Vivian

“Rarrr!!!”

These Insaniac B.golems are proving to be formidable. The Dorm Master did warn us of stronger beasts. Still, their durability and sheer strength is overwhelming even for a half-breed like me. Mana-weapons are tantamount to sticks and stones against these beasts.

“Rarrr!!!”

If I go on avoiding the onslaught of this B.golem, it could turn berserk. Ten seconds of charge should be enough to pierce through its tough exoskeleton. When I release the trigger, I land a direct hit on its rear which penetrates the hard exterior, and the aggravated beast proceeds to roll at me.

I jump to the right! Then left. Duck! The B.golem comes to a halt. Before it’s able to recover its senses, I thrust my Mana-shortsword through the crack I made on its defense.

“Rarrr!!!” I drive the sword deeper and the beast drops dead.

I wonder how Noah and Dalia are doing. Hope Dalia isn’t assigned to face such beasts…

Uggh. There it is, my mind’s wandering off to Dalia again. I have to stop worrying about her. After all, that’s what she wants. But still…

“Raaarrrr!”  The groans of another B.golem from nearby. As I approach the source, I get a view of Amel and the beast. It’s dead, yet Amel continues to fire at it with his Ceasium-chargegun.

“Amel!” He stops when I call out to him and lowers his gun, “You can stop shooting the beast now.”

An occupant of the town crawls away from the scene as I approach Amel.

Amel approaches the occupant and a wave of terror comes across the man’s face.

“Go away!” The civilian shouts at Amel  and Amel stops in his tracks.

Before the man can say any more, I grab hold of Amel’s wrist, “Amel, let’s go. It’s getting late. We can take care of the rest the next few days.”

“You- You impure savages! You hear me, IMPURE SAVAGES!”

I glance at Amel. His face is devoid of expression.

The nerve of that man!

••••••••

Knock knock

“Amel, are you there?”

After the insults hurled at us by that man yesterday, I haven’t seen much of Amel. He confined himself in his room and has limited his appearances outside the room. I wish I’d arrived before Amel could. That way, he wouldn’t have had to hear those spiteful words.

I knock once more.

No answer.

I guess this is a sign for me to give him some space. As I proceed to my room, I hear the door creak and a head peers out of the room.

“Vivian?” He utters.

“Can we talk?”

Amel opens the door languidly. His bed’s unmade, everything else is in neat order. I sit on a corner of his bed and he slumps beside me.

I’m the one who wanted to talk to him, but I’m at a loss for words. I don’t want to risk saying anything which might make his morale worse. But I can’t just stay silent.

“Amel-”

“Vivian-”

We blurt out at the same time. I think what he has to say would carry more weight. Moreover, I’m not even sure what to say. So, I’ll let him go first. “You go first.”

Amel heaves and goes, “So…” Silence fills the room. “You know what? Forget it.”  Amel stands up scratching the back of his head.

I grab his wrist, “Amel, you can talk to me about it.” He stares at me dilemmatically, then utters, “It’s-”

He pauses and sits again, “Why do you fight?”

A sudden question, but not one which I’m unprepared for. “The first reason is obvious – because Dalia’s fighting too. The second reason. It’s for-”

“Acceptance?” Amel interrupts me. The exact word I was about to say. It seems we have a goal in common.

“Yes, acceptance.” I glance at him, his face is not distinct in this poorly lighted room, but I can still gather a melancholy face.

“Do you ever feel like it’s futile? Fighting for acceptance?” He speaks with staccatos. Before I reply, he goes on, “What’s the use of fighting if they’ll never treat us as equals?” He digs his head into his palms. All I can do is provide him the solace of company and a hug.

“Hey, Vivian.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been telling people that I’ve only two reasons for fighting,” he sobs, “But all this time, there was this third reason – Acceptance.” His voice trembles as he speaks and I want to let my anguish out too, but I have to stay strong for Amel.

“But what’s- what’s the use of us half-breeds fighting if all they’re gonna do is- is treat us like we’re animals?”

When he stops speaking, I struggle to find my words.

He collects himself, wipes the tears off and clears his throat. “What- What do you do when… when you’re losing the will to fight? When you feel like fighting’s useless?”

What do I do when I feel like fighting’s useless? I don’t know if my answer will help Amel, but it’s worth a try. I get on my feet and face him, “Do you mind coming with me to the library?”

Amel looks at me perplexed.

“We can go later if you want.”

“No. Now’s fine. We can go now.” He replies, and I smile at him.

We lock our doors, inform the receptionist and head for the library.

“Sorry for dumping on you,” Amel blurts out.

“What? No need to be sorry. It’s fine, really.” I’m glad he shared his problem with me and I didn’t mind listening to him pour hos heart out.

We walk for about thirty minutes and come to a halt in front of a stately building, incongruous with the houses built around it.

“The town library?” Amel frowns.

“Yes.” I open the door and it reveals a passage which leads to a declining wooden stairway with wooden banisters. At the end of the stairs await a grand room with a high ceiling and boasting an impressive amount of books and bookshelves.

We greet the librarian and Amel follows me to a section of the room labelled ‘History’ on a wooden stand by some shelves. He takes a seat while I search through the books.

“Do you need any help?” He inquires me with an innocent face.

“It’s ok.” I reply, keeping my eyes busy with the search. “Hmm. Ahh! Here it is.” I take hold of a bulky hardcover book and wipe the dust off it. The , I plunk the book down on the table in front of Amel.

“Read the cover,” I prompt him.

He leans forward and articulates the words printed in giant bold letters on the cover – History of half-breeds, Revised edition by Frederick Heckel. “Wow! You’re gonna make me read all this?”

“Not all,” I take a seat next to him and flip to a page titled ‘Important Events in half-breed history’ and read out some of the events of Eirenai while Amel listens.

“Year 903 Az: Half-breeds Rights Act passed in Eirenai

Year 1000 Az: Council of Eirenai appoints first half-breed member.

Year 1009 Az: Eirenai’s first Half-breed Organization created.

Year 1114 Az: Half-breed Meritorious Scholarship started.

Year 1120: Mass protest against the injustice meted out to a half-breed student in a school in Eirenaius Beta. Large number of non half-breeds participated in protest.

Protest successful. Proper action taken against perpetrators.

Same year, Half-breeds Protection Fund started.”

I stop and look at Amel who stares at me with a curious face. “Amel,” I shut the book, “All these events I’ve just read out, they’re the fruits of our fellow half-breeds’ labor.” I move closer to him, “If the people who fought for us had given up, we wouldn’t have come this far. But they did. And it’s because of that, we’re able to live a better life. And now, it’s our turn to carry the torch, wave it with pride, do what we can before we pass it on to the next generation. Even if some of them don’t accept us now, some do. Some change their minds.” I tell him the words of my father which have served as a guiding light for me since he imparted his wisdom

“Ahem, sorry… I, uh-” He wipes a tear off his eye.

I wrap him round my arms and stroke his hair. He talks with a shaky voice, “I’m so pathetic.” His words fall out in sobs.

“You’re not pathetic,” I try to comfort him but he cries even more.

“All it took was for- for one guy to make- to make me question my, my-” He weeps again, leaving his words unfinished.

“You’re not pathetic, you’re not.” I hug him tighter and he allows himself to weep.

**********