"cheers!" Glasses clinked in the air. Followed by the laughter of the group having a party. Seated round a small round table, Raaya and her group entertained themselves with the bottles of wines mounted on the table.
Their faces already ridden with a slight shade of red complexion from all they had had to drink already.
"Seriously when I saw you break that man's third leg with a kick, I kind of felt very bad for his future generations that would never come" Alia giggled. Her excited expression showed no sign of remorse or sympathy like she said. Instead it could be said she was intrigued by the man's predicament.
"It would be no wonder if no boy gets close to you from now on. Even I am scared or being your friend talkless of having feelings for you" Curtis tsked.
Myra leaned into her chair, she gulped the rest of the wine in her glass then smirked as she dropped it down "Raaya already has her eyes on someone else should she be worried what others think?"
"what?" The two boys in the gathering did a double take. Their eyes resting on the girl assumed to be in love. Clad in a baggy Jean, singlet and cape jacket. There was a total contrast between her and someone who has someone she was in love with. Even with the truth exposed, she remain composed sipping her wine in a dignified demeanor, with her legs crossed over each other.
"Raaya's in love? With who? How come we don't know?" Curtis asked in a hurry. Absolutely surprised by the new piece of information. His friend Dylan spared the girl a look. A complicated look then he turned away and said nothing else.
"Don't listen to her nonsense" Raaya spat out nonchalantly. Simultaneously, their gathering was interrupted by a sudden attendance.
"What a lovely party" A young man walked into the room. He did seat rather he leaned against the wall with one of his legs lifted up and his hands folded. His eyes scanned the room softly, momentarily resting on Raaya before a thin smile graced his lips.
"Speak of the Devil" Alia muttered under her breath. Myra winked back at her and threw c a playful look Raaya's way.
Raaya ignored the look she was getting "what are you doing here Alan?" She asked without even glancing at the young man. He was standing at her back anyways. She chose not be to turn and just keep showing him her back.
A soft chuckle left the lips of the young man. He stood up straight and walked to the table. A huge air of Nobleness and elegance accompanying every of his steps. Even in the way he breathed, one could tell he was from a superior background as it was imbedded in his bones.
He sat down next to her then wedged his head on his arm. His face just a few meters away from hers
"I heard you got your very first real mission"
"that must disappoint you." Raaya retorted back.
"It doesn't. I'm looking forward for your return" The young man said.
Raaya scoffed "Why aren't I elated?"
"I heard you beat a bunch of Jaegers all by yourself. I guess you finally learned that strength was the key to enforcing your will."
Strength?
Raaya bowed her head and didn't retort to his words this time. Instead his words had taken her back many years ago.
It was just two years after the siege, the new world was just starting to pull itself together. Everyone still didn't know how to live in this new life that they were given but they were doing all they could and making the best of it as they could.
Everyone had lost a loved one at the Battle. Some had learned to get over it whilst others still wallowed in the heartache and hurt of losing their family. Amongst those still grieving, Raaya seemed like she was never going to get over her pain. Her nine years old self was practically orphan in the battle. No mother, father or family member to even bother about her. She was left alone, clinging to memories of the past while she watched reality change from what it was to something no one had expected.
She was desperate for a family, desperate to feel whole again that she did something she would forever regret. She became clingy to the one person she thought might have understood her better, to the one person she had also felt was all that was left in the world, close to a real family member. But then in a fast changing world, she was eventually made to realize that nothing remained constant, not even the heart of those you thought you knew and loved.
"Alan you...you killed him...why?" She stammered as she looked the boy dressed in fine armours, holding the head of a beast. It's eyes bleak and lifeless, not what she used to know it for. Her heart ached seeing that that used to be not only part of her family but also her guardian beast. Her teary eyes darted from the dead werewolf to the young teenager holding its head.
"It was bitten by a monster. It's blood was corrupted when we saw it hidden in a cave. It was only a matter of time before it became a full monster and attacked the city"
"Liar! Jacob would never have done that! He was my family!" She yelled. Tears pouring down her eyes in buckets. She was but a little girl who had just watched her family massacred two years ago and the closest thing she had to a family was now dead before her eyes, killed by someone her heart beat for. It was hard to tell what pained her most.
"Stop beIng naive." The boy frowned slightly "he was nothing but a monster. Besides Kaiser is looking for every means to improve our technology. We could study it's mutating organs and also create some special weapons out of its body. What we need now than ever is to attain strength in every possible way that's the way we stand a chance against extermination"
The girl's face darkened. Her eyes opened in shock. She could not believe her ears, the disbelief and horror she felt from his words showed on her face.
"Strength? Technology? Is that all you think about? Did you even try to save him?"
"there was no need trying. He was better off dead than alive_" The girl swung her palm across his face, giving him a tight slap. His face turned to the other direction slightly. Her force was weak, he didn't even break a sweat talkmore of bleeding from that slap.
"I trusted you. I begged you to bring him back. I thought our family would be complete if he was found, just the three of us. I took you as my family yet you didn't even think about me or our family when you killed him. I guess I was wrong. You're just a shrewd orphan that would do anything to survive" her tone was harsh but her small face held the hostility very well. It was evident that he had stepped on her bottom line.
"I don't need family, I seek strength. With strength I could sit upon the world in a place no one could get to me. Where I would define my own fate and chose my own family. You are not my family either, someone as weak as you have no benefit to me henceforth" The images of that boy standing against the rays of the sun were still fresh in her head just like he said those words yesterday. She remembers her little heart shattering finally into an unredeemed number of pieces.
Even after so many years he had not changed. Chasing after strength like a hound, not bothering of those that cared about him. The more she saw him the more she could not recognize him. He had become an entity whoose existence was shrouded in blood and an insatiable hunger for strength.
Raaya chuckled wryly "indeed l learnt from a good teacher." She paused "I look into the mirror each morning and I can't help but hate the girl I see in the mirror. I hate myself for how weak I became. Now I am just like you, an abyss lies in my heart asking for blood and hungry to attain strength. The only thing that could satiate this unending hunger is revenge. Until I see the heads of those that took my family from me I would not stop. I would do anything and everything it would take to become the strongest but unlike you when I do, I will use my strength to protect those I love"
" You can go ahead and make yourself ruler over the world. In the end you'll be no different from the Demons that tore our world apart" She spoke indifferently.
He looked at her eyes. It was still like a night river without ripples. Truly he could see that she had changed. Yet it made no difference to him. The subtle hint of vulnerability laid hidden under the glimmer of her eyes.
"I see" He stood up with a small chuckle. His legs extending to the door step by step, just at the door, he paused and said over his shoulder "you're still so naive"