Saved and Grave

The woman stares down at me, who didn't receive even a lick of damage. Only half of my sweatshirt was gone, but my bra didn't get burnt at least… that would be kind of embarrassing.

"*sigh* What the fuck do you want? Are you these turds higher up?" I ask with the few scratches that I received healing almost instantly.

"And if I am?" The woman says.

It seems she's not weary at all. That confidence… shes probably much stronger than me judging how I couldn't sense such a massive fireball until it hit me. Damn, should I call Auntie? That's the only way I can get out of here alive.

I reach into my inventory and pull out my phone. Just like I had guessed, I wasn't even able to open my contacts. A beam of fire was shot straight at me, putting a hole through the pen and my hand.

Fuck… This should regen in no time, but how do I… fuck it.

"Oh, last-ditch effort? You do know I would've killed you already if it wasn't for my bosses order,"

I ignore the lady's words and create a densely packed whirlwind of ice around me. In an instant, I push the swirl of ice around me towards the lady while dashing towards her. I pulled out frostbite and tried to anticipate her counterattack.

A blast of fire or… no, she wouldn't be that stupid, she would probably do this…

I put all my strength and speed stat into my legs and dash towards her. Hundreds of fire spears conjured around her, which she sent flying towards me. Some came from the bottom, some from the top, and all sides.

The rainbow fire started to leak from my mouth and burst out, clearing out the fire spears in front of me. Once my fire had dissipated, the lady was right in front of me, and she was holding a sword?

Huh-

I was barely able to swing my head out of the way, only receiving a slight cut on my ear.

The woman clicks her tongue and directs her sword downwards…

I was still in mid-air, so there was no way I could dodge. Frostbite won't be able to block it in time as well. There was no killing intent directed at me, so I should be safe, but there's no guarantee.

BAM

I was sent flying as the sword swung down on me. Typically it would've cut straight through me, but it seemed somebody had blunted the blade.

The sword had knocked all the air out of my lungs, and I didn't get a chance to stand up as the blunted sword swung down on my solar plexus. Extreme nausea hit me as I felt my lungs cave in.

I couldn't even make a sound as the lady stepped onto my gut.

"Oh, you seem calculative, but that's all you have. I didn't even try. All I did was make a few fire spears and send them towards you. Alright, come on, we have to go now," The lady says, throwing me over her shoulder.

Suddenly, I dropped to the ground. My eyes scanned up, but an arm fell on my face. The blood splattered all over my face, and I saw Auntie standing right behind the woman.

Aunties' eyes were as cold as ice. I could even see a dim red light in the center of her pupil.

Without hesitation, the woman snapped her fingers, creating a few thousand fire weapons above her. Also, five pillars of fire erupted around Auntie, but a thin layer of ice shielded her.

"Who do you think you are touching my niece?" Auntie says, creating a halberd that she was able to hold with only one hand.

The temperature suddenly dropped, causing my limp body to shiver uncontrollably. Auntie saw me and stomped on the ground, causing a pillar of ice to send me flying away, way out of the slums. A thick layer of ice was coated around me, and once I landed on a concrete sidewalk, it shattered instantly.

Though my regeneration healed the bruises and internal damage, I was still struggling to catch my breath.

…

"I see, so you're from Terata Ypogachtia,"

"Your greek is pretty good, Miss Brave of Ice. Also, do you think you can beat all of us?"

Suddenly, four more shadowed figures appeared on top of the run-down buildings. The presence they emitted wasn't that much but combined, they seemed to pose somewhat of a threat…

"No need to look at me with such scary eyes. Your bloodlust is already at the level where it is visible, and you can concentrate it within your eyes… impressive. But that's not going to stop us from taking that kid. She's special, and she can help our research improve by leaps and bounds,"

"There's no way I'm handing Lucy over," I say, taking a fighting stance.

To be honest, I only approached and helped Lucy in the beginning since she was Marina's daughter, but she started to grow on me. She seemed to like Marina when we were younger… but I only realized that Marina was such a brat until I met Lucy.

Now, I see her as a daughter of my own. My heart sank when she vented all her problems onto me, but my expression didn't waver. I couldn't believe I let her and her mom go through such things. I will, even if it takes my life… I will protect her.

There is still a distance between us, but maybe I could adopt her? That would be nice, but perhaps I should do that after puberty… shes going to reject if I ask now… Ah, that would be nice.

Forgive me, Marina, for having such thoughts.

It makes me happy to see Lucy living a fun life. She has friends now, but if they ever betray her, I swear I will… Well, I hope she can just get along with them.

My biggest regret is seeing Marina and her daughter suffer so much. If I can give even a little bit of support to Lucy, I'll be happy. I'm sad Lucy has turned out as she is now, extremely unstable.

Just one emotion out of her emotion extinguished state tips her over the edge, even if it is a positive emotion such as happiness or joy. I thought she might've not noticed it. She was smiling the entire time we talked about her having friends and how she would hang out with them.

Maybe I should take a picture with her once we finish making a grave for Marina…

Three more shadowed figures had appeared on top of the run-down buildings.

"Adding a few more isn't going to do much… now come,"

…

"Phew, thankfully, my contacts are still here," I mutter as I walk down the sidewalk leading to the slums.

I just got a new pen phone and logged into my account for my contacts. Thankfully, everything was still there, and nothing was missing.

"I can't wait to make mom a grave…" I mutter, smiling slightly.

About 10 minutes had passed, and I arrived at a burned piece of ground. It was the exact spot where my mom and I lived. Though I didn't have a thing to remember her for, I still made her a grave made from dirt.

A singular pink flower was growing right next to the rugged house beside me. It was frilly and looked like it was almost made of paper, but when I touched it, it was soft, and it smelled nice as well.

I plucked the pink flower growing out of the barren dirt and placed it on the small dirt hill I made.

"Rest in peace, mom," I mutter.

An hour had passed, and Auntie still hadn't arrived yet. She should've been able to handle that lady easily, going off how easily she cut off the woman's arm.

Another hour had passed. The sun had set quite a while ago, but I was still waiting for Auntie.

"That grandma must have forgotten or something… I should probably get going," I mutter, hugging Mom's grave then standing up.

Hehe… I can't wait to show Auntie, my girlfriend. She's going to be so proud of me… wait, when did I care about making her proud…

"Well, whatever, I just can't wait to introduce Mia to Auntie. Mia is going to be so surprised that my aunt is the brave of ice,"

I chuckled to myself as I walked back to my apartment.