Chapter 18-Mary's Past

There's a heavy tension in the air as the three of us set up our camp for the night

Khione isn't speaking to Old-Man F, Old-Man F doesn't know how to break the silence between him and Khione, I can't be the one to break the silence, and Mary sits in silence a couple of feet away from the three of us as she observes us wearingly.

Meh, it can't hurt to try.

"Khione and I did GREAT in our first fight against E-Chargers, right, Old-Man F?" I excitedly exclaim.

PERFECT. Khione is always looking for her master's approval, and Old-Man F can't help but to dote over his students.

"Hmm…" Old-Man F mutters.

"Yeah…" Khione replies.

I flinch and look away.

DAMN. How awkward!

And so, the silence resumes as the three of us finish setting up our tents for the right.

"Alright, I'm turning in," Old-Man F announces gloomily as he enters our tent.

"Mary, you can come sleep with me," Khione calls to the girl.

"I-I'm alright…" Mary answers.

Khione frowns, but she also doesn't push the conversation any further as she enters her own tent.

I stare at Mary from in front of my tent for a moment. The little girl is sitting in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring at the dull purple night sky above.

I let out a small sigh.

"You know, Master Flint once told me that before the flood, the sky was filled with all of these bright lights in the sky called 'stars'," I say as I take a seat next to Mary, causing the girl to flinch.

"I-Is that so…?" She stammers.

"What's up with your Charge Stance?" I ask, "It's an odd one."

"I only feel comfortable when I'm sitting in a fetal position…" Mary answers sadly as she stares at the ground, "When my body is all tight and scrunched up, I feel like no one can hurt me…"

"Uh-huh," I reply, "So how old are you anyway, Mary?"

"Twelve," Mary answers.

"Where do you come from?" I ask.

"Wh-why are you asking me these questions?" Mary stammers.

"You see, I'm a man without memories," I answer as I peer down at Mary with my own sad smile, causing her eyes to widen, "So I've always been interested in where people come from."

"I-is that so…?" Mary asks.

"Now you're repeating yourself!" I laugh.

"I-I don't know where I came from…" Mary answers, "I find myself in an orphanage even in my earliest memories. All the other kids and even the adults working the orphanages were afraid of me because of my Blood Charge, so I was always sent from orphanage to orphanage. They would always bully me and make fun of me, and call my names. Bloody Mary…they called me. Even now, I can't remember if my surname is really mine or a cruel nickname given to me…"

Mary buries her face in her hands and sobs.

Gently, I reach out and rub the girl's back. At first, Mary flinches, but her body untenses a moment later as I continue patting her back.

"I was in and out of orphanages for about five years," Mary continues, her voice muffled by her hands, "When I turned six, I was kidnapped by a bandit group called…ah, I don't remember their name anymore. The next day, a DIFFERENT bandit group and they began killing each other. Afterwards, I don't remember which group I belonged to. This continued on until I was ten, that's when Twilight Wolf captured me. The boss of Twilight Wolf told me that I was his slave and nothing more. They locked me in a cage, they abused me, but…he said those words with a smile…and now, no one else is dying because of me."

For the first time that night, Mary lowers her hands and looks up at me. And with a sad smile, she says: "I'm really fucked up, aren't I?"

Tears well at the edges of my eyes.

"Stockholm's Syndrome," I say.

"Huh?" Mary asks.

"You have Stockholm's Syndrome," I answer, "It's when you grow to love your capture as a coping mechanism."

"I…love the boss…?" Mary asks herself.

"So how about it?" I ask with a smile as I hold a hand out to Mary, "Want to join Team Noah?"

Mary looks down at my hand, then back up to me, without moving, or saying anything.

"That's fine," I say as I push myself up to my feet, "You don't have to give me your answer today, tomorrow, or even in a year from now."

"Even if you don't join Team Noah, Khione and I WON'T let you go back to Midnight Wolf."

Mary begins trembling.

"You should really talk to Khione," I say as I turn around and begin walking towards my tent, "You two have a lot in common and she's sweet, you'll really like her."

Mary doesn't say anything, of course, she just watches me walk away.

The strange thing is, when I open my tent, I don't see Old-Man F in there.

"Huh…" I say, "That's odd."

…

"Khione…" Flint says as he enters Khione's tent.

In response, Khione turns away from Flint in her sleeping bag, and buries her face deeper into her blankets.

"Um…" Flint begins to say, but his voice trails off. No longer does he know what to say to his adopted daughter.

"What do you want?!" Khione snaps, without lifting her face out of her sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry, Khione…" Flint sighs, "I should have told you about my past as a member of Twilight Wolf. I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Khione is silent.

"I didn't help Cherika and the others kill your parents," Flint continues, "I was against it. That was the breaking point for me leaving Twilight Wolf. However…I did some horrible things while I was a member…"

Khione is silent.

"I hope that, one day…I can make it up to you…"

Slowly, Khione rolls over at bed and peers up at Flint, with tears in her eyes.

"Ever since my parents were killed, you were all I had," Khione begins, "At first, it was awkward. We were just teacher and student, but you CLEARLY didn't want to bother training some random kid, and I was too depressed and angry to be any fun to be around. But after living together for a while, we fell in love…in the father-daughter kind of way. And then…our village began suffering from famine, and neither of us had enough strength to E-Charge."

Khione wipes her eyes.

"It's funny, huh?" She asks, "I only came to Tanhatam Village so that you could train me, and we weren't even able to! I think it was at that point where you became my father."

Flint's eyes widen.

"I-I see…" he replies.

"I'm hurt, Master F, I really am," Khione continues, "But…you weren't the one who killed my parents. Every time I asked you about your past, you'd never answer, and now I understand why. It seemed…difficult, for a while. While I still blame you for helping kill my parents, I can't stay mad at you forever…"

"Dad…"

Tears well up in the edges of Flint's eyes.

"Now…can you leave?" Khione asks as she turns over again, "I'm tired."

"R-right…" Flint replies with a small smile, before turning around and exiting Khione's tent.