Chapter 7: Where It Started
A few weeks had passed since Tsui applied for a job at Family Bistro Nook.
On her interview day, she was slightly worried about her cooking trial. When tasked to cook a dish, Tsui failed miserably as she had no idea how to cook. Surprisingly, despite her cooking disaster, she was still hired to work in the kitchen area.
It turned out that her true talent lay in prepping ingredients. Her techniques and speed in dicing, chopping, slicing, mincing, and filleting were impeccable. Whether it was a simple potato or a delicate salmon, Tsui could prepare them with remarkable speed and precision.
Tsui took on the role as an apprentice chef in the restaurant. During quieter moments when the restaurants had fewer customers, the senior chefs would take the time to teach her how to prepare some of the restaurant’s simpler dishes. During her free time in the kitchen, she would also cleaned and organized the cookware. She studied the recipe provided by her coworkers, seeking to expand her culinary knowledge and skills.
Over the past few weeks ever since her job started, Tsui took care of all the necessary paperwork and applications to obtain a new identity card, a new phone, and a wallet. She made sure to have all the essential items regular people carry with them at all times. All of these, of course, required some money, which was paid by Emma, and Tsui was thankful for the help Emma had been providing. Tsui promised that she will pay Emma back the money once she got her first salary of the month.
Her life was seemingly to finally be in order. It was now a Monday afternoon, Emma had left for work in the morning, while Tsui sat on the bed, holding her phone. Tsui had somewhat of a sad look on her face, thinking over a decision that had been bothering her. She hadn’t yet mentioned her incident to her father yet.
In the past, her family experienced an accident that occurred after she had already started working in society. Unfortunately, that incident caused a rift in her relationship with her father, leading to a sense of distance between them.
One day, while her parents were driving, they were involved in a severe car accident. A malfunctioning moving truck crashed into her parents’ car. After the accident, Tsui's father survived, but tragically, her mother did not. The loss of her mother brought her father immense pain and grief. During her mother's funeral, Tsui couldn't attend as she was far away and busy at the time. This decision left her with guilt that lasted to this day, knowing that she wasn’t there for her father.
Her father changed ever since her mother’s death. He became overly protective of Tsui, and even offered her to come and live in Japan with him, where he would take care of all the expenses. That led to Tsui unwilling to share her situation with her father, worried that he would do something in a rash.
“I don’t think I should tell him about my memory incident…”
“I’ll just talk like how I always do.”
Taking a deep breath, Tsui dialed a number with her phone.
[Beep…Beep…Beep]
A familiar and gentle tone that she had heard countless times before picked up the call. It was her father’s voice.
“Hello, who is this?”
“It’s me, Tsui.”
The moment Tsui spoke, her father recognized her voice, and his joy could be felt over the phone.
“Ahh, it’s my dear daughter! You haven’t called me for so long, how have you been?”
“I’m living fine, father. I had changed my phone number.”
“So that’s why I didn’t recognize the number. I’m glad you called me, do you have something else you want to share with me? I would love to hear it all.”
“Just out of curiosity, do you know how long it was since our last call or contact?”
“Mmm, I couldn’t remember exactly but I think it would have been at least for 3 months?”
“Why didn’t you call me or anything else, don’t you miss your daughter? Hmm?”
“Awh, of course I miss you, but I didn’t want to call you because I was afraid that I might bother you. From our last call, you told me that you would be busy and said you will find me again when you are free.”
Tsui thought about what her father said in her mind.
“Wait, I told him I was busy? But I quit my job 6 months ago, I should’ve been freer than anyone else.”
“Hello, Tsui? Are you there?”
“Huh, yes. Yes, I’m still here.”
“Ah, alright. I know you are young, but please don’t overwork yourself, alright? And if you ever run low on money and need a place to stay, you can always come to me. Father will always be here for you.”
“Mm, I know. I actually have news to share with you.”
“Oh, what is it?”
Tsui shared everything else with her father—the new job, her activities in the past few weeks— while keeping the details related to her memory loss to herself. After a few hours of talking, Tsui bid her father farewell and hung up the phone. Tsui lay her back on the bed,
“*sigh*…that was tiring.”
After sharing some of her situation with her father, Tsui felt a sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted off her chest. It was now almost evening.
[16:38:20]
“Hmm, Emma should be home soon.”
Unsure of how to pass the time while waiting for Emma, Tsui decided to head to the living room. She took the Nintengo Twitch and lay on the sofa.
“Guess I’ll play Legend of Shellga. Still need to get off the flying island.”
As Tsui immersed herself in playing video games, several hours flew by. Suddenly, she heard the sound of her door unlocking.
“Tsui, I’m back!”
Tsui seeing that Emma was back, got up from the sofa and placed her video game console back onto its stand.
“I bought some Chinese takeouts for dinner. I’ll go wash up first, you can take them out from the bag first.”
While Emma hurriedly went for a bath, Tsui unpacked the food packaging, arranging the utensils neatly on the table. The pair began having their dinner together on the dining table after Emma finished her bath.
“I bought us fried rice, General Tzu’s chicken and some dumplings.”
During the dinner, Emma asked Tsui what she had been doing the whole day.
“Nothing much, I woke up pretty late today. Just lay on the bed looking at my phone, and played a bit of Nintengo Twitch until you were back.”
“Ooh, alright then! So no progress on your memory?”
“No, unfortunately. Did give my dad a call though, updated him on my situation.”
Emma fell into a momentary silence after Tsui mentioned and talked about what did she talked with her dad.
“What about you, Emma? Do you contact your parents?”
Emma let out an awkward laugh.
“Ah…ha…haha…I’m not exactly in talking condition with my parents.”
“Oh, what happened?”
“When I first wanted to come here, my parents didn’t exactly agree with it. But still I came without telling them, and I’m pretty sure they weren’t happy about it.”
“Then…do you plan to go back to them one day?”
“I dunno…maybe one day, but for now, I don’t plan to. I’m happy living my life here.”
“I see, alright…”
The room fell into an awkward silence after Tsui asked about Emma's relationship with her parents. Emma then broke the ice by saying,
“Enough about our parents, haha! Let’s play Superb Break Bros later, let’s see if you’re finally gonna beat me or what.”
“Haha, sure~”
Tsui and Emma finished their dinner and cleaned up the table. Afterwards, they both settled on the sofa, each grabbing a controller console and began to play. Their home was filled with scream of excitement and yelling. Tsui had not won a single match against Emma that night.
After their gaming session, they decided to call it a day. They both went to brush their teeth before heading to bed. Emma wore an eye mask and hugged her large bunny plushie as she drifted into sleep. Tsui lay beside her, staring at the ceiling, before slowly closing her eyes.
“*sigh*…A new day tomorrow.”
Tsui found herself seated in a high school classroom, surrounded by her classmates. The teacher was conducting the class, and everyone was diligently taking notes, including Tsui.
It was another lucid dream, where she was aware of dreaming, but unable to influence its events.
All the faces in the classroom were blurry, or more accurately, faceless. Even the writings on the board, including the teacher’s work, were the same. Despite this, Tsui could see everyone diligently taking down notes in the high school classroom.
However, when she glanced down at her own notes, all she saw was a mess of scribbles and incomprehensible markings. Tsui could sense her teacher walking towards her.
“Tsui, are you listening properly in class?”
Tsui answered back in an inconsiderate manner, while still staring at her notes.
“Mm…yeah.”
“Look at me when you are talking to me!”
Tsui's gaze shifted from her notes to her teacher, but her classroom was no more, it had turned into a completely different setting. She now found herself amidst… a warzone.
The scene was chaotic, with fire, smoke, and dust swirling around, and soldiers wielding swords and spears engaged in fierce combat. The sounds of battle filled her ears, as the air trembled with intensity. Tsui was now a part of this harrowing battlefield, experiencing the emotions and tension that came with such a dangerous and intense situation.
Tsui was running across the battlefield, wielding a sword in her hand. With each swing, she swiftly cut down the enemies that approached her. The clash of blades echoed through the air as her weapon sliced through the enemies. She felt the tension made when her blade came in contact with flesh and bone, the weight of each life she took.
The smell of blood filled the air, and droplets of blood splattered across her face. The warmth of the blood could be felt as they touched her skin.
There were others on the battlefield, soldiers dressed in different uniform from the ones she cut down.
Tsui recognized her allies by instinct and saw them all charging in the same direction. In front of them stood a masked man wielding a katana, engulfed in purple flames. Other than the peculiar katana the man wielded in his right hand, he also had a second katana sheathed, carried on his waist. He mercilessly cut down every soldier who approached him, burning them to ashes with a single touch of his blade. Within seconds, all the soldiers who faced him were gone, leaving behind a chilling scene of burnt corpses and ashes surrounding the man.
The man had noticed Tsui’s presence. He gazed at Tsui without the slightest hint of human emotions in his eyes and pointed his katana at her. As if he was telling her, “You’re next.”
In this dream that felt so real, Tsui experienced a rush of emotions she couldn't fully comprehend. Fear, anxiety, and despair welled up within her, but above all, an intense rage consumed her. She tightened her grip on the sword, acknowledging that the adversary before her was unlike any she had faced before.
As the cannons thundered across the battlefield, Tsui and the masked man lunged at each other. With a fierce horizontal swing, Tsui aimed to cleave through the masked man’s body in half, but his speed saved him. Swift as a shadow, the masked man dropped to his knees, sliding across the ground with momentum, evading Tsui’s attack. The man’s face narrowly evaded her lethal blade, just grazing above him.
“Tsk, I missed!”
Tsui felt a surge of danger as her back was now faced towards the man. The crouched masked man swiftly spun around, his blade sweeping upward in a deadly arc, aimed at her vulnerable back. Sensing the imminent threat, Tsui’s instincts kicked in, and she executed a nimble barrel roll forward, evading the deadly strike just in time. The masked man’s blade grazed her hair, sending a few strands fluttering to the air, along with the ribbon that tied her hair.
“That was close! If I had been any second slower, I would’ve lost my life! Both his attacks and movements are fast, but I bet it’s because he’s not good at defending. If I can just find an openi –”
Before Tsui could finish her thought, the man had already came close enough to her, to perform another follow-up attack. The man held his katana with both hands, swinging downwards on Tsui.
In a split-second reaction, Tsui raised her blade above her head, holding it horizontally with her right hand tightly gripping the hilt, while her left hand pressed against the back of the blade. The masked man's blade descended with deadly intent. The force behind the strike was immense, and Tsui felt the weight crashing down upon her, causing her arms to tremble under the pressure, as if they were about to shatter.
“Ughhhh, what is with this guy’s strength?! I feel…like…my arms…are… going to break!!”
Tsui unleashed a swift kick to the man's leg, disrupting his balance. Simultaneously, she tilted her blade slightly to the right, causing the masked man's weapon to slip off hers. Seizing the advantage, Tsui swiftly retreated by hopping backward, putting a safe distance between herself and her adversary.
“I’ll have to find his weakness before he does mine.”
From then on, Tsui's instincts sharpened with each dodge, and she observed the masked man's every strike keenly. The initial strikes grazed her lightly—first on the thigh, then the leg, shoulder, and finally a slight brush against her arm. But then, his attacks ceased to land. Tsui had seen through the man's attack pattern.
She realized that the man relied on lightning-fast movements and powerful strikes to catch his enemies off guard. His strategy was to finish them in a single strike, for he couldn't risk being exposed and vulnerable. Each time he completed an attack, he would be exposed to counterattacks, and that was a risk he couldn't take. Thus, he relied on his foes barely dodging his blows, preventing them from retaliating effectively. Tsui grasped this weakness, and from that moment, she stayed focused on exploiting it to her advantage.
As the man’s attack bore down on her, Tsui’s senses heightened, and remembered his moves. With a calm determination, she closed her eyes and swayed her body to the side, evading the strike effortlessly, as if she were a dancer rotating gracefully to an unseen melody.
“Now’s the time to end this!”
Seizing the moment, Tsui sprang into action. Her blade arced through the air, aimed precisely for the back of the masked man’s neck. The strike landed with deadly accuracy, and Tsui felt the resistance of her blade as it cut through flesh, bone, and sinew, cleanly severing the man’s neck.
Without needing to glance back, Tsui knew the masked man’s head had fallen to the ground from the sound of its head hitting the ground. The deadly duel was over, and Tsui felt a surge of relief coursing through her veins.
However, just as she was about to move forward through the battlefield, a voice pierced through the air, causing her to freeze in her tracks.
A deep sigh resonated from behind, where the lifeless body of the masked man should have been.
“You saw through my attacks, didn’t you?”
“I should not have underestimated you since you are a commander as well…”
Tsui slowly turned her back to see who had uttered those words. There, before her, stood a man dressed similarly to the masked man, except he did not wear a mask. His hair painted in dark red colour, with stripes of white hair running down his left bangs.
“If he is the masked man, he should have been dead, I felt my sword slicing his neck cleaned off.” Tsui thought.
Tsui looked at the ground, next to the mysterious man, the masked man’s severed head lay there, still rotating slowly from the force of the decapitation. Other than the severed head, the corpse of the masked man was nowhere to be seen.
The mysterious man assumed an offensive stance, poised to strike at Tsui. He dashed forward, and as Tsui observed his movements, she recognized them to be the same as the masked man.
“I don’t know what he did…but if he’s the same person, I can kill him over and over again.”
The man swung his katana with his right hand, aiming directly for Tsui’s stomach. However, Tsui swiftly dodged the attack, recalling the same moves she had memorized from her previous fight with the masked man……or at least she thought she did.
She soon realized that this time the man had caught her off guard with a different technique. In the blink of an eye, he pulled a second katana from his waist, catching Tsui off balance. She couldn't evade the attack from his second blade in time.
“Shit! I’m goi –”
The blade sliced through her wrist, severing her left hand cleanly. Tsui stood in shock, watching as her hand soared through the air, mere inches from her eyes.
“Is…is that…my hand?”
A sudden surge of intense pain coursed through Tsui's body, forcing her to collapse onto her knees, gripping her injured wrist. As she looked up, her eyes met the menacing figure of the man, who loomed over her with his katana held high, its gleaming blade reflecting the sunlight.
Poised and ready to deliver a fatal strike, he seemed determined to end her life in one swift motion. Tsui clenched her teeth, fighting back the pain and refusing to accept her fate, unwilling to meet her end in such a harrowing manner.
As the katana's blade swung down upon her, Tsui's voice yelled in a torrent of anger and hatred directed at the man standing before her.
“I…will…not die…to you…despicable Ceanians!!!!!!”
Her vision plunged into pitch blackness, and she snapped her eyes open in a jolt. Lying on her bed, she was drenched in sweat, her breaths coming fast and heavy, still reeling from the nightmare. Finally, she had awakened from her dream.
“It was just a dream, it was just a dream.”
Tsui repeatedly told herself in her mind. It was now dawn, a few more hours before work time. Tsui jolted movement woke Emma up by accident. Emma still half-asleep, asked Tsui, “Ermm…what are…you doing?”
“Sorry, I had a nightmare… You can go back to sleep, Emma.”
“Mmm…”
Tsui was still in shock from her nightmare. She had to keep telling herself it was just a dream to calm down. The emotions, sounds, smells, and especially the pain felt all too real, as if she was living inside it.
In an attempt to calm herself, Tsui went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. As she reflected on her dream, she gazed down at her hands, only to be overwhelmed with shock and rendered speechless once more.
There was a scar…encircling her left wrist – the very same location where her hand had been severed in the dream.
