My mother hugged me tightly. Mother’s back was burned by the gray flames, but she still looked at me with a smile. Seeing my mother’s smile, I didn’t feel calm. I was getting more and more scared, afraid that my mother would leave me this time. Mother fell beside me, the fire still burning on her back trying to burn my mother.

“No!! Mom, mom I don’t want you to leave me too.”

“No Alice, don’t come here!!”

I tried to approach my mother. But she pushed me away, Mother was afraid that I would be hit by a fire on her back.

Mother had a painful expression, beads of sweat showing on her face. But she seemed to persevere, without showing any pain in her back, she tried to endure this even if it hurt.

A mother who has taken care of me, a mother who has given me love, a mother who has protected me from any danger that will befall me. Mother is the most precious person I have, but right now she looks miserable. If she will die too I can’t accept it I don’t want something like this to happen I will feel guilty for the rest of my life.

I stood up, looking at the robed man with hatred. I couldn’t do anything but follow what the robed man asked.

“Just take me!! I want you to let go my mom,”

“Alice!! Do not do it,”

Mother tried to stop my decision, but because of the pain, she was receiving from the gray fire. She couldn’t even stand up properly. I just looked at my mother with a smile. This time I will protect mother, I don’t want anything terrible to happen to her.

“Hehehe, that’s a good choice, little girl, come here,”

The man said while snapping his fingers, the fire on my mother’s back disappeared after that. Seeing my mother’s current state, I feel relieved. I suddenly felt the robed man, lifting my body on his shoulders.

I didn’t rebel at all, because if I did, I was afraid he would hurt my mother again.

“Alice!!, don’t take Alice away!!”

I looked at my mother, smiling but tears falling down my cheeks. Mother tried to get up, but it was all in vain. She couldn’t get up properly because of the wound on her back.

“Goodbye,”

The robed man said, then he bring me to jump onto the roof of a house. It seems he took me to the town center, I knew it from the direction the robed man was heading. I don’t know what the robed man wants from me.

….

We are currently in the town center, here it looks more crowded than where we lived earlier. Here we can see a big tree, in the middle of town. The tree is very tall, maybe about 100 meters. The man took me off his shoulder when he arrived here, it seems he didn’t want anyone to know, he kidnapped me.

I felt like calling someone for help, but that man threatened me, he would kill my mother if I screamed. I felt hope for someone to save me was gone.

“Do you know, You have innate skills? That’s why I kidnapped you and brought you here.” The robed man looked at the tree in the middle of town.

“I don’t know at all,” I answered expressionlessly.

“That’s right, no one knows if someone has an innate skill, even owner himself, it takes something to awaken it, except for nobles, they are already confirmed to have an innate skill, isn’t that unfair?”

“….”

I don’t know what to answer for this problem, because for me family is the only thing that matters to me.

“But our group just discovered a method to find the owner of an innate skill, we also found a method to awaken it.”

The man explained, even if he told me, I don’t care at all. What’s the point of having an innate skill? If my own family is in danger.

“And now, I will help you, to awaken your innate skills,”

The man took something out of his robe, it was a red stone and oval in shape. The man held my face and put it on my forehead. This time I could see the face behind the hood he was wearing. I will remember this man’s face until I grow up, that face will haunt me for revenge.

“Good luck, if you survive, you will become strong, maybe you can take your revenge on me after that, hahahahah…”

The man said after that disappeared into the crowd. Suddenly I felt something hot enter me through my head. I felt my mind torn and burned, then my body started to become strange, I felt excruciating pain. I couldn’t stand the pain and scream.

“KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”

The people around were shocked and turned their heads towards me, they were scared when they saw me. Vines grew from under me. The stone road let out a cracking sound, after that giant roots like vines, came out from there.

My body is wrapped in vines right now, people seeing my current state think I’m a monster. My body looks like a mummy wrapped in vines. I feel terrible pain in my body.

Guards started arriving trying to deal with the situation, but they were all butchered by the vines to death. In an instant entire town was almost covered in vines.

I saw that my hands were completely covered with vines, at every place on my body I felt a lot of pain, like the roots of a plant trying to unite with me.

{P-please someone help me, anyone}

I tried to walk but couldn’t, because the vines had tied me up and lifted me into the air. My voice sounded very strange at this time, It sounded like a monster’s voice. People are looking at me like a monster and the sound I make hear terrible. They got scared and ran in the opposite direction from me.

{No!! Someone please, anyone help me, it hurts, it is very painful, mom help me}

…..

Somewhere, to be exact, where Mila was currently. She was currently sitting there like someone who had lost something precious in her life. Her eyes were like dead fish, she didn’t know what else to do now.

But suddenly there was chaos in the town, Mila tried to see what was going on. She looked towards the town center, the direction the robed man was going when carrying her daughter, there were vines that almost covered the entire town. She felt that these vines had something to do with her daughter. Mila was scared, she rushed over there to see what was going on.

Sure enough, after she arrived at the town center. She saw vines covering the entire building here. In middle, to be precise in the air, a mummy figure made of vines was seen being tied there.

The mummy’s eyes glowed red, however, Mila knew that this mummy was her daughter. She could feel the connection they had, even though her daughter looked like Monster.

“Alice!! No, what happened to you?”

Tears fell down Mila’s cheeks, she saw her daughter had become a monster, couldn’t help but cry.

…..

I heard my mother’s voice, I looked down, from where I was.

{Mom? Help me, this is so painful AAAHHHHHH…}

Mother climbed slowly using the thorny vines, to reach where I was. Mother’s body was covered with vines, but she struggled to save me.

Arriving in front of me, she hugged me even though she knew my body was covered with thorny vines. I felt the feeling of pain in my body is replaced by a warm feeling. All the suffering I was experiencing seemed to disappear.

“My daughter, I want you to stay alive, I don’t want you to suffer like this,”

{Mom!}

Mom looks at me with a smile, her smile calms me down. I feel protected now in my mother’s arms, all the vines on my body begin to disappear. I don’t feel pain anymore. Mom and I slowly fall down.

All the vines that covered the town, began to slowly become weathered. I saw my mother who hugged me but her face looked pale, when I looked again, her body was covered in blood.

“NO!! Mom what happened to you!?”

My mother lay smiling in my arms, tears falling down her cheeks. Her right hand touched my face. I can’t hold crying, looking at this.

“It’s not your fault, my daughter, I really want to see you become a beautiful woman when you grow up, have a happy family and cute grandchildren,”

I cried hearing this, mother wiped tears from my eyes, she also smiled while crying. Seeing her daughter going to live without her parents was a painful thing in her life. But there was nothing she could do anymore, her body had reached its limit.

“NO MOM!! I don’t want this to happen, please mom, stay alive.”

I was crying really hard, but my mother just smiled at me. I felt my heart shattered into many pieces, seeing my mother didn’t answer at all.

“Alice, I believe, one day you will surely find someone who will accept you as you are, he will be your family, he will protect you from harm, he will overcome all your loneliness, but mom won’t be there to see it all. Alice, I hope you’ll live happily even after mom’s gone.”

“NO!!! MOM!! MOM!!!!”

Mother smiled, taking her last breath. Her eyes looked lifeless, but she still smiled even when she died. I felt that someone who had protected me, cared for me, warmed me was gone in this world.

“MOM!!!!!”

These were Alice’s worst memories, memories of the last time she saw her parents smile. These memories would always bind her and haunt her until she grew up.

…..

SFX: Hido iyo…Hido iyo… Moo isso boku no karada o (Kokoronashi)

[A/N: Author

I didn’t think, making a chapter for Alice’s past would be so long.

I felt sad while making this chapter, you know. Even my tears are coming out T_T.