The Un

“Whoa that was really cool! You saved my bacon back there. Thanks!” Yami said to the girl.

“Thank…me?” the girl asked herself in a hushed voice. She was taken aback by this response, because until today, she had never received positive feedback from people before. This made her feel warm inside.

“Don’t let your guard down. He’s obviously a suspicious character, he must be tricking me,” she said to herself as she gathered her composure.

“So, who are you then?” The girl snapped back at him.

“Uhm can you please let me down first? I’m starting to feel lightheaded, dangling upside down like this,” he responded politely.

“No way am I going to let a strange guy like you down! Not until I know why you’re here. Did the old hag from that center send you to spy on me!?” The girl inquired.

“They can’t be aware of what I’m building, could they? I’m too far into the Gap. They shouldn’t be able to sense anything from that far,” the girl thought to herself.

“What? No one sent me. Fine, I’ll just use that armadillo’s cut magic to break free,” he responded.

“Great steel cut!” He shouted. A small magic circle appeared by Yami’s hands and manifested small steel claws that merely grazed the net hardly inflicting any damage at all.

The fact that he was able to produce a fraction of magic surprised the girl. But she knew this would make the boy reveal his true colors. Everyone who realized magic stopped working around her eventually hated her.

“What the... My magic isn’t working,” he said to himself.

“Here it comes,” the girl whispered as she braced herself for the upcoming insults.

“Yeah! You must be the partner I’m looking for! I knew you weren’t dead! Ha-ha!” He responded with the upmost excitement in his voice.

“Partner!? You… want me?” The girl said to herself, falling to her knees in disbelief. Being called “partner” was particularly difficult for her to comprehend.

This girl was once called Fuki and she was the unwanted child of the Aru family, one of the three great clans of Harmos , alongside the Zou and Kuro families. The Arus were actually the most renowned family in the Heart level contributing almost twice as much magic to the Fates as the Zous.

Unlike the other families in Harmos the Fates had a measuring system established for the top three clans. This allowed them to anticipate the potential magic of an individual even during their infancy— a typical person would start manifesting magic at the age of six. And during her assessment, Fuki had the lowest recorded score in history.

Right then and there the Fates had decided that she would be incompatible with any partner and would be sworn in as a Keeper of the realm when she was of age, without taking the pairing ritual. She was the greatest shame of the Aru family. Even as an infant nobody wanted her.

Because of his shame, her father, once the head of this superior family fell into depression and could no longer speak or walk. This made her mother despise her very existence, calling it a curse.

“Somebody… Wants… me?” the girl asked herself again as she recalled a memory from her early childhood – she was about four years old.

“Mom! Mom!” a little girl said as she approached her mother in a dark room holding a hand full of freshly picked flowers from their garden.

“We can put these in the vase beside daddy,” she said as she gestured to her father’s bedside table, where a container was filled with wilting flowers.

SMACK! The flowers are dropped on the floor. The little girl stood stunned, tears starting to stream down her face.

“Foolish child! Haven’t you already done enough? Begone! No one wants you here!” her mother scowled.

With her heart broken and her head confused, the little girl ran out of the room bawling.

“Why don’t they want me? How could the Fates let this happen?” she thought to herself as she dashed to their garden.

The garden was the only place she ever found any solace. She never really understood why but being outdoors always put her at ease. Plus, it was the only place in their estate where she could talk to her only friend.

“Archie! It was terrible she didn’t even look at my flowers! And even after you helped me get the really pretty flowers from that tall tree!” the child screamed at a tree.

“WHOO?” it responded.

“Mother of course! Who else have we always been talking about? I really don’t understand why no one here wants me. Thank heavens I have you around,” she replied.

“WHOO?” it responded again as it tilted its head.

“You, Archie, you’re such a silly little blue bird!” the girl said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Well at least it can’t get any worse,” the child concluded.

Unfortunately, it only took two years for her to be proven wrong. On her sixth birthday, all of the magic in their estate suddenly stopped working.

“AHHHH my magic won’t work! What terrible omen is this now!?” the child’s mother shouted at her.

“Mother. I’m scared…” she responded.

“Silence you wretched little monster!” The mother replied with her hand raised, ready to strike her child, when she was interrupted as the main doors of their house flew open.

“Who goes there? How dare you barge into my home” the mother shouted.

“Silence you wench!” snapped Atropos as she entered the room with her two sisters.

“The child’s magic has manifested, and it is a rather hazardous magic for the kingdom. This little girl is an Un!” declared Clothos from behind her big sister.

“Seems your misfortune knows no bounds Lady Aru,” Atropos continued so speak.

“Unfortunately for you, we can no longer have you and your family reside within the Heart level,” declared Lachises.

“But my husband is still the lord of this house, the head of the Aru clan. Though we may be incapacitated now, our family still contributes greatly to your Council, my Goddesses,” replied the mother.

“Silence, the Fates have decided! Your family’s contribution in the past was considered, so we have set up decent accommodations for your family in the Outskirts,” Atropos spoke with finality.

“Our attendant will escort you and your family posthaste,” said Clothos.

“As you command my Fates,” the mother said defeated as the Fates departed.

Once the Fates were out of earshot, she turned back her fury towards her child.

“Will your treachery know no end!? First you kill our hopes now you kill our magic as well! You nasty little Un!” her mother told her as she dragged her out of the room by her hair.

All Fuki could do at that moment was cry. With her swollen teary eyes and horse throat—from screaming—she took her mother’s beating. But at least now she understood why she was unwanted and unloved. It was because the Fates had already decided it, she never stood a chance.

Ever since that horrible day “Un” was the only name she had ever been called and being unwanted was the only thing she was ever allowed to feel.

“Hey! You’ve been spaced out for a while now! Can you please let me down? I’m starting to feel woozy here,” Yami beckoned to the hooded girl.

The girl shook her head as she snapped back to the present.

“Why do you want me to be your partner?” she asked.

“I need your help to get into the binding ritual!” he replied.

“Tch! So, you’re also one of them huh? A sheep of the Fates! Blindly going along with their rituals and decisions. I really hate guys like you. So,  just stay there and starve to death,” she said as she began to walk away.

“Wait! It’s nothing like that at all! I’m actually trying to change the Fates’ decision! I just need your help to get in the Gate of Fates during the binding ritual so we can take the Omni stone!” he said desperately.

The girl suddenly stopped and threw a knife toward the rope holding Yami’s net up.

SNIP! “Thank…” Yami tried to express his gratitude but falling to the ground prevented him from doing so.

THUD! Fortunately, a passed out giant armadillo cushioned his fall. As Yami prepared to stand up, he looked up to see that he was being greeted by the barrel of the girl’s device.

“What do you know about the Omni stone? And don’t even think about lying.” she asked intensely.

***