After Story 2

 

In a long stretch of road that connected the inner castle to the walls of Divinatus was Harbin walking slowly and taking in the sights of the city, trying to take her mind off things. She walked while holding the final relic in the Ak'hims possession, the Grimoire of the Analyst in her hands. The banner of the Seventh Army on her shoulders fluttered with the salty breeze.

She walked and saw the state of the city. A city where people were just trying to live out their lives normally.

Try is the keyword here.

There were just tons of people just sitting by the streets and doing nothing. Fact of the matter is, there was nothing they could really do anyways. There were no jobs that a bulk of five hundred thousand people could do. 

Even if they were to work, the current government, which is a military state, could not afford to pay the people. No pay meant no money for people to buy stuff from shops. No people buying meant that the circulation of money is zero. No shops could possibly operate in this state and this soon shutted down.

Food and medical supplies were being controlled by the military and distributed accordingly. So the only thing they could really do is just sit still and do nothing.  All in all, it may sound and look horrible, but at the very least, they were alive.

Interesting fact, the soldiers of the Kingdom were also not getting paid at all. It was purely charity work at this point.

Not wanting to look at the people any further, Harbin shifted her attention to the sight of Divinatus instead. The great floating city, despite being turned into a temporary ark, still retained some of its grandeur. Despite the place looking like an extended storehouse, the sights of the blue skies and its grand walls could take one's breath away.

It was during this moment that Harbin's path was blocked by a silhouette at the far end of her peripheral vision. She was so busy looking upwards that she forgot to look at what's in front of her.

'Is it another case of someone dissatisfied with me again?' Harbin thought to herself as she looked in front to find out the identity of the said individual who was blocking her path.  It was something that she was well used to at this point. As the wielder of the Grimoire, people would often come to challenge her for the right of the Relic. A challenge she would accept, of course. Harbin was no longer the same person she was, anybody that wants to look for a fight, she'll give it to them.

Much to her surprise, nobody was in front of her. Or at least, anybody tall. Looking downwards, she could see a young girl looking up to her with curious eyes. A girl with brown shoulder-length hair tied up in a low ponytail on her back. Her clothes were all muddy and dirty, one could tell it used to be pure white. Her eyes were slightly diluted in colour compared to other Ak'hims, it appeared more orange than red. A child no more than seven years of age.

Noticing that Harbin was looking at her, the girl let out a smile. Her eyes staring deeply into the thing on top of Harbin's shoulders.

Seeing this, Harbin couldn't help but let out a smile as well. 

Children were a rarity for the Ak'hims. For a race that can live for as long as they do, having children was simply not a priority for most people. They are the hope and dreams of the Ak'hims. The symbol of ever continuing life and survival for their races.

Harbin felt happy that despite being in a situation as they were, that a child could still smile as if nothing mattered. But more than anything, she was happy knowing that an Analyst like her wasn't being looked down or bullied by the other crests. Things could be cruel even among children after all. Harbin was a victim of such a case before.

'Things have come a long way huh…' Harbin thought to herself before bending over to pat the girl on the head. 

Having her patted must have made her elated as she beamed back an even bigger smile. A smile that radiates hope. A smile so bright and pure that even Harbin had to close her eyes for fear of being blind.

"Ngah!" Harbin let out a cry as she could feel her hand being grabbed by the young girl. She then started to drag her away. Tried to. The girl pulled and tugged at Harbin's sleeves, but Harbin wouldn't move an inch.

With a smile, Harbin just let herself be dragged by the girl, to go wherever she wants. It was not like Harbin had anything to do anyways. Besides, it feels exciting when a child brings you somewhere. You can never know what surprises they have installed for you. Harbin was a little bit curious about her destination.

The girl brought her along many turns and hidden corners before arriving at the secluded place near the walls of Divinatus, unguarded and unsupervised by any adults. Harbin was further led by the girl to a corner where a secret hidden stash of stuff is located. A stash arranged neatly in a box. Things like balls, glass, dolls and books of sorts, though they all looked old and dirty.

"Treasshure!" The girl yelled out as she pointed at her stash.

The girl then pointed at Harbin. "New Treasshure!"

A cold sweat dropped off the back of Harbin's head as she heard the girl's words. "Umm… I'm not really an object you know."

"Not an object? Then what?" The girl tilted her head.

"Harbin."

"Harbin?"

"Un, My name is Harbin," Harbin nodded to her.

"Harbin! You are a Harbin?"

"Yep, yep. I am a Harbin."

"Hmmm," the girl furrowed her brows before folding her arms.

"...what's wrong?"

"Me no like Harbin. You are a Big Lady Boss!" She then extended her hands outwards, trying to make herself look larger.

"Ehhh…"

"Big Lady Boss!"

Unable to argue back, Harbin just hung her head downwards. "Yes… I am a Big Lady Boss."

The girl nodded twice with satisfaction and patted herself on her chest.

Letting out a wry smile, Harbin looked around the area. There were no other kids nor adults. It was a place where no one would come, but Harbin couldn't help but feel concerned about her safety. What if some random stranger comes to this place one day? She would need to tell the girl's parents about it.

"Hey, sweety," Harbin called out.

"Um? Yesh Big Lady Boss?" The girl replied.

Harbin wanted to retort about her new name but decided to push the matter away. "Where are your parents? I don't see them around. Where do you live?"

The girl didn't take long to answer Big Lady Boss back. She just pointed her finger upwards to the skies. Harbin involuntarily looked up to the skies.

"Mama and Papa 'gone to heaven'. Also living here in city!" The girl answered with a smile.

Harbin’s eyes opened wide the moment the girl revealed her parents’ fate. Harbin could be seen rather disturbed about how casually she said it as well. Harbin wondered if the girl even understood the meaning of what she just said. Her answer on where she lives didn't help her case either.

"I see… then who is taking care of you right now? Your guardian?" Harbin asked, now with a more serious tone of voice.

"Guardian! Me Guardian," the girl raised her hand and jumped giddily. "Me Proctector! Hero who protects others from baddies," The girl then posed heroically in front of Harbin. Harbin swore she could even hear trumpets playing in the background in a triumphant tone.

Harbin let out another wry smile at her. 'Well, she's not wrong…'

"Hey, this home of yours… I really want to see it. I bet it's as nice and pretty as your treasure here. Could you bring me there?" Harbin asked another question in an attempt to find her home or guardian.

"Can not," The girl replied.

"Ehhh? Why not? I'm a guardian just like you! See?" Harbin brought her hands and pulled on her cheeks, making a funny looking face to the girl.

The girl let out a small laugh before replying. "Sis Bridgetta said to bring no stranger home! Big Lady Boss is stranger! Can not bring home."

'Bridgetta must be the person taking care of this girl.'

"I see… what kind of person is this Bridgetta then?" Harbin asked, trying to see if she could identify the person's identity further.

Though the girl was rather tight-lip about it. "Bridgetta is Bridgetta!" She said with a smile.

"I see. Bridgetta sounds like a nice person…"

"Yup!"

Harbin let out a sigh and gave up on trying to get information out of her. Instead, she decided to stick around and look after the child until she gets tired or bored enough and go home. That way she could just follow her there and tell this Bridgetta person.

Deciding that she might as well enjoy herself while doing so, Big Lady Boss looked at the girl's treasure, looking for something to play with her. It was then she saw something that was very different from the others. A weapon of sorts was within the box of treasures. A small looking stick that was carved to look like a spear. It seemed very well made despite being made from sticks. The spear has a small piece of cloth tied to the tip of the spear-like some sort of banner.

The spear reminded Harbin of Klauna. She was the only person who would fight with a spear with a large banner on it. The closer she looked at the small wooden spear, the more it looked like the Warrior Spear Indominatus, down to the design of the tip.

Harbin must have given out a sad look or a frown as the young girl seemed disturbed about it. “Big Lady Boss sick?” The girl asked as she stared deeply into Harbin’s face.

Harbin noticed her concern and immediately shifted her face to a smile. “Nothing! I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Big Lady Boss gets sleepy at times.” 

“Ohhh, Big Lady Boss should sleep more!” The girl said out loud.

“...sure. I’ll sleep more,” Harbin then focussed her attention on the stick, pointing at it. “Hey, what’s this thing for? It’s a weird thing to be a treasure.”

“This is cool treasshure!” The girl replied as she picked up a doll that was about her size from the bottom of the chest. She then took the stick and put the small spear onto the doll’s hands. The doll had long black hair and was wearing a uniform very similar to the one that Harbin was wearing. An officer's uniform, hand-stitched to almost perfection.

She then played around with the doll, moving it around to swing the spear. “Big Shiny Gem! Fought bad guys and become guardian. Me want to be like her!” She moved the doll around as if acting out a play.

Harbin understood why the spear reminded her of Klauna. The child was most probably referring to Klauna with the doll act. Hell, the doll itself looked like a miniature version of Klauna. Harbin felt turmoil within her heart but kept composure in front of the young child.

“Hoh, what kind of person is this doll supposed to be?” Harbin asked, acting as if she was interested in the matter.

The girl seemed very excited to tell the story and started moving the doll around. It seemed to be a very long story as the girl started from her meeting with the ‘gem’. About how she was the ‘Big Gem’ of the city and everyone was following her orders.

The story, although spoken in a childish tone, was filled with such detail and clarity that Harbin could tell that it was based on real events, that the girl probably saw it all happened with her own two eyes. About how Klauna took over the city and ordered all five hundred thousand Ak’hims to fortify and repair the city. About how Klauna played with her a few times before a 'big battle' happened. She even recalled the speech that Klauna gave before the battle.

The girl then mentioned a big battle where baddies came to the city. The ‘gem’ and her underlings fought them off. At the end of the story, she told Harbin about how the ‘gem’ walked out of the city like a hero. 

“Everyone was doing this!” The girl said as she did a clumsy salute. 

Harbin realised that this was probably the part after Klauna knocked Harbin to sleep during the battle of Divinatus. Harbin pondered on how the child would know such a thing. No one was there except the soldiers, but the girl talked about everything that happened to that point including the part about Klauna giving Harbin the banner. Harbin could not help but keep quiet as she wished to know what happened to Klauna next.

The girl continued on about how the ‘gem’ shone so bright on top of a bridge against someone and his ‘minions’. It ended with her giving off a frown as she tried to explain in her elementary grammar about how the ‘gem’ appeared smaller and smaller till she could no longer see anything.

“Ocean carry city so far. Me could not see ending,” the girl let out a pout. 

“Big Gem shiny and shining, me wanna be a hero! Just like her!” The girl yelled out and beamed Harbin with a smile. In her eyes was a look of awe and mesmerization.

In a way, Harbin could somewhat see herself within the young girl. She could relate to the girl. She felt the same awe the first time she met Klauna as well. It was like watching a hero, a shining star, coming to her help. The girl had a very positive view of Klauna.

It was too bad that the real Klauna was nothing like the heroes in the stories that her mother used to tell her. Far from a hero, Klauna was vulgar and a very difficult person to handle. Despite her mature look and age, sometimes she would just act like a child. Harbin slowly remembered all the time she spent with Klauna.

“Lord Klauna…” Harbin muttered as she suddenly felt a surge of emotions appearing out from within her chest. It was like the hole within her heart, the hole which she tried so hard to cover up, stretched open and the contents within leaked out. 

Unable to control herself, tears started to fall down her cheeks and Harbin started to sob in front of the girl. 

“Big Lady Boss?” The girl was visibly confused at Harbin’s sudden outbreak, tilting her head to the sides. She didn’t understand why Harbin suddenly cried out like that. She just kept quiet with a worried expression on her face as she started patting Harbin in the head. 

“Don’t be sad! Me pat you. Me always feel good when Bridgetta pat me!” The girl said to Harbin, trying to comfort her.

“Thanks…” Harbin said with a small smile as she kept crying.