"Where're the two dingus?"
"Big Brother Kartari went out to find food… and eyes? Big Brother Davil has been asleep for a week. They are both incapacitated so I'm the one in charge of the hole."
"Does that mean you can control the shoe-wait a minute, why am I called an Uncle while Tari and Davil is big brother?"
Mia's head tilted to the side, "Aren't you two hundred years old?"
"I'm 25… I'm younger than those two… by a few decades at least."
"And you're already stronger than them? How amazing."
"Hehe… of course." Isaac was proud hearing Mia speak compliments and after the short conversation, the air became stale.
They were both silent. No one could insert an interest. The two did not know each other, yet the other risked his life to save hers. It was an awkward first encounter, no one could even raise a question and what little connection they had that was Tari and Davil were unavailable.
Isaac had his back against the boulder and Mia copied him. Mia approached Isaac and sat next to him and then shared the same view as him.
Isaac was excited to see the personification of destruction, but Mia was an ordinary girl, 'Did Tari cast an illusion spell?'
Isaac could barely see any difference to an ordinary human. The Anarchy Lord was no better than a lass. Her skin was no longer deep red but a shade of beautiful bronze, the gem on her forehead was no more, and her eyes were black as well.
'To think I wanted to kill someone like her.' Isaac smiled wryly as he brought out jerky and started eating, "You want some?"
"Ah, thank you." Mia accepted his offer and the two of them started eating under the beautiful night sky.
A painful silence hung over the air, "Can I ask you something, Big Brother Isaac?"
"What is it?" immediately, Isaac jumped at the chance to change the atmosphere.
"Why did you risk your life to save someone you didn't even know? I heard from Big Brother Tari and Davil that when the forces of the Church surrounded the forest you stabbed yourself and brought out a pearl… I don't know what this pearl is, I didn't see it, but I can feel it, the power it exudes is something I can't explain. This kind of treasure… Do I really deserve it? I killed hundreds of people I hurt… I kill… I am not someone who deserves something like this… I am cursed. Maybe they were right… Mother did abandon me because she knew what I truly am. I am cursed so… why? Just…. I only hurt those around me… I am just a curse who hurts. So… why am I still alive when I have caused so much suffering?"
She asked a lot of things, most of which Isaac would find hard to answer. But what brought him speechlessness was not her questions, but at the fact she did not show her emotions. She held a straight smile, a tiny crease on her forehead but nothing more.
Mia nibbled on her food and Isaac sat beside her and answered, "I don't know how to answer your question. I have lived longer than you, but my morality is not something I fully understand. I do not like killing, but I am not below it. I do not like violence, but I hurt those I deem vile enough. Why did I risk my life for you? I do not know, I saw a child, weak and frail, hunted by hundreds of men for doing something she did not want to do. Maybe I saw someone in you. Maybe it's because I didn't like the idea of an innocent girl dying?"
Isaac answered the best he could. Though he saved her, he hardly thought of a reason. There was no need to think why he needed to offer someone his hand. Advantage? Maybe, but, it's not something he constantly thinks of.
Yet, Mia finished her food and looked up to the skies once more, "...The aunty who sells flowers. She has three kids, two sons and a daughter. The Uncle of the Guild, he's mean but hardworking and helps the people around town. These people are innocent, they live their lives, and I snuffed out the flames of such vibrant candles. Big Brother Isaac… I am not innocent… I don't think I deserve to live."
It was eerie to a point, but to Isaac, she looked pitiful. What kind of things had she lived through to ask with a straight face why she was alive? In such a short life, what kind of words had she heard? What suffering had she gone through?
She claimed that she was killed, but Mia did her best to save them. The monsters did it off their own volitions
"...Mia… does it hurt knowing you have blood on your hand?"
"...yes."
"Then why not cry?"
"Because tears are something only those who are victims can cry. I am the perpetrator…I cannot cry… because if I started crying… am I not laughing at the lives I took?"
Mia was shaking.
"Mia… it's okay to cry. You can cry…. you can live. If you still think that you being alive is a mistake, remember, there are at least three people who fought others so that you can live. I haven't known you for a long time, but I am happy that you are alive. You're a kind kid, Mia."
Mia held her head down, tears streaming down her face. She could no longer hold back her tears. She should be happy that she was alive, but, in her heart, she repeatedly asked if she had the rights.
Yet a single phrase was enough for her to feel a little relief because no matter what she says, Mia… deep down… wanted to live.
"...thank you."
Mia started crying and Isaac accompanied her in silence.