Chapter 12: Situation.
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Facing the harsh truth is always synonymous with suffering?
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Road of the merchant village of Luschen...
03/32/3324
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The situation had taken a significant turn. Liu was somewhat lost.
'Mmh... I can't figure it out. I don't want to reveal much, but the conversation has to move forward...'
Liu was still hesitant.
'By the way... what time is it?'
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02.01/10.00
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'It's still early. I still have some margin before someone from the village can find me.'
"Euhm..."
Liu didn't know where to start in order not to reveal too much.
"If you don't know how to explain the situation, I can ask questions. It'll go faster."
The old man proposed.
Liu nodded.
"Yes, ol...m-mister."
The old man placed the strange object he had taken out of his pocket onto the table.
"Mister? Right, what's your name? Mine is Lumian."
Liu couldn't help but look at the object on the table.
'A piece of wood?'
"Euh... yes, I'm Liu."
The old man, or Lumian, spoke again. Liu wasn't quite sure how to call him anymore.
"Okay, Liu, do you have an objective, a goal, or a dream in your life?"
'What?'
Liu didn't understand the purpose of that question.
"How is that going to move the conversation forward?"
Lumian sighed. He didn't seem that old according to Liu anymore, so she stuck with Lumian.
"Kids your age always answer before thinking. What you want to do is the most important thing. It's what will give me the most information to know how to help you."
His answer irritated Liu a little, but also made her think.
'That's... logical? I think...'
"So... I want to, uh... become stronger so I can find my family."
Lumian stared at her for a few seconds while muttering:
"So cliché."
'Cliché?... what does that mean again?'
The way he said it irritated Liu again.
"How do you plan to do that?"
'Well no idea! Why do you think I'm here.'
She thought sarcastically.
"I don't know."
Hearing Liu's answer, Lumian fell into deep thought for a few moments.
"So, if I understand correctly, you ran away from home to become stronger and find your family. You couldn't stay at home because of the shadow following you. But you don't know how to proceed, so you were just going to run and find a solution afterward."
Liu didn't like the way he had defined her situation, but it was the truth.
She could only nod.
"Well then, if that's roughly it, you need to explain what you think you should do to reach your objectives. Otherwise the situation is far too vague for me to really help you."
'Huh, that didn't move the conversation forward at all...'
"Explain to me the situation of your family, the situation with the shadow, and why you are here, as simply as possible. You can just give me the main points without revealing overly personal information."
Liu fell back into hesitation.
'It's true that just telling him my objective won't solve everything...'
She clenched her left hand into a fist, gathering the courage to explain without overthinking it.
'I'm wasting time hesitating...'
"Mmh, I'm from the village of Luttren, I lived with my grandparents but the Form... swallowed them?... at the same time as my arm when it appeared... Um... after that the Form started following me..."
She paused, searching for her words and what she wanted to reveal.
"I left to avoid the problems that the Form would bring me...? And... erm, I want to get my grandparents back but I'm not strong enough to do anything to the Form..."
Lumian stared at her throughout the explanation, making Liu slightly uncomfortable.
'Why is he staring at me?'
"Euh... that's roughly everything... I think."
He nodded and immediately continued.
"Okay, so your objective is to get back your grandparents that the... Form swallowed."
Liu nodded.
"So if I get your grandparents back and return them to you, and deal with the Form that is following you. What will you do afterward?"
That question caught Liu off guard. She had not considered at all what would come after.
She wasn't even ready to truly face the Form yet...
'What will I do?...'
"Well... I'll go back home, and... continue to live with my grandparents a normal life."
Lumian looked at her a bit strangely.
"Hhaaa... I think I understand. So first, I'll try to retrieve your grandparents... but don't get your hopes up too much."
'Seriously?? He was really telling the truth?'
Liu began to feel a hope that she had buried inside herself.
An intense joy surfaced as she nodded vigorously.
"But you still need to explain to me more precisely what happened when your grandparents were swallowed."
The hope and joy made Liu lower her guard about what she revealed.
She nodded and quickly continued in an excited voice.
"So, uhm... we were walking on a dark path, when a black point touched my grandfather's arm. After that, uh... a vortex started around the point and it grew really fast until it swallowed my grandparents and my arm. And uhm..."
What had happened was still very clear in her mind, but it was difficult to describe.
"...the vortex stopped at some point, and it started shrinking while making very loud chewing and cracking sounds... uhm, until it took this Form."
Liu pointed at the Form, before continuing quickly.
"And also, when something enters the Form, the chewing and cracking sounds appear and whatever enters is swallowed. It happened to a mush-mush..."
After finishing, Liu fixed her gaze on Lumian's face to see his reaction.
"Hhhaa... I see..."
Lumian let out a long sigh, looking at Liu with a hint of pity, which she noticed.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
Without giving Liu time to think, Lumian stood up while taking a few cereal bars.
'What is he doing?'
He walked toward the Form while picking up a stone along the way.
Liu followed him.
"What are you doing?"
Lumian stopped about five steps away from the Form and turned to look at Liu.
"I'm going to try a few things, before trying to retrieve your grandparents..."
Liu hesitated for a few seconds, before adding her discovery.
"Uh... also, I can't get closer than five steps, otherwise the Form moves away."
Lumian nodded in response and directly threw one of the cereal bars into the Form.
'Directly?!'
Liu's heart accelerated. But as soon as the cereal bar entered the Form, only a small, faint cracking sound was heard.
'That's it?'
Liu didn't react at all to that sound.
But at that moment, Lumian immediately threw the stone into the Form.
'What is going to happen now?'
Liu couldn't really calm her heartbeat. Whether it was from anxiety, excitement, or something else...
'Why is he looking at me..?'
But... at the moment the stone entered the Form,
Lumian turned his gaze and fixed it on Liu.
His expression was unreadable.
And... at that exact same moment, the horrible chewing and cracking sounds from Liu's memories... reappeared.
In a way just as brutal as the first time.
'Wh...?!?'
"Aaahh!!"
Liu's scream echoed, while Lumian sighed yet again... the chewing and cracking sounds in the background.
"Silence."
And the sound stopped instantly.
But Liu was on her knees, trembling...
She was breathing loudly, trying to cover her ears with only one hand...
"Liu..."
Lumian's voice echoed in Liu's ears in a complete and suffocating silence.
The voice felt like the only sound in the world... making her dizzy.
"Rraahrg!"
And it made her vomit what she had eaten...
"Hhaa... Silence."
Lumian repeated.
The silence was no longer as complete and suffocating.
But Liu was still trembling, on her knees in front of her vomit.
'Why?.. again??'
She struggled to think.
"It's over, there's no more sound..."
It was said in a strangely reassuring way.
"Sniff..."
Which made Liu cry...
"..sniff... sniff..."
After a short moment, she raised her head to see Lumian in front of her, with an expressionless face.
'He knew that was going to happen?..'
"Hhaaa, sorry, I won't do it again."
Liu looked at him strangely.
'Is he... kind? To me?'
She gave a strange smile. On her knees, her left hand tightly clutching her shirt at her chest, vomit still at her mouth...
The scene was... striking.
"I'll bring you water."
Lumian left Liu alone on the ground for a few seconds.
'Why is he acting like this? It's weird...'
He came back with a bottle of water and a towel, which he handed to Liu.
"If you want to clean your face, you can go to the river."
Liu had stopped crying and her head was no longer spinning as much. She nodded.
'...what does he really want from me?...'
She stood up slowly, glanced at Lumian.
'Does he have no emotions or what? His expression hasn't changed...'
Avoiding looking at the Form, she walked toward the river.
"Hhaa....ffuuu..."
After everything that had happened, her breathing was short as she walked.
After a few dozen steps, Liu reached the river.
'It's easy to access.'
She started cleaning herself.
'...will he really be able to bring Mimie and papi Mo back? I hope...'
She took a few sips from the bottle to rinse her mouth.
'I've vomited a lot these past days... it's really disgusting.'
She rinsed her face for a few seconds, then stood up and wiped herself with the towel.
"Hhhaaa..."
She let out a silent sigh.
'I hope all of this will be over soon.'
And she went back toward Lumian so they could continue the conversation.
'Right, I forgot... it's not that different...?'
She activated her energy perception to observe the barrier from the outside.
'What happens when I go in?'
As she passed through the barrier, she let her energy vision activate and focused her attention on the words inscribed on it.
'...!! What?!?'
For an instant, everything went dark, and only an uncountable number of words and sentences were in front of her.
'What was that?!'
But it lasted less than a second, not allowing her to read anything.
'What was all that??'
In a few steps, she reached the table, where Lumian had sat back down.
"Are you feeling better?"
He spoke with a soft and reassuring voice.
That voice made Liu slightly uncomfortable.
"Euhm... yes, I'm fine."
Her voice was rough, speaking hurt.
'I've really vomited too much these past days.'
An awkward silence settled, and Liu broke it by asking a question.
"Uh... I saw a lot of words and sentences when I passed the barrier, what was that?"
Lumian stared at her, making the situation even more awkward.
"Sit down."
Liu obeyed silently.
"That was the information of the barrier."
Liu tilted her head.
"Information?... all that?"
Lumian nodded and continued.
"Yes, you don't really understand the barrier, so the information you can extract from it is in its raw state. That's why there are so many words..."
Liu tilted her head even more.
'Information? About the barrier? Why...?'
"...you're feeling better, right? Then let's continue the conversation."
Lumian's expression still hadn't changed.
'Yeah...' she nodded.
And even though Liu had wanted to ease the atmosphere, she mainly wanted to know if she would see her grandparents again.
"You know, in life, if you want to keep moving forward, your path... your choices must be logical. Otherwise, what tells you that you are moving in the right direction?"
Lumian's words caught Liu off guard.
'What is he talking about?!'
He continued before she could interrupt.
"To make logical choices, you need a clear and real understanding of your situation. Without comforting yourself with illusions..."
She tried to interrupt.
"Wai..!"
But Lumian cut her off immediately, in an authoritative voice despite still sounding nonchalant.
"Let me finish, it's important."
Anxiety began to rise in Liu.
"...even if those illusions are more pleasant and comfortable, they are not what will make you move forward. The clearer and more logical your ideas are, the less you will suffer."
Liu wanted him to stop talking. She was afraid.
'Why is he telling me this!!??'
Afraid of his words.
Afraid of what they would do to her.
"Comfort is not the solution to your problems. Suffering now means you will suffer for less time."
Liu tried to cover her ears.
But... she only had one hand...
'Won't he shut up?!'
She was afraid.
Afraid of her own thoughts.
Afraid of her own ideas.
Afraid of her own future.
"You already know everything. You're just denying it..."
"Shut up!!" she curled up on her chair, shouting with a broken voice.
She was afraid.
Afraid of the truth.
"Your grandparents are dead. And you already know it."
"Fuck, just shut up!!!"
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Facing the harsh truth is always synonymous with suffering. But...
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