An Old But Insistant Memory

Even when she was little, Renia had a strong sense of duty to watch over the young or weak. People would call it a maternal instinct, but she always felt more like a guard dog.

As her world fell further into disarray it felt more necessary. Watch. Protect. Shield. She never had to act on it but once for her niece. And she had come to regret her over-the-top response as it made people distance themselves from her, including her sister.

Even now she wanted to calm herself, but, she couldn't. She wasn't strong, or confident enough to fight like a normal ass person. But she was going to fight.

The wolf seemed to sense the change, stepping back when she started growling as well. Then they both moved, crashing into each other. The wolf tries to bite at her face, but she moves away, grabbing the top of its mouth and jerking its head at a weird angle.

Claws puncture the leather corset, digging into her rib cage. She leaps up, latching her teeth into the side of its neck as she brings her feet up and kicks off of its stomach. She tears a hole in its neck before it tosses her away.

Emelda tumbles over the rocky floor before getting to her feet in an instant. Another rumble sounds from her chest charging the beast as it recovers and faces her. It leaps towards her, and Emelda dodges to the side, grabbing the side of its head and bringing it down to the ground with a slam.

The wolf yelps before kicking her away, slicing her leg in the process before swiftly recovering to leap for her again, jaws opened wide. They didn't notice light filling the cavern as someone else enters.

In her adrenaline, Emelda's eyes lock on the beast's tongue. She reaches into the mouth to grab it, fangs grazing her arm as she pulls it to the side out of the mouth. Her free hand connects with its bottom jaw making it snap shut as she tears the tongue away.

The wolf shrieks and cries, staggering back as blood spews from its mouth. Emelda looks at the tongue in her grasp and lets it drop to the ground before her eyes slide to a sizeable rock. She picks it up, walking to the wolf as he hits his knees looking up at her.

"Here's your mercy." She breathes before losing the last of her strength to knock it out with the rock. She calms herself, dropping the rock before turning to the others.

Raiden had joined them, a steady flicker of lightning between his horns lighting the cave. He shifts, looking her over before turning to the horrified children.

"Alright everyone, let's get you back to camp." He says lightly, collecting some of them in his arms. Sister Lily gets to her feet, she seemed to have woken during the skirmish. She takes Rome by the hand to follow after Raiden, but the blind child doesn't move, his head turned to Emelda's direction seeming serious.

"Come on Emelda, it's over." He reaches for her but pauses as a weird crackling noise sounds behind her. Emelda blinks and turns slightly to check on the wolf as it disintegrates into black matter before suddenly rushing into her upper arm. She gasps in pain as burning spreads over the spot. The black matter disappeared into her arm and she covers the spot with a small pant.

"Emee? You okay?" Raiden calls to her worriedly.

"I'm okay." She assures, before moving to follow him. She didn't want to be in here anymore.

Raiden gets the children back over the ledge before coming back for Sister Lily, but she refused to let him touch her, so Emelda had to help her back, though the nun didn't seem too pleased with her help either.

Once they return to camp, the merchants hurry over to fret over the children and check on them and Sister Lily. Emelda watches for a bit before going back into the forest to find the river. When she finds it, her first instinct is to wash her hands and face.

A tremble starts to spread from her hands to the rest of her body. She had tried not to notice, but she couldn't shake their expressions when they looked at her. She must've seemed like a monster.

She bites her lip, tears flooding her eyes. She feels something touch down on the ground beside her, making her turn her head only to be brought into Raiden's chest.

"You did good Emee." He breathes, chin resting on top of her head.

"I... Don't think so." She murmurs. He rubs her back reassuringly.

"Everyone's safe. Does it really matter how they were saved?" He points out softly.

"Yes, if the how traumatized them." She grumbles. He frowns briefly and pulls back to look her in the eyes.

"When they grow, they will learn to be thankful and understand why." He tells her. She frowns unsurely in response and he offers a smile. "You're so tough. No wonder you're crazy enough to put up with me." He jokes, mushing her face between his hands.

"You make it sound like you're intolerable or something." She rolls her eyes starting to relax.

"Well, apparently Sister Lily thinks so. She acts like I carry the plague or something." He shrugs.

"Well, you are what she's taught to fear or fight." Emelda points out.

"I am not those creatures in that book." He shakes his head with a frown. "I'm just different..." He drops his hands and his gaze, but his eyes focus on something and widen in worry. "Emee is that your blood?" He gasps leaning forward. She blinks and looks down, finding her side and leg covered in blood. There were numerous other scrapes and bruising she was now aware of.

"Oh... I guess so. I'm getting really tired, and my head feels weird." She breathes. He quickly scoops her up.

"You go ahead and rest. I'll get you patched up." He tells her swiftly starting back for the caravan.

Varen had been listening behind a tree, he was curious about her state after the cavern. Still, he had not orchestrated the events that took place. The wolf was not supposed to be her opponent.

His story seemed to be taking a life of its own now. Or she was somehow rewriting it. Still, He couldn't help but be amazed by her, he never would've thought a woman was capable of such ferocity. What pain she must've experienced before this world? What was her life like before? When had seen her at the bookstore, she just seemed like any overworked server. Perhaps that's where that unhinged response came from.

"She... Seems like she's been through a lot... She deserves to be happy..." He murmurs, following after covertly. Would happiness be enough though? Maybe love would make her blossom. He stops and snaps his fingers. That's it! A brilliant romance would make this story even better!

"Rome! There you are!" Cassie finds him, making him jump. "Hurry or another monster will show up." She hisses, seizing his hand and quickly leading him out of the forest to the other orphans who were watching Raiden as he gets a female merchant to help him with Emelda's wounds, disappearing into a tent.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Abby murmurs with a frown.

"I don't know. She got really hurt." Bleaky responds.

"She was scary," Cassie says lightly.

"That monster was scarier." Mark shakes his head in objection to her statement. "It was gonna eat me." He murmurs tears coming to his eyes as he recalls. The children fall silent, Bleaky hugging his friend. "Emelda saved me. She saved all of us." Mark sniffles.

Cassie drops her gaze guilty. "I hope she'll be okay." She murmurs.

Before too long, everyone gets into their tents to sleep for the night. Varen however, can't sleep. He had to go help Emelda heal. He eases back out of the tent, shuffling towards the tent Emelda was in.

"Rome?" A voice says overhead, making him jump and look up. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. But what are you doing out here?" Raiden asks, bent over the boy.

"E-Emelda..." He responds.

"Ah. You wanna sleep near her?" Raiden guesses, taking his hand. "I'll let you, but don't leave the tent again. It's already difficult watching over the whole camp."

"Okay..." Varen looks ahead towards the tent. "She's... Different."

"I know. It's nice right?" Raiden grins slightly.

"Mm." He hums his agreement as Raiden guides him into the tent, placing the boy's hand over Emelda's hand.

"Here she is. try not to wake her." Raiden says before going back out to watch over the camp.

Varen blinks down at Emelda, she had a few visible bandages and seemed to be having a bad dream. He shifts, wondering if the wolf was the cause. He reaches for her temple, fiery orange appearing again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He is brought to a park, and a crying and scared little girl in a yellow dress stood in front of him. Two guys rush past them to something happening nearby. He looks to see them pulling a familiar woman off a bloodied man.

"Renia! Renia! Stop!" One that had her by the waist shouts. Her body struggled the feral grunts leaving her chest before the wild look in her eye subsides.

"Bastard looks bad." The other man says pulling out a phone to call for an ambulance. Another woman comes to scoop up the little girl.

"Reni killed the candy man." The little girl cries, unaware of the danger she had been in.

"Shh. He'll be okay." The girl's mother faces her away from the scene.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! You could've killed him!" The man that had had her by the waist was now shouting at her. Renia stares at the bloodied man before looking at him.

"He was going to take her away." She manages. "He would've hurt her."

"That's still too fat Renia! There's... There's something wrong with you! You're a monster." He shakes his head. Renia ducks her head. "Don't... Don't contact me again." Tears glistened in her eyes as she watched after him helplessly.

"Maybe he's right... Maybe you need help." The woman holding her now exhausted daughter says lightly. Everything fades before the setting shifts to an apartment as Renia comes into the living room, a spoon hanging from her mouth and a small ice cream container in her hand.

"Action time~ Action time~" She mumbles singing around the spoon sitting on the couch and turning on the TV only to freeze. The familiar face of the man that had called her a monster was there. He had brutally murdered his girlfriend of two years.

"... And you called me a monster?" She breathes setting down the ice cream.

Again the scene changes to her standing before a gravestone. Renia kneels to place flowers. "You didn't deserve this."

"Who are you?" A voice makes her stand and look back at an unfamiliar man. He pauses, recognition passing through his face. "I remember you." He mutters joining her side. He looks from her to the stone. A bitter chuckle left him.

"He called you crazy when exs were brought up. But I never actually believed that. Cause I would've done the same if it had been my niece." He tells her. "He painted you in such a bad light... But I guess the truth is, he just wanted someone weak to torment."

"Torment?" Renia frowns in confusion.

"We started noticing the bruises a few months in. But they always seemed so happy we thought it was roughhousing..." His chin trembles, eyes never leaving the gravestone. "She wanted to open her own shelter one day, for rabbits. She was so gentle and kind..." He starts to break down. "A-and weak... M-Maybe if we had let her do karate with us when we were kids... She could've been stronger... He would've moved on... Like he did you." He sinks to his knees.

Renia watches him helplessly, the sky suddenly changing to a dark crimson. A hand reaches out from the ground, grabbing her leg and pulling as a half-smashed face breaks through the ground, only the bottom jaw intact.

Renia tries to get away but the corpse is climbing up her leg. "It should've been you!" A shriek rattles from the corpse. "I could still be alive if not for yoooou!"

"Im... Sorry." Renia whispers, but then a hand of someone else covers her eyes, and a familiar voice sounds.

"Wake up."

+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×+×

Emelda's eyes snap open, the light outside the tent dim but steadily brightening. Her hands twitch and that's when she feels the touch on hers, she looks over to find Rome sleeping and relaxes. The entrance flap shifts and she looks over as Raiden pokes his head in.

"Emee." He smiles crawling into the tent and to her other side. "How are you feeling?" He asks lightly.

"... Still tired. But- ow... Maybe sore too." She sits up wincing as her wounds pull against the bandages.

"I bet... We're starting to pack up camp. I've come to put you in the carriage. The kids are eager to see you." He tells her as Rome stirs. "That one couldn't wait til morning." He comments as they both look at the blind boy as he sits up.

"Emelda?" He murmurs. She reaches over and pets his head.

"Come on Rome. Let's go to the carriage." She murmurs as she starts to get up.

"You sure you don't want to be carried?" Raiden frowns in concern.

"I'll be fine. Let's get going," She guides the boy out by the hand.

The orphans must've been watching the tent because they come running over to hug her legs. Emelda blinks, looking at Mark as he stops behind them, looking up at her. She offers a smile and his face scrunches up and her starts to cry reaching for her. Emelda gasps lightly in surprise and bends to scoop him up, ignoring her screaming side.

"Careful Emee," Raiden says lightly.

"Aww, I know.." She rubs the boys back to calm him. Sister Lily joins them, seeming even more distant today.

"Come on everyone, let's go." She tells them. With that everyone climbs into the carriage, Raiden sticking by Emelda

"I have a question." Rome murmurs.

"Yes?" Emelda hums.

"Do you and Raiden like each other?" He asks. The pair sure a glance.

"Well yeah. We're friends." Raiden responds.

"I meant... The other like." Rome frowns. The thought makes the pair look at each other for a few moments.

"Nah." They both respond now, shocking Rome.

"So there's no need for you to be jealous." Raiden teases.

"What? I'm not-"

"Rome likes Emelda! Rome likes Emelda." The kids chorus. Rome's face turns pink and he seems taken aback by the turn of events. Emelda chuckles rubbing his head.

"Alright. I guess we can continue our game now." She comments.

They eventually reach the next town, Salazar thanks them and promises to rehire them the next time he comes to the Drenuz Kingdom.

The orphans say their goodbyes before rushing to the church to explore, Rome being guided along. Sister Lily remains, looking between the pair with uncertainty before finally speaking to Emelda.

"I... Believe you should leave the demon alone. He's corrupting you..." She says lightly. Emelda blinks and shares a glance with Raiden.

"If you're referring to last night... I hate to tell you... But that's just how I've always been." She responds, making Lily straighten, eyes widening.

"But..."

"Nothing I did yesterday was with evil intentions." Emelda looks down briefly before looking the nun in the eye. "And that's what you should concern yourself with instead of appearances and common knowledge. Because Raiden's not evil either, his intentions are good. And that's what really matters."

The Nun blinks, seeming conflicted as she drops her gaze. "... At least see a priest about that mark." She requests.

"Mark?" Emelda echoes. Lily glances at her upper arm pointedly.

"Hm?" Raiden moves to Emelda's other side to look as she also does. "A tattoo? Is that what that stuff did?" He blinks. "... I didn't even notice..."

"Me neither." Emelda breathes. It reminded her of the tribal wolf tattoos of her world. It didn't feel ominous though.

"Please. It might be a curse." Lily tells them.

"We'll get it looked at... Let's go home." She looks to Raiden. He pauses and smiles brightly.

"Right."