Unforgivable Weakness (Aletha: Part 10)

A golden spotlight shone on the podium. 

"Ugh. So much chatter." Whined the Queen of Linuxinia.

Around her was a huge audience. Aletha got lost in the sea of individuals, bouncing around in a fleet of robes, chatter, and compliments. 

"Hey, you look stunning!" Said a blonde-haired girl, her cyan eyes sparkling.

Then, as she came across the archway of people, a man who looked fairly old and aged, complimented Aletha.

"Look at you having such revealing-attire. How about you say…" 

Aletha immediately denied the offer, saying.

"No thanks."

At the center, a shamrock-green haired woman (Isa) sat beneath the golden spotlight on a podium; surrounded by individuals. 

But despite this anxious scenario, Isa showed not a twinge of excitement in her. 

Something about her was clearly wrong, even Kali was acting strange.

The supposed Queen of Linuxinia-- not even moving a muscle; yawning and groaning, complaining, it doesn't make sense. At least, to some that was.

But even so, that wasn't of Aletha's concern.

No corner of the place came uncleaned from people. 

 All of it, including the porches atop the underground houses, were filled with humans

Pushed and shoved, complimented and harassed, all of what you could think of, had happened to Aletha inside the "mosh pit." She questioned as she looked around.

"Where is she? I don't understand. Where did Zeru go?"

 Aletha never wanted to be here. She only wanted the necklace and possibly Rinnea, no one else. 

Yet, she was caught up in the storm, unable to escape. With nowhere else to go, Aletha chose the only place where none had been so far, the alleyways. 

* * * * * * *

Dark, dreary, cold. 

The glint of light on broken glass reflected over the hollow area. Not a person was seen from her eyes, only piles of junk, garbage, and dust. Aletha made her way through the alleway, anchoring her eyes among each chalked brick wall before looking forward again. 

Approaching further, Aletha's heart grew cold and tight, her hands began to tremble and shake.

 She threw her head back and saw a thick wall of darkness linger behind her. 

In a quick response, Aletha skidded her feet across the concrete ground and dashed away. But then, as she approached the west side, she found a wall of barrels, waiting to be knocked over.  She scratched her head and squinted at them, rubbing her fingers across the surface, mumbling.

"What is… this?"

Each edge she touched, the ominous aura around her gradually expanded. Lights flickered on and off, the cheers of the cloud were so distant that it sounded almost like an ant for Aletha, and the darkness quickly expanded. 

Feeling dizzy, Aletha lost balance and accidentally slammed her body through the wall of barrels. 

Instantaneously, the sturdy wall of objects collapsed like a wall of bricks, rolling atop her and flattening her like a herd of buffalo's. Her heart paced so hard that she felt it tremble underneath her chest. She struggled and squirmed out the wall of barrels, huffing and puffing as she spoke.

"Help… me… anyone…"

Her hair tangled around, straining and stressing Aletha from the pressure. She began to cough and choke from the suffocation, screaming with fear and shock.

"Help… please… It was an accident."

Only silence responded. 

Aletha's face turned pale and her skin felt cold and clammy. She tried again to reach through the darkness and escape the pile of heavy barrels. The soft yellow beams of light filtered and pierced through the gaping holes in-between the groups, casting a shimmer of hope shone in her gray eyes. But then…

(CRUSH)

The weight of the barrels atop of her suddenly grew heavier. 

"N…No…" Aletha whimpered. The hopeful glow that met her dissipated, obstructed by the barrels.

In an effort to stay alive, Aletha placed her finger through the last gaping holes she could find, and squirmed it around, squinting her eyes, trying not to tear up. It was her only hope of escaping this event. 

"Just…"

Her forehead was beaded with perspiration. Headaches pounded in her mind as she tried to keep her heart pacing. But then, the force on her back grew stronger, matching the weight of a heavy Boulder.

"GASP!"

 Suddenly, all the air in Aletha's body left her. She huffed and wheezed, her face turned red, and with one cold voice she ushered.

"LET…ME GO!"

But nobody answered.

The crimson in her face blended into a cold and toxic purple as she felt the pressure in her crushed her body limb from limb. As the barrels atop her pressed on, Aletha quickly squeezed her eyelids shut and drew a river of painful tears on her cheek. 

She couldn't take it anymore. 

If anymore pressure would have been inflicted on her, she would have fainted.

. . .

"Alright, take those barrels off that whiny, foul, and greedy shrew. Let's not kill her before we get our payback."

Suddenly, after the shrill voice command, the luminance on the streetlights blared back on her face. The color of her skin quickly returned to her normal hue, her eyes flashed back with life, and she quickly made a stammering exhale. Each barrel quickly got tossed away from her body, relieving Aletha from the pain. But just as she thought she was safe, a grating voice urged.

"Drag that defenseless young woman into the dark corner, now! Let no one see her. Got it?"

"Yes, mam!" Replied several other voices, both-sounding masculine and feminine. Aletha could only think who it was that crushed her. But, being so weak and miserable, Aletha was paralyzed by her own shock.

 Which then allowed the stranger to clench onto Aletha's ankles tightly and drag her body into the alleyway, smearing her in wounds from the hard ground. Before she could see who the smugglers were, Aletha went unconscious.

* * * * * * * *

"Wake up!"

A steel hard fist slammed into Aletha with a room-shaking crash, knocking the defenseless girl skidding and bouncing across the resilient stone floor. The massive force of the blow propelled the poor girl all the way toward the walls, impacting it with a loud clang.

She quickly gasped and retained her consciousness, feeling her skin burn in pain. Aletha cried.

"STOP IT! W-What did I do?! Who… a-are you?"

The person who had punched her was an emaciated, broad-shoulder woman with narrow lips, hollow cheeks, and thick and stringy blonde hair. The snotty and evil look on her face was enough for Aletha's skin to crawl. Without hesitation, she delivered another heavy blow on Aletha's face, bruising her and growling.

"You know exactly what you did, repugnant twat! Stop lying with your doll-like face and pay up!"

Aletha's eyes shook and trembled with genuine fear. 

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. P-Please, don't hurt me…--

Yet again, the ruthless woman punched Aletha in the stomach, forcing her tears to fly up and burn her eyes. She then kicked and tossed Aletha from wall to wall, coating her in several, severe bruises with rapid kicks and jabs.

Her elbow, her kneecaps, her face, her stomach, her back, all of it was kicked and battered by the woman. 

They laughed and snarled as they exchanged punches and attacks at Aletha. And for some reason, she couldn't do anything to defend herself.

 Not only the woman, but a cheeky barrel-chested, brown-haired brute, and a tiny, petite twit also beat Aletha up.

"You get what you deserve, greedy shrew."

Preparing his knuckles, he shoved and forced Aletha to the wall and threw another heavy fist at her stomach, forcing her to vomit out dust into the floor. She felt her throat closing up, tears started to well up in her eyes, and her arms lied in complete hopelessness as she continued to get kicked on her shin, her sides, and her legs. As she whined and implored with all her life, the stranger's continued to threaten her.

"You like that? That's what bloody peasants like you deserve when you decide to destroy a two-million-Gincoin train!"

Aletha's body trembled in pain. Her face was stained in red and wounds. Nothing helped her, no one had, and without her brother, Aletha was completely defenseless.

She curled up into a ball and groaned loudly, crying and whimpering painfully. All her thoughts, eclipsed by the pain as she cried out.

"Asahi… A… Asahi… I… don't want to die…" (I don't… know…)

She could barely move. Every muscle on her had seized up, struggling to recover, to repair the damage. As the smugglers discerned the thrashed and lifeless girl quivering on the ground, the blonde haired woman spat on her face and placed her foot atop her body, saying.

"People like you make me sick. Wasting several million gincoins just for a passenger to ruin it all? Who do you think you are?"

As the barrel-chested man glanced through Aletha's wounds, he tilted back to the blonde-haired woman and questioned.

"Don't you think we went a little too rough on her, Peruda? Come on, she's just a defenseless young girl."

She curled her lips in disgust.

"Ugh, that young 'girl' doesn't deserve anything. She doesn't even know how to run or defend herself. All this young woman is… just a weak, measly, and wicked fool." 

Tears welled up in Aletha's eyes as she pressed her feet harder on her face.

"And besides, this shrew doesn't deserve a single ounce of her beauty. She should live with the peasants, at most."

Aletha, cowering, and crying in pain and fear, wailed and screamed as she felt her nerves sting with pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please don't kill me. I don't want to die. I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

"Saying sorry isn't gonna work out, girl. You have to pay with your life or money." Peruda kneeled down and clenched the bottom of Aletha's neck, choking her and sneering. Even more rivers of tears flew on her pale, lifeless cheeks, flinching and pleading.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

Breathing heavily, she threw Aletha to the wall and chuckled, making a cheeky and sinister smile.

"Stop saying sorry. You're a grown adolescent, not an ignorant child. Pay up!  You know what? Maybe I should--

"Don't you DARE touch her anymore!" Rage burned in her crimson eyes, and her long ruby hair flared in exaggeration. This young, ruby-haired woman was seen charging down, holding a red luminance in-between her hands. 

Quickly, Peruda and the other smugglers bounced up and pulled out their daggers, ready to engage the stranger in combat. Around them, the alleyway pulsed, the crimson illumination flickered and the smugglers started charging at her. Peruda called her off.

"Slay that fool! I want my money now!"

With a snarl, the ruby-haired girl aimed a red beam at Peruda. Then, she sneered at her and screamed with rage filling her veins. 

"You made a big mistake hurting one of my friends like that!"

"F… Friends?" Aletha quivered meagerly. Not knowing who it was that was beyond, a smile beamed on her face. "Friends."

"Oh, you two are friends?" Peruda scoffed. "Then how about I teach you both a lesson!"

Suddenly, as the ruby-haired girl charged, a crimson blade formed in her hands and she quickly approached the group in hurricane wind speeds. Of course, the blonde lady fought back, punches and kicks, landing with enough force to crush boulders. But little did she know, she was hurting herself.

A magic roared with the crimson blade as the stranger carefully made daring moves like cart-wheeling, jump-front-kicking, and dodging. Just by seeing her actions, Aletha could recognize who it was.

"Alai…"

A beaming and bright smile shone on Aletha's face. Kicking the brute and pummeling him down the ground, Alai snapped her fingers and exclaimed with a giggle.

"Ha! I KNEW you would remember my name!"

Given hope, Aletha tried to push herself up. Her arms were so brittle, torn, and injured that the only thing she could move was her head. With this in mind, Alai propelled the smugglers into the wall and fleet-footed her way to Aletha, wiping her tears off her face and whispering.

"Aletha, just stay put, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself more than you have to.  These fiends are lying to your face!" While the scarlet luminance encircled her body and the blade, Alai shook her doubts aside and carried Aletha on her back, all the while she was fighting. She whispered as she battered and sliced the smugglers one by one.

"I can see that you are weak, Aletha. It's okay. Everybody has to start somewhere."

Suddenly, using her last utility,  Peruda swung and threw her arm at Alai one more time. Her face burned with fury and hopelessness as her messy blonde hair flew backward with crimson. Unfortunately for her though,

"Ha, nice try." Alai blocked and grabbed Peruda's fist,  mid-punch. Trembling in shock, Peruda stammered with fear, starting to cry out of desperation.

"Y… You blocked my punch? No one I met had blocked my punch. Not even the strongest could even grab my fist." She scoffed and coughed out of fear. "What tactics and special power do you have? W-What kind of being are you?"

With one wide, prideful grin, Alai clutched her blade and answered.

"I'm just Alai!"

And then, with all her might, Alai ballasted and impaled Peruda's body with her crimson blade, forcing her body to limp on the floor, and her eyes to immediately flash in black. Aletha's eyes shrunk in shock, seeing and witnessing Alai's power knock the woman out. She never would have believed a girl such as her had a power such as this. Nonetheless, she was grateful enough to not care. 

Afterward, a dark-skinned man with mint-green eyes dashed through the alleyway to Aletha, asking.

"What in the blazes happened to her?"

Alai crossed her arms and sighed deeply.

"She just got beaten up. I can tell that girl is weak. It's okay, girls are meant to be weak. But I don't think Aletha is the type of girl to be that." As she carried Aletha's bruised and injured body across the streets, toward the exit of the town, Alai turned to Zeru and asked.

"You have healing powers right, Zeru? Could you please heal that woman I impaled?"

Zeru raised an eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't understood why Alai wanted that wretched girl to be healed. But to not stir any conflict with the crowds they passed by, Zeru nodded his consent and replied.

"Absolutely." He shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his gaze to the beaten-up girl. "And where are you going with her?" As Zeru said that, the look on his face expressed what she meant.

 "Wait. You need not to explain to me. You're gonna try and make her go through that training to make her stronger, aren't you?"

Alai stuck her tongue out and made a charming, silly expression, answering.

"Aww, how thoughtful of you for you to remember. Yes! That's exactly what I'm gonna do!"

As Zeru and Alai stood near the spa buildings, seeing rays of sunlight touch the underground city, they kindly waved their goodbyes and said.

"Okay, Zeru. Much luck at the ceremony. I'm gonna bring Aletha to my house in Alpine Glitterfly Range, and get my friends to start the training."

Zeru put his head to his side and glanced off.

"Oh goodness. She is not gonna have a great time if you're thinking what I'm thinking."

Approaching the tunnel leaving outside of the cavern, Alai clapped her hands behind her body and walked briskly with Aletha on her shoulders, exclaiming.

"Oh, shucks. Aletha's gonna be fine trust me! If she can still move after all she has endured, then I know for a fact she can become strong. It just takes practice." She stepped forward and arched her back, jumping up and exclaiming. "NOW, Zeru, go and heal that woman and her servants." She wagged her finger. "Make sure you don't forget to report them to the patrol, okay? Although they are forgiven, they will NOT proceed without a punishment."

Zeru nodded his head understandably.

"Understood." And yet, he couldn't hesitate to ask her. "When will you two be back?"

Alai crossed her legs, and placed her arms forward, holding onto Aletha's legs and arms with all her strength. Aletha's chest pressed and squished against Alai's neck, making the young woman's face warm up from the body heat. Despite that, Alai refused to surrender, and so… without more time to waste, she informed with an unsure tone.

"Not more than a week. Sooner or you know it, the girl you see now will transform into an independent and strong young woman, like me! We might even become best friends too!"

Zeru smugged. 

"Sure… good luck with that. I'll see you two later!"

Just as Alai was seen walking out of Clearstar, suddenly Zeru caught sight of a pink-haired vampire girl lumbering toward them. He only assumed it was an illusion, and so with a prideful smile, Zeru raced back to the dark alleyway to resurrect the woman and her "allies".

Aletha could only hope that she was safe. And with the thought of the announcement happening soon, who knows what will happen next?

The only vision she couldn't let go too, was that ancient device she found back in that… decrepit and hidden place. No matter, knowing that a stranger such as Alai, calling Aletha a friend despite just being met, balanced out everything about the encounter.

Aletha thought as she felt the warm rays of sunlight heal her.

(If only… I could rely on myself rather than my brother. I wish… I wish…) 

Pushing the thought of the necklace aside, Aletha thought as she started to lose her consciousness.

( I can be more independent.)

Shortly after, her vision got swept into darkness.