*Tsuki Shizukana*
I almost jumped and screamed when I saw the face of the horrifying woman whose presence had made me pass out.
"Calm down, your friend Niam had the necessary papers to be able to cross the bridge. You aren't considered a threat anymore, and we won't harm you, unless you start attacking first of course ." The woman explained.
She approached me and handed me a glass of water.
"I'm sorry," She said. "I had to do what I did to you, it's my duty. I hope you understand."
Her words made me feel a little bit more at ease. The scary aura around her disappeared and was replaced by a caring and warm one.
"I'm Commander Sidika, the one in charge of Siran Bridge."
I drank the water she gave me. Then, my focus went on the room we were in. It was a big room with a desk and a couch. 'Another office...'
Sidika stood up, went to her desk and opened a drawer.
"Do you want coffee, tea or will you stick to just water?"
"To just.." My words were cut of by my dry throat. I'd just drank some water but it seemed it wasn't enough.
"Water it is."
I received another glass of water and drank until I quenched my thirst.
"Niam told us how you two met. You took part in his capture but decided to save him later on, that's a bit weird."
Reminded of Niam's capture and later on torture, the regret resurfaced from deep within me. I'd ignored my ability's screams and decided to go against it. That let to Niam's captivity, his torture and the deaths of a few uninvolved people. I had pangs of conscience after that, that only worsened by the day. Alejandro, his squad and Luca. Deaths that I foresaw but could hardly prevent. Even tough Niam was the one that killed them in a way, he only did for my and his sake. I understood quickly that their deaths laid out a path for us to walk on safely. Alejandro and his squad were made and example. Niam killed them to show Piranha School that he wasn't merciful and would kill them if necessary. Luca on the other was a sacrifice. His sacrifice allowed Niam to gravely wound the leader of the Nordic Alliance's troops and prevent other casualties from happening. 'Still, deaths are deaths. Having people die for me felt wrong.'
"-llo! Hello!" Sidika waved at me.
I was thrown out of my trance-like state and directed my attention back to her.
"You were deep in thought. I can imagine how you feel. It's not easy, I know. Even harder for you and me."
She meant being a woman, a woman in an apocalypse-like world. Having no governmental protection or procedures, people did what they want. Killing, torturing, stealing and raping were daily occurrences. I had heard stories when I was back in the hospital on European Union land, the scout troops before me bragged about raping and killing innocent people. I was almost assaulted a few times at my stay in the hospital but Melina protected me.
"Mana is fair, it can make us rival men and even overpower them. Look at me, a woman ordering soldiers and even scolding them from time to time. You need to get stronger if you don't want the things that happened to you repeat itself."
'Can I get stronger and prevent more deaths? Is it even possible to change what my intuition tells me? Or will the future change according to my strength?'
I was again ripped out of my thoughts when I felt two Mana signatures clashing. I recognized one signature as Niam's but the other one was unknown to me. I got worried.
Seeing me in distress, Sidika explained something to me. "Niam met an old friend. He's my second in command and his name is Omar. They're probably fighting to see who is stronger, just guy things, don't worry."
I exhaled as the worry left me.
Mana leaked from the table in the room. When Sidika went to the table, she grabbed a piece of paper that looked more like a scroll.
"I got some news for you. A carriage will come to pick you up tomorrow." Sidika stated.
"Did the paper tell you that?" I asked confused.
"Oh, right. Not everyone has these. It's simple, it allows communication over long distances."
"Something like that exists?"
"Yes. But there aren't many that know about it. Only government officials like me have scrolls."
Minutes later Niam and his friend Omar entered the room. While Sidika and Omar talked, Niam sat down next to me.
"Are you feeling better?"
***
Sidika and Omar went back to their duties. Sidika just observed the highway and Omar trained the soldier in the training room a few floors above. Niam and I meditated just like we did the night before we met Mul-Soo.
Mana felt so addicting and so clear when I meditated the way Niam did. I was reminded again how this was the only thing he could do while he was buried under his house's rubble.
"We were lucky that Omar is stationed here. If not for him, you and I would now be buried or even thrown into the lake under us. Fate was kind to us. We were lucky." He whispered. "Even if you don't use your ability, we can still reach our goal."
I took in his words, and it made sense. We'll hopefully have a few days of rest until we have to walk to old Lebanon. 'How will we go to old China from old Lebanon though? Sidika said that buying, selling and riding a horse without a license was illegal.'
["Niam, how will we get a horse if it's illegal? I know we can just walk to old Lebanon, but what about going to old Japan?"] I whispered even if we were the only ones that could speak Japanese.
He just smirked and looked me in the eye as he was going to say; "You think I care? Watch me buy, sell and ride a horse."
I couldn't believe it. Even if it meant incriminating ourselves and making this Land our enemy, Niam didn't care. For him, this was just a road-trip.
["What do I have family for? I may have never met them, but if the they are the way my father told me, they will do anything for me. If they aren't, we'll just steal the horses and teach ourselves how to ride."] He whispered back and smirked.
***
Hours passed as we meditated.
"I think that's enough for today. Meditating with Mana makes you forget about your needs." Niam stated.
He was right. I forget my basic needs. I felt hungry, thirsty and tired. I also felt stiff from sitting too long.
We stood up and went upstairs where a cafeteria was. We received stares immediately after we entered. The soldiers whispered and pointed at us. Some looked hostile while some looked impressed.
"Hey beauty, sit with me, I'll show you what a real man is. Dump this baby-face and sit." A presumably high-ranking soldier said with a thick accent.
He was taller than Niam with a pretty big build. He had short, messy black hair and a long thick beard. He looked dirty even though he wasn't. A typical meathead.
'Just after Sidika and I talked about these things...'
Niam was curious. He looked like he wanted to see what would happen when I was the main target and not us both.
I wasn't untrained or unskilled. I'd received high-grade military training months before Niam and I met. I learned how to fight toe to toe with bigger enemies.
I took one of Niam's Shotos and walked up to the man and grabbed him by his beard. I unsheathed the Shoto and cut right through his beard.
"Your throat is next." I threatened.
A few dozen soldiers stood up after that, but a yelled order calmed them down.