"She kept that going throughout the night…"
My jaw was slightly open after seeing the black mana raging inside her body throughout the night.
Minor earthquakes took place every few hours and the room never stopped trembling. Such an event caused a commotion in the city and nearby areas.
I was sure that the Entertainers or someone from the higher realms would notice Ana. I fully expected a portal to appear in the room.
But for some reason, no one came to stop Ana despite the abuse of energy she was doing.
Something protected Ana from the gazes of those belonging to other realms and not even the Entertainers were able to find her.
By six in the morning, the black mana wrapped around Ana slowly disappeared. The child came out of the mana looking completely different.
Her eyes became stretched and her cheeks hollowed a lot. Rough bumps were present on her face whilst her body thinned a lot. Her hair was sweaty and clung to her forehead.
She barely resembled the Ana from earlier
I did not know the reason behind the change in her appearance. Only a person with knowledge of Ana's race could explain it.
An hour later, a knock on the door was heard and a figure walked in. Ana's aunt came into view and looked at the child lying on the bed.
"What a drag. My sister's health deteriorated and now I have to take care of this dumb girl. Well, the money I will get for it is nice." The woman started swooping around the house.
Though Ana's eyes were closed, her body was aware of her surroundings. Her aunt collected every valuable thing in the house before waking Ana.
"Hey kid, pack whatever you want to bring with you. You are going to live with me now."
The world shifted again, showing glimpses of Ana living with her aunt. I saw her aunt shouting at Ana for being a burden and all.
Ana began to get older. Her mental and physical health began worsening. Kids at school called her ugly and avoided her.
Somehow, Ana managed to survive middle school without breaking down. She endured her aunt's shouting as well as the comments passed about her at school.
"She is strong."
Somehow, things continued like this till high school. Ana got used to her new life and was somehow doing her own thing. She kept her grades a bit high and tried to improve them by studying.
With no distractions or friends, she did that and started high school. That's when things went wrong.
"So you are telling me you scored higher than me with that ugly ass face?" a freshman girl with an alarming amount of makeup on her face glared at Ana.
Four other girls stood beside her, pushing Ana into a corner. They were standing behind the school.
The girls had dragged Ana after the result of the starting tests had come. This reminded me that bullying still existed in this world.
"What do you want?" Ana asked in a neutral tone.
I was surprised to see the calmness on her face. Spending years with her aunt made Ana resilient towards bullying and made her care less.
"Lower your grades. We need a higher rank to get the job at modeling agencies." Another girl explained.
"You need to be at least 18 to do that." Ana pointed out.
"As if we don't know. We will be faking it. Mind your business." For good measure, one of the girls shoved Ana towards the wall.
All of them turned around and walked away. Ana's back was against the wall as she watched the bullies go away.
"If I lower my marks, there is nothing else for me to do…"
Ana walked away and the world progressed forward. My fists were clenched tightly after I saw the bullying scene.
As someone who used to fend off bullies and creeps during high school, I knew firsthand how Ana felt. The experience was not pleasant at all.
I watched Ana consistently keep her grades up as the bullying became worse. I also recognized her bullies. They were the same people who became the five C women.
They bullied Ana from time to time, making sure she remained isolated from most of the girls. None of the boys bothered to interact with her either.
Her aunt also entered into a relationship and her boyfriend moved in with them. The couple fought sometimes which forced Ana to stay buried in her room.
"No wonder you became a villain…"
Perhaps if I had never written about her character, Ana would never have been born and faced such a traumatic life. Nothing in her life radiated happiness.
Years of her life flashed in front of my eyes. Almost every day of her life was the same and the world didn't pause at any particular moment.
Ana's day followed the same routine: waking up, arguing with her aunt, going to school, getting marks, being bullied, coming hope to see a fight, and locking herself in her room.
It was only on her 17th birthday that I saw something different.
"You worthless bitch! The money left by your mother is about to run out and you are telling me no one is hiring you for a job?!" Ana's aunt shouted.
"No one wants to hire me…" Ana mumbled.
"Probably because you are too ugly. Ugh, why the fuck are you so useless. Just get out of my sight."
Her aunt started rubbing her forehead before taking a seep of the beer she was holding in her hand. Ana obediently turned around and walked towards her room.
I followed her back to her room. she stood in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection. Her eyes were sunken and dark circles were present under them.
Acne covered different parts of her face. Her body thinned a lot, almost making her look malnourished.
"Why do I look like this? Mother was always beautiful yet I am like this…" Ana mumbled. "They rejected me from all part time jobs because I was not good looking. My grades aren't useful either…"
She lifted her hand to her cheek as a tear fell down from her eye. Her knees weakened and she knelt on her knees.
Tears fell down her eyes as Ana faced the first major breakdown of her life.
"Ana…"
I knelt on the ground behind her and extended my hands forward. Though my hands passed right through her, I gave Ana a hug.
The latter cried for a few minutes, bawling her eyes out. No one was there to listen to her and no one cared about her. All Ana had was herself.
Things didn't improve no matter how hard Ana tried. Everything moved forward and Ana became completely cold hearted.
Soon, the day of the apocalypse arrived.
Ana spent the beginning of the day in school. She had a fight with her five bullies which resulted in her receiving multiple punches to the gut.
+
[ Planet Earth (X57392) has been selected for the inheritance mania. ]
[ Mana infusion has begun. ]
[ The Apocalypse has started. ]
[ Prove your worth or survive without the help of Mana. ]
+
"What is this…"
I watched Ana go through a rollercoaster of emotions as she checked her status. She was surprised by the question marks appearing on her status.
Ana glanced back at her house and took a deep breath. She turned her back on the house and slowly walked away. Sparks of black mana finally reappeared inside her body.
"Hope we never meet again, aunt."
[ End of Trauma world. ]
The world in front of me went black before shifting back to the beginning of the trauma world. I was back in the alley where everything began.
This was how the looping of a trauma world worked. The same events replayed again and again until the person broke down or managed to overcome their trauma.
"Hey Ana, are you listening to me?" I asked while staring at the sky.
Ana was watching the same thing over and over again. My voice would reach her one way or the other
"You don't have to stay trapped in this world. You can do a lot of things in the real world without the help of those voices. You have immense power inside you."
I waited for a minute before continuing.
"I think you know that you are not completely human. You have special powers related to fairies. Your father was a special kind of fairy. If you leave this place with me, I will help you learn how to control those powers.
I will also help you learn more about your parents. I have seen how you wanted to know more about them but no information existed."
After speaking my thoughts, I patiently waited for a response. Ana's parents didn't come running through the alley and everything remained calm.
Suddenly, a whisper entered my ears.
"I don't know if you are speaking the truth or not…"
Ana was no where to be seen but it was her voice inside my ears.
"I am telling the truth. I am orphan too so I know how you feel. I didn't leave my house for months and quit doing everything because of their death. Please trust me and I will help you."
My words were full of sincerity since I wanted to help her since the beginning. Not only would it lower my guilt, but also help another orphan.
'Haha, no wonder Ray has a hero complex. I am playing the hero role too.'
"I don't believe you."
"Trust me. I won't leave you alone." I promised sincerely. Oh well, maybe I should not have said that.
[ Someone has forcefully extracted you out of the trauma world. ]