A week since coming to Fletcher I'd gotten to be good friends with Wayne and the others. We set up old metal rods and fashioned them into goals. Despite being new to the whole idea of soccer they took to it pretty quickly. I didn't realize how much of a disadvantage I would be at In terms of augmenting myself. Despite all of the meditation I've done to refine my cores, I still struggled to maintain my energy for the course of a full game. By the end, I could feel the second core starting to tap out.

  The only thing that allowed me to make up for my lack of power, was my abundance of skill. I was, after all, on my high school varsity team. We'd even won state my senior year. These soccer newbies didn't have anything on my raw experience as I dribbled through their defenders and attacked. I thought being so small would hinder me, but as it turned out, it helped me sneak through the taller boys when they weren't paying attention.

  Regardless, Yashir took note of how slowly my cores were being refined. "We'll be leaving today."

  he'd say getting up from his bed. I sat on my. my own, doodling carelessly to pass the time.

  "Yes sir." Is how I responded, With respect and submission. Despite how caring Yashir could be, I felt more like his Apprentice sometimes, rather than daughter. It was my responsibility to obey everything he told me. To follow his rules. right now it's the only way I know how to survive.

  Even though it's been a year since he rescued me, the scars that were inflicted run deep. I have panic attacks sometimes when I'm in tight spaces. I suppose it just reminds me too much of the cell I was confined to. It's strange how certain sounds or smells bring up trauma again as though I was right back in the cell.

  The nightmares I face are the worst part of it all. I'll go to sleep on a high note just to be beaten in my dreams again and again. I wake up gasping at my throat because I can feel the Arc Inhibitor choking me. Cold water even, reminds me of the horrors I endured. There hasn't been a single day that has gone by where I don't think about these things.

  Yashir taught me that the only way I can cope is by moving forwards. I have to admit that so far he seems right. The best I feel is when I'm preoccupied by other things. When I'm training to get stronger. It gives me the feeling that I can take my retribution into my own hands. I have Yashir and Yashir alone to thank for that. As long as I live I will forever be in his debt.

  We spent the morning packing our belongings. We didn't have much that we intended to bring with us, but we had gotten some extra amenities to enjoy for our stay. Things we needed to leave behind. After getting everything together Yashir and I left the Inn and started heading north.

  "Where are we going now?" The question only just now occurred to me to ask.

  Yashir chuckled in response, "Why are you only just now thinking about that?" he questioned in response.

  My cheeks reddened and I punched his leg angrily. "We were having fun here, so I didn't think about it."

  "Oh! Ow!" He laughed as he rubbed his leg. "My little Liah is getting stronger." Following his teasing he rubbed the top of my head. I couldn't help but smile, Yashir made it easy for me to.

  "We're headed to Pleasant Valley." Yashir would say as he looked down to meet my eyes. I was still only about three feet and six inches, and had to crane my neck to look at him.

  “Sounds pleasant." I joked, with a smile Yashir let out a wistful sigh.

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  “Yeah… but it's nothing like the name suggests most people avoid it at all cost." His gaze would seem to go past my own as he stared off into the distance. It was like he was looking straight into the past. “Hell is more like it, especially for the first time, and even more so if you don't know how to survive."

  “You mean to tell me it's hell even when you know how to survive there?" I asked, Yashir's eyes seemed to snap back into my own in a freaky kind of way which made me look away uncomfortably

  “Yeah that's exactly what I mean to tell you." Yashir responded gently while placing a hand on my shoulder. Despite being nervous about where we were headed, I took comfort in having Yashir by my side. And yet, I was still frustrated by the lack of information he'd give. "Pleasant valley is packed full of Arc. When something dies it's as if the earth absorbs it.”

  I continued walking alongside Yashir quietly as he went on to explain further. "As creatures hunt they grow stronger and by absorbing their energy dense prey. It's like an endless cycle down there.”

  "Oh I see, so we're going there to harvest Arc Cores so we can get stronger?" I asked, speaking with excitement.

  “Not we…” Yashir said with a chuckle. Just you."

  “What the heck? You just told me it was a living hell, how do you expect me, a little girl, to survive hell on my own?" I yelled at Yashir in protest.

  “I've already taught you everything you need to survive. Don't worry about it…" He said his face unyielding to my opposition. “Just go down and harvest cores. It's really not… that hard."

  “If it's so easy then how come more people don't try it? How come no one just sets up a mine and harvest its resources?" I asked my cheeks puffed out in frustration.

  " Anytime people try to mine there, the local creatures wreak havoc on the machines. They disturb the habitats too much and all end up dead." Yashir said with a solemn expression. “And as for why there aren't more Pleasant Valley hunters, well it's because they're scared of dying."

  “What kind of monsters live there?" I ask with my arms crossed. Subconsciously I even began bitting the nail of my thumb as I tried to get a better idea of what I was getting put against.

  “Titans… That's what we call creatures with a blue or purple core." Yashir stopped walking and the halt of his footsteps was filled with the eerie silence of the forest. “What you may not realize is that Arc changes you on a physical level. Your bones become stronger, your rate of healing increases, your senses improve, so forth and so on. The same goes for any other living being, but sometimes they mutate in more extreme ways. Deer horns grow sharper, bears grow taller, the fur of a wolf grows thicker. It's these mutations that make Pleasant Valley as dangerous as it is.”

  After Yashir told me that, It once again dawned on me that this world was nothing like my previous one. This world was chaotic and gruesome. It was like this world viewed me as an enemy because no matter what it was I faced it was like I was getting the worst of it. This is what was on my mind as I stared over the Forest canopy laid before me. We made it, the entrance of Pleasant Valley. A cliff towering some 80 ft aptly named Dead Man's Drop.

  “So uh how do we get down?” I asked looking up to Yashir as I backed away a bit from the edge.

  “I told you already." Yashir began, his voice cold. His eyes wouldn't even meet my own. “This is something you're gonna have to do on your own."

  I felt my heart leap up into my chest as I clenched my teeth, eyes widened. I started to take another step back as my vision darkened. “He can't be serious," I thought, panicking. I wanted to turn, break into a run and not look back. But I could feel Yashir’s firm grip holding on to the back of my pack. His hand pushed forwards and I felt the ground crumble beneath me, the sound of rocks sliding. " Meet me at the end of the valley. I could hear him call out from behind me.

  My heart pounded as I twisted in the air. First I was staring at the still water that sat at the bottom, then I was looking back up at Yashir, his face rather calm for someone who’d just sentenced a girl to her death. I held my breath and pulled my Arc from my core, flooding my whole body with the energy as I braced myself. As the wind rushed past my ears it seemed like I would fall forever until finally.

  SPLOOSH