"I... Where am I?”
Asked the young lady herself, looking around. The environment was silent; it was kind of dark. She feels like there’s intense pain around her, but that pain doesn’t emanate from her. As if she is in the center of all the pain. But whenever she moves her head to look towards the pain she feels, there is no one there—just infinite darkness with some light haze on the horizon.
“Why?”
A sound mumbled, right behind the young girl. She gulps, slowly turns behind, and sees someone behind the light haze. Haze was being dispersed, and there was a lady smiling at her. She was troubled.
“Wait, mom? Where are we?”
The young lady asked curiously and started to walk towards the old lady in her vision, but the distance between them stayed the same.
“Why.. You didn’t have to. We had all the things.."
The old lady whispers, then her eyes start leaking out red liquid, as if she is bleeding out of her closed eyes.
“WHY!” the old lady yelled. The young lady was frozen, and tears brought to her eyes. She mumbled,
“I didn't mean to.."
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The silence of the morning was broken with a scream. Alicia jumped up in her bed; her eyes were teary.
“Noooooo!” she yelled.
“Not this dream again."
There were chicken sounds nearby. After she received the payment of 5 gold coins from Robert last week, her mother purchased few chickens and repaired the roof so that it wouldn’t drip again during the rain. New clothes and carpets were adding color to the interior.
“Calm down; it’s just a stupid dream. Everything is going just fine.”
Alicia mumbled. She stood up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. She washed her face with the well water that was picked up by their neighbor. She then walked down to the living room and saw Polina preparing breakfast.
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“Moom! Good morniiing!”
Alicia already forgot that weird dream she saw. The silence and softness of the morning were enough to bring her happiness, as she was an easy-going girl with hopeful thoughts.
“Good morning, my baby girl.”
Polina smiles at her daughter and kisses her chubby cheeks, then puts down the plates on the table.
“Eheh! I like how we are now able to eat eggs every day. I feel like we are noblemen now.”
Alicia says with a smile and rubs her cheeks with her small hand to wipe the wetness from her mother’s kiss. Then she sits at the table and starts eating her breakfast. There were cherry tomato and pepper plants in their small garden, so their plate was filled with them, plus the cheese Polina bought from the market and the bread from the bakery.
“Today is a big day for you, Alicia, so please be kind to Mr. Gobell while you are with him. He is a busy merchant.”
Polina says. Alicia was supposed to start working for Gobell, the village’s known merchant. He was known for being kind and understanding, though he liked his profit margins as well.
“Do I really have to, mom? I can always gather a few more weeds, and BAM! 5 more gold coins! Eheh.”
Alicia chuckles childishly; cuteness was beaming out of her happy face. Polina was adoring the youth and cuteness of her daughter. She put her hand under her chin and watched her daughter chuckle happily for a few seconds.
“Yes, you are growing up, and you need to learn about how things work in the world. Everything has value depending on the conditions. I believe Mr. Gobell will be an excellent teacher for you while you work and earn with him.”
Polina explains, while Alicia didn’t like the idea of her working much. Her friend Samara was also sent to work in a tailor shop. Alicia wants to continue hanging out with her friend like before, but since Samara was busy, Alicia was facing some boring alone time by herself, so she didn’t protest her mother’s idea of working in merchandise so much.
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Weeks passed, and Alicia learned the basics of being a merchant, at least the basic concepts of expenses and profit. Gobell was traveling between neighboring villages with her horse cart, and she helped him by showing customers the items they were carrying. Gobell was giving a share of the revenue to Alicia, and Alicia was content with her position. There were two more companions in their caravan:
Chloe, an absolute angelic person in her mid-30s who cares for everyone around her, especially children. Chloe was the one who looked after Alicia, making sure she was well fed and rested. Chloe was raised in church as an orphan, and she likes to share her earnings with other children in the villages they travel to. She has pitch black hair, milky white skin, brown eyes, a peaceful smile, and never-ending happiness on her face.
Chloe was fond of Alicia; she sees herself as her older sister. She likes to pinch Alicia’s soft cheeks from time to time, which Alicia hated at first but gave in after a while, now that she volunterily pushes her cheeks into Chloe’s caring palms while snuggling her arms. Alicia was happy that she found someone so caring during her merchant job.
The other member of the group was Robin, a young lad in his early 20s with dark brown skin, a hineous smirk, and a scar over his small nose that lays all the way down over the left corner of his lips. He was mostly silent, but he likes to make absurd statements about his past journeys.
Both Chloe and Robin were hired as protection. Alicia could imagine Robin as a fighter figure, as he carries his bow and his short dagger. But Chloe never shows any brute side; Alicia couldn’t think of her fighting against wild animals, yet alone thugs. Chloe carries her bag of drugs and linen cloth. As she was raised in a church, she got medical training there. Alicia thought that Chloe was probably with them in case someone injured themselves.
“Come here, sweety, and you too; don’t be shy! Here, take this.”
Chloe was kneeling down in front of a few young children and giving away some bread to them in the next village they set foot in. Alicia was watching that scene in awe while Gobell was negotiating with the village elder for some items, with a few village shop owners waiting in line.
“You are amazing. I hope that one day I will be just like you. Alicia says as she steps in, while Chloe is petting the children she is giving bread to. “You are always so calm." Alicia clings to Chloe’s arm, as she wants to snuggle in her arms too.
“You are adorable, sweety. Here.” Says Chloe, and without warning she puts some soft piece of the bread in Alicia’s mouth.
“Nomnom..” Alicia noms on the bread. It was a warm piece of bread, inside soft, outside crunchy. As Alicia enjoys that, she also embraces the warm feeling of Chloe’s arms cuddling her, Chloe’s soft and warm breath was rubbing onto her arched nose.. It was a silent morning, and sun was rising slowly.
Winds was chill and gentle. The sunlight that was leaking in between the hair grains of Chloe was falling onto Alicia’s cheeks. Alicia smiles, she felt happy, and wanted this moment to continue.
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“Not that cheap, punk; do you think that’s made out of rocks or what? This is pure cotton! Ahaha!”
Gobell yells at one of the shop owners during their negotiation. He was a happy guy during the business, as he enjoyed his job. Meanwhile, Robin was staring at one black cat, as the cat was staring back at him in the corner of the main square of the village.
“Here, this is your share!”
"Thanks, Mr. Gobell!”
Gobell hands out some bronce coin pieces to Alicia, and Alicia puts them in her poach. Alicia looks at Robin and Chloe. Robin was storing new items on the horse cart, while Chloe was smiling at her. Alicia walks towards Chloe and whispers...
“Um, Chloe, why doesn't Mr. Gobell give you anything?”
Says Alicia curiously.
“Both me and Robin are here to make sure the travel goes safe and smoothly. We are pre-paid the half, and we will receive the other half when we arrive at our last destination.”
Chloe answered with her soft and soothing voice. Her hands were gathered on her front, and her black hair was dancing around with the caressing of the gentle wind.
“The last destination? Where is it, Chloe?”
Alicia asks as she blinks cluelessly.
“We will be heading towards the city of Handerwall, the capital of the Duchia of Yawl.”
Alicia nods after Chloe answers. Alicia heard about that city, the city where the mansion of the Duchess Orlanda was stated. Her mother, Polina, was telling stories about the Duchess Orlanda and her struggle against barbarians in the west when Alicia was young. She felt excited to go see them; she thought that probably the contract between Gobell and Robert and Chloe would be over there, and Gobell was to hire new people for the reversal of the trip back to her village.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
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Fungi is an interesting creature; it's neither a bacteria, an animal, nor a plant. It's yet to fully comprehend these creatures and how they function, yet it's observed that sometimes fungi that cover the earthbed of a forest could communicate with each other... even respond to events that were happening on the other side of the forest.
Some fungi evolved to leach on animal neural systems as a parasite and mannipulate the host for the interests of the parasite. As all living beings, fungi are also subjected to random mutations during their life cycle, and the new variant of some fungi type seems to strive on the human brain surface in some areas. If spores were to get into a human's mouth or nose, then they would stop their growth after they reached their limits.
However, it doesn't seem to affect the host the way some parasitic fungi affect their bug hosts. It seems to have no effect at all, with one exception: an evolved fungus that stimulates other fungi colonies on the surface of infected humans with its spores in extreme brain activity, which causes infected human behaviors to be mannipulated the way the evolved fungi host hoped for.
Such evolved fungi seem to be inside of just a single person so far.
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It was dark outside, and the horse cart was moving gently on the dirt road of the forest. The tips of the city of Handerwall's tall walls were visible during the dawn. Right now, dim moonlight and a torch Robin was holding were the only light sources around. Some bug sounds were audible, tree branches were moving gently, and an owl was singing somewhere in the forest.
"Mhm, this road is just so broken, I can't even..." Alicia mumbles, cuddled up in Chloe's arms. Chloe was smiling down at that cute young girl in her arms, kissing her soft hair from time to time.
"You smell like a flower, Chloe, mhm."
Alicia added.
"Shh, just try to rest. Tomorrow, we will enjoy the streets of the city. You need to store your energy, sweety."
Chloe says, as she also closes her eyes... It was a soft, calm night after all.
"Once we were in a forest, we saw a giant bear the size of a tree! I promise, that's true!"
Robin says this with an excited face, holding the torch in a way to make his face scary.
"There was a princess on the road, and his prince left her alone there! The bear was about to crush her with its feet. And you know what happened?"
Robin continues. Gobell smirks and asks with a calm and bored voice:
"What? Oh, you jumped there and saved the princess? No, you probably slayed the bear in half first, ahaha!"
"Hey, this is my story, Mr. Gobell, and I did save her! And it was a giant bear, I swear."
Robin pouts as he looks at others in the cart. Girls were sleeping; he stared down at Alicia and gulped.
A soft pink blush fell on his cheeks. He has feelings for Alicia, but Alicia finds boys annoying, and Robin was a silent character to begin with. He was also destined to part ways with the caravan due to their contract when they arrived in the city, so it was hopeless to begin with, thought Robin. Gobell was driving the cart as the horse pulling the cart was moving with its audible steps.
Robin looked up at the sky. The dark sky was filled with stars, as if it were a sea of candles. He smiles; he feels light; he feels so light—incredibly light—that he doesn't understand this feeling.
--Flop!--
"Hmh, did you let one of the bags fall or what? And where is our torch light, Robin? Hold it up, boy!" Gobell says, but no response was given. He was about to turn his face around, but...
--Fiuuvv--
The horse started screaming in pain, and it then fell down on the ground and started to kick its legs up in the air in pain.
"What's going on?!"
Yelled Gobell.
"Mhm, what happens? Where is Robin?"
Asks Chloe, as Robin was supposed to sit on the other side of the cart in front of them. Alicia puts one arm over her ear to continue sleeping as before, annoyed by the sounds around.
"Robin! Where are you? Oh no."
Gobell stood up in the cart and looked back. He saw the body of Robin, drenched in blood, and there was an arrow in his chest.
"What on earth, boy? Wake up, everyone!"
He stomps his feet on the cart a few times, then jumps down to the ground, and he sees another arrow on the head of the horse.
"Alicia, wake up now! Open your eyes!"
Chloe shakes Alicia in her hands, looking down at her. Alicia hasn't seen such a serious face in Chloe before.
"What is going on, mhm?" Alice was still sleepy and tried to wake up, rubbing her eyes. At that time, some foot steps appeared on the road. They were holding torches and swords; they seemed like a rag-tag thug group.
"Look at this, some sweet, sweet treasure for the night."
said one black and red-dressed thug, walking forward between other thugs and getting closer to the cart.
"Alicia, over there!"
Chloe points to Robin; they both jumped off of the cart and ran towards the boy, who was lying down on the ground with no sign of movement.
"Robin, no. Oh noo. You. Why! Hicc!"
Everything was so nice; Alicia was so happy before all this happened. She was confused to wake up in this mess, and her tears were falling down her soft cheeks down to her chin, which drips down onto the bloody chest of Robin.
"Y-You.. You mustn't die! You must live! Hic!"
Alicia keeps crying as Chloe, who was preparing bandages and some solution, starts wiping off Robin's green shirt. His chest was moving up and down, which was a good sign.
"I... I can't die here. I can't!"
Gobell shouts and starts to run in the opposite direction with all his power.
"Mr. Gobell, where are you going? You can't leave Robin like this!"
Chloe yells at him as some of the thugs begin unloading the cart, but few of them walk towards the girls.
"I will add you girls to my collection."
Smirks, the red-black-dressed thug. One fat thug holds the wrist of Alicia with his hand and pulls her up, away from Robin.
"L-Let me go! Let go of me, you fat pig!"
Alicia's sadness started to evolve into a strong hatred.
"You are the one responsible for Robin, and he.. he.. Hicc! Hey, how dare you, you fat ugly pig!" She yells more, and before the fat thug slaps her across the face that she fell on next to Robin, her nose starts bleeding.
"We have a rebel here among us, it seems. Maybe you are rebellious enough to join us. Uh wha.."
The speech of the red-black-dressed thug was cut in half as he saw that the fat thug was falling to the ground. Chloe, who now holds two blades in her hands, was standing next to the motionless body of the fat thug. Fat Thug's neck was deeply cut open.
"What the hell? We were just talking, you wild beast!"
Yelled the red-black-dressed thug.
"Boss, can't we keep that woman alive? We can use her!"
Says one thug, but the 'boss' he refers to, the red-black-dressed thug, was gritting his teeth with anger.
"You can use her when she is dead."
He says. Chloe was crying softly as she held her daggers tightly in her hands. Alicia looks at the scene in front of her and looks down at Robin, where the arrow was removed and the bandage was covering his chest, but the bandage itself was drawn in red as well. She wipes her wet cheeks with her hands and stares at Chloe.
"Chloe..."
Alicia mumbles; she couldn't realize Chloe would be a fighter in such a scene.
"Run! Follow Mr. Gobell in this direction, and run away now! Go!"
Chloe yells as the thug boss draws his sword.
"That's no longer your business; you are dead."
Thug Boss mumbles as he swings his sword. Chloe successfully avoided his sword, but the sword of the thug that was behind her stabs her all the way until his sword passes through her chest.
"That's what I am talking about."
Thug boss says with a smirk. Chloe moving her lips desperately as she was staring at Alicia, as if she was trying to speak, but all she could do was grunt. Blood is thrown out of her mouth whenever she tries to talk.
On the other hand, Alicia was frozen. Was she dreaming? Chloe, the one who cared and loved her during all this time. No, Alicia was annoyed when she met with Chloe, as Chloe was pinching her soft cheeks all the time. But. Now, the thing Alicia wants most is to feel her cheeks pinched by Chloe while she snuggles her arms. Chloe was puking blood in front of her. Alicia couldn't run, couldn't breathe, and couldn't react. She was frozen in shock.
"...like that..."
Thug boss swings his sword along Chloe's neck; her motionless head fell down on the ground, dusked in bloody dirt. Alicia lost all the power on her knees; she fell on her knees, and her face was dull and pale.
"H-H-How.. D-Dare.."
Alicia mumbles.
"What did you say, you little bug?"
Thug boss approaches Alicia, holds her neck, and raises her up in the sky. Alicia is shaking in fear, and tears fill her eyes as she stares at Thug boss's eyes.
"Do you see her? If you aren't a good girl, your head will end up like hers. Do you understand?"
Thug boss whispers with a smirk. Alicia looks down. Chloe's blood was dripping down from the thug boss' sword. She looks at Chloe again, her body is now being stripped by the thugs. She snapped.
"She, Hicc, was an angel. How DARE you?!"
She wrapped her smol hands around the wrist of the thug boss's hand, which was holding her neck.
"Robin was my friend, and Chloe. She helped so many people! Hicc! She didn't even collect money for herself, giving it all away to the children! Hicc!"
Her anger was visible in her now-red eyes, tired of crying.
"I guess you can't be helped, girl."
Thug boss says as he raises his sword.
"She didn't harm anyone. All she did was to love others. And she pinched my cheeks! I... why did you? No! The only ones that must die are you!"
Alicia shouted in anger; this is the first time she wished death upon someone. Her small fingers were wrapped around Thug's wrist, though Thug's boss doesn't seem to be bothered by that much.
"Ahahaha! You are a cheeky little w... Hmm.. I think you are correct."
Thug boss says other thugs were behind him; they were waiting for him to pull up a trick or a nice quote before he ends the girl.
"You are right."
Thug boss let go of Alicia's neck; she fell down on her buttocks.
"Ouww!"
Alicia holds her hips while looking down at her dosty clothes, and then she hears people shouting.
"What did you just do?"
"Boss, snap out of it!"
"What the hell are you doing?"
Thugs were screaming. Alicia raises her hand and sees the thug boss staph himself a few times in the chest, until he falls down lifeless. Other thugs began gathering around his dead body.
"What the hell was that?"
"No, he did correct..."
"That girl was right, after all."
"Yes, she is right."
They kept talking; some of them were smirking while they drew their weapons.
"Yes, we must die."
They also started stabbing themselves; some of them were giggling. Alicia watched this grusome, bloody scene until it all fell lifeless.
"I.. How?!"
She looked around, then ran to Chloe; her eyes got teary all over again. She softly held and raised the head of Chloe and put her head down next to Chloe's body. Alicia was slowly playing with Chloe's hair.
"No, I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this.. Hicc.."
She cried for a while.
"A-Alicia."
Alicia was irked as she heard someone whisper her name. She looked back, in the direction where Robin was lying down on the ground.
"Robin!"
....