Chapter 125- Marking On a Tree
After finishing drying up, the two girls made their way back to the cabin slowly. When they stood up, they realized that their bodies were extremely exhausted.
They had used an unfathomable amount of Origin and their reservoirs were almost empty so their physical prowess dropped considerably until they recharge. Usually, that won't take much time. A few hours at most.
When they reached the house, they found Kai making them dinner. The sun was on the horizon, slowly drifting into oblivion, announcing the end of this long day.
*Drop* *Drop*
Hearing the sound of something dropping, Kai looked back only to find Eva and Kaya laying on the ground. Their even breathing and their calm aura told him that they have drifted to sleep because of exhaustion.
"At least go to bed before losing consciousness," Kai murmured before he stopped cooking and walked toward them.
"Meow!" Miyu approached Eva and started rubbing her head playfully as if she teasing the girl for sleeping like this.
Kai then lifted them up and carried them to their assigned beds. After that, he finished making dinner, he put it down for them to eat when they woke up before he walked out of the cabin followed by Miyu.
The forest was now completely dark except for the light coming from the moon. Looking up at the sky riddled with beautiful stars and cosmic colors that would make anyone gasp with admiration, he stood there for a few seconds.
After that, he started walking again toward the forest. His eyes were looking around silently until they eventually fell on a particular tree. This tree, unlike the other ones around it, had the light of the moon on it as if the sky was highlighting it out of every other tree.
Looking at it, Kai's purple eyes shone with a weird light for a second before he strode toward it, followed by Miyu who looked confused.
From up close, the tree looked old and on the verge of dying and yet had a mysterious vibe about it that many can't grasp.
He then started walking around the tree with his hand tracing its trunk with a deep look on his face. When he reached the other side of it, he finally found what he was looking for. There was an eye-catching carving on the tree that was clearly the work of a human.
The carving was that of a path that goes into the horizon and two silhouettes holding hands were walking toward it. Because the carving is very old, the two silhouettes were now vague and hard to identify. However, weirdly enough, the path was still as clear as ever.
'It's still intact, huh…' Kai mused.
After that, he looked up and surprisingly, the branch that he remembered to sit on every night to watch the sky was also still intact. So, with a single leap, he landed on the branch before he sat down. Miyu also climbed the tree and followed after him.
The two sat there silently. As they were like that, Kai heard the sound of rustling coming from behind him. However, he didn't need to look back to know who it was.
"There is still time before the training… Kaya. Why did you wake up?" He asked.
"I already feel way better. Also, thanks for dinner. It was delicious, as usual." She said as she approached the tree Kai was sitting on top of.
"Why are you here, darling?" She asked.
"Nothing." He replied before he went silent again.
"Hmm, I see…" Kaya knew that it wasn't just 'nothing'.
As she was contemplating what was wrong with her beloved, her eyes fell on the carving in the tree.
'What's that?' Looking closer at it, she quickly understood. 'Did Kai carve that when he was young?'
It wasn't hard to reach that conclusion considering the situation. 'It seems he really liked this place. But, there are two people in the tree carving.
Kaya's eyes shone with a weird glint before she shook her head and asked. "Can I sit beside you?"
"..."
Kai didn't reply but Kaya knew that was his 'yes'. So, she jumped nimbly on the tree branches till she reached him.
"Woah, what an amazing view." She murmured with admiration.
Kai's eyes shifted to look at the woman for a second before he looked at the sky again. "I used to sit here a lot."
"I can see why. The sky looks amazing here. You can't see such a sight in the city."
"..."
The two sat there quietly, enjoying their time in their own way.
"Do you love this place, Kai?" Kaya decided to ask.
Kai's expression changed to a frown at the sudden question before he shook his head.
"I don't know. I never loved anything in my life to understand what that even means."
"Kai… What happened… Who did this to you?"
Kaya really wanted to know who turned Kai into this empty shell of a human being. She could see it in Kai's eyes, the pain and desire to escape from something and yet she can't comprehend what or why he was like that. More than anything else, she was extremely angry that someone dares to harm her beloved and scar him when he was merely a child.
"I did it to myself." He replied.
"What? No, you did nothing wro-" Kaya shook her head.
"You do not understand. Nobody can." He replied. "I was born with enough power to destroy this world if I want to. Do you know how many times I contemplated that idea? Do you know how many times I wanted to end this corrupted world? I'm as much of a monster as the cruelest of people out there."
"..."
"Maybe that's why I will die soon. The world itself wants to get rid of me before I get rid of it."
"Meow…" Miyu concernedly rubbed her head against Kai's thigh as she looked at him.
"Why are you still alive then?" Kaya asked after a while as she looked down at her hands.
"... Sigh, for the same reason that I didn't kill every single person in this world. My foolish side still wants to live a little bit longer. It's telling me that there will be light around the corner. Some corner." Kai explained coldly. A hint of sarcasm could be heard in his voice as if he was mocking himself for thinking this way.
And that was the truth, Kai's sole reason for continuing to live, alone, different, and broken was because he still, somewhere deep inside of him, believed that things will change the next day. Maybe he will wake up with no powers and could finally become a human. Maybe when he wakes up the next day, he will be a normal member of an average, loving family who is living a monotonous yet peaceful life.
But, no such thing happened. He was still the same monster everyone feared. The same monster that will die a horrible death in a few years. The same monster that lived through hell and yet still found ways to make it even worse for himself.
Kai didn't even understand why he was speaking this much when he was usually a one-word man. However, he already realized that when it comes to Eva and Kaya, his attitude and thoughts take a drastic change.
Kaya looked at his face from the side silently. A mix of sadness and worry could be seen in her eyes. But, all of that suddenly vanished. Then, she said.
"You idiot…"
Then, suddenly, everything went quiet as Kaya did something unexpected.