A voice clawed at the edges of my consciousness
"Wake… up"
The unknown voice shouts into my ear every morning, not knowing its source. Never saw anyone. I was alone, or forgotten by existence itself. Everyday I wake up, open my eyes. The same cracked ceiling, the same cold floor, the same empty stomach.
I don't know my parents, even my name, my past. Everything is empty. For my whole life, I've been searching for a purpose to still live in this world, why am I still in this world.
What was I? A specter in a world that thrived on magic, while I was bereft of it—a hollow anomaly. In this world, power dictated destiny. The strong reveled in their supremacy, while the weak withered beneath their boots. And I? I was less than weak.
Worthless, Cursed, Empty
They were right after all.
I had groveled, scraped, bled, I've done everything, anything just to get a good life. Am I destined to be weak? Suffer for my whole life?
In the slums, survival wasn't a right. It was a war. I'd bled for scraps, taken kicks like blessings, choked on the stench of my own sweat in alleyways that reeked of piss and rotting dreams.
Until today.
Under the afternoon sun, I saw a girl. Her purse was wrenched away by a thief. Instinct propelled me forward. I chased it and tackled him, elbows grinding into cobblestone as we rolled. His blade flashed—
SHINK
But I had time to react and it barely hit me and did not cause any injuries.
Wrestling him to the ground until the bag was back in her hands and the guards caught that thief.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked me with a worried expression.
she grabbed something out of her bag and pressed something warm into my palm.
"For you," said the girl.
A chocolate bun.
For the first time in my entire life someone stared at me without pity or disgust. She stared at me with its autumn-brown eyes. Something that burned deeper than just gratitude.
Recognition
???: "Thank you once again."
Her voice chimes like a wind.
???: "So what's your name?"
The poor boy stared at the bun. "Name? I don't have any of those, they call me cursed, gutter child."
The girl's delicate finger touched the boy's chin, tilting face up. And said "Then… I'll call you Tsuki."
"Oh yeah… I haven't introduced myself, my name is Lilia, you can call me Lia or whatever you want" telling its name with smirks.
A noble's name, A noble's dress, A noble's smile
I stared. And a thought strikes into my skull, A noble that pays attention to a piece of junk this far.
Tsuki: "Lia"
Lia: "Yes, that's my name. Tsuki do u want to come with me, my family estate isn't that far from here, you can live there for a few days" She said, holding out her hand.
Tsuki: "Why are you doing this far for me?"
I asked out of curiosity.
Lia: "You already saved my purse from getting snatched."
A silence settled, broken by only a passing breeze.
Lia: "Alright.." she leaned it and lowered her voice "That purse had my mother's belongings. It was the last thing I had of her."
I stared at her. The ache in my ribs, the throbbing in my jaw—it's gone all of the sudden when hearing her.
"So yes," she said, straightening. "I'm inviting you. Not out of pity. Because I owe you."
For the first time, I hesitated—not from fear, but from the terrifying of losing possibility of hope.
Slowly, I reached out and took her hand.