<
After a couple of minutes of reassurance, she had been able to regain colour and calm down. Nevertheless, we were now both sitting down on the chairs, in order to avoid other unpleasant events.
<
<
<> I rebuked.
She looked at me flabbergasted.
<
<>
<
I shrugged my shoulders.
<>
She sighed loudly.
<
Despite her words, she was still visibly worried, and understandably so. The information I possessed could prove quite dangerous for her.
<>
As a matter of fact, she could remain hidden until she remained deep inside of the Perimeter. If she put a single step outside of it, she would resonate with the ambient mana and her true nature would become apparent. At that point, she would become a target. Even her grandfather would disown her immediately.
She was the fruit of the illicit relationship between a man and a geogenai. The geogenais, also called genais for simplicity, were people born of pure mana and were the sworn enemy of mankind. To sum it up, many hectic things happened in the past and from cherished friends, geogenais became traitors. Humanity, after having risked extinction, retaliated and basically hunted them down like dogs. The remaining ones lived in hiding, lurking in the shadows.
Geogenais, although rarely, could still sprout up from nothing in mana-rich regions. Faye's origin story was that a group of archs had gone scouting outside of their Perimeter, one of them had found the newly spawned genai, had decided not to follow the protocol, i.e. immediate termination, and the rest was history.
<>.
Although she was trying to hide it, I could sense her fear. My perception had truly developed well.
<
I knew I was being a scum, but I kept my guilt at bay.
<<... You are having fun. At my expenses. Threatening my life as a joke. I'd slap you, but I would only hurt myself>>
Now, Faye was showing a furious expression. She had surely been told I was an arch, and archs had tough skin and bones. By slapping me, she would only hurt herself. I answered with a mischievous smile. After some time, she collected herself and stared at me.
<
A hint of sadness tinted her words and tears seemed to want to leak out. I knew the reason why: although the genetic memory she inherited from her mother didn't contain much information, it contained the pain and desperation of the dying genai species. In my story, this had been the driving force behind her life purpose: to solve the age-long enmity between the two species she was a part of and bring back peace to the world. Nevertheless, differently from how I designed her to be, she was now a simple teenager who had probably never stepped outside of her working fields before today. The fear of being discovered and mercilessly killed must have followed her for her whole life, like a curse. The sense of helplessness she felt must have been unbearable for such a vulnerable young girl.
Nevertheless, I needed her, or at least, I needed what she could become. Without her, I could strive for how long I wanted, but it would prove incredibly arduous reaching the top of the world. I couldn't leave her moping in a forgotten hole. Not only that, I didn't want to let her. I couldn't accept that my creation, someone who should have been respected by all, was here waiting for an inevitable death. Her destiny should have been full of gold, not mud like it was now. This was my world, and it was up to me to rectify what had gone wrong.
<
<<... Do you mean it? Am I truly this great person that you talk about?>>
Faye's eyes were slowly lighting up.
<
I talked like a scammer, but Faye was looking at me like she was listening to a prophet.
<
And so, I explained to her my plan.