Chapter 3 - Recollection of a Fallen Hero

Yin committed to count how many days since she woke up with nothing. However, she rebuilt her mental book of memories with the orphaned children, Lay and Song Ji Eun. If one were to compare Yin to Ja Young, Yin appears to be more patient and kind unlike a merciless and stubborn Ja Young. Many young children spent their playtime with Yin as if she was the shiny new toy. Yin liked it and yet she wanted to use her personal time to search for answers about herself.

Yin and Ji Eun had developed a sisterly relationship and it was still growing by each day. Ji Eun could tell Yin didn’t have many female friends before her journey even began. Yin was grateful for meeting Ji Eun. She at least had someone to comfortably talk to. Ji Eun continued to blissfully talk about her fiancé and how manly, romantic and an awkward turtle he could be, much to Yin’s interest. 

Lay and Yin had a very deep connection to each other and yet they can’t easily describe it in words. Lay would almost always find her in the garden staring at the Snow Pinwheel flower. The flower didn’t interest her as much as the unknown force that draws her in. The healer seems to hide many secrets from her but she knew better than not to pry into his personal history. 

Yin had also grew attached to two peculiar children: a cyrokinetic five year old little girl named Xiang Hua and a nine year old boy who tried to control fire named Ying Jie. Xiang Hua used to always being by herself with a little doll and a storybook. After a few weeks of getting to know the children, Yin finally approached the lonely girl. “Why aren’t you outside playing with the other kids?”

Xiang Hua only clutched on her doll with uneasiness. “They wouldn’t talk to me because I look like a ghost with curtain hair.”

Yin had to chuckle at her cute remark. She sat beside her and brushed her hair back. Xiang Hua peered up at the amnesiac teenager. “Why do you hide your face? You are very cute.” 

The five-year-old blushed. “Do you really think so?”

Yin grinned. “At least I do.” They both laughed together and Yin tied some of Xiang Hua’s hair to ‘cleave the curtain.’ Yin would sometimes watch Xiang Hua create different snowflake patterns on the ground, but whenever she was able to freeze a stone or a stick, Yin would have some sort of anxiety in her stomach. She shook it off after watching the young girl practice often.

Ying Jie had a loud and cheery disposition, but would always be polite and docile to Lay and Ji Eun. It took him over two years to have some control of his abilities. As a child, he could barely hold onto a fire ball for only ten seconds and the stability would always fluctuate with each use.

"Picture a sun in your hands," Yin would suggest, which helped him a bit more.

Because of Yin's newfound compassion and bonding, Ying Jie would converse with the lonely Xiang Hua every so often, eventually being friends with her. He would take her hand and bring her over to his own group of friends to make proper introductions, making her blush. By the time the second month rolled on by, Ying Jie and Xiang Hua were no longer strangers but close friends.

Yin learned more of Ha Jung’s language from Ji Eun and Lay. Over the course of almost three months, she learned quickly and effectively. During her free time, she would practice with Xiang Hua’s storybook while reading it to her.

It was a tragic tale of two sisters who were once very close and then they became the worst enemies. The younger one would lose and the older one would have victory in a contest of wits and beauty. Every time she would read it, Yin would always recall it minutes before falling asleep. What did that story have any meaning for her?

In the middle of the night, Yin couldn’t sleep because of her personal insecurities again. Restless, she slipped out of her bed and began another detour around Lay’s orphanage. 

Yin passed through the same corridors with the paintings on the walls and doors. She knew she wouldn’t find any new questions or answers in the vacant halls. She quietly slid past Ji Eun’s room so she wouldn’t ask any questions. Yin was also nervous because Lay could appear at any moment and catch her in the act.

Yin suddenly stopped in front of a painting in a hall she hadn’t dared to explore. It was a tree sitting on a floating piece of land. The leaves were painted with many colors and ornaments hanging from the branches. There was a source of light accenting the trunk and the water below a bridge. Compared to the rest of the murals, this was the most detailed. It then dawned on her after a few moments of blank gazing that the painting was exactly how it looked like in her first dream here in the orphanage.

Yin felt around the painting until she felt a piece of string camouflaged in the middle. She tried to pull it but it didn’t move. She tugged it side to side until a passage opened before her. Looking behind her if Lay was there, Yin went inside and left the entrance open so she could have some light.

It was a shrine with weapons, armor and a photo of a man and a woman. Yin proved that curiosity killed the cat when she gently picked up the frame and examined the facial features of the couple. The woman had a pair of big warm eyes and thin lips curving into a smile. 

The man drew her interest. He had sharp eyes and small lips. Yin admitted that he was indeed handsome until her head and body started to ache. She let out a grunt and the photo fell out of her hands. She grabbed her head in frustration as a flash of a memory appeared in her mind.

That memory was a bloodied hand sticking out in front of her through her abdomen. The other hand was holding her chin from behind.

Before she could see any more, a foreign hand touched her head to stop the pain. Yin opened her eyes and saw a worried Lay with the fallen photo frame in his other hand. “Lay,” she started but he put a finger to her lips.

Lay wordlessly replaced the picture frame on the shrine table and softly gazed at it.

“A few years ago, Daemens were roaming this country, feeding upon Argents to gain more power. We were born here, classified as household slaves. The three of us nurtured our abilities to our freedom. We were always together, through thick and thin throughout all the torture and unjust labor. 

“The woman in the picture, Yin Fei, was my baby sister. And yes, they were going to get married. She had a gentle spirit who could change the hearts of many people. She was devoted to him. She was our everything.”

“What happened to them?” Yin whispered, her breathing shaky and uneven.

Lay swallowed a lump in his throat. “We were about to turn into our adulthood when she was killed. She was executed while attempting to elope with her husband-to-be. When I returned with an army from the neighbor country west from here, Wu Fan was mourning in the execution grounds where Yin Fei's head was hanging on the post in the heart of this province. 

“We led our army to lure the Daemens into the 3rd World Country, Huang Pan. We were outnumbered but Wu Fan sacrificed his life to wipe out the rest of the Daemens before we were all going to perish. He had no regrets dying in my arms - the arms of a failed warrior.

“He told me with his last breath, to live well and peacefully. He was buried there by our own hands. As soon as I came back, I built a shrine for both Wu Fan and Yin Fei, to honor their lives and sacrifices. I became too attached with the children here to visit my oldest friends every day. Ironic, isn’t it? I am a healer and yet I couldn’t save them. I’m such a bad person, am I?”

Lay stopped rambling about negative things about his mistakes when Yin suddenly embraced him from behind.

“If you were such a bad person, then why did you rescue me?” Yin tightened her grip and Lay held her flesh and mechanical hands.

“Those two would be very proud of you in the afterlife.”

“Thank you, Yin. You were always very gracious towards this orphanage.”

“Please, Yi Xing. Do not be sad anymore. You are doing something many can never dream of. These children you are keeping here are the future of the Argents.”

They stayed in a comfortable silence when they both let each other go. Lay turned around and felt the area where she embrace him. It ached a little as if someone had socked him in the stomach. Then it clicked in his head.

“Yin, when you saw that photo, what did you see?”

She hitched a breath and then tried to recall what she saw. “I saw myself getting killed by someone. It was when I saw looked at that man’s face.”

“That’s impossible; he’s dead.”

Yin was about to say more until they felt an earthquake and children screaming. Lay and Yin regained their senses and dashed out of the room. Ji Eun shot awake as soon as she heard the ground-shaking brewing. She threw off her covers and hurried to gather the children. She found Yin and Lay looking for the source and heading outside. She called for the older youth to team up and help the younger ones. 

As soon as Yin and Lay were outside, there was someone standing in the middle of the courtyard with his hands in his pockets. He must have set off the explosion.

“Who are you‽ What do you want‽” Lay demanded. The figure just shrugged. He stepped out from the shadows and smirked. His face was covered in ancient markings, causing Lay to widen his eyes in horror. “You... you’re a Boundless Daemen!”

“Boundless?” Yin asked in slight confusion.

“Boundless Daemens are the highest ranked Daemens in the colony who have control of the lower beasts and assailants. They are more powerful than you think, Yin.” Lay explained. The Daemen scoffed.

“Oh, there are stronger Argents than this little one here?”

He dragged out Xiang Hua from behind him, making Yin gasp. “Let her go!”

The little Argent was on the verge of tears and hysteria when the Daemen held onto her hair. “I will, if you hand over the Origin Rune.”

Lay clenched his teeth and fists in anger. “I will not hand it over! It doesn’t belong to you!” Yin gave Xiang Hua a look and nodded just a little bit at her. The young girl swallowed and gritted her baby teeth in response. From the corner of her eye, Ying Jie was hiding behind a wall with his hands ready to make a fire ball.

"So what will it be then?"

"Do it now!" She suddenly yelled out to both children. Xiang Hua managed to freeze his hand that was holding her hair and freed herself from his grasp.

"Damn you, sneaky girl!" Before he could reach out again, Ying Jie's fire ball was thrown at the Boundless Daemen, blinding him for a moment for Yin to retrieve Xiang Hua. However, as soon as she held her, she saw a flash of an explosive near her face and almost stumbled. At the last second, she leapt away. The bomb exploded, sending them flying and crashing to the ground. Xiang Hua was safe but her left arm broke from the impact.

"Jie jie!" Ying Jie rushed over to Yin, who handed Xiang Hua over to him.

"Run, both of you! It's not safe here!"

Before Xiang Hua could protest with tears, Ying Jie grabbed her small hand and dashed off before they could get hit by another explosion. 

"You better come back, jie jie!" He called out before running to the back of the orphanage.

Lay nearly had a heart attack when Yin was about to get caught in the explosion. He made his move and attacked the intruder. They were caught in a heated fight when Yin was trying to stand up from her position. She held onto her broken arm with her mechanical one. Yin didn’t realize what she was doing until she took a good look at her mechanical arm. 

Meanwhile, Lay and the Daemen were still in a close combat but Lay was slowly getting weaker. If he used his ability to kill his opponent, it would also weaken him - so he decided against it, leaving him with no other option but one.

“Getting slow, huh? You disappoint me, Argent.” When the enemy was about to deliver a powerful blow and before Lay could move his hand to the front of his right shoulder, Yin grabbed the Daemen from behind and threw him across the yard. She panted but she was determined.

“What the-?” The Daemen was bewildered when he saw the glistening runes of her arm under the moonlight. 

“That Origin Weapon! You... you have Xiah's Arm? Xiah the Benevolent?”

Yin stayed still, silently taking in his astonishment.

“Interesting," he smirked, wiping his lips. "Now I want to fight you too.”

Yin and the Boundless Daemen began a firey combat. Yin couldn't think. She only followed her instincts and let her body take control. The Daemen, however, was falling behind. He had never experienced such an intense battle, nevertheless a teenager. Yin gave a forceful kick to the chest, in which he blocked with his arms. As soon as he opened his eyes, she punched him in the stomach. He was sent across the yard and stood up and scowled.

"What the hell are you?"

He stopped when he realized that his ribs were broken from the impact. Lay caught on to it and put together the pieces. Since Yin saw a lost memory, a small fraction of her abilities were starting to return. He wondered whether the restoration of her lost memories were the key to regain her former abilities.

“Damn it! You’re powerful, but you’ll be too powerful soon. I would take this chance to kill both of you now, but you’d probably kill me first with that handy ability of yours,” he nodded at Lay. 

“I’ll be back to get that Rune very soon so don’t get too comfortable.” Then he disappeared into the ground.

Yin collapsed on her knees, her left arm aching. Lay gently grasped her elbow and healed the fracture in a few seconds. She thanked him.

Lay became scared. Everything was happening too soon. The Argent species were quickly depleting. Yin wasn’t going to be safe here anymore because she was too special to be hidden easily.