章節 27: Chapter 10: Damage

"Well... I have heard of a few people who are marked by destiny..." The receptionist said.

"Marked... By destiny?" Alphonse said questioningly.

"It's just a term used when someone with extraordinary talent or affinity appears and finds a great technique on instinct." The receptionist said. "There is a saying around us humans... Those marked by destiny are created for greatness. I have a feeling this applies to you quite a bit." He said.

Alphonse and the other two waited a few more hours for everyone finished. Sarah approached Alphonse. "After this test is done we speak." She stated coldly. Alphonse nodded in agreement.

"Thank you all for participating in this test, please continue to the exit and you will be brought to the outer sect living space, you will not be required to train, but it is recommended as you have to show at least some results from training otherwise you will be kicked out of the sect." The receptionist said.

"What are the rules?" The boy with the sponsor 1 tag asked.

"Take this scroll, it has the sect's rules on it, you each get one, also, if you are illiterate we have several people who are willing to teach you to read!" The receptionist responded. All 22 of the examinees took a scroll, then proceeded to the exit.

When the group exited they were greeted by a woman. "I am Wing Chen, I will lead you to the outer sect disciple living area. Depending on your future accomplishments you could get transferred into a more luxurious place to live." Wing Chen said.

'Hey, Prism... Doesn't that name remind you of something?' Alphonse asked.

{Yes, yes it does... Though the first name is a little different.} Prism responded. The group followed Wing Chen to an area with 22 buildings, each building being around 500 sqft.

"These buildings are identical, you each will choose one to live in, the scenery around each is also the same, so no need to fight over them." Wing Chen said. Over the next twenty minutes, everyone chose which building they would live in.

Alphonse stood in front of his building looking at it. The building is one story with a typical old eastern roof, the corners folded up a little. The building is rectangular, the long side facing the path Alphonse is on.

Alphonse felt a tap on his shoulder. "I would rather beat you than talk, but I already agreed to talk." Sarah said. "We can talk in your house." She said as she walked up to the door. Alphonse followed her inside reluctantly as he sighed.

{Are you sure you are prepared?} Prism asked.

'Nope, but will I ever be?' Alphonse responded. Alphonse entered. The decoration is simple, a table with three chairs sits in the middle of the room, a bed in the far left corner, several shelves, and a bookshelf where Alphonse placed the technique he chose.

"Who's starting?" Sarah said trying to keep a flat expression.

"It's my life story or a single injustice... The question is which one you want to be explained first." Alphonse said apathetically.

"Why your life story?" Sarah asked as she struggled to keep her expression flat.

"My life... Let's just say it has left scars deeper than the ones that used to be on my skin... And burns that cannot be healed..." Alphonse said as he looked down a little.

"I'll go first then since I'll take less time." Sarah said as she adjusted her posture then cleared her throat. "Five years ago, a girl knocked on my home's door. My dad had answered it and tried to shoo her away, but she said his name, which made him want to find out why she knew his name." Sarah began to recount what happened.

"Cedra, not just some girl, she was my sister." Alphonse interrupted.

"Whatever." Sarah said. "She gave my dad a letter, he read it, then after that day, my dad started talking to all sorts of people in high positions amongst the clan." Sarah continued as her expression became darker. "After almost two years of preparation, he went to the chief's house to confront him, but just wound up getting executed." Sarah said as her eyes began to tear up.

"Raeloph did many terrible things..." Alphonse mumbled to himself.

"I know because my father experienced it firsthand." Sarah said as a response to Alphonse. "The week of the city's downfall I read the letter... The chief's wife used her friendship with my father to ask him to confront Raeloph, or at the very least get Cedra and you out of that house." Sarah said with a slight amount of anger on her face.

{Warning: bloodlust detected.} Prism said

"If it wasn't for Edrit and Cedra... He would still be here!" Sarah said loudly as she slammed her fist on the table.

"It's time you hear the other side of that story." Alphonse said quietly.

"Why is that always everyone's response, even in books and stories!?' Sarah asked as anger lit up her face.

"Because when people are missing information they get overly emotional without ever reaching the correct conclusion!" Alphonse said loudly.

"And what is the correct conclusion!?" Sarah asked angrily.

"That you aren't the only one to have experienced injustice, that I was forced to watch my sister die, that I was beaten day and night while the man who called himself my father called it 'training'!" Alphonse yelled as tears began to appear in his eyes.

"I... I had no idea." Sarah said as her expression grew calmer.

"How would you know!? Every day I fight the urge to cry... I-I stopped talking because if I started then it would all come out." Alphonse said as tears began to stream down his face. "Can you imagine what it feels like to have your body cooked alive!? Or even being frozen!?" Alphonse asked as his memories began to surge through his mind.

Sarah stood up with a gloomy expression. "I may not have been through as much as you, but I'm still learning to cope with the fact that I will never see my family again, you might've hated your's, but I loved mine!" Sarah yelled as tears began to fall from her cheeks.

"I may not have loved my family like family, but I didn't hate them all..." Alphonse said as he stood slowly. "Every day I see my sister's mangled body hanging from chains, blood dripping, and her own limbs piled below her... She was the only person I felt I could protect... But I couldn't..." Alphonse said through his tears.

{Warning: Heart rate has risen to 170 bpm, raising it any further can be dangerous, proceed with caution.} Prism said.

"Please... Just leave..." Alphonse said as his legs gave out beneath him. Alphonse fell to the floor.

"Fine." Sarah said with tears still trickling from her eyes. Sarah walked to the door and exited. She sprinted back to her house.

'Prism... Is there a way to make me not feel emotions...?' Alphonse asked as he curled into a ball crying while holding onto his tail.

{There is not. Though I do not think you should use it even if there was.} Prism said.

'I know, I'm just exhausted... I'm tired of feeling these emotions, the good and the bad...' Alphonse told prism.

{I am sorry... I cannot relate, not entirely... I don't feel emotions the same way as you, or most other biological organisms...} Prism said. Alphonse didn't respond.

(Fifth moon, 30th day, 459 Lu)

"Alphonse!" Min Li yelled as she knocked on the door furiously. "Seriously, open your door, I have to give you your access crystal!" She yelled as she began to slam her fist on the door. "I will break down this door if you don't open it within the next thirty seconds!" She yelled as she stopped knocking.

After a few seconds, Alphonse walked towards the door slowly and bumped into it. "I don't care." He said with a shaky voice.

"Everyone said that Sarah visited you, then left crying, what happened, will you tell me that at least?" Min Li asked.

"No. Please... Just go..." Alphonse said as his voice got shakier.

"If you won't tell me I'll ask Sarah, and you can go get your access crystal from the delivery department later." Min Li said.

"I-I don't care, just go away!" Alphonse said as he broke into tears.

{It is not good to isolate yourself, especially when feeling emotions such as this.} Prism said.

'I don't care.' Alphonse responded. Min Li walked away from the door and walked to Sarah's house, which is just three buildings away. Min Li knocked on Sarah's door and she answered.

"What do you need?" Sarah asked.

"What's up with Alphonse? He won't answer the door, and when I finally got him to speak through the door he sounded like he was holding back tears." Min Li said.

"We... Had an argument about certain things his family did..." Sarah said with hesitation.

"I don't think I entirely unders-" min Li started but was interrupted by Sarah, who suddenly collapsed. "Sarah?" Min Li said with a questioning tone. Min Li picked up Sarah and saw she is unconscious.

Min Li immediately brought her to the alchemy department. After a quick inspection from one of the alchemists, Min Li was let into the office. "This is a rare condition, but we call it past memory syndrome. It occurs when memories of a past life suddenly flood into the mind after she wakes up one of two things will happen." The alchemist said.

"What are those things?" Min Li asked.

"Either she will wake up with the same personality as before, just with extra knowledge and wisdom, or she will wake up with a completely different personality, of course still having the same information she would in the other case." The Alchemist said.

"I see... How rare is this?" Min Li asked.

"If I remember correctly, there were only a hundred or so people who reported having past life memories, each of them had a change in aura. In case you don't know, auras are something created by your innate spiritual ki, the only reason it would change is because of a change in your spiritual ki, since we get everybody's aura readings the day after they entered the sect, I can tell that her aura is different than before." The alchemist said.

Min Li left Sarah in the alchemist's hands and waited for her to wake up in a different room. After a few minutes, Sarah woke up with a large migraine. "Why am I at the alchemist lab?" She asked.

"Min Li brought you. How do you feel?" The alchemist asked.

"Like I'm gonna barf and my head is going to explode." Sarah responded.

"That should be normal. Tell me, what kind of civilization was it?" The alchemist asked. Sarah was confused for a moment, then realized why he asked.

"A civilization that was advanced and had no cultivation..." She said.

"No cultivation!? Was it another world, or perhaps from the past?" He asked.

"The future." She stated blandly as she sat up holding her head.

"Oh, right." The alchemist said as he looked around at a few pill bottles. "Let's see..." He said as he picked one up and dumped a pill into his hand. "Chew this, it should help with the headache." He said. Sarah ate it and immediately felt better.

"It was strange, it was like it was me, but it wasn't at the same time... I didn't feel attached to any of the memories, but I could tell they were mine?" Sarah said with uncertainty.

"Looks like you were lucky, could've had your entire mind warped and taken on an entirely different personality, but now you should be as smart as the average adult, that's lucky too." He said lightly.

"Smarter." She stated blandly. The alchemist looked at her confused. "They had compulsory education, they taught mathematics, literacy, and a few other things such as how the world functions from a non-spiritualistic perspective, it was called science." She said.

"How old were they? You? Whatever... You know what I mean." He said.

"Fifteen, very young for the era, the average was somewhere between 80-100." Sarah said.

"So an adult." He said as he went into thought.

"No, their civilization considered eighteen to be an adult, and even then you were limited in what you could do; such as you couldn't drink alcohol until 21." Sarah stated, which surprised the alchemist.

"What... That is odd..." The alchemist said. "Well, you'd best be off." He said as he opened the door to the lobby.