No Parents

After playing their card game, Asuka decided to walk Amelia back to her home. Before they left, Amelia asked Asuka to give her the clothes that were ruined so that she could fix them up. Asuka had initially refused saying that she didn't want to put anymore pressure on the girl but Amelia reminded her of the words she herself had said. So, Asuka relented and gave her clothes to Amelia. She now wore a short sleeved white tunic with gold patterns on the collar and the sleeve hem and black undershirt with black baggy pants and black sandals.

While walking, Amelia started to look intently at Asuka's face. This action weirded out Asuka quite a bit but she tried her best to hide it.

"Uhh, what's got you looking at my face?"

Amelia jumped and started to blush realizing she was staring at Asuka.

"Oh...I...I'm sorry. It's just that I realized that you don't look like anybody that I know. I was just wondering if maybe you were a foreigner."

Asuka gave a puzzled look before realizing that Amelia had a point. She realized that there wasn't any resemblance between her and anyone she's met on the continent. 

"I guess your right. I really never thought about who my parents were while I lived in the orphanage. I just assume that they either gave me up or died. Maybe I should ask Martha about them?"

"Martha? Who's that?"

Asuka couldn't help but smile when thinking about her elder sister.

"Only the best older sister in the entire world! She's one of my teachers. She's pretty strong but I already surpassed a while ago," Asuka said with a cocky smile.

"Wow. You really are amazing."

"Martha would beat you senseless. Don't forget that she is also a prodigy."

"Please, let me have my moment ."

"Anyway that's enough about me. What about you Amelia? Being able to take care of yourself for who knows how long is really incredible."

"Taking care of myself? Just because they're sick doesn't mean that my parents are worthless."

Asuka's smile quickly disappeared as she remembered one of the reasons why she wants to help Amelia.

"R..right. I'm sorry for making assumptions. That was wrong of me."

"It's okay. I would've made the same assumption if I was in your position."

"This might be an opportunity for me to get to know what her parents were like."

"So...um...Amelia. What were your parents like?"

Amelia looked at Asuka before smiling gently.

"They were wonderful."

She stopped walking and looked up into the now dark starry sky before continuing.

"I know I'm not the smartest person ever, but I can still tell when people are irritated by me."

Asuka's looked at the girl with an empathetic look.

"I know my personality is a bit extreme and that to most people, my mere existence annoys them. The other kids in school used to bully me because of it and as a result I became very sheltered. I rarely would leave my room and would sulk all day. My parents, being the people they are, kept trying get me to say what was wrong, but I already knew how much they were struggling to earn money for taxes and didn't want to burden them any further."

Amelia started to rub her wrist. 

"It was about three years ago when they found me being beaten by a couple older guys."

Asuka's face contorted into a look of pure fury. This had made her contra start to leak out.

"Oi Asuka. Control your emotions before you scare the girl to death."

Asuka realizing her mistake quickly took deep breaths to stop her contra.

"Thanks Annie. I owe you one."

"Whatever. Just be careful next time."

Asuka looked back at Amelia who was still standing and rubbing her wrists.

"I'm sorry if this is insensitive of me, but why were older guys beating you?"

"One of them had a younger brother who was in my class. He probably told his brother that I had done something but I never figured out what it was. I hadn't even talked to him that year much less done something to harm him."

"I hope you weren't hurt too bad."

Amelia smiled seeing how concerned Asuka was.

"You don't need to worry about it. They could only tie me to a pole and kick me a few times before my parents arrived. After that they tried to get those boys into trouble but the mayor said to just ignore us since we were one of the poorest families."

"Baldwin. It's like he's trying to make me hate him."

"From then on I was homeschooled. They practically coddled me to death after that. They felt responsible for what was happening to me and felt even worse when they couldn't get justice for me."

She looked down remaining silent for a couple seconds before she spoke again.

"They told me that I didn't need to worry anymore and that they'd take care of me from then on. It was to the point that I eventually had to beg them to let me do things on my own so I didn't end up being a useless person."

She chuckled a bit remembering how she got on her knees and for them to teach her how to cook.

"Up until that point, I was unsure if they really loved me. They were always working and never had time to play with me. But it was at that moment I knew, that I was loved. That I was worth something and necessary. That this life was worth living"

Amelia looked at Asuka with a bright smile.

"And now because of you, I have another reason."

She then walked up and hugged Asuka very tightly. She backed up and looked at Asuka but was surprised by her expression. Amelia just gave a small chuckle.

"There's no need for such a look Asuka. All that's happened to me is in the past. And the future now looks even brighter with you here now."

She began to continue the walk back to her home. Asuka followed her after a couple seconds.

"Hey Asuka."

"Yeah."

"This might be a lot harder than we thought."

"Yup. But that's of no concern to me. No matter what, I will save her."

Annie smiled at Asuka's proclamation.

"You better."

~

In another place, dozens of people were sat in a circle with two men and an elderly woman sat in the middle.

"Dammit. Why did you have to die Jeff. You were the only one who could do anything and now," said one of the men clenching his fist.

"There's no point in worrying about it. What's done is done. What we need to worry about is getting that brat to him. And I think there is a way to do that," said the woman.

"H..how do you suppose we do so? We can't fight her. Even if we all came together we'd still lose. And she's not dumb either so tricking her won't help either. You do realize that if we don't satisfy that thing we're the ones next right. Shit shit. We're so dead. Dead," the third chimed in.

Then the room erupted into chaos. While some were trying to give their input on how to solve their issue, others were simply panicking at the inevitable doom that was on it's way. This continued on until the woman raised her wrinkly hand. Everyone immediately fell silent and sat down. She then put her hand down and proceeded to speak.

"Panicking will do us all no good. Right now more than ever, we need to remain calm and composed. As I said, there is a simple solution to this. All we need to do is make her go to him willingly."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Simple. We use a bait. And I know just the perfect person for that role."