My entire body pulses along with my heart. A ringing reverberates in my head and a fire burns in my lower stomach. I open my eyes to a wooden ceiling blurring in and out of focus, the pain the only thing keeping me from losing consciousness again. 

“Thank the Goddesses, you’re awake.” Vio’s voice comes from somewhere beside me. “Don’t move. I still need to treat your wounds.”

I slowly crane my neck until she comes into view. Her normally stoic face laced with concern eases my pain a little. "Where?" I ask.

"Our room. You're safe."

Blurry images of my pillow and blankets appear in my peripheral vision. My body lies on my bed, but it doesn't feel like it is. It's as if I'm there, yet not at the same time. 

"How? Zenron?" I ask through shallow breaths.

"The loud guy freaked out when you went down. He basically held the rest of the navy back for us while we escaped."

A wave of relief washes over me with the words, "we escaped." I relax and my head sinks further into the pillow.

"I'm going to treat your wound now." Clear liquid drips from a rag in Vio's hand. She looks down at me and winces. "I'm sorry." She points to a bloodied torn section of my school uniform. "I have to remove this to get to the wound, okay?"

"Okay."

She grabs the end of my shirt when it hits me; if she moves my shirt to get to the wound, she'll see them.

"Wait," I say, but it's too late.

Vio's eye widens. The bruises and scars that run up and down my torso stare back at her. She looks up at my face, but I avoid eye contact.

She's seen the one thing no one was ever supposed to see. My greatest shame, and proof of my time at the Krehn Manor.

Afraid to see her face, I shut my eyes.

In the overwhelming silence she tends to my wound. The cool liquid on the rag burns as she cleans the cuts. 

It takes what little strength I have not to scream in agony. 

She wraps the bandages around my stomach a little too tight, but the silence forbids me from telling her about it.

A light, rough texture hits my face. My eyes open to a white shirt draped over my head. 

Vio points to my mangled uniform and turns around, as if to tell me to change shirts.

I remove my poor, ruined uniform shirt and briefly stare down at the tight bandages wrapped around my stomach. Underneath is the wound that might turn into the first scar I'm proud to have. 

Vio's replacement shirt is a bit big on me, but it's expected, since she's bigger than me. The sleeves run a bit too long, concealing half of my hands if I let my arms hang. It makes for a weird match with my gray skirt, but it's calming, almost like Vio is wrapped around me.

“Aliyah, who did that to you?” Vio asks as she sits down on her bed and stares at me intently. 

“I’m not supposed to tell,” I whisper. “But I’ll tell you. Just give me a minute.”

What I’m about to do would be considered treason against the Krehn family, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I already crossed that line when she saw my scars, and now there’s no way for me not to explain where they came from. Besides, I want to tell her, to finally share this secret of mine.

I take a deep breath. “My father and stepmother did this to me.”

Her eye widens. “What? Why would they do that?”

“Because they hate me.”

“But they’re your parents. How could they?”

A thorn pricks at my heart, so I smile to hide the pain. “My existence is a blemish on the Krehn family name; a bastard child born from an affair my father had with a maid. A mistake. Too much of a commoner to be respected by my family of nobles, yet, too much of a noble to be accepted by the common people. Of course, I had to be born with this accursed silver hair; undeniable proof that no matter what my father said or did, I was a Krehn. 

“I tried to appease him, but it was never enough. Anytime I did something he didn’t like, I was punished. And because he hated my very existence, it wasn’t hard for him to find reasons to hit me. I said the wrong word? Punished. I was in the wrong part of the manor? Punished. I asked for food because I was hungry? Punished. I said ‘no’ to anything he asked of me? That’s when he would get out the whip.” My scars burn as my body remembers my father’s whip carving into my skin. “It got to the point where I tried to hide in my room all day to avoid it, but even then, it wasn’t enough.

“And to my stepmother—” I take a deep breath as her face appears in my mind, contorted in anger. “—I was living proof of her husband’s unfaithfulness. She would hit me almost every day, anytime she felt like it, with or without reason.

“At the very least, they were kind enough to only hit me where the marks wouldn’t be easily seen. Although, they were probably only trying to protect their own image rather than being kind. I’m just lucky Leorio was able to convince them to let me attend an aetherial academy, so I could finally get away from that place. Of course, I was sent to Reimel’s, because I wasn’t good enough for Isaac’s.” A nervous chuckle escapes my mouth. “Now that I think about it, they probably only let me go so they wouldn’t have to see my face anymore. In fact, if I weren’t still useful to them, I’m sure I wouldn’t be alive today.”

Vio slams the side of her fist into the wall and the room shakes. “I can’t believe this.” She glares at me with a fire in her eye. “Where are they?”

“My father and stepmother? They’re most likely at the Krehn Manor in Veneran City.”

She launches off her bed and heads to the door. “Excuse me, I have to go tell the captain we’re changing courses. I need to pay those awful people back for what they did to you.”

“You can’t,” I say, reaching my hand out towards her. “The Krehn Manor is heavily guarded. Not to mention that my father is a very skilled aether as well.”

She whirls around. “You think that’s enough to stop me? They could send the entire military after me, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

A warmth swells in my chest. “I’m happy to hear you care so much, but it’s okay, Vio.”

“It’s not okay! And I don’t understand how you can say that it is.”

I pause for a moment. “It’s all in the past now. No matter how much you try, you can’t change it.”

Vio quietly walks over to my bed. “If that’s the case, then—” She puts her hand on her chest. “—I’ll make sure it never happens again. So long as I live, those scumbags that call themselves your parents will never lay a hand on you again. No one will, ever again. I won’t let you get hurt ever again. That, I promise you.”

Her words stun me. The silence returns as my mind races to find a response, but nothing comes to me.

The door creaks open and Joshua walks in clapping. “What a passionate confession, Vio. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

My favorite tomato Vio returns as her face reddens. “Are you hard of hearing? That wasn’t a confession, it was just a promise.”

He snickers. “Sure, sure. Just a simple promise to protect her as long as you live. Nothing strange about that.”

“Are you here to be annoying or is there a reason you barged in without knocking?”

Joshua slicks his hair back. “Oh, I’m here to be annoying, and to give my dear suicidal friend here a message from the captain since she’s awake now.” His gaze finds its way to me. “He wants you to take a look at the map as soon as you’re well enough to.”

“Why me? Can’t you do it?”

His rebellious strand of hair pops back out and lays over his forehead. “Already tried. Looks like complete gibberish to me.” He sighs. “I hate to say it, but you’re the only one that can do it.”

“But—”

“Good luck.” He waves and walks out the door, closing it behind him.

“Why me?” I ask again. “If he can’t do it, what makes him think that I can?”

Vio scratches her head. “He trusts you. Same with me. We both have complete faith in you.”

“Th-thanks, but you should really reconsider.”

She shakes her head. “Can’t. I forgot what that word means.”

I raise my index finger. “I’ll give you a muffin if you do.”

“Do I look like the type to take bribes?”

I raise a second finger. “Two muffins.”

She pauses. “I won’t accept bribes, okay?”

I chuckle. “You thought about it, though.”

“That’s beside the point.” Vio walks to the door and grabs the handle. “Anyway, if you’re well enough to joke around, you’re well enough to read the map. I’ll go get the captain, so wait here and don’t do anything that could reopen your wound.”

I nod and she leaves me alone in our room. My eyes wander around the room and lock onto Vio’s bed. Her words, “I won’t let you get hurt ever again. That, I promise you.” repeat endlessly in my mind. The warmth from earlier spreads throughout my whole body, washing away the burning and the pain. 

Those words sound crazy, because they are. As the sacrifice, it’s impossible for me to not get hurt. In a little less than four years, I will die. There’s no getting around it. And yet, I still believe her.