, chop, there's no time to waste.'
The girl's face fills with colour. Per her saviour, she too jogs outside in anticipation for the path Time has set for her. She is rebellious to the choices made for her; she is eager to make her own.
'I guess we should start with a common location of mine,' Sao says.
'Why are we leaving so soon after you have woken up? You should eat-'
"Business, plus there's food in the city. Also, stop worrying about me, most humans don't live long enough to discover their future. No point wasting your precious time concerned about my life, I decided mine years ago."
The pair start their stroll to Plutus, the Girl peeking from behind Sao's back as the local farmers inquire her sudden appearance. They all flocked to the new face causing Sao and the Girl to pick up pace. Outsiders rarely treaded on these soils, who would want to take their time seeing the vibrant red, purple, and blue of the fields when in the city there was green and gold.
Plutus grew taller over the horizon, its voice loudened, its aura stretched out with pulling arms. As they walked under the city gate, Sao's eye's deviate.
'Ooh, your new, let's try there.'