One night in a house deep within the forest, Lian witnessed a criminal crushing his older brother's skull. He could only hide behind the wardrobe with his younger sister, his hand covering the little girl's mouth to prevent her from screaming. If she screamed, the sacrifice of his parents and older brother would be in vain. Thick dark red sauce spurred from the cracks and shards of his brother's shattered cranium.
Meanwhile, his parents' heads had been severed and displayed on a table that was nearly collapsing. As for his two other siblings, specifically his older brother, his legs were mutilated and his hands cut off while his skin was sliced while he was still alive. The criminals even spoke of feasting on his flesh while carving his body.
As for his older sister, she was left alive only to witness the slaughter.
Lian watched it all. He could only gaze at his terrified and mute older sister from behind the wardrobe.
His ten-year-old younger sister was still as innocent as morning dew untouched by sunlight. She was forced to witness the bloody scene so she finally bit Lian's hand covering her mouth. In Lian's eyes they were monsters. They were demons who only knew how to kill. They were cruel creatures thirsting for blood. They were depraved beings acting as if their hearts held not a shred of mercy.
He then covered his sister's eyes so she would no longer see the horrifying event.
He could no longer hold back his tears. Clear liquid flowed from his eyes down his cheeks and fell onto his younger sister's white hair, wetting it like raindrops.
His emerald eyes reflected the reddish liquid. Golden fire began to devour their home, blazing with a heat that could peel skin.
Around his neck hung a silver whistle with detailed skull engravings. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding back the pain that bit and tore at his body. His body shivered with a hatred that seemed to emerge from the deepest abyss of hell, a hatred so vast he felt he could not contain it. Rage, sorrow, fear, disgust, guilt, frustration, despair, deep-seated hatred, stress, and a sense of helplessness filled every corner of his heart.
If the human heart could change color according to emotion, then surely Lian's heart would be as black as a bottomless abyss.
From behind the wardrobe, Lian could hear the voices of the criminals laughing while stabbing his older brother's corpse. One of the criminals even kicked his brother's body so hard it slammed into the wall, causing blood and brain matter from the crushed head to merge into a disgusting fluid.
They were truly cruel and heartless.
Lian's breath hitched, his body trembling, whether from fear or from anger and hatred. From the deepest part of his heart, he desperately wanted to help them, but on the other hand, what could a seventeen-year-old boy holding only a whistle do? Would he kill those criminals relying solely on a whistle? Do not be crazy. That made no sense. He also had to protect his younger sister, just as his parents had asked.
The criminals were armed with knives, machetes, swords, and even a revolver.
Those were the weapons used to kill his entire family. Knives used to slice flesh, machetes to behead his parents and mutilate his brother's limbs, swords used to stab his brother's body and to collect his parents' heads, while the revolver was used to shoot randomly.
I am sorry... I am sorry... I am sorry... I am sorry... I am sorry... Lian could only apologize to his family in his heart.
His body shook violently when he saw one of the criminals approaching their hiding spot. The criminal had messy hair, a gaunt face, clothes soaked in blood, and only one ear.
The criminal was about to reach for the wardrobe when finally a deep voice called him out.
"Roy, what are you doing? We are leaving. We must continue the journey to the Sea of Gargosa."
The criminal, whose name was now known as Roy, was startled and almost slipped in a pool of blood on the floor. He stepped in the blood while looking at a man with sharp facial features and eyes like an eagle, with a mustache and thin beard making his face look like a monster from the darkness.
The man had shoulder-length black hair, wavy like ocean waves. He wore a spotless white shirt with an open collar and a laced front. Over it he wore a long dark coat with a broad-shoulder design, a row of large gear buttons, and a cut that dangled to his knees. His pants were dark brown and tight, tucked into calf-high leather boots adorned with belts and wrapped cloth. A wide belt with a large buckle was fastened at his waist, along with a cutlass-style sword sheath.
"Captain, can you not go a single day without startling me? If I count, this is already the third time."
"Enough. We do not have time to argue. We must reach the Sea of Gargosa to get to The Forgotten Continent."
The sharp-faced man, whom Roy called Captain, drew his sword and pressed it against Roy's neck, touching the skin until it bled.
Roy, who suddenly felt a sharp object touching his skin and drawing blood, slowly raised his hands while stepping to the left to move away from the sword.
"Alright, Captain. But could you sheath your sword? I do not want to lose another ear."
"The maximum time we have is two weeks to reach the harbor. If not, there might be no ship to take us sailing. And bring the girl without a single scratch as we can sell her to a brothel for a high price."
The Captain sheathed his sword while glancing at Lian's older sister. Before turning around, he glanced toward the wardrobe where Lian was hiding, turned, and the Captain walked slowly out of the room.
Roy then lowered his hands and followed his Captain's order. He approached Lian's older sister, who just sat hugging her knees. Her eyes were empty like a doll.
"Hey, can you hear me...?" Roy patted the cheek of Lian's sister, and one of his hands even squeezed the soft and bouncy object on her chest. This made Roy make a strange expression and sound.
But still, it provoked no reaction from Lian's sister. She just remained silent, staring into the void.
"Tsk, you are really troublesome. You will pay for that." Roy clicked his tongue, lifted the body of Lian's sister with some annoyance, and he left, following the Captain.
"Captain, I did not find the whistle stolen by that brave kid." Roy remembered that he had looked for the whistle everywhere inside the house. But he himself was not sure if he had explored Lian's entire house thoroughly or not.
"Forget it. That whistle has no function other than making a sound that makes me want to slash something. Its selling price is not too high either." The Captain answered with his heavy and echoing voice, as if coming from inside a cave.
"By the way, Captain. Can we stop briefly at a brothel? We also need to relax our bodies. The others would surely agree. We have been traveling almost three months from the Terror Continent, and we have not even reached The Forgotten Continent yet... Who knows how long it will take to get there by sea. It might take months... Again." Roy exhaled in frustration, appearing tired of the journey.
"You can do as you please... But never complain if you do not want to lose your tongue." The Captain answered coldly.
Roy heard this with a mix of happiness and horror. He knew that what his Captain said, he would do without hesitation.
"Alright, Captain. But for today, I will complain a little more..." Roy tilted his body slightly when seeing the Captain holding his cutlass. He already knew what the Captain would do. "If not for our ship being destroyed by a Leviathan, we could have gone straight to the Sea of Gargosa without needing to land, or even rent a ship... And we even had to use disguises to buy a carriage. Captain, why did we not just rob it? Would that not save our funds?"
"Do not be stupid. That is too risky." The Captain glanced at Roy with a sharp gaze. "We are pirates. Our bounty has reached a high price. It would be safer if we use disguises and buy it the fair way, that way we can avoid dealing with the police... Although we could bribe them, they would surely ask for an unreasonable price. It will be cheaper if we buy a few carriages."
Roy just nodded lightly while carrying Lian's sister with her chest touching Roy's back, making him slightly aroused. He then asked something else to stop focusing on the soft object touching his back.
"Are you sure there is a Grade 4 Anomaly there, Captain? If that is true, then how great is the risk of the contract given by that Anomaly? Captain, I almost died fighting for a Grade 3 Anomaly, let alone a Grade 4 Anomaly. Will I lose my life?" Roy spoke with a tone of disbelief and complained.
His Captain, walking in front of him, took a cigar from his pocket and took out a lighter. Its body was made of patinated copper, engraved with small interlocking gears, as if it had a function beyond merely lighting a fire. On its side were small pipes and a decorative valve, giving the impression that the fire inside was controlled by steam pressure. The lid hinge was designed sturdily, with touches of shiny brass contrasting with the dull tone of the old metal. When lit, sparks flew and ignited the tip of the cigar.
The Captain smoked it calmly, as if the cigar were his own lover, accompanied by the giant blaze from Lian's house.
"Anomalies... It has been a long time since I last found one..." The Captain stared at the lighter in his hand before putting it back into his pocket. "The last Anomaly we found was merely a Grade 1 Anomaly, this lighter... Burning Blaze. What can this lighter do besides shooting fire from its hole and burning flesh?
"We will still go there even if all we get later is an adventure that empties our funds. Our philosophy is that: Adventure is the reason we live in this world..."
Their voices slowly faded from Lian's hearing. Lian, who was still inside the wardrobe with his sister, could only sob, tears flooding his entire face.
His skin burned from the heat of the fire devouring his house, smoke filled the room, even seeping into the wardrobe where Lian hid through a small open crack. Lian tried to hold back the tightness in his chest as he did not want to leave the wardrobe before the criminals were far enough from his house. Lian forced his sister to endure, and so did he.
After two minutes of forcing himself to hold his breath and covering his sister's nose and mouth with both hands, Lian, who could no longer stand the suffocating feeling that almost made him collapse, came out of his hiding place.
Cough... Cough... Cough... Lian and his sister coughed several times, their bodies lying on the floor that was hot enough to blacken the skin on their arms.
His emerald green eyes saw strange things. He saw his surroundings spinning, and he knew he would soon faint from inhaling too much black smoke.
"Brother..." A weak child's voice sounded in Lian's ear. It was his sister's voice. If not for his position close to her, surely Lian would not have been able to hear his sister's voice blocked by the sound of the raging fire and the sound of the collapsing building.
With weak movements, he woke his sister, tore a piece of cloth from his pants, and turned it into a mask to cover his nose and mouth as well as his sister's. He carried his helpless sister's body, reached the window in the room, and jumped out, rolling several times before his body finally stopped after hitting a large tree.
With a body that felt like a tree eaten by termites, he could only watch the house full of happiness, the house full of beautiful memories, the house full of laughter and arguments both light and heavy, charred into ash just because of a stubbornness and stupidity deemed trivial.
Lian, who had forced his body too hard to survive, finally let his body take over, and he fell asleep, with tears still flowing heavily down his face, with his body still hugging his sister.
This was the Land of Memories. The melodiously whistling trees had stored many memories in Harmonius Alba. The sky remained gloomy, and cold mist still blanketed the land of memories. Animals within a twenty-meter radius ran in all directions, staying away from the land of memories.
Trees a few meters away caught fire from the touch of the Land of Memories, passing their memories to other trees. Not wanting to lose more, nature released small droplets before finally turning into heavy rain, cooling the Land of Memories.
Accompanied by rain and the rumble of thunder, the helpless sleeping body of Lian unconsciously hugged his little sister tightly. Their bodies were soaked by the rain, puddles began to form in several places, and the soil of Harmonius Alba became damp. He drifted into dreams to see the Land of Memories, Lian, whose heart was filled with memories.
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.