(Caution: May be a triggering scene of harassment and violence)
"Lucius…i-is that my power?"
Catherine trembled. Her pupils shook vigorously as she reached out for me.
"Hey…it is alright. No one knows of it." I wrapped my arms around her trembling body.
"W-will people kill me?"
"No, they won't. I won't let them." I stroked her back to calm her down.
Catherine had manifested her attribute. However, the unexpected had happened. Rather than jumping in joy, she's on the ground, crying because of it.
***
Today, we went out for our first task that we took on from the guild. It's been three months since I had manifested my attribute. Currently, I am strong enough to defeat a mid-level monster. The attribute was hard to control at first but once I am familiar with it, wielding the flames was as easy as breathing. Catherine had also been training using a dagger that she found in a pile of unused items at the guild.
"There's one running away!" Catherine shouted, chasing after a green-coloured creature.
We were required to hunt a few goblins and collect their magic stones. Goblins are lower-class earth attribute. Their magic stones could be used to help the crops grow better and make the soil more fertile.
"This is the last one. Hell, it was so fast," Catherine said, taking a magic stone from the goblin's heart and tossing it at me.
I immediately caught the flying mana stone and dropped it in a pouch. A clicking sound was heard as it collided with the other mana stones. "Great," I said in satisfaction. "Let's go and trade it at the guild."
While I was tying the pouch around my waist, I noticed a group of people approaching from the corner of my eye.
"Woah, woah. What do we have here?" said one of the men. His voice was as sinister as his smirk.
They must be the infamous band of mountain bandits that had caused the recent accidents. There's even a bounty on their heads. It had slipped my mind when we took on this mission. This place is one of their territory.
The man that was talking seemed like the leader. He got a messy hair tied to the back and a scar on his left eye. Catherine was already caught by two of the men, one of them had been injured from Catherine's dagger. Feeling alarmed, I gritted my teeth and prepared an attack.
"What a pretty one we have here…" The leader suddenly popped in front of me, restraining my hand by the wrist. He was quick, as quick as the wind itself.
*Mid-level wind attribute?* I grimaced. The man is strong.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Catherine yelled from afar, kicking the shin of the shorter bandit who locked her arms.
"Hm, would you like to come with us?" The man snickered before saying, "Not like you have a choice."
I heard Catherine's rampaging curses. My eyes trailed to see her struggling to break free before shooting glares at the leader. "…At least let the girl go," I said
"I am not very interested with her….but she had injured my men. I can't forgive her for that," he whispered, still as sinister as ever.
Catherine kicked the shorter man, swinging her arms free before punching the injured one on the gut. As she caused a moment of distraction, I immediately casted 'Explosion' to break free.
*BOOOMM!*
"ACKKK!" the leader grunted in pain. His grip loosened around mine.
"CATHERINE!" I shouted, running towards her. That was when I saw her getting yanked back by the injured man. I was enraged by the sight, kicking the ground off to reach for her but things took a turn.
*THWACK—*
A snapping pain was felt behind my head, disrupting my stability. My body crashed onto the ground with a loud 'thud' while a heavy weight pressed me down to keep me still. My vision gradually blackened as I reached out for Catherine again.
"LUCIUS!" The desperate cry was the last thing I heard before passing out.
***
It was dark. I felt like I'm being transported somewhere. The sound of wheels turning and the creaking sound of wood whenever it bumped against something. It must be a wagon. Where is Catherine? Is she safe? My head hurts.
The wagon came to a stop. The door of the wagon swung open and I was thrown over someone's shoulder. They're carrying me into a building. My head hurts. I couldn't think straight. It was only when they placed me down that I could open my eyes. Again, it was dark. I found myself placed in a small room with nothing but a single window. Only the moonlight had kept me companied.
*It's cramped,* I thought.
"Catherine?" I looked around but she's not here.
Suddenly, the door swung open and the sinister smile came into sight. "You're awake, huh?" The leader asked.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I got instantly on guard. As the man stepped closer, I scooted away to keep the distance.
"Not much…." he said. "Just a bit of...fun?" The smile turned into a grin, one that caused a chill down my spine. I know of that gaze of his. I saw it once and it didn't end well.
The man continued his approach on me, sound of footsteps fueled the eerie air. Without a warning, he forcefully pinned me down on the floor, giving me no time to resist.
*No!* I gasped, putting on a resistance. *Not this damn thing, again!* I immediately began to cast another 'Explosion'.
"I won't be tricked by the same thing!" He hissed, parring away my mana.
"Now, be a good boy, won't you?" The man ripped off my clothes with one hand. The other was locking my arms together above my head.
*Is this my fate?* My heart scorned, filled with spite. *Why does it kept on repeating? Over and over again, I had never been freed from it.*
His hand began to move around unwanted places, feeling my body. It was reliving the memories from the orphanage, making me feel utterly helpless. No one came to save me back then, no one will, either.
*Can I…even escape now?*
"Catherine…" I muttered the name. Even the name itself put my heart at ease. Perhaps she had escaped. I'll be very glad if she had managed to do so. Catherine. At least I have something good to think about.
Suddenly, a chaos broke out from the outside.
"D-DEMON! A DEMON HAD APPEARED!" A terrified cry was heard.
"AGHHHHH—"A scream that was cut off.
"IT'S JUST A CHILD KILL I—" Another cut off sentence.
"THIS IS INSANE! HOW DID IT APPEAR SO SUDDENLY?!"
"JUST RUN! WE CAN'T FIGHT IT!"
The screams were horrifying. It was as if the cries came directly from hell itself. Sound of people running, crashing, and banging. Every possible sound had filled the air. It lasted for a while until the last scream was heard, loud and clear. 'A dark attribute', was what it said.
*BAAAMMMMM!*
The door burst open. Not just the door, even the wall had been damaged. Blood had splattered everywhere outside, painting the walls with blooms of red. A familiar face was standing right in front of that gore sight. It was Catherine, shrouded by a raging shadows. Her eyes resembled the abyss itself, entirely black with not a spark of light. There's a simple way as to explain what I was looking at.
The void had awakened, that's it.
With a swing of her hand, the head of the leader flew away. Blood spurted out like a fountain from the severed neck, raining down upon me. The lifeless body crashed onto the ground, which I barely managed to avoid. Red coloured puddle immediately formed beneath it. As if that was not enough, dozens of sharp shadow blades flew and struck the corpse again and again. After a few waves of attack, she finally stopped and stared wordlessly at me.
"C-Catherine, you're here…"
Catherine's face was lack of any emotions. Nevertheless, she's still the Catherine I know. I cautiously reached for her, not wishing to set her off. As if snapping out of a dream, her eyes immediately cleared up. She scanned around the massacre. The bloody sight, corpses and the remnants of her dark blades. She stood there in confusion, gripping tightly onto my hand. Once she came to a realisation, the strength left her body.
"D-did I do this?" Catherine slumped next to me, looking down at her blood-covered clothes. She was horrified.