Chapter 56: Unwanted Memory

    The sun was supposed to bring the most intense heat of the day, but those who stayed under the shade of trees and roofs were completely protected from it. The wind that was blowing the leaves out of the branches also helped against the hot day.

  After claiming a perfect shading spot under a large tree, she finally sat down beside the gigantic roots and opened the book. No peasant could afford a book but the local library, grew a liking to her curiosity, let her borrow some, and with that kindness, she couldn't be able to heartlessly steal it.

It was a book entitled 'The Otherworld' by the famous adventurer from the Macropolis, Herevy Leonhart. He was known to be the first one to discover that there were other universes other than Arcania, which were actually the twinkling stars in the sky. With his special skills and dedication to his work, he achieved something no one else could reach.

She had been dreaming to be as amazing as him and go on adventures.

"Hey, Meria!"

Suddenly, all her joy in reading the book faded, as she lifted her head and saw a group of kids the same age as her, standing with their arms crossed in their chest, showing some power. Their grins were reaching their ears like some land pirates at the port.

The one in the middle, with his position shouting that he was their leader, had been glaring at her, that if eyes can kill people, she should be dead by now. His messy purple hair that had been covering his forehead, hanged above his black eyes.

She already knew that it could come to this. She had been warned about Nilo's gang walking around the town, just ruining everyone's life with pranks and rants. They may be just peasants, but once they faced with other kids, they were powerful.

"What do you have there, huh?" He asked in his intimidating voice. This made poor Meria flinched and forced to stand up from sitting on the grass, hugging the book on her chest like a precious pet.

"T-This is nothing." She said as she tried to protect the book.

But then, hopeless and weak, the bully managed to steal it from her hands with both stealth and strength, which hers was no match for him.

"Ah!"

All she could do was to try reaching for her book, but the others pulled her back. No matter how she aimed towards it, she couldn't be able to remove it from his hands. She was weak, and all she could do was to let a tear form in her eyes.

"Give it back!" She yelled with pleading eyes, begging for them to not destroy the book. Indeed, they won't, since it belonged to the local library. But there was also a high chance that they might, and would blame it to her.

"What? 'The Otherworld'?" Nilo read the title, feeling disgusted even by holding it with his very own hands. The others also started feasting over it like some food, but instead of wholesome excitement, they were excited to destroy it with their own hands. "This looks lame."

"Stop it!" Meria shouted once more, now glaring at them, as her eyes started to release tears.

But the latter didn't feel threatened and instead, burst out laughing at the attempt to scare him. The others followed, making fun of the poor bookworm.

"What are you gonna do? Cry?" He said, which made her more frustrated. A tear fell on her eyes as she watched her book's pages tearing off one by one by the other kids. She had loved that book since she found it, and now, it's gone as the wind flew the small pieces of paper away.

"Listen, you can't do anything." Nilo decided to approach her and grabbed her by the collar. She was floating as she was being pulled upwards. Pain struck her body, but he didn't care.

"You're too weak and scared. You're nothing." He said, with deadly glares. Compared to hers earlier, he was more powerful and frightening. She doesn't have a match. "Not to mention, you look pale... like a corpse."

"A corpse!"

The insult echoed inside her mind like a gong, along with the laughter of the others. As they repeated their rant, the louder the echo struck her heart like boulders. Anger filled her heart, and vengeance filled her mind at that moment. She didn't think anything other than trying to beat up Nilo.

And that's what he really did, except it went overboard.

She had been closing her eyes the entire time as an intense pain was growing on her chest. Finally, the pain was gone, and felt a strong force coming out of her. She opened her eyes to see the scenery and widened even more.

"Nilo!"

There, in the ground, was the kid Nilo in a deep sleep, eyes closed with a peaceful face like he was being thrown away to the grass. The other kids were also in the same state, but his was more severe, so the others helped him out. She was the only one standing.

"Nilo!" The others shouted, hoping for the lying boy to hear them calling his name.

Before Meria knew it, she started shivering in her position. Her legs were shaking, which could only happen during winter, as huge guilt poured on her heart. She thought she could be glad seeing her enemy being in a poor state, but right now that she saw it, she couldn't help but blame herself that was at fault.

"What did you do?"

She may not know how she did it, but she knew she was dangerous. The strange force coming from her body was no ordinary human couldn't do, and could even harm others, which she didn't want.

  Nilo was brought to a medic and cured his injury. He started to feel better after a few days. Because of the incident, Nilo and his family decided to go to Astraen away from the threat in which the others didn't know.

  Even she refused to remember it until she started to forget what she had done, but she couldn't be able to remove the guilt in her heart.

***

  Inside the yard surrounded by tall stone walls, there was nowhere to run, to hide from the faults that I made. I decided to sit down on one of the benches and released a deep sigh. The moon was hitting me with its light, but it wasn't giving me pain.

I didn't remember every detail that happened back then, but I couldn't be able to forget the guilt that I just planted in my heart. It was indeed my fault Nilo got injured but it seems like there's also a part of me that blamed him for it.

  And now that I finally remembered the incident, I don't have the courage to face him anymore. I know that it was because of my magic, which I didn't expect to have already awakened before, and thinking about that made me scared.

"If you keep running away, you won't achieve anything."

Then, suddenly, a familiar voice was heard nearby, which made me jumped at my seat. I wasn't expecting anyone to be here with me so that caught me off guard. I turned my head around to find the source and found Vison standing under a tree, crossing his arms on his chest. It's hard to see him in the shades, but his voice and silhouette already gave him out.

All I did was to stare at him but then, I remembered what he said earlier. I lowered my head and formed my hands into fists.

"But… what if it's too strong?" I asked him, my mind let me remind of everything that I did wrong like even myself wasn't my ally anymore. It also wanted to torture me. "What if it will devour me?"

He didn't answer my questions for a while and just walked towards my direction, still with crossed arms.

"Well, you don't have a choice but to fight it." He answered. Because of what he said, I raised my head and looked at him. He also turned his head at me, with the same emotionless face as before. I don't even know if what he said was sincere or not. "If you run away, it will devour you more."

"Sir Vison…" I mumbled his name. The words he spitted had me inspired. He's right. I must fight my fears and guilt of what I did, or else, I won't go anywhere and might go to situations that were much worse.

I must have courage.

"Vison is fine." He said with a deep sigh.

"And don't call me like I was a prophet. It's annoying." He added with a deep sigh. And with irritation, he walked away from me. It looks like I made him uncomfortable.

Remembering what he said, I stood from sitting and started walking towards Nilo and the others. I did something terrible before and for years, I had been scared and ran away from it. But now is the time to end my guilt. I must face it.