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Yuu is a very unique kind of girl.
I met her when we were just little kids.
After my grandmother died.
My grandmother is the only thing I have before.
Her passing away made me extremely devastated.
After all, she's the only family I got.
Leaving a little boy in the Barrel Zone alone is not the best idea. But she did it anyway.
I don't know anything about my real family.
My grandma always told me stories about how she found me when I'm just a baby.
My parents are probably dead or abandoned me.
One random day, me and my grandma are enjoying a little bit of gardening.
She always told me that if I ever got lost in the pipes, all I have to do is sniff in the air and follow the scent of the flowers.
The pipes were our home together, no one disturbed our peace.
Not until people find our place.
...
"Remember, Lucian... don't ever go outside, so you won't attract people here." Grandma always told me every night.
"This place is only for us, if people know about it, they'll destroy our peace." she smiled while she warned.
I have a habit of going outside of the pipes just to play with other kids in the Barrel Zone.
They're not that kind or fun to play with but it kept me company while grandma was hunting for our food.
During playing with other kids, I learned a lot of things about the Barrel Zone that grandma never told me about.
Here in the Barrel Zone, no life can sprout here.
There's nothing but garbage and polluted water.
I saw people suffering everyday, dying from hunger and killing each other just for the piece of food.
I was fortunate that grandma always had food to give to me.
But I never asked her where she got so much food?
And if the Barrel Zone is not capable of having plants because of its atmosphere, why are there flowers, a tree and fresh water running in our place?
I never get a chance to ask her that.
Grandma always disappears during the day to hunt for food.
And she did not know that I always sneak out to play.
And that's the reason why she died.
...
Kids always pick on me when I tell them that we can grow plants here in the Barrel Zone.
I don't want them to stomp on my ego.
So the next time I sneak out and play with them, I pluck out a flower and show them.
They were amazed, as if it's their first time seeing a real flower.
"Is that real? It just smells like what was said in the book!"
I became a celebrity among the kids just for bringing a flower.
From that moment on, kids stop picking on me.
"How do you grow flowers?" one kid asked.
"I just dig the soil and put a flower seed and water it" I answered.
"How can you water it?" another one asked.
"With fresh water" I answered back.
My story spread throughout the Barrel Zone, and that was a mistake.
At first older people didn't believe it, but when they saw the flower.
They look at me suspiciously.
...
One day when I was about to come home.
I didn't know that someone was following me.
Grandma still serves me food, bathes me and tuck me in bed.
She still did not know that I betrayed her trust.
I was a terrible child.
And finally, that day came.
As we were having fun planting new flowers.
Grandma senses that someone is in the pipes.
She immediately pulled me and hid me behind her.
It was the people in the Barrel Zone with torches.
"I knew it! She was a witch!" one shouted.
What are they talking about?
I looked up to grandma and saw her face contorted in anger.
Her hair slowly turned into flames, still holding me firm behind her.
"You all get out!" she shouted as her voice sounded scarier.
"I told you! She's a witch!" the people start running towards us.
My grandma tossed me inside the tree house.
She pulled out a pack of papers.
Suddenly these papers start to levitate and encircle her.
She says something I don't understand or remember.
People start setting everything on fire.
Grandma looked furious at the scene.
The things around her start flying.
Papers are glowing around her as she says something.
And the next thing I see is flashing lights.
...
The moment I opened my eyes, the place was back to normal.
There's no fire, the plants are still intact and the tree house looks clean.
I came out to see grandma sitting under the tree.
Thinking everything is just a dream, I ran to her.
I hug her as I stumble at her.
I looked up to her, my eye's widen.
I felt blood dripping from my face.
She stayed still, I can't feel her breathing anymore.
Her face is covered in blood, her eyes are wide open.
I looked down and saw her hands were cut off and bleeding.
I throw up in the scene.
I immediately step back. Grandma looks strange.
She was looking at the entrance in the pipes.
I turned my head to see and it was covered in papers.
I look back to my grandma and she starts mumbling words I don't understand.
Tears started to fall down my cheek.
I wanted to run away, I was so scared.
Why is grandma acting strange?
Suddenly, my grandma exploded.
Her blood splatter across me.
I watch the horror in front of me.
The papers on the wall of the pipes also disappeared.
Days passed after that terrifying thing.
I locked myself in the tree house.
Some of her remains are still down there.
I was scared to look.
I was just a kid that happened to witness something like that.
But I have no choice but to pull myself together.
"If I did not come back before the sun set, please take care of yourself until I came back" she always reminds me everyday before she goes out.
I pull myself together, I clean up her remains.
The smell is foul, making me throw up a lot of times.
I finally gave her a burial.
I started reading the books she left behind.
I also found her diary.
She's not a witch, but an exorcist from the east.
The papers she used are called 'talisman'.
And these talisman in the walls is a barrier to keep our place hidden.
As I read her diary. A paper fell down on one of the pages.
I picked it up. It was a small painting of her with a strange lady when she was young.
Nothing was written at the back.
I tried to look for an answer in her diary but the writings are slowly disappearing.
I rummage through the pages and the writings indeed disappear.
Now, her diary is nothing but an empty notebook, the only thing left is the small paper.
...
I met Yuu when I was looking for food.
The thing that I know is that the only person can navigate the pipes is me.
I read in grandma's diary that she cast something in my eyes so I can see clearly in the dark pipes and not get lost.
But I found her.
Crying in the pipes near the tree house.
"Hey!" I called out to her.
She immediately came running towards me, crying.
I flinch as she suddenly hugs me tightly.
She's just a little girl.
"H-hey! Are you lost?" I asked her, trying to pull her away.
She only nods, wiping her tears.
She was strange, really strange.
Ever since that day, she always finds the way to go through the pipes when everyone can't.
As if she knows how to go to me.
She often comes and plays among the flower beds that grandma used to take care of.
At first I was angry at her thinking she's ruining the flowers but, I remember that kids who grew up in the Barrel Zone never saw real flowers before.
My heart starts to soften for her.
I learned a lot of things from her.
She likes to paint.
She has a bunny stuffed toy named Momo. She's always carrying it around.
And She was working under 'him'.
I kept my face hidden when I was about to go outside.
When I have time, I travel to the capitol and perform some magic tricks.
I learned it from the old man I saw in the Barrel Zone.
Kids and people like it when they throw coins and money at me.
I used this money to buy food and give it to those who's in need.
"If you have too much, don't be scared to give it to others and it will give you something much more" one of my grandma's words.
And she always reads me a story about a thief, stealing from the rich and helping poor people. Is he really a bad guy or not?
Because of that, I also take it as inspiration to my life.
When I stayed in the capitol, I took every opportunity to steal from the rich while performing magic.
And buy a lot of food to give it to the poor people in the Barrel Zone.
I got a nickname too, "the bandit magician" after all along the way, I met some bandits who help the poor.
I met Levi, our captain.
Sarah, his right hand and his little sister, and other bandits.
When I go to the capitol, I also take something new and show it to Yuu.
Whenever she sees something new or interests her, those emerald eyes are sparkling.
Like a new leaf coming out under a pink flower.
I always find myself staring at her.
When I learned that she took interest in painting, I also stole high quality paints from the Capitol and let her paint the empty walls in my place.
Her presence is somewhat warm and familiar.
As if grandma never left.
She fills the empty hole in my heart.
And I'll do anything to make her happy and feel safe.
If I get those five stones, I'll use it to fix the Barrel Zone.
So she doesn't need to go out of her house with weapons in her.
And maybe, I'll take her to the capitol so she can experience things that the upper are experiencing.
I want to make this world safe, just for her.