"I came from a rural hamlet, built and owned by my family."
"According to my mom, the nearby river is a perfect place to fish, but something had to be done first. While the two took turns, they hired men to help them with their settlement work."
"Eventually, a sturdy wooden shack is built, and a small cape was built along with an embankment, and dykes, turning the place from nothing into a functioning settlement."
"The meander characteristic of the river made that place have excessive food, so we are all well-fed. The amount of fish allowed us to trade with nearby markets. Free from any sort of taxation, free from any control of the nobles."
"In months, the settlement began to thrive, and more houses were built until it was attacked by the Demons in the Demon War," Marcia tells them about her village.
"But…don't middlemen usually take advantage of people from rural areas?" Solaris asks, slightly intrigued about it.
Flare noted Solaris's sudden curiosity, but she decided to leave it for later.
"They could not because my father always involved himself in these trades. He was a wholesale dealer before my parents moved and built the hamlet, so he knows exactly what he is doing," Marcia answers her.
"Heh, you have an amazing father then," Jojo praised, which blushed Marcia.
"When I was 8, a sickness infected everyone in our village, including some people who had previously visited our village."
"A sickness that also infected me. My parents were the only people I know who were immune to it."
"At first, it was just a cold, but then…everyone infected has these itch on our skin. At first, it was just nothing, but then…they looked all…bloated, like pimples. At first, there is only a bit, but then…everyone's face was covered by it."
"Then, the pimples…just…became larger, some turned purple, and some even…"
"Some of the pimples bleed out…and some…died…"
"When I became worse, mother and father were worried. They had called many shamans, faith healers, and medicine men, but none worked. Even they became infected…"
"Then, one day, when my dad was out…I was fast asleep with Mother, but then…"
"I don't know what happened, but…I became better after a few days."
"Some called 'a child blessed by God'…but…"
"Let's just say it didn't end well…"
"Because of our isolation, the people become scared and resorted to…radical measures…"
"What do you mean?" Flare asks.
"…Those…madmen came into our house one day when my parents were gone…and dragged me out…"
"They believed that…"
"That…"
Marcia's hands began to shake, as if she was in fear, as she swallowed her saliva to moisturize her throat. Flare gently puts her hands on hers, comforting her. When she did that, Marcia returned to normal once she felt a gentle touch on her hand. She took in deep breaths and continued.
"They believed that by eating me, the 'blessing of God' would be distributed to them equally…"
"Cannibalism…"
"…"
The room turned silent, filled with disbelief about what they heard. Marcia opened the scarf covering her eyes to wipe off her face, trying to calm herself as she relived the memory inside her head. Her expression and body gestures tell them she is somewhat uncomfortable about it. Flare wanted to stop her by placing her hand firmly, but Marcia nodded as if telling them she had to do this. Although she insisted on her to stop, Marcia's determination made her understand. So, Flare remains silent as she continues listening to the story.
"But then, suddenly…"
"Ah…I know! This is when Boyd suddenly comes to the rescue. He just came up at the center and beat them all, right?" Jojo cuts in enthusiastically.
Although he intruded, the three of them logically thought that it was the most possible thing to do. So, it surprised them that Marcia shook her head.
"…You could say you're only half right…"
* * * * *
Years back…
"I thought things would be bad, but to try to find a cure with cannibalism…that's just…extreme," a voice came out of nowhere.
All the villagers stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the location where the voice came from. The interlude gave Young Marcia a moment to breathe as she tried to break free, to no avail. She continued wiggling before giving up and looking in the direction the voice came from.
Approaching them is a man with his entire body covered with leather and fur, possibly crafted by himself. He is carrying a substantial wooden box behind him, and sheathed to his waist is a sword with an eastern design. He approached them, but no one could tell his motives as his helmet covered his face.
Out of panic that their attempt for a 'cure' might be destroyed, a boy in his teenage years suddenly walks out of the crowd that is still holding Young Marcia captive and shoots a bolt straight to his heart. Confident in his shot, the boy turned away, only to have a hook stabbed straight through his lungs. The sudden attack horrified the band of cannibals enough to loosen their grip, giving Young Marcia the interval she needed to pull herself out of their grip. Her escape rattled the crowd, but none dared to move, even Young Marcia, who had just escaped from their grasp. For some reason, the hook…and the man who threw it is just standing there, looking at them.
The villagers who were there were pinned to the ground, unable even to move. There was no time even to turn to look back. His attack was over instantly, not even a second to it. Although the villagers' actions indicate that they are ready to murder someone, all of them stop once they see the dying teenager. As the teenager gasps out in pain, also terrified by it himself, his face slowly turns pale white after losing too much blood. Even so, he cried to any soul for help, to help him. However, all of them are thinking about and looking at the same thing that made them what they are right now. The presence of the man, his spirit, and his conviction…gave them all hallucinations of their death. Their crippling fear paralyzes them on their feet until the teenage boy drops and lies flat on the ground.
"…Allow me to introduce myself," the man says as he pulls the bolt from his flesh without even the slightest note of pain.
"Bruno, a traveling medicine man."
"I came here to find a cure, but another sight seemed to greet me."
"Instead of sick villagers, I am greeted by fanatics."
Without even caring about any possible person who might grieve the now lifeless teenage boy, Bruno pulls the rope attached to the hook with one hand, launching the body towards him. The sound of a woman, who is among the crowd, screamed at him to give back her son after she broke free from her fear. She even activated her circuits to show how determined she was, and her determination made everyone break free from their petrifying fear. However, the alleged medicine man did not heed her plea and grabbed the lifeless body by the neck.
"I am going to use this corpse to find a cure," the man announced as he squeezed the neck of the corpse, not even giving the body a modicum of respect.
"KILL HIM!"
"HOW DARE YOU?!"
The crowd began charging at him, completely ignoring Young Marcia, their target for a cure, due to their rage for the man's lack of respect and his radical actions.
However, by just gazing at them, their fear came back as the man's bloodshot eyes could be seen through the opening of the helmet, which again paralyzed them on their feet.
"As far as you're concerned, I am a ghost."
"You don't see me, you don't hear me."
"Do not follow me."
"Do not show your face to me."
"You don't say good morning."
"You do not speak unless you are spoken to."
"On the other hand, if I tell you to jump, you don't ask; you just jump."
"Stay away from this little girl."
"Do not go near her."
"Ever."
"Understand?"
The crowd, with their heads shaking in fear, just…stared at him, still filled with rage. They are trying to use it to move their muscles. Some even activated their circuits, only to amount to nothing because they were unaffected by Magical Presence. In front of them, what greeted their doorstep, their village, was a man with conviction so firm that it created a murderous bloodlust.
"…Or else you'll do what?" one of the cannibals spoke, trying to break himself out of his fear.
"What do you say?" Bruno asks, a bit surprised and angered.
"…Stay…away from Marcia, or else…what?" the cannibal spoke again, looking at him, enraged.
"Kill us?" he added.
"…If you could kill us, we'd already be dead."
"You couldn't, can you?" the cannibal continues as if to taunt Bruno.
"…"
"…For now…but I will not hesitate to pluck all your heads…"
"One-."
"-By-."
"-One!" the medicine man states
"…"
The villagers turned silent again.
"If any of you try to interfere with my work, this becomes a much simpler matter," he adds.
"I will kill your husbands."
"I will kill your wives."
"I will kill your elders."
"I will kill your children."
"…I will kill your infant newborn."
At this moment, all of them just…froze. Something is unnerving about a man threatening to kill them without yelling and instead asserted them with a calm and ruthless tone. The threats were realistic enough for them to understand that the man standing in front of them cared little about their lives as they glanced at the fresh corpse he was holding by the neck.
Bruno turns around and stops once he sees Young Marcia standing in fear. He approaches her while holding the corpse and stops right in front of her.
"Do you know a vacant spot where I can build and set up a tent?" he asks.
Still gripped by fear, Marcia stutters as she tries to s
peak.
He further specifies it: "I would prefer it to be far from the village, possibly near the river, closer to the mouth of the river, where it would not disturb your everyday fishing activities."
…..
2 hours in
It has been a few hours after the man's attendance, but the effect made it feel like years. No one dared to come close to her house as she peeks through the windows. The ones still healthy, or at least fit enough to walk, instead circled it. The crippling fear they felt is still etched into their very heart and spirit. Young Marcia slowly peers at the wooden door, eavesdropping on her parents' conversation. After the man's disappearance, the two of them, her mother, returned at lightning speed while the father sprinted on the main road. When they arrived, the cannibals were still pinned there in fear, while Marcia had just come back from showing a remote spot where Bruno could do his work. She focuses and presses her ear to the open space, listening to their conversation.
"What is HE doing here, Maria?" Aurelio asks as he walks around the room in panic.
"I don't know! I didn't call for him!" her mother responds, looking frightful.
The two kept panicking, not realizing that their daughter was listening to them.
"…"
"As far as I hate to admit it, with him here, this epidemic might end quite soon," Maria adds, resting her shoulders despite still being on edge.
"How soon?"
"Very soon, dear."
"…Ever since I knew him, other than…the self-centered, murderous psychopath with a god-complex…"
"He is the best medicine man I have ever known," Maria states, begrudgingly.
"I know that. You say he was better than the uh…the one who betrayed all of you?" Aurelio recalls.
Maria nods.
…..
Three days in
Young Marcia approaches the makeshift tent, made with leaves, broken twigs, branches, and some fur, with a bag in her hand. The man requested a specific amount of herbs that could be found underneath and around the river. Maria dived into the river and plucked them all before putting them in the bag and asking her daughter to give it to him. At first, Young Marcia refused, saying that her eyes felt weird and irritating and her head hurt. However, after her mother's charming yet persistent attempts, she gave in and walked towards his tent. Again, none of the villagers dared to walk on the same path nor even look at her. Although she was sad, what puzzled her even more was the weird…anomalies she saw. She turned her head to the side and noticed a sick child with her mother, who was looking at her.
She could see them, but at the same time…she could see something else. Something…white and pure in color, just floating there…inside the child. Not only that, but her eyesight is also more apparent than ever. She could see a frog sitting on the river's other side. She is terrified by it, but she rushes to the tent, as there is something else that she should be scared of now. As she continued, her eyes focused on the mother. However, this time, instead of it being pure fight, the instant she sees her, the floating 'thing' turns from white to yellow. She quickly grabs her kid and runs off, which puzzles Young Marcia, but she brushes it off.
Now, she is standing outside the man's tent. She could hear the sound of footsteps walking around inside the tent. However, she stopped when she was about to open the fur curtain. Her feet felt like they were pinned to the floor out of fear, the fear that she might end up dead there, right on the spot, just like the teenager that he killed yesterday. The sound of footsteps became more rapid, and Young Marcia became more anxious. Multiple scenarios popped inside her head as she panicked.
"(What should I do?)"
"(Should I introduce myself?)"
"(What was his name?)"
"(To think that I can't remember names that I have heard before…)"
She created a scenario inside her head. A scenario that she theorizes would happen if she had forgotten his name.
"You don't…remember my name…?"
SPLAT!
"(I am going to die!)" she screamed in her head.
Then, all of a sudden…
"Ah, there you are. I was tired of waiting," a voice enters her head.
Young Marcia instantly freezes, remembering very well whose voice was that. The same roughness, the same rugged tone, she slowly turned her head around and expected someone to hold a knife to her throat. However, the exact opposite happened. All that greeted her was a man, still wearing his armor and helmet, except that this time, she did not even feel the slightest hostility coming from him. Sure, he sounds rude, but even she knows that part was entirely her fault for just standing there like a wooden log, not doing anything.
"Thank you for the delivery," Bruno thanked her and offered his hand.
Young Marcia quickly snaps out of her delusion and hands the bag to him. She was about to excuse herself, fearing that the worst might happen.
"Oh, sure. You can have some tea before you return; I had some leftovers from this morning," Bruno offers.
"Eh…uhm…"
"Hmm, well, the tea is on the table; just…don't go peeking anywhere else," Bruno says before he enters his tent again.
The puzzled Young Marcia felt that she should have left, but…for some unknown reason, or rather, a bizarre reason that only she could make, she put her hand on the curtain, slid it to the side, and entered the tent.
The interior of the makeshift tent seemed normal to her, at least, the compartment she was in right now. There are walls made from leaves that enclose the room she is in. Judging by the size of the tent she sees from the outside, she deduced that this space only takes about a quarter of the tent. Even the space she is in now only has a makeshift bed made from leaves and layered underneath a fur bedroll—a firepit made from soil and makeshift clay. There are traces and ashes of burnt wood inside it and a mat made from straw. That's just it. On the firepit is an iron kettle with some leftover tea inside it. There was an empty mug there, which had already been cleaned, so she decided to use it to drink it. When she took a sip, her eyes quickly opened as she said,
"(Delicious)!"
"(Not what I would expect from a stone-cold killer…)," she mumbles, the first thought that passed through her mind.
After finishing the cup of tea, the entire kettle, Young Marcia thought about leaving until…she felt curious about what was happening on the other side of the tent. Surprisingly, again, she noticed that the tent did not smell horrible, which would make sense since Bruno took a corpse with him. She dropped her thought of leaving and quietly approached the curtain to the other room. Slowly, she put her fingers at the side of the curtain and opened it slightly, enough for her to take a peek. Her choice would probably give her horrors, or it would sate her curiosity, but she immediately felt nauseous when she slid the curtain to take a peek.
From her position, she could see the corpse that the man had taken yesterday, all mutilated and carved open, exposing his inner organs to the air. The excess skin covering the exposed organs was attached to strings and stretched outwards, preventing the exposed organs from closing by nailing the end of each string to the table. His face was mangled, and she could see some of the meat still attached to its skin. She felt so sick, and her innards felt like they were punching themselves outwards from her stomach as she tried her best to hold it back by keeping her mouth closed.
"You can vomit there in the hole, but it would be better if you vomited outside," Bruno advised her, despite him not even in her field of vision.
When Young Marcia hears a hole, it seems her ears stop there as she barges into the room and lunges to the hole. Without even bothering to check the smell, she barfed, pushing her undigested contents out from her mouth into the hole. Once she finished, Bruno walked towards her and tossed her a cloth to wipe her mouth, telling her it would be unhygienic. Despite Young Marcia not understanding what the word even means, she wiped her mouth off and returned the cloth to him.
"Uh…no, just toss it into the hole," Bruno tells her, backing away from the piece of cloth with a disgusted tone.
When she did, he offered her a cup of clean water.
"Gargle it and spit it out at the river or somewhere. The smell inside your mouth is probably disgusting. Rid of it," he adds.
Young Marcia checked her breath and, again, nearly barfed due to its morbid smell. She does as she is told and spits the water outside his tent. However, despite her revolting experience with the mutilated corpse, she goes back inside, which puzzles Bruno. She returned the cup to him and just stood there, much to Bruno's perplexed view of her mental condition. Although scared, she spotted something intriguing when she saw Bruno today and decided to ask him about it soon.
"Kid?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't you…I don't know, aren't you afraid?" he asks.
"…Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. There's a mutilated body right behind you!" Bruno states the most prominent and striking object inside the room, even pointing all his five fingers at it.
"Old man," she calls out, completely ignoring his statement.
"Old man?!" Bruno retorted, entirely triggered by her name-calling.
"(I'm not that old, brat)!"
"Will the village be cured?" she asked.
Once she asked, Bruno's irritation just…slipped out and faded away as he looked at her. Young Marcia could not tell what his expression was due to that helmet, but she looked at him with a guilty expression on his face.
"…You don't hate them?" Bruno asks.
"…"
"Maybe…but…I understand why they would act that way-."
"Mother always told me that people are always afraid of what they don't understand," Young Marcia answers.
"You're surprisingly naïve for a kid who just escaped death," Bruno sighs, a bit puzzled by her odd behavior.
"Naïve?" she asks, unable to understand what it means.
"Uh…let's just let that slide, okay?"
"Well, I guess there is no harm in telling you."
"…The situation is dire, very dire."
"From what I discovered, there is no natural herb that could cure this progression of symptoms," he adds.
Young Marcia tried to interrupt, but Bruno's immense concentration on his explanation made her words melt away into the air as he continued explaining.
"The microbial lifeform is spreading at an alarming rate. It evolved during my stay here; from what I heard, it has been here for almost a month. Casualties are high due to infection and blood loss, yet there is no natural cure."
"Microbial?"
"Which means the only method is…vaccination," Bruno judged.
"Vaccination?" Young Marcia inquires, confused by the constant bombing of words she does not understand.
"To put it simply, I inject dead micro-lifeforms of those that belong to the same type as the one I analyzed. It will jumpstart the human immune system to create antibodies, preventing them from getting infected by the time the second injection begins."
"I have seen the same characteristics in another land a few years back. It infected cows, but it is also transferable between species. I believe, in that land, it was called cowpox."
"Lucky for you, I saved some of it in storage and already killed it. As far as I can tell, the characteristics between the two lifeforms are nearly identical."
"So…you created…a cure?" Young Marcia asks, smiling widely from the flicker of hope that Burno gave her.
"Yes, I have created a batch from the extracts of that dead man, ready to be tested on this dying monkey I caught," Bruno points at the barely breathing monkey that he had kept inside a cage.
"…Eh, that's cruelty!" Young Marcia groans at him, much to his surprise.
At this moment, she could tell that Bruno suddenly became severe. He turned to her and looked her right in the face.
"It is necessary. Right now, it is just a matter of trial and error," Bruno answers.
"But…it's…murder. You're condemning this monkey to die…" Young Marcia defends her point of view.
"To save hundreds! Maybe thousands! It is the cost we must take!"
"... to save our people? To create cures that we need? To make sure none of this happens again?" Young Marcia asks multiple questions, bewildered by the man's actions.
"…"
"…To ensure that the next generation does not have to do it!" Bruno answers, calmly and firmly defending his methods.
Young Marcia turned quiet.
"To march forward, sometimes it is required to ignore the rights of the few to save the many and the generation that comes after it. It can be said in any work faculty, from the past, present, and future."
However, it would seem that his argument does not budge Young Marcia's point of view, who still looks into it as murder and torture.
"What you are saying is true because it is a life," Bruno adds as he injects the vaccine into the dying monkey, much to Young Marcia's conviction.
"Every life is sacred…," she quotes, to which Bruno responds with a yawn.
"Talk to me, don't quote religious sutras," he responds.
"It IS true."
"It is meaningless."
"Every life matters to God."
"Not to me. Not to you. And judging by the number of natural disasters, even this plague."
"Oh, now you're just being stubborn."
"Yeah, I am. What about the previous king? What about him? The one that everyone is trying so hard to run away from?"
Young Marcia puts her hands on her face.
"Is he sacred to God? Is that fat, lump-sack, greedy, smelly, old rapist sacred to God? If he is sacred, how come he did die at the hands of King Edwen?" Bruno questions her.
"The monkey is not King Harold…"
"Either every life is sacred or…" Bruno adds.
"STOP IT!" Young Marcia shouts.
"I don't want to chat about philosophy!" she adds.
"You're telling me not to kill a monkey because of a philosophy," Bruno counters.
Young Marcia turned silent and stopped for a few seconds before continuing.
"It's murder! I'm against it! You for it?" she asks, further protecting her own rule.
"Not as a general rule," he answers.
"Just for anything you consider enough to sacrifice?"
"Yes!"
When Bruno tells her his philosophy, Young Marcia turns silent while Bruno waits for her answer. When she fails to deliver any answer, Bruno puts the syringe on the table and turns to her.
"The problem with exceptions to rules…is the line drawing," he explains.
"It would make sense to everyone to just kill the one who started this plague, be it an act of God or the act of humans, or maybe it is just mother nature or something else."
"…But, where do we have to draw the line to prevent the others from crossing it?"
"Which ones do we have to sacrifice? Which ones do we let live to their fate?"
Bruno kneels and looks her right in the eye.
"The best thing about the research debate is that we can quibble over it a thousand times, but it can only end two ways."
"Salvation or destruction."
"Morally, it does not make a lot of difference."
"Practically huge."
For some reason, Young Marcia felt something…happy about his tone. By then, she smirked and realized something she would not have expected from him.
"…Old man."
"You're enjoying this conversation," she smiles widely.
Bruno chuckles as he swiftly ruffles Young Marcia's hair, messing it up.
"I'm not an old man, you little whippersnapper," he chuckles before sitting down.
"What now?" she asks, puzzled to see him weirdly resting.
"Now…we wait. Progress demands it so," Bruno answers.
"If I am right, the monkey will be healthy, and your village can be cured."
"If I am wrong, the monkey's condition will deteriorate, and I must start again."
"Salvation, or destruction," Young Marcia quotes.
"Hmm…Mmm…"
"Correct."
"Oi," he calls out to her.
"Oi? My name is Marcia, you know!" Young Marcia retorts, but he cannot take his rude behavior.
"You're surprisingly smart and argumentative for a whippersnapper. You're also good with big words. Did your mother teach you to be that way?" Bruno asks curiously.
"It is not anything bad? I am just…amazed."
"You're a lot grown-up than most old people I have seen."
Young Marcia blushed a little and nodded as she silently accepted his compliment.
"Hoh…amazing."
"Old man?" Young Marcia calls out.
"I told you I am not that…"
"I think I feel weird. I might have something," she states.
"Really?" Bruno mumbles, intrigued.
"You feel heavy. A cold? Nauseating again?" he asks continuously.
"No, it's not that. It is…something strange," she answers.
As soon as she says that, Bruno's gentle-like behavior disappears as he looks at her, expecting her to tell him about the condition she is feeling.
"Ever since I was cured…"
She could feel the air around her feel heavier as if her very being was trying to prevent her from telling anyone about it. However, she took a deep breath…and another deep breath. Then, a third and a fourth. She was taking a lot of deep breaths, and it was unknown to her that the immense pressure she was feeling right now was emanating from the man sitting in front of her.
"I've been seeing this…weird floating things," she adds.
"Floating?" he asks.
"Yes. These weird, floating white things that…"
"I don't know, maybe, inside everyone."
"…"
"These…things are inside everyone I see today, even if I close my eyes."
"…And, they change colours when people…get angry and…"
"Sad or…I don't know."
"Is something wrong with me?" she asks, sincerely asking for his help to overcome the sudden emergence of the condition she is having right now.
"…"
The room became silent for a while.
"…To reiterate what you just told me, ever since you were 'cured,' you have been seeing some things you think you are seeing inside everyone, correct?" Bruno concludes.
Young Marcia nods.
"I'll exit the tent and talk about this with your parents. Nothing serious, just a formality and consent to treat you, should the need arise," Bruno states.
"But…I have to ask…"
"Huh?"
"Are any floating things inside this tent?" he asks.
Young Marcia turned and looked at the dying monkey.
"…That monkey has one..."
"But it is…small, and weak…"
"Like embers that are going out without being blown…"
"But for some reason…it is…"
"Resisting," she tells him.
Bruno takes the cup she gave him and asks.
"How about this one?" he adds.
"…"
"No, none," she answers.
"Hmm…"
"I might have to talk to your parents about this," Bruno declares.
"But…" Young Marcia mumbles.
"Hmm?"
"When I look at you, old man…"
"…You too…"
"Don't have it inside you," she states.
This time, Young Marcia is greeted by silence. The air around her turned and felt different from the one before. It felt like a thin veil of pressure lifted off her and exchanged by a different veil. Although she could not see his expression, Young Marcia could tell…that he was sad.
"Are you going to be fine, Mr. Bruno?" she asks, worrying about the condition of a random stranger that she just met.
"Is everything alright?"