Chapter 13: Beef?
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The world is always bigger and wider than we think.
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"Fuck, just shut up!!!"
Liu had abruptly stood up.
"Shut up!...Hha...Hhaa.."
She was breathing loudly, her hand on her heart and her eyes watery.
"Please..." she pleaded in a rough and broken voice.
Lumian remained seated, silent, his inexpressive eyes fixed on Liu.
'Don't look at me like that...'
She looked away toward the ground, trying to calm herself as best she could.
"You are weak. Very weak."
But in the end, Lumian did not grant her request.
And as soon as Liu heard those words, a feeling of injustice and anger rose within her.
'I'm weak??...'
She suddenly raised her eyes to fix them on Lumian.
"I know! Fuck!! Otherwise why would I be here!"
She shouted, tears in her eyes.
"What do you want me to do about it??!!"
The expression on Lumian's face did not move.
"You want me to think logically?!?"
That only made Liu even angrier.
"How is that going to bring my grandparents back??! How is that going to make me move forward??!"
She caught her breath. And seeing Lumian's inexpressive face, she kicked the table toward him.
"Answer me, fuck!!"
Lumian pushed the table away with a movement of his hand, a few frites and cereal bars falling onto him.
But he did not move, nor did he react.
"How is admitting that my grandparents are dead going to make me move forward?!! I want to bring them back, not bury them!!"
The anger kept building inside Liu.
"Then answer!!!"
And, still getting no response, she stepped toward Lumian.
"Answer!!"
Clap!!
She slapped him with her left hand.
"Answer!!"
"....."
Clap!!
Another one.
"Come on!!"
Bam!
This time she punched him.
"Answer!"
"....."
But Lumian had not moved, his face still just as inexpressive, though slightly bruised.
"Answer."
Bam.
Liu's voice was becoming weaker and weaker, as she hit him again.
"....."
"Please, answer."
Her voice was now almost pleading.
"....."
But still getting no response, Liu kicked the chair, making it fall along with Lumian.
Then, tears in her eyes, she insulted him:
"You fucking bastard..."
In a weak, rough, broken voice.
"Shit..."
She picked up a few cereal bars, then went back to sit down to eat in silence, with her tears as her only comfort.
'What an asshole... he could've just told me he couldn't bring them back...'
She glanced toward Lumian.
"Tch!"
He was lying on the ground, still silent, his eyes toward the sky.
'What a waste of time...'
"You know, I'm weak too."
He spoke so suddenly that it almost made Liu jump.
"I'm also afraid of the truth. I'm also afraid of thinking logically about certain things."
Lumian was still lying on the ground, his gaze lost in the white sky.
'What's wrong with him??'
"I also like the illusions I've created for myself. They keep me from going insane... more or less..."
He turned his gaze to look Liu in the eyes.
'He's talking about himself?'
His face, still inexpressive, wasn't even bruised anymore.
"But illusions are only a temporary comfort on an endless path..."
A smile appeared on Lumian's face.
"...a pause to recover your energy and keep moving forward. It's just another tool, available to you at all times."
Liu shivered as she heard Lumian's words.
'What is he talking about in that position?...'
"You just have to learn how to use them. Those illusions."
It was a very strange moment.
Lumian was lying on his back, surrounded by food, looking Liu in the eyes while smiling calmly...
'Use them?..'
Liu was sitting, nibbling on a cereal bar while her gaze was locked with Lumian lying on the ground, she was... like in a trance, thinking about the words she had just heard...
'I feel like I understand something... but I can't see it, nor touch it.'
Hearing no response, Lumian stopped smiling and turned his gaze back toward the sky.
'Everything happened too fast these past few days...'
He spoke softly:
"No need to panic, all of this is temporary. Fuck, the sky is so blue."
'Huh... blue?'
Liu turned her gaze toward the white sky.
'What is he talking about now?... all of this is temporary...'
"Ehehe...ehehe..."
Lumian was laughing to himself while looking at the sky.
'Is he crazy?...?'
She found Lumian more and more strange. Almost creepy.
'No need to panic?...'
Ignoring the crazy man on the ground, she turned her gaze toward the Form, which still had not moved.
'Are Mimie and Papi Mo dead?...'
Strangely, that question did not terrify her as much anymore.
'Even if they really are, I... only believe what I see.'
It had been a while since she had felt this sure of herself.
'And... even if they are dead. I'll just have to bring them back to life... right?'
She felt good.
'Even if it's impossible, I'll just have to do the impossible... all of this is temporary...'
She felt free.
Freed from all negativity.
'I'll succeed without a doubt. Because it's what I want to do...'
She turned her gaze toward Lumian, to see him looking at her with a gaze that was no longer so inexpressive.
'...and that's what matters most.'
...
Patrick had stayed in his corner the whole time.
He couldn't speak or hear, but he could see.
He had watched the whole scene, and his curiosity had been piqued when Liu started getting violent.
But he was disappointed that it only lasted a few seconds.
And bored by the situation, he left the Barrier and began to walk away to see how far Lumian's powers could affect him.
...
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[Yumi's Pov]
Meanwhile, on the Main Road to the Merchant Village of Luschen.
"Hhouu...aahh..."
Yumi had just woken up from a short nap.
"What time is it?" she asked while stretching quickly.
She and Pasha were in a carriage, having left the Village of Luttren as early as possible.
"It's two hours and ten hundredths."
'Already?'
"Ngh..." she stretched, while quickly looking out the window, before asking:
"Do you think we'll be able to find her before we reach Lumout?"
Then, she let herself fall, her head on Mayu's knees.
"I don't know, you said she took her camping rations, right? She could be anywhere..."
Mayu gently stroked Yumi's head, while looking at the silent Pasha.
"...what do you think? Do you have any idea where she could be?"
Pasha seemed lost in her thoughts, she answered absentmindedly:
"I don't know..."
Yumi turned her head to look at Mayu's face, frowning.
"What is it?" Mayu asked with a smile.
"You didn't get closer? While I was sleeping, you didn't talk or anything?"
Yumi seemed almost in a bad mood, asking Mayu for an explanation.
"Well..."
Instead, Pasha took the initiative to answer.
"Mm, it's a bit awkward, we've never been close, and I've always seen Mayu as your mother, Yumi... uh Luchon...? And, with all this noble stuff, I don't really know how I'm supposed to address you... all of you. I didn't even understand everything..."
'That's true...'
Before Mayu could answer, Yumi spoke:
"...I didn't understand all that noble and energy stuff either. I've only known about it for two years... and I still can't release energy, while Liu does it really easily."
Yumi's complaint made Mayu smile.
"Energy? Release?..." while Pasha tried to decipher Yumi's words, Mayu suggested:
"Do you want me to explain, until we reach Luschen?"
'I don't want to!' Yumi didn't like learning, especially when it wasn't at school.
"Uh... yes, please." but Pasha decided otherwise.
"Eeehhh...no..hrmm" Yumi tried to complain, but Mayu covered her mouth.
"Alright, then, as you probably already know, the Plains of Lumeno are divided into five kingdoms: Luryan, Luffero, Lumiscen, Luprellan and Luqxen..."
Pasha nodded while listening to Mayu.
"...these five kingdoms are distinguished by the second part of their territory. They are all in the Plains of Lumeno but each has another part of territory outside the Plains, like the Outer Forest of Lumeno for our Kingdom of Lumiscen..."
'Lame!!'
Pasha nodded again as she spoke:
"Yes, the outer desert for Luryan, the outer sea for Luffero, the infinite cliffs for Luprellan and the low mountains for Luqxen."
'Stop talking!'
"Yes, exactly, we learn that at ten years old..."
"Hhm..hhmmmmm!" Yumi started complaining while trying to remove Mayu's hand.
"Yumi..." Mayu took an authoritative tone.
"...if you want me to let you go, you have to listen without complaining."
Yumi nodded, "Hmmm..hm."
That made Pasha smile.
"Hahh... I almost died..." and the first thing Yumi did after being released was complain.
"Yes, yes, sure. Now let's continue..." Mayu ignored her and turned toward Pasha, seeing her smile.
"Yes, let's continue..."
Yumi sat back up on the carriage seat and looked out the window.
"I assume you also know that the Inner Zone of the Plains is considered the sacred sanctuary of Lumeno, a dangerous and inaccessible area that everyone respects..." as the conversation went on, the way Mayu spoke to Pasha became more relaxed.
Pasha nodded, "Yes, we learn that at school too..."
'What a useless conversation...' Yumi complained in her head since she couldn't say it out loud.
"Oh, alright, I wasn't sure because the curriculum we have as nobles is quite different from that of citizens. But then, you also know that outside the Five Kingdoms, there are the inner and deep zones of the desert, the sea, the forest and so on...?"
"Yes, unexplored zones because they're too dangerous."
Mayu nodded, "Yes, exactly..."
'Hhaa... there are only trees...' boredom was starting to take over Yumi.
"...you know the most important part. Now what you need to know is that the world you know is much bigger... Yumi, you too listen, because this will concern you more and more from now on."
'I don't want to!'
"You already explained everything to me!" Yumi complained without thinking about the consequences.
And Mayu grabbed her by the ear to pull her back onto her lap.
"I only explained a small part."
'Tss..' hearing that, Yumi started sulking while playing with Mayu's jacket.
Pasha didn't intervene, waiting for the right moment to speak.
"So, what am I not supposed to know?"
In response, Mayu took on a serious expression.
"The Plains of Lumeno are actually divided into three parts..., three rings...; the Inner Ring: which includes the Plains themselves..., the Outer Ring: which includes the parts of the kingdoms that are not Plains, and the Central Ring...: it is... the Citizen Zone that serves as a boundary between the Inner and Outer Rings... the zone we are in, and the one that citizens consider to be all of Lumeno..."
"I already know that...mmh!" Yumi tried to complain before being silenced by:
'The devil's hand!!'
Pasha remained silent for a moment before asking:
"I don't understand the difference between nobles and citizens... aren't there nobles in... the Citizen Zone?"
Mayu had kept her serious expression throughout the explanation, but seeing Pasha's calm reaction, she relaxed.
"Yes, there are, those nobles are indeed real nobles, they are here to manage the Citizen Zone and protect it. Mmh... how to put it, the number of nobles is much higher than the number of citizens, and the Citizen Zone is much smaller than the noble zone... I think there is roughly one citizen for ten thousand nobles..."
'This is... dull? No... boring? What's the word again...?'
Pasha was very surprised by that answer, and it showed on her face.
"One for ten thousand?... but aren't there millions of citizens??"
"Yes, but there are tens of billions of nobles." Mayu answered with complete seriousness.
That left Pasha speechless for a long moment, the time to process all that information.
'Her reactions are funny...ehehe...' Yumi removed Mayu's hand from her mouth without resistance.
'Come on, keep going! Devil!' she thought while glancing at Mayu.
"Uh... then why does the Citizen Zone exist? And... I didn't understand but how do you become a noble? It sounded simple... according to Yumi."
Pasha had managed to find the words to continue the conversation. And Mayu continued.
"Well yes, it's simple... actually, you are already a noble, you are what we call: an Initiated Noble. You are considered a noble as soon as you become aware of the use of Energy and of the world as a whole... if you only have awareness, you are called an Initiated Noble, but as soon as you gain the ability to use Energy... you will become a full Noble..."
Mayu gave Pasha some time to understand her explanation.
'That's new... I wasn't a noble by birth?...' Yumi looked again at Mayu, only to see her looking back.
"Ouch!" Mayu pinched Yumi's cheek, then continued her explanation seeing that Pasha was ready.
"...And, the Citizen Zone is very old, it is said to have existed since the beginning of Humanity..., and that it was personally created by Lumeno himself... it is preserved and protected out of respect for Lumeno... It is the most secure zone in the entire world, but also the most practical place to hide... that's why Yumi and Liu were placed here..."
Mayu ended her explanation there.
'That's why I'm here??...'
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The world is always bigger and wider than we think.
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