Lilian the Outcast
Lilian Willow twirled her spear as she glared at her opponent. A deep breath escaped her, and finally, she moved. A short jab snapped up, followed by a long as she judged the distance, digging a long gash in their cheek. With a spin, she danced around its backside and split the side open. She frowned, having been aiming for the back. Stepping back with another deep breath, she exhaled and launched forward again. This time, she struck true, piercing her opponent’s back with a vicious twist. She yanked the weapon out, dancing around its side, thrusting once more and—“Hey!” A gauntlet covered have fell up her shaft, startling Lilian as it held her weapon in place, not budging an inch as she desperately tried to jerk away.
“Let go!” She winced as her voice cracked in desperation.
“Sorry.” The hand let go, and she stumbled back, falling on her rear, clutching her silver spear tightly to her chest. Her head thumped angrily, while her breath came, short and quick. “Are you alright?”
A hand fell in front of her face, and she stared cross-eyed at it. After a moment, Lilian turned up, looking at the towering figure in confusion. However, that confusion soon turned to rage, as she smacked the hand away and scrambled to her feet. “What’s your problem!?”
“Sorry, sorry,” his smile mocked her as he raised his hands in the air. “I came in thinking it was empty, but once I saw you in action, I had to figure out what was going on.”
She scowled into the floor, looking away from the judging eyes. With a quick glance to the side, she eyed the clock and muttered, “I still have the room booked for another half an hour.”
“No, no,” he quickly interjected. “I was just taken aback by your skill, and—”
“Stop it.” She snapped, hating those words, mocking her, like she was nothing. “You don’t have to patronize me.”
“Patronize you?” The man’s voice was soft now, and she grit her teeth as he repeated her words, treating her like a child.
“I know I’m still new to the spear. You don’t have to lie to my face.” Simone’s voice echoed in her head, telling her exactly how bad she was at the weapon. It wasn’t her fault that the spear felt so perfect in her hands.
“Kid, I’m not—”
“I’m not a kid!” She was almost sixteen, damn it. “Why are you even here? There’s other rooms.”
“Just bad luck, chose the wrong door. Now I’m here,” the man laughed.
“Oooh, bad luck, kiddies. But Asteros is here.” Those were caused her hands to shake as the memories came back. “Can’t you leave.”
He stepped closer and her breath hitched, “I was going to, but after seeing you—”
“You’re bothering me.”
“I understand. But—”
“Why this room?” Why her? It had taken her a week to finally get into one of the Guild’s special training rooms.
“Just happenstance. My team is in another—”
“I need to go.” Her throat was so tight.
“What? Listen—” He stepped closer, reaching out for her. Trying to take her. Trying to hurt her. She remembered the pain in her stomach. The emptiness in her legs. Her legs, she couldn’t move her legs, why wouldn’t they run?
“Please.” Her voice cracked, and she backed away, out of his reach.
“Are you alright?” He moved after her, and finally her legs moved.
“Keep the room.” Lilian ran.
“Wait! I don’t need the room, my team—”
“Coward!” Simone’s voice melded with her own, snarling at her weakness. Her empty hand clawed at the door’s handle, and she ripped it open.
“—is in another room we booked!” Lilian didn’t hear the words as her heart pounded in her ears. She tripped on her way out, sending her spear clattering against the ground.
“Hey, have you seen—crap? Are you alright?” Someone’s voice hissed at her, and she look up in terror as they reached down for her weapon.
“No!” She leaped forward, scrabbling to pick up Radiant’s Dawn.
The person shouted, kicking out at her. She took a boot to the cheek, but secured her weapon, barely making it to her feet as she ran down the hallway, cursing her cowardice. Lilian didn’t stop running, shoving through the halls, ignoring the people that called after her, hurling insults. She didn’t stop until she was outside the Guild Hall, dry heaving onto the pavement. For the first time in a while, Lilian was glad she didn’t have the money to afford breakfast earlier. It would have been a waste.
“What an embarrassment.” Her eyes snapped up, staring around in confusion. But no one was there.
“Simone…” She had only spent a few months with the man, and yet his words still echoed harshly throughout her mind. And after she had saved his life…
Slowly, she pushed herself back to her feet after several deep breaths. Wiping the bile from her chin, she stood, glancing around at the empty streets, thankful for some privacy at least. “Damn it.” She tried to ignore the tears that threatened to spill forth. Why couldn’t that guy just leave her alone? It would have only been another half hour. Why couldn’t he have just waited? Why her, why always her? With a slight hiccup, she gripped Radiant Dawn tightly and trudged down the cobblestone paths. Simone’s words echoing in her mind. “If you’re ever stressed by the world sitting on those weka shoulders of yours, just go kill something. Beating the hell out of some goblins will make you feel good. Don’t look for anything else. You’ll probably end up dead.”
“Bastard.” Still, she continued down the mountain, heading for the eastern gate to take the man’s advice. He’d laugh at Lilian for that childish display, running away with her tail between her legs instead of standing her ground. So, with her head down and hands clutching her spear, Lilian Willow walked through the silent streets.
People moved away from her, fearing the rusty armor and dried blood that covered Lilian’s body. She could feel their judgmental stares as she stepped up to the counter. Meekly, she asked the Guild Employee standing there, “Excuse me. Is there a bounty or job for goblins near the Balnian forest?”
“Balnian? One moment.” Flipping through papers at an incredibly slow pace, the man eventually pulled one out. “Here we go. Ah, but I’m sorry, it’s already marked complete earlier this day.”
Lilian frowned. “I just came from there. I took out about thirty of them.”
“Well…” The man looked at his paperwork, “I’m sorry, but it has been marked complete. I can find the name if you’d like to put in a report.”
She tightened her hands over Radiant Dawn. “No, no, that’s fine. I don’t want to cause a fuss.” What a waste of a day. Barely any training done, tired and injured, and now a deeper hole in her money pouch. All for what?
Sometimes.
Sometimes she just thought…
Maybe it would be better…
If she were…
Lilian sighed, effortlessly hefting Cicily onto her back. She turned, ignoring the corpses littering the area, and looked at the rest of her accidental team as they huddled around the man they were hired to protect. “Everyone alright?” She didn’t really care too much, mind focused on her own memory. It had been four years since that day. Why was she even thinking about it? At that point, she was at her lowest, but… How pathetic.
“That was…” the party’s leader couldn’t finish his sentence.
Lilian rolled her eyes, knowing she could have taken the bandits out quicker. There wasn’t a need to point it out. “Do you all need a rest, or would you rather we soldier on?” She asked.
“No.” their charge said, voice cracking in nervousness. “No. Let’s just get out of here.”
She glanced at the group, looking for any injuries. Honestly, she was surprised none of the bandits had tried to run for the rest of the group. All twenty-four had come straight for Lilian. “Kind of smart, going for the weakest.” Lilian muttered to herself. She shrugged and turned away, mind reeling as she watched the fight over and over in her mind, trying to figure out what she could have done better.
As Lilian continued down the path, the rest of the group stood back, watching in awe as the woman walked away.
“I thought you said she was only F-Rank?”
“I thought so too…”
“I’m pretty sure that one guy had a C-Ranked bounty on him.”
“The one she bisected?”
“Yeah…”
Lilian scratched at her burning ears and briefly wondered if she were coming down with a cold or something. That would be just the thing she needed now.