***
A bullet scrapes her forehead as she turned to the side, a shock wave temporarily knocks Sariel unconscious.
As far as she could remember, her life wasn't particularly meaningful by any accounts. What brought her here? Her decisions? Or her uncontrolled environment?
It feels like she's been coasting along for a long long time now, the weight of time pushed down on her psyche. She first awoke in this world, meeting two lovely human beings who cared for her unconditionally. Nothing happened to them, they must be busy at work at this time, perhaps they were somewhat perplexed by the darkened sky and worried for her too. All of it was self inflicted, she recognises that she was the ultimate cause of their worry. A parasite, a burden.
Her palm is unable to extend past the walls of the crib, the twirling rotation stars above were never reachable. By the time she noticed that she was reaching for the stars, they were gone. What did any of her effort meant? Where should she go? What should she do?
'Please tell me... How I can repay you.' (Sariel)
The bright shining stars, she could never grab ahold of them. They pass by in her life, glittering a trail full of her envy, full of her yearning. Did she want to possess these stars?
The kindergarten building did not pale in comparison with the other buildings in the large school contained at the centre of the residential zone. She spent her entire life here, never inquisitive of what lay beyond. If she wanted to, she could just board a train at the perimeter of the zone and find some place to reach. There was no limit to her freedom, and no desire in turn to explore either. She was fully content with what she had.
"... Thank you!" (Sariel)
"Your welcome!" (Cherry)
She looked no older than 5 or 6, a student who went to the same class. At this period of time, there were allocated play times as an outlet for the children. Cherry handed her some toys, including her into the group, as if noticing her anxious fear of being left out on her first day. Cherry glowed brilliantly in her eyes, she weaved the atmosphere like an instrument and brought smiles wherever she went.
The toy handed to her felt like magic, it cleared all of her anxiousness at once. Her stiffened body loosened once more, she couldn't help but indulge with tears of happiness and laughter.
Noticing a certain toy on the ground, she inquired.
"Cherry! Can I play that next?" (Sariel)
Her pleading came out with a childish slur.
"Uhh... Sure!" (Cherry)
This being her first interaction, she didn't notice cherry's hesitation.
"Hey!" (?)
A loud scream akin to a shrill screech jolts her body into a full jump, only making her seem more guilty. She turned around, hoping that the one being addressed wasn't her. This was her first confrontation... Well, rather than a confrontation...
"How could you! I took that first!! " (?)
She couldn't bear to look at her, turning a begging gaze to Cherry. Cherry herself turned away, avoiding eye contact. What was this feeling? It felt like her heart sank deeply, leaving a hole in her heart.
" Answer me! " (?)
The other girl had gotten close, boldly screaming down her face. It was like the shrillness was pounding Sariel's ear drums, pushing her down into the ground. She took a step back, fearful of challenging the girl she didn't even know the name off. With the first step... She slipped and fell on her butt. Some ill meaning classmates busted out laughing at her mishaps, filling her with ridicule in the background. While the girl chidding her merely looked at her with a strange mix of pity and anger.
She made a show of being revulsed and left to play with the others. In a single day, she lost her chance to be included. Like a ship with no anchor, she perpetually drifted while isolated, never really finding any close friends for the next two years. Cherry couldn't face her head on or even speak a word about what happened, the rest never really came to reconcile, as if there was some danger that came to be associated with being in close proximity to her.
Looking at it now, it was silly. It was pathetic and worthless, a dream with no value. That was her judgement as a high schooler, the judgement she passed onto her past self for clinging onto what she deemed has no value.
"You deserved it." (Sariel)
It was herself, standing before her with her previous short stature. A puny kindergartener spat vitriol with a few casual worlds at her present self. A hallucination?
Her eyes flashed back into reality, there is no meaning in perpetual running. She turned a sharp angle and leaped into the ball of light, her trusty sword made of Trace scales, teeth and wings materialised in her right palm. With practiced movements, she sliced the next few scarlet bullets in half. Her legs pounced around like a rabbit's dance, her wrist bears the burden of strength with ease, elegantly slicing apart the barrage of bullets aimed at her chest.
Faster than a bullet, a fist flies out of the scarlet mass at the end of her swing. The ball of light never rests as it continues threatening to disintegrate Lastia, but the thick scarlet light pouring out of her body forms an immensely girthy coating that never wanes under the heat.The fist couldn't make contact for her, but it stops square in front of her face, the resulting wind pressure knocks her skull into unconsciousness once more.
This took place in the elementary school of residential zone 2A. There were numerous classes in the previous building alone, now that she would be sharing a building with another 4 years worth of student batches, she would be placed in another class of complete strangers. Even if she would inevitably share the same building as those who were in her kindergarten class, there was a completely fresh chance to start anew.
She hardly learned the names of those in her kindergarten class, with time the heat waned and rather than being outright hostile, the other girl stuck to dismissively avoiding any interaction with her. There was no bullying, just an awkward atmosphere that no child had the mercy to offer their dignity and apologise in.
She eventually learned their names as they were forced to do some activities together for class back then. The child that grew angry with her might have recognised how impulsive she was, even her dismissive attitude vanished by the end of 2 years, though things remained too strain for her to reconcile with Sariel. She came to learn that that child's name was Lenna.