A peculiar set of events: Part 2
"Life is like a coin, evil and good, light and darkness. Both belong to the coin, and with a simple toss, a side can change. What you may perceive as righteous may not be so to others. And the things you consider as insidious and evil may be due to your lack of knowledge and information. Therefore, when looking at life and the events in it, do not simply perceive and accept things as they present themselves, for everything and anything can change with a simple toss of a coin."
-Anonymous
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Location: Underground Mining Area 50 G
Time: Year 17 of the Era of Change
Era: Era of Change
"Aaaaahhhh…that was a good sleep!" said Steven slowly while yawning and slowly opening his eyes.
"Oh? Was it now?!" asked a very irritated voice in response to what Steven had said.
"Yeah! It was… uh…hi?" said Steven with an awkward tone as he discovered from whom the voice had come from.
"Hi! Steven, please tell us why you disappeared, and we discovered you unconscious on the ground?" asked Xiang with a smile, although his eyes were not smiling at all. Instead, they shined with a sharp glint threatening to slice through Steven.
"Uh…about that, why don't we all just calm down, no? There is no need for this aggressive tension!" said Steven trying his best to diffuse whatever was about to happen.
"No, I don't think so. We don't think so. I think it's time you get a good beating for making us worry so much!" said Violet with a feisty expression.
"Violet?" shocked that an innocent girl as Violet said this, Steven realised he was not in a good spot to calm down his companions. He, therefore, decided he had to create some space between him and his companions. Yet, before he could attempt this, his comrades had already surrounded him and had started cracking their knuckles while smiling like lunatics as if they had lost their minds.
"Uh…this is going to hurt, isn't it?" without having to wait for an answer, Steven was greeted with a round of beatings that, although it hurt, did no serious damage. Since although Stevens comrades were upset, they would never intentionally hurt Steven, who became a central figure in their lives. After a few minutes, the beatings were finally over, and Steven laid on the ground heavily breathing and cursing at his comrades in his head, for he dared not say it out loud, as it would further motivate their pleasure in punishing Steven for his actions.
"You bastards, one day I will let you all feel my pain!" said Steven to himself while rubbing his bruised body. Thankfully for Steven, the group had some members who had healing powers. This made it possible that Steven's bruises and injuries were healing at a rate that was not normal. At least to a normal human like Steven, that is, as those that had changed, all had regenerative self-healing abilities, which had their own varying degrees of speed and efficiency.
Sighing to himself, Steven shook his head and slowly stood up, shaking off all the dust on his clothes that had come from his comrades. After that, Steven saw that his comrades had started a reasonably sized fire for the entire group where everyone was sitting and resting, for they did not know what was still awaiting them. Seeing this, Steven put the woman on his back while also carrying the little dog in his arms and slowly walked towards the group. Once he arrived at where they were, he saw that a large space had been left for him, between Xiang and John. Smiling to himself and feeling happy, Steven proceeded to walk to them, slowly placed the woman and the little dog onto the ground, and then sat down.
"So how long till we carry on travelling?" asked Steven while stretching his hands towards the fire to warm up.
"I would say in about an hour we can set off to go." Said Xiang without asking anyone about what they thought about this, as he was the group leader. Although the other people who had joined Steven's group later had objections, due to them being in the minority and not being as powerful as Steven's companions, they kept quiet not to provoke any potential conflict. Seeing this, Xiang nodded his head as he had kept his eyes on the people who had joined the group from the very beginning, as he never knew who he could really trust.
Following this, Steven's comrades all started conversing with each other about their past experiences they had the last five years and how excited they were to leave this hellhole of a place finally. They also conversed over their hatred towards the Foundation Faction, which had put them in this horrible place, and swore that they would get their revenge on those who dared treat them this way one day. Following this, everyone started to quiet down and rest as much as possible for the last bit of their journey. After about an hour, the sizable fire died out, signalled that the hour was over. As they had set it up that way so that the fire would be able to tell them how much time had passed, as they were underground and had no sunlight in which to tell them what time of the day it was. Due to the many skills they had gained in surviving in the changed world, they learned how to measure time even without the sunlight.
Promptly following this, everyone stood up and prepared themselves to start walking again. Steven looking at his luggage next to him, aka the woman and the little dog, sighed and stood up with a grunt. He then picked up the woman, put her on his back once more, and carried the little dog in his arms. The other people who had joined the group earlier when seeing this were once more confused by this sight. Why was he carrying a worthless dog and women that were nothing but a burden? They could understand in normal situations that if it were someone very dear to them, they would carry the said person, but this was no such situation, and this was an extremely dangerous place. Yet, in the end, they kept such thoughts to themselves as they did not want any conflict. But there was one man in this group that did not care about what would happen and directly walked up to Steven and asked him:
"Oi! Kid, what's wrong with you? Why are you so different from us? You smile and act as if this world is as bright as it once was before everything changed! You act so naively! As if the pain, the deaths, the horrors don't impact you. But you are not emotionless. I do not understand you and what you are. But I feel a deep sense of disgust when I look at you! Someone like you shouldn't exist! What is your purpose in this world? You are someone that does not belong! You show compassion and care to those who you do not know! You show trust to those who do not deserve it. You have something we do not? Do you still have most of your emotions? No? You… are like most of us were before the Awakening!" said the man with increasing rage. Each sentence he spoke was filled with hatred, contempt, curiosity, and confusion. The man wanted to understand how Steven could exist in this world and how he managed to influence so many people around him, that they could change, that they showed some emotion, much more than what would be expected and even thought possible.
"Uh…well…I" Steven didn't know how to answer. He was overwhelmed with everything the man had to say. He didn't know how to answer the man. Yet, for some reason, something familiar in the way the man spoke, made Steven think about an event that happened just after the Awakening had finished. Steven already knew that for some reason, he was losing his memories, or better said, they were becoming unclear and foggy so that he couldn't access them. He could only remember bits and pieces of events of his childhood and his parents. It was getting to the point where he was slowly forgetting his teenage years and the events that encompassed them. But, even with all of this, he still remembered the way that person spoke after everything had changed. The man had spoken and had seen him as an outcast and named him something that did not belong in this world and despised him. He couldn't remember anything else about him, only that his eyes had carried a deep hatred, resentment, and pain in them, as if he were furious for some reason that Steven hadn't changed, hadn't become like them, and that he was different. Steven didn't understand why though, it wasn't his choice. He didn't want any of this, yet why was he ostracised for something he could not ever have foreseen or controlled.
As Steven was thinking of this, John, Violet, Celine, Xiang, Thon, Alene, and Melene, and the rest of Steven's comrades stepped forward, staring at the man with icy eyes. Eyes that could murder if given the opportunity. Xiang stepped forward and looked at the man with anger and disgust.
"You are one of them, aren't you? Part of that cult? That worships chaos, destruction and wants to rule the world, no? What was your cult's name again? The Seekers of Chaos?" asked Xiang while directly staring into the man's eyes.
"What if I am? Does it matter? As long as I don't harm nor bother any of you, everything is fine, no? I was just asking a few simple questions! There is no need for you to be so provoked unless you have something to say?" asked the man while smiling menacingly.
"You don't need to answer Xiang. I can answer for myself," responded Steven to Xiang before Xiang could say anything else.
"Alright." Said Xiang while shaking his head and taking a step back.
"What I do. Who I am. The things I believe in are none of your concern. I am naïve, I know. But it is who I am. There are reasons for it. But you have clearly shown that you do not deserve to know those reasons. I am who I am. I will not change just because I have to because you want me to! I change when I want to! I am selfish, and I am greedy; I am foolish. But I can tell, at least I hope so, what a person's intentions are. And you have shown that your intentions are filled with malice, hatred, and regret. I have no need nor want to answer you. If you can't accept that, I don't care. My life is not yours, it is mine, and I decide how my story unfolds."
Saying this, Steven turned around and kept walking, not looking back. His comrades followed him, as well as the other group. The only person who had not followed him was the man who had questioned him. He silently stood in the tunnel, staring at nothing. After a few seconds, though, he started to smile and laugh hysterically at that. After a minute of that, he finally calmed down and spoke:
"Interesting. My master will be pleased to learn of your existence, boy. The one who defies destiny? The one who dares stand against the divine! You, my boy, do not know what awaits you and what your existence means to many people in this world. For your existence is something unnatural and not part of the plan. Ha!!! I can already feel the chaos!!!" said the man while chuckling and slowly trying to catch up with the group.