Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 26: A Little Piece of the Past

"...Hmmmm...Looks like we’re here," I say to Eirwen as we arrive at a small, half-finished building, with boards covering the windows and a gate of twisted iron bars.

"W-Where are we?" Eirwen speaks with an embarrassed expression from the stares her body attracts; it seems she’s uncomfortable with the people looking at her.

"We’re—"

"Hey, you damn rat, what are you doing here?!" We hear someone shouting from up in the building at me. I look up, seeing a boy with an irritated face.

He’s a blond man with somewhat dull hair, green eyes, and a mature, strong physique with visible muscles even through his clothes and an expression that seems constantly annoyed.

"Eirwen, that idiot up there is Theo, an acquaintance from my childhood. He must be about 35 years old now. Looks like he aged well," I say as he breaks the window boards and jumps, using a metal rod as a platform to hang from wires, descending from up there with an almost enviable skill.

"Why are you here?" He asks, landing on the ground while Eirwen prepares to fight.

"I want my bat back, the one you’re flaunting around like it’s yours," I say, pointing to the bat he’s showing off as if it belonged to him.

"..." He looks at the bat.

"It’s not yours anymore. I won it fair and square."

"Hahaha, sure you did, you little shit of a thief! So keep it. In exchange, tell me a few things, how about that? Or would you rather I try to take my bat back from those filthy hands of yours?" A metal bat, even if it seems "simple," is very expensive.

Especially because this one is a solid metal baseball bat, so it’s not hollow inside like other bats you can find around here. That being the case, he clearly doesn’t want to lose this excellent weapon.

"...Come in." He goes to the building door and opens it, "inviting" us. Eirwen gets confused as Theo heads inside.

"What was that?" She questions me as if she didn’t understand how a possible fight turned into an invitation.

"That’s how you solve a problem without conflict. Theo doesn’t want to lose that weapon, and he certainly doesn’t want me to break his arms to take it from him, so he agreed to a deal."

"It was a threat, understand? That’s how you settle things with ’Rats.’ You threaten to take things from them, and they weigh whether it’s worth trying to resist or if it’s better to give in," I tell her, following him inside.

"I suggest you don’t stay outside, Eirwen, or you’ll be robbed. And believe me, having powers won’t help you notice when someone steals from you," I say with a small laugh. Even Astrid was robbed by petty thieves around here once. The ’Rats’ are excellent at theft, though no one ever managed to find out who the lunatic was who thought it was a good idea to rob someone like Astrid in the past.

"..." The smell of dust and old things in this place is something I know well, so I just follow Theo with no interest in looking at this old place. Eirwen follows me with growing discomfort as Theo enters a room.

I go in with him, and Eirwen follows, looking around the place. It’s a simple room, a few chairs and a table, alcoholic drink cans on the floor, and a lot of trash around here.

"You’ve really gone downhill," I tell him, sitting down in a chair, but as soon as I do, it creaks as if it’s about to break. After all, I’m very heavy because of my prosthetics, so I stand up, clicking my tongue.

"Even your furniture is trash. Honestly, couldn’t you get anything better?"

"Don’t complain, you filthy rat!! You’re practically an intruder! A little pest who came back here after years! Besides, it’s not my fault! Those damn..." He stops talking, as if mentioning who these "damn" people are is dangerous.

"Whoa, that got my interest. Who? Who’s to blame for you living in this dump? By the way, weren’t you the leader of a little group? Where are those three idiots?"

"...They died."

"...Hmm, I see. Well, good riddance." When I say that, he grinds his teeth with pure disgust towards me.

"You were always like this, like a vulture."

"Make up your mind, Theo. Am I a rat or a vulture?" I provoke him so he’ll give me what I want to know.

"...What do you want with me? It’s not like we’re friends. Just because we lived on the same streets in childhood doesn’t mean I like you or that piece of shit Nadir."

"Oh, are you a little hurt? Feeling sore about getting beaten up by a smaller, weaker girl?" I start remembering those times. They weren’t easy times, but I could always count on Nadir. The memory with Theo is still extremely vivid for me.

Because as far as I remember, I was always with Nadir, and I’ve always existed since I was 7 years old. Although I don’t know what separated Nadir and me, I know that ever since we were both 7, we were already together, surviving as two distinct beings.

...

...

...

"Zenith, look!! I got a lollipop for you! Happy 11th birthday!!!" Nadir runs to me carrying a lollipop wrapped in plastic. I look at him, confused but with some interest.

’Sweet...’

"Where did you get this, crybaby? You don’t even know how to steal properly," I ask, confused, though my heart races a little with joy that he remembered today is my birthday and brought me something, especially a sweet.

’Today is Nadir’s birthday... I should give him something too... but stealing sweets... is very difficult... and often not worth the risk...’ I take the sweet Nadir hands me with a smile.

"I... I got it!" He doesn’t say how he got it, but he gives me a pleased smile because I accepted it.

’Hmmm... it’s good...’ I taste the lollipop’s flavor. Sweets are a true rarity. I love lollipops; I could live off eating them forever if I were rich and I’d never get sick of them.

"..." However, while I savor the sweet taste, I smell blood. I look at Nadir seriously.

"Where did you get the sweet?"

"..."

"Lift up your shirt."

"W-What?"

"Lift up your shirt right now, Nadir!" He resists a little, but obeys. I quickly walk around him, searching, and find punch marks and some bruises.

"Who did this?"

"I-It’s no big deal, Zenith, I was just a bit slow..."

"Who did this, Nadir? Tell me now, and I won’t ask again."

"I-It was Theo... I-I got caught stealing... S-Sorry I’m not as good as you... It’s just that you’re always getting food for both of us, I... wanted to be useful instead of a burden on your survival."

"..." I ignore Nadir’s tears and start heading towards the hideout of those jerks who beat up Nadir. Nadir tries to hold me back, saying I don’t need to go do anything.

But no one touches this crybaby and gets away with it as long as I’m alive. So I ignore him, going through the blocks until I reach those assholes’ area.

"Hahaha, man, you should have seen it." I hear Theo’s annoying voice as I turn the corner, seeing him on top of a box bragging to three younger boys.

"That idiot thought he could steal in our area!! I taught him a lesson." Seeing Theo bragging about beating up Nadir makes my blood boil. I pick up a rock from the ground as I approach.

"Hey, idiot, think fast." I yell at him, throwing a rock. He turns towards me and gets hit right in the forehead by a rock that cuts it. He falls off the boxes, letting out a yelp of pain as I run towards him.

He gets up to yell at me, but I’m already close and throw myself on top of him, knocking him down.

"You’re the one who hit Nadir, aren’t you, you idiot!! I’ll show you what happens to trash that hits my Nadir!!" I start punching his face as he tries to push me off, but I punch him in the throat, making him scream in pain.

"Don’t ever touch Nadir again!!" I keep punching his face until I see blood running and a broken tooth. He’s crying while still trying to push me off him. His friends just stand there watching in shock, until Nadir acts, grabbing me by the arms and pulling me.

"Z-Zenith, stop!! You’re going to kill him!!" Nadir says as I bite the lollipop in my mouth, hearing its sweet crack. It’s similar to the crack of Theo’s tooth breaking! Violence is kind of like a sweet, and I think I like it a little.

"If you touch Nadir again, I’ll kill you!! I swear I’ll kill you, you little shit!!" I thrash around, screaming at him and wanting to hit him more while Nadir, with much effort, drags me away, but not before I kick a rock that still hits that bastard.

...

...

...

Theo, in front of me, seems to shudder as if he’d remembered exactly the same thing I did. And even though Theo started avoiding us after the beating I gave him, we still had a few more fights in the future after that "incident" on my birthday.

Of course, I don’t hate Theo himself. We were all street kids. He needed to beat up thieves because when someone was robbed, the area became more alert, so too many thefts made it hard to steal again, and Nadir went stealing in the very area Theo stole from.

That being the case, Theo beating up Nadir was never really personal; it was just business, just like now it’s just business.

"...Just say what you want and get out of here," he relents, perhaps afraid I might beat him up again. Because unlike the practical, objective violence Theo uses to maintain order and control,

mine is a brute, illogical, irrational violence that was usually stopped by Nadir. And look here, Nadir isn’t here to stop me from deforming Theo’s pretty little face.

"Well, how great that you still remember our past together... I want information on the criminal scum taking over this region." That’s the probable reason why Theo is alone in this decaying building.

"...I’ll talk... but don’t involve me in this, don’t say I told you, and don’t come back here..."