A forgotten girl

English is not my first language so you might find some mistakes in the translation of the chapter.

This book has been translated by me by various means to get the best result so you can find some simple or normal redactions.

*****

An important notice for me and, if you want, for you too. My classes have already started and this time I have to put my heart into it so that I don't fail my exams.

I made this fic as a hobby and it's not serious. I swore to myself that I won't abandon it and even if it takes me a month or more for a chapter I'll keep writing.

*****

Enjoy the chapter.

*****

The work at the pub is very pleasant. The things I have to do are easy to do and as the days went by I got used to every task I was told to do.

It's been a day since the talk with Goddess Loki and my life has been quiet since then, I even feel like it's too quiet for me.

The feeling of receiving an attack still echoed in my mind, but Anya told me that there was no one else in that place so the person I had killed was the last.

Today was like any other day.

Get up, get ready, work in the kitchen, greet customers and deliver their orders.

The sky became cloudy and shortly after it started to rain, people did not come to the pub because of the rain and others came in wearing a poncho-like outfit to cover themselves from the water.

Even with the weather different than usual people go about their work, adventurers go into the dungeon and then come to enjoy their free time.

Now I was with a cat discussing my next assignment.

"Hey Riku, nya!"

"Is something wrong Anya?"

"We need several ingredients and you are the one who knows which ones are of the highest quality nya. Mama Mia asked for some things specifically nya, you are good in the kitchen and that's why we asked you nya"

"W-well... "

"Don't worry Riku" Syr entered into the conversation and solved my doubt "I need an escort to fulfill the assignment and you need to release your accumulated stress"

"Stress?"

"It's true nya! All day long you're working and you don't rest like you did before" Anya declared making me stop my gaze on her.

"Even if you don't believe it, your mind wants to forget many things and work is the best way to do it, haven't you noticed?" Syr told me and my eyes opened as I understood her words.

Syr is right.

Since the attack I have been constantly thinking about my future. Every action I take I have been planning.

From joining a Familia to improving as a person, the latter is because finding out that Riku has a tragic past and I want to resolve it now that I am her and I am afraid of what will happen to me if I am weak in the future.

My life is more dangerous than I thought and I need strength to eliminate those who come after me.

"I'm sorry" I mumbled as I looked away so as not to meet the stares of the other girls as I realized my own actions.

I didn't even think my actions would end up affecting them.

"Don't worry Riku" I look up and meet Syr's eyes "You're still a kid, it's normal for you to do that. So don't be sad"

Back to being a little girl.

"Cheer up nya! When you two get back we'll have a feast to calm things down at the pub nya!"

I just gave both girls a look and smiled showing that I was glad for the help they always give me every day.

"Grab your stuff Riku and when you come back I'll give you something for the rain, Mama Mia wants the ingredients soon"

"That's where I'm at Syr"

*****

When I left the pub with Syr the walk was very quiet.

The rain was not very heavy but it was not very weak either.

When I asked Syr about the rain and the rainy seasons in Orario she just said a few simple words.

The sky is crying.

Understanding came to me after I felt a few drops of water fall on my face.

Syr and I had already finished the trip, we went to the store and spent some time carefully choosing the right ingredients and good quality at a good price.

That's what I came here for and I did a great job.

Syr had a bag with her and I had my bag attached to my chest to protect her from the rainwater.

I was wearing the clothes that Syr had lent me to avoid getting wet and I was using them in the same way to protect the bag from water.

The ingredients could spoil if the bag breaks and falls to the ground with the water filled with multiple things from the streets.

"By the way Syr, you always bring a cape with you when you go out right?"

"Yeah, you never know what might happen during the course of the day"

"You're always prepared" I muttered as I looked down at my shoes that were wet from the puddles of water.

Rain is one of my favorite climates, but even with that I sometimes prefer to stay home and just watch the city while it rains. It feels so much calmer when it's quiet and you only hear the sound of the rain.

"This way Riku, I know a shortcut" Syr told me and suddenly she changed direction into a dark alley.

I stopped my steps and looked at Syr with some concern.

"Are you sure, isn't this one of your paths to make time and enjoy the city?" I asked Syr as I stood in the same spot.

After my last experience the alleys make me a little scared.

"Don't worry Riku, I know when we can enjoy our time" Syr told me as she started to enter the alley.

She turned around and motioned for me to follow her to which I slowly started walking behind her.

"Tch" I gritted my teeth silently to hide my annoyance at Syr's decision, her childish way of acting is the only thing that bothers me about her.

I was annoyed, but I kept going and something told me that we would be going through a somewhat dangerous situation for me, again.

We went through multiple paths that would confuse even the most expert, anyone who did not know here would undoubtedly get lost.

As the rain became heavier we found a particular alley.

There was no one at the scene or in the nearby buildings, but there was a person lying on the ground.

Syr stopped and I did the same.

A small, thin, and feminine body was covered in blood. There was no trace of battle, but the girl's blood stained the ground as the water diluted the blood spreading it across the alley floor.

I looked around for anything that would show anything to find a person lying in an alley.

Anya taught me some things and I need to use them if I want to survive another encounter like last time.

"Someone's hurt!" Syr exclaimed and started running toward the figure on the ground.

"Syr come back here!" I yelled at her, but she didn't answer me and kept running towards the person on the ground.

I prepare the dagger I have under my sleeve and start running towards Syr in case I need to grab her and run out of there.

Syr knelt down next to the girl without caring about the water on the floor and extended her hand to her.

"Are you okay?"

The girl moved her eyes to Syr and did not utter a word or make any movement.

Syr carefully took the girl's hand and held it close to her chest to reassure the girl.

Moving a little closer I still keep my distance in case of a surprise attack and if necessary move Syr out of the way to escape.

I carefully observed the girl and managed to identify her as an elf by her long ears, everything else that identified her had been lost in the dirt.

The girl is wearing a green cape, a white sleeveless shirt, shorts, boots, and long gloves that reached her shoulders.

She has a wooden sword strapped to her side and knives were lying on the ground near her.

The girl reacted to Syr's touch and the tears in her eyes came out as she closed them and fainted from what had happened.

"Syr" I called out to her and approached carefully "What are you doing?"

"We have to help her Riku, we can't leave her in this place"

"But... "

I saw the girl and then I saw Syr's eyes.

She was giving me a look I had never received before.

Her whole intention was to help the girl on the ground.

One thing I was able to learn from Syr was that she had impeccable judgment about people.

If she said that you had to be careful with someone then you better be prepared, even to fight in some cases. Also Syr could read people very easily and was able to convince them to do something for her or help her in some way.

She is terrifying.

"Are you sure Mama Mia will accept her at the pub? She doesn't look like a normal person and she looks like she had a fight recently. Her enemies might come after her"

"I understand Riku" Syr speaks and my face was relieved of the stress I had from this situation.

I don't want to get in trouble if I help a person and she probably has a lot of enemies to get to that state.

I prefer to maintain my security.

"Thank you very much Syr, our safety is more important"

"But" apparently I spoke prematurely and Syr is up to something.

"I don't worry about those things. I just see a girl who needs my help and I'm the only person capable of saving her life," Syr told me.

Although her next words surprised me more than I expected.

"I've already been through this and saved an amazing little girl, it wouldn't hurt me to save someone else again"

That's when I knew.

I hadn't really thought through everything Syr had to go through to save me that night.

I could have died and no one would know about me again.

My old life was gone.

I still don't know if I died or simply disappeared and now in this new life I could be forgotten again without knowing about the past of the body I had taken.

I always wonder if this was a new opportunity or if someone just played with me. My old life is gone and now I am trying to have a new life away from what I already knew.

Tears gathered in my eyes and I used all my willpower to keep my tears from coming out and wetting my face. I just allowed my eyes to look watery.

I can act brave and fearless on several occasions, but if it's with people who are like my family in this world it's hard to act that way.

"I'm sorry" I mumble and bow my head; I may look weak but feelings are very important and I don't want to forget them.

"Don't worry Riku" I looked up and was met with a smile from Syr "Your concern is good. I don't feel good about letting this girl die in this place. I want to help her and find out why she got to be left like that"

"How?"

Now what is Syr's thinking about this girl.

"She suffered throughout, from the time we arrived until she fainted her eyes showed regret and the desire to accomplish a goal. When I took her hand her eyes showed regaining some of her will. We can still save her from a horrible end and give her a new chance"

"And you found all that out just by looking in her eyes?"

"Yes"

"…"

I gave Syr a look of disbelief and she just let out an embarrassed laugh.

"All of the above aside, how will we help her?"

"Well we have to take her to the Hostess of Fertility to heal her wounds and get away from here"

"Let me do something first Syr"

I approached the fainting elf and carefully so as not to wake her or provoke a reaction in her I removed her wooden sword and the knives that were lying on the ground.

The human body can react to different external factors even if the person is unconscious.

I don't know how it affects the falna with that, but you have to be careful because a single hit from it could kill me or leave me on the verge of death.

"Ready Syr, it's best that she is unarmed in case she might wake up for one reason or another. Though I don't think the elf will do that for quite some time"

"Okay!" Syr declared as she handed me her bag and walked over to the girl on the floor to carefully lift her up and place her on her back.

"I didn't think you were very strong Syr" I said.

Anyone who saw her would only think that she is a very beautiful and social girl. Apparently Syr has her strength, but she prefers to act normal and get along with others.

"This is nothing, she's very light" Syr told me as she settled the girl on her back so she wouldn't fall off during the ride to the pub.

"I see" I nodded at Syr's words.

"Go to the front Riku, I'll be right behind you" Syr told me as we started walking to the Hostess of Fertility.

Let's hope that Mama Mia will be kind to this problematic situation.

*****

In an alley in Orario...

The rain felt non-stop, it was cold, washing everything in the distance. The blood fell on the pavement and disappeared among the drops of water.

A girl was walking slowly while leaning against the wall of the surrounding buildings. She was crawling her injured body through the empty alley.

'I did...'

Every step she took echoed in the empty alley. There was not a single presence in the alley and her boots made the only unnatural sound available after the rain.

The clouds had darkened the city and the rain echoed with every drop that fell to the ground.

'I have completed it'

She did.

She finished it.

She... took revenge.

'The Familia who take my companions...'

Her face showed great satisfaction and great sadness, there was no one to watch her, after all she had been alone for a long time.

The smiles of her friends, their expressions, the laughter... she could no longer remember any of it. The tears that came out of her eyes were lost in the raindrops that hit her face.

The wails that came from her lips disappeared into the night and the sound of the rain fed the abyss of darkness that slowly consumed her.

'I destroyed all those who helped them'

Her body was so stained with blood that it was impossible to identify that it was her. A pain tormented her with every step she took. She tried to move her limbs but they did not respond.

As if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut she collapsed. A pool of blood began to accumulate underneath her, but just as it appeared it disappeared in the water that was beginning to clean the whole place.

'My revenge is done'

However, despite everything that was going on, she didn't think about herself, she just wanted to finish what she had set out to do a long time ago.

Fulfill a single goal that she set for herself.

And she had succeeded.

'However...'

She had become empty.

The fury that drove her was gone, the only thing that followed her was a darkness that was coiling around her to take her down a path of despair.

'No sense of achievement...'

She achieved her goal, but to no avail. There was no satisfaction, no award to be given to her, and she would not be received by anyone.

That retribution would not give her back any of what she had lost.

'I just feel empty...'

After having mercilessly murdered all those guilty of the death of her companions she was constantly in a frenzy of hatred.

There was no one to stop her.

After all, she was alone.

The rain had begun to beat down on her, spreading every trace of blood and dirt accumulated on her.

She was just waiting for loneliness in that sad alley. She was just waiting for a break after all she had done, after all she had suffered, after all she had sacrificed... she just wanted to have a rest.

Eternal rest.

'Cold...'

It was a cold night. She lay on the pavement as the moonlight illuminated her. With no one to care for her, no one to greet her, no one to congratulate her, in a dark and dirty alley.

A fitting end for a fairy who corrupted her beautiful wings.

'I will surely... die here'

She understood.

She had been an idiot to think that if she tried to change someone they would care that she was in that dark, dirty alley. She still had that little desire to hear those voices she used to hear.

No one wanted to know anything about her.

All the beauty an elf had was gone from her.

Her skin, which gave the other people a sense of envy, was gone, her color was dulled and there was only gray on her body. Her hair had lost its luster and dirt was present in every strand of her hair.

She was waiting for her path to be stopped and taken away from this world.

She had lost all her will to go forward on the path of life and was just waiting to be taken away from this horrible world.

She wanted to hear her friend's voice. The sweet smile of her Goddess shone in her mind, her loving words embraced her back then and she wished to feel it again even just once.

She awaited her death and gradually closed her eyes.

But...

"Are you okay?"

A voice called out to her.

Her consciousness rose once again from the abyss of darkness and she saw her.

A hand outstretched toward her.

She could see the girl who came to her aid. The girl was covered by a cloth that protected her from the rain. Her voice had sounded angelic... very gentle.

Behind the newcomer another girl followed her. The girl was small, her eyes showed concern and sadness, a nostalgic memory crossed her face making the floor elf remember what she did.

The girl who had reached out to her had knelt on the ground without concern for getting wet. She didn't care about the water, only about the elf on the ground.

She tried to raise her hand, but she couldn't even lift a finger.

At that the girl moved her hands and took the elf's hand carefully to place it next to her breast in order to convey a feeling of affection, the hand that was covered with blood and dirt.

'Ah... so warm... and... soft'

Everything she had done she remembered.

Their partners.

Her Goddess.

Her will.

She remembered everything.

'You...'

A feeling grew inside her and she could even swear she saw someone else. She couldn't see the face but she could still see the lips.

'It is not yet time for you to come'

The cold suddenly disappeared and a warmth grew at the sound of her old friend's voice.

'Sorry'

She had kept her promise and would never forget them, even in this state she would remember them... forever.

Darkness had fallen upon her, taking her consciousness completely with it.

She was in good hands... she would be saved.