Novels2Search

Chapter 9

While I looked at Todd with disbelief, the surrounding crowd suddenly dispersed, moving away rather quickly as a name could be heard on their lips, "Zenna.".

Looking up, there was a bunny eared girl above me, her body flying towards me with a threatening speed as her legs stretched and aimed at my head. 

Before I knew it, a painful throbe appeared on my head as it was pushed down, causing my body to hit the ground and my eyes to fail. 

I was easily knocked unconscious by the girl named Zenna, the leader of this town, Hedlis. 

In my unconsciousness, strange dreams came to me. 

I had dreamt of the life before the apocalypse, I was a student in a prestigious high school, I had lived a bland life of studying. 

It was like my life revolved around studying, I did not have friends, and my parents were virtually non existent, I lived in a large house that was filled to the brim with expensive furnitures, but was strangely empty feeling with the lack of sounds. 

But other than dreams of my student life, there was a rather unsettling one that seemed to be fiction. 

This time, I similarly lived in an empty space, but it was empty not only because I was along, it was devoid of anything. 

It was a plain white room, but at one of the walls, was a window. 

Through the window was a lot of children, they lived in a room as well, but unlike my room, which only had padding at the floors and walls, theirs were properly furnitured, it was the colour of blue and was decorated with beds, tables and toys. 

They lived very happily, they played a lot as well. 

But I was not. 

No matter how I screamed, they couldn't hear me, they couldn't see me. 

And eventually, I just gave up. 

That, was the dream that eventually woke we up from my dream. 

Was it reality? I don't know, after all, my brain was used to creating fake delusions to compensate for my lack of memories. 

When I opened my eyes, a face appeared above mine, a face exactly similar to mine. 

In shock, I tried to recoil from the face that was obviously invading my personal space, but what my head smashed against was a pillow. 

I had been strapped onto a bed, my arms and legs tied so secularly that even my inhumane strength lost against it. 

"Do you remember anything?" She asked, her lips parting. 

In confusion, I scrutinized her appearance, she looked the same, she had the same pair or wings, the same tail, she was a mirror image of myself, but who was she?

"Who are you?" I ask, dazed. 

Could it be, I was in another dream? 

In response to my question, she shrugged and her hands moved to remove my restrains. 

"I wonder, who are you? As well. " she asked in reply. 

Released, I rubbed my wrists which were red and sore, I was probably struggling in my sleep. 

The slight pain told me, this was reality. 

"Where am I?"

"Our house."

"Todd?"

"Ah, he's in another room."

"I want to see him. "

"Even though he lied to you?"

"I want to know why."

"...Alright. " she turned around and walked to the door, opening it. 

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Following her, I walked out of the bleak room that only had a bed adorning it, and into a well maintained hallway. 

Made of wood, the walls were decorated with paintings, it was beautifully taken care of. 

Walking past only a few rooms, we came to a room with a plate number, 13.

Turning the knob, she had me enter before her, and who I saw on the ground was Todd. 

My restrains seemed to be rather kind now I had seen Todd, his wrists were tied together behind him and his legs were tied at the thighs and ankles. 

Even in his sleep, he seemed to be extremely uncomfortable as his head rested against the wall, in the middle of his brows a crease. 

He was frowning in his sleep.

"Todd?" I mutter his name. 

Of course, he who usually slept deeply did not wake easily, only after a harsh kick from me, my small revenge, he woke up with a start. 

"Ana."

"Is it true?" A small part of me wanted to believe him. 

But of course, my hopes were futile. 

"Yes."

"Who was I?"

He frowned even more as he replied after a long while of hesitation, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?!" I shouted in anger. 

"I can't."

"Why can't you? " I asked. 

"It hurts, I don't want to remember." he muttered softly, his pained eyes staring at me. 

"It's unfair.....for you to forget it all, why can't I forget it all as well?" he muttered again, looking down.

"Even though I lost everything, you were the one to forget." he spoke once again, this time looking at back at me after a long while, his eyes slightly red. 

"Even if it's a lie, can't we be happy with it?"

At the very end, my heart throbed. 

His words were too seductive. Those dreams, illusions I had, I was miserable. 

Even in this broken world, my life isn't that bad, was it? I did smile more than I did in those dreams. 

If those dreams were my previous life, I'd......rather live this lie. 

Taking a deep breath, I spoke, "Then, let's go back to the village."

I easily bit through his restrains, releasing him with my heart still throbbing. 

"How long has it been?"

"Two days." He replied, a murderous glint appearing in his eyes.

Rubbing his red sore wrists, he smiled bitterly, "Shall we go?"

Nodding, I stood up and walked to the door, opening it to see Ashley right outside as if she were waiting for me. 

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"With him?"

"Yes."

"Even though he lied?"

"Yes."

"What about our past? "

"I do not want to know."

"But I want to."

"And why should that concern me?"

"Because you will be useful."

At this point, our conversation was leading to nothing and was obviously endless, and as if sensing my distress, a voice appeared. 

"Shall we go eat?" It was Thomas, he had appeared at the hallway as well, leaning against the side of the wall.

"Good. I'm starving." Todd spoke up, as if completely forgetting his objective. 

But I knew, it was the better choice, we hadn't ate for two days, after all. 

Following Thomas, we went to the dining room at the first floor where three other people ate at.

Two of them were Mina and Zenna, both of whom we had already met, the remaining person was a man with a lanky built, his hair hanging to his shoulders and his skin adorned with scales. 

At his back, was a pair of beige, feathered wings. 

His hair, wings, scales, eyes were of a similar colour, beige, it was just like his animal was a dragon. 

Ignoring the existence of everyone else, Todd took he seat two spaces next to the lanky man, taking a plate of food that was placed in the middle of the table. 

Following him, I also took a plate of food that was prepared for us and sat next to him. 

Just like that, the seven of us ate silently, only until our cutlery was on the table, did Thomas speak up. 

"As you know, we are looking to find the reason of our existence." he started with a smile. 

"What do you mean?"

"We are not normal beings." he continued, "Have you heard of the 2018 Ayrshire Mine Disaster?"

Before I could reply, todd had spoken up, "The incident whereas a mine collaspe killed over two hundred men? "

"That is partially correct. However, the case of the collaspe and a majority of the deaths, is another disaster." He took a sip of his water, "The magic stones in our bodies, is incredibly useful, but when split open, it produces an explosion effect, releasing the mana it collects in large amounts into the atmosphere."

"That's..." I mutter.

"Impossible? It's just that you've never heard of it. That thing we produce, has an incredulously tough exterior that protects not only itself, but also us. It produces the new element in our earth, mana, which exists in the air in small amounts, and is liable for the changing and mutations."

At this point, Todd and I was absorbed in his words, these were things we have never heard of before. 

"On 2018, what the Ayrshire mines have unearthed, was the earth's first found creation of the Magic Ore. Unlike the magic stones, it does not have any outer layer, the moment it was unearthered, it released a huge wave of mana that instantly changed a miner, despite that the ore was only the size of a pea."

Now, it was evident, what the case of death was.

"Thay single pea sized ore was capable of doing so much." he muttered. 

"Then, the apocalypse....?"

"No, it wasn't that ore, it was a phenomenon that was bound to occur."

"How does that......relate to our...existence?"

"That ore started an experiment, our reason for existing came from that one incident. I can only remember bits and pieces of my childhood in that experiment, the same goes for everyone else. Our goal will be to return to the place we came from."

"Is that so." I muttered, deep in thought before something struck me. Instead of focusing on my past, something about the ecistence of the ores struck me. 

The sudden increase in magic stones.

That strange family that we escorted. 

"Where are the ores coming from, right now? "

"Hmm? Kleane city."

"How are we able to handle holding the ores?" 

"We have been exposed to the mana in the air for so long an immunity has been developed slowly. But the sizes of those mined ores are too small to cause anything."

"Does the miners at Kleane know what they can do?"

"No, they believe it to be the same as the Magic stones."

The moment he replied to my question, a scary thought struck me. 

I had to return to the town, my home.