Upon hearing a slightly feminine but hoarse voice speaking out towards his direction, Ronald slowly opened his eyes in order to see if someone was actually talking to him.
And to his surprise, he could see what seemed to be a kid whose gender he couldn't tell staring down at the floor while standing slightly far away from him.
But even though the kid was staring at the floor, Ronald knew that the kid was still trying to have a conversation with him.
Not only that, but Ronald sensed some kind of familiarity with the kid although he was almost certain that he has never met the kid in either of his lives before.
However, that still wasn't enough to peak Ronald's interest.
"Why don't you just ignore me and go escape with the others." Assuming that the kid was just sprouting nonsense, Ronald tried to shoo them away.
However, it seemed as if he had somehow gained sympathy from the kid instead, since the kid briefly looked at him with tears in his eyes before looking down at the floor again.
So Ronald got off from the floor and started to approach the kid instead in order to get a closer look at him or her and see why he or she felt so familiar.
But as he was slowly approaching the kid however...
"No... stay back..." The kid started to walk backwards in order to maintain a far enough distance away from Ronald.
"What? Do I look that scary or something? Sure I might have blood on me but it's not like I plan on doing anything to you." Misunderstanding that the kid was afraid of him, Ronald halted his steps and voiced.
"No... it's not that... it's just... how are you still able to keep your composure despite everything that you've gone through?" The kid asked in a timid voice.
"Despite everything that I've gone through? What do you mean by that?" Ronald said in an extremely confused tone.
He really didn't know what the kid was talking about at all.
"Uhm... well you see... I have the ability to see something that other people can't see." The kid said.
"And what's that ability?" Ronald was honestly pretty curious and asked.
"The ability to see the amount of pain and suffering someone has gone through." The kid replied back.
"So... like an empath?" Ronald stated.
"Yes... but no... I don't know how to explain this well... but essentially I can see the auras that others have. If someone has a white aura surrounding them, then it means that that particular person is living a worry free and a joyful life."
"But the darker aura a person has however, then it shows me that that person has been suffering more and more both physically and mentally."
"Right... so why are you telling me this exactly?" Ronald had an idea of what the kid was trying to hint at, but he decided to ask anyways.
"Well... umm, because of your aura... you know... so I just wanted to know how you're still able to... maintain your sanity." The kid made sure to carefully select her words in order to not somehow offend Ronald.
Hearing what the kid had said, Ronald was at a loss for words.
Even though Ronald understood that the kind of aura the kid saw on him was much more darker than everyone elses.
But was it really as bad as the kid had made it out to be?
Sure, Ronald might've had some experiences that others might consider extremely tragic, but it wasn't like those really affected his mental state of mind, at least not anymore.
The only 'tragedy' here was him having to stay in this world for an extra 7 years.
"Well what about you then, how are you still able to maintain your sanity?" Ronald decided to throw the question back to the kid.
"I... I wasn't able to. Truthfully, in the two years I have stayed in this facility, there was probably not a single day where I didn't go absolutely insane and tried to do everything within my powers to retaliate..."
"From trying to bite the fleshes of the guards off, to trying to commit suicide, I've tried pretty much everything humanly possible in order to just escape. I had become so problematic that the facility had to get 5 guards to start monitoring my every movement 24/7."
"You sure don't sound like someone who's unhinged though." Ronald commented.
"Yeah... I thought I had it the worse since my aura the darkest out of everyone in this facility other than that women in the wheelchair you had saved, but after seeing your aura..." The kid couldn't help but take a glance at Ronald's aura and started to heavily shiver before staring back at the floor.
To be honest, Ronald's aura was so dark that the kid couldn't help but want to puke just by the mere sight of it.
Even Lin Minyi, who the kid knew had gone through pretty much hell itself, only radiated a dark grey color.
"... that's why I want to hear your stor-" Just as the kid could finish their sentence however...
*Rumble*
"You should probably hurry up and join with the rest, you don't want to get in the crossfire now." Ronald tried urging the kid to leave so that he didn't have to talk to the kid anymore.
"You're right mister, I'll get going now, sorry for wasting your time." The kid stated in a shy manner and bowed his or her head a couple of times.
The kid then quickly walked right pass Ronald while trying their best to avoid looking at him.
Just as the kid was opening the iron door to head over to the secret escape tunnel that Lin Minyi was talking about however...
"We'll meet again no matter that, I promise." The kid left a departing message for Ronald before closing the iron door.
'...'
'I'll pass, thank you for the offer though.'