Chapter 38: Janine...?

"Mom! Look! I did it!"

I screamed with a soft, milky, and young voice. I did it with joy filling my heart while trying to get mom's attention with my magic.

What was in my kid's hands was a bright blue wobbly bubble. With the sunlight reflecting through its illusory exterior, it exuded a spectrum of bright light.

I was training it for weeks just to impress my mom! Heh! Amazing, right!? Don't underestimate it though, this magic, if used in a professional way, can drown an enemy! But, well, I can't do that yet.

"What!? What is this!? I've taken care of you all my life, and this is the only thing you give me!? A bubble!?"

My mom screamed at me in disappointment.

"I fed you, took care of you, educated you, gave you dresses, and let you live in my house, yet this is how you thank me!? You think a bubble can fill my stomach!?"

My mother stared at me with wide-open angry eyes, as if it was about to fall out any second.

I bowed my head and didn't dare to look at her. The bubble in my hand disappeared as it popped. Feebly, I tried to apologize.

"I.... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? You're sorry huh? What can your "sorry" do? Huh? If you were going to be so useless, then I shouldn't have taken care of you! Goodness! You useless plebeian! Just go wash the dishes! Hmph! The mere sight of you is ruining my day!"

My mother, who has bloodshot eyes and messy hair, became crazed even further. Even though she looks angry, I still love her. Who else in this world would love me like she does? Of course no one does, so I obeyed her order and washed the dirty dishes in the 'kitchen', although kitchen is a bit of an overstatement.

*Splash*

While washing the stained dishes with my magic, I seem to hear my mother murmuring at the edge of my ears.

"Ohh, Andrew, my dearest son.... If only you were here. Look at us now! How could you leave us like this!?"

Wailed by my heart broken mother, who lost my brother in a fight.

'Mommy must be really heart broken...'

When my brother died, mommy was really heart broken, and then a bunch of scary people in metal clothes came and stole our big house, so now, we've been living in this small house.

However, I'm happy as long as mommy is here, but.... I don't think she thinks the same way....

The first time she's like this, I tried to comfort her, but she punished me instead. I could even remember her words.

'You useless daughter! I gave you my time, effort, and sweat! Why can't you repay me properly!? Can't you be more useful like your brother?'

I got saddened upon thinking of it, so much so that I accidentally dropped the plate.

*Clang* *Crack!*

The sharp sound of breaking ceramic plates echoed in the whole dilapidated house. My mother jolted for a bit before bolting towards the kitchen.

"Janine!!!"

Screamed by my mother hysterically.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no! If mommy sees this, I would be punished! I've got to hurry and hide it!'

I panicked and hurriedly picked up the broken parts of the plate and tried to hide them. The sharp yet rough edges scraped my skin, poking them and releasing scarlet water.

*Rattle*

Our backyard only has a curtain blocking it, so mommy easily opened it. She saw me crouching in the ground, picking all the shards of the plate.

"I— I'm sorry..."

I weakly said in fear. At this moment, the sky seemed to darken and black cumulonimbus clouds appeared.

*Swoosh*

Withered leaves were dancing around in the wind, swirling and twirling. The earth shuddered and the world was devoid of light, but as if she was the master of the world, my mother's image was still clear and vivid.

Her eyes were looking at me, without even blinking once. Her pupil glowed red like a demon's, and the mere sight of it gave me chills.

"M—Mommy?"

I feebly called out in an attempt to... I don't know... I just called her to sense a bit of security, but she was the source of danger itself....

My mother approached me slowly like the Grim Reaper. Her every step made the world rumble. Her eyes, which were as black as the abyss, seemed to contain the hell themselves.

As she gets closer, my body shivers and fear creeps inside my heart. I found it hard to breathe and my eyes slightly moistened.

"Mo— Mommy... it hurts..."

However, my mother ignored my whine and

"YOU, USELESS, KID!!!!!"

The sound of my mother's voice was heard loud and clear even though the sound of the thunderstorm was rupturing my ears.

My mother's voice was like the sound of scraping metal. It was instinctively sickening as if my reaction was embedded in the genes of humans.

The cloud rained down and droplets of water fell. Lightning thundered and the earth was burnt. I was soaking wet and the cold harsh wind froze me down to my bones.

Cracks appeared in the sky and heaven fell down towards me. My vision darkened

and I wasn't even able to scream because of fear.

'Am I gonna die?'

Suddenly, light peeked through the slit of my eyelids, blinding my vision and making me forget what just happened.

*Huff!*³

'What was that just now?'

I opened my eyes, only to feel that I was breathing heavily. My heart was pounding nervously as if it was about to explode out of my chest. My whole body was soaking wet like I took a bath in a pool full of sweat.

I looked around and saw that I was in the middle of the woods.

The bright rays of light peered down through the cracks of the luscious green leaves, giving light to the whole forest. However, I was lying down, so I could only see the squirrels, birds, clouds, and the trees.

*Swoosh*

The leaves swayed with the morning breeze, creating a calm and cool atmosphere. The subtly humid scent of dirt, the fresh cold scent of trees, and the slightly sweet floral smell of flowers tickled my smell receptors, making me feel somewhat calm and feel the harmony of life.

The thriving aura of trees, the swift aura of wind, the warm aura of the sun, and the aura of the earth was all around me, making me feel closer to nature.

'Ah, I see. So that was a nightmare.'

I immediately recognized what happened because it was not the first time that it occurred. But the mere thought of the content of my dream still made me.... sad and scared.

*Huff*

After taking deep breaths for some time, the waves in Janine's heart turned tranquil. Her senses have turned back to normal and she finally got the moment to check her surroundings.

'... Where... am I?'

Janine half closed her eyes and dug deep inside her memories, when the blue sky suddenly came into her view. Out of a sudden, her dream just now entered her mind and she felt that it was quite... familiar.

'The sky... fell down...?'

Janine's eyes widened as she finally remembered what happened. She was in the camp when the enemy came in the afternoon. After hours of fighting, the barrier finally broke down because of the rain.

The earthquake back then made the ceiling fall on her, squeezing her body. Fortunately, because of her element, her body was as flexible as water, making her able to squeeze her body in incomprehensible angles.

However, because of the pressure of the rain, her body was squeezed so much that she looked almost flat.

'That's right... Then how did I get here...?'

Janine tried to remember, but none came into her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment in desperation, when the darkness of her closed eyes gave her inspiration.

'Tha— That's right!'

Janine remembered the dark. When she was squeezed in the giant piece of ceiling, she sensed a slight vibration and she desperately called out for help.

'Geez.... Looks like I'm having a problem remembering things....'

Janine thought to herself in a 'I'm such an idiot' tone.

'Is this dementia? Wait, what am I thinking? Shouldn't I be thinking about who saved me?'

Upon thinking of that, Janine shook her head, when she felt a sharp ache in her neck out of the blue.

*Crack!*

A joint in her neck popped, making her feel as if a blood vessel on her neck was squeezed by 2 bones.

"Ouch!"

Jasmine screamed in pain. Her bright, feminine, and clear voice resounded throughout the forest, scaring nearby animals, insects, and such.

Jasmine tried to touch her neck, when she suddenly couldn't lift her hands up. She looked at her hands and discovered that they were bound above a soft fur by a loose rope.

This loose rope was enough to bind her, but it was also enough to make her escape by herself.

'This... What is this? Why am I bound?'

Jasmine thought to herself, and she was about to go remember things one more time. When she suddenly felt a vibration and a rustle. She felt nervous and her heart raced faster than before.

'Oh no! Is it an enemy? Then I must hurry up and escape!'

Jasmine tried to untie the rope, when she discovered that her hands were.... wounded. However, she was wounded in a different way as her skin was flat, looking quite weird.

"Oh, are you awake?"

Jasmine heard a husky voice out of nowhere. She hurriedly closed her eyes to pretend she was asleep.

"Stop pretending that you're asleep. I already heard your scream."

The husky voice said with a chuckle.

"Oh shucks. That's too bad."

Janine loftily said, but she was actually afraid. She stopped pretending and opened her eyes to reveal a deep blue pupil like the color of the underwater ocean. It was dark, but not dark because it was devoid of light, but because of too much blue instead.

She has a mature aura radiating from her, but it was a matured dark aura instead of the kind of maturity that came from kind persons.

Janine looked up and saw a middle-aged man. He looked like a hard working father who had been working in the farm all day long because of the dirt and black marks on his face.

"Good morning."

The man said.

"There's nothing good in the morning if I wake up bound."

Janine sarcastically said, but she was actually testing this man. She was observing his reaction to check what attitude she should show to him.

"Oh, sorry about that. Let me help you."

The man apologized and habitually reached out for a knife in his legs, when he remembered that he doesn't have legs anymore.

He got saddened for a while, then hurriedly reached out for a sword in his waist. The sword was quite normal and didn't have any runes.

The man, while lying on the soft fur, carefully aimed for the ropes and cut it.

*Thud*

The rope was easily cut and Janine was unbounded. But this doesn't mean that she'll have no problem moving due to her condition.

*Mhm... That's much better."

Janine said while observing the red mark left in her wrist. She suddenly looked at the man and asked him questions.

'There's a large possibility that he doesn't have any ill intent.... Anyway, with his attitude, I'll be able to get much more information from him without needing to act.'

"So... Where are we?"

"Hahaha, well, the thing is, I don't know either."

The man chuckled helplessly and said. However, Janine still wanted to squeeze him dry of information.

"Then how did we get here?"

"Oh, the wolf brought us here."

The man said and pointed down. Janine checked if it was true. With difficulty, she moved her body so that her vision was facing the dark fur.

She discovered that the wolf was squeezing itself. The wolf was shrouded in grasses and trees, blocking them from outside view, but they were above the wolf, not beside them.

'A beast? Is he a beast master? Based on his answer, probably not...'

Suddenly, Janine discovered something.

"This..."

Janine saw that in between the stomach of the wolf was an armless man. He was bloodied all over and his skin looked burnt because of the redness of his skin, blisters in his body, some burnt marks, and because of the slight flame aura in his body.

"Who is he?"

'He looks quite.... familiar?'

Janine asked the man while pointing at the rather young looking guy.

"Oh! He is the one who saved me! Now that I think about it... lady, don't you know him? He was with you all the time."

The man perplexingly said. He thought that they were friends somehow, so the questions bothered him.

'I see... so he's the one who saved me...."

"We're not like that."

"I see. Well, anyway, he was hit by a fireball, so his body is lingering with a flame aura."

'Should I help them? But what can I get in return...?'

Janine thought to herself.

'Well, he is the one who saved me, so there's no harm in helping him since he's gonna help me in return anyway.'

Janine thought to herself.

"I can help him."

"Huh?"

The man looked at her dumbfounded. However, Janine was a patient person, so she beared with his stupidity.

"But you have to help me. You need to get that man close to me."

"Ah! Oh! Okay."

The man said and he was about to go down, when he suddenly remembered that he doesn't have legs. However, he was too late.

"Ahh!"

*Thud* *Rustle*

The man fell down on the grass. He slightly rubbed his waist in pain.

"Oh fuck, it hurts."

Seeing this, Janine's evaluation of him lowered by a notch.

'Is he an idiot?'

The man tried to balance himself without using his legs, but it was quite hard.

Seeing this, he looked at Janine and scratched the back of his head.

"I— I'm sorry, it seems that I can't help him..."

"Then why did you even bother?"

Janine frowned and asked.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry. I only did it in the heat of the moment."

Hearing this, Janine rolled her eyes.

"Can't you at least find another way?"

"I'll try."

The man tries to approach Insig, when suddenly, the wolf beside him bared its fangs.

*Growl!*

"Grrr!!!"

It was awake all along, but he didn't bother with them because his savior was not affected. But when they approached Insig, he immediately got wary.

However, seeing that the wolf was quite close with the unknown young man, Janine got an idea.