Hara:
Sometimes I still dream about her… She was a cute little girl with light brown curly hair, and even though her clothes were full of holes she was always smiling… Hard to believe that was me…
Apparently, my parents were killed at a place called the Black Gate in some way or another when I was really little but I never really cared about any of that. Growing up I was happy enough with my family at the orphanage, even though we were poor we had food and clothes, and we could play in the fields. It was those times I cherished the most. But every step I take it feels more and more like those times were a dream.
The empire sponsors orphans, giving them the ability to pursue whatever career path they want. However, if you don't choose one for yourself, they will choose for you, as was the case for me… Since I had tremendous magical aptitude it was only natural I would become a sage.
Just like that at the age of 12, I was carted off to an institute and taught magic, of course… Little did I know I would be the only commoner there, much less the only orphan… Still, my aptitude continued to increase dramatically and in less than a year of that trash heap I was enrolled in a special education program where I was brought to a church. I think that was where I first heard about it… The cursed nation of Skorveyati.
After another six months of that I was crowned a sage and given a star of the empire. A grumpy old knight named Rokai. At first, I thought he was just a gruff person… But after a while he made it all too clear what he felt about me. It was almost comforting… Having someone hate me not because of my being a commoner or an orphan, but just because of who I was… In a weird way, it felt like he was the only one that saw me for me… Even if he hated the person he saw…
Throughout my time in the fourth legion, those that didn't hate me quickly grew to do so. Not only because I was a commoner, but because my so-called gift with magic wasn't just the ability to cast large spells, but the ability to manipulate manna. In order for me to do my job I had to steal the manna from the mages around me… And that… Caused problems… Furthermore, if I couldn't do my job, I would be fired… Executed… People would say it as a joke… But… At least I hope it was a joke…
The first and last time anyone sang my praises was when I finally laid eyes upon the infamous Black Gate that defended the cursed lands and obliterated it. I had finally proved myself, and for the first time, I didn't feel afraid anymore… At the time I wasn't thinking about any of the people that were dying, just the sense of relief that I had finally done something right. But… Thinking about it now… I see how selfish that was of me…
"I promised I would protect you two remember… They didn't come here to protect anyone, just to hurt us… They thought they could win… They were wrong…"
My heart stopped and my breath halted until my ears began to ring.
'Did I really care about them? Any of them? The soldiers that died? No… I hated them… I hated all of them… So why am I crying? Scared? Of course, I'm scared… I've been told my whole life how horrible these people are and yet their general genuinely feels the weight of every life lost, even her enemies… Meanwhile, all I care about is whether or not someone will bully me… Her soldiers believe so faithfully in defending their land that every single one of them rises from the dead… Meanwhile, ours stay in the ground… No… I'm sure some of them tried… It's probably just harder to crawl out of hell than wherever the people here go when they die…
I blinked and hours passed as my aching body slowly struggled to roll over, as if something was keeping me in place. 'No… I let my guard down. Did they tie me up again?' I heard a low growling, reflexively shutting my eyes tighter instead of opening them. 'A wild beast? Are they feeding me to their animals now that they got everything they needed from me?'
I felt my whole body start to quiver when the growling suddenly stopped and turned to a soft high-pitched groan before I felt something push into my stomach. "Did you have a bad dream?"
'What?' I slowly opened my eyes to see Vive kneeling next to me on the bed, the blanket hanging halfway off her head as she gently leaned on me rubbing her eye with her other hand. "Hey… Sorry… But… Is it ok if we sleep a bit more? After Siya left Rune started draining my manna to keep herself warm… Now I'm exhausted…"
Without even realizing it I was still too tense to move. "S-sure…" I finally squeaked out, but she was already using me as a pillow. The other girl, Rune, was on my other side wrapped tightly around my arm. Just like Vive said she was passively draining my manna in her sleep, using it to heat her body, but compared to the training I went through to become a sage it was practically nothing… Although… I can't say I wasn't still a little confused… Having spent the previous day with them I was already well aware they were both… To be perfectly honest I was tired too, although I didn't realize it till Vive fell back asleep again. As it turned out the growling I heard was just the rumbling in her chest as she breathed. I wouldn't exactly call it snoring… But it had the same effect… None of it made sense… I couldn't believe any of it… It all just felt like… Another dream…
After a few more hours we all woke up again and the girls got changed. Vive helped Rune, who despite sleeping the most soundly, seemed the most worn down by far. Even after changing she came back and clung to my arm, half asleep and sucking out more of my manna. "My teeth are achy…" she whined.
Vive sighed after looking around. "I think we're on our own. Siya didn't leave anything behind for us this time."
"They're really achy, Vive… I didn't get to eat anything last night…" She whined again.
"What are you talking about? We ate those weird things, remember? They were made with eggs and corn. You said you wanted to try them?"
She let out another long whine as she let go and started to hang her mouth open. "They didn't have any meat! They were way too soft… They did taste good though…"
"I didn't think about that… Let's just go get some bison meat from town."
Her mouth started to hang open even more as she started looking like she was about to cry. "You said bison… And now they're even more achy…" She muttered, slowly looking back at me. "Can I just chew on you for a while?"
I froze. 'She really is going to eat me!'
Vive lightly smacked her head. "Don't chew on strangers!"
She covered her head with her hands whining even louder. "But Siya said I'm not allowed to bite myself anymore because it's bad for me!"
Vive let out a small groan rolling her eyes. "Is it really that bad…"
She whined, nodding as her tail dropped between her legs.
"Then just… chew on my arm a bit… We'll get some meat soon so don't worry…" She mumbled, hesitantly raising her arm and visibly toughening her skin as it turned a shade darker.
After a single hesitant step and a twitch of her tail, it practically shot up as she nearly leaped across the room and sunk her teeth into Vives arm, her whole body going limp the moment she did to the effect that even her ears drooped and she started to hang by her jaws.
I had been basically catatonic since we woke up, but after watching them for a while I couldn't help but find myself giggling, if only a little.Eventually everything felt so ridiculous that the shock wore off, and I began to realise things were just plainly different outside of the empire. Weird, and strange… A bit odd… But… 'Just how long has it been since I woke up and smiled like this? And after all that… I wonder if I really am just the bad guy…'