"He rembers ?" Kestrel realized.
No one could recall what happened last night, but Kaworu seed to rember. He rembered himself and the day before, even using the word "again."
Kestrel did what she had done yesterday, moving Kaworu to the bed and taking care of his wounds again.
Kaworu was very thin, his backbones sticking out, covered by a thin layer of skin and marked with scars from cruel abuse. In the moonlight, his body looked almost as pale as a dead body.
Kestrel thought that such a terrible place shouldn’t exist. Yesterday, she had calmly helped him without thinking much about it. But today, seeing the sa wounds and thin back made her feel uneasy inside.
Maybe it was because they had beco more familiar with each other, as they had spent the night together. Seeing him treated this way made her feel both angry and sad.
Kestrel understood that emotions between people slowly change as they spend ti together—sotis for the better, sotis for the worse, but often growing deeper, making understanding each other easier.
Looking at Kaworu’s strange wounds, Kestrel couldn’t understand why people could be so cruel to one another. Gently, she treated his wounds again.
Kaworu lay there, eyes open, unconcerned about what Kestrel was doing. His hands were tightly tied with a rough rope that had almost cut into his skin. When Kestrel cut the rope, he didn’t react, not caring whether the sharp knife would cut the rope or him. Only when Kestrel covered him with a blanket again did he reach out with a pale hand, holding the edge as if the thin cotton could protect him.
Kaworu was alive and warm, but Kestrel felt as if he might already be dead inside, like a dried-up tree, hollow and numb. She could hardly sense any emotion in him.
Kestrel washed her bloody hands under a faucet. The cold water cleaned away the bright red blood. It was a strange world that sotis felt too real. The body of Vanessa she had seen before and the living Vanessa in front of her; the living Kaworu and the one who seed dead inside—all this made Kestrel feel slightly confused.
She heard Vanessa’s soft voice outside, "Kaworu, be good... It’s rare to have such a kind custor..."
Kestrel dried her hands and walked out, hoping Vanessa would stay with her. Vanessa seed happy and said, "Of course, I’m very happy to be with a beautiful custor like you."
Vanessa sat at Kestrel’s feet, looking up at her with joyful eyes, holding Kestrel’s hands against her cheeks. She seed very humble, but at the sa ti, she gave Kestrel a feeling of hidden strength, as if this gentle body could endure much pain.
Vanessa’s hands were rough and calloused, but her cheeks were soft, rosy, and youthful, with a living warmth. This made it difficult for Kestrel to connect this face with the lifeless body she had seen earlier, sitting by the window, head slumped, pale, and empty of life.
After gently touching Vanessa’s warm cheek, Kestrel pulled back her hand and said, "I’d like to hear you sing."
Vanessa began to sing, her voice soft and calming. It had a serene power that could ease the soul’s deepest pain, bringing comfort and peace.
Kaworu, lying on the bed, slightly turned his head and then fell asleep in the moonlight.
During this ti, the steward of the place knocked on the door, saying, "Vanessa, there’s more work to be done, don’t hide here being lazy."
Kestrel opened the door and saw a slimy, clear creature piled up on the floor like layers of goo. The creature, with foggy eyes and a rough male voice, said, "Vanessa, what are you doing in Room 8 again? Don’t bother the guests, get out and work, or I’ll punish you."
Vanessa seed scared, hiding behind Kestrel, her face turning pale with fear.
Kestrel threw a handful of ashcredit on the floor, saying, "I want her to stay with ."
The creature’s eyes lit up, and it picked up the coins, swallowing them one by one.
"Bring the best food and wine," Kestrel commanded.
"Yes, yes. I’ll do as you wish," the creature agreed, eagerly picking up every coin that fell on the floor before slithering away, leaving a sticky trail behind.
The door was closed, and the table was heaped with tasty food. Outside the window, dark shadows of passing guests were sotis seen, their forms stretched and twisted like monsters by the light.
The noisy outside world was shut out by the rickety wooden door, leaving a narrow room bathed in peaceful moonlight, filled with the sleeping patient, two girls enjoying food, and a little wine.
"This sticky ball with sesa is delicious."
"It’s called ’Uoonocake,’ a dish made by pounding rice hundreds of tis."
"Really? There’s so much tasty food here."
"Since you like sweets, miss, I’ll make you so sweet rice wine soup with dumplings."
"Just call Kestrel."
They sat on a small, worn-out couch, legs crossed, almost filling it up.
"Kestrel," Vanessa poured wine for Kestrel, "You must have a special soone you love. That’s why you ca here, just to have sing for you."
"She ans a lover?" Kestrel thought, holding her wine glass. She was just starting to have so friends, feeling a bit normal. Having a lover, sothing so close and complex, seed far away.
"What kind of person is considered a lover?" Kestrel asked.
She once had a fiancé but hadn’t felt the close connection others excitedly referred to as love and desire.
Vanessa was surprised by the question and then burst into laughter, "Oh my, you really are sothing."
"You really don’t have a lover? Why did you co here then?" Vanessa’s eyes and cheeks were flushed with laughter and sweet wine.
"I ca here looking for sothing," Kestrel replied, also sharing a thought, "You look lovely when you laugh."
Vanessa’s laughter shook her shoulders, her eyes and heart filled with happiness.
"You’re so good at comforting people, and you’re so gentle. You’ll surely have a wonderful lover soday," Vanessa said, her eyes twinkling.
"Do you think I’m good at making people happy?" Kestrel blinked, surprised to hear soone describe her this way for the first ti.
"Lovers," Vanessa thought aloud, holding her wine glass. "It’s like the slow crawl of a snail over your hand or the gentle flutter of a butterfly’s wings in your palm. It’s hard to ignore. You long for them, missing their fingers, ankles, skin, and the way they look at you. In short, soone who makes your heart beat faster."
Kestrel took a sip of wine, interested in the description. It sounded nice and seed more exciting than the feelings she’d usually noticed in others.
As Kestrel drank more wine, she found herself talking more with Vanessa. She didn’t know why, but Vanessa’s smile made her want to chat more and hear her sing. Thankfully, she rembered her main reason for being there—to learn about Kaworu, the person who rembered everything, and who he was.
"Do you love Kaworu?" Kestrel asked. "You seem to take good care of him."
"Love Kaworu?" Vanessa’s eyelashes fluttered as she looked down. "Why would you think that...?"
Then she continued, "You’re not from around here. You don’t know how amazing Kaworu once was as a beta."
"Beta?" Kestrel was surprised and glanced at the sleeping figure on the bed in disbelief. "Aren’t all betas in the Empire’s capital? How can there be a beta here?"
Vanessa explained that this place was where criminals were sent, including those who had committed cris in the military camps where both alphas and betas were present.
Kestrel was shocked. "Betas and alphas together? Fighting together?"
"Of course," Vanessa replied, treating it as common knowledge. "Betas are powerful warriors. Though fewer in number, no army could do without them. How would humanity fight the monsters of the Polluted Zone without betas?"
"Betas are gentle, caring people who look after the alphas, right?" This was what Kestrel had always believed.
Kestrel discovered that this world was very different from what she understood. She began to feel that the world from three or four hundred years ago, when the Erdtree’s Polluted Zone was a newly ford thing, was entirely unlike her own.
Vanessa then shared a sad story from when she was young. She had grown up in a poor family with many brothers and sisters. Her mother had died young, unable to handle life’s troubles, leaving them with a cold father. Vanessa lived in fear of her drunken father’s beatings and a neighbor’s creepy looks.
As she got older, the neighbor visited more often, eyeing her like a hungry wolf watching its prey. Despite her careful avoidance, she couldn’t escape him. One day, before she could get ho, the man’s hairy arm pulled her into an alley.
Her mouth was tightly covered, and her face was slapped a few tis. A man slling of alcohol was hitting her and fumbling with his belt.
Vanessa didn’t think anyone would co to save her. Her father was drunk, good for nothing, and even if he hadn’t been drinking, he probably wouldn’t care about her.
She couldn’t even call for help; her face was puffy, and her mouth was covered by a stinky hand. She could only scream inside her mind. If thoughts could be heard, her screams would have reached everywhere, even to the moon.
That was when Vanessa first saw Kaworu. He appeared in the dirty alley, dressed in a beta military uniform, and coldly said, "Go away."
The man, who seed like an enormous obstacle to Vanessa, held his head and cried, his face covered in tears and snot, as he stumbled away.
"Though my life didn’t get much better afterward, I always rembered the person who helped ," Vanessa told Kestrel.
She had drunk a bit too much, her eyes shining as she said, "Whenever I think that there are such people in the world, my heart feels a little stronger."
"What happened then?" Kestrel asked.
"Later, I actually saw Kaworu here," Vanessa’s face fell, her smile gone.
"They say he’s like a bright moon that fell into a ditch, but I think the moon is still the moon, no matter where it is. How could soone like , who lives in a gutter, love the moon?"
"I just want to help him a little, to give back for his kindness back then."
"Oh dear, look at ," she wiped her face, red from the alcohol. "I’m sorry for talking about sad things. Shall I sing a song for you? Do you have a favorite song?"
"I liked the song you sang last night."
"Last night?" Vanessa was confused, thinking it was her first ti singing for Kestrel.
"She must be drunk," Vanessa thought.
"Last night, you sang that song about the mouse," Kestrel said, "It was happy and made people feel good. Mice can be cute, and they should love the moon. I like mice."
"Really? I do have a song about a mouse; how did you know?" Vanessa laughed. "You really like mice?"
"Yes, I just started liking them. I like mice, crabs, snakes, and birds... they’re all adorable, much better than the cold moon," Kestrel replied.
Vanessa then sang a cheerful song about a mouse, a song she wrote herself.
Ti passed, and a distant noise like muffled thunder was heard. It seed like sothing was burning, louder and more intense than the night before.
Kaworu, in bed, had a fever again. He was burning up, and neither fever-reducing dicine nor physical cooling could help. But he seed awake; his cold and blank eyes softened in the fever, constantly looking for Vanessa, as if she was the only support in his world.
A soft knocking sound ca from the door, the secret signal between Ren and Kestrel.
Kestrel quietly poked her head out and saw Ren standing outside.
"Sobody set fire to that tree," Ren whispered to her.
Maybe inspired by Ren’s fighting style the night before, a few alphas got together today. They gathered flammable and explosive things and made long-range firebombs. They probably wanted to burn down the large, odd tree to see what might be hidden beneath in the deep hole.
Their preparations were significant, and even from here, Kestrel could see the fireballs being thrown far across the sky.
The night sky was decorated with a big crescent moon, and the scattered ground fires seed to burn under it.
"I’m going over to take a look," Ren said. "I’ll be back soon."
He glanced at the room where Kestrel had been and switched to hand signals.
He had been hiding nearby and had heard much of the conversation inside.
"These two people are unique," Ren said in sign language. "Especially the one on the bed; I feel he might be dangerous, you..."
"I’ll be careful," Kestrel answered, giving him a reassuring gesture.
Ren opened his mouth to say sothing more but ended up saying nothing.
Kestrel added sothing as Ren was leaving, "Hey, I like mice, crabs, snakes, birds, and orcas."
Her tendrils beca lively and started to chatter:
"Great."
"Progressing."
"Well done."
"The ’mouse’ is really cute; she has taught Kestrel things she never knew before—flirting!"
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