Strength

Many say that mental strength comes first, because if your mind collapses, your whole body will fall. On the other hand, if your body is destroyed, your mind will most likely fall victim to pain.

It is human to feel pain, and knowing that, our father trained us to endure pain.

"Feeling constant pain will make you immune to that pain."

For a child, those words made no sense, but right now I understand what he was talking about.

- I guess you're in no condition to talk right now, so I'll rely on my own assumptions, and take you to a safe place.

Shaking my hand, Neir helps me up.

- D-Dieb...

And without finishing getting up, I run stumbling towards Dieb, and wrap my still-functioning arm around him.

- Sister, thank you for coming to my rescue, I was afraid, afraid I would never see you again.

I feel your pleasant warmth, and both my body and mind improve.

- Huh? Yuck, we'll have time for your incestuous stuff later, let's go fast! The family must be sending an army.

Neir, with a look of despair, complains.

- We are not related by blood.

Who says those words blushing is Dieb, who releases me instantly.

- Nobody cares about that, let's get the hell out of here. Can you run, Mikela?

- I can.

- And Dieb?

- So can Dieb.

- Well, I won't ask you to trust me, but it seems you have no choice, so follow me.

He runs out of the room, and is startled by the people on the floor.

- I didn't know them, but what the fuck happened to their heads, their brains are coming out!

And he starts throwing up.

I don't know what to say about it, so I just keep quiet.

- Pathetic.

It's Dieb who does the talking.

- Sorry, I can't tolerate brains, the sight of one causes me intense disgust, in a situation like this it's normal for me to react like this. But it doesn't matter, the hidden entrance to this house was destroyed even before we arrived, so we will escape by helicopter.

- Helicopter?

- Yes, I called it a while ago in case I had to escape from you.

He smiles at me as he pulls out his phone.

- Hello? Come on, we have to leave quickly.

And still smiling, he tells us to get out.

Once we all get out, I can hear the characteristic sound of helicopters.

And from up there, they throw a ladder at us.

- I'm going up so they can throw you a stretcher, I'll see you now.

Neir climbs up quickly, and after a few seconds, Dieb and I see a stretcher fastened with strong chains slowly lowered.

- Thank you.

I thank the nothingness, and sit on the stretcher while holding on to the chain with my right hand, Dieb does the same on the other side.

I give the chains a little tug, and they start to pull us up.

- Sister, what happened? Why are you like this? You would never get so hurt on a mission.

- It was Father, he ordered me to kill you to take control of the Clan.

- H-How?

- He said that I'm weak, that having feelings makes me weak, and that I should kill whatever it is that generates my feelings, in other words, you.

Dieb remains static, perhaps imagining the scene of a me murdering him in cold blood.

Which will never happen.

- But if you ended up like that, then....

- I guess it was the sudden thought that I was going to lose you that prompted me to attack father.

- You attacked father? ARE YOU CRAZY!?.

Dieb shakes me by the shoulders, and I then let out a small groan from the pain.

- I-I'm sorry.

- It's okay.

I'd pet his head if my other hand was in good condition.

- But why did you attack him?

- Like I said, your always calm sister panicked after she knew she might lose you.

He looks away.

- I'm sorry, because of me, Father will try to kill you.

- "He'll try", you said it, he won't be able to do it to me.

I let those words out, and then everything becomes more and more blurry.

- Huh?

And I fall unconscious.

°°°

- Oh, Mikela, welcome back to the world of the living.

As pitiful as it sounds, the first face I saw when I woke up was Neir's.

- You passed out from loss of blood, Dieb came up choking back tears of despair at the thought that you had died.

He laughs sadistically, then shrugs as he looks away.

- He's a good kid, but...

He is silent for a few seconds, and seems to regret it.

- No, it's not the time.

I watch him for a few seconds, and he seems to be waiting for me to start talking, so I do.

- Where are we?

- At my house.

- Your house?

- Indeed, this is the safest place in the world, or at least I think so.

I'm not sure whether or not to trust his assumptions, but I have no choice.

- Where is Dieb?

- He was with you for the last 3 days, I even had to send him to rest.

- Did you make it?

- I had to knock him out.

- I guessed as much.

Dieb is a stubborn person, but I like that about him.

- Where in the world are we?

- In the Himalayas, to be more precise, we are on Everest.

Keeping my surprise to a minimum, I keep a straight face.

- May I ask about it?

- Of course. But, you just got up, settle down and then we'll talk.

As suddenly as the word, he leaves the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Being calmer now, I look at my surroundings.

It is a large room, but empty.

There's only the bed I'm in, a small nightstand, and a lamp.

Other than that, the floor is beautifully tiled, while the walls maintain a dull white color.

It looks like a hospital, and something in me feels unsatisfied with that.

- I guess I'll go find Dieb.

I sit on the bed, and check my wounds.

It looks like I was unconscious for quite a while, but the fact that I'm still alive is proof that I can trust this guy.

I check my left arm, and see a huge cast covering it.

Without an arm, I'm only half of what I used to be, but the fact that I haven't lost it brings me calm.

I still feel pain, but it's still there and will most likely still work.

I get out of bed and walk out of the room.

Already outside, I can see a large living room, there are large windows, black furniture and a huge TV.

To one side is the dining room, and beyond that is the kitchen.

Instinctively, I go to the window.

- W-What!

A huge abyss tinged with white is the only thing I can see in the distance, and I instantly understand that he wasn't lying, or at least it seems he didn't.

- You woke up...

I hear a faint female voice, and I prepare my only functional hand to defend myself.

- Nooo! Don't kill me!

The owner of the voice seems to notice my movement, and hides behind a column.

I can see it's not a threat, so I relax my stance.

- Who are you?

- I-me?

She still looks scared, though.

- Yes, you.

- Well, I'm, I'm Angelica.

Looking around nervously, she seems to be looking for a way to escape.

So I move quickly to where she is.

- I introduce myself, I'm Mikela.

- Nooo!

And looking to defend herself, she lands a punch in my stomach.

To be honest, it didn't hurt in the least.

- Angelica, don't bother Mikela.

- I'm s-sorry...

- Gee, excuse my wife, she's very scary.

Neir speaks calmly while stroking his wife's blushing head.

- Are you married?

Once again, I hide my surprise with seriousness, which only scares Angelica.

- Yes, it will soon be our 5th anniversary.

- Five years?

This time I let out my surprise, and my face turns a potent red.

- Surprised?

Neir smiles arrogantly, and Angelica hides her flushed face up to her ears.

- I won't deny it...

A guy like him with a girl like her is something, to say the least, strange, however, they don't seem to be bad with each other, I'd even say it's cute.

- And what about my house? Beautiful, isn't it?

It's a pretty nice house, but, also empty.

- Empty.

That's all my mouth can say.

- Oh, you haven't seen everything.

Then, he presses a button on the wall that for some reason I hadn't seen before, opening some gates on the floor in the walls.

Then, the empty room becomes a room full of life.

From plants and flowers, to swords and fancy instruments.

Perhaps a bit overdone.

- Blade...

For some reason, Angelica stares longingly at one of the swords that came out of the wall.

However, it is protected with a frame.

- She has always been a lover of swords, even since she was a child. In fact, whenever she sees one she can't help but wield it masterfully. The same thing happened with your sword, she was playing with it until recently.

Her saying it so calmly makes something as dangerous as real swords seem like a simple child's game.

- I-it doesn't matter, where's Dieb.

- Your brother is in the back room, he must still be sleeping.

- I'll go see him anyway.

Without thinking too much, I go to the room where Dieb is, and enter without knocking on the door.

- Ah!

However, he was already awake, in fact, he was looking longingly at a small black box, which he quickly hid under the sheets when he saw me.

- Sister, you always forget to knock.

He smiles at me as he gets out of bed, but I can notice how he hides the small box in his pocket.

- I think I fell asleep while I was taking care of you, I'm so sorry.

He apologizes, almost as if taking care of me was a job he failed to do perfectly.

- Dieb, what are you to me?

- Huh?

Dieb, hearing those words, lets out an expr ession of surprise.

- Me, I am your personal servant, as well as your brother.

- No.

I give him a dry answer, and put on the most serious face I have.

He is startled to see me, but instantly seems to understand.

- I-I'm your everything, Mikela.

It's kind of embarrassing when he says it, but....

- It's true, Dieb. So please, don't feel obligated to do anything for me. As long as you don't abandon me, you'll always be my everything.

I walk up to him and hold his face with my right hand, giving him a smile.

He looks at me with a flushed face, and, trembling, grabs the hand I have on his face.

- Sister, listen to me, I...

- Stop flirting and come to the living room.

Neir interrupts us, and I feel a huge disappointment grow inside me.

Dieb lets go of my hand and walks away nervously.

- Yo, I'm so sorry, sis.

And he runs out of the room.

I let out a sigh, and walk out of the room as well.

- Well, now that we're here, I'll explain everything explainable.

With a bad comedian's smile, he speaks to everyone in the room.

- My name is Neir, Neir Blade. Mikela's blood brother.

And as soon as he begins, my heart skips a beat.