"HELP!!" a voice echoed again through the forest.
"There's that scream again. I thought it was coming from the cliff…"
I scanned the area, trying to pinpoint the direction. But being the scaredy-cat that I am, my gut told me not to go anywhere near that mysterious call.
"Kung kinsa man ka sigeg shagit anang ngan, bahala ka. Di ka tabangan, gutom ko."
(Whoever you are calling that name, I don't care. I'm hungry. Self-first before helping.)
"HELP…"
That's when it hit me—I'm in another world, yet that's English. Bewildered, I mustered the courage to stand. But first, I searched for a decent stick, just in case. I found one about the size of a baseball bat—it even looked like one. I gave it a swing left and right.
"It's got a good weight to it," I muttered, grinning mischievously.
"Whoever that voice belongs to—he, she, they, them—if my gut's right, I'll whack them all, in order."
I took a deep breath and followed the path, turning about fifty degrees left from my original goal of reaching the river. The shouting nagged at my ears.
I froze after a few steps.
"I forgot to… Nah, if I get bitten, this crest will heal me up… hopefully."
Each step closer made my heart pound harder. I wanted to activate that gruesome ability I'd seen earlier, but no matter how tightly I shut my eyes, I couldn't concentrate—the memory still made me shiver.
As I drew nearer, I crouched into the grass and bushes, hiding behind the roots of an oak tree. Slowly, I lifted my head. Through the dense fog, I couldn't see a thing, but the voice was clear and close. My hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
"Help… please, whoever you are in front of me…"
The voice was feminine, weak, and still in English. Whoever she was—she needed medical help.
"LORD, Ikaw nay bahala," I prayed, then jumped over the roots.
"Whoever you are, tell me where you're at. I can't see through this fog!"
Cough.
I looked up, without hesitation, I hurried straight, careful with each step. A cool breeze swept past me, carrying a familiar scent.
"That's blood…" My eyes widened.
"Are you bleeding heavily?" I shouted
Cough.
"Please… there's a lot of blood…"
"She's close. With that weak voice, I've got maybe a minute to find her—and a minute to save her."
I pressed forward, scanning the ground. Then I saw it—blood splattered across the dirt.
"It's still fresh… Please stay alive, I'm coming."
I followed the trail through dense vegetation until, through the fog, I finally saw her. A young girl leaned against a huge boulder at the mouth of a small cave. Her right hand clutched her abdomen.
Without hesitation, I ran to her side and knelt down. She opened her eyes briefly—so beautiful they glittered like diamonds—before closing them again with a faint smile.
"HEY! STAY WITH ME!" I shook her shoulders, but she gave no response.
Her breathing was shallow and fast, her pale skin ghostly against her blood-soaked robes.
"I'm going to move your hand and check the wound so I can help." I gently lifted her right hand away. The white robes beneath were drenched.
"I'll open the robes to see the wound. Privacy will be respected."
I pulled the fabric just enough to see. A stab wound, just above her navel. About three inches long—definitely from a sword. Still bleeding profusely.
"Yawa… abdominal aorta na igo ni ba…"
(Damn… looks like the abdominal aorta got hit.)
I tore off my white shirt and pressed it into the wound to stop the bleeding. It soaked through instantly.
"Pisti… kung maka tawag rakog 911, ma-agapan pa ni sa emergency."
(Damn, if I could just call 911, she'd be saved in a hospital.)
I looked around frantically. No options. Time was running out. Then I remembered the snake—and the crest.
I tapped the crest with my left hand. Nothing.
"NOW IS NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO FAIL, CREST! SHOW YOUR COLORS LIKE EARLIER!!"
Still nothing.
"Shit!" I slammed my fist into the ground.
Then I remembered one of my favorite anime—the blue energy I'd seen earlier. I forced my mind sharp, closed my eyes, and imagined I am in an operating room.
A bright light flared. When I opened my eyes, I saw it—the green energy flowing around me like before.
I looked at the young girl, still clutching her abdomen. With that sight, I could see inside her.
"The transverse colon is cut… lower body of the stomach too. Part of the pancreas damaged… but the abdominal aorta—that's the killer."
I raised my right hand, the crest glowing now, and placed it above the wound. The lines of the crest spread from my fingers, threading into the injury. I focused, guiding them carefully to the torn artery.
The lines wrapped around it, weaving together like stitches, mending it. Then I moved to the damaged organs—colon, stomach, pancreas—repairing them one by one. Finally, I guided the lines to close the wound itself.
When I lifted my hand, the abdomen was sealed, clean as if nothing had happened. Looked up Her heart still beat. Her lungs still move.
"She'll wake up soon," I muttered.
Exhausted, I leaned against the boulder beside her. My vision blurred, heavy with fatigue.
"Dang… that was exhausting."
And then, I went to sleep.
I opened my eyes and found myself back in my world—but everything felt hazy. Faces blurred around me. Ambulance sirens blared in the distance, their flashing lights bouncing off buildings and washing over the faceless crowd. My heart pounded. A glow illuminated my face, and saw the crest on my right-hand glowing
"CODE BLUE!" a voice echoed around me.
I could hear the familiar sounds of life-support machines blaring loudly. As I blinked, I found myself back in the emergency ward of a hospital I knew well. I recognized fellow staff nurses at the bedsides, doing everything they could to revive four patients with life-threatening wounds.
Then something clicked in my mind; I remembered this scene. I was a fresh graduate, a newly licensed nurse, and this was my very first day working in the hospital. A mass casualty event had struck, and as the nearest hospital, our ER was flooded with patients.
Blood was everywhere on the beds, the floor, even smeared across our uniforms, marked with the desperate handprints of our patients. I remember wearing white that day, the only uniform I owned, and it was quickly stained beyond recognition.
It was a struggle, and the pain of losing patients after doing your best, makes you question if this career path I chose is really for me. Then Suddenly, I saw a familiar, woman walking out from the emergency room, then the scene changed, I wasn't longer in the hospital, I turned my back the emergency room entrance wasn't there. I scanned the area, recognizing it instantly.
"People's Park?
"Kyle."
The voice called again, this time behind me. I turned and froze. My ex-girlfriend standing there with her head facing on the stone walk way. I hadn't seen her in like three years since we broke up due to something.
"Juliana?" I said with bewilderment
She bit her lip, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Kyle, please… say something." She rubbed her eyes, trembling.
Memories surged back, stabbing into me like knives. My face twisted from confusion into pain.
That was the night I had just clocked out from the toxic mass casualty event, when she confessed that she and her ex had met and spent some time together which resulted in her pregnancy.
My chest tightened. I opened my mouth to speak—but then I saw her.
The young woman. The one I had just saved. She was here, scanning the park with calm, diamond-like eyes. She studied the surroundings briefly, then walked closer, stopping just behind Juliana.
"Is this the most painful event in your story?" she said gently.
Her voice was soft and warm—like a mother comforting her child.
I couldn't stop the tears. They spilled down my face before I even realized.
"Ho…how did you…" I stuttered.
She only smiled at me
Then the scene changes the moment I blinked, I was at a familiar room,
"No…." I muttered, as I realized that I was at my room.
Then I saw the child version of me, sitting on the floor and leaning against the door with legs up and tears flowing. while listening the yelling of curses of my parents below.
Then the young girl, walked past me, going towards the child-me, knelt in front of him and patted his head
"Please…. Make this stop…" The child-me said
My heart ached when I heard the words of my younger self, the girl then stood, and spoke.
"Is this the most painful event in your story?"
I froze, ignoring the question
"I see… Those who devote themselves to healing others," she said, "are often the ones most wounded inside."
The walls dissolved. Darkness swallowed everything.
Fire cracking
I opened my eyes and jolted upright, breathing heavily. I scanned my surroundings and realized that it was a dream. Then I felt a sudden pain inside my head, like someone knocked me out.
"Oh, your awake…"
I turned to my right; my eyes still adjusting to the light from the fire, as my eyes adjusted, I saw the girl that I saved, and realized she was on my dreams.
"You were…." I bolted up to the side, took a stone from my side raised it up high ready to throw it if she does anything stupid
She glanced at me and took the grilled fish from the camp fire, took a bite and extended me the fish with her bite mark.
"I apologize for that; it is for my own protection"
I hesitated, since she bit a part from the fish, and thinking that she got dormant diseases from this world that my immune system isn't capable of fighting.
"I'm sorry, I have to turn down your kind gesture" I replied
"Wary, are you? Don't worry I don't carry dormant diseases that can make you sick."
I was stunned that she was able to read my mind.
"You can read minds?" I asked
"No, but from what I saw in your dreams, I can tell how germophobic you are"
"Yaga kabalo lagi siya anang term. My dreams? So, she was inside?" I thought to myself
(T/n: How the hell she knew that term?)
"Still refusing?" She asked, still offering the fish she bit earlier
"I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude, but for my own protection I don't take offers from strangers"
She got pissed, withdrew the fish, and ate it staring at me with those angry eyes. Similarly, like when you pissed your girlfriend with something. I was confused for a sec, and laughed.
"Why the angry face?" I asked
She broke of the stare and swallowed.
"I want to repay your kindness by offering this fish. In my culture when we offer our gesture of thanks through food, we first bite a small part, swallow it first to show that it isn't poisoned and I have no evil intentions towards the one I am offering to."
"I see…" I replied and bowed myself before her to apologize. Also, other reason is I can't stand seeing her eating because it makes my stomach growling.
"Here"
I glanced up and saw she's offering a grilled fish without a bite mark.
"You can bite a small part of it, if you want to"
"No… we have different values, which I respect. Also, with the Aether's mark in your right hand, no poison can kill you."
I straightened up, took the fish from her hand and asked.
I froze. "Aether's crest?"
She tilted her head, her ears twitching
"You're joking right?"
I felt like I embarrassed myself in front of a beautiful girl before me, I could tell she is around the same age of the body that I am in. but it felt weird for being ignorant.
"No…" I replied "If I knew the about this crest, I could've accepted the fish you offered earlier"
"Logical answer" she replied, while continued munching on the fish
I still hesitated eating the fish, my stomach growled, and staring at her enjoying the fish
"Where did you get this fish? I can't hear a river nearby"
She placed the stick onto her side, and spoke
"After you healed me, I woke up and saw you sleeping next to me. I was about to kill you silently but when I saw the Aether Crest on your right hand and realize you were a healer. I thought you guys were extinct during the seven years' war." She paused and chuckled. "Then I heard your stomach growling, so in return for healing me, I went to the nearest river which is four kilometers from here, caught some fish and got some drinking water. End of story"
"I see…" I replied. I took a bite of the fish and was amazed that it tasted like grilled Bangus (Philippine Milkfish)
"Is this Bangus?" I said, while studying the fish, to my surprise it is really Bangus, but something is not right, though it has a size of single four kilo Bangus, it doesn't have small bones, one of the most annoying things while eating this fish"
"Bangus?" she asked "You mean this Bandeng?"
"Bandeng?" I replied.
"Bandeng is what the Indonesians call this fish" I wondered "am I in Indonesia? But… there are no beast-men in my world"
"Yup" she replied, "I took out the small bones before grilling them"
"OH, now I understand why there isn't the expected bones" I replied
"Oh, you've already eaten this type of fish?"
"Yeah, it is a national fish in my home coun…" I paused realizing I almost slipped my tongue that I am not from this world.
She stared at me for a sec, and stood and went to the pile of wood, in front of her took three fire wood and place them into the fire. She sat down and spoke
"I understand… trust isn't earned immediately especially for those people with that crest on their hands"
"What do you mean?" I asked
She stared at the fire, silent
"Did I just land a landmine" I thought
She stood, rolled over the log she was sitting on, sat on the ground and slept on the ground, ignoring my question.
I sighed as I looked up to the evening sky, though there are no stars because it was covered by the towering trees, and I can see my breath.
"What a cold evening" I muttered
"Why were you injured? I asked
I could see her ears twitching, she turned and spoke
"My brother and I ran until our lungs burned, but it wasn't long before two soldiers caught us. They chained us like animals and beat us whenever we faltered, dragging us through an unfamiliar forest towards the unknown. But fate gave me one chance. Under the cover of night, when their guard was low, I froze the shackles with my power until the metal snapped apart. I moved quickly, quietly, freeing the others as my senses stretched outward, following the faint, familiar scent of my brother."
"Yet…." She paused, her lips trembling
"Freedom brought only more blood. The adults I had unshackled refused to flee—they took up whatever weapons they could find and struck at the imperials as they slept. In an instant, the forest erupted into chaos. Steel clashed, men shouted, and the dark was filled with the stench of blood and fear. Through the turmoil I found my brother lay pinned beneath a soldier's boot, his small frame trembling as the man struck him again and again. I froze, paralyzed by horror. Then rage overtook me. With a cry, I hurled myself at the soldiers, claws and frost lashing wildly in desperation. I didn't see the one behind me until it was too late. His blade sank deep into my stomach, white-hot pain tearing through me. My strength gave out, and I crumpled to the ground. The last thing I saw was my brother's face twisted in terror before the world dissolved into black. When my eyes opened again, I was lying in the woods. A stranger knelt beside me, her hands glowing faintly as she poured what little Aether she had left into my wound, holding me on the edge of life. By the time I could stand, she was gone. I staggered through the trees until I reached this cave, my body weak, my heart broken. And here… here I felt it for the first time since that night—a presence. A calm Aether, steady and warm, like the promise of someone that could save me, that's where you came"
"I see…" I murmured, staring into the fire. Its crackle filled the silence between us, but her words lingered in my chest like the embers glowing on the wood.
The young beastwoman lay curled on the ground, her tail twitching faintly as if betraying her restless thoughts despite her closed eyes. I knew she wasn't truly asleep—her ears were still angled toward me, listening for every sound, every breath.
My fingers instinctively brushed the crest on my hand. A healer… extinct for seven years? Her words gnawed at me. What exactly had I awakened inside myself when I saved her? What did this crest mean in this world?
The air grew colder as the night deepened. My breath misted in front of me, fading into the dark canopy of towering trees. I leaned back against the cave wall, forcing my tired eyes to stay open, though the warmth of the fire and the weight of the day pressed me toward sleep.
Then her voice broke the silence. Soft, hesitant.
"…Do you regret it?"
I blinked, glancing at her. She was still lying down, facing away from me. Only her ears twitched slightly.
"Regret what?" I asked.
"Saving me." Her words carried both bitterness and shame. "If you hadn't interfered… maybe the imperials wouldn't be searching this forest now. Maybe you'd still be safe."
I chuckled dryly. "Safe? In this world? I don't even know where the hell I am. Safe is a luxury I've never had."
She shifted, turning to face me. Her diamond-like eyes shimmered faintly in the firelight, reflecting both vulnerability and steel. "Then why? You could've left me there to die."
I opened my mouth to answer, but my throat tightened. The memory of Juliana's tear-streaked face back at People's Park flashed in my mind, followed by the image of my younger self crying behind the locked door. Pain. Betrayal. Loneliness.
I exhaled slowly. "Because I know what it feels like… to be left behind."
Her eyes widened slightly. For the first time, she didn't argue. Instead, silence fell again, heavy but less hostile than before.
I tore another bite of fish, the taste oddly nostalgic despite the strange world I found myself in. She curled up tighter, her tail wrapping around her waist like a blanket.
Before long, the fire dwindled into glowing embers. My eyelids grew heavy, but I fought against them, gripping the stick I'd picked up earlier just in case.
And then, I went to sleep.