Closely after the conversation had ended, Al snuck out the window. Lir, saying he had something to get done, had followed suit
After that Aradia changed clothes, the robe provided by the inn was so soft, the red head felt like she wore a cloud
As the red head lay in bed, Clara sat on the chair that had been previously occupied by Aradia
The two enjoyed the silence, both lost in their own thoughts. However, that didn't last long as a knock came through the door
Clara opened the door and saw Ellen standing there. He looked tired, but judging by his attire, he had freshened up before coming here
"Come downstairs to eat,"
That was all he said before leaving. Clara glanced back at Aradia, who was already getting up
On the first floor of the inn were many circular dining tables, seated around one of them was Mei, Ellen, Astolfo, and even Issac
He seemed to be doing better now. He had fainted prior to arriving at the inn
The table was a nice deep brown color, the chairs were a shade lighter. The walls were a mix between brick work and wood
The bottom of the wall, as well as the very top, showed bricks. The wall itself was plain, but there were a few paintings, mostly drawn by the local children, as well as some scribbles were present
Aradia sat with Clara to her right and Astolfo to her left, Ellen was opposite of her, but he completely ignored her. Giving the whole entirety of his attention to the food
Aradia, in the past, never had the regret of not eating many foods. Her grandma absolutely loved cooking
That being said, she didn't hate the food of this world. It's more so of the fact that, she misses her grandma's cooking
Either way, she picked up her fork and picked up the roasted meat, it was filled with seasoning and juicy as well
Everyone continued to sit around the table, the plates had long since been cleared and some warm tea was placed in its stead
Ellen seemed as uninterested as ever. Unfortunately, however, Aradia's patience was wearing thin
After who knows how long, he put down the empty cup and looked straight at Aradia. The red head stiffened at the intense gaze, it was like he was staring into her soul
"You have finished the task. I shall keep my word in return"
Each word was drawn out, like it was too much work to speak a proper sentence
"Let us leave for a far secluded area"
Saying so, he got up and started walking away. Aradia got up as well and followed behind
Clara gave her a questioning look, probably asking if she would be alright. Aradia just gave a slight tilt of her head and didn't look back
They were in Ellen's room now. It was far more spacious than the other rooms, not only that but it also had a far softer bed!
'This traitor!'
The red head couldn't help but think how unfair that was and scoffed
In return Ellen just gave her a deadpan look
"Sit on the floor"
"Oh, Mr DeGeneres, the brightest mage in our lowly west region, whose white hair shines like our faiths under the beautiful sun..; it would be such a great honour of mine to be seated upon the very ground you walk on-"
Ellen stared blankly for a few seconds before looking absolutely disgusted, and Aradia never felt more happier
"What the hell-, just say it outright instead of talking with all that glaze"
Ellen felt violated almost, a shiver ran down his spine. This child was going to make him die early with these antics!
Ellen felt like he was about to get the biggest headache of his life as he gracefully sat down onto the floor himself
Aradia was surprised, she hadn't expected him to get himself "dirty"- like he had said many times in the novel; which Aradia had deemed true cat behaviour-
The red head sighed and sat down with her legs crossed opposite to him. Ellen was sitting in an meditation position, with his legs crossed and the palms of his hands resting on his knees
Aradia subconsciously followed his position but didn't close her eyes, looking at him with interest
Ellen then proceeded to stretch out his right hand, every finger aside from the index and middle finger curled
Aradia stretched out her left hand, his fingers landing on her wrist
She started to feel that same sensation as she had when Lir had transferred mana in her gate-way
Unlike Lir's mana, which felt like a flowing stream, this felt like ice. It was so cold, Aradia wanted to draw her hand back instantly
She felt the mana reach the gate-way and then leave her body. Ellen frowned slightly upon realising the grave state of her body and transferred even more mana
Aradia could tell the amount was getting more and more with each passing second, but that didn't matter. It would all flow out
The red head felt like her insides were freezing. Her lips were slightly blue and hands cold
Ellen didn't look much better, either, his lips were pale and dry, beads of sweat sticking to his forehead and falling into the cress of his frowned brows
Aradia felt something was off about her surroundings, wind was blowing wildly, despite the window and door being closed
She noticed how the wind was circling around them and.. things were getting caught in the "storm" as it grew bigger and bigger
The red head closed her eyes as well, as the wind continued to make them dry
Aradia felt choked with the large amount of mana flowing through her body. Breathing was already hard with the storm surrounding them but now she felt suffocated
The red head opened her eyes in panic and saw blood slowly coming out of the corner of Ellen's month. Aradia opened her mouth to say something, anything, but instead coughed violently, a good amount of blood came out as she felt her heart freeze and-
Everything went black
Aradia opened her eyes only to find herself in a void, just like after her death. She had been in a void like this before coming to this world, only, she could still feel her body and the fact and she no longer felt cold
She looked down and saw something that made her freeze. She wasn't in Aradia's body anymore. She would recognise these rough, slightly tanned hands as her own even blind
Aradia, no, Kim Yeon Haa frantically looked over her body, in hopes she was wrong.. but she wasn't
This appearance, the one that her mother hated, the one she died to get rid of, the one that resembled her mother more than the men who had raped her..
'No.., no, no, no!'
Her breaths started coming in short gasps, tears stung her eyes but she didn't care about that
Yeon Haa started hyperventilating, she loathed her appearance because her mother, whenever she came to visit her parents, yes.. it was never for her, only for her parents; who till this day, in their graves, don't know who was the man their daughter stayed with, they never knew the truth..
Yeon Haa herself didn't know until the day her mother came after the ceremony to take her back but in fact had planned to kill them both
She had wished to never see this face, this body but now- now-
She heard footsteps! Yeon Haa looked over and a slightly blurry figure, the tears making it hard to see- came into view
It was Ellen.., he was frowning
"What.."
He stopped as he took in her appearance
'This is it..'
Yeon Haa thought, now he will know the truth and she will probably die again. After all this, after finally finding people she could trust and a reason to continue living.. it was all over
Yeon Haa closed her eyes, not wanting to see his expression
"What are you doing sitting like a damsel in destress here?"
That hadn't been what she had expected, she opened her eyes again, her vision was far clearer now and looked up at him in confusion
Ellen sighed, crossing his arms over his chest
"Get up, we have to get out. You can continue having a breakdown afterwards"
"You-"
Yeon Haa felt her words get caught in her throat, she coughed slightly before speaking again, though her voice sounded broken anyway
"Why.. do I look like this?"
She knew why, but since he recognised her and didn't question it, it was only right to play her role properly
"Because this is how your soul looks. Everyone's soul is different. Some don't even have proper shape because the person doesn't wish to continue living, some look like themselves whilst others look different..; the why is still unknown but one fact is that it shows their true selves and not an easily changeable outer surface"
Yeon Haa listened silently, it made sense and it also explained why Ellen looked like himself
She took a few deep breaths, it was hard but she had already decided to throw this identity away, so why is she so affected, huh?!
Yeon Haa-, no, she was Aradia. Aradia wiped her tears and got up. Her legs were shaky, sure, but that doesn't mean she's broken
Ellen sighed in relief seeing her get up, he was worried about her for a second but would never admit it
He is not good at comforting people, especially children but thankfully he didn't need to
".. Where are we?"
Aradia asked as they walked in this endless void. Her voice sounded far steadier now
"The void"
Ellen replied with the most dead voice she had heard
Aradia rolled her eyes. Tilting her head slightly, to stay out of his view
She knew it was a void, she was asking why this place appeared
But then it hit her, he didn't know either. Aradia noticed how tense and rigid his body was, he was on high alert. It makes sense, the concept of gate-ways exist, but how they work is still not widely known
It's only later in the novel that everyone finds out about it
As they continued, Aradia saw how the place seemed to get pulled into a greater darkness. The void didn't have any light but she could still see but now as they progressed.. even that was hard
She had a bad feeling about this. Ellen's light steps halted, making Aradia stop as well
He frowned as he looked into the pitch darkness. Aradia squinted her eyes, she could see something finitely, it seemed to be moving
Suddenly she heard footsteps but either of the two were moving, they looked at each other before looking ahead
A woman appeared before their eyes. She was a middle aged typical Korean woman but unlike before, where her eyes were filled with either disdain or empty, her eyes were now black voids where black tar like liquid was oozing out of
Her face was ghastly pale, she opened her mouth and her jaw unhinged in a nightmarish way, black liquid came out from there as well. She screamed a shrill scream, making Ellen flinch
The woman seemed not to be able to move forward and continued to assault his ears. He turned towards Aradia, only to see her frozen
Aradia couldn't believe her eyes, in front of her was the woman she both hated yet couldn't forget, her mother. But she no longer looked like the woman she once used to be, but a demon
She froze, her body in flight or freeze mode. If she wasn't in a soul from right now, cold sweat would be trickling down her back
Ellen seemed to realise something. Whoever this woman was, she didn't leave a good impression for such an image of her to reside in a place where everything is boiled down to its true form
Suddenly a pale hand covered Aradia's eyes, making her able to breath again. Her eyes slowly moved to Ellen who swiftly used his body to block the view and turn her around
"Let us head back"
Despite the shrill sound at her back, she looked forward and as she continued forward, Aradia saw light at the end of the void
Bonus:
Ellen: do to foreseen circumstances, I will be late
Mei: that is NOT how it works
To be continued...
Hi.. it's me, Yan
Where do I start.., first, when I say genuinely, I mean from the whole entirety of my heart, I'm sorry, I really wished to update like I had said but my god forsaken motivation went on vacation
And I didn't just not write, I also quit a few hobbies because things were taking quite the toll on me
I know not updating and singing the same apology tune again and again is frustrating but please understand I'm trying my hardest here
This chapter was quite hard to write for me. Doing a deep dive into trauma and its physical reaction was something I had to take out of my own personal experience, making it even more harder
But alas, I'm once again sorry for not posting, I'd like to promise the next chapter will be out in two weeks but who am I kidding
So yeah, once again please forgive this lowly author for any grammatical errors
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it
Have a good day, afternoon, evening or night
And I will see you all in the next chapter
Bye.
Words: 2,288