TAIHEN Only If We Could Go Back

Taihen and the trader stare at each other wistfully in the middle of an unbounded situation. The weather is still quite hot, but the humidity isn so bad since there are trees present around so Taihen doesn feel ill.

”How…did you…? ” Taihen asks confusingly. ”I… do I know you? ”

”What…huh?! ” he reacts surprisingly. ”Don you recognize me?! ”

Taihen attempts to recall every moment he could think of, but nothing of the sort struck up to his memory. ”No…I don . ”

”Really dude?! ” he replies. ”Daniel? Daniel Evans? The man you forced to help you get those crystals out of the queens statue? ”

He repeats his attempt to recall, but still, none come up. ”Crystals… no. ”

Its very unusual for Taihen to forget something so detailed and important since, ever since he was a kid, his unbreakable memory is a gift hes born with. This makes Taihen think that the guy must be lying and is just trying to get his attention to buy his product.

”I… have to go. ” Taihen says to Daniel as he tries passing by him.

”Hang on! ” he commands.

Taihen stops walking and faces back. ”Yes…? Im sorry its m-my first time here so- ”

”Good heavens no- its just… ” – he looks around to see if theres anyone listening – ”didn you mention that you have a good memory before? ”

”How d-did you know about that? ” Taihen replies. ”I… weve just met… ”

”YES YOU DID! ” Daniel shouts, but then reverts to being calm. ”Are you being bloody serious right now-? ”

”I guess…? ” he answers.

”This is a such tough situation. ” he murmurs to himself quietly. Taihen, wth his good hearing, tries to make out his mumbles. But it was almost inaudible. A different language, perhaps?

Shortly, he calls for his attention. ”Hello? Daniel, r-right? Are you ok? ”

”Am I ok?! ” he replies sarcastically. ”Do you hear yourself? You pulled me out from my job years ago just to help you grab time gems from the old museum, and we called each other mates. ”

”M-mates?! I… honestly… Im sorry. I… don know you. ” Taihen concludes, skeptical to Daniel.

Daniel slaps himself on the forehead, stressed out about everything. Until he realizes something. Something that he shouldve remembered right from the get-go.

”Wait… ” he says as he realizes something he has forgotten earlier. ”Agh shit. Mate Im such a boggle-head. What am I doing faffing around like an idiot? Wow… Im so stupid. ”

Confused as Taihen was, he manages to keep himself from being too concerned about the man. Maybe the mans crazy and just needs some consideration. He can just judge everyone based on how they look…and talk.

Daniel takes a couple of deep breathes to ease out his mind, refreshing his thoughts one by one to be able to do better decisions. ”Its nothing. ” he says.

”Are…you sure?- ”

”Hold on, Im not sure actually! ” Daniel interrupts. ”Im sorry for earlier but uhm… I have mistaken you for someone else. ”

”W-what are you talking about? ” he asks. ”You just…told me my own n-name. ”

”Oh don worry about that mate. ” he stutters. ”I heard your name back there. Thought you were one of my old customers. Mistakes can be made, innit? ”

”You… are you alright? ” Taihen states as his suspicion grows even more.

The stuff inside Daniels bag was clumped and rattled, almost as if there was a chicken running inside it. Daniel reached his hand under his bag and takes an accessory.

”Here. Take this. ” Daniel says as he hands out something that looks like a royal accessory.

A first glance, it looks like a necklace with a beautiful silver chain, but as he grabs ahold of it, it is something much more valuable.

Its actually a pendant. A pendant that has a tiny little storage area hanging on its chains.

”Wh…what is this? ” he asks. ”I can afford this… I have barely any money… ”

Silence. No word is spoken once by Daniel after Taihnen asked the pending question. This leaves Taihen thinking about whats in store for him inside the pendant.

He opens up the tiny storage hanging from it as he grasps it carefully, and sees something he never expected to see.

It had a time gem. A green, fresh, on-the-spot time gem. This leaves Taihen utterly surprised and somewhat confused about how it got there.

He rubs his eyes to make sure that he isn just hallucinating because of the intense heat, and it looks like he isn imagining stuff. It is a time gem, right in the flesh.

”W-why is there a time gem here?! ” he asks, having mixed feelings of surprise, content, confusion, and satisfaction.

”It had a time gem? ” Daniel asks, confused as well. ”Well thats surprising… ”

”How do you…have this?! ” Taihen asks loudly since nothing makes for him. ”I-Im so confused! How did you- how do you know about… do you know about time gems?! ”

”Right… ” he thinks back to himself, constructing some kind of reply. ”I have no idea what those are actually. If those are bloody time gems that thats such a missed opportunity to sell. ”

”Wait, s-so you
e not selling me this? ” Taihen frustratingly shouts as softly as possible. ”This is confusing… Im sorry for shouting but… Im just so confused about everything. ”

”Its fine. ”

”Anyways, you were looking for an inn right? ” Daniel asks. ”I know a fantastic inn nearby. If you
e starving, they have a variety of meals on their menu. ”

”Y-yes… ” Taihen asks skeptically. ”But… I don really like being stalked s-so please just stop with the eavesdropping… ”

Daniel awkwardly laughs. ”You know what, sure. ”

» » ————- ¤ ————- « «

After talking back and forth about the inns location, they begin walking their way through the city. Daniel leads the way and Taihen just silently follows as he observes his surroundings.

They walk past a ton of interestingly unusual stuff. Most are just shops that look completely out of place from their time, and some are just homes with a subtle oddity of modern houses.

But one thing really makes him feel tension, and its a ginormous pyramid glanceable in the far distance.

The pyramid has a head of a falcon carved on the very top.

There were also statues of two people beside it and uses his ability to zoom in on them, but he couldn identify what those two statues were.

And finally, after a short while of walking, they finally reach their destination.

”We
e here. ” Daniel says to Taihen.

Taihen looks at the inns facade and, to his surprise, it is tall. Its completely odd to see a tall building, similar to a skyscraper five stories high, in this era since every building elsewhere is completely different. Its almost as if it stands out on its own.

”This looks…different… ” Taihen comments on the inn.

”I know mate. ” Daniel replies. ”Its so tall. Tells you that it has a lot to offer. ”

A signboard hanging in front of the inn that is, yet again, written in hieroglyphics so Taihen couldn understand.

”What does that sign read? ” Taihen points to the signboard ontop of them.

”Oh, that? ” he replies. ”UBELS INN probably. ”

”Probably?! ” Taihen reacts confusingly.

”Its hard to read Egyptian with their bloody weird characters. ” Daniel replies frustratedly. ”Especially when translating it using your head. ”

”Don you live here? ” Taihen asks.

”N-no…? Yes…? Maybe…? ” Daniel answers subtly.

”Huh?! ” he reacts confused once more. ”You know- Ill just go inside and check-in so I could finally- ”

”No no no- wait. ” Daniel says to Taihen. ”Let me do it for you. ”

Taihen knows that Daniel is a particularly strange man, but his peculiarity is getting weirder and weirder. ”Why though? ”

”Trust me. ” Daniel says to Taihen, smiling with confidence.

They enter the inn at ease to be able to see the wonders of the inns interior. As they enter the inn through the heavy door, they are greeted with a warm welcome from the owner and the workers.

”Welcome! ” every worker inside the inn greets in chorus.

The inn, by far, is the most welcoming out of all. Even though its structure is quite intimidating from the outside perspective, the warm and welcoming feeling lets you off at ease.

The sandstone walls and the floor are smooth and clean, almost as if its shining. There were alot of wooden tables and seats similar to what youll see in a dining area.

Customers are jarring. Most are just there to eat dinner, and some are there to knock themselves out with beer. The workers working there are full of women dressed in simple sheath dresses, serving the customers on hold.

The place is almost near peak modernity and is very unusual for an ancient civilization to even reach that peak. A counter is visible all the way across the end of the room as a simple yet muscular man idles behind.

Daniel reaches for the idling man to greet him. ”Hey mate! ”

”Oi, Danny! ” the man behind the counter says. ”Peace be with you. ”

”Peace be with you too, Ubel. ” he replies. ”And stop calling me Danny. It makes me feel like a child. ”

”Dani-el is too weird to pronounce, ech. ” Ubel says. ”So, what
e ya planning? Went here to join me fishing again? ”

”No…Im here to help my mate get a room. ” Daniel replies as he points both of his palms towards Taihen.

Taihen, on the brink of noticing this, gets felt right on the spot. ”Hi? ”

Ubel silently stares at Taihen for a good minute. ”Him? ” he asks.

”Right on the spot! ” Daniel shouts. ”I was just wondering, are there any rooms available? ”

”HAHAHAAA! ” Ubel laughs. ”O-course we have empty rooms! ”

”Great- ”

”Wait a minute! ” Taihen commands strictly, confused at Daniels actions. ”What in the world are you doing?! ”

”I-I am just getting you a room. ” Daniel answers quickly.

”Why do you need to though?! ” he replies, very annoyed at Daniel. ”I appreciate the gesture of letting me know this place, but I think I can handle the rest myself. ”

”Just relax, mate. ” Daniel states. ”Ill pay for one night, alright? ”

”Why are you- we just met! ” Taihen shouts as softly as possible.

”For you, we just met. For me? We have met. Years ago. ” Daniel replies, frustratingly. ”Now just stay silent and let me handle this. It benefits you so stay put. ”

Taihen is left out of words. Daniel spoke up to him and offered him a free night and Taihen remained ungrateful? That must be rethought.

”A standard room is two gold and nine silvers a night. ” Ubel interjects. ”You
e still planning to get a room, yes? ”

”Yes, but not the standard room. ” Daniel replies. ”Could you offer the best room you have? ”

”O-course! ” he answers joyfully. ”Four gold a night. ”

As the two converses back and forth about taking a room, Taihen glances his eyes and zooms in towards a busy female worker/waitress. Shes currently holding a wooden tray packed with drinks and beers to be waited on.

Her face is somewhat familiar to him, making her somewhat of a wonder. His memory could be trusted though, so he knows that he never met this girl in his life. But one thing catches his utmost attention.

As he zooms into her body to observe it, he sees bruises and wounds that are partially healed up. This makes him worry about her.

And, out of nowhere, the waitress trips, dropping everything on the tray she is holding.

”AAAAAGH! ” the waitress exclaims.

Every drink on the tray spills on the customers in front of her, causing those customers to be real disappointed. Everyone on the ground floor looks at the situation surprised.

”What the-?! ” the male customer shouts at the waitress as his, along with his wifes, clothes are wet and stench with beer.

”Oh my… ” the wife says to his husband, grabbing a piece of cloth to wipe some of the wet stains off. ”Let me just-. ”

”Im… sorry. ” she says, immediately bowing down for forgiveness.

”… ” the husband didn even speak. He just stared, left some gold coins on the table, and left the inn out of disappointment.

She breathes heavily, almost as if shes going to fall into tears. Taihen notices this and with not much hesitation, he immediately walks toward her.

But before he could even reach her, Ubel rushes out the counter to reach her.

”Chiwa! ” Ubel shouts. ”Up. Now! ”

Chiwa slowly stands up, trembling in anxiety as shes being looked upon, drenched in beer. Ubel quickly grabs her by the arm.

”Come here, QUICK! ” Ubel shouts as he pulls her through the small crowd towards the doorway behind the counter.

The shock is quite the hassle, and Taihen is not a fan of it. Daniel taps Taihens shoulder from behind to grab his attention.

”Mate, I got it. ” Daniel says. ”It was actually six gold and nine silvers before so it was super expensive. BUT I GOT IT FOR JUST FIVE GOLD! FIVE! ”

Tahens head was on the clouds, staring at the doorway where Chiwa and Ubel just went through, almost worried for her. ”Wh-what? Did you say some…thing? ”

”I said, I got your room. ” Daniel answers. ”The best room actually… for a cheap price! How amazing is that?! ”

”Wait a sec- are you really focused on that?! ” Taihen agitatedly exclaims. ”Did you s- did you even see what happened back there?! Its so… aren you… worried? ”

”Relax. ” Daniel states. ”Im bloody sure theres nothing bad happening. Its probably just a small punishment, nothing that serious. ”

”Wha- huh?! ” Taihen shouts softly.

”Besides, you
e about to get one of the best rooms in one of the best inns in… Memphis! ” Daniel exclaims delightfully.

Taihen rolls his eyes in disbelief and annoyance. ”So? ”

”Ah, right! ” – Daniel moves aside to reveal a female worker waiting beside him, staring menacingly – ”So, Taihen, This is the lady wholl guide you and do everything else. ”

The lady stares immensely at Taihen, and he finds it extremely uncomfortable. ”Hi? ”

”Peace be with you. ” she replies with a very odd, monotone-like voice.

Still awkward, ”Same, I guess…? ” Taihen replies.

”Knuckle on! ” Daniel exclaims. ”I have to leave now since I have a ton of items to sell before the sun gets too low. Have a nice day! ”

As Daniel leaves the inn, ”Daniel- WAIT! ”

”Bye. ” Daniel says as he leaves the inn with no trace.

Taihen feels overwhelmed and quite betrayed as he stands there besides the lady since hes looking quite cowardly as a first impression. The lady steps up to keep the pace.

”Follow me. ” she says.

The lady passes by him, signaling him to follow her, and Taihen does so. They pass through the counter and reach the staircase just beside it.

Its quite awkward for Taihen to walk beside her, so-

”Whats… your name? ” Taihen asks as they ascend the following staircase one story at a time.

The lady once reveals her monotone voice. ”Quibilah ”

”Qui-bi-lah… ” Taihen repeats. ”Do you have something shorter than that? ”

She halts for a while. ”Ayla. ”

”Ayla… ” Taihen repeats. ”Thats nice I guess… ”

As the small talk ends, they continue walking up the flight of stairs. But as he does, he suddenly hears subtle moaning sounds, as well as some manly groaning.

Taihens now the one halting. ”Do you hear that? ”

”I believe I don hear anything. ” the lady answers.

He raises his ears to use his ability to hear even the farthest of sounds surrounding him to relieve his worry and curiosity. And as he does-

”N-no! ” Chiwa cries, seemingly hurt by the words being said by the owner.

”You keep messing things up! ” Ubel shouts quietly. ”I am paying you quite nicely so PLEASE just stop losing us customers if you don want to lose your job. ”

”No… I don want to lose my job! ” she replies, crying desperately.

”Then do your job properly! ” he said as the sound of something whipping at her can be heard. Compared to the owners mellow voice, he seems to be committing violence to such a degree.

Taihen, in the middle of worry and agony, attempts to run downstairs to try and stop whatevers happening there. But before he could even do three steps down, Ayla grabs him by his coat.

”HALT! ” she shouts. ”Where were you going to? ”

”Let go of me! ” he replies, struggling to escape her strong grip.

”You will fall if I let go, sir. ” she says. ”You will just get yourself injured. ”

He manages to calm himself and stop moving, but Ayla isn in the mood to be fooled. ”Im not letting go, youll just escape. ”

”Well-who cares?! ” Taihen replies. ”Do you not hear whats happening?! ”

”I don hear anything, but I do know whats going on. ” Ayla answers calmly. ”I apologize for not letting you go but… Itll be worse if you barge in. ”

”How would it be worse?! ” Taihen confusingly asks. ”Does this happen every time? ”

”Occasionally. ” she answers. ”I have already done my attempt on stopping it, but even I couldn . ”

Its a damn. Taihen realizes that, if a woman like her that is strong enough to grip him isn worth to take on Ubel, it is impossible for him to be able to do anything.

”Fine, take me to the room I guess. ” he says.

She lets go of her grip and smiles for the first time. ”Fantastic, follow me. ”

After going up three floors using the flight of stairs rising upon, they reach the floor where they meet a corridor full of doors left and right. Ayla leads Taihen to the third room on the right.

”This is it. ” she says as she points to the door beside her.

As he enters the doorway, what he saw may just be the most bizarre thing he has seen so far. Its just no ordinary room like the one he was in when he was in Whinas home.

Even though the room is mostly made out of sandstone, the design of the whole room is impeccable. All that you could think of that could possibly be in an inn is present.

A comfortable bed, a nice wooden desk with a chair, a bathroom, and all those other stuff with a taste of ancient style. It makes him delighted as much as anyone who could get a room for free, but it felt odd.

”Woah… this is… so cool. ” he says, smiling in contentment. ”Its amazing. B-beautiful! ”

”Yes. ” she replies still with a monotone voice. ”This is the best room we could offer, so it must be this nice. ”

”How… did you people do th-this? ” Taihen asks, feeling unusually odd here. ”I thought… these are… modern. ”

”Modern? I don know what that means. ” Ayla answers uneasily.

”Its just… different f-from outside. How long has it been l-like this? ”

”It was the most memorable for me this past seven years so I believe this was implemented by the Pharoah himself about two years ago. ”

”Strange… ” Taihen blurts out of the blue. ”The Pharoah, you say? H-he has so much influence on this. ”

”He would always be influential to anything related to Upper and Lower Egypt. He rules it. ”

”I-Im aware… but everything here just f-feels very strange. ”

”Unusual, yes. But youll get used to it. ” she states. ”Anything else? ”

He places his bag on the bed. ”No. ”

”Fantastic. ” she says as she reaches out a paper from her pocket to Taihen. ”Now that you
e all settled, here are some quick reminders. ”

Taihen grabs the paper to see whats written there.

He could not understand a single character from the paper once again.

”Im sorry but, I don actually know this… language. ” he says as he hands the rules back to Ayla.

”I apologize. We do have other languages. ”

”I… sure. But, can you just…t-tell me? ”

She places the paper back in her pocket and decides to tell him the rules personally.

”To put it simply, doing any crime possible is prohibited. If theres an emergency present at a specified time, you are instructed to stay inside your rooms and wait for further commands from the workers. ” she says, putting up a very uneasy straight face. ”Anything else? ”

”Hm…how about a meal? ” he asks. ”Is there any food here that is very tasty? Id like to eat because Im kind of hungry. ”

”Sure, I will get you the finest dish in this inn. ” she says.

”It doesn need to be fancy thou- ”

Ayla leaves the room, completely ignoring him. Now hes left in the room alone with only himself to talk to, which isn a problem.

He takes a seat at the desk, taking a rest from that soft-spoken journey with a mysterious wandering trader called Daniel. Daniel claims to have met Taihen, and somehow, have been friends with him for a long time.

But, thats just not it. Whats more, is that he had given Taihen a pendant that contained a time gem that he claims someone sent to him. Which is odd since hes desperate for it.

He takes the pendant he put inside his pocket and takes the gemstone out of the small compartment to take a good grasp on it. Its brightness, roughness, and shape are just perfect.

He grabs Chronos and inserts the time gem through the circular tube in the device.

.

.

Time gem acquired.

Gem level — [1/8]

.

.

Now that he has a guaranteed safe way out, he releases a sigh of relief. ”Haaah… Thank Chronos I have a- ”

.

.

Hi!

Im Chronos!

Your time-traveling assista-

.

”Stop! ” Taihen shouts at Chronos. ”Shhh! ”

.

.

.

Halting…

Charging now; 86% remaining

”How are you char- WE ARE INDOORS! ” Taihen shouts softly. ”You know what- Chronos! ”

.

.

Hi!

Im Chronos!

Your –

.

”Can I change your name? ” he requests. ”Its annoying how you turn on everytime I blurt out a common mannerism. ”

.

.

The request is; [Can I change your name?]

Opening menu…

.

.

Hes left out of words. He never knew that he could change the time-travel assistants name, along with other options, is available.

Genuinely surprised about all of this, he gets quite flustered upon realizing that he couldve done this earlier. He looks through the options and gets more surprised.

”You can literally choose any of these?! ” he exclaims to himself. ”So, not only you could change the name… You can choose a gender, age, preset, and even a personality… how is this possible?! ”

.

.

Humans are explicitly vast and diverse in nature. Their emotions tend to be lured out through different ways, intending to socialize with one another. The personality function uses that as an advantage to please its users to a personality they
e most comfortable of to work with, hence the assistant title. Some argued that it must be called a partner since you work with it, but it is mostly one-sided since it helps you, but you don help it. It is self-sustaining as it uses sunlight-

.

”Alright thats enough. ” he interrupts. ”I guess its time to name you. ”

A name is needed for the assistant to function properly. Without a name, gaining access to it would most likely be one of the hardest things you could possibly do.

Thinking of a name shouldn be too hard, but it sure left Taihen thinking deeply. He thought of rambling his name for a sense of possession, but he thinks its too obsessive.

After a mediated thought, hes reminded himself of that time where he was stuck in a cave just a while back. It sure did Taihen a solid, but it wasn the worst so far.

But when he got reminded of Krys, his mind gone blank. He stares at the walls once again, deeming himself to be the one at fault. He buried the body, but it didn give him much closure.

He seeks closure. He needs closure. And then… there and then, he decides to name his current time-traveling assistant, Krys

He selects a few of the options available that deem him comfortable to work with. But, he seems to have left an option blank.

There were four-character labels that were written as options. And as the untaught Taihen looks at this, he couldn help but scratch his head in utter confusion.

And just there, he chooses one at random and hit [DONE]

After a moment of steady thinking, he ramps for the testing.

”Krys! ” he calls out.

.

.

Hey! Whassup Taihen!

Its ya boy Krys! The time-travel assistant thingy!

Watcha want?! Don ask for anything cringe.

.

.

”Huh? ” he asks, surprised at what happened.

.

.

What? Got a prob?

.

”Nothing. ” he replies. ”Im just surprised how you…act… ”

.

.

You serious? You gon call me for no hing?

You hafta highten your self-esteem my guy-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Someone outside knocks on the door simultaneously, as if in a hurry. Taihen, alarmed by it, immediately tries to mask what hes doing.

”S-stop! ” Taihen shouts softly to the assistant. ”Sh…shut down! ”

.

.

Bye…

Charging now; 91% remaining

He stands up and hides the device inside his bag.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

”S-s…s…sir Taihen? ” a familiar female voice calls out, stuttering anxiously. ”A..a-are y-you a..alright? ”

”Im fine, Im fine. ” Taihen replies as he walks towards the door.

”Y…y-your m-meal meal… ” she says as her voice audibly trembles.

”The food? Finally! ” he replies with relief. ”Ive been waiting! ”

He opens the door and, to his utmost astonishment, sees Chiwa in new clothes holding a wooden tray that contains his meal. He didn say a word after that, leaving silence to gather up around them.

”S…sir? ” she asks.

Taihen snaps back to his sense. ”AH! yes! Come on in. ”

Taihen welcomes Chiwa inside the room to, somewhat, show Chiwa a sense of freindliness. But, Chiwa felt otherwise. She felt a speck of hostility, being cautious over him. This is justified because his coat is literally covering every inch of his body.

Chiwa places the tray, visibly trembling as she attempts to carefully place the tray. Taihen thinks that he should go on his way to help her calm down.

He walks up to her and pats her shoulder. ”Hey- ”

”AAH! ” she shouts anxiously. ”W…WHAT ARE Y-YOU DO…D-…DOING! ”

”N-no- WAIT! ” he shouts quietly, trying to calm her down. ”Im not going to do anything. ”

He removes the hood covering his face to reveal his identity in an attempt to calm her down. Revealing his face had its risks since his blue skin is a peculiar feature.

She stares at his face strangely, having mixed feelings of fear, disgust, and awe. ”W-why do you ha…have a blue face? ” she asks anxiously

”I know its weird, but trust me. ” he calmly says. ”I just want to talk. ”

The unknownst, grey area of Chiwas current feelings leads her to stay and wait. ”Wh…what d-do you want? ”

”You
e Chiwa, right? ” he says to confirm. ”I heard your name just a while ago when you…you know. ”

She looks down, ashamed and embarrassed. ”Y-you were there?! ” she asks, trembling in pure anxiety. ”I…I…I apologize for-for what y-you saw! ”

Chiwa immediately falls to her knees and bows in front of Taihens eyes, embedded in the ground to further show her immense guilt towards what happened. Taihen, on the other hand, doesn want her to feel that way.

”N…no! ” he commands, frightened. ”I… I was just worried about you because… you know… from what I heard… ”

Silence…. not a single reply comes outside of Chiwas mouth when Taihen paused.

”…are you being abused by… Sir Ubel? ” Taihen asks.

The room still falls silent, devouring the conversation in a gasp of just a question. She looks down once again, but now, twice as ashamed to look at his eyes than before.

The weight of the question mustve been too much for her to handle, so Taihen assumes the most probable answer based on what he already knows.

”So, you are being abused. ” he assumes after a short while. ”I mean, look at you. ” – he points to a couple of visible bruises on her body – ”You are clearly being treated undecently. Is this normal? ”

She nods in agreement. Taihen sighs and facepalms out of despicable disbelief.

”Hes such an asshole ” he comments frustratingly. ”Does he do this to everyone? ”

She nods, disagreeing with the statement. ”Only me… ” she answers, shedding quietly in tears.

”Does he also engage in… carnal or indecent stuff with you? ” he asks seriously.

She stays silent for another while, ashamed to admit that side of the story.

”Y-yes… ” she replies, bursting in tears to release the weight shes been carrying on since she got here. ”I don know wh-why he d-does that to me. ”

As she catches her breath while wiping her flowing tears out using her bare hands, Taihen reaches out a cloth from the wooden tray Chiwa brought him. She uses it to wipe her tears out.

”Why don you leave then? ” he asks. ”If hes doing all this to you, why haven you left? ”

”H…he told me to work here or…or…or else hell kill my baby. ” she says, continuing to catch her breath in-between words. ”And I- ”

”Hold on. ” he interrupts, gathering abundant thoughts up his mind. ”You
e pregnant?! ”

”Y-yes… ” she says as she presses her palm against her belly.

At first glance, it doesn seem as though shes in labor, but after getting a closer look, you could barely notice the unusual curve on her stomach that correlates to the maternal endeavor.

”And whos the father? ” Taihen asks in concern for her well-being.

”Him. ” Chiwa replies.

Everything suddenly makes sense. The gravity of the situation suddenly increases as the groundwork of emotion is destabilizing.

Taihen couldn handle it anymore. He slowly fills himself with a multitude of distinct rage. He couldn help but get mad at Ubel, who is definitely an asshole.

But, that isn the only problem here. He also takes pity on himself. Pity on being too emotionally attached to stuff that isn even remotely related to him.

”Damn it! ” he shouts as he punches the table, almost spilling the food all over the table. ”He deserves to die. He is… he is too much. ”

”H…he does… ” she murmurs.

”Look, Im sorry for letting you feel this way. ” he replies. ”I was just concerned about whats happening to you guys since… it felt odd. ”

Quickly, she stands up and calms herself down to be able to, at the very first of all, smile genuinely. ”Its fine! You gave me the chance to vent my problems. ”

”Is that really ok? ” he asks worrily.

”Its ok. ” she answers. ”I have a brother to look after when he returns, so I must stay strong for him. ”

As she turns around to leave, her smile slowly fades away, returning to the odd anxiety-filled personality she had when getting here. The emptiness slowly fills the void in her head, making it worse.

Taihen, still worrying about Chiwas upcoming whereabouts, is left numbing upon himself. The hatred towards Ubel grows stronger, yet calm and profound to any dire profanities.

The sun starts going low, making him instinctively sleepy. Before going to bed, he finishes off the food on the table to satisfy his hunger.

And after a long and quite blissful meal, he removes his coat and tucks himself to sleep.

» » ————- ¤ ————- « «

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

A couple of sudden knocks on the door wakes Taihen up from his slumber. His mind is quite hazy though and thought that its just from the other room and just brushed it off.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The continuous knock starts annoying him to the point where he wakes up. He rises up from bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes through the relaxing journey of a peaceful sleep, which is now interrupted.

”Who is it?! ” he asks loudly.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Because no one answered his question, he immediately walks towards the door to shut the noise up.

”Who are y- ”

”HELP ME! ” Chiwa cries out softly as if shes hiding from something, as she hold on tightly to Taihens clothes. ”PLEASE! ”

Currently frightened and overwhelmed, he asks. ”What is going on?! ”

He observes Chiwa and sees that shes wearing a full-body coat, similar to his, that is full of blood. Because of this, his mind goes completely off gaurd.

He suddenly remembers the trauma of his past experiences. The blood. The gore.

But until then, Chiwa shakes him to his senses. ”HELP ME! ”

After that, an ascending male voice can be subtly heard downstairs. ”Where is the murderer?! ”

”They went up there! ” a customer replies.

”Alright, men, search the high grounds for a person in heavy clothing. ” the man says.

”YES BOSS! ” they shout.

After listening to the worrisome conversation, he looks at Chiwa. ”Did you just kill someone?! ”

They stare at each other intently. One had an anxious, overly afraid expression, while the other expresses concern and fright.