That night, Nely came back early. She returned alone in quite a bad temper.

Upon arriving, she roughly opened the door, causing an unpleasant bell sound. Then she followed by slamming the door shut.

She went straight to her room. Annatashya had tried to get her attention, but she did not turn around. Nely never stops her legs. She walked passed her into her room and dived into the bed without changing her clothes. She made a rough landing and her clothes wrinkled. Not that she cared.

Covering herself with a blanket, she rolled as if making a cocoon. She rolled left and right.

Left, right, left, right, left, right.

Her mind was empty. And that was what she wanted. She was not rolling around because it was her hobby. Of course not. Even if she looked like a child, she had graduated from it a while back. She was just redirecting her emotion to something else. Yes. She was venting.

From what? What else? She did not even want to think about it.

She kept rolling, forgetting that the bed was just a single size, and stuck her head against the wall. That startled her. Her head was hurt. A big swelling as made. It’s the worst, she thought.

Groaning, she rolled to the other direction while holding her head. Only to fell to the floor.

A loud thud echoed, enough to reach another floor.

Ugh. Why did this happen?

She blamed everything. Her eyes became teary. All because of the swelling on her head. No. That was not it. It was all because of him. It was his fault.

Her emotion once again moved her. This time she took a pillow and made it a scapegoat. She punched it with all her might. Each of her strikes caused the content to move to the edge. She punched with the intention of making a hole in the middle. Sadly, there was no sign of her succeeding.

A knock. Who was it?

“Nely, it’s me. Are you alright?”

Annatashya had come from the unclosed door to check on her. She had a worried look on her face. It was no wonder considering. Her behavior and the previous loud thud. Anyone would have been worried.

Nely did not answer. She was too busy punching the pillow. It might also be because she did not think it was necessary. It was clear to anyone’s eyes that she was not fine.

Without waiting for a reply, Annastashya entered and looked around. She saw the mess Nely had made in this short amount of time. A smile appeared on her face.

“My, you’re in quite a messy state. Did a try to mediate a fight between a cat and a dog here?” She said in a joking manner.

Nely did not say anything. Was there anything funny? No. There was not. She was not amused by her joke, rather, it upset her. Because of that, she threw her face away with swelling cheeks, refusing to have a conversation.

Annatashya looked troubled. But, there was also sympathy. She must have caught up to her situation. Her eyes told so. After a short pondering, she said, “Wait there for a second. I won’t be long.”

What won’t be long? She did not explain anything and went off on her own. It was twenty or so seconds. She came back with a brush on her hand.

Huh? Nely could not hide her surprise.

Seeing that, Annatashya seemed please and a childish smile appeared on her face. She then made her way to the bed and sat. Her free hand invited Nely by tapping on the bed.

Nely, however, did not ride her invitation. She turned the other way showing clear rejection. She did not feel like going along with her. But, her will was unimportant. She soon found herself lifted then to the bed. That caused her to flailed her legs in displease.

“Now, don’t sulk on me, young lady. Look, your pretty long hair is in a messy state.”

She ran her hand to her hair and it did not take long before got stuck from the tangled hairs.

“See. Now do me a favor and stay like that for a while.”

Without asking for permission, she started brushing her hair. She even started humming not long after.

Nely was astonished on how she did as she pleases. But, she no longer rejected her. It was too comfortable to do that. Every strokes and melody made her loosen her body and her mind slowly numbed. This was something she had never experienced before.

Her mother, Astral, had never brushed her hair like this. She was someone who rarely came to her life, only once or twice a month. Never mind doing something mother-like, she did not even recognize her as her mother.

Her father had explained to her about how busy she was. Still, it did not convince her. She was still too young at the time. So, she had thrown tantrum because of it, causing a headache to Gilbert.

She had come in term with it. But, deep down, she longed for this kind of motherly things. That was why she found Annatashya’s motherliness as something comfortable. So, she went docile, forgetting her anger.

“Have you calm down?”

Nely lightly nodded.

“That’s good. Do you mind telling me what happened?”

She obeyed Annatashya’s words and told her about her distress.

“I see. Then, let me teach you a lesson,” she said, moving to face Nely. She then raised her finger. “A good woman doesn’t let her emotion get it over her head. Especially when you’re in front of men!”

Annatashya’s last statement caused Nely to wonder. But, she did not manage to ask her about it because she continued.

“But, when it becomes unbearable release to the source in the way they least expect it!” She said with a clenched fist and a daring look.

This was not what Nely had expected. From the flow, she had thought a more peaceful word of advice would come from her. She was shocked. But, she was mistaken about one thing. This was how Annatashya was.

Motherliness? That was nothing more than a character she made out of her ideal female image. It was wrong for her to mistaken it for the real thing.

“What? Do you think I will say something like stay calm and endure it? No, Nely. The age where women could only hold their emotions inside had long passed. Now is the age where we can, and should, show it,” she said, grabbing Nely’s shoulders tight, eyes straight.

“So, what are you doing? There’s no point hitting your pillow over it. If he irritated you that much, say it to his face. But, I just you can’t if you’re like this. Then, go to sleep. On the morning go, go! Lift your ass and do what you must. I won’t hear excuse such as because you can’t talk you won’t do it. There are plenty of ways to do that.”

Nely was lifted and tucked on the bed. She wanted to say something back, but Annatasya was already at the door. Without any moment to spare, she said goodnight and exited the room.

What should she do now? She thought.

At lost, she pondered for a few seconds on the bed. In the end, perhaps because she was tired from all the trashing, she decided to do as Annatashya’s said because Sandman assaulted her. To be honest, there was nothing she could do now except to sleep.

But first, she needed to think of what she should do tomorrow. Her target was to move Selv from that place. How? And that was the first thing she needs to find out first in the morning.

To do that, she decided to ask people who were close to him. Lucky for her, she had met those people before.

It did not take long for her to enter the dream world. The next moment she noticed, it was already morning. Her feeling was much better not that she had a target. She went out after eating early breakfast. Turning her shoes to a certain direction, she headed toward the district where the first and closest person to her was.

Het feet brought her to the church. Around this time there should be some children doing some work at the back. So, she went to look. And as expected, she saw several familiar faces giving water to the plants on the field.

“Ah, it’s Nely!” One boy noticed her and pointed at her with a loud voice. What followed after was a fist to his head.

“Ouch, that hurts! What’s that for?”

The boy asked the person beside her, hands holding the spot that was hit.

“Geo, didn’t I always tell you not to point at people? It’s rude!” A girl with a ribbon on her head scolded.

“That doesn’t mean you can just hit me. What will you do if I become stupid, Mary?”

“Then you have no worry. You can’t get any stupider than this.”

“Really? Yay!”

Not knowing that she just insulted him, Geo jumped in joy. It might be not an insult because there was a truth in her words.

Going through the wooden fence, Nely greeted the orphans with a wave. Once she did, other children took notice of her and rained her with greetings. The one who was the most excited and talked to her was the girl with ribbon, Mary.

“Nely, it’s been a while? I’m happy to see you again. How are you? You haven’t visited lately, so I was getting lonely. Just wait for a second. I will finish watering the plants so we can play together!”

Nely gestured her to take her time because she was not in a hurry. But, Mary did not see it because she immediately went away to finish her task. In the meantime, she spent her time with younger children who were all over her. They were all opened up to her because this was not her first or second visit.

This past month while Selv was in comatose, Nely had brought herself to this place in hope for some play partner. Before she came to the independent town she was constantly in contact with older people. That was why she always dreamed of making similar age friends.

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In the first meeting, they hit off well and promised to play again next time. So, she went again and again. Before she knew it, she was already a family with them despite not being an orphan herself.

“It’s okay to play with Nely, but don’t forget to finish your work.”

Mary warned the children, only to receive an ambiguous reply that held no will whatsoever. That was why she added one last word.

“No snack to those that didn’t finish.”

Threatened by those words, the children dispersed from Nely and did their job as if their lives depend on it. It was the usual thing, but a smile still surfaced on Nely’s face.

She offered her help to get rejected with the reason that this was their work and it would be unfair to make other people do it for them.

It was a wonderful moral they were taught. But, even so, to Nely it was hard to do nothing and only watch. It was like they left her behind.

She still obediently watched them, but her eyes were actually waiting for a chance where she could help. Unfortunately, that chance never came.

All the children splendidly did their respective tasks without troubling others, earning themselves a delicious afternoon snack.

Mary sat right next to her and shared her share. Nely felt bad to receive it when she had done nothing. But, Mary easily convinced her with the magical word.

“It’s fine. I want to share it with you because we’re a friend, right?”

Mixed between happy and troubled, she took it with a slight blush and smile. They enjoyed the snack together until Mary asked the reason for her visit. Then, Nely finally explained her situation by writing it on the ground. Mary was the only children in the church that could read and write, although not fluent. So, she read it out loud for the other to hear.

“Selv’s weakness, huh.”

Hmmm, Mary and the children chorused together.

“I know!”

“What is it, Geo?”

“It’s poop!”

“What exactly are you talking about?”

Mary as the representative of the people who listen to him asked. But, her face told enough about how much expectation she had on him.

“You know, Selv is awesome! He’s strong, kind, and never run from anything! But, I’ve seen him run away once! He ran away when some children chased him with poop in a stick!”

In a meaning, that was his weakness. But, wasn’t that the same for most people?

Unable to completely dismiss his opinion, Mary let out a tired sigh while Nely let out a bitter smile.

“What about this one? I heard Selv always help people when they ask for his help. Doesn’t that mean he’s weak to request?”

Mary offered her own suggestion which she thought was much better than Geo’s.

Nely’s response, however, was a dubious face.

“No good?”

Nely shook her head. It was not she was doubting her answer. It was the opposite. Her answer was spot-on. She had heard about that from the person himself on the cliff where the sunset let out a sad glow as if crying.

This was without a doubt something that can be said to be his weakness. If she requested it, her current problem would be solved. Would it?

Certainly, by doing that Nely could have her way with him, albeit forcefully. After that, given enough time and he will be back to the way he was. All end well. At least on the surface. The scar left on with always remains and changed the person from inside. Furthermore, the current incident left quite a huge wound on him. Hoping him to go back to the way he was after that was not being optimistic but a hopeful idiot.

So, that would not solve the problem. But, her number one reason was she would not be satisfied with this. She wants to give her a piece of her mind and feels refresh with it.

Yeah, this was not the right one. Nely affirmed to herself.

They racked their brain and let out one opinion after another. But, no good opinion came out after that until finally, someone suggested.

“Why don’t you ask father?”

Nely twitched from that suggestion, eyes swimming around. She squirmed around looking unpleasant as if hiding something.

“Nely, could you possibly bad with father?”

Mary who noticed of her state asked, looking concerned.

Nely could only look down and nodded once. She felt bad to Mary and the other who thought well of the priest, but she could not handle him. Of course, she knew what good the man had done for the children. It took much more than small kindness to take care of unknown children for years without anything in return. Yet, for some reason, she was bad with him.

Pierre being a demon did cause her to raise her guard at first, but that was not it. It was something more basic that made her caution of him.

“I see. I see. Life consultation, is it? Come, our God will always solve his pitiful lamb’s worry in the confession room!”

Surprised by the loud voice that came from behind, Nely turned around in a hurry and fell. The children were as surprised as her and widen their eyes.

“Father?! Since when did you listen?”

“That’s but an obvious question, my dear. As a father, I’ve always been watching you little lambs all the time!”

“Father, as expected that’s creepy,” Mary said with a little fed-up face.

“Creepy! Creepy!”

The younger children followed.

“Hahaha! So be it! It’s my duty to be creepy,” Pierre laughed out loud to the sky instead of reflecting on his action. With his tall build, the action seemed to assert dominance to Nely who was on the ground.

He finally returned his sight to her and lent out his hand. “Are you alright, the Guardian’s little bird?”

She hesitated a bit before touching his hand but took it after all. It would hurt her conscious to reject such goodwill with no particular reason.

Thank you, she bowed lightly.

“Don’t be. If you want to then, thanks the God for letting us have the chance to meet on this good day.”

Yeah, sure. Nely replied dubiously from his priest-ish words. She did not know whether God really exists or not, but she does thankful to him on a daily basis. After all, excluding the thing about Selv, her days here was fun.

“Father, may I ask you something?”

“Of course you can, my dear Mary. Ask me anything as long it’s something I’m permitted to answer!”

So there was something he was not permitted to answer? Like does God exist or not? Nely thought but decided not to point that out.

“Father and Selv have known each other for a long time, right?”

“Indeed, my child. We’ve known each other since far back in the past where not even your grandfather was born yet. It was back when the world was at war with Hero and Demon King as their leader-”

“That kind of stuff is fine. What we want to ask is whether Father knows of the Guardian’s weakness?”

Mary cut his story before it became a dull grandfather story, which would not end no matter how much time had passed, and asked him straight.

“Of course! His weakness or two are something within my realm of knowledge. Like this, that, or even that kind of stuff. Once I decided to unravel my mouth, he would hang his head and rolled on the ground, begging for mercy!”

The children all let out an impressed sound. As expected from father, they thought. There was nothing he didn’t know.

“You want to know?”

All the children nodded furiously. They waited for his next words with eyes focused on him so much they forgot to blink, body also leaning forward.

Of course, Nely was the same. She opened her ears wide so she would not miss anything. She was so eager she forgot that she was bad with him and moved closer.

That was why his next words disappointed them.

“It’s a shame, but I won’t tell.”

“Eeeee,” they cried. The anticipation that had been built up to this point plumed down at an astonishing rate.

“Come, one father! Don’t be a jerk and tell us!”

“Geo is right! After saying all that it’s too cruel to leave us hanging like this, father!”

Boo, boo. Even the younger children showed their dissatisfaction by booing and threw him words like meanie, stingy, hate you.

“Hahahaha.”

In response to that, Pierre let out a satisfied laugh, which was more annoying than usual to Nely, because it went smoothly. It seemed that was not limited to Nely because Geo and some other younger boys started kicking and punching him. The man, however, was unconcerned by their puny attacks and did not stop his laughter.

Only after the children were tired from lashing out their emotions, Pierre explained his reasoning.

“What good comes from knowing someone’s weakness? None. To hold someone’s weakness means to hold power over them. And possessing power, my child, doesn’t do much good. Granted, we seek power to protect our loved one. But, that kind of thinking is the same as doubting other people’s good.”

Pierre explained how power could only take something from others. Seeking power itself was also bad because not only it made people pursuing the endless cycle, it could drown people in it. Once they drowned, they will think power was everything and with it they could do anything. Stealing, murder, bullying. All kinds of bad deeds were caused by power, he explained.

“And that was something we should not do,” he told them again.

Of course, by the time he finished speaking, almost all the children had stopped listening to him. They became bored with the difficult explanation and were asleep or doing something else.

“Then, what should we do if people do bad things to us?” Mary, one of the few who listened, asked, unconvinced by his explanation.

Although her stand was a bit different, Nely would also ask the same question. She agreed on the point power was a bad thing. But, she didn’t know what she should do in that situation. Should she let them be or pay them back?

Pierre smiles softly and spoke with a kind tone.

“Give them kindness.”

“?”

His words caused Nely and Mary to both crocked their head in wonder. They looked at each other in hope for an answer, but either of them was just as lost.

“Um, why should we give them kindness?” Mark asked with a tone so unsure it sounded like she was also unsure whether she should ask about it or not.

Pierre was prepared for that question and explained it so they would understand.

“God teaches us to love thy neighbor. It’s because kindness is a powerful force that prevents and helps people from falling to evil. Imagine a world where people steal because someone stole something from them. Can you say that to be wonderful? O’ the almighty God in Heaven, no. Instead, try close your eyes and imagine a world where people help others.”

Nely did as she was told and closed her eyes. She imagined there was this person. He was someone who cares for others. Every morning he would greet his neighbor with a smile, offers help to those in needs, and share what he had with others. In return, people also greet him, help him back, and share what they have. She thought it was wonderful.

But, what if bad people came to his life and used him. They would return his greeting with a silent, asked his help even though they can do it themselves, and took everything he could offer for nothing in return. It was a one-sided deal which does nothing good for him.

But still, because that person was kind he would not stop helping them. Even when his body was tattered, things all gone, he would call out to them with a smile.

Does kindness, in the end, could change the heart of those people? Perhaps, or maybe not.

Putting that aside, she could not bear to see such a person around. If it were her, she would kick those bad people’s butt and drove them away. Yes, a good deed deserves another. A tooth or a tooth. She did not fully understand the ideal Pierre had, but to her, that way was more natural.

“I see. It’s a wonderful world, father!”

Her thoughts were broken by Mary’s voice. It seemed she was in the opinion with Pierre.

“Hahaha, I see. I see. It made me happy to hear you also embrace God’s teaching, My child, Mary!”

He patted her head, which causes Mary to squirmed from shyness.

“Geez, father. I’m not a child anymore.”

“You children are always a child to me,” he said, not stopping his hand from patting.

Mary gave up from correcting him and let out a fed-up sigh. She was nearly at the age to start rebelling against her parent. So, a bit of dissatisfaction was there. But, the beet red and thin smile on her face betrayed her action.

Once he stopped patting her, he addressed Nely whose eyebrows were knitted together.

“It seems you’re not in agreement, the Guardian’s little bird.”

Nely nodded in response. She was about to write her thoughts before Pierre stopped her with his words.

“It’s a trial from God,” he said. “On whatever humans are good or bad by nature. Even if it means throwing myself to the pit of hell itself, I’ve decided the decision to walk on this thorny path. Will you follow this path of mine or a different one; it is for you to decide.”

Nely had no idea on what he had been through. In her mind, she thought of a few bad results that might befall. It was only a grain of sand from the vast sandy beach. He had experienced many, so many that reciting it now would not end even on the next morning.

If he heard her example, he would say it was still on the cute part. There was much more pain involved, both physically and mentally, in this road.

But, there was no way for her to know about that. Which was why, feeling unfairness from his vague answer, she bent her mouth down.

“Hahaha, as expected from the Guardian’s little bird. You’re hard to please,” he said somewhat amused.

It had been on her mind for a while, but what did she mean by the Guardian’s little bird? It didn’t make sense why he called her that. Also, she was not happy because it felt like an insult or some sort. She thought about asking and also complaining about it.

But, it was then the bell sounded.

“Children, It’s time for the afternoon mass.”

“Yes!”

The children cheerfully replied and went inside the church.

“Aw, we haven’t played anything,” Mary said, showing a brief disappointment before she turned around. “See you later, Nely.”

She bid her farewell and followed her younger brothers and sisters.

“I too shall follow them, shortly. What about you? Do you have any interest in joining us?”

Nely had participated in the mass a few times after she played with Mary and the children. But, because she had something to do today, she declined with a shake.

“I see. How unfortunate.”

Nely turned around and was about to leave the place when Pierre stopped her.

“It is pitiful to make you come here for nothing. So, I shall tell you a little secret between us.”

He bent down his tall body until around Nely’s height, then gestured her to come closer. Albeit, a bit suspicious, she lent him an ear.

“?!”

Receiving an unexpected attack to her ear, she jumped back in shock and covered her ear with both hands. Surprised and confused, she could only stare at the man with a reproaching look.

“You know, he unexpectedly also weak in the ears,” he said with a smirk before leaving her alone.

Nely absently blanked there for a while before shouting in her mind.

What was that?! And how he knew about it?!

Speculations and wild imaginations ran amok in her head with no one to stop her. Soon, she would find herself covering her face which had become beet red although no one was looking.

What that helpful information? It was for her to decide.

Either way, she decided to put that aside for later consideration and headed to her next destination, still with a slightly red face.