El couldn't believe her ears; the sweet words melted her heart. She was sitting on the roof edge of the tallest spire in the fortress. They were the words she wanted to hear more than anything. Although they didn't meet under the best circumstances, El found herself falling for Arthur no matter how much she resisted. She remembered their first intense fight. It was when she found out Arthur was the reason her parents died and the subsequence events that followed.
"I'm so sorry, El, it's my fault. It's all my fault. If I didn't lift the roof, they would still be alive! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! If only I didn't awaken my skill!"
As the voice of the bedridden blonde-haired boy wailed in the young girl's mind. The truth dawned on her; her parents never left the roof; they never intended to leave her. They just weren't alive anymore. Unable to accept the fact, she started shouting at the top of her lungs.
"NO!!! NOOO!!! YOU'RE LYING! IT'S BAD TO LIE! MOMMY AND DADDY ARE STILL ALIVE! THEY ARE WAITING FOR ME SOMEWHERE!"
Unable to stop her tears from spilling, she walked to the boy and picked him up by the scruff of his neck as she lifted him from the couch.
"YOU HID THEM! TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE! I'M STRONG NOW! I CAN HURT YOU A LOT!"
As the young children looked at each other's eyes, all they could see was sadness and grief. Finally, the boy could no longer make coherent sentences as tears streamed from his eyes, accompanied by his sobs in the girl's mind; however, before anything else could happen.
*Crash! *
At the sound of glass breaking, a torch broke through the window and fell to the couch; the fire quickly spread through the curtains by the window. El's house was a typical two-story wooden hut. The Shattering ripped the roof, and most of the second floor was blown away, turning it into a small bungalow.
The walls, while having pieces broken off, mainly remained intact. Thus, the fire started to spread inside the small, confined space and the fumes slowly made it much more difficult for the children to breathe. Then, El and the small boy heard people shouting outside.
"Keep piling up the wood; that little demon and his girlfriend may try to come out of the holes; close them all up before Jin returns."
As the people outside continued to close the gaps with firewood and doused the piled pieces with oil, their intent to burn the two children alive was evident. Although the young boy knew that trying to go that way was suicide, he used his advanced thinking capabilities to find a way for them to survive.
One of the young boy's four skills was [Shuāng nǎo], which was Chinese for twin brains. The skill doubled the analytical capabilities of the child. For example, he scanned the house to see a wall on the east side with a hole at the bottom, judging that a well-placed strike could bring the entire wall down.
The blond cripple spoke to the young girl again.
"El, I know you're sad, but those people want to hurt you; see that wall over there? The one near the window, try to hit the space just below the window. It will collapse the wall and let you escape. Leave me and go, Hurry!"
The girl shook her head as she answered, coughing as she did so.
"Cough! What are you talking about? We leave together; you still have not answered me, Cough! About where you hid my parents!"
The voice in her mind could not contain its annoyance as it shouted.
"There is no time! I'm a murderer! I killed your parents and the relatives of the ones outside! I deserve to die! Just leave me alone and go! "
However, even with the blond child's insistence, all he heard was the girl shrieking.
"Cough. NO! NO! NO! You are not dying here! You are going to help me find my parents!"
As the smoke continued to envelop the space. El grabbed the young boy and pulled him to the ground. She kept low to avoid the dangerous fumes as the young girl slowly dragged him towards the window he pointed to earlier. As she did, she heard the pitiful shouts in her mind.
"My parents are gone; I let my sister die in front of me; I don't even have a reason to live anymore! So just let me die!"
*SLAP! *
Getting annoyed at the boy's screaming, El used her hand to slap the young boy. She then shouted.
"SHUT UP! I've been taking care of you for over one week now; you will not die! If you want to have a reason, then SAVE ME!"
Stunned at the girl's sudden declaration, the boy turned silent.
"MY MOM AND DAD ARE GONE! I'M SCARED! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO OR WHERE TO GO! I'M ALONE! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A REASON, THEN SAVE ME!!"
Huffing as she shouted her lungs out, she wiped her tears that continued to fall as she was trembling from grief and adrenaline; she punched the spot under the window, which collapsed a part of the east wall. Then, seeing an exit, she pulled the boy by his collar as she got out.
As El got out of her burning house, she looked around and saw close to 15 men and women piling wood on her burning home, weak from being suffocated and emotionally drained. She proceeded to collapse to the ground. Although she could no longer move and could only close her eyes, she could still hear her surroundings.
When the people saw them, they stopped what they were doing and rushed the young children. Knowing neither was normal, the townspeople started shouting as they began beating them with fists and sticks.
"Demon spawn! It's your fault the town got destroyed!" "Monsters, give back my wife!" "You killed my children by throwing them in the air, you f*cker! I'm going to kill you!" "You aren't human, you little f*ck!" "You should have been the one to die!" "You murderer! My mother didn't deserve to die!"
As he saw them about to assault the young girl. The young Arthur shouted with his mind at the top of his voice to everyone in the area.
"STOP! EL IS INNOCENT! PLEASE DON'T HURT HER! SHE DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO YOU! STOP!!! STOP IT!!!"
Ignoring his wails, they continued to assault the two children on the ground. However, as bruises and wounds started to cover the children's bodies, the people slowed their attacks. Being 3-Star and 4-Star, respectively, their assailants did not have it easy.
Their sticks and canes all broke midway; thus, the townspeople's used their fists and feet; however, soon enough, those too began to hurt as it felt like they were hitting blocks of stone. So they proceeded to think of separate plans. The one in the lead then shouted.
"Throw the girl into the fire! Witches should be burned. We'll tie this asshole to a tree and let the wild animals eat him!"
As the mob heard him, they proceeded to agree.
"Yeah! Witches should die when burned!" "Anyone who hides a demon is also a demon!" "A fitting end for a witch!!" "DEATH! To the demon spawn!" "Burn her at the stake!"
Arthur proceeded to shout and provoke the townspeople to focus their rage.
"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BASTARDS! I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! I KILLED ALL YOUR FAMILY! I DESTROYED YOUR TOWN! I WAS THE ONE WHO DID IT! LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Seeing that the people weren't going to stop, the young boy felt something in him snap. Blood red energy poured out of him as he turned silent. A pair of people held El's tiny hands and feet and prepared to swing her into the fire like a wheat bag.
Arthur then looked at the ones holding El and focused his mind on them.
The people holding the young girl felt a considerable pressure press on their minds like a migraine; the only difference was the pressure kept increasing and forcing both on their knees and dropping her to the ground. The rest of the townsfolk rushed to help the two as they were kneeling and squirming in pain.
Seeing El was safe for the moment, the young boy didn't reduce the pressure but instead continued to increase it. As he inwardly thought
'If you won't listen to me, then I will just become the demon you believe me to be!'
The two people near El started screaming as they held their heads, their screams silencing the ones having Arthur.
"AHHHHHH!! MY HEAD HURTS!!! HELP ME!!!" "WHAT IS GOING ON!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!"
*BOOM!* *SPLAT!*
The heads of the two people exploded like watermelons showering the people around them with blood and brain matter, scaring those around. The ones who were weak-willed screamed and started running away. Only three people were left after they ran.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? IT WAS YOU WASN'T IT?" "YOU DEMON! YOU MURDERER!" "Let's quickly go and tie him up in the forest, or we could be next."
They then used sticks to repeatedly smash the back of Arthur's head to make him quiet. As the young boy started to lose consciousness, he kept his vision on El, who was lying motionless on the ground. He could only speak in her mind.
"This is for the best; I don't deserve to live; anyone who stays with me will die. Stay alive, El. I'm so sorry."
When his eyes shut, he no longer said anything as the three men carried him off into the forest. El could only listen to the sounds of what was left of her house burning near her as she finally lost consciousness.
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Proofread By: Pearl_Wang
Edited By: WorthyAdversary