Liar

Chapter 3: 

It's not just the betrayal that hurts...

The shattered trust can break your heart in many ways.

***

*Piyang! Piyang! Piyang!

Theola winced when she felt her bum hit the floor. She fell from her bed after hastily getting up due to the sudden noise that disturbed her sleep making her a little grumpy.

She turned to look at the culprit ready to hit it when she saw a little girl wearing a panda suit pyjama, carrying a pan and a steel flipper. Before she could react, the girl yet again knocks the things in her hand. The sound of steel hitting each other resounded inside the room, causing Theola's headache to go from bad to worse.

*Piyang! Piyang!

"Argh! Stop it, Lemon!" She got up and grabbed the pan and spatula from her hands to make her stop. The little girl stared at her blankly leaving Theola in a dilemma. 

Theola carried the little girl and gently put her down on her bed. "Big sister is sorry, okay? You're already sleeping when I arrived last night, and I didn't want to wake you up," she explained while bended on her knees asking for the little fella's forgiveness.

She had to work overtime in her patrol because of the increasing numbers of incidents and monster sightings at the border. That's why she wasn't able to join her little sister during dinner. It was already past midnight when she came back and saw the little girl sleeping on the small dining table with the untouched dinner food. She must have fallen asleep waiting for her to arrive. Theola felt a warm sensation in her heart. She tucked Lemon into her bed and set aside the food to heat the next day. She didn't eat anymore and went straight to sleep since she was very exhausted.

Hearing her big sister, the little girl just looked away and gave her a cold shoulder.

"Hmp!"

Theola sigh inwardly while thinking, 'Ah, here we go again.'

"Fine! Tell me, what should I do to make you forgive me?" 

"Des..." She could hardly hear her whispering. 

"Can you speak a little louder, please?"

Lemon looks hesitant for a moment, "Deshtar. I want to visit Deshtar, sister."

The girl's expression turned cold when she heard the place Lemon mentioned.

"No," she spoke firmly and slowly got up to sit beside her.

"But you asked me what I wanted!" 

"Enough, Lemon. You know that we can't do that." Theola knitted her brows in frustration.

After the apocalypse descended on their world called the green planet four hundred years ago, kingdoms started to fall due to the monster infestation. Humans struggled for almost a century before being able to reclaim a portion of land and build a region called Deca. It consists of ten cities and Deshtar is one of them.

Deshtar is located at the inner walls, and a part of the innermost sanctuary where only the nobles and elites can live... including their parents. 

The little girl's crimson colored eyes moistened and flopped on her seat. "It's because of me that father send you here in the border. You should have just abando---" Before she could finish his sentence, the girl flicked her finger on her forehead leaving a blush of pink on her fair complexion.

"I wasn't sent here, okay? I chose to be here with you. Besides, why would abandon my cuuuutteee little sister," she pinched his cheeks on both hands and grin widely.

"Ouch! Sister, let go. It hurts." She let go of her and laughed so hard when she saw a ball of red puffing cheeks looking upset. After a good laugh, she sighed and ruffled her long white hair gently.

---

Theola became a magic swordsman when she was only fifteen years old. A rare genius that comes only in a hundred years, but she was sent to the border after raising her sword against the family head when he ordered to kill the then five-year-old Lemon.

Her family tree can be compared to a forest. Because of the dwindling population, the nation supported polygamy. As long as the man had the means to support his family, he can have as many partners as he can. Her father had so many wives that she doesn't even know the exact number of siblings she had.

The wives and children stay in different estates, that's why Theola didn't know who her real mother was. However, the visible distinct features she and Lemon have is enough to say that are not born from the same womb. Nevertheless, among all the siblings she met and haven't, Lemon is the only sibling she fully acknowledged.

Rain or shine, the two-year-old Lemon who just learned how to run would always come to the training hall and watch the twelve-year-old Theola swinging her sword while hiding behind the huge pillars. At first, she thought of her as a nuisance, but she didn't throw her out since she would just sit there quietly for hours waiting from the start until she's finished.

Overtime she realized that it wasn't only the little girl who's watching her. Theola, herself, has also taken an interest on her and constantly thinking of her presence. Leaving snacks near the girl waiting for her from morning until afternoon, which was not a part of her character. When she knew it, she has already claimed a spot in her heart. Enough for her to throw away her beliefs and even her position as the heir of her father. 

A man who only knows how to procreate but never nurture. 

It's as if they were just created to increase the number of human populations. They were treated as manufactured goods that's being valued based on their aptitude and thrown out if they have defects. To him, she was his greatest creation. And all she has to do is heed to his words. She grew up obeying everything her father wished.

It just so happened that Lemon was one of those people who doesn't meet this fuck up society's standards. Thus, she cannot remain in the inner city anymore. Deshtar and other main cities are very strict with their rules. 

Children will undergo a ritual during their fifth birthday to awaken their ability from their 'stigma'. A symbol tattooed from birth which is said to be bestowed by Gods to help humanity's survival. 

However, there wasn't any response from Lemon's stigma during the awakening ritual. That's why she has to be sent away to the outermost city and survive on her own. Staying in the border is already hard for an adult, so a child going there is akin to death.

Theola who knew this couldn't stomach the madness and discrimination but what can she do? It's a rule that governed the people of this fucking piece land that are just trying to survive for their own interest for several centuries. The fact that those people remain in Deshtar, means they are all strong and powerful. She realized how incapable she was after going against her family just to keep Lemon stay safe. 

Even so, she will do something about her sister and the people in the border. Theola left everything behind and followed her sister to the outermost city of Horos which literally means the boundary between Deca and the outside world. 

---

"Don't ever think that way again, okay? Sister will always be here for you," Theola smiled sweetly like a gentle spring leaving her blue eyes almost disappearing.

But to know the spring means you have to embrace the winter.

'Liar.' 

Lemon looked at her sister's gentle face and slowly reach her long white hair full of longing. 

'You said you won't leave but you did. Liar.'

Theola was still smiling with a big smile plastered on her lips when suddenly, little Lemon forcefully grabs her hair causing her to scream in pain. The aching sensation in her scalps makes her feel like her hairs will be plucked all at once.

"Bitch, my sister has a blonde hair!" Lemon's childish voice was gone.

She pulled a dagger out of nowhere and slash the persona's neck. Finally, a crack on the illusion formed revealing a huge slimy monster with a protruding stalk that connects to puppet's body.

"So, it was you huh?" A girl wearing a bloody mess coat glared at the monster and took out molotovs from her storage space. She did not become stingy on throwing bombs towards the puppeteer slime. If anyone sees her, they will think she's a serial bomber. "Ha! How dare you use my sister to prey on me? You, bastard! See how I will blow up your cave!" 

"L-lemon stop that you'll blow up all the medicinal plants in the area!" Greg quickly runs inside when he heard the sound of bombings. He was gasping for air when he arrived and had an instant migraine after witnessing the scene before him.

Stop it!!!

He wanted to grab her and make her stop destroying the whole place, but he was afraid to do it. 

Damn it! He knew this will happen! The puppeteer slime is notorious for using illusions. It just so happened that the girl is very irritant when it comes to something that reminds her of her sister. 

Now, even his business is in danger for not being able to secure the requested materials much less destroying them. His wallet is crying!

He regrets giving the job to this little devil!

"Shut up, fatty." Lemon didn't give a damn about his pleas. He wanted to cry in that moment.

Greg snapped when he heard her called him fatty despite ruining the products.

"This won't do," he says to himself. His capitalist heart is being thorn into pieces while watching the herbs burn by the second.

His aura turned serious as he gathered the energy into his core and flowed it into the mark on his stomach. 

"Brat, you ask for it," he is going to unleash his stigma.