It had only been a brief encounter yet Sache couldn’t get rid of the thoughts building up within her. If she couldn’t get rid of it then she should suppress it.

“Everything’s going well. As it should be. Who knows maybe even a little would tell me something important.” A small encounter wouldn’t dissuade her from her goal. Braving her journey with a happy smile, she moved on.

Nothing should ever stop her from striving towards her goal. Even her dream.

Standing before a cliff facing a great ocean, Sache wasted no time and jumped off. This was the only way to find this lost Legend, to face her fear and resolve herself to confront it face first. After all, death’s the most terrifying there is, right?

Freefalling, Sache felt unshackled for just a brief moment. Her hair went against the wind. Just feeling the gravity of the world do its thing, enveloping her body so that she wouldn’t need to do anything anymore. Free from the difficulty of choice.

Sache kept falling and falling yet she could never reach the bottom. The air brushed past her. It was still something she felt yet she didn’t move downward at all. She was in stasis.

Figuring it out, Sache went over to her bag and let everything go. Countless items flew up, from the most basic items like rope and some money. These items disappeared within the blink of an eye. Sache didn’t even notice them disappear.

Taking out her shovel, she held onto it for a brief moment before letting go. It hovered around her for a brief moment, brief enough for Sache to reminisce about that encounter with the Faewurm. That brought a slight smile to her face.

One item disappeared followed by another, the next item was a crumpled letter. It no longer had anything within it but it was clear that it should disappear immediately. Sache held this crumbled note in her hands and sighed. Sache had let go.

A piece of paper like this should disappear quickly. Sache closed her eyes, not wanting to know where it went. Counting to five, she opened her eyes once again and realized that that piece of paper was still there. This defied all common sense. Sache recalled her proceeding journey because of that note.

Yet that piece of paper did not disappear.

Ignoring it, Sache decided to take even more items out. But it was getting difficult. Bottles of liquor filled her bag. She had no other choice but to take them out one by one. They flew faster than the previous one. Quickly clearing up her bag.

One after another, it was thrown out without another care in the world. Then, came a half-drunken bottle. Sache recalled the annoying memories that came with this one. She quickly threw it away in anger yet it stopped in place.

She couldn’t move it out of her bag.

Sache gritted her teeth, if this didn’t want to get out then so be it. She didn’t care at all.

At this point, her bag was nearly empty. At the bottom of her bag, she noticed something that she didn’t recognize. It was a small box. Sache tried to take it out of her bag yet it was stuck down there. She had no other choice but to enter her bag and open it from within.

Inside was five pieces of copper, a tuning instrument, and a coil of string. Right beside it, it said, ‘Backup.’ It was crudely sketched inside by what seemed to be a complete novice at carving. This carver must’ve been quite weak, frail even, since it the marks were barely deep enough to notice what it said.

Sache didn’t understand. What was this doing here? She shouldn’t have this at all. After all, she didn’t have a personal instrument of her own.

Sache took out the Symphony Lute and tried to make sense of it. Despite her firm grip, the Symphony Lute flew out faster than anything she had taken out. It was already out of her sight by the time she noticed.

A wave of confusion filled Sache’s face. She didn’t understand but she wished to.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

There were three items still left behind. A note that was barely out of her reach, a half-drunken bottle she couldn’t take out, and a stationary small box at the bottom of her bag. Sache needed to get rid of these three things.

They were burdens to what she desired after all. Oh, so, very, very desired. Anything for her goal.

There was no other choice. She had to cut it off.

Sache took the note and placed it back inside her bag. She tried to maneuver in mid-air yet it was difficult. There was no foothold to leverage herself, there was nothing that could help her. It only relied on herself.

Sache reached out to the two straps of her bag. She touched one of the straps. It was cold. Slowly taking it out, she could hear a voice talking to her.

“Going to get rid of all that baggage?” A bird chirped right beside her. It had spoken human language. What made it stand out was its vibrant multi-colored feathers. If anything spoke festive, it was this bird.

“What is it to you? It’s mine.” Sache stopped her act. She was just holding onto the strap. As if she was waiting for something.

“You aren’t as nice as I heard you to be.” Its voice sulked yet it was still heavily invested in this conversation.

“It’s heavy. And I’m tired. I don’t have the energy to keep playing along.” Her eyes lost its luster.

“You’re falling down, girlie. You sure you just want to throw it all away? You still have a choice.”

“What else can I do to get what I want? Tell me.” Her voice was no longer excited and lovely. It was desperate. It was lonely.

“You don’t want what you want. Don’t you like to sing songs?”

“No! I want to sleep soundly at night! I want to feel safe! I want someone to tell me it’s okay to be sad!” Yet she no longer had tears to shed.

“You know what people want from me? They want me to make them happy but what about me? What about if I just disappear? No one would know. Cut off everything away and just live by myself in my own world. And the world just might be better without me.”

“Well, you didn’t reach out. People were there you know? Elias was there to reach out when you needed him. Steward was writing down everything you said, recording them for the future. Even that fool, Grayson, went out of his way to try and help you. You shunned them all away.” Rainbow colored its body yet its voice was destructive.

“I didn’t…”

“You ran away from Elias. He listened to you without anything in return. And what did you do? Deep in the night, you disappeared from his sights. Did you or did you not?”

“He didn’t do enough.”

“Steward has been sitting in that forest for a few years now. He has been gathering the people you have helped. He’s been waiting you know? Been waiting until when he’ll be needed. He’s had a very high status as a Legend, the History Keeper. If not for him, Valde would’ve killed you back then.”

“He was too far away from me.”

“Grayson’s stupid. He got you hurt. He blindly followed right behind you. And what did you do? Tell me, Sache.”

“I made him stay back…”

“Valde destroyed your… you forgot. There’s no point in talking about this then.”

Sache clenched her fists. The only thing that came up in her mind was that small mysterious box filled with completely worthless items.

“That kingdom praised you. Do you know why they praised you? You saved them and countless others from a looming danger. And how did you do such a thing? By letting Valde out. He’s been doing good for the world, getting rid of all the dangerous Tales everywhere.”

“He’s still evil.”

“Evil. At this point, it’s subjective Sache. You see them as evil. But they aren’t. They’ve tried to pry you away from your delusions yet all you’ve done is hurt them back. He might’ve been brash in his decisions but he means well.”

The bird continued in a grimmer tone, “The world cannot let Immorality exist. And you know that, don’t you? The Storyteller inside you is saying that it cannot exist. If it ever exists, the world will break apart from the strain it puts on it.”

“I have a promise to fulfill! You don’t know anything! Anything at all!” Sache started hyperventilating. The bird was wrong. It was completely and utterly wrong. It didn’t understand. The only person who understood Sache was herself. Why should she even bother telling those who don’t even understand her anything?

“You’re making a mistake, Sache. You can’t keep living in the past.” The bird was completely unaffected as a dangerous wave exuded from Sache’s body.

Be quiet.

The bird could no longer speak.

Sache took off a strap. Like a restraint, she was removing it from herself.

The bird couldn’t say anything anymore but it could still act out. It rushed it towards Sache and tried to keep it in. It couldn’t let her disregard her humanity. She wasn’t going to leave things unresolved like this.

Go away.

The bird was forcefully removed. It could not control its body as Sache held onto the last strap of her bag.

I don’t need a heart.

Saying so, she removed it. She was no longer shackled by her past. She’s just living in her own world now. No consequences, no pain, no misery, just herself. She should be happy now.