While Luna processed the memories, the golden specks in her eyes started to glow, making her irises look golden instead of grey. Her round pupils turned into sharp slits. Her breathing became irregular.
[Lu- Luna?] BaoBao called out worriedly.
However, he did not get a reply.
[Luna!]
Just as he yelled out her name again, he heard Luna's thoughts and saw the flashback she experienced.
It was the eve of a new year. She was only 12 years old then.
Just as they did so every year, her family was gathered in her father's study where her parents would review their results for the whole year. Luna knew without needing to be told that she was the only one who made no improvements in any aspect of herself whatsoever.
Like she anticipated, her siblings were commended for doing well even in areas that were not their talents. Although her parents also commended Luna for being the most earnest, sincere, and hardworking one of them all to the point of advising her siblings to learn that from her, all she could feel was shame.
She knew that they truly respected her persevering nature but she just could not stop thinking that whatever they said were simply pleasantries and meaningless comforting words. More and more of such thoughts stubbornly planted themselves in her mind. Her inner turmoil must have shown on her face because her parents came up to her.
"Luna dear..." Her mother tenderly held her face and tilted it up gently so that she was looking at her. "You've truly done well not giving up. We can only imagine how tough it has always been for you and it's not the end yet. We're really proud of you for that."
Tears welled up in Luna's eyes. "How can you be proud of me when I haven't achieved anything?" She asked in a small voice.
"My child..." Her father gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Each of you have your own strength and yours shine in a different way from your siblings. We're proud as long as you learn to capitalise on that strength."
"Remember the purpose of everything, Luna dear. Everything is so all of you can live freely in this society and the upper echelon."
Her siblings approached the small circle and Desmond talked about Luna proudly as usual. "Who cares if you haven't achieved anything yet! Nobody would dare to mess with someone as serious as you. If everything does fail..."
Desmond thumped his chest firmly. "They'd have to deal with me!"
When he sensed three glares on him, he laughed bashfully and quickly corrected himself, "I mean us."
"You should see yourself through our eyes!" Erica's clear and immature voice was like a bell chime.
"Luna dear, look up and around you."
Luna did as told and met their affectionate and compassionate gazes.
"This is what I want to last forever." Her mother continued.
Tears fell out of Luna's eyes. Her parents smiled and took their children into their arm, giving them a big group hug.
"My children, live and make your mark in this world in your own individual ways. Let there be nothing that can ruin this happiness we have now." Her father encouraged.
"Of course!" Her siblings said with gust. Erica hugged Luna enthusiastically while Desmond rubbed her head.
"...Mm!" Luna nodded with tears streaming down her face.
/What did I do to deserve this kind family? Who am I to deserve their love? I'm just a failure who doesn't know when to give up... They're too nice to me... I can't be a let down anymore than I already am./
And that was the last time Luna cried. She never stopped to think about her emotions. She never paid attention to her thoughts because all she could come up with were more questions with no answers. She also did not want to be more of a bother than she already was. It was better to suppress everything deep down inside her. As long as she kept doing what she has been doing, some results would come out of it one day, hopefully.
/How could I forget? I failed. I failed to keep the promise we made to our parents! I really am just a failure after all!/
The tears welling up in her eyes finally trickled down her face. At the same moment, she lost control and her bodily instinct took over.
She punched in front of her and cleanly broke through what turned out to be a coffin. The force of her punch blew away the soil that was in its path. The hole had not been very deep. She planted her palm firmly down on the ground to the side and hauled herself out of the coffin. She burst out of the now empty pit and sprinted off in the direction of the tantalising smell. The speed she ran at was far beyond what a human could do.
[Luna?!] BaoBao knew that she was not acting herself in this moment. There were so many thoughts racing through her mind that even he felt a bit disoriented by it.
While he quickly assessed whether Luna's life will be in danger and how he could help her regain her senses, she already reached the source of the smell. It was a pair of young children digging graves not too far away from where Luna had been buried. Luna leapt towards them and was in midair when BaoBao's desperate voice rang out inside her head. [Vanora!!!]
Clarity returned to Luna's eyes and she took in a sharp breath. She was instantly brought into the present and her brain registered several things of her current situation at once.
By the time the children were aware of her presence, she was already right before them. They had no time to react. It was also too late for Vanora to change the course of her path. Revealing herself to the villagers and the angels now would be highly disadvantageous as well.
Instead of tearing the children apart as was intended, she decisively placed her hand on the boy's shoulder to propel herself beyond them. Children's shrieks filled the air. She landed on the other side without a hitch then looked back.
The boy's right shoulder that she had placed a hand on was now hideously deformed. His arm dangled by the side. His face was covered in tears and sweat and he trembled like a leaf in the wind, but he still stood protectively in front of his sister with a fierce expression. He used his good left hand to point the shovel at Luna. His younger sister also had a face full of tears but also gripped onto her small shovel with two small hands, ready to provide assistance.
Luna's heart ached. /It's my fault./
She gritted her teeth so hard that she could feel her gums ache. Something nagged at her to eat them so that she could get stronger. Being in such close proximity to them in her current state was unsafe, so she sprinted off and disappeared into the woods.
She ran as fast and as far away from human civilization as she could. She did not know for how long she ran for but she kept it up until she lost all the energy she had and collapsed heavily on the ground. The speed she was running at caused her to tumble and roll. She only stopped after crashing into a big and sturdy tree. It knocked the wind out of her and she laid still on the ground in pain.
After a long moment of silence, Luna finally opened her eyes. It was now back to her usual grey eyes. /Thank you, BaoBao. Don't worry, just the thought alone is enough./
BaoBao had thought of materialising himself in this world to aid her and hug her for comfort, but he has learnt from the previous world to be careful. They did not know every power there was to know in this world yet.
/Also... Thank you for earlier. You did well./
[No... it's the least I could do...]
Luna smiled softly. /I knew I could trust you./
She rolled over to lie on her back and sighed. While she looked up at the tall trees that seemed to reach high up in the sky, she asked BaoBao for the original soul's wish.
[Her wish is simply to survive. With the strength and power you have now, this sounds like the easiest wish to fulfill so far!]
/...I don't think so. It may very well be the hardest./
BaoBao was puzzled then put in more effort to analyze Vanora's current plight. He realised his underlying assumption that Luna would know how to use her new powers and neglected the fact that she was now directly involved in a war between angels and demons. [Ahhh... Sorry...]
/At least you realised it by yourself. It's fine./
Luna pieced together her identity and the original soul's wish to figure out who she was in the story. At the same time that she reached a conclusion, BaoBao also figured out who she was.
[The random new demon at the end of the story!]
/Now that I know how I would die and where it would occur, I have to do my all to avoid that place and the female lead./
[If you really fulfill this original soul's wish... Won't this be your first time living out a lifetime in a world?]
/That's if I manage to fulfill the wish. I need strength and knowledge to survive but I lack both./ Luna closed her eyes and sighed again.
When she opened her eyes, determination shone in them. BaoBao knew that she was ready to take on the fulfillment of the wish in this world.
/Let's start with finding some food. Hopefully it'll satiate this insane hunger./
While Vanora got up on her feet, BaoBao informed her. [There're some deer up north.]
She sniffed the air and found that she could differentiate many different kinds of smell in the air. The smell of dirt, trees, grass, flowers, the dense humidity of the forest air, and the different animals living in it, including the deer that BaoBao identified. With her keen sense of smell, she could also estimate about how far away it was from her.
She hunched forward and contracted her leg muscles in preparation to take off. When she kicked off, a deep imprint was left in the ground. The herd was objectively far but she reached it within moments. It took her only seconds to scan the entire herd and find the best catch. She easily landed on its back and simultaneously twisted its head. While the body fell to the ground, she flipped and landed neatly in front the dead deer. All the other deer were still in the midst off dashing off.
She focused on the sound of the herd running off into the distance. She could still hear them after a minute had passed. She could also hear the noisy buzzing of the insects all around her and the grass moving under crawling or slithering animals. Only then she brought her attention back to where she stood.
She bent down and stroked the fur of the dead deer, then closed its lifeless eyes. She quickly started a fire then effortlessly skinned and ripped the deer apart. When the smell of blood and raw meat hit her, her stomach rumbled and growled. Oddly, the more she cooked it, the less tantalising it smelled. She ended up only half-cooking the meat before taking a bite into it. The cooked part tasted bland and unappetising. The raw centre was the complete opposite. It tasted buttery and smooth and made her want far more of it. Unable to bring herself to eat completely raw uncooked meat, she settled with cooking the surface of it.
/For now, we can be sure that my body statistics seems enhanced. Strength, agility, speed, and all of my senses except for touch./ [And your appetite.] BaoBao added on. /What? Why?/ [... You finished an entire deer. In one sitting. Without a break!] /I did?/ Vanora looked beside her and stared speechlessly at the pile of bones. Before she knew it, she was already cooking what was left of the deer. /Oh dear./ In all the previous worlds, she would have preserved it and the deer would have lasted her days. /You're right./ [Not like you'd have a problem hunting anyway.] /... True. It's not that time consuming./ She was about to take another bite into the blue-rare meat when she heard a strange sound of air churning and warping in itself above her. She looked up warily. A man with short raven black hair and blood red ey
Her eyes glowed golden and her irises became sharp slits in the instant before she would die at his hands. Something told her to punch her hardest down into the ground at a specific spot. She followed her gut instinct and did so. The ground cracked and broke then flew upwards towards all his apparitions while she fell into the resulting crater. All of his apparitions got pierced or hit, except one. The remaining one dodged everything and easily made use of the debris to make his way towards her. She gritted her teeth hard and growled. Acting purely on instinct, she prepared to meet his attack head on. She habitually brought forth the spiritual energy in her body not knowing if the bodies of this world had it or not. Indigo flames suddenly covered her body but she felt no pain. Without a pause in her actions, she manipulated the flames to flare out and jump out around her randomly then build their way towards him. His eyes slightly widened in surprise but he soo
BaoBao quietly enjoyed the pair's interaction. He found it interesting and amusing. Vlad's quirkiness kept throwing Vanora off and distracting her from her objective. She accepted his help faster and easier than she normally would, she has completely forgotten about his kiss on her neck, and he made her forget about her insecurities. Just as he got comfortable with being the spectator, Vlad's next move alerted BaoBao. Based on his understanding of Vanora, she would not like what he was about to do. [Uhmm... You might want to look up. Now.] Vanora sensed the urgency in BaoBao's voice, so she immediately did as he suggested. Vlad's face filled her entire vision. Her heart jumped. Before her mind registered what was happening, her hand instinctively flew up and roughly pushed his chin up. Vlad looked down at her from the corner of his eye. "What's wrong?" "What's wrong? What are you doing?" "You blushed. Do you know how inviting
Vlad felt like his never-ending hunger was finally satiated and thirst finally quenched. This feeling of completeness was so amazing and sudden that it surprised him. How could it compare to what he felt when he saw that fake angel? He began to take pride in the fact that she was one of the rare created demons that kept her senses. He studied her more closely. There was clarity in her eyes and not crazed madness. Her aura was a perfect stable hue of murky red. He wondered about the object of her hate, but that was something he could find out later. More importantly, it meant that her power would be stable. She would not have to struggle with the issue of fleeting emotions. She was definitely not someone simple. This led to his curiosity about her ability, identity, and behaviour. He knew how eating was like an addictive drug to demons like her and how the quality of meat was like the quality of a drug. So, he could guess that the meat tasted passable at best. Why wou
Not long after they disappeared, five angels came from the direction Vlad had stared at. Once they flew above the area where Vlad and Vanora had been at, the black mark from before appeared and all the angels lost the ability to fly. Their wings folded in and refused to open as if they lost control over their bodies. Spikes made of earth sprouted out from the ground. The angels panicked and flailed helplessly as they descended from the sky. An angel with long honey blonde hair and kind brown eyes remained calm. His lips moved rapidly but not a sound left his mouth. He had been chanting a prayer from the moment the mark appeared. The more he chanted, the more the black rose on the ground withered. Eventually, the black mark dissipated as black smoke. The spikes returned to being flat earth. The angels regained the control of their wings, but only the angel who chanted reacted fast enough to prevent a crash landing. Magnificent white wings unraveled thems
BaoBao recalled Vlad's first tip to Vanora. [There IS one other efficient way. Vlad mentioned the wrath-related emotions within you.] /Indeed. I want to leverage on this. It would make it less dependent on external sources which means a more reliable source of power./ [Wouldn't this call for a precise control over your emotions?] /It seems so./ [But what sort of emotions fall under wrath? I wish I could be of more help but...] /BaoBao, isn't that why you're learning now? This way, at least you'll be of help one day./ BaoBao felt a warm and fuzzy feeling in him. [Yes! I'll do my best!] /Now... I think emotions like vengeance, anger, hate, and hostility should be wrath-related.../ BaoBao imagined Vanora as some angry evil women but just could not form the image in his head. [Uhhm... I can't picture you that way.
"When's the soonest we can leave?" Vanora got straight back to the topic at hand. "Tomorrow morning. Have a proper rest now. It's getting late and you probably had it rough for a long time, didn't you?" Vanora held his gaze that was one of sincere concern. /One moment he's all playful and the next he can be so serious. It's kind of amazing how his emotions can swing from one to the next so quickly./ She looked down at her tea and took another sip before talking. "... You probably had it rough till now too, didn't you?" Vlad caught on that she subtly confirmed his question. He smiled bitterly when answering her question. "Yeah, it wasn't easy but I don't matter. What happened to you? How and why did you change into a demon?" He sounded so soft and gentle like he was trying to coax a wild animal out of its home. His fingers lightly touched her hand that was still holding onto her cup. She very calmly withdrew her hand and placed
[Ah! Should I have warned you? I just assumed that it'd be alright since he was just getting close to you and not touching you or do you mind that as well?] BaoBao rattled on in his fear that he made the wrong judgement. /He didn't do anything to me, did he?/ [Nope!] /Then it's fine./ She reassured BaoBao while she tried to pry her shirt out of his hand. [Erm... But he DID do something to himself... I think.] /What did he do?/ Vanora absentmindedly questioned while she struggled to get her shirt out of his hand. Having done the same thing with Erica for so many times before, she felt odd for experiencing so much difficulty with it this time round. [The mark of a black rose appeared at the back of his hand.] Vanora turned his hand over and saw nothing but flawless skin. /Don't tell me.../ She gradually used greater force to y