Mind

It had been ten years since the incident, but Quan could still taste the rancid smell of white blood with the tip of her mind. Often times the girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, so that at least the glint could be reduced. Quan thought time would cloud the memory, but she seemed to have her hopes up. At the very least, she had managed to fool herself into thinking that what she was doing was the right thing, or she thought so.

Quan looked away. The teenager stared at the distant forest through the window beside her, wondered how her mother (she refused to think of Eva as a stepmother) could become Suuvoc's right hand man without the public knowing. Which then ended with a black weapon (which she later learned was called the Sword Stake) from… she forcibly stopped the memory.

Quan took a deep breath, controlling herself.

The Moa Forest that she stared at seemed so quiet and full of secrets. It's okay, no big deal, she thought. She goes in there often, just to make things clear.

The actions she took in remembrance of how quickly her revenge was avenged. Another attempt at making self-guilt less. Nevertheless, why did Quan still feel like something was wrong? Did she miss anything? Really, she did not understand at all.

Even so, there was one thing she understood well: hatred and resentment. Not to her mother's killer, but to the other killers who are still on the loose.

Still alive; a fact that still seemed impossible to her.

How useless it was to be a child at that time. If only time could be repeated, Quan wanted so badly that when the killings occurred she could at least do something useful. Had there been a trip across time, she would have wanted to change her family history for the better than this.

“Pst!”

Quan turned her head and saw another pair of girls sitting across from her. They seem annoyed. Quan could say they almost seemed scary, if she didn't know who they really were.

The girl on the left with long snow-white hair has a different eye color. Her right eyeball was white, the result of the donation she got, as a result of Quan's past actions. There was a scar running across the eye. Meanwhile, her healthy, real left eye is blue. This best friend is a White girl… a countryman with the murderous gang that Quan once slaughtered.

The other girl was one of the Silvers and happened to have the same eye color as her blood. Her dark blue hair was in a ponytail. As a result of Quan's actions too, there was a scar across her neck that looked painful. However, the look in her eyes seemed friendlier than that eerie impression.

Quan never felt this lucky to have such childhood friends as them, even after that past incident. One more list of causes for Quan's guilt. However, she was barely able to say anything as they were determined to publicly brag the scars. They said it is one special thing that can make someone look cool and popular; a thought that made Quan unable to understand until now.

“If you keep on daydreaming,” said the blue haired girl, “you might miss some interesting news from Mrs. Hilda!”

Quan looked at her. “You mean, Annual Tour plans,” she declared. “Sounds normal.”

The girl named Abara sighed. She turned to the companion next to her, as if she was going to ask for help.

“What do you want Exan to explain to me?” Quan asked casually, mentioning the name of the different-eyes girl beside Abara.

“What Bara means is not a general topic, but a specific one,” said Exan bored.

“Tour location, you mean,” Quan said calmly.

Exan snorted. She knew that Quan already knew, but Abara didn't.

“Did you even listen to Mrs. Hilda?” Abara still demanded impatiently.

It was Quan's turn to snort. Abara returns to being Abara; something Quan sometimes doesn't know what to feel, or say.

“What do you expect?” Quan muttered lazily. “Of course I'm listening. Tours are held at the Ancient Site of Arev Village. Am I wrong? Let me guess, no; and what's the fun part about that ancient site? We've been there before.”

“Yes,” said Exan no less lazy. “To be more precise, thirteen years ago; and what parts do you clearly remember from that ancient site? We were only four years old at the time.”

Abara's lips were grinning derisively. “Maybe just rabbit satay and soy juice.”

“Rubble,” Quan continued to answer Exan, irritating Abara again. “And, no, I don't remember buying rabbit satay. It's a cute animal, how can I eat it?”

“And in exchange you eat five deer skewers,” Exan replied with a snort. “Even though I am absolutely sure you once said that deer are cute animals and their horns are very beautiful.”

Quan shrugged. “I am an admirer of animals,” she promised. “However, I can't lie to my own tongue.”

“So you think rabbit meat is bad?” Exan asked doubtfully.

“I have no idea,” Quan admitted. “Never wanted to try either. They are like cats to me. Such cute animals should not be eaten.”

“It's very clear, Quan.” Exan snorted again. “As clear as our conversation that started from a tour location and continued with a discussion about the goodness of loving animals.”

“I do not understand,” Abara scolded suddenly, preventing Quan from arguing over Exan again. “I'm sure Quan was daydreaming. I'm sure even she didn't pay attention to Mrs. Hilda's explanation!”

The corners of Quan's lips lifted slightly. Her two friends are roughly the same as her, that is they have strange powers that are not good for health. However, Abara was even stranger. She won't be easily distracted, no matter if the other person has changed the topic until their mouth is foamy.

“Then you misunderstood the flash of faith you got,” Quan said with a shrug.

Abara snorted. “Stop being a known-it-all!” she replied curtly, indicating that what Quan had said was true.

Abara and Exan turned to face the front again, and immediately found Mrs. Hilda's expression glaring irritated because she had been ignored. The other children started staring at the three of them. Abara and Exan looked down while holding an amused smile behind their hands. Only Quan stared back at their classmates without fear.

“Is there any problem?” Quan asked as she looked at several of them without moving her head.

It looks funny when they suddenly get attracted to the table, books or Mrs. Hilda's face. What's wrong, Quan doesn't know. Even Mrs. Hilda seemed to disagree with Quan's attitude. Abara sounded like she was stifling a laugh, before a moment later turned slightly to Quan.

“It's cold, Quan,” she whispered scornfully. “Cold!”

Since such things did happen sometimes, Quan only shrugged her shoulders briefly. “I am just asking," she said calmly. “Just it.”

As Mrs. Hilda returned to discussing Arev Village Ancient Sites, painful memories suddenly flooded into Quan's mind again. So there she is, stared blankly at the reality before her, back to the tragic events that have happened to her.