Another day came
A little blonde girl slept soundly on her bed
Suddenly she heard a noise
"Psst"
Someone was whispering
"Hey Erin, wake up"
The little girl slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them
Standing beside her bed was a little boy with messy dark hair
"Mmm… Narru what's happen?"
"Shhh" He quickly pressed a finger to his lips "don't make a noise, you'll wake up mom"
Erin blinked sleepily
"Come follow me, I found something in the forest"
Narru grinned
"Inside the forest?" Erin immediately sat up "But didn't mom said that we should stay in the village?"
"Yeah, I know about it" Narru whispered "that's why we are going to get back here before mom wakes up"
Erin hesitated
"Are you sure mom won't get mad?"
Narru puffed his chest proudly
"Of course, as long as we don't get caught"
Erin stared at him for a moment and then nodded
Together, the siblings quietly sneaked out of the house
The village was still silent in the early morning
The two carefully slipped into the forest
Erin held tightly onto Narru's sleeve
"What did you find?" Erin asked
"Shhh… don't make a noise and follow me" Narru smiled
They walked deeper between the trees
Then a sudden noise came
GROOOOOAAAARRRR
A groan from a beast
"What is that?" Erin shook, her body trembled
"Shhh… that's the thing"
Narru pulled her behind a bush
They peeked through the leaves
There, in a clearing, adventurers stood facing a massive black boar nearly three meters
A boar almost 3 meters with enormous tusks and a spiky tail
"Who are they?" Erin whispered
"They are adventurers"
"Adventurers?"
Narru nodded exitedly
"Yes, they travel around the world, fight monsters and help people" Narru explained
Erin's eyes sparkled
"You remembered the hero from the book right"
She nodded
"The hero is also adventurer, so he also helps people beat these mosnters"
The adventurers consisted of 4 members, a warrior, a paladin, an archer, and a mage
With good cooperation they hunted the black boar
They moved as one
When the black boar rushed forward, the paladin blocked it with his shield then the archer aimed its eye
The mage raised her staff and launched a blazing fireball
Then the warrior rushed in and delivered the final blow
The beast collapsed
Those kids amazed at how these adventurers beat the black boar easily
Her mouth hung open
"Phew, that's though" the warrior wiped his forehead "let's carve it up and get back to the guild"
Crack!
A sudden noise
"Who's there!" the warrior shouted
The party immediately put their stance and aimed at the source of the voice
It was from the bush; Erin accidentally stepped on a branch an made a noise
Narru put his hand on both of their mouth, trying to not make a single sound
Then the warrior gave a sign to the party and slowly approached the bush
Step by step the air felt colder and colder
Then the warrior rushed and slashed the bush
The bush cut into in half
His eyes widened
"What!" He shocked
There was nothing behind the bush
"It must be a squirrel or something"
The party relaxed
Then the warrior walked back to the boar
Far away, the siblings were already running
They finally stopped to catch their breath
Narru laughed
"So, how is it, it's amazing right" Narru asked
Erin's face was glowing with excitement
"Yeah, it's amazing" she waved her arms wildly "She went whoosh and then boom!"
Narru laughed at her clumsy imitation
"Do you think I can use magic like that someday?"
"Of course, didn't the chief said that you have potential"
Erin's eyes brightened even more
"So, I can become an adventurer too?"
"Of course, when we grow up let's become an adventurer together"
"You promise" Erin pointed her pinky finger
"Yes, I promise" he nodded
They made a pinky promise to become an adventurer in the future
"But before that, let's get back first before mom notice"
They immediately went back to the village
The moment they get out from the forest, someone was already waiting for them, a woman
Her face was cold with fury
"M-mom…" Narru shocked
The woman walked toward them with full anger
"M-mom I'm sorry, I'm just-"
Slap!
Bedore he could explain Narru got slapped right on his face and sent him crashing to the ground
"Narru!" Erin tried to help her brother
But her hand got hold by her mother tightly
"There is no food for you today" she said with a cold tone and pulled Erin back to the village
Narru remained on the ground, holding his burning cheek
It was really normal thing in that village
The village where everyone was forbidden to went outside for whatever reason
One day, the siblings were having lunch on the dining table, until someone knocked their house
Narru went to opened the door and outside there stood an old man with bald beard and white beard covered his mouth
It was the chief
His eyes looked down at Narru with disgust
"Where is your mother?" he asked
"Oh… wait a minute"
Narru ran into her mother's room "Mom, the chief is looking for you"
She shocked and immediately went to meet the chief
The moment she saw the chief, she straightened
"Ah… chief what the matter?" she asked
The chief looked at Narru right behind his mother
"Can we talk outside?"
"Ah yes chief"
They went outside and close the door
Narru quietly listened through the door
"So, what's the matter?"
"Your daughter Erin, she will undergo the ritual tonight"
"To-tonight?" she gasped "Are you sure?"
"Yes, is there a problem?"
Her eyes trembled
"N-no, it's such an honor for me"
"Then let's meet again tonight"
The mother's face became serious; she went back inside and pulled Erin straight to her room and locked the door
On the other hand, Narru overhear their conversation, he was afraid, but again there was nothing he can do
Night came fast
The villagers already gathered for the ritual in the middle of the village
Everyone was wearing the same white robe covering their body while their face was covered in a strange white hood
Torch burning everywhere, lighten up the village
The villagers moved in slow circles, chanting endlessly
Narru stood outside the crowd and looking at them
"Narru" Erin called him with a trembling noise
"Erin? What are you doing here?"
Her small body was shaking
"I-I'm afraid?"
"Afraid, why?"
"What if I fail?"
Narru's face became darker knowing that if someone could die if they failed the ritual
But he smiled
"It's going to be fine, I'm sure you're going to succeed the ritual"
"But if I fail then-"
Narru crouched and hold his sister's hand
"Hey, it's going to be fine. Look at me, I failed the ritual too, right? But I'm still here"
"So even if you fail, I promise you're going to be fine"
"But I'm sure you're going to succeed at this ritual, because you are better than me"
Erin confident rose up a little bit until
"ERIN!"
The siblings shocked, it was their mother
"What are you doing here?"
"M-mom, I'm sor-"
Their mother stormed over, she yanked Erin away
Their mother didn't care a single bit about Narru and left him alone
His face became darker as he looked at his sister went to do the ritual
The ritual started; everyone was walking in circle and kept chanting
Erin stood beside the chief as he casted an incantation outside the circle
"Oh, dear god, please give us your blessing," said the chief
Erin slowly walked toward the middle of the circle
One by one those people knelt upon Erin
Erin met the middle of the circle, and everyone was waving their body as they kneel
They kept chanting, louder and louder
Then a black magic circle was created around covering the crowd
Slowly a weird mark cover Erin's body
Suddenly she fell on her knees, holding her own body
"AHHHHHHHH…"
Her scream tore through the night, but no one moved they kept waving their body and chanting louder
Narru froze and watching from far couldn't do anything
His legs wouldn't move
Erin fell on the ground and her body twisted in an unhuman shape, withered in pain
Her body felt like being torn apart
Screeching and screaming
Then the black magic circle slowly turned into white, glowing
The chief raised his arms
"The god… The god have given us its blessing"
Everyone cheered in happiness, the ritual succeeded
But Narru didn't feel the same, he froze, he fell on his knees thinking at what kind of torture his sister will get afterward
From that day, Erin was never come home, she was locked inside the village storage room alone
Day after day, night after night, her screams echoed through the village and no one cared
But Narru couldn't do anything, he knew that every single kid that succeed the ritual will be locked inside the storage room and tortured every single day
One day, Narru sneaked toward the storage room while carrying a book
A book that the siblings always read, a book about the hero who saved the world
He carefully slid it through a gap
Inside, Erin picked the book up and realized it
"Narru is that you?"
"Shh… yes it's me" he whispered "I know it's boring being kept inside so I thought about giving you something to do"
Erin's eyes brighten and hugged the book tightly
"Thank you"
Days later, their mother went toward Narru's room while he was reading a book in his room
She brought the same book Narru gave to Erin and hit him in the head with it
BAM
He fell on the ground
"You are the one who gave her this book aren't you?" it wasn't a question
Narru glared up at her
He couldn't hold his anger anymore
"Yes, and Erin is still little; she shouldn't be treated like that"
SLAP
His mother hit him again
"What did you say? Little? Do you know how precious she is to this village; she has received the blessing of the god and you want us to let her be useless like you?"
He rose to his feet
"What are you talking about, this blessing is stupid, there is never a blessing in this village, every single kid that received the blessing was dead several days later, this is never a bless-"
SLAP
His mother hit him again, harder
Her face twisted with rage
"Shut your mouth, you are useless, you didn't even get to get the blessing and somehow talking like you know everything"
"This blessing is the only thing that will bring happiness to our life, if your sister could use the blessing, then we could get revenge to the kingdom"
Narru stared at her
"Revenge? So, all this just for a useless revenge, you are willing to sacrifice Erin life just for revenge to that stupid kingdom"
She grabbed his collar and lifted him
"Useless? Said that again. Your father died just for us to be recognize by the kingdom and you said useless. Who do think you are? You are just a little kid who only know how to be useless"
She threw him to the ground
"If you ever get close to Erin one more time, you are dead"
Then his mother went outside his room
Narru remained on the floor, shaking
Then he made his decision
That night Narru sneaked out of the house and went to the storage room
He brought a shovel with him and carefully tried to break the storage lock
Crack!
The lock broke
He looked around, but no one was there, he was safe
The slowly he went inside
A big room for a single kid, not a single thing was inside, only a blanket for cover
He crouched beside Erin then whispered
"Hey, Erin wake up"
Erin woke up and rubbed her eyes
"Narru, what are you doing here?"
"Let's run away"
"Run away?"
"Shh… yes let's get out from the village"
"But what if someone found out?"
"It's already midnight everybody is sleeping"
Erin still uncertain
"Hey, you remember our promise right" he showed his pinky finger "We're promise that we're going to an adventurer together"
Erin nodded
"If we keep staying in this village, we will never be an adventurer, that's why I'm asking you to run away, so we can be adventurer"
Erin finally agreed and together they sneaked out from the village
Narru kept holding his sister hand right behind
Sneaked carefully out the village then immediately run toward the forest
Then something happened
Slash!
Narru's hand got cut by an invisible force separating the siblings
He screamed
Erin tried to help her brother but she was held, there was an invisible barrier blocking them
The siblings were thrown apart
Narru was on the ground holding his hand
Blood kept gushing out
Erin was screaming while hitting the barrier
But her voice also got block
Then a figure emerged from the darkness
It was their mother
He went closer toward Erin, grabbed her hand
Erin kicked and struggled desperately
She relentlessly tried to escape and helped her brother but it no use
Narru couldn't do anything, his hand cut clean, blood kept gushing out non-stop, his vision blurred
And then he collapsed
The last thing he saw was Erin screaming silently as she was dragged away.
"And that was the last time I saw my brother" Erin said quietly
Her voice trembled
"From that day" she lowered her head "the villagers kept asking me to use god magic again and again"