Alyssia
I never noticed when I had started enjoying that snub's presence. The little rich brat who always made his way to the village, a daily journey for him. The first time he passed by here, the sky was as gloomy as it usually was in this area.
I had gotten into a fight with some of the street thugs over food. I tried to take some, getting caught and beaten. When he found me, I was simply slumped up against a wall in an alleyway, bleeding. My body ached, and ached. The pain felt almost never ending.
Yet as that young boy held his hand out, he stopped the pain. With that annoyingly uptight smile on his face.. It was weird.
Mom and dad always told me not to trust anyone who looked rich. Mom specifically, since Dad had gone missing years ago, when I was three.
"They just want your body. Look at Lillian down the road. They took her in, raped her, and threw her back here."
Lillian-Nim was an example of rich people simply using the poor as slaves for their own twisted, messed up desires. She used to be so beautiful…
She would sit on the porch, knitting with the little amount of string she could afford after a hard day's work. I remember watching her as I swung a stick around when I was younger, and play fighting with some of the boys from the area.
"Be careful, Alyssia-uunie." she would shout, a maternal smile on her face. Her only son, Illian-hyung, was young. Quite a bit younger than myself. Yet, he was as interested in the world as any boy my age, if not more. The boy was sweet, and innocent. Still a small child.
But, then the rich came. A disgustingly vile woman, alongside her vermin swine of a husband. They crowded through the village, their knights threatening violence if we didn't line up in order for their Liege and his lady to inspect all of us, finding the best option for their depraved lust.
In the end, he picked Lillian and her son. Poor Lillian. She was gone for months, yet her house remained untouched. Nobody had the will to disrespect that house, not anymore.
Being taken by one of the rich meant either death or being broken and tortured mentally. Nobody had ever returned sane. That was most likely because those who do go off to the occasional good rich man, would never even dare conceive of returning to this village, down north, as run down and shitty as it is.
One day, after at least 5 months, Lillian returned, with Illian holding her hand. Illian was quite a bit fatter, and clearly displeased at having returned to the village where he thought he would never return. The ungrateful brat had become similar to the very swine who took him from this village.
Meanwhile, Lillian was unrecognizable. Her skin was bruised, purple and blue, alongside her lips. Her face was pale, and she was noticeably skinnier, to a worrying degree. The way she trembled, and could barely move her legs, only signified the worst had happened to her, with those rich pricks.
"Lillian-Ssi?" asked many of the kids, clearly nerve wracked by the returning womans condition. She could only turn and stare silently, her lips tightened into a straight line. From then on, she never spoke. She was always quiet, as if terrified that someone would punish her for speaking up. For saying a word.
On the daily, she would be beaten by Illian. If she didn't do exactly as he said, he would hit her. It didn't matter how much I beat him up for it, he never stopped. It was simply in his nature now.
I had seen two people from the village be changed, corrupted, and ruined by the rich. What my mother said was true. Most rich people want to simply take you and ruin you, using you for their own gain until all of your purpose has been sapped out of them.
But, my ideology had changed over time. I don't know when, but at some point, Zachary changed it. Whether it be by bringing me food, and only expecting conversation in return, or by reading books with me, and creating goals together that only we could understand.
At first, I thought he wanted me for my body. Because I was pretty. But he quickly wrapped up that idea and threw it in the river.
He's weird. His smile is weird. Perverted, almost. He has this aura around him that just makes you somewhat scared of him. But at the same time, he's cute. He's bubbly, sarcastic, and he's almost like an adult in a child's body. The way he rants about wanting to explore the world, and discover intricate mysteries and see everything the world has to offer..
It's adorable. Like a little brother I had always asked my mother for. I want to see the world with him, to take off with him and explore things I've never seen. To grow stronger. To be his friend, someone he can rely on to protect him.
I don't know when he melted my heart, when he made that divide in my consciousness between 'evil' and 'good' that was so defined by the real experiences and resolutions I had seen from the people who are supposed to be his role models. But he did.
I had never once had respect for anyone who tried to teach me. Or who tried to get me to learn how to control my spirit, or how to wield a blade. But, every other week, he came with an apprentice knight. Kiki. A black haired boy, probably around 12 or so.
Kiki helped as much as Zachary in making me strong. Although he was mostly beating me up, it helped. Eventually, I was able to block his hits. Then, I was able to clash with him. At some point, I noticed that Zachary was helping me evolve, all without expecting anything in return but a friend. I knew this because he was evolving alongside me.
It was the most selfish, asshole thing I could think of. Modeling someone, forcing them to do things for you because you want them to be your friend? That's selfish on a new level. He didn't care about what I wanted, nor did he know. He just made me do these things because he wanted a friend.
Yet, for some reason, I was fine with it. He knew my strengths, and he tailored everything towards them. Whether that be swordsmanship, or training spirit. The one thing he never did was force me to learn maths, my mortal enemy. It was fun. Although he's being selfish, he was presenting me with fun.
He may not be the best at showing it, but he cares. Deep down in his heart, he cares about the people he knows. Myself, his family, Kiki… I'm sure he cares for all of us.
He had introduced me to a new world, Zachary. A world of confidence. A world where I knew that I would be okay by his side, a world where I knew I wanted to be by his side, and nowhere else. I want to see it all with him, and I trust him to take me through life's waves, without any issues.
I don't know when I started trusting this rich boy, but I did. And now, I want to see it all with him, through heaven or hell.