Chapter 299: The Ugly World
"When I woke up, I found myself in a metallic cell somewhere, tied up in a chair. And, by the time it took me to regain full consciousness and use of my body, I found there to be a man on the other side of the table."
"I remember this exact scene almost like it was yesterday... It was a middle-aged blonde-haired man with a deep gaze that could damn well kill if he wanted to… He sat with a pile of papers in front of him, his hands clasped on the table with a serious expression. From his clothing, I could immediately tell he was a captain, which he revealed himself to be soon after anyways."
"He was captain Conwell. By the time I woke up, he and his team had already done analysis on my body and investigated all there was at the orphanage and its destruction."
"Looking at him at the time, I was filled with dread unlike any other, and deep down In my heart I knew it was over… I was gonna die… That was when Yami once again came to my rescue and lashed out at the man without him even speaking a word. Yet, despite her efforts, she was not able to move out of the chair no matter how hard she struggled and raged it was all useless as the man stayed completely calm, looking at us without speaking a word."
"Eventually, even Yami's mana had to run dry and she had to calm down, which was when the captain introduced himself and dropped the bombshell on us. Apparently, the military found me to be quite peculiar and interesting due to my power... They had deemed the destruction of the orphanage justified and they were willing to keep it all a secret and sweep it under the rug. And, in return, I would be kept safe and a secret in their labs and training camps."
"I was in no position to deny their request. There was never really an option, so I accepted."
"There, Yami and I withstood harsh training day in and day out, honing my abilities and skills to the limit. Other than those though, almost robotic instructors, Yami was all I had…"
"My time training in the military labs was not too bad if I'm being honest. I was properly fed, had some free time to play with my sister and didn't get tortured every day by children who looked at me like a poop stain on the road, unless extreme training counted as torture."
"There, for four years straight I had not spoken a single full sentence to anyone other than Yami that did not consist of simple answers like "Yes sir," and "Right away,". Being locked up from the outside world made the time go quickly as every day felt almost the same other than my time with my sister. It made me wonder about the mystery of the outside world… What school was like… And what is was to be a 'normal child'."
"That was when one day, as I was training, I met a new face for the first time in seemingly forever. And, this time… It was someone around my own age."
"It was a small, red-haired girl and her family, looking at me from the glass of the lab like I was some sort of wild animal locked up in a cage."
"But, the girl bore a different look to that of her parents, one that was filled with great interest."
"She talked to them from the other side of the glass , saying things I could not hear. And, before I knew it, there she was in the same room as me, looking at me with a smile."
"Naturally, I was hesitant to talk to her… I never really had the best experience with kids my age, or anyone for a matter of fact. But, after seeing the deadly glint in my instructor's eyes, I gave in and talked to her."
"At the time, I felt like it was the best decision of my life… She was so kind and accepting. It completely shattered my expectations of what people were actually like, other than Yami of course. I had made an actual friend."
"She introduced herself as Emilia, and she would come to visit every week from that day on. I introduced her to Yami and we played so many games together. At first, they were not really on good terms, but after a little love and friendship from me, I managed to get them to get along."
"Monday, the day she would come to visit suddenly became the best day of the week. She gave me faith that humanity was not so bad after all. It made me think that my past experiences had been simply a flook due to me only knowing demon children."
"Those four years were by far the best years of my life, and with me turning sixteen and finding out I would go to the exact same military school as my best friend, I felt like it was only going to get better."
"I was so excited to meet new people, explore the outside world for the first time in my life and see all that I had missed out by being locked up in my prison."
"However, I was then later informed that I was too unstable to be left around other kids, and I would be kept a secret and taken in by the general of the military school and his special staff…"
"I was devastated… No, beyond devastated and Emilia was not there for me to talk to. But, after Yami cheered me up, I was more motivated than ever to see my dream through!"
"As I was being escorted to school, I managed to fool the soldier escorting me with a light puppet in my figure and snuck into school…"
"The sky was so blue, the clouds dancing were so beautiful, the way the people around me talked and had fun was fascinating. I went around and met everyone I saw and shook their hand. And no one mocked me or anything, all they did was smile and look at me cheerfully. It filled me up with so much joy. But, now I realize they probably only acted like that because of the number on my watch. Even still, my fun didn't last for long and I was immediately escorted away and scolded by General Ryker himself."
"From then on, my life pretty much went back to normal, my training was even harder and I was isolated from everyone else. Although, this time I was allowed to go out every now and again to get some fresh air."
"However, sometimes, I did sneak out and manage to trick my instructors to go hang out with Emilia. It was still so fun and I would have done anything for her at that time."
"She then invited me to join her gang and I was introduced to so many cool and nice people like Nagsy, Jassy and so much more. But, that was when Yami really started to doubt and feel suspicious of Emilia, which at the time I thought she was jealous or something. But, now I know all too well how she was right… I was just ignorant of so many things being locked up for so long..."
"One day, I was called by her to capture her own sister or capture you and bring you to her while she was stuck at a party… And, to keep our friendship, I of course accepted with a smile on my face and chose to have fun while I was at it. That was around the time when we first met… And you know the rest… I captured your friend and that eventually led to the death of your other friend… All due to my selfish and brainless desire to appease and satisfy someone, my best, childhood friend who I now found out was the enemy… And, someone who couldn't really care less for me all along..."
"I'm so sorry... I don't know if I can ever make it up to you for that... But, that doesn't mean I can't try my best..."
"I was being used… I may have been the puppet user, but I was the puppet who was being used and manipulated for my power all along…"
"You... You and Yami are the only people in the world left for me… I can't trust anyone else... I-if I found out that you were using me too and had been lying to my face… I-I-I-I-I-I wouldn't know if I would ever be able to trust anyone ever again…"
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