Gardenia’s Heart

Nia's body trembled; the genuine hatred escaping from Lily was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

"Maybe I'm wrong, I think they deserved the title of monsters," she sneered before continuing. "The men were part of a bandit troupe; they killed all the men in the village and separated the younger women to sell. I was six years old at the time, and perhaps that's why I managed to escape from having my innocence taken by those bastards."

The girl's hand touched the left side of her face carefully, her fingers tracing where her eyelids closed.

“Just as silver hair was rare and they counted it for sale, my blue eye was plucked out” The voice shook again “I doubt it was out of pity, probably to not lower the price of my sale as a sex slave later, just one eye was taken.

Something burned inside Nia, not the comfortable warmth of when she interacted with Lily, but something different. This something made her agitated, took away her calm state, and made her want to lose control.

“I spent a few years in captivity, at least they gave me food. Every night they took some of the women from the village who weren't sold to play, I always feared for the day I would be chosen. The faces I knew were getting smaller every day, I didn't know what fate they had, but it was obviously not good.”

Lily moved her hand down to her left arm.

“I think it happened when I was probably ten years old. I heard how some of the drunk men talked that they finally had a client for the ‘silver-haired bitch’ and that they were going to get rich. At that moment I knew, if I didn’t escape right then I would be doomed.”

Breathing heavily she continued.

“I took advantage of the fact that the men were drunk and pretended to be sick, whether it was luck or fate there were only two guards that night. I planned to sneak between them and lock the cell with them inside, it wasn't the best, but considering my condition and age it was the best I could think of” She took a few seconds again. “Obviously, it didn't work out so well, one of the men was trapped, but the other chased me. I escaped from that cramped hiding place and was greeted by the mist-covered forest. A child is not as fast as an adult and he soon caught up to me. In front of me was an armed man and behind me was a gorge.”

The metamorph didn't have lungs, but she felt like she was holding her breath.

“Maybe because he was drunk or just to relieve stress, he didn’t consider arresting me, but rather used his blade.” She shook the left side of her body. “My arm was ripped off and I fell down the gorge. I think they concluded that I died, so they didn't pursue me. When I woke up I was being treated by some members of a caravan that were coming to this village. They told me it was a miracle to survive.”

She lay down on the bed and placed Nia by her side.

"I told everyone that I lost my memory and didn't know what had happened. I was afraid; if anyone knew the bandits, they could hand me back to them," her right hand gently caressed Nia. "No one wanted to take care of an amnesiac girl with one arm and one eye, but they gave me a house that was no longer in use and allowed me to live here."

The metamorph began to contemplate everything she had been told. After Lily finished speaking, she didn't comment further, giving Nia time to reflect calmly.

(She... has been through so much too.)

To claim to understand someone's pain without having experienced the same thing would be hypocrisy, but the feeling of being hunted and excluded was something she could understand.

Feelings.

It was something she experienced now, and somehow she knew she couldn't live without them anymore. Slowly, the metamorph approached Lily's face. She couldn't speak or express herself clearly, but there was something she could do in this situation.

Carefully, she touched the girl's face; it was only for a brief moment, but upon realizing what it meant, Lily smiled.

"Thank you, Nia."

Hugging her companion tightly, Lily didn't think of anything else before succumbing to sleep.

---

Several hours passed, and Lily saw that it was time to leave the house. Since she had rested in the morning after going to buy food, she hadn't washed her clothes in the river.

"I'll try to be back as soon as possible, so be a good girl and hide, alright?"

Giving the casual goodbye kiss, Lily placed the metamorph under the bed and watched as Nia waved her body in confirmation.

(I'll be careful, so make sure to take care and come back soon). As always, her voice wasn't conveyed, so Nia rubbed against the girl's hand fervently, hoping to convey her feelings.

Noticing the beautiful smile that had once again returned to Lily's face, she sighed inwardly with relief as she watched the girl leave the house.

Realizing that some time had passed since she left, Nia turned her attention back to her mind. Slowly, she tried to move the dark mana through her gelatinous body. Metamorphs didn't have veins, but although they were transparent, the purple liquid escaping from her was her blood. With some studies from the emerging knowledge in her mind, she attempted to fortify her body by increasing the concentration of dark mana at certain points.

Nia avoided doing tests like this as much as possible when she was with Lily. The time she spent with Lily was special to her. Just being with Lily was fun and joyful, things she never imagined discovering to be important were now invaluable pillars of her life.

Slowly, she circulated the dark mana from her small body outward. A small black miasma emerged, containing pinches of purple and reddish glow. Different from the blue mana used by mages, monsters could only manipulate dark mana; that was what gave them life.

In theory, dark mana shouldn't be able to create magic, but that was only because humans who could use magic couldn't use dark mana.

(Separate a small portion and surround yourself with it) Nia thought of the steps in her mind, and at a gentle pace, the dark mana covered her body like a kind of barrier.

When she realized she had succeeded, she began to jump for joy. The so-called "spells" were something that only races that manipulated mana could use; she still didn't understand the classifications and types, but this one called in her mind a "protective barrier" was the second spell she had learned.

(I wish I had more spells, but oh well, one step at a time.) Happy with the small achievement, she began to analyze the barrier.

The black sphere protecting her seemed thin but sturdy. If her knowledge was correct, it should be enough to withstand certain impacts, and its cost in dark mana wasn't too high.

(I wonder if I show it to Lily, will she be surprised?)

Nia often thought about showing her spell to Lily but always decided against it.

(I'll save this for when I'm strong enough to protect Lily.) She thought in her mind and continued her studies. However, she noticed something strange.

The time it took her to conjure the barrier for the first time wasn't low; she had been working on it for a long time.

Lily usually took one to two hours to go to the river and return, but due to the low light, she had probably been gone much longer.

(She's already got food today, and she didn't take her coins, the herbs haven't matured enough to be sold...) A certain fear began to arise within Nia.

The sound of footsteps treading on the ground was heard in the backyard. Nia thought her concern was unfounded and that Lily had just returned.

With great joy to give her a welcome kiss, Nia watched with anticipation as the door opened while the footsteps approached.

But something she didn't expect happened. With a dry thud, the wooden door was broken down and sent flying, crashing against the table. The sound of the two wooden items shattering upon contact was deafening.

"Where's our beautiful reward?"

Walking into the house was a large man in armor, a silver sword at his waist. Putting his hand on his neck to crack it, he looked indifferently into the room; his short, messy black hair was slightly dirty.

"Damn it, she's not here," his voice sounded annoyed.

Nia recognized him; he was the same person who had come the other day and made Lily cry.

"Hector, you bastard, you know that if you hurt her, it'll decrease the selling price."

Another man entered the room; even standing, his posture was hunched forward. Both hands were in his pockets as he protested against the man who entered first. He searched with irritated eyes all the places, his red hair in a ponytail swaying with the movement

(What are they doing here? What do they want?)

"A woman with silver hair is something rare; if she had all her limbs, I could get at least ten gold coins, at least. If she's a virgin as you said, I can get at least 20." The second man mocked Hector's ignorance. "Do you have any idea where she went, or have your muscles consumed your brains? We gathered the whole village in the square, but there was no sign of her."

The mention of selling people froze the mind of the metamorph hiding under the bed. Lily's life was being treated as if it had a price in coins.

(It's okay, they haven't found her yet.) Somehow, extreme relief resonated within Nia as she listened to the conversation.

The large man with black hair, Hector, angrily destroyed the bookshelf before looking at the empty chest of clothes.

"I see... she didn't go to the river this morning to wash the clothes; she must be there now. As it's in the opposite direction of the center, she probably didn't hear the commotion and ran away."

Fear. That was all in Nia's mind as the man easily concluded with clarity where the girl was.

"Alright, I sent some men earlier to that area, but go there quickly; with mana manipulation, you can do it in minutes, right? She's the icing on the cake of this sale, so make sure to capture her."

Laughing as if it were obvious, Hector left the house with the red-haired man. As soon as they left, a small metamorph emerged from under the bed and quickly darted through the broken door.

(I need to go, Lily is in danger!)