Page 19

Still in the forest, and far from the safest place to be. Let alone having a three-way internal crisis.

White finally snapped, but unlike other times, it was her own internal dam of uncertainties falling away and her mind had a clear goal. She had to stop this argument.

[STOP IT!] White screamed, which silenced her two companions.

“Please you two…” Anna started to cry, “We have to stop fighting.”

Red and Lilly moved back into being fully in the body.

[...White?] (Lilly)

White began to talk, her emotions overflowing, she spilt out something she kept hidden.

[I… was abandoned by my family at a young age…] (White)

[Well maybe abandoned isn’t the correct term, but it was the term I settled on for a long time, and so I just remembered them along with hatred for Letting Me Go.] (White)

[It happened when I was young… the moment they learned I had Moonlight for an attribute… The Aurora Church took me… to be one of their ‘Saints’] White chuckled.

[It’s not uncommon for religious entities to recruit individuals with healing attributes… or Light attributes. They do a great job of marketing that ‘Holy’ vibe and the ability to use them for advanced healing magics has already been long developed for that reason.] (White)

White ominously mumbled, [It was lonely…]

[Over twenty years I spent in that jail, learning things I wanted, things I didn’t, and acting as their perfect puppet… Well, that wasn’t correct. I was plenty rebellious in the church's eyes anyway. But during all that time… Some tried to build a connection for personal gain, others wanted me to be a part of their family by accepting the church as my one true home, and twice people tried to reach out to me… but only if I dropped my hatred.]

Then White started to cry again, [When… I awoke… here… and met them for the first time… Everything felt perfect…]

Anna’s arms started messaging each other in a hug.

Red added, [That doesn’t mean it was though.]

[I know, and it very much wasn’t. But the warmth the body felt… I felt… the feelings I kept locked far away broke out at first contact…] (White)

[Can you believe it? All it took was the first instance of genuine affection and love for me to break? I couldn’t believe it myself! Fifteen years I kept my heart stone cold, acting as a perfect saint until my death… Ha, but even my death served their purposes.] (White)

Lilly asked, [How old… were you when you died?]

[Twenty-six… I was sold when I was five.]

Red asked, anger visible in her tone, formed just by thinking about what White experienced, [How did they know you had Moonlight when you were that young?]

[It was a church-governed town, in the Nevald Kingdom basically everyone got checked by age five. Best get new recruits while they are young, but… I was far from as impressionable than they hoped I would be.] White dryly laughed. [Stubborn in my own ways till the end…]

Red and Lilly didn’t know what to think. About White’s treatment, and why was she bringing this up now?

“One sec behind us!” Red yelled. Her senses were on full alert.

[Two now! Well more the merrier!] Red gritted their teeth.

Two bears with mad eyes stampeded towards their tree.

[Let’s run!] (Lilly)

One stepped up its hind legs and slammed into the tree.

Snap

“Damn, these trees aren’t that tough.” Red jumped off the tree to not fall with it.

She landed on the ground and mad bears growled and rushed towards her.

[I’m going to light them up!] Said Red, as her arms were engulfed in fire that she was about to throw.

However, “Leave us alone!” White yelled, and a soft pale white light appeared around Anna, empowered by the moon above.

As both bears neared, the wave of Moonlight blasted into one of the beasts mimicking the ocean storm. Repeatedly bombarding it until it was pushed into the ground.

Red used this opportunity to torch the other bear, clapping her hands together, “Fire Blaze.” The fire circled off her arms into a cannon blast devouring the furry creature.

Roaargh!

Erraragh!

The two creatures screamed in pain as Anna felt her mana drop, it was nearly half already. Which was still more than a normal person’s but it shouldn’t have dropped that fast.

[Why are we losing so much mana?] (Red)

[I don’t know… it was never this bad during training…] (White)

While having this discussion, the burning bear tried to chase after Anna, but it quickly tired out and collapsed. While the bear that was being smashed by the tides of moonlight went unconscious.

[We should hide now…] (Lilly)

[We will just be attacked again.] (Red)

[No, not necessarily. But we also need to hide for another reason. We need to finish this discussion.] (White)

[Seriously?] Red asked.

[This is us we are talking about… It’s now or never.] (White)

Then they felt it, White had jumped out of the body and returned to the Soul Space.

“Dammit…” Red muttered. She quickly hid again, further up a different tree where the leaves blocked her from view.