After that Melissa stood up and walked towards the door. A few more streams of blood appeared from behind her back and wrapped around the bodies and the heads, and she dragged the bodies towards the door to the outside with her. She was shaking from head to toe due to her injuries and from the weight of the clumps of bones and flesh she was dragging.

She muttered softly, ‘Thanks, and sorry,’ and continued walking to the door.

Zeth stretched out his hand towards her, but she shouted, ‘Don’t come near me!’

He pulled back his hand and watched her go. That would be fine. She was grateful someone helped her, but that would mean he would get into trouble sooner or later. The robbers, though had nothing to do with the reason why she was being chased, was still a cue for her to go away before he got implicated.

But just outside the door Melissa suddenly vomited blood and collapsed. All streams of blood connecting her to the bodies disappeared. When she woke up she was lying on the bed, still in the house. She saw Zeth trying to think of how to settle the bodies.

What she had committed was murder, and now Zeth was trying to dispose of the bodies. That made him her accomplice. Well, although he did not like it a lot, he was still trying to help her. The reason why she killed the people was because the robbers were beating him up. Indirectly she murdered the people because of him. So, part of it was his responsibility, his fault for being so weak to the extent he needed a woman to protect him. So, if it were up to him, he would dispose of the bodies and treated it as nothing ever happened. Because, even if she was punished, the people would not come back to life.

It was against the law, of course. But that was what he planned to do. As long as no one found out, it would be all right.

She asked Zeth if he knew how to dispose of them or if he was planning on handing her to the authorities, and he shook his head 2 times. She asked him why he did not talk, and he pointed to his throat and indicated on his hands he could not talk. She asked if he could not talk, and he nodded. She asked again if he was a mute, and he nodded again. She asked him if he trusted her, and he nodded for the third time.

And with that the short Question & Answer session ended. A small stream of blood flowed from Melissa’s lower arm again and connected to his lower arm. In that instant, Melissa could see Zeth’s thoughts and memories but not the other way round because Melissa blocked hers, and they were able to communicate without speaking physically.

Zeth’s suddenly looked at Melissa and he covered his mouth in shock.

She asked him if there were any wild animals nearby and he said there were some in the forest behind the fields which the house was in the middle of it. She got him to put the bodies on the cart and have him pushed out. When she got out she realized that the city which was in the opposite direction of the forest was quite far off. Then she realized that Zeth had carried her a long distance when she collapsed. There was no one around, for in that whole field where they were at, Zeth’s house was the only building which stood in that area.

They threw the bodies at the edge of the forest. Melissa drew out a stream of blood and splashed it out into the forest, where they eventually fell onto the ground. Now there was blood on the floor. Then she told him to back off.

When they had already retreated some distance away a few wolves came for the bodies, attracted by the smell of blood. It was apparent that they had traced to the source of the blood way before Melissa had stepped back. For the blood of the corpses were strong enough to get their attention. There was only one thing stopping them. The smell of blood on Melissa was too strong. Their instincts told them that the woman right in front of them was a stronger predator than all of them combined. A human, who should not depend on killing to survive, like the wild animals, actually had a stronger smell of blood than those predators of nature. The mechanism called fear is a very powerful one, and animals who had not depended on logic that much compared to humans relied on it for their own survival. And if that mechanism was warning them they would definitely listen to it.

Zeth looked at Melissa in shock, but she did not show any emotion. In the evening sun, she looked at the bodies being food for the wild animals. Under the setting sun, she looked as if she was a beautiful princess, as though she had everything people could ask for, yet the space in her heart was so empty that there was nothing she could use to fill it. The eyes she had seemed like she was staring at the wolves, asking them for answers as to what she should do next, as if she was so lost she did not know which direction to go. Like a princess who was beautiful yet could not make decisions in her life, a life which felt lost and empty. Except that, unlike a true princess, she had nothing in the first place.

before this, i would like to apologize to any readers who came over here to read the stories. i admit that for the past few weeks the quality of the story in terms of sentence structure was dropping, and it was not that well written. well, i don't know what happened, but it seemed that i was unable to write properly. but i will still try to write it well and make this story interesting enough to read.

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Zeth took a bowl of porridge and a glass of water and put it in front of her when she awoke once again. Without saying anything he took one mouthful from the bowl and the glass to prove it did not contain any poison. He felt that there was a definite need to do that, since she was so suspicious of everything around her. Then he went out of the house, leaving her alone.

Days 1, 2 and 3 went by just like that. She did not attempt to leave the house anymore during any of the 3 days. At least for now, that man was not going to do anything to her. At least that was what she had hoped.

For the first day, after she ate and drank, she was still dirty. He did not wash her or anything, but simply put her down on the bed when he had taken her back. He pointed to an area in the house for her before he went out.

After eating, Melissa decided to check out what he was pointing at. To her surprise, she saw in the toilet a bath prepared for her, as well as clean clothes. They were men’s clothes of course, since there was no other woman in the house. The man had been living alone.

She bathed and changed into clean clothes. As the days went by Melissa got stronger but her injuries were still serious. Unlike strength, the recovery of injuries was not so fast. She was able to talk but did not do so as she was still on guard against the man who took her in.

3 days passed by peacefully. And the fourth day came. Some robbers with weapons and a bit of powers came and wanted to rob. They took the money and Zeth was not able to do anything, being alone himself with a woman who was injured, as well as having no powers. Melissa thought to herself that Zeth was a useless guy.

'Useless fool. People are coming to take away your things, at least fight,' that was what she thought.

But at the same time as she thought that, she regretted and felt ashamed that she, of all people, could think of such things. Because, she herself was like that, unable to do anything, unable to fight and retaliate when the things from her were taken away. She herself should know that well. Then the robbers saw Melissa and wanted to take her. A woman, they could at least use her for their own enjoyment and sell her away for some extra cash when they had played enough.

Melissa thought, 'It would cause me a bit of strain since I haven’t recovered, but taking down these weaklings should not be a problem.'

And blood started flowing down her lower arm. But just as she was preparing to fight, Zeth came in between her and the robbers, protecting her. Both Melissa and the robbers could not comprehend what had happened for an instant.

‘What the hell are you doing? You want to die?’

Zeth fought back this time and hit the robbers. It was just like the kind of street fights, relying on nothing but brute strength. It was true that he had a certain level of strength, but he was outnumbered, adding to the fact that the other side had people who had level 2 powers. In the end, it was his loss and it was simply a matter of seconds before he was knocked down and beaten.

Melissa was looking at that the whole time and did not do anything. She was in shock. Why had that man risked his life protecting her when he did not put up a fight when they had taken away the items and the money of his house? Was that something a sane person would do?

Finally when it seemed Zeth was completely down, the chief robber went to Melissa. But Zeth grabbed his leg. It pissed the robber off and he started kicking him. But before he could do that his leg was cut off. A bright red sword was there and it was linked to Melissa’s arm via a trail of blood. Then everyone was killed on the spot, before the rest could register what had happened.

Melissa had given them a fatal blow, each person having his head cut off.

Melissa was sitting on a grass patch at a riverbank staring at the river. The water was flowing along slowly. Through the clear water she could see the fishes swimming in it. The sun was setting and the rays of the sunlight dyed the land and the surface of the water with a beautiful orange.

Along with the incoming cold night wind, the rays of the sun, as though it was actively still trying to do its task to the best of its ability for the last few minutes, gave the woman sitting on the riverbank a sense of warmth. The day was ending, and she thought she would come out to enjoy the sunset. And at night, when the stars came out, she could also stare at the infinite deep space and wondered at the beauty of the countless stars.

But a human in a beautiful and peaceful place like that, would somehow tend to also be thinking about other things at the same time, most likely recalling certain memories.

Zeth came along and sat beside her, and started to prepare for his fishing activity. This man loved to fish. Melissa had wondered what was so nice about grabbing a pole and sitting down doing nothing while waiting for a fish to be hooked.

Zeth had taught her the art of fishing, but she ended up telling him she would sooner learn the science of flying than to appreciate the art of fishing. Nevertheless, she would sometimes accompany him out to the river when he felt like fishing.

And there was one thing weird about him, according to Melissa. Every time Zeth caught a fish and successfully held it in his hand, he would throw the fish back into the water.

‘Aren’t you going to eat it?’ Melissa asked when she saw for the first time Zeth throwing the fish back into the river.

‘No.’

‘Then why are you fishing?’

‘For fun.’

‘What?’

‘For fun.’

‘Are you trying to be funny?’

‘No.’

She had not believed him at first. For fun? There could be no such thing as ‘for fun’. Everything a human did had to be for some practical purpose. But after knowing him more, she had no choice but to believe her own eyes as well as what she was told.

Fixing the bait on the hook, Zeth cast the line far out into the water. Then he sat down and watched the sun set together with the woman, enjoying the light breeze on his face. It was a peaceful evening. A trail of blood started to flow from Melissa’s lower arm and connected itself to Zeth’s lower arm. They began to talk ‘telepathically’, without saying a word physically.

Zeth asked, ‘What are you doing sitting under the sun and staring at the water?’

‘It is peaceful and for some reason I thought back to the time I first met you.’

‘It happened so long ago. 2 years.’

‘You know, sometimes you just get sentimental all of a sudden. And then you think back about the past. Well I know I won’t forget the day I met you, and am glad that day you were the one who helped me.’

Melissa was walking along the empty street at night, and was very weak. She was leaning on the wall for support as she slowly walked. Her vision became hazy, and she kept blinking her eyes to focus. She forced herself to continue walking.

She could not stop. Or rather, she did not dare to stop. No matter what she had to walk. To move forwards. To put more distance between her and whatever she was escaping from.

But she was just a human, there was a limit to how much her body could take. Even though her mind told her body to carry on moving, to go further, her body could not take it anymore. Her body had already tried its best to meet the expectations of the mind, to move and to work way beyond its usual operating capacity. But now, it had to stop. If it did not stop, the body would be damaged and most of its functions would be damaged. It was the body's own way to tell her, if she did not rest, she was going to regret.

Her knees gave way and she fell to her knees. She breathed hard for a while, and then looked back once. Then she looked to the front again and pushed herself up from the ground. Hands on the wall again, she pushed herself forwards. She had to find a place to rest.

The mind had said, 'Just a bit more. Just a bit more.'

Ignoring the screams of pain from her body, she continued to force herself to go on. She had travelled a lot without food and water. But it seemed her mind would not listen to the body unless some drastic action was taken.

The mind had forced it. The body had no choice. She collapsed.

Her body was exhausted and covered with injuries. And then she blacked out. Her body could no longer care what happened. All it needed now was to rest. That was the top priority. It was the top priority because it concerned her life.

Zeth was going home late after work when he tripped on something and fell. Wondering what it was, he looked at what he tripped. He saw a body lying there, and on checking found the person was alive, in serious and almost life-threatening condition.

Ideally he should take the person to the doctor, but at that time all the doctors were sleeping. They had no hospital, only a single doctor working in the day, in that small village where the total population was not even the size of a school. He took her home and let her rest on the bed, while he slept on the floor.

At dawn Zeth woke up just before Melissa. The moment she opened her eyes and saw him she attacked him, but was too weak and had no strength and fell to the ground face-down. Again, her body told her to just be quiet and stop moving.

Melissa was awake, but could not move properly. All this time Zeth had not said a single word, but just looked at her. He tried to help her up but her body gave a reflexive jerk as he touched her.

'Don't...touch...me,' she said, in that voice so small she could almost not hear it herself.

He watched as the woman tried to get up slowly and walked towards the door.

He thought to himself: What is going on? Even though it is apparent I had saved her, she is still acting like that? She had acted reflexively when I touched her, and from the injuries on her body… what is going on?

It did not occur to her, that if he had wanted to do anything, he would have done it long ago. It did not occur to her, that if he wanted to kill her, he would not have waited. Because in her experiences, everything was done when she was wide-awake, when she knew what was going on and when she could not defend herself no matter how she tried.

That was what he did not know. He thought he it did not matter since she would go her own way once she recovered. But anyway, since he had brought her home and saved her, he had to do it all the way. There was no such thing as saving a person halfway and sending her out to die again, making her go through everything once more. That would be cruel, saving her so that she could experience another round of pain. So, what he did was to knock her out again, and forced her to rest.

Xel and Xue returned back to the orphanage, along with their new companion Yan. The children were inside running around and playing. None of them were training and studying. That was to be expected. Without anyone to supervise them, no normal children would give up the rare chance to play without restraint.

When they saw Xel and Xue they ran towards them and asked them questions like, ‘How come it took you so long?’ and ‘Can you play with us?’

Although the children were happy that no adults were around to control them and they had the freedom to play as much as they wanted, seeing their big brother and big sister made them realized that they did indeed missed them and would want to have them back.

Then they saw Yan, a newcomer who was not a kid like them and asked who she was. Usually if there were newcomers they would be children of their age. But this girl in front of them was much older. Was Xel taking in even older people now?

Xue replied, ‘This is the big sister who is going to help us take care of you from now onwards. Don’t bully her ok? Her name is Yan.’

The kids stood some distance away from her and refused to come near her.

‘She stinks,’ one of the boys said.

Children, because of their innocence, tend to be more direct with their words. They do not know how to phrase it in such a way it is pleasing to the ears. But what they said were usually true, and would not harbor any ill thoughts or ulterior motives behind their words. For adults, they would rather hear nice words than honest thoughts. This is what everyone learns, as time goes by. Slowly, little by little, children shed away their purity and take on a mask as they prepare to go to the outside world.

But Xue thought it would be better for them to stay innocent for just a while longer. Just a while longer.

So she did not tell them not to say their honest opinions, instead she said, ‘All of you will also stink if no one takes care of you. She will be clean after she bathes.’

Xue did not scold them for being direct and saying the hurtful truth, but she taught them to appreciate the things they had and to sympathize with the others who were not as fortunate as them. While Xel stayed back and mixed around with the kids, Xue took Yan inside the house. They were on the field just now, which was also the property of Xel. Xel knew the importance of playing and spending time with the children, so despite his urges to rest he pushed the thoughts back to accompany the kids.

The children would not understand that a person who just came back home would need rest. They only knew that the person who came back disappeared from their lives for a certain period of time and would want him or her to be with them. Xel knew that. So, that was why he played with them. If he wanted to take care of the children, he would do the best he can, not just some half-hearted job of giving them a house and food instead of a home with warmth.

As an adult, he could take up that kind of responsibility. Without being married, without having a kid of his own, he became like a father, as well as a big brother to the children. And Xue, became a big sister with a little of their childishness. That was their life. It was a simple life, a life Xel liked and a life which Xue was not satisfied with.

Walking inside the building of the orphanage, Yan asked, ‘Why did both of you set up an orphanage? It doesn’t seem to bring in any revenue.’

Xue told her, ‘All this was Xel’s idea. I was just following along because at that time the decision was made, I was not old enough to be independent. Even now, I may not even be fully independent. Anyway, Xel used to have no parents too, like me, and led a hard life. That’s why he wants to help as many homeless kids as possible so they would have a better life and a brighter future. Because he had gone through all these, he wanted the kids to have a more normal childhood. A childhood they would enjoy. If no one wants to be their father, he would be their father. If no one wants them, then he would take them.’

‘He is kind, isn’t he?’

‘No, he is just an idiot,’ Xue replied.

Yan laughed at that. Xue simply refused to admit what she thought.

Then she told Yan, ‘Don’t ever tell Xel you think he is kind. He doesn’t like that and he will end up telling you that you are badly mistaken.’

‘Really? Why?’

‘No idea.’

‘Then what do you think about him?’

‘Who knows? He always says I might hate him one day. I don’t know about that too. But as for now, I guess I kind of like him, not the kind of romantic feelings you know.’

‘Yea, maybe I think I know.’

‘You sure?’

‘I guess so…’

‘Don’t get the wrong idea you know…’

The conversation continued as Xue brought Yan to the bathroom. After the bath Xue showed her her room. As she walked across the corridor inside the building, she came to a window which showed the compound outside. For a moment, Yan looked at Xel playing with the kids and then went off to her room. Along the way Xue explained to her the nature of her job.

‘Basically you only need to help maintain the place and take care of the kids when we are not around. Usually we will be around. But if it happened that the both of us need to be away, then you would be in charge of this place. As for cooking… do you know how to cook?’

‘A little.’

‘Well then we take turns to cook…’

Xue continued to explain to her what she thought Yan would need to know. Evening came and they had dinner together. The table was noisy as usual, with everyone talking. The kids were unable to stay put and eat in peace. It was the usual playtime for the children after that and later they went to sleep.

As Yan was dozing off, she looked out to the night sky through the window and thought to herself: When was the last time I ate decent food, bathed and slept on the bed? This kindness, and this feeling, I will never forget.

She could not remember since when she had felt washed and clean. She had already forgotten when she had eaten food fit for a human, or when she had slept on a proper bed. She did not eat delicacies for dinner just now, nor was she sleeping on the world’s most comfortable bed. But to her, what she ate was the most delicious of food, and in that cold night, she was lying down on the warmest bed. And finally, that night, she had a peaceful sleep and a sweet dream.

Walking out of the city, Xel and Xue saw the beggar girl still sitting down by the city gate. Whether she was waiting for them or not, they did not know.

There were not many people around. Most of them had gone out the moment the match was over. Xel and Xue had stayed back for a while talking to Narf and also waited for the crowd to disperse. Mixing into the crowd was not something he liked to do. He would rather walk freely at his own pace, without anyone rushing him, without rushing anyone, and without squeezing in a tight place with everyone. Like what he was doing now.

Upon seeing them, the beggar girl got up and followed them. Xel turned back, smiling, and said, ‘So you have decided to work at my place there. No salary for you, you know… I’m a poor guy. I only have simple food and a small house and crappy clothes like the ones we are wearing now.’

The girl nodded.

Then Xel said, ‘Oh well, you are hired. Hahaha.’

To the girl, this kind of work, with no salary but with food and accommodation was already much better than the previous jobs of no salary, no food and no accommodation. She had worked and ate on leftovers from roadside stalls, and kept on telling herself that when she got her salary life would be slightly better. But no, she was always, always sacked before her salary was given.

Did she make any mistakes? No. if there was a mistake, it was she was a little slow. But that was all. The boss knew, and they had agreed on a lower salary than her colleagues. But still, she was sacked based on that reason. Was it fair? Of course not. But what could she do? There was nothing she could do. Who would want to listen and help a dirty, sick and poor girl like her?

She was slightly younger than Xue, but she had been through a much harder time than her.

This job that she had just taken - to work in the orphanage, at least food and lodging is provided. She would not need to eat leftovers and sleep on the outside. Well, at any rate the man and the girl did not look like they were people who would be so hard-hearted as to let her sleep outside the house but within the compound and eat leftovers, although technically speaking that was still ‘food and lodging provided’.

Not that she had any choice if that was the case. She would take on any work she could do. She would give it a try. Anything was at least better than the guaranteed state of sleeping in the cold and eating rubbish of not working.

Xue said, ‘Come walk with us. What is your name?’

The beggar replied, ‘Yan.’

‘So that’s your name.’

Yan looked at the girl and the man who walked together with her. They did not mind her current state of dirtiness. They did not even say anything about her smell. She was like a normal human to them, not a pest to the society. They had not bothered about the stares people looked at them as they continued their way. The two of them had not despised her, and had not felt embarrassed to be seen together with her. So they walked away from the city gate back to their home, the orphanage, to the girl’s new home.

Behind them, Lin and Kelf were watching.

‘So that guy and the girl there had taken care of her,’ Kelf said.

‘Why? You jealous? After the girl with the hood now you are setting your eyes on the girl?’ Lin asked.

‘Open your mouth.’

Lin asked, ‘Why?’

‘Just do it and don’t ask any questions,’ Kelf replied simply.

Suspiciously Lin did that and in the next instant a big block of ice formed in her mouth and she could not close it. She immediately jumped around due to the cold and due to the fact she could not spit out the ice.

Then Kelf walked away, ‘Your punishment for saying the wrong things.’

Lin was cursing and swearing, but of course no words could be formed with the ice in her mouth. She chased after Kelf in an attempt to make him melt the ice. She would get her revenge one day for doing that to her.

The next group that came out from the city was Yue and her group, all wearing hoods and cloaks.

The second in line behind Yue, spoke, ‘We need to hurry as there are still things waiting to be done.’

And Yue, who was in front replied, ‘Whatever you say. You are the leader.’

With that the 5 kids ran towards the next destination, towards their next task, in a straight line.

Up on top of the city watch tower, Narf stood there with Tor, Bor and Rif, looking at the people going off.

‘Looks like there are a lot of talented people compared to last year. It is such a pity none of them wanted to join the military. Seems like their motivation is the money only.’

Bor said, ‘If they don’t join us, in the future there might be the threat that they will be a hindrance when we are going on with our plan.’

Rif said, ‘Don’t worry too much. There are even more people who are much better than those who showed up today. And not everyone would really bother us even if they have the power.’

‘Even if they really did come, I don’t think they would be much of a hindrance,’ Tor continued.

‘I just don’t like to take risks. You can never predict the future. The weakest man can make an impact if it is done in the correct time and place.’

Narf spoke again, ‘Don’t mind that. The military has more than enough power to handle those people if we really need to. Rif, it is time for you to get on your task. The time is drawing near.’

With that, Rif turned and walked away. And as the day approaches an end, everyone walked in different directions, towards their goals. At a time when people were all preparing to rest from the day’s work, there were people whose work had only just started.

(Character names list updated. Click the link under the categories section for more details.)