It was less than an hour ago, I passed two doors since then but it's still very recent. And here I am, in front of another fucking farm. This one is a bit different, no crops fields around, just a very large fence with cows in it, a wood barn, a really big country house and a windmill.

Behind me was the edge of, yet again, a forest. I don’t know who designed this adventure or these worlds but he should really try to look up for the word originality in his dictionary.

As I arrived, I was still emitting a bit of sparkle, and half my body was covered in blood, but I was fine, I felt the electricity slowly fading away and my wounds had already closed up. However, as I appeared just a few meter away from the house, the farmer saw me.

“Are you alright young lady?”

He looks exactly like the other one, but without the beard. Same fatty old fart who take advantage of young girls to capture them and make them slaves.

I spite at his face and walked away to the forest. I’m sure I’m better on my own.

He didn’t say anything, he just look at my back with, I have to say, a peculiar expression I don’t really understand. Something like… regrets? Or sadness? It’s probably his way of being mad.

Then he gets back into his house, and I settled myself on a branch. I didn’t get the chance to sleep and this last fight had exhausted me, the sun is still high, but I’ll just take a nap in this tree. I don’t think he will be able to approach me even if I’m sleeping anyway, I have good ears, and just like that, I fall into slumber.

~~

Someone is here! I immediately got on my feet, and looked down.

The old man was here, but he wasn’t looking at me. He put something on the ground and just went back to his home.

What the heck is he doing? I descended and inspected the thing, it was a basket filled with food and tissue… What does that mean? Is this one nice?

Humpf, even if he is, it doesn’t matter. I don’t need it. Well, the blood is not completely dry yet, so I guess I can put the tissue to good use…

In the end, I took the tissue and let the food -some bread and fruit. I can hunt for myself, I’ll eventually leave him something as a payment, but no way in hell I’ll accept pity.

So I spent my day hunting, the forest is wide, but I can cover most of it by running a few hours -to be fair she runs really fast. I found no animals and only some fruits in the tree looking like apples. Even after the whole afternoon had passed, I’ve only got a handful.

I came back to the tree I slept last night, it was one of the biggest trees in the forest and I don't really want to search for another place. It's not like the proximity to the farm is that important. I wonder if I can steal him a pillow or something…

Nah, I promised to Sam: “You power is great, but so is your responsibility, you must not harm others for your personal interest.”

I guess the situation is a bit different, but I can sustain myself well enough. It’s not worth it to break that promise now.

The next morning, the basket I left at the bottom of the tree was gone, and replaced by another one, a bit smaller. I got down, this time it was only food, a fresh bread, a bottle of milk and some cooked meat.

…

Nice try.

I don’t care about poison or shit like that, I’m more or less immune, but as I said, I don’t want your fucking pity. The previous generation cannot be trusted, no matter what.

And the day was spent the same way than the one before. This forest is lifeless, there is nothing to hunt, there is almost nothing to eat in general. After a whole unproductive morning, I decided to relax and think a bit about the flux.

Other than physical enhancement, I can create simple things like fire, water, air or move dirt, but not much more. The thing with lightning I did in the arena was a bit weird, it seems like I didn't really create the thunder, but used natural ones and put them under my control. In other words, I won't be able to redo the same thing unless there is a storm ongoing. That sucks…

Again the next morning, the old changed the basket. Shit, what does he want? No one offers free stuff like that. Especially after I spate to your face, that’s definitely suspicious.

But he continued, morning after morning. The 6th day, I finally gave in. I don’t know how long I’ll stay here, in this fucking forest with nothing but apple. I’ll probably go further away soon.

I sat down on the grass near the base of my tree.

Sigh… I took a piece of bread, and put it into my mouth. I could see him, he was far away from me, taking care of the cows. I know what he is trying to do, and I won't lose to him. I'm hungry, that's the only reason why I'm accepting this.

I am right, I need to be more aware of adults. I won’t repeat the same mistakes, I can do everything on my own, and I don’t need the others. So why? Why do I feel sad all of sudden…? Shit, this bread is good…

That night, I had a nightmare. Nothing precise, just me reviving the “incident”. I really will never get over it, ain’t I?

I woke up with the sun, but the new basket was already there. I… I don’t know what to think anymore, do I confront him? Do I eat his food again? Do I run away?

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Fuck! Why everyone can't be an asshole? I hate nice people, because it always ends the same way, you trust them, you help them, and they stab you in the back at the first occasion!

I need to calm down a bit, I guess a walk could be a good idea…

And so, Alice went into the forest to sort her thought. Destiny is quite mysterious sometimes, at a time when your belief is the strongest, something unexpected comes and shatters everything. It takes actual courage to try and confront your own conviction, and many people would have killed the old farmer if they were at her place, instead of “just spitting” on her face.

Life is unfair, it's a place where nice people are forced into fights started by bad ones. It requires reflexion and sacrifice to overcome the hate, and accept the past. Alice is perfectly capable of that, in fact, she is capable of anything, almost literally. However, as smoke started to rise in the sky, she has still a lot to learn.

Smoke? A fire?! Don’t tell me…

I ran as fast as I could to the farm. Everything was on fire, the house, the mill, and the barn. I could see the cows agitated at the other edge of the fence. Gigantic flames were enveloping the old man home, and I don’t really know why, but I jumped into it.

I didn't even try to blow everything with wind, too much risk to make it worst, but it can help me breathe inside the smoke. I entered the building and looked for the old man, I found him in the kitchen, tied to a chair.

I immediately freed him and carried him outside. Thank god he’s still alive.

He breathed a lot of smoke though, so I tried to apply the flux to heal him. He suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Cough cough… Hanna… is that you?”

He’s talking, who’s Hanna? He must be hallucinating, wait, he started crying.

“I’m… sorry, Daddy is so sorry.”

Daddy? Hanna is his daughter? Wait, I saw a picture in the house with a little girl…

“I couldn’t protect you…”

The girl… she had white hair. Don’t tell me… He let go of my wrist, and close his eyes.

Shit, it makes sense now! I applied more energy to heal him, don’t fuck with me right now Old man!

“Aaaaah… Man… Can’t ‘ven take a piss without ‘ome bitch ‘aving th’old fuck!”

Between the two burning building, stood a man, tall and slim. He had one hand in his pocket, and the other directed at me.

“Burn baby burn.”

A surge of flame emerged from the man palm and totally overwhelmed Alice and the old man. I guess this was to be expected, of course, someone was behind this. Why? Doesn’t really matter for now. The relevant thing is she was enraged and she had a brand new string to her bow.

The pyromancer stopped his assault and turned his back. After a few step, he felt something: heat. At both of his side, buildings were burning, but a third source appeared. He looked back in shock, the girl, was one step in front of the geezer, with one palm holding a flame. No, an orb, a fluid glowing orb.

Being a self-proclaimed fire mage, the man knew exactly what the orb was, and this was bad news for him. In a desperate attempt, he cast a wall of flame with both his hand and started to run away towards the plain.

One instant, in one instant, the wall disappeared and the orb appeared in front of him.

“I’m new to this… is this little thingy powerful? I’d like to find out…”

Exactly like Roth in the Coliseum, the face of the man showed nothing but fear and disbelief. However, his overhaul reaction differed a bit, as he started laughing like a crazy person.

“Li…little ‘ingy? Ha, Hahahahahah!”

"So you're the crazy type…"

“Your too dangerou’ ‘mall girl.”

His body started glowing.

“Stop that.”

“No can do.”

“I’m gonna fucking blow you up!”

“Fir’t come’ fir’t ‘erve.”

Alice suddenly realized, she had to run away! She turned her back, but at the exact same instant, a shadow passed beside her.

The Old man jumped and tackled the mage, whose glowing was ominously increasing.

“NO!”

He was smiling, he knew this lady wasn’t her daughter, but he didn’t care. Finally, he had found a way to redeem himself.

!!!

Then, chaos unfolded, eyes blinded by the light, ears busted by the sound, skin burned by the heat, she was propelled towards the forest, and roll down several meters. She tried to get up, but everything was hurting too much, and she had trouble getting her breath back.

What happened? Why did he do that? Did he… die for me?

Of course, she knew the answer, but she didn’t want to believe it. Her wounds healed in no time, and she finally managed to look at the scene.

Everything was gone, the two buildings were partially destroyed, and a crater showed the centre of the explosion. There was no body to be seen. No skinny crazy fire mage. No naive and nice Old man.

Only one person remained.

Alone.

Facing her mistake.

Facing her blunder.

A drop landed on her cheek. Then another at her feet. Clouds gathered, and the sky started crying.

Sob. ‘Why?… I-I could have saved you!' Sob. ‘Why?!'

She collapsed on her knee.

‘I’m not your fucking daughter.’ Sob. ‘I’m just a bitch that spite on…’ Sob.

She clenches her fist and smashed the ground. Her head still in the mud.

Sob. Sob. ‘Why?’ Sob. ‘Why?!’ Sob.

“FUUUUUUUCK!”

And the sky kept crying.