New world (2)

What a naïve thought, she found out as soon as she saw her current living conditions. They were in the back of a carriage. Seven kids including her were inside a metal cage, ranging from ten to fifteen, more or less.

If she remembered correctly, they have been traveling for eight days already, barely giving them a piece of bread to share and a satchel with some water, which she gave to the younger ones even though she had been eating barely enough in her days inside the orphanage.

Though now that she thought about it, she probably shouldn't have. Her previous self didn't notice, but she did. Those little children that have been already there when she was pushed inside the cage, their eyes were dead. Even when they ate, it was robotic as if it had been beaten into them that they should eat or else. No one cried, resigned to their fates. Only the one kid that looked like ten, that have been put inside two days ago was silently letting tears fall, only sometimes a hiccup was heard.

She had seen a lot of kids that had eyes like that, so she knew that it was already too late for them. They only waited for death and could only be somewhat saved if they received intense psychology care.

On the other hand, that other kid could be saved. He was terrified, it could be clearly seen in his pale grey eyes but it was mixed with a certain determination and anger. It wasn't surprising as he was a new one as Cassie had been. They weren't broken yet, not like the others. His pale skin was lightly bruised and considering the position of his injuries it's likely he had tried to escape from their captors before. Unlike her past self who only went in shock and limply let herself be lead, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Alula slowly sat up, the kids not noticing her movements from where they keep looking straight ahead. She took that opportunity to examine her body, or at least what was seen of her body.

She was thin, painfully so, and every movement was tiring to make. Her skin was fair, unlike the olive skin she had had in her previous life. And from what she could see of the bangs falling in front of her face, her hair was a honey brown color, a couple of shades lighter than her usual dark brown. She looked at her wrists and wasn't surprised to find her diamond tattoos black, instead of their cyan color. She must have used all her magic to explode and to transport to this place, wherever it was.

She shook her head; it wasn't the time for this. She slowly looked around. They were in the back of a carriage that was covered and didn't make it able to look from the outside.

From what she remembered, before the previous owner died, she was able to hear the background noise of a town when they bought the kid, so they were probably not far away from a town.

To gain more information, then.

Thinking this, she first sat in a lotus position and started opening her Third Eye slowly, which was done as to not pain her even more as the manifestation of mental capabilities was too connected with her magical core. When it was finally open, she was surprised by what she found. They all had colorful auras from what she could see. Usually only a magical had colored auras, the non-magical had always a whitish color. The children's auras were dull, almost dead-like, but they still had some color. Everyone but that child with his deep blue colored aura was waiting for death.

For a moment, she felt remorseful. If only she had studied more about the mind. If she hadn't been afraid of her own power, maybe...

It doesn't matter. Is of no help thinking in what-ifs now.

With a deep breath, she readied her soul and then went out of her body. The astral projection was a vibrant cyan, with only her forehead, where the Third Eye was located, being a deep purple.

It didn't surprise her to find herself more of a blob than her usual form, which was her own body. Her energy was almost nonexistent and used what it was left to form the upper part of her torso and her head. She used the energy forming her torso to create two arms and then when it was done, she nodded to herself.

First, she went outside and observed the expressions of the men that she was sold to. Two of them seemed bored and slightly annoyed as one kept protesting about the change in the prices of his favorite bar. The three of them had long knives attached to their waists. Though she did notice that what seemed like the leader's knife had a couple of runes inscribed on his own. Going on by the faint light surrounding it, it wasn't hard to guess its magical nature. The same occurred with something under his shirt, hanging from his necklace.

She ignored him for the moment and concentrated on the only one besides the leader who wasn't talking, taking care of the reins of the horses. Approaching him from behind, she placed her palms next to his temples and started reading his mind for useful information.

She kind of wished she hadn't need to.