Chapter 9 — “Little Sister”

Chapter 9 — “Little Sister”

It was indeed a cold night — colder than the coldest winter she felt her entire life. A painted, monochromic landscape revealed to her consciousness, basking in the most simple art. The little girl laid bare on the ground, trying her best to observe the fine art. The ringing in her ears puncture her eardrum — symphony of a masterpiece. A masterpiece of destruction.

As she regained her vision, a speck of white decorated her line of sight, followed by many others. Falling down, basking the world with its gracious form. She remembers looking down the ground, filled with snow and rubbles from whatever causes the miraculous winter.

Among the rubbles, she recognises a shape. Though already but a black and white piece of dirt, the once pink flower petals — one that she often admired has been reduced to the most pathetic form. Then, as gust of wind comes, as if to mock her, swept the petals away. Swept it away, as it turned to ashes. Her eyes followed the path of the reduced petals, to mountains of wood where its edge has been turned into a black cinders.

Among the woods, another familiar objects catches her attention. A pair of hands, dangling over the woods. A simple pair, stained in bruises and ashes, but she recognises it. Of course, she would. After all, it was the pair of hand she had been seeing her entire life.

With what’s left in her body, she stands on her feet — stamping it on the ground. Her ears catches something new — a distant noise of someone screaming and yelling, but that is none of her concern. She dragged her feet to the mountain, and placed her hands on one of the pieces. Then, with one massive force from her body, she pushes the entirety blocks up and —

Nothing happened. Not even a simple nudge. The block of woods stays perfectly still, burying the boy inside. The boy — bright boy with a yellowish hair, who has the widest smile in the small world she knows. The boy, who has been her protector ever since she gain her first conscious in the small world she lived. The boy, who pushed her out of the way, so she may live slightly even longer than him.

The flashes of these memories, even with all her mental strength, couldn’t make her withhold the warm tears flowing down from the edge of her eyes. With the borrowed power of her will, she pushes a second time — to no avail. The third one, now using her shoulders — the fourth one, with the help of her entire head.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Seventh.

As if it looked down on her trembling self without sympathy, the mountains wouldn’t move even an inch. Her cries now becomes vocal, as she feels the very final of her strength left her body. Her whole body now becomes the sole pillar for her to stand. Her grips on the wood now failing her, as she keeps on staring at the now seemingly distant hand poking out of the rubble.

For a second, she catches the faint yellow, dusted by the snow inside the rubble. For a second, she prayed. Never once she has prayed, yet a weak plead comes out from her dry mouth. She tried to word it out, but not even a single squeak can be heard by the world. With what’s left of her hope, she sent her prayer to whoever she was pleading with —

A faint green encapsulates the little hand.

. . .

“There! One more over there!” a distant yelp pulls her back to reality, followed by a rush of footworks.

She can feels the cold ground with her knees, as she falls to her side. She expected the hard ground, but to only feel a soft sensation. Within her vision now, is a man in a tattered coat and cigarette hanging on his mouth, rushing to the yellow haired boy floating midair. And all over the boy, is floating rubbles covered in green aura, gently moving around as if it were in the middle of a vacuum space.

The man bolted out from the supernatural area with the unconsciousness boy on his embrace, as he observes the little girl whose hands glows green. And she repays his gaze, as she felt a gentle brush on her head. Strains of black hair falls to her line of vision

“You’ve done a good job, Lime.”

Her eyes that almost shut completely opened up again, popped wide open even. Within another moment, she closed her eyes as her breathing becomes more and more relaxed. Then, she opened her eyes, with a different gaze

“You shouldn’t go around probing someone’s memories, Shem of The Ark.” The little girl’s tone suddenly becomes more stern, full of caution.

“Oh?” The black haired lady covered her mouth with her hands. “You actually regain yourself. How?”

“Intel. I know your ‘illusion’ power, and the extent of it”

“I see,” the lady called Shem smiled, “SCF does keep a lot of eyes on everyone, do they?”

“Secondly, you called me Lime.” Lime, still in the form of her prepubescent self, jumps out from Shem’s embrace, “I still wasn’t Lime here…”

“Huh.” An amused look raises on her face, “Something new about you.”

Shem raises her hand with her palm open. A flake of the snow falls near Shem. She let it falls on her finger, and smeared it over her thumbs. The snow has been revealed to its true colour, as it paint her finger grey.

“Ashes.” She glances around her surrounding, noticing the scenery, “I see… You were there.”

“I might be a level or two below you,” rubbles started to encircle Lime’s tiny body, “But don’t expect me going down without giving you a tough fight.”

“Heh, of course. You are a tough girl, after all.” Shem puts her hands down, patting the ashes away, “But don’t worry, As of right now, I’m not looking for a fight or anything.”

“Yeah, sure.” Lime launches a boulder towards her. As it comes closer to Shem, it disintegrates into nothing, not even a dust. “Doubt you took me in just to know me better,”

“You’ll be surprised,” Shem giggled, “But more than that, don’t you want to know about yourself better?”

“I know me alright, alright?”

“Do you?” Shem points to the rubbles defending Lime, “Didn’t you just throw that rubble without touching it first?”

Such revelation struck Lime, “Aren’t we just in your illusion?”

“Sure. But you raised that boulder as if it is your second nature. Something must happened up there, and in there, right?”Shem pointed to her own head, “ And surely you remember your rampage back in Roppongi, don’t you?”

A flashes of memories entered her brain. The gore she was witnessing — the atrocities she was committing, “…so that’s no illusion?”

“If you want to believe me. But I’m sure you also realise, that it is too much for it to be an illusion.”

Lime settled for a moment. The massacre she was throwing, the rage she was feeling, and the sudden explosion in her power — It’s all coming back to her.

“You accepted it quite well,”

“I’m not that naive. I’ve taken life before.” Lime growled.

“Hmph, as expected of the SCF. No ethics whatsoever.” For a moment, Shem’s expression looks intimidating than before, “But no worries, I’m here to welcome you, and as you said, to know you better as well. I’ll show you around as well, if you want.”

“Don’t give me bad joke.”

“Why don’t we drop all the tension, for now.” With a snap of her finger, the scenery changes to what seems to be a courtyard of a shrine. What’s left from such illusion, is the floating rubbles — now revealed to be garden’s equipment floating over Lime, “And get to know each other better.”

“Why would you do that?” Lime still has her guard up against Shem, who already has her back turned against her. Hoes, lawn mower, shovels keep on orbiting Lime, as she follows the long-haired lady.

“Well.” Shem shrugged, “Some of us would actually call you a ‘saviour. Probably.”

Shem stopped as she glances back to the green-haired girl. Her rosy-cheeks face and the petite body brings forth something else within her heart. She smiled, and declared,

“Most importantly, you will be our —“