Chapter 3: Dream

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A group of children sat together in an empty, whitewashed room with the smell of chemicals lingering in the air. The only sources of light were dimly flashing on the ceiling, seemingly ready to die out. A little girl could be heard crying as she hugged her knees, visibly trembling.

"When are we going to leave this place?..." (Boy 1)

A boy quietly said as he darkly stared at the only door in the room, a rusty metallic door.

"Soon...We'll be able to leave soon...Alright?..." (Girl 2)

A slightly older girl was sitting next to the little girl while rubbing her back, trying her best to comfort her.

"That's what they said before! When are we actually going to leave?!?!... How long are they going to keep doing this to us?!?!" (Boy 1)

He burst into anger, glaring at the girl.

Mixed feelings flew across the older girl's face, but her eyes remained unwavering.

With a bitter face, he slammed his fist into the ground, slightly jolting the other boy that was next to him.

"Why h-haven't the others come back yet?...W-What's going to happen to us?..." (Girl 1)

The little girl spoke in a tearful voice with her shoulders shaking,

"I-I'm scared..." (Girl 1)

"It'll be okay...Just hang in there...We'll be okay..." (Girl 2)

The slightly older girl hugged the little girl while humming.

A calm, soothing melody gently floated around the area.

The tense atmosphere slowly quieted down.

Everyone stared blankly at the ground, tears welling in their eyes.

The sound of a door unlocking echoed throughout the area before it slowly creaked open.

"Subject number 69." (???)

The boy who made the previous outburst trembled, knowing what would happen if he didn't leave right this instant. He got up and slowly walked towards the door.

Time slowly ticked by.

One by one, the figures of the children slowly started to disappear until only the slightly older girl and the quiet boy remained.

Noticing the lifeless expression that he had in his eyes, she gently brushed his hair, 

"Mm?..." (Boy 2)

He slowly looked towards her confusedly.

"Everything's going to be alright...Okay?...Cheer up a little...We'll make it out together." (Girl 2)

She cheerfully smiled while continuing to brush his hair with her delicate hands.

"How do you know?... Aren't you scared?..." (Boy 2)

With an indifferent voice, the boy blankly stared at her.

"I honestly don't know and yeah...I'm really scared...But I think it's better to have a little bit of hope while doing something instead of moping around and doing nothing...Don't you think?..." (Girl 2)

The boy widened his eyes at her response as the door slowly creaked open again,

"Subject number 71." (???)

"Take care..." (Girl 2)

The girl quietly whispered before she stood up with a cheerful smile, giving the boy a gentle pat on the head before walking out towards the door.

He unconsciously reached out towards her as she slowly got further away from him.

"Don't....Go...Please...." (Boy 2)

Steps echoed throughout the room, her figure continuing to distance away.

"Please! Don't go!... Don't leave me!" (Boy 2)

His voice became hoarse, pleading towards her disappearing figure.

"I don't want to be alone..." (Boy 2)

Tears drifted down his face as she passed through the door.

"Please..." (Boy 2)

The door slowly slammed shut.

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The child jolted awake, quickly looking around his surroundings.

He was in a bedroom.

"Is everything alright?... I heard screaming." (???)

A figure with a familiar voice dressed in a nightgown stood in front of the doorway to the room before walking towards him.

"Big Sister?..." (Child)

The child could see Vella's worried expression as she got closer, slowly sitting next to him.

"Did you have a bad dream?..." (Vella)

The child trembled and slowly nodded.

Noticing the tears drifting down his face, she gently wiped them,

"I hate those, I just had one as well." (Vella)

Lovingly hugging the child, she started brushing his hair, finally feeling him calm down.

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"I..." (Child)

The child paused, hesitating to let out his voice.

Vella patiently waited with a face that urged him to go on.

Tightly gripping his fingers, his knuckles slowly turned white,

"Don't want to be alone..." (Child)

His voice weakly trembled as he tried to adjust to the pain that lingered within his heavy heart.

"I also feel the same way." (Vella)

She softly responded with a smile.

"Each time I'm alone, or I'd lose something, there'd be a pain right here." (Vella)

She gently pulled him away before hovering her hand above her heart.

"You're feeling the same, right?..." (Vella)

The child nodded and gave a pleading look towards Vella,

"...How do you stop the pain?..." (Child)

Pausing, she tilted her head towards the ceiling, a complicated look could be seen on her face as she thought about it,

"The pain...It doesn't go away completely." (Vella)

The child looked crestfallenly at her before he turned and hugged his knees,

"...I hate it..." (Child)

Vella's heart trembled, noticing how vulnerable the little child was,

"It doesn't go away completely...But there are ways to prevent it from happening." (Vella)

Slowly turning towards Vella, he looked at her with a glint of hope in his eyes.

She lightly laughed with relief when she saw them,

"Haha...Whining isn't one of those ways though, sadly enough." (Vella)

Gently patting the child on the head, she continued,

"The path that I took in order to prevent it was one of hardship. I wanted to be able to take my life into my own hands, to have the ability to be free...I wanted to be able to protect my loved ones, I didn't want to ever lose anything again." (Vella)

Vella jokingly flexed her arm as an example,

"See? I'm strong right?" (Vella)

The boy nodded immediately.

"This all came from hard work, I wasn't like this before!" (Vella)

He looked at her in surprise,

"Eh?! Big Sister wasn't strong before?" (Child)

Vella firmly nodded,

"Mhm! I was actually really sick back then! I would usually stay in bed for weeks." (Vella)

She had a strained smile as she recollected her memories,

"It was really hard, I thought that there wasn't any hope for me. My body was very weak and I could barely move...There were many times where I thought it would be better to just give up and get it over with." (Vella)

A loving look could be seen in her distant eyes,

"I wasn't alone though...A certain man would always come to snap me out of it, he took great care of me, even when I was obviously being a burden. He was a hard-working man, a kind-hearted one as well. I always wondered why he never gave up on me...But at the same time..." (Vella)

She giggled as a sudden thought crossed her mind,

"Haha, anyways, my life changed for the better I think. He one day came and kinda just begged me to take an experimental medicine from some shady organization that I've never even heard of at the time. I had nothing to lose so I agreed, although now that I think about it...It probably would've been bad if something happened and I wasn't able to see him again huh?" (Vella)

Coughing at the sudden realization, she continued,

"I took the medicine and cured myself of my illness. Although, the price of doing such a thing was a shortened lifespan and a hefty contract with that organization. Surprise, surprise, the organization also happened to be one of the bigshots. After that, I went through years of training with a Teacher that I met through the organization in order to become stronger. I wasn't able to meet with the man that saved my life during and after my training, so I've always wondered how he was doing. I'm glad that I was just recently able to find out." (Vella)

She noticed that the boy was tilting his head in confusion,

"Ahh...Don't worry about it now, you'll understand all of this stuff later when you get older. Haha, sorry for talking so much!" (Vella)

Her awkward laughter filled the air before the room sunk into silence.

Collecting his thoughts, the boy shook his head and finally broke the silence,

"Uh-uh! It's okay!...Big Sister is really amazing...." (Child)

He stared at her in awe, as if admiring an idol.

"...Ah?...Eh?!...N-No...I'm not that amazing..." (Vella)

Vella looked extremely flustered as she fidgeted around with a reddening face.

He stared at the palm of his hands for a while before turning to her with the face of a person who had firmly come to a decision,

"I want to be strong like you..." (Child)

Vella suddenly had a serious expression on her face, looking at him straight in the eyes,

"Are you willing to put up with whatever you have to go through in order to become stronger?" (Vella)

The child slowly nodded in affirmation.

Unconvinced, she firmly held his shoulders while leaning in closer to get a better look at his face,

"Not anyone can become strong, a lot of time and effort needs to be put in, you can't instantly become strong...You might not like the things that you'll have to do either... It's a long and tough road to travel on. It'll hurt a lot and I can teach you...But I don't have time to teach people who aren't serious, even if the person is you." (Vella)

He desperately looked towards Vella,

"I don't want to be scared anymore...I want to be able to make my own choices, and I want to be able to protect the people that I care about! I don't want to be useless anymore..." (Child)

Memories flashed by as he said that.

The time where he first laughed and played in the dimly lit room with the other children that shared his fate, completely oblivious to the fact of what was happening around them. Their figures slowly faded one by one until only he and the cheerful girl were left again. Her bright smile as she hummed that gentle and soothing melody, her determined look as she said those words that were filled with hope and dreams.

Closing his eyes, he softly touched the area where the girl would brush his hair. Coincidentally, it was also around the same area where Vella would usually brush his hair,

"I just want everyone to be happy...I want everyone to laugh and to be able to dream..." (Child)

Clenching his fists, he opened his eyes to earnestly look at Vella.

A renewed, fiery determination flowed throughout his body and his eyes seemed to burn with confidence,

"I will do anything to make them come true!" (Child)

Vella nodded in satisfaction, a very warm smile could be seen on her face,

"Alright, I will do everything in my power to teach and guide you then. Always remember this moment, this determination that you've shown me. This will help you when things are getting too tough alright?... I won't go easy on you! Even if you're this adorable! But first..." (Vella)

She gently lowered his head onto her lap, brushing his hair,

"Rest...Your health's very important. We'll talk more about this tomorrow, it's getting really late." (Vella)

A soft humming melody floated throughout the room, soothing the child's mind.

His eyes started to become heavy as her hand brushed his hair. It was very warm, he could feel the amount of care that was given to him through her gentleness.

"I'm...Happy....." (Child)

A peaceful smile was left on his face as he drifted away to sleep.

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Bonus:

"Kyaaa! He's so cute when he's asleep!" (Vella)

Vella delightfully held the sides of her face as she shook in happiness.

"Ahhh...I should quiet down a little huh?... Ahh...I can't help myself! He's going to turn into such a handsome man! His determination sent shivers throughout my body! I'm so proud of him!" (Vella)

She lovingly looked at the child's sleeping figure before staring daggers at the door, bloodlust emanating from her.

"It's rude to eavesdrop!" (Vella)

The door slowly opened in response.

Gaiden was standing at the doorway, fully dressed in his suit.

"When did you find out that I was here?" (Gaiden)

Vella smirked at Gaiden's defeated figure,

"From the beginning, your elephant feet can be heard from anywhere you know?" (Vella)

Sighing, he scratched the back of his neck,

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever you say you abnormal woman..." (Gaiden)

He warmly observed the child's sleeping figure,

"You handled that pretty well...You've taken quite a liking to him huh?" (Gaiden)

Vella nodded enthusiastically,

"Of course!" (Vella)

A nostalgic, distant look suddenly appeared on her face,

"He's just like me from back then..." (Vella)

Gaiden quietly chuckled,

"Yeah, I noticed. You were also quite a handful back then, and you had just as many beliefs... Although he's more obedient compared to you, you were too rebellious for your own good." (Gaiden)

Vella puffed her cheeks in anger before a sudden realization hit her,

"Are you both going already?..." (Vella)

Gaiden solemnly nodded,

"We weren't supposed to even be here for that long in the first place. We were only able to stay for the night because of the encounter with the Devillian agents...I guess it could be said that our encounter with them was both a fortune and misfortune." (Gaiden)

He ignored the tearful look that she gave when he made his announcement.

Quietly walking over, he gently ruffled the child's hair and smiled,

"Don't worry though, we were given permission to make consistent visits with both of you when I notified headquarters of the incident though. They want the package to be as safe as possible since it's their pride and joy, but I don't know if Jayden wants to come back. Haha, I think he's had enough of forests." (Gaiden)

Instantly turning cheerful, she looked at Gaiden before giving him a teasing smile,

"Be safe alright?... It'd be a shame if I lost the person that's supposed to be supplying my requests." (Vella)

Haaa...This woman...

"Alright...Alright...I'll give you your things at a later date...Be sure to take care of yourself as well." (Gaiden)

Responding with a strained voice and smile, he politely bowed before exiting the room.