16 15th Dawn - Outburst

"Who are you?"

Steely. Her voice is terrifyingly steely. I then freeze on the spot and gulp at this in apprehension until she suddenly pulls me to a dark, soulless alley.

Going by how shady she's acting all of the sudden, I thought for sure that I'd be kidnapped at that very moment. For all I know, I may have followed a felon or fugitive who's been disguising herself as a man.

"Spill the beans. He sent you, didn't he?!" she bolted out of nowhere, making my eyes bulge in flummox.

"H-Huh?"

The woman then slams me on the wall, trapping me and leaving no room for negotiation. Her eyebrows are scrunched tightly together, a pumping nerve barely visible on her forehead, as she glares daggers at me, expression intimidatingly domineering.

Then, within a few intolerable minutes, she yaps at my face and continues forcing me to confess something I don't have a single clue about. She keeps spouting out gibberish and I can only gawk at her like she's some kind of a madwoman.

I can't even call her insensible blather as a proper interrogation since it doesn't give me any chance to provide a coherent reaction.

Before this situation could trigger a Barnum Effect and get me to believe that I did commit a serious crime, I try my best to pull myself together and gather all my willpower to stay sane despite my deranging position.

"Miss, please let me explain," I finally managed to say after a series of ungrounded accusations.

"Why did you recognize me even in disguise, then? Obviously, you're one of them!"

Seriously, this woman can actually be a living machine gun with how she shoots like that in an inexhaustible momentum. She's also really getting on my nerves now, but I just continue cementing myself to be rational despite my burning desire to smack her mouth shut.

Judging by her sumptuous apparel, she's probably a lady of high status, so I really need to keep my cool together if I want to avoid doing something I might regret. By that, I mean ending up in jail.

"I only recognized you as a woman in a suit, not as whoever you really are. Also, if I'm your enemy, why will I expose myself to you and confirm you're that person in the first place? That's just stupid."

At that, the woman only blinks at me, finally enlightened. It seems like my internal tremors earlier somehow paid off.

She now looks as if she's been knocked back to her senses, making me heave a sigh of relief. Her boldness and pugnacious behavior are certainly no joke, though.

If I were to find out that she's just acting, I'll definitely give her a standing ovation.

"What do you want, anyway?" she questioned, averting her gaze from mine before stepping back.

I then give her a deadpan look, quietly grumbling that she still has the nerve to act all grumpy even after what she did to me.

"I just want to know why you're wearing a suit in that crowded part of Ellicht. I thought women here aren't allowed to wear pants. I was interested, so I followed you. I was amazed, to be honest. However, judging by your reaction, it seems that you did it for a reason other than fashion. I didn't mean to meddle, so I'm sorry," I rambled, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Fashion, you say?"

My breath hitches when she suddenly flashes me a condescending smirk. She then stares at me enigmatically, making me wonder what she's up to this time.

I'm also starting to get the feeling that I'm under some kind of scrutiny at the moment.

"Are you interested in it? It's impressive that you could tell I'm a woman even with that heavy disguise," she remarked out of nowhere, much to my surprise.

In order to avoid getting backed into the corner again, literally, I decided to take upon her commendation and make it look like I'm a completely innocent and harmless girl who's just simply into fashion.

I talk about how I managed to recognize her and how the image leaves a lasting impression on me, but that's all until she suddenly snorted at me in the middle of my attempt to beat around the bush.

"Are you an apprentice?" she inquired, making me flinch a little.

"N-Not yet…"

"What if I tell you I'd give you one in this field? Will you accept?"

It takes a few seconds longer than needed for her words to sink in my head. I then beam at her in evident zeal and nod my head eagerly.

But then, this bubble of joy is instantly proven short-lived as she continues.

"You sure are babbling big things, little girl, but I can tell right away that those words are nothing but shallow and out of mere curiosity…" she muttered out of nowhere, much to my bafflement.

"I can tell with your eyes. You aren't passionate enough. If not for how knowledgeable you are, I might think that you're faking it."

After she dropped those insulting claims, I just stiffen in bewilderment. Rather than barking back to her offensive words, however, I'm puzzled as I suddenly find myself at square one again.

It seems that everywhere I go, that word shows no sign of ceasing.

"You can't keep goofing around like this," she blurted out indifferently before eventually taking her leave.

She said it as if she fully knew what I've been through the past month.

Processing her words, I then finally feel the gravity of my situation as I imagine myself getting left behind - left behind by Sol and Felicity, neglected by Madeline and Ruben, shunned by mother.

Given up on.

That's when fear truly envelops me, and all I can feel at that moment is drift away in hollowness. It's so unlike me to be easily influenced by others, much less a demented individual's words. I'm not certain what part of her speech had me rubbed off to this extent.

What I'm only sure of is that she definitely pushed my buttons. Not only did she do me wrong by finger-pointing, but she also went and riled me up like this.

"Damn it..."

After my eye-opening encounter with the woman, I didn't return to the inn right away. I went around the town, mind floating in space.

I recall starting this morning in a good mood, only to be dampened by the news of my friends' engagement then by that lady. It's the first time I feel this stressed and frustrated since coming to Ellicht.

At this point, I feel like having a mental breakdown.

I'm now sitting on a flight of stairs in front of Ellicht's famous monument of the patroness. I originally planned to watch the sunset and revel in its solacing sight in hope to shoo my negativity away, but for some reason, tears start to roll down my cheeks all of the sudden.

This is probably my first outburst in a while. Going by how hard I'm crying at the moment, I knew I really held them back for quite a long time. Even the warm hues of twilight failed to give me comfort in the end.

Just when I found something I think I might enjoy, these things had to happen. The reason why I couldn't confess my disappointment to my friends is because I felt like I'm about to disappear from the picture while the cause of my disheartenment after hearing that woman's words is my realization that I didn't really have a place in that picture to begin with.

I still haven't established my place here in this city, after all. It's too early for me to celebrate even after my success in my recent endeavour.

Then, as I wail and sob there for the rest of the afternoon, I fail to notice someone's presence nearby.

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