Chapter 156: The Emptiness in Our Heart
Walking through the streets her face stayed bored. The warm breeze blew her hair a bit, she was close to the shoreline now. At some point she decided to go watch the sea, while she was nearing her destination.
The guards didn't stop or question her when she climbed onto the wall. Sera's usual serious expression and empty eyes made most people so uncomfortable that they straight up went away when she approached.
On the large city wall she sat down at its edge and watched the waves a few dozen meters away. The Sun was still quite low and reflected on the water, making the azure waves even more magical.
Sometimes kilometers from the shore, monsters popped out of the water and fought with each other changing the azure water blood-red. Strangely enough corpses never washed onto the shore, they were always devoured by smaller monsters. Even the bones were consumed in their strange ecosystem.
Her thoughts were mostly empty while watching the sea. The time was approaching, so it was too dangerous to think about her future plans. Also there wasn't much to think about... At this point everything was in other people's hands.
Eventually, after an hour of sitting and doing nothing, Sera stood up and continued her pointless walking.
Her feet moved without purpose to a destination she didn't know. While walking she watched the cloudless sky which looked to be an even brighter blue today. Since she stopped in the middle of the road, the people looked at her strangely, but nobody seemed to care about her.
Slowly she closed her eyes to hide the phantom pain in them. Eventually Sera moved on and found herself near one of the main amphitheaters of New Athens. Currently the actors were doing rehearsals for the night, but since these establishments worked purely on taxes and it was free to get in, anyone could watch the rehearsals too.
There were a few other civilians sitting near the front. It was also great for the actors to have a small trial audience before the real performance at night.
They were currently rehearsing one of the classical tragedies of the Old World named Antigone. It was actually made in this very city, but thousands of years ago. They were nearing the end of the rehearsal, currently Creon was condemning himself for going against the Gods' will.
Sera felt that what she was doing is similar to that, but she had no interest in just going against the Gods' will...
"Even the ancient Greek Gods could be killed, why wouldn't ours be the same?" She whispered to herself when the rehearsal finally ended. Her enemies weren't truly gods, just people with powers much vaster than her own.
There was still time, before her next session, so she continued to wander around a bit more. Unconsciously she walked towards an area where children's laughter could be heard. With a quick glance she saw a playground where the happy sounds were originating from.
Sera tilted her head a bit, looking at the young children especially the girls, her heart felt even emptier than usual. It was like something had pierced it, and the aching pain only grew stronger with each passing second.
With curiosity to learn more about this feeling which she rarely ever felt, Sera sat down on a bench and watched while the children played around.
The pain never left her chest, it was amazing! She wasn't masochist, she actually despised it, but this specific pain was different...
It felt like she lost something so important and precious, that her very heart couldn't bear witnessing other people's happiness...
It brought a sad smile to her face. This feeling was the most emotion she had gotten in the past two years. Even those emotion fragments after each resurrection couldn't reach this hollowness in her heart.
To Sera it was clear that the pain marked a missing piece of her soul...
There was one question about herself that she never truly found the answer to... Why is she still here? What's the point of living, without any feeling? Should she just end it already?
Every time she asked these questions from herself the answer strangely enough was always crystal clear...
Never...
She wouldn't give up no matter what. Maybe she had no reason to stay alive currently, but the future holds infinite possibilities!
But this didn't explain the feeling she would get each time... Like if she would give up now, she would condemn a lot more people to death then she had initially thought. For example Sera was the leader of this city! A city which was part of a large horrible war machine! What would happen to the civilians, soldiers, their friends, family... their children...
If she gave up now, that would mean possibly killing millions for her own selfish desire to end her own suffering...
Instead Sera looked at the joyful, careless children and their proud parents and whispered to herself... "I will bear it, so they don't have to..."
This thought seemed almost kind to Sera, which was surprising, but after careful examination, she realized that her emotions still weren't there. It was just her moral compass guiding her to not take the easy way out and help her people.
With a sigh Sera was about to stand up and leave, when she heard the sound of a girl crying. Immediately her head snapped to the sound and she nearly ran there, but instead she controlled her self and stayed seated.
Sera looked towards the girl who cried, and in the end decided to help against her better judgment.
A couple of children were play fighting each other with small wooden weapons, and one of the small girls, a brown haired blue eyed youth held a child sized glaive in her hand. She was the one who cried because another child accidently hit her on the head.
There was a small gash, from which a tiny trickle of blood was pouring out. The child's mother quickly ran there and made sure the child was okay. Suddenly an extremely beautiful woman with black hair and hazel eyes stood above the two of them.
Everyone on the playground turned speechless, seeing an evolved here was something non of them were prepared for. Without paying them any mind Sera went down on a knee, then held out her hand. Suddenly small specks of light appeared inside of it and a tiny item came into existence in her hand.
The item was a small statue that depicted an elephant-like creature. It was white, and probably made of bone.
Sera didn't say anything as with a bright and warm smile she put the statue in the girl's hand for a few seconds. In that time the gash gently knit itself back together and even the trickle of blood disappeared.
The girl didn't even have a chance to speak, before Sera stood up and just walked back to the bench where she was sitting previously. The parents and children were still taking glances at her, but slowly they resumed their playing.
It wasn't anything special what she had done. The statue was a complementary item for every evolved, it could provide basic medical care on a battle field. Healing dangerous wounds and keeping people alive, until an actual medical aspect user could look at them.
The girl gingerly touched the area where her previous wound was located, then with her mother they both approached Sera. They looked at the ground while the girl spoke, "Thank you ma'am... for healing me..."
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper and it was very nervous. The mother on the other hand was a bit scared which confused Sera a bit.
"Does the lady require any form of payment?" Said the mother and Sera finally understood her fear.
She quickly looked at the child's and mother's clothing and nodded to herself. They were quite cheap and a bit dirty, which meant they weren't wealthy in any way. The mother probably lost his husband too, since in New Athens a two parent household should've easily supported one child.
Sera still didn't say anything and just touched her watch to the mother's trembling wrist. Suddenly she had gotten a pop-up notification about a large transfer of credits. She did the same with the girl's watch and with a smile whispered, "Don't spend it all on candy!"
The pair looked at Sera with wide eyes and mouths hanging open. It was no wonder they felt that way. Who wouldn't be amazed, when a random woman just transferred them one million credit each.
That much money could basically buy a small mansion, or they could live the rest of their lives without the need for work. They seemed to be about to go on their knees and thank her, so Sera quickly shut them down.
"Little girl go back to playing. No need to thank me, I weren't using that money anyway." Her voice wasn't haughty or proud, more sad and empty. It seemed to held the underlying message, that she had no use for that much money... since she had nobody to spend it on.
The mother gratefully nodded and was about to go away, when her daughter suddenly jumped towards Sera. It took all her will power not to punch the kid from reflex.
The girl jumped onto her and hugged Sera. Her eyes were teary and very happy. She said 'Thank you, ma'am!' over and over again. The girl's mother on the other hand was mortified. Read exclusive chapters at mvl
With a quick movement she pulled her daughter onto the ground and immediately started begging for forgiveness. Sera just chuckled lightly and said its fine. With pure terror in her eyes the mother pulled her daughter away, but Sera's attention was already somewhere else.
Her demeanor changed like the wind. The previously smiling and happy nature turned grim as she was reminded what day it was.
At some point a person seated himself next to Sera. The balding white haired man stared at the children playing, he seemed to be deep in thought. Nobody noticed his weird style choice of a lab coat and welding glasses.
Harold's eyes slowly turned from the children and looked at Sera with a smile.
"Good Day, Lady Seraphine! Did you miss me?"
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