Aponi and I glance at one another, "...Kill who?"

"Well, obviously, the demented girl who caused EVERYTHING!" Bryan screams.

I scratch my cheek, "She isn't responsible for everything..."

"Then tell me what isn't she responsible for?"

'This is all the Goddess's will, but I don't know if I should talk about that in front of all these people.'

I glance at Aponi, who gives me a confident look before turning toward Bryan, "She didn't shoot Sam. Ha! In fact, she saved him."

"But, they were shooting at her when they hit Sam!" Bryan yells.

"**cough** Yeah, true...but she did save us at the end there!" Aponi says while staring at the ground.

Suddenly someone new chimes on, "That's right, she saved you! How dare you worthless soldiers say something so terrible to the person that saved you! What they're saying about you guys on the internet is true."

Bryan glares at the women, "Who the hell are you, and why are you butting in?"

"How dare you, sir! I am the famous Tremble streamer Sylvia Alastor and the one who allowed you to escape on my rental helicopter...that you'll have to pay the deposit on."

"Forget the deposit. Why are you defending that girl she's a murderer!" Bryan continues.

Sylvia crosses her arms, "Oh, a murderer? You expect me to believe this girl is a murderer? After she saved all of you, risking her own life? Not to mention her age, the odds of her being a murderer are almost zero. Shame on you for trying to blame this girl!"

"Lady, you don't know anything about this girl I can guarantee she had ulterior motives for everything she did. Here let me show you what she really looks like!"

Bryan storms over and reaches for the mask on Eira's face. Seeing Bryan reach toward Eira with hostility, uncharacteristic rage bubbles up from within me, "Don't touch her!"

I raise my leg and kick Bryan as hard as I can in the stomach. I can feel the sole of my shoe sink into Bryan's belly before he tumbles onto the ground. A small drop of blood drips from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

'Uh-oh,' I think to myself.

For a moment, everyone stares at me with wide eyes before Aponi finally walks over and checks his pulse.

Aponi stares are Bryan with a complicated look, "...He's just unconscious, but that was one hell of a kick."

I look at Aponi, "Sorry, I didn't really mean to kick him that hard."

"Yeah. It's already over now, and now we have a third person that is unconscious."

I hesitate to say anything, but I need to try to move things along while Eira is sleeping, "Eira said we were going to go to the congressman's house. I think we should go ahead and make our way there."

"Ehhh, I don't know. I'm concerned about what she has planned."

"I don't know either, but the Goddess told me to follow Eira. I'm sure she told you something similar, didn't she?" I whisper to Aponi.

Aponi gives me a look of defeat, "...Yeah. I guess so. Terry carry Bryan, and I'll carry Sam."

Terry and the other two soldiers just stare at Aponi, "Who are you? Are you really Aponi?" Terry says with a deep low voice.

"Terry, you oversized idiot, just pick up Bryan, and let's get the hell out of this forest! I'm cold, hungry, smelly, confused, and above all else, I'm extremely irritable."

"Okay...well, you definitely sound like Aponi, but why are you cooperating with her. This is our chance to separate at the very least, if not just get rid of the girl altogether."

"Listen for now; just trust me. We'll talk when we find somewhere to lay low for a while."

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Terry frowns, "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for a short while, but Aponi, you're walking a very dangerous line right now."

The other two soldier's mouths are slack-jawed one of them speaks, "You can't be serious?! This is crazy."

"Shut up. Aponi and I have been serving together for a long time now, and If she says to trust her, I'll trust her...for now anyways." Terry gives Aponi a stern look.

"Psh, you're all stupid. If we weren't chained together, we'd be out of here for sure. Besides, Sam needs a hospital!"

Terry makes a complicated expression, "Yeah, I know, but there's not much we can do except treat the wounds. The city is probably in chaos by now."

Before the two soldiers can continue, Aponi claps her hands together, "Okay. Well, if everyone's done arguing, let's do what we need to do and then get going."

Terry nods and goes to the helicopter, removing a first aid kit and begins to disinfect and bandage Sam's wounds. The two remaining soldiers stare at me with intense eyes until we finally begin walking through the trees toward the sound of gunfire and screams.

However, from behind, I can hear the Tremble girl yelling as she starts running toward us, "Come on, Greg, we're going to. Wait! We're coming to! Oh, hey, my camera."

"But the helicopter?"

"Just lock the door. We'll come back for it; this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

----------------------------------------

--Return to Eira POV--

'I haven't slept this good in a while.'

**Boom! Bang!** The sounds of explosions and gunfire ring out, rattling my body.

'Ugh, what's that noise. Is the Staff Captain crying again? Now that I think about it, I'm surprised he's even still alive. If it wasn't for all the crying, I'd forget he existed.' Slowly I open my eyes.

I find myself in the back of a short school bus being held in Eden's arms. I turn my head and glance out the side window, discovering flames rising up from the buildings outside. I again turn my head and gaze through the window at the back of the bus, and I can see a semi-truck next to us racing away from the city, which has now become a war zone.

I hear Eden's voice, "Eira, you're awake."

I look at Eden, but before I can answer, someone begins to shout, "So now I understand why you said this was once in a lifetime! It's because you can only do it once since you'll be dead afterward. Those monsters are everywhere!"

As if one queue suddenly, a Crawler burst through the window of the bus hissing loudly. Eden jumps in surprise, and I quickly wiggle out of her embrace.

I look at the Crawler with cold eyes beneath my mask, "I just woke up, leave me alone!"

Using all my strength, I kick the Crawler causing it to fly back out of the bus. The Crawler flies through the air before slamming into the window of the semi-truck.

[8 Essence Acquired]

I glance back to see the semi-truck turn sharply and tip over. Eden gives me a look of disappointment, "Eira, I'm glad you're awake, but...."

"Oh, come on! All I did was kick a Crawler; they should be fine."

**Boom!**

A massive explosion comes from behind, causing the bus to shake under the shockwave.

I continue, "I'm sure they made it out before the explosion."

[5 Essence Acquired]

"In fact, I can guarantee it. Now that I think about it, that semi-truck was out of control, and no one was driving it anyway."

Eden gives me a disapproving look and opens her mouth to speak, but someone interrupts her, "Wow! You're so amazing. A true hero! Not only did you get rid of that monster, you even stopped a runaway semi-truck."

I nod at Eden and smile under my mask, "See, Eden. Although a hero might be a little strong of a word, I...Wait, who is this lady?"

Eden sighs, "Here, let me give you a quick rundown..."

As the bus swerves through the city street, Eden quickly tells me everything that happened after I passed out. While she speaks, I stare at the girl who claims to be a Tremble personality and her pilot. However, when Eden starts telling me about Bryan and the soldiers, my mind turns elsewhere. 

'...I might have to start thinking about how I can control these soldiers. I'd rather not spend every second of every day looking over my shoulder.

I nod before continuing to speak, "I understand, but where'd you get the bus?"

"It was parked in a school parking lot. It only took Aponi a minute to hotwire the bus. She's definitely done it before."

'Well...she did say she grew up on the streets. Not too surprising, I suppose. Back to the soldiers, Eden said she kicked Bryan, where is he?'

I turn to find Bryan laying down in one of the seats. His face is pale, and his breath is shallow, 'Uh, he looks beyond just unconscious. System, and give me his basic status.'

Name: Bryan Godfrey

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Level: 1

Health: 25/50 {-Bleed}

Mana: -/-

'Wow, Eden, really must have kicked him hard. He must have some serious internal bleeding...maybe this is for the best.'

"Is something wrong? It felt...off when I kicked him."

I reach out and brush Eden's hair from her eyes, "Everything's fine. You and Aponi did well. Thank you."

Edens's mouth opens a little, "...you know how to give compliments?"

"Sure, when there's something worth complimenting...What time is it? Are we close to the congressman's house?"

"It's about an hour until sunrise, and we should be arriving any minute now."

The bus pulls through a subdivision and soon pulls into the driveway of a house that seems to be larger than the others.

Aponi stops at the gate, "This should be it," she says.

I step over the chains that are running throughout the bus and walk up to Aponi from behind, "How did you know where he lived? Did you look it up?"

Aponi's body shakes, "You're awake!"

"Yeah, did you not see me kick that Crawler earlier?"

"I thought Eden did that, and I already knew where it was. He told me when we talked in the store that his house was the big one near Oceanview Bluff Park with a big blue gate. This is the only place that fits that description."

"You know he just told you, so you'd know where it was when he invited you over?"

Aponi's face turns red, "...No, he didn't."

Before I can continue to tease Aponi, a scream comes from the house.