The shove came from behind, and then the crash. Ira had scraped her knee as she slammed against the sweltering concrete. All around her, laughter popped like fireworks.
It was not the first time Ira had been bullied like this, and it most definitely was not going to be the last.
Her fingertips clutched the ground in rage; her hands burned against the scorching heat of the concrete, but at that moment she did not care.
'Begone!'
Ira's expression was one of passionate rage, but no words escaped her lips. Her piercing gaze caused the three young girls bullying her to shudder in disgust; swiftly however, a wicked smile played on one of their lips, and in the next moment, Ira was doused in water.
Another surge of laughter erupted all around Ira. In that moment, her body was screaming at her to knock the bullies off their high horses and run away.
"Ugly albino, you are so weird looking, the sight of you makes me want to vomit up my insides!" One of the bullies stated in a jumble of words, as if no thought was put into them.
'What is so wrong with how I look? And I am not even albino, damn it! I think.. Even if that is the case, she should go bully someone else rather than some girl who looks slightly off..'
Ira was born with silver-white hair and a pair of scarlet red eyes. In crowds, she had stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how much effort she put into an attempt to remain unnoticeable; this just so happened to be one of those attempts, and in the end, she had been embarrassed and belittled.
'School is just a load of shit..!' She thought to herself, her heart racing from the adrenaline of what she was going to do next.
Ira balled up her fist, and in a single moment, it connected with one of the girls' faces, sending the bully tumbling to the ground.
The other two girls stared at Ira in shock. Suddenly, the girl whom Ira had punched yelled out to her friends:
"Get that-!"
'Hell..!'
Adrenaline coursed through her blood, and quickly she began to sprint away. Ira no longer cared about that horrid school anymore. What was the point of education if humanity was already on the brink of extinction? Nothing!
Hopping over the fence that was meant to deter anyone from leaving the school premises, she began to laugh maniacally.
'Freedom—freedom at last!'
◇
Ira had not made it far before the three girls caught her. There was not much she could do with a busted-up knee, and what she could do, she had already done.
The rough sidewalk she had run on was not doing her much of a favor; Her feet were aching in pain. Ira glimpsed behind her as she gasped for air, the three girls a mere dozen feet away; one of the street lamps flickered on and off, signaling the approach of night.
In the next moment, two of the girls lunged at Ira and restrained her.
A punch was thrown at Ira's gut, hard enough to steal the air from her lungs and make her wince in pain.
"You like that? Stupid..!"
Shortly after, another blow connected with her jaw, busting her lip up. This time, it was a kick directed straight at her ribs. When it had connected, a small but audible crack resounded through the air, instantly stopping any further blows.
"Crap.. let us just leave."
They had left—but Ira remained, clutching her chest and writhing in pain.
'That..! She broke my rib!'
With a quiet groan, she pulled herself to her feet. It was already getting dark out, and the streets were not a safe place for a young, injured girl such as herself to be wandering around alone.
The young girl did not want to go home, but her hand was being forced due to the situation at hand; if Ira had been perfectly capable, there would be no need. She knew how to throw a punch if need be.
"This wretched world.. a three-decade-long war, and we are on the losing side! Just my luck.."
As if the heavens—or maybe the depths of hell heard her call, it began to rain.
"Great.. My luck can't get worse than this!.. I feel like the weather has been getting worse recently.."
Ira grimaced at her current situation, she knew she would not make it home before the sun had fully set in this weather, so she decided it would be best to just stay on the move throughout the night.
And thus, she began to wander around the city.
Ira had never truly stopped to take in the scenery, even though it was nothing special. Originally, the city, named Fort Delta, was supposed to be a military base, but due to the Purge Beasts', it had become a refugee camp. It was meant to only be a temporary situation, but it had quickly spiraled out of control, becoming a full-on bustling city in the matter of three years.
"All this and they cannot even fix the street lights!?"
The city had a dark atmosphere encompassing it; hope was a rare accommodation—only available to the upper class of the depressing city.
Who would not be depressed knowing they were losing a three-decade-long war?
◇
Humanity had recently achieved world peace; prosperity was no longer out of bounds for most—everyone had been given a fair chance in the new world.. That was until the Purge Beasts appeared.
At first, the emergence of otherworldly creatures was mere speculation, until millions began to die. Unprepared, without information, and in an era of peace, humanity was crushed without any means to protect itself.
That changed the moment the first Purge Beast was killed. What lay inside their corpses was an Awakening Crystal, a magical stone allowing anyone who crushed it to awaken and gain magical abilities, along with something called "Resonance": A mechanical voice that resounds in someone's head after slaying an awakened or a Purge Beast. It allowed people to see their unique abilities and attributes.
Humanity was given a fighting chance against the Beasts of extinction, and in all their might, they managed to push off the Purge Beasts temporarily. Establishing the eight major forts: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf Of Engineering, and Yankee, each with its own specific purposes. Ira inhabited Fort Delta, which was responsible for reconnaissance of the Purge Realm, or land lost to the Purge Beasts long ago.
Not like most of this affected Ira in any way. It was highly likely that she would be killed off by pollution rather than Purge Beasts storming the city walls and killing her. She would not let herself die that way either, her life was her own, and nobody would control it, even if fate was against her.
◇
The young girl was completely drenched in water—more so due to getting water dumped on to her earlier. Ira felt herself growing increasingly agitated with each droplet of water that landed on her body—it felt like torture to walk in the rain; her ribs already inflamed from the crushing kick she had received to her chest.
Maybe if she still had loving parents her situation would have turned out differently; she would not be limping in the rain, blood dripping from her busted-up lip, and her hands clutching her gut to ease the pain.
"Curse you, mom and dad."
Hearing her own words, she frowned. Ira wished she could take back what she had said, but it was already too late.
"Sorry, mom and dad.."
Rubbing the back of her neck, she decided to no longer dwell on it, but that would not hinder her growing frustration at the weather.
Swiftly after, she had reached her breaking point from the constant downpour—along with the pain from her inflamed ribs. She raised her foot to kick a small stone that lay on the ground. Slowly, it rolled until coming to a stop right before a hooded figure encompassed in a long robe that obscured the person's physical traits.
An eerie aura emanated from the figure; time itself felt as if it came to an abrupt stop, only to resume in the next moment.
A wave of anxiety washed through Ira, her palms sweating profusely. The young girl knew how to throw a punch, but an ominous feeling told her everything she needed to know; this mysterious person was no mundane human, and not one to be trifled with.
'Am I about to be mugged..?'
Suddenly, a woman's voice shot through the air like a whistling arrow.
"Hello there, Ira."
The silver-haired girl shuddered at the mention of her name. 'I-is it gonna happen again..? I-it is alright.. I am prepared for this.. I prepared for this…!"
Her mind scrambled, unable to come up with a logical conclusion on to who this might be; Ira's mind began to think back to the past, only one thing appeared to her—the situation was completely different compared to this one, but it still left Ira with the irrational idea that the two situations could be the same.
"Who a-are you!" Ira's voice was fragile and quiet as a mouse—more so than usual.
"It is simple really. I am an Oracle of fate.. and I am here to tell you yours, Ira."
Ira had no time for scammers trying to steal her money, but something inside of her told her to wait patiently and listen to what the mysterious woman had to say.
"O-okay..? Spit it out..!"
The Oracle chuckled softly. "You are destined to die in the next six years."
Maybe fate truly was against her..