The Little Girl

A little girl was dancing around in her small humble village shack while her mother was out to get some food for her daughter. She skipped and flailed her arms around, a joyous smile ran across her face as she enjoyed herself.

The little girl and her mother lived in the Village of Ulrom, a village under the Tribal Union. They were the Ulrom Tribe, a tribe consisting of 160 people in total.

As the girl danced, a strange commotion caught her attention. A group of villagers was gathering outside her door, murmuring and seemingly looking in disgust. She went to the door and stood there, rather anxious and waiting for her mother to return.

Her mother did not return, a loud thud sounded and the door to her house was fell in. The villagers were coming inside her home, they quickly took her and ravaged her house, burning it with torches and looting the wooden jars and small chests the mother and daughter had to store whatever they had.

The little girl could barely put up a fight, she was dragged away from her home by the villagers as she helplessly watched as her home was burned down. All her life, she lived there, not it was gone. She did not understand, why were they doing this? They have lived here for as long as she can remember and were in good standing with everyone, why?

The villagers took her to the village center, leaving her with the other children of the village. She was crying and screaming for her mother but she was only harassed by the other children. The sun was brimming, the wind was blowing. No clouds could be seen in the blue sky, the chirping birds were silenced by the loud and incoherent babbling of the village folk who have begun to gather around the village center.

"Hear ye! hear ye!" The village leader went up to the guillotine, using his staff as support for his frail body. He was wearing the standard attire for a Tribal Union member and was wrinkly.

"Today! we are here to hang th-..."

That's all she remembered.

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The little girl opened her eyes slowly, she was weak and tired. She felt herself lying down on a comfortable surface which was unlike the rough and often painful wooden beds back in her home. Her eyes opened and she saw a white ceiling, pure white with no cracks in sight. She slowly turned her head and glanced around the room.

The walls were unlike she had ever seen before, white paint with no cracks but a perfect color covering the surfaces. She tried to move her hands but they felt heavy and numb, she then discovered she was cuddled up in a white blanket and was lying down on a white bed.

The fabric of the bed was the comfiest she had ever felt her entire life, the white color was pleasing to her eyes and the room was unusually cold. She then slowly pulled her hands from the blanket and she was startled.

Some tubes and what looked like paper were inside her wrists, she didn't know what to do but she felt no pain so she eventually calmed down. She followed where the tubes were headed and looked to her right, there was a weird silver stand to her right which had bags with colored water in them.

Am I in heaven?

The child thought, innocent and unknowing of where she was, how she got there or what happened. Little did she know that she inhaled some of the toxins from the canisters and her body acted a bit different towards the chemicals, causing her to lose some of her memories.

"What is this place?" She thought, she continued to examine her room but was too immersed to the surprising comfort the bed and the blanket gave her.

There was a door to her right side, a white door with a silver doorknob. The experience was new for her, she didn't know if she should be afraid or happy. Why not both?

A thought suddenly crosses her mind.

"Mother!" Her mother wasn't in the room with her, she began to panic and a beeping noise sounded that corresponded with her fast beating heart.

"Your mother is okay," A soft yet weird voice echoed through the room, seemingly coming from the walls.

She froze in place, fear replaced any other reaction she had. She held onto her blanket tightly, looking around the walls to see where the voice was coming from.

"You don't have to fear anything, you are safe where you are," The voice said, assuring the little girl who was quick to trust the strange person talking to her. She was still shivering, a chill went down her spine causing her to flinch slightly.

The silver doorknob suddenly began to twist and the little girl covered herself with the blanket while allowing her eyes to peek through. The door then opened and Artemis entered, wearing a military-grade prewar uniform. The uniform was similar to that of a general's, decorated with medals but sported a black color and red outlines, Artemis looked rather intimidating, scaring the girl even further.

"I think I miscalculated the fear factor," Artemis thought as he slowly closed the door behind him, he walked to the side of the little girl's bed and stood near beside the dextrose stand.

The little girl slowly peeked outside, looking at Artemis whose face even worse than that of a goblin, that's what the girl thought.

Artemis suddenly smiled, something he had never done since he awakened for he didn't feel any emotion. Now, he was feeling a little empathetic. He didn't understand it as well but as he further thought of the little girl, his brain would ache.

Something from the past, his past, still crept within the deepest parts of his memory.

Artemis sat on the little girl's bed, smiling as he looked at the little girl. The little girl was still scared, unable to let go of her grip on the blanket.

"Are you hungry?" Artemis asked the little girl, it was a weird initiation of a conversation but Artemis didn't know how to properly initiate one.

The little girl's head slowly emerged from the blanket, revealing her long, brown and curly hair, a patched up face and brown eyes. Artemis examined her closely before finally reaching his right arm out, patting her head.

"Hm..." The little girl was surprised but kept silent.

"Are you hungry, little one?" Artemis repeated the question, the little girl nodded.

"As I thought," Artemis said as he smiled with his eyes closed. In the eyes of the little girl, there was a faint glow of light when the strange man in front of her smiled. He began to look more like an angel to her than the weird monster she saw him as.