The cold air was blowing, making flowers, branches, and leaves of trees flutter in its direction. The rising sun was illuminating Paris, bringing light to darkness and warmth to the cold, signifying the start of a new day. The birds chirped, and many people woke up to witness the beautiful sunrise.
This sunrise was also being witnessed by a young lady who was standing on the railing of a bridge, looking at the rising sun with her emotionless yellow eyes that had lost all interest in life. Her long yellow hair fluttered with the air, which she didn't bother to fix.
The rising sun was so beautiful. The surface of the lake under the bridge reflected the orange-yellow glow of the sun; it was as if the colour of the water wasn't blue but golden. This scene could make any other person awe in shock and raise their spirit, giving them hope and motivation for the future.
But her? She felt absolutely nothing.
Because this would be the last sunrise she would witness in her life—she was going to die today. She had never thought that a day in her life would come when she would choose to kill herself rather than live on. She used to be a beautiful lady—happy, cheerful, and outgoing. People even said she was very annoying, and she loved it.
Until one day, fate decided that her life was too happy. She was raped and beaten so badly that she was in a coma for months. When she woke up several months later, it was too late and dangerous for abortion. She felt her whole world rip apart around her. She couldn't believe it. She felt that it was just a bad dream from which she would wake up.
She never did.
She was angry and screamed at fate, at God—if one even existed. She cried for days before her tears ran out. Her feelings poured out with her tears until it all became empty and hollow.
Her daughter was two years old now. She did everything for her—fed her, bathed her, took her out, bought her toys, played with her, took proper care of her. But she never felt any love for her.
Everyone around her looked at her like she was someone who would scatter with just a touch, their gaze filled with pity for her. Her body was filled with scars and horrifying injuries now.
She couldn't take it anymore. She had enough of living like this now—this pitiful and horrible life. She never wanted this! She had her own dreams! Her ambitions! Her future! If she couldn't have them, then what was the point of living?
She took one last deep breath before she willed her right leg to take a step further. But just then, she heard the sharp flick of a coin and footsteps coming toward her before a man's sweet voice entered her ears.
"Good morning, madam. Are you also here to witness the sunrise? Though, I will say that you can see it from a rather less dangerous place," he greeted and said while his gaze moved to her feet, which were barely standing on the railing.
The young lady slowly turned her head to the right and saw a handsome man down on the footpath, just 5–6 steps away from her—close enough to let her hear his voice clearly but also respecting her personal space.
The man was rather tall with a medium body build, neither too thin nor too thick. It was the perfect shape many desire. He had skin as pale as snow, exuding a calm, callous, and kind aura around him. He had short black hair. He wore neatly tucked-in black tailored clothes. He had a black umbrella he put against his right shoulder; both his hands grabbed the handle of the umbrella, showing his elegance and refined character.
His eyes were the most attention-catching part of him. They were sky blue, shiny, and filled with hope—insanely beautiful like two alluring gems. His gaze made others feel safe and warm; his voice evoked hope and trust in one. His smile made one feel at ease and lower their guard.
On his left earlobe, a silver cross jingled. If he was not handsome enough before, then the earring surely worked as a final piece to complete this refined man.
The sun kept rising and shone on the man's skin, giving off the feeling that this person was someone who had come out from a dream. He simply couldn't exist.
After a few seconds of staring, the young lady was still silent. Eric, inside his head, panicked a little. He may have thought many things through and appeared calm on the surface, giving off confidence and calmness, but he was quite worried and anxious in his mind. After all, thinking and doing are two completely different things—especially when it was his first time convincing a suicidal person to continue living. His goal was simple: to not ignite hope but just give her a reason to live. The better his performance, the better the good deed he would have done and the more it would fill up the Imperator's Cross.
"Alright, a few seconds have passed and she still hasn't talked. It is time for me to tell my name," Eric thought quickly in his mind.
"My name is Mike Jackson. I was just taking a stroll when I saw you standing here. Since it is still early, why don't we have a talk?" Eric suggested.
The young lady still was silent and kept staring at him. Eric also stared at her, showing his smile, but inside he was trying to calm himself down.
"You can do this, Eric. You can do this! You just have to talk to her for a few minutes before the passive ability of Truth starts to work."
The young lady finally took her gaze off him and turned toward the rising sun. She finally spoke, her voice carrying a trace of contempt. "Go away."
"Shit," Eric exclaimed in his mind.
Eric didn't go away but also didn't say anything. He turned his body and walked toward the railing. He put his left hand on the railing and looked at the rising sun with her.
A few minutes passed by silently like this. There were no vehicles, people, animals—just these two, one one step away from ending their life while the other stayed there, acting as a formless anchor and support, subconsciously making her hesitant to jump.
"You should leave. There is no point in witnessing the death of someone as worthless as me. It is better to not traumatise yourself," she said to Eric—no, more like advised. Her voice had a trace of hopelessness and helplessness. She for sure had no will left to live. All these small details were taken in by Eric, who constantly deduced what had happened to her. The more he could deduce, the better it was.
"Hmm… She for sure has gone through a very traumatic experience in her life. From her worry, she is a kind person who cares about the well-being of others. She doesn't want to make anyone worry, pity, or get traumatised by witnessing her death. Thus she said that. Her voice… it tells me that she is very tired of many things. Her life must have taken an unexpected turn. An accident? No, her injuries and ugly scars look like someone has beaten her up a lot. She has most likely been sexually harassed and suffered these injuries, traumatising her for life. From her body, there is a most likely chance she conceived a child and has long given birth, but how many can love a child they never wanted? This is a lot of knowledge for now. It will be better if I can get more clues."
On the surface, Eric smiled and turned his head to look at her. "You don't have to worry about me, young lady."
He started to call her 'young lady' instead of 'madam' so that her mind wouldn't think of her child and rather divert to the past where she was happy. It might lead her to remembering that incident, but there was nothing he could do.
"Do you really want to talk that much?" she asked, tightly grabbing her shirt. Eric nodded with a warm smile.
"I would prefer it more if you come down though," Eric said with a warm voice.
A warm feeling rose in the young lady's heart. How long had it been since she felt something like this? She had forgotten. She didn't question why she felt this and got ready to come down, but when she looked down, her legs trembled. She was scared.
Eric walked up to her side and encouraged her to get down. With his help, she was able to buckle her knees and sit down before Eric offered his left hand with a smile.
"Please take my hand, beautiful lady," Eric addressed her as a beautiful lady so that her attention would subconsciously go to when she was a happy girl. It indeed worked. It brought both pain and happiness, with a tinge of nostalgia. His gaze became warmer, and his smile became smaller but more gentle and empathic.
She took it and was able to come down safely as her trust for him kept increasing subconsciously, silently. Then, they found a bench nearby. Eric sat on the right end, his hands grabbing the handle of the umbrella as his right leg crossed over his left leg. He quickly rolled his sleeves a little and saw a layer of silver skin had already formed. This was the negative effect of using Truth, but it was nothing troublesome. He only needed to cut it down before using the golden liquid to heal himself.
His actions were graceful and elegant, making others awe at his character and etiquette.
On the left end of the bench sat the young lady.
At first, these two were silent and were just enjoying the cold breeze on their bodies. Slowly, she became used to his presence and even felt that it was warming. She at least no longer felt alone.
After another bit of silence, Eric asked in a low voice, "What is your name?"
She hesitated for a few seconds as she grabbed her shirt's collar and opened her mouth, then closed it. This went on for half a minute before finally she mustered up the courage and answered in a hoarse voice, with a trace of fear, "A-Anna…"
"Anna, that's a cute name. So, were you also here to see the sunrise? Many people say that sunsets are very beautiful, but I think they are overrated."
Anna nodded her head, agreeing with him. She also felt the same. In fact, she remembered arguing about this with her friends in high school. Remembering those times, a small smile formed on her face.
Eric tilted his head a little down and continued, "I sometimes come to work in the church down the street. I have never seen you though. I also work as a freelance journalist. I mostly like to write about people who go unnoticed, who are small as an ant in today's busy world with no one to look at them or wait for them."
"I am not much of a church girl. I used to believe in God, but after— No, never mind. I just don't believe in God anymore," she said.
"You know, ever since my childhood, I wanted to grow up fast and become a photographer, but as I grew up, my dreams changed until I was here. What about you?" he asked.
Anna thought for a few seconds before saying slowly and hesitantly, "I-I wanted to open up a bakery. I still do. A small place where the sunlight comes in through the large window by the door, where people often come and sit in their place silently talking, having fun, enjoying the food."
"What type of coffee?"
"Just coffee… I like all types of it, no fancy name. I find it annoying."
"Me too. It's very annoying when I go to get my coffee and the receptionist expects me to pronounce the name of every quadrillion-lettered coffee like I have been speaking it fluently since birth in early morning."
"I also like quiet places and listening to music or just scrolling down on my phone. My mother was very worried about me always being on my phone."
"Though I don't use my phone much, I do like listening to music a lot. What are some of your favourites? Mine are 'As It Was', 'Heat Waves', and 'The Resistance' by Skillet and many, many more."
"You like them all too? I heard others talking about how good they were. I tried them out and they were indeed worth the praise. 'Hero' by Skillet is still one of my favourites to this day."
As they kept talking, Anna started to feel less and less lonely and cold as she started to open up more to him. Seeing how they shared similar interests, her enthusiasm grew more and more. On top of it, Truth's passive ability was working more and more, and she subconsciously started to trust Eric more and more.
While talking, Eric analysed in his mind, "Hmm… This relic is quite good. It has just been 8 minutes but Anna has started to trust me fully without questioning it. My words earlier have successfully directed her mind to think of the happy memories and subconsciously ignore the bad memories. Truth's effects take at max ten minutes to work on a normal person. I still don't know how much it will take to work on a person with powers, but from what I have observed, there are also other factors in Truth's passive ability's working. How much time it will take to completely work depends on the nature of the person too. If the person is too distrustful, it will take ten minutes. Similarly, if the person is kind, weak-minded, or trustful of others, this duration will reduce. Anna was someone who was pushing me away earlier, but in truth, she is kind and wants to be heard and not pitied but feared to open up. My words broke that fear and the wall she built. All in all, the time it took comes to eight minutes. Not bad for my first time. Truth can help others trust him, but it is not omnipotent. If he does something to break their trust or didn't choose his words carefully, the effect can worsen, or even get completely cleared."
The more Eric uses relics, the more he understands why people take so much time to use a relic and do tests to fully understand it. The knowledge you gain from injecting your golden liquid at the start is only the most basic and superficial knowledge. Only by personally using it or reading someone's research on it can you find out all the details on the working of a relic.
"Hehe, looks like we have similar interests. I have to ask though, why did you bring that umbrella?" Anna asked with a little cheeky smile as she looked at Eric and pointed at his umbrella which he grabbed with both his hands. "It isn't even raining."
Eric chuckled, "You are right, but this umbrella was bought by me for five hundred dollars. I naturally have to make full use of it."
"Five hundred!? Did you get scammed?" Anna exclaimed. Eric chuckled again, but this time his laugh carried a little sadness and regret. Feeling this, Anna felt even more closer to Eric in her heart. This handsome man didn't seem as perfect and dreamlike anymore, but it allowed her to relate with him, even if only a little.
"I just bought it to get a mysterious vibe," Eric thought in his mind. It was true he had paid a lot of money for this umbrella. This may not have been a relic, but it was made from top-quality stuff. It naturally had to be made full use of.
Eric then finally took a risk and asked, "I will be blunt, Anna. What were you doing up there? I don't think you were just being adventurous."
Anna's smile froze as her head turned to the ground. Her smile disappeared as she put her right hand on her right knee. She was silent for a very long time. Eric started to panic in his mind and even regret saying that, but he had to push through this. Only by letting her open up and speak openly could he help her for a long time. Otherwise, she might just return a week later here to commit suicide.
He wasn't someone heartless. He cared for others' well-being. Though he may kill, torture, or inflict pain on others and may even be helping her to fulfil his pragmatic objective, he still didn't want to mess this up or wish for her to die. He wanted to give his all.
Eric didn't say anything and took out something from his pocket.
"Is that a soundmagic? I thought no one uses these today," Anna asked as she looked at Eric with confused eyes.
Eric chuckled again and picked up a sad music before putting one of the earphones in his left ear and offered the other to Anna.
Anna hesitantly took it and put it in her right earlobe. Eric slowly said, "No one is listening. You may speak your mind out. If not me, at least let the world hear your worries."
With that, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the music. The sad music was melancholic and was suited to make her think about the painful memories that were hidden in her mind. She felt sad, scared, conflicted. Remembering just a bit gave her great grief. She wanted to stop and run away from those memories, but this time, she felt a little warmth in the cold. She felt she was no longer alone.
She looked up toward the rising sun with her teary eyes and said in a choking voice, "I-I was assaulted…" She nearly puked when she said this. She turned her head and looked at Eric. Feeling her gaze, Eric also turned his head and looked at her with those shiny eyes. But he didn't say anything.
He was silent. He just smiled, giving her his presence. He was hearing her and not hearing her at the same time.
He then turned his head back and closed his eyes again.
More tears ran down her eyes, dropping down on her clothes. She continued, "Ever since that incident happened, I have been feeling bewildered, shocked, alone, lonely. Everyone pities me. They look at me like I am some pitiful and forsaken animal that got lost in the forest. I hate those gazes. They are all so bad at acting. They try to act that everything is normal, but I can see their failing smiles, their hesitation when talking to me.
"I wish everything became normal again. I sobsob I-I want everything to be normal. These scars, they are ugly, hideous. I want to hide, make these scars go away. I want to be happy, laugh, and be annoying like I was before! I want to go out with my friends like nothing happened."
She breathed heavily for a few seconds. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "And worst of all, I feel empty, hollow. I always thought that if I screamed enough, cried enough, cursed the gods above enough, it would make everything go away, give me strength—but it took from me more than giving. I can't even feel anything for my daughter! I spend time with her, bathe her, feed her, do everything a mother is supposed to do, but… I never felt any warmth, love, care for her. I was completely empty. I thought being present was enough, but it sure wasn't, and me not feeling anything makes me more empty, guilty, and hollow!"
She tried to say more. She wanted to say more, but she choked on air before speaking more. She screamed, cried. She then spoke more about her wants, troubles, worries, and frustration. Finally, after 15 minutes of continuous screaming, her tears stopped and she had nothing more to say.
All this while, Eric was there, silently listening to her, not saying anything, not interrupting her, just being there.
She turned her head to look at Eric. She felt… good after saying so much. She felt like she was being listened to without any pity, worry, or disdain. Her heart was in peace.
Eric removed the earphones from his and her ears and put the soundmagic back in his pocket. He then stood up and slowly walked up to her before kneeling down.
He gazed at her scarred hands and took a deep breath before speaking. "Do you want to get rid of all these injuries and scars that hinder your self-worth, making you loathe yourself in self-pity?"
Anna couldn't understand what he was trying to say, but she nodded while looking at his face with eyes burning with hope and gratefulness.
"Excuse me then." Eric then raised his left hand that was on his left knee and softly grabbed Anna's hand, not startling her once. He then told her to close her eyes and count to ten.
She did what he said and counted to ten. From Eric's hand, she felt a warm feeling coming out, and as she counted down, the warmth enveloped her entire body.
When she counted down to zero, she slowly opened her eyes and looked down. Eric wasn't there. Her attention immediately went to her hands that were now as white as snow. Her eyes widened in shock as she gasped. She touched her face, her stomach, her cheeks, her nose—everything was fine. There were no more injuries, ugly scars! She even looked as though she was seventeen again.
Tears fell from her eyes again, but they were happy tears.
She looked around but didn't see Eric anywhere. As if he was a good dream that ended. She felt like she was dreaming just when her eyes went to the side of the bench Eric was sitting on. There was a note there. She stood up, walked, and grabbed that note. On top of it was written with a black marker:
"Live well from now on."
She folded the paper and behind it was the number of a psychiatrist—a famous one at that. She then rubbed the note and felt that there was something in it. She opened the note and saw that there was money! Enough to complete the psychiatrist treatment and even after that, there were enough to buy some groceries.
She looked ahead but saw just the empty bridge and silence. A gust of wind came, fluttering her long yellow hair. But this time, her eyes were filled with hope for the future. She had something now—a reason to keep living, hope. She waved her hands in her hair as a smile formed on her face. All thoughts of suicide and hopelessness mostly disappeared. No longer screaming in her mind.
She was still indeed scared and confused for what the future holds, but... now she has a reason
The sun was finally up. There was no more coldness, only warmth in her heart, body, and mind.
In what felt like eternity…
Her heart was tranquil.