Chapter 2: How to free a God (2)
Chapter 2: How to free a God (2)
Chapter 2: How to free a God (2)
I sit on the side of the cobbled street. It's a hot afternoon. The sky is clear and a shade of violet, showing off the white and blaring Sun. My grey robe is drenched with sweat. The fabric is rough but durable. Unlike other children's clothes, mine has no holes or spots.
As much as I have observed, the original owner was not close to any kid. I have been sitting here for an hour. Not a single kid or person has come to talk to me. From my observation, the original owner has not been close to any kid or adult here.
I take a deep sigh. Should I act like the other kids and beg on the street? The prostitutes with minimal clothes are trying to seduce the soldiers dressed in different uniforms. One set of the soldiers are clothed in yellow and brown clothes with armours showing a creature that closely looks like a cross product of a lion and a hawk. The other set of soldiers are dressed in blue and black uniforms, and silver armours with the insignia that looks similar to a Chinese character.
"Don't stare at them." A young boy stands in front of me, blocking my view. "They will come to bully you if you stare too much."
"Oh!" The boy is about ten or twelve. He has rough yellow shoulder-length hair. His face is small, round, and full of freckles. His eyes are light brown.
"Here, take this." He gives me a piece of bread. "Pom asked me to give it to you."
"Pom?" I take the bread shamelessly. "Who is that?"
The boy looks at me with anger. "Aren't you too full of yourself? Just because you are someone who can use magic, you are always looking down on us. You don't even remember our names."
"I can use magic?" It's a magical world. I have seen people doing magical voodoo around. I have noticed that none of the street children is using magic. So, I thought that only adults can use it.
"Really?"
"You are strange." His frown is cute. "Are you sick? Did you eat the wrong food?"
"I have eaten some bread in the morning." I don't know what else to say.
"You didn't take the enhancers, did you?" He touches my wrist. "Your hand is cold. Pom told me that people become very hot when they drink enhancers."
Very hot? It sounds a bit wrong to my ears. I don't know what enhancers are, but they sound like drugs. "Why did Pom send you to me?"
"He said that you looked lost." He sits beside me. "It's a wrong place for a girl. There are soldiers who like kids."
I stand up abruptly. "Let's go somewhere away from here." Away from the adults who desire children.
"Okay." The kid and I walk away from the street. I follow him to an alley.
"It's my home here. We can rest here." He points at the makeshift bed in the corner. It's made up of old blankets. This kid isn't bad. I wonder if I can ask him questions about the original owner.
"Aren't you going to eat?" He looks at the bread. "Eat it before it gets worse."
I tear the bread in half. I give him one piece and start eating the other one. He looks at me strangely. I give him a nod.
"Are you sick, Kresi?" He asks me cautiously. "You are different today."
"I might have hit my head and lost my memories." I keep my tone casual. "Can you tell me a bit about myself? Where did I come from?"
He takes a bite from the bread and chews slowly. He is observing me.
"I am not lying," I add.
He stands on his knees and checks my head. "I don't see any wound."
"It wasn't anything bad." I laugh nervously. "Don't tell anyone yet."
"Are you becoming like the one tooth?" He runs his fingers through my hair, trying to feel a bump. "One tooth became mad after hitting his head."
"No." I pull him away. "Can you tell me or not?"
He pauses for some moments. "Okay, I will tell you. But, don't hurt me if you become mad."
I purse my lips and give him a solid nod. He sits opposite me and starts.
"I don't know where you are from. I know that you are not from the beggar cities. Mello told me that you came from the fourth nation. Your hair is black and your eyes are golden. He has never seen anyone with golden eyes. You are a magic-user too. You always brought food with money. You always ate alone."
He shifts his gaze uneasily.
"You frequently meet a man with grey hair. Rimi says that he is your lover. You also disappear a lot without any trace. You never talk to anyone. You are close to the beggar king. He sends you out of the city for his special jobs. Pom also works with him, but you always treat him like a stranger."
Interesting. The original owner sounds like she has been involved in something illegal. I don't judge her. Being an orphan is hard. "What else do you know?"
"You went somewhere again." He looks down at my hands. "When you came back, you have been badly hurt again."
"Hurt?" I didn't see any wound on my body when I woke up. "When did that happen?"
"Three days ago." He bites his lips. "We didn't approach you because you didn't like it. You went to sleep at your spot and didn't come out. Pom and others kept a watch, but they didn't disturb you from your rest."
Is it normal for someone to rest for three days? The original owner must have died because of the wounds. But, there are no scars. I didn't see any blood on my robe. How did she get hurt? If this body can heal itself, why did she die? Why I am inside her body?
If she gets hurt repetitively, she can't be a normal person.