Chapter 2: Different Lives, Different Troubles
Different Lives, Different Troubles
[Yahello and Good day again, Author here! First I'd like to thank my readers who read my amateurish work. I'd also like to inform everyone that you can expect different writing styles for a few of the earlier chapters from me(especially chapter 1,2, and 3). It is because I still do not know what writing style I should go for. Also it would be a great help if everyone could comment(anywhere is fine!) what chapter and its writing style would you prefer. That's it for now, thanks!]
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Approximately 3 hours after the fight, a few miles away from where it transpired, one could hear the rhythmic sound made by insects living in the forest. Looking from above, this area contains nothing but an abundant amount of trees that are a couple hundred meters tall the least, and more than a few thousand meters if more.
The umbrella-like formation of thousands, meter thick branches at the top part of each tree, and are supported with a corresponding dozen meters thick trunk.
In one of those trees, or rather trunks, if one looks closely enough from the outside, one would see a very slight unnaturalness of a few meters in diameter.
Of course in this dark environment brought by the darkness of the night and the shadows of the trees, it would be very hard to notice such a small thing.
Inside this specific trunk, one would find a space that is enough for one to lie horizontally without needing to curl up. Whether this space is naturally made or magically altered is a mystery. Of course, in this space, one would find nothing, other than for this moment, a black garbed person lying on his/her back and resting.
Presumably a woman, it was the shadow who killed the burly man from before.
Currently, the hood covering half her face was folded to her neck, revealing the real face of the shadow. It was undoubtedly that of a female, evident from her beautiful lips and silky smooth looking face-skin. Or atleast up til the lower half of her cheeks. Above, from the upper part of her cheek to her nose, also below her eyes, and up to her forehead are 3 horrendous scars that travel from ear to ear. It was so repulsive and scary that any individual seeing it for the first time would take a step back from fright. Had the burly man from before seen this countenance of hers, he wouldn't have dared to threaten this woman sexually.
Though currently, the woman is covering her eyes with her left arm as tears continually poured out from them.
***
(It was that dream again... Why? Why can't I remember?)
In her fuzzy dream, she was surrounded by people who are full of smiles and are capable of flying indefinitely, and they live in a plane full of flowers that extends endlessly on the horizon.
Then suddenly, the harmonious scene was changed to that of a very frigid one, no longer are they in a flower filled plane, but in an island floating in the sky. Around the island are millions, or even billions of the same sized island, some were also floating in the air, while some are floating on the endlessly stretching sea(?) below. It must be noted that each Island has an area of 1 million Kilometers at the least. (each island is at least 5x bigger than Earth's landmass.)
The people surrounding her no longer possess their smiles, as it was replaced by a very serious and cold expression. On their bodies are shining armaments that gave off glows different colors.
Then out of the approximately hundred of people gathered, 2 came out and neared the source of the vision. It was a couple clad with kimono-like clothing. The man appears to be about 30 years of age. He has radiant blue hair, and matching blue eyebrows. His eyebrows are very sharp, yet strangely, while looking at him, he never gave one a suffocating and edging feeling. Rather, coupled with his tall nose, beautiful blue eyes, perfectly crafted lips and cheeks, and his manly gaze, all of it gives one a feeling of dependency, that one just needs to believe in him and nothing would go wrong. Along with his strong looking yet slightly slender build, and his tall stature, one could only marvel if he is what people meant by the term "Son of the Heavens".
"Don't worry, Daddy will not let them anywhere near you okay? Believe in Daddy!"
"Even if this arrogant daddy of yours failed, I won't let them take my precious daughter away!"
The one who just spoke is an orange haired lady who looks like she's only 25 years. If the man makes one wonder, then once one laid his/her eyes on this woman, one would never be able to look away even in death. Her hair reaches down to her waist, and each strand contains silky splendor.
To the front, her hair was braided from the left side and was then tucked on her right ear, effectively covering a portion of her forehead. On her forehead is a diamond shaped gemstone that reflects green color that is akin to the purest beauty of nature. The gemstone is locked by a thin silver ornament that circles below her hair line and to the back of her perfectly shaped head.
Her eyebrows and eyelashes are black in color, and are so well weaved that one could call them Heaven's greatest masterpiece. Below the corner of her left eye is a small mole that further adds to her immaculate beauty. Her eyes contain the color of gold in them, giving one an ethereal feeling once they gazed on her eyes. Her nose was so perfectly made that it consolidated her beyond perfect profile. Her cheeks had flesh and can be called a bit chubby, yet it does not destroy the total composition of her countenance. And her crimson coloured lips were so sexy that just looking at them gave birth to thousands of mortal thoughts.
Her long, slender, fine neck, her warm, white, silky smooth skin, her beyond Perfect Proportioned Body, and the sexy slender leg that slightly peaks out of her kimono. All of these speak of her beauty that possesses everything that can be desired by mankind.
Then the woman who had already walked very close, bending her knees, suddenly reached out both her slender arms. As the arms went out of the vision, the vision suddenly shook before closing up to the bountiful bosom of the woman that cannot be hidden even with 3 layers of clothing.
It doesn't take one to be a genius to know that the source of vision was being hugged. Then the peerless handsome man did the same as the woman, but his embrace covers both the vision source and the woman.
Then after a few moments, the scene cracked like a mirror, and each fragments broke into even smaller ones. In the darkness of her mind, only cries of agony and something like the sound of collision echoed repeatedly. Then her dream ends, but the moment she opens her eyes, none of those dreams she had remained.
(Father. Mother. Where are you?)
As she muttered under her breath, more tears gush out of her eyes which contain traces of being lost.
(Wait for me...I'll surely find you both..)
…
"Won't you guys sleep yet?"
In a shabby, single room house, a dainty, breath-taking beautiful young lady asks with a very gentle smile towards a bunch of children that are sitting on the cold floor covered with a cloth. The cloth serves to distance the children from the cold as much as possible, though it cannot really block the cold off completely. But to the warm bodies of the children, such cold is nothing, much less compared to the excitement of listening to the story being told by the young lady in front of them.
"Not yet! We want to hear what happens to the Hero next!"
One of the children, the youngest looking one said with his very endearing voice. Looking closely, the children sitting atop the cloth numbers to exactly 9, with their age ranging from 5 yrs old to 9 yrs old.
And most of the children still have much of their baby fat showing on their small faces.
Heaving a very gentle sigh, the young lady sitting on the single, wooden, reclining chair in the house followed up…
"But I've told you this story a hundred times counting this time, aren't you fed up with it by now?"
As her thin frame was sited in such a way that she could overlook all the 9 children, with only a single lamp to lighten up the room, the scene could very well pass up as a picture of a poor mother taking care of her children inside a very shabby house.
Yet as if mocking those who thought so, with a single smile from the young lady, the dimly lit room seems to brighten for a few levels, the paint-less wall acts as a contrast tool to accentuate the beauty of the girl, and the chorus laughter of the children sounds like the jingling of tens bells that adds warmth to the room.
Their harmonious atmosphere seems capable enough to brighten even the most colorless world. Anyone who passed and saw this scene would only be able to say, "What a Blessed family",and no one would even notice the shabby state of the house.
Without answering the question, all the children, as if very versed in acting, widened their eyes, and a few tears appeared in the corner of their eyes that would seemingly gush out at any moment's notice.
"O-Okay, if you want it so much, then fine... But promise me that you would sleep after the story ended alright?"
"Hai~!"
With voices that rang together forming a melodic chorus, the children answered. Their previous teary eyes no longer contained even a drop of tears, and only a glint that speaks "We won!" remained.
Used to the children's antics, the young lady made a few small coughs to clear her throat before continuing with her story…
"Then, let's continue with the story of the Hero, and his childhood friend as they battle in the mystical world of Alfeim. After defeating the beast that burned down his hometown, the hero....."
***
In only half an hour, most of the children were already fast asleep, with only a single child remaining awake. Shockingly, the child that was left awake was the youngest, who should've been the first to fail to resist his sleepiness.
The child, as if contemplating, was looking down all the time with his small cute hands crossed over and supporting his chin. Then as if he finally organized his thought, he raised his head and asked with a very curious and perplexed voice…
"But what happened to the childhood friend? Since the Demon who destroyed the village was defeated, the childhood friend no longer appears in the Hero's adventures.. neh~ neh~ I want to know what happened to her! Tell me Big Sister Tifa~"
His words stopped the lady from continuing her story. And as she heard his words, ever so slightly, in a way that even the child was not able to notice, a trace of sadness flashed by in her beautiful eyes. But as if a mere illusion, that sadness didn't even last for a fraction of second before disappearing, and the shine in her eyes quickly returned.
"You see, the hero and the childhood friend decided that it is better for one of them to take care of the remains of their village. After all, who would protect the cute little children like you from bad guys~"
As she said that, she cannot resist reaching out her hands to pinch the chubby cheeks of the youngest. While pinching, she pulled the cheeks in many circular ways to make a few funny faces appear out of the Child's original features.
"Ouwh! Ouwh! Stowp dawt!"
Hurting, the child tried to resist the pinching of the young lady, but is a child even capable of doing so? Only after a few moments passed did the girl let go of the cute child's cheeks.
Satisfied, the lady smiled and asked for the last time, "Anymore questions? If not you should go to sleep then, it is bad for someone your age to stay up this late at night..."
"Mmmm... Then, will they be reunited in the future?" Asked the child with a hopeful voice and his eyes twinkling.
" Fufufuu~ of course they would! The strong hero promised that once he returned from his journey, he would marry his childhood friend, and together with the children, they would live happily ever after~~"
One would notice from the tone of her voice as she told the last paragraph of the no-ending story that even she is excited and hopeful for when the hero returns.
(He would come back! I'm sure of it!)
"Now quickly go to sleep!" Along with her most beautiful smile, the lady finished her story and then ordered the child to sleep, not taking a no for an answer.
-----
"You really will go? Won't you change your mind?"
A simple but gentle looking woman of 28-33 years old asked, a worried tone evident in her voice.
In front of the woman is a lady of 18-20 years old, with a body that has a perfect proportion, neither too sexy nor too skinny, which is a bit too mature for her age. Atop that perfect looking body is a face that would make even the Goddess of Beauty jealous. Even numbered strands of eyebrows and eyelashes on the two sides of her face, blue eyes which show water-like ripples whenever she blinks, and lips that are on the smaller side, but doesn't appear too pouty. Her nose is like the most perfectly crafted workpiece, with it greatly adding more splendor to her already perfect profile.
But the most captivating of her features is her set of golden hair that gently flows with the wind, yet strangely enough, never gets disheveled at all. Each strand of her hair shows golden splendor as it reflects the sun's rays, and even without nearing her, one can smell an intoxicating fragrance coming from it.
"You know me Sister, I hate losing a bet I made myself. Moreover, there's no way I would let those nobles take our special home just because they felt like it. I would make them regret antagonising us!"
With a smile as bright as the sun, the girl replied to the other woman. And then as if she remembered something, she continued.
"But Sister, what would happen to you and the others once I leave? No one would protect you from the clutch of those lechers once I'm gone! Argh now I'm too worried to leave!!!"
Clutching her beautiful golden hair with both her hands, the young lady agonized.
'You only thought of that now?!'
With a sigh, followed by a gentle smile, the simple beauty called "Sister" by the other replied.
"No need to worry about us, as a church, we have the support of all the people in the area, unless those nobles wants to gain unnecessary trouble, they wouldn't do anything stupid like acting by force. They would rather wait for 3 short years and take our place in a "fair and square" manner, so that they could silence any opposition from the commoners. Instead of that, I'm more worried about you, can you really survive out there?"
By the end of her sentence, the Sister's tone turned to that of an even more worried one. One can only guess just how tragic the situations she envisioned are in regards to what may happen to the young lady out there.
'This girl's fool headedness would easily land her in an unfavorable spot. If only this girl learned to use her mind more...'
"Don't worry Sister! Who do you think I'am?? I'm Alice Dawnbringer! The one who defeated tens of <Integral Knight> on a fair and square duel. How could I be fallen by those barbarians out there?? Believe in me, and I shall bring you to Victory!!"
Along with a loud cry of her favourite motto, the girl raised her supple yet firm right fist, and with a small jump, she made a small punch towards the dazzling Sun.
"That's the reason I'm worried about you, your arrogance would spell your doom one day... Hays since you want to go, just go! We won't accept you back here unless you show us great results, understand?"
Trying to look as angry as possible, the Sister shouted, but unfortunately, rather than looking angry, her expression simply makes her look like she is pouting, and this didn't fail to let a silvery laughter out from Alice's sexy, crimson coloured lips.
"What's so funny?-"
The Sister asked and this time, she really seems annoyed. But before she could continue, after only a single blink, what met her eyes as she opened them were only the back of Alice that was already very far away, her slender shoulders supporting her medium sized bag full of necessities. But because Alice's shoulder build is on the slender side, the Not So Large Bag almost covered half of her body.
Then with a *Bang*, she propelled herself towards the woods, not without leaving a small crater on the ground as to where her feet were before.
"We're not done talking yet!!" Waking up from her trance, the Sister shouted as loud as she could, but by then, Alice's silhouette had long since gone out of sight.
***
In the woods of [Croagy Forest] a few miles away from the Church's Site, Alice stopped for a short while.
Anyone would notice that her previous look from when she was bidding her farewell to the Sister, in other words her arrogant and carefree look had long been replaced with an alluring expression, and in her eyes, one would notice a crafty light passing by continuously.
'What was it again?! Ahh!'
Coughing slightly, Alice flashes a playful smile while looking at the serene scenery of the forest. Then, what would later be known as the 'Legend of the Humming Fairy of [Croagy Forest]' chanced by a passing merchant, Alice starts humming with her heavenly voice.
"All the world's a stage~
All men and women are merely players~
They have their exits and their entrances~
And one man in his time plays many parts~"
(I wonder, What does it take to steal the spotlight of this play? Fu~Fu~Fu~ How exciting~)
-(Chapter End)-
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