The night.

"Stars!!!" Looking up to the sky, I shouted out loud in joy. I always had dreams of reaching the stars, but dreams are dreams and reality is reality.

"You haven't changed a bit, sweetheart!" Grandpa said as he lifted me toward the sky.

"Hehehehehe," giggling, I relished the moment.

"Haa! There you go," placing me on his shoulder, we walked on the grassland, heading toward the hilltop.

Spreading my hands out. "Yeah!!!"

It didn't take long to reach our destination after we arrived I was placed on the ground.

"Can we go another round?!" I said eagerly, stretching my arm out wide.

"I would love another round, but… we have an important discussion," grandpa said in a sober tone, scrutinizing my body.

If not for the fact that he's my grandpa, I would have considered him a pervert. "I'm all ears!"

It was finally time to act like an adult, since grandpa always supports me, he'll make a great object of trial.

Smirking, he flicked my forehead. "Acting all grown up, again?" 

Twitch

"Don't you want me to get matured… that way mom would always appreciate me for my intellect," I said pridefully, pushing out my chest.

"Hmmm?" He said an arm on his chin. "You are a smart girl, indeed."

With a thoughtful expression on his face, he glanced at me. "I have an idea."

"..."

I am interested in that idea of his, but… forget. As my ears opened to receive all the Intel he gave out, I said. "Tell me!"

"Smart girl," caressing my hair, he looked into my eyes. "You know the humans surrounding us."

"...?"

It was a strange question "humans surrounding us" if my memory serves me right, I'm a human… no! We are all humans.

Holding my hands, he looked into my eyes as if to hypnotize me. "Have you forgotten… We are descendants of Titans, not humans!" 

"But…" I tried to air out my thoughts but was immediately shunned by the warning look he gave me.

"Don't say such stupid things… We are not the same. They are deceitful, cunning, unfaithful, and any negative whatnot you can think of. Even ants are better than them," he gripped my shoulders, his eyes red.

"Don't you see! How they keep annexing our lands! The chief pretending not to notice anything! What did you think happened to your dad!" He seemed to be in pain, tears rolling down his eyes.

I felt like comforting grandpa, but I couldn't. I also felt weak after his words. Is this the reason no one spoke of him?

"He died defending you from those monsters called humans… we are not the same… we are superior and like a superior race, we always stay as the head, not tail."

Standing up, he glanced at me, before turning to head for our residence. "Think about it, Avani."

After hearing his words, all I wanted was to go into my mom's arms and sleep like a baby. Maybe tell her about what happened… no! I don't think grandpa would like it… I still have time to consider my choice… to believe the words of my supposed late father… or the words of my grandpa.

As we walked silently to our tribe residence, I could pick up the sound of crickets chirping, our footsteps rhyming to form an eerie sound in a dangerous scene.

The games we played involved a lot of content, one of them is acting. We had always tried to create such an environment when acting in horror or near-death scenes.

But, finding this scene in such a natural way gave me goosebumps… though not compared to the instant I saw the flaming village from the distance.

It was dazzling and in normal circumstances could be considered a work of art… 

My hair stood straight as I subconsciously held the hand of my grandpa in hopes that I may be brought back from this horrendous dream.

To my dismay… it didn't. 

Taking my hand off his, grandpa rushed to the village at full speed, manipulating the earth to reduce the time it would take to get there.

Unlike him, I had less control over the earth. So I could only run, using the small skills I had to reduce the distance.

My breathing became heavy, my heart ached as if about to explode, the earth seemed to be resisting my will, my eyes heavy as if to shut at the next second, my legs were heavy, it was as if everything in the world had an agenda of stopping me.

Not like I would care, all my thoughts centered around it being a dream… grandpa was saying crazy things, so it should be an illusion. It seems Sahil sacrificed a lot to buy that illusion potion… I thought he would forgive me since I once pulled a similar prank on him.

He has always been the one guy I cherished apart from my relatives, which only consist of grandpa and mom… as for my dad… I'd rather skip him.

Finally arriving at the village entrance, I pushed back the thought of Sahil, concentrating on the environment which proved my thoughts of a dream wrong.

"No! No! No! This can't be happening," sighting the bodies of people I recognized, tears rolled down my cheeks like a downpour.

I've been told stories of damsels whose tears call upon the rains to flood the world with their sorrows. 

Maybe by coincidence… as my tears collided with the blood-soaked earth's surface… the downpour started its reign.

Fighting against the blazing fire that seemed to have an agenda in cooking me up. Not minding the heat, I walked deeper in a rush, etching the scenes of the numerous lifeless bodies, including that of individuals who seemed to be the assailants.

"Mom! Sahil! Grandpa!" I called out, praying to our ancestors for protection. 

Nothing! It was just the sound of the crackling fire and the heavy downpour. But slowly, I seemed to omit those two sounds, using the earth as a medium for my senses. Hearing, smelling, seeing, and sensing all things around me through it.

Feeling a familiar aura, I called out. "Mom?!" Heading in that direction.

"Mom!!! It's you!!!" 

Not too far from me, was a female, bleeding profusely from head to toe, her expression downcast.

"I'm sorry dear… I couldn't save him," moving to me, she knelt to get on the same level of height.

"W-what are you saying, mom?!" I stammered, not understanding her point. "You are safe… that's…"

Pausing for a moment, I looked to the left. A lifeless body of a boy could be seen, his expression serene.

No matter what point of view I looked at it, I still saw it as a strange phenomenon. I always saw death as a horrific concept… for me, every dead being is supposed to bear a horrified expression.

But the lifeless boy opened my eyes to the truth… it was just an illusion I created around my entire being. Death was not a painful thing… life was.

100 ps = 1 extra chap

200 ps = 2 extra chap

300 ps = 3 extra chap

5 gts a week = 1 extra chap

10 gts a week= 2 extra chap

As for gifts, I'll be mass-releasing by the weekend, depending on the circumstances.