Fan Fiction ❯ Goddess of Soul - The Altered Judgement ❯ Common Kindness, Bitter Tough ( Chapter 3 )

G of S - Part Three -

~ Common Kindness, Bitter Tough ~

 

Chinemsei walked down the rather calm street in her usual manner. A sort of curious wander as if everything was new though she had seen it all more than enough to know it as ordinary. There seemed always some sort of contented look upon her expression or maybe it was more so a presence, but despite it she headed in the vague direction of the launder's place with the wrappings in a small rounded bag, which she wore on her back. She brought it many places with her to hold, whatever; today the wrappings and the sandwich tucked away in one of its smaller compartments, but tomorrow who knows. The merchant's street was busier than most for they rose earlier to set up and prepare for the day. Her friendly smile was extended to everyone she saw and a small wave when appropriate. Along the way she briefly chatted with some people and gained two more bags to bring to the launder, which she gladly accepted and received the usual gratitude.

 

She made it to the laundry shop and rapped lightly on the door even though the flappable sign read `closed' in all capitals. She waited there patiently until the owner came, which didn't take him very long.

 

He readjusted his glasses and gave a small smile before turning the lock and opening the door, “What do you have for me today, Nem?”

 

With a grin she held out the bags as she named their owners. “Douglas, Ms. Francis and um…” She pulled forward her bag and pulled out the bundle, “Alba and Ronda, urgent.”

 

He took the parcels one by one, listening whose was what, “Thanks, kid. Have a good day.”

“You as well.” She gave a wave of her hand and headed on down the street. There was no particular way she had to go, and since she didn't know where John was she figured wandering on her regular routes would be just as good as actually searching.

 

She stopped again as she passed the grocer, and he called out to her. “Hey, Sei!” Chinemsei turned and waved, “Is Joanna coming into get groceries today?” The grocer was a middle-aged man who had a slick son. His wife had left him long ago with the child, but over recent years he had developed a crush on Joanna though like most other things he was rather conservative about it.

 

Nem shook her head, and called back to him, “No, no. Tomorrow.”

 

He gave her a gracious smile, “Thanks, Sei! Did you need anything? I have freshly squished orange juice.”

 

Nem trotted over to him with excitement, “Really!?”

 

“Yup.” He nodded proudly, “Just made it earlier this morning, you want some?”

“Yeah! Oh, um…” She got quieter and looked downward in thought. “Could I… um, have two?”

 

The Grocer looked a bit surprised that she had asked, but he waved his hand downward and grinned, “No problem, for you Sei, I'll do it. But… you gotta do something for me too then.”

 

Nem accepted without hesitation, “Alrighty, what?”

 

“One second,” he went further into the store and leaned over the counter to grab a brown paper parcel which he gave to Nem when he got back over to her. “Could you give this to the butcher for me?”

 

Nem smiled and nodded generously, “Oh yes, oh yes.”

 

“That'a girl. I'll get you the juices.”

 

He did and soon Nem was on her way again with the parcel and juices hidden away to her bag. As she came to the fork in the road, her decision was made for her and she began to travel the left division of the road in the direction of the butchery. Again she waved to some people and greeted them or was greeted first. One elderly woman in particular had called out to Nem as she swept away the dust from her front stoop. Nem knew her only by the nickname Grannan, for it had been a long time since Nem had heard her actual name and she had now forgotten. Grannan asked in her soft manner where the child was off to and with Nem's eager answer, the elderly woman gave her a list for the butcher so the order would be ready for her when she managed to get down there. Nem accepted the list graciously and received a large cookie, from Grannan for her trouble.

 

It didn't take too long for Chinemsei to make it to the butcher shop. She finished the cookie and sauntered in, finding only one other person in the shop. Nem waited patiently as they finished ordering and then headed out.

 

The man out-front looked over the counter to his next, much smaller client. “What can I do for you, lass?” The larger man inquired.

 

Chinemsei pulled her bag forward and with some shaking and tugging she got the parcel out, and then looked back up to he man casually. Placing the letter on top the parcel she lifted it up as high as she could. The man leaned over a bit more and took hold of the items. “The list is for Grannan and package from Mr. Beido.”

 

The man gave a small smile and nodded, “Thanks a bunch, kid.”

 

Nem returned the smile then turned away, heading back out of the shop, and continued back into the streets, a small bound in her step. I t was an average day for her, walking through the town and ending up running errands for people. Today though, she especially wanted to deliver the sandwich from Ronda and Alba. Her curiosity about the man from the shore only kept growing. There was something different about him that didn't seem to match with the Islanders, but first impression were something to be proved, even if proven wrong. As she walked down the street, the smell of salt water came to her nose and she smiled slightly as the call of birds was in the distance. The street had fewer shops on it and more homes, but as they diagonally went along the road, they began to back the rocky beach more and more. There was a place a little further down that had a public open area for the community. It was there that John had looped back to after a couple hours of walking and trying to stay out of sight as well as think, but little had come to him, other than how odd this town seemed at points on his walks. It was probably 11 o'clock by his guess at the sun and he had been watching the waters for a while there. His appearance may have looked odd to the way he presented himself. He had a very proud demeanor though it didn't take much to see that he was lost in a place of simplicity. His short was beige, or rather ivory that had been sand-stained, tattered around the edges and upon his shoulder, blood-stained as well. A rip around the one mid upper arm showed his strong bicep and a wrap-around tattoo that was a flesh-paled black with a curved jagged pattern. The brown pants he wore hung down to a couple inches above his ankle, but the one legging was ripped at the knee and a bandaging could be seen through the opening. He leaned his weight on one arm as he hunched over the concrete railing and rested his slinged arm on the top. His sandaled feet shifted slightly but he remained there at the side. Chinemsei had barely seen him, the spot he had picked was right near a tree and some scraggily brush. She had to look twice to realize it was him, but the fact he was wearing Alba's old sandals gave it away.

 

Chinemsei grinned and trotted up behind, her bare feet coming down upon the gritty grass softly. She looked up the old apple tree and smiled subtly before grabbing one of the branches and climbing up the tree. John wasn't paying attention to anything but his forward gaze to the waters, but with the rustling, he glanced back to see nothing in his immediate sight. His gaze returned to the blueness as Chinemsei walked out on to a thick branch and kept her balance by moving her palm along another higher branch. She then carefully sat herself down on the limb; her legs wrapping around it for stability. She pulled the bag forward and then reached forward to try to tap his shoulder.

 

His right hand swiftly moved up and grasped her wrist as he turned partway to look up and over to her. “What do you think you're doing?” His eyes said it all. Distrust, annoyance, confusion, and a more hidden frustration, but it was his tone that supported it all too well.

 

Chinemsei looked at him in a somewhat confused awe, but she smiled again softly and her free hand reached into the second compartment of her bag. She pulled out the wrapped sandwich which was still a bit warm and she held it out to him for the taking, “Morning!” He arched a brow in questioning and let go of her wrist to take the sandwich and partially unwrap it to see what it was, while she spoke out again. “It's from Ronda and Alba, and I gots something else too.”

 

She rummaged through the bag with her hands and pulled out both juices, offering one to him again with an extended hand. He looked her over closely, the way she smiled, the manner in which her hair came down and hid her one eye. The tree's shade masked the glimmer in the silver but its deep tone was regal enough on its own.

 

He took the juice from her and his ocean gaze looked to it. “Thanks, kiddo.” He muttered out then turned back to the waters and set the items down on the concrete railing. Now that the food was there, he started to realize just how hungry he was and there was no way of knowing just how long ago it had been since he had last eaten. He leaned his weight again against the concrete divider and watched the waves, “You're the girl, who found me, aren't you?” He knew the answer but was using the question to prevent silence.

 

She nodded and let herself fall from the top of the branch and hung there with her legs still wrapped firmly around the wood, “Yup.”

 

“Right well,” He looked back over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow yet again as he lost the words of what he was going to say from just seeing her like that, “What are you doing?”

 

“Hanging.” She said simply, “What are you doing?”

 

“Looking at you… what does it matter?” He muttered as he shook his head in some form of disapproval.

 

“It matters a bunch, cause you're important.”

 

“And why am I important?”

 

Chinemsei smiled in her charming childish manner, “'Cause everybody's important somehow, and I can you definitely are.”

 

He looked at her as if she was some odd creature, uncommon in some deeper manner, “What's you name?”

 

“Chinemsei. And you're John Doe, Alba told me.”

 

“Yeah… for now I am.”

 

“Mister John, can I stay with you, to eat or whatever?”

 

“Hn.” He kept his gaze on her for a prolonged moment. Her eyes stayed on him eagerly waiting. Upon her forehead was a paler streak, against her peachy cocoa skin. It was nothing more than a scar, but rather a large souvenir for a youth to have on her face. It was normally covered by her long bangs that fell over her right eye. He rose up his arm to her and answered, “Yeah, find kid. Just get down, you look like a monkey.”

 

She nodded and grabbed hold of his arm before carefully letting go of the branch with her feet. She grabbed for his shoulder as well and for a moment as she kept hold, his weary body strained to keep balance. He turned her back to the concrete and she sat upon it before releasing her hold of him. Turning back, he completely unwrapped the sandwich and began to eat it as he retook his spot leaning. John remained silent as he thought and ate; wondering partially why exactly he had helped her down like that.

 

His eyes ended up drifting back over to her as she picked up her own juice simultaneously with him. He took a drink, she took a drink, he moved it a certain way, she moved it a certain way, he shook it, and she shook it.

 

“Are you mimicking me?” He inquired rather unaffectedly before taking another bite.

It seemed pretty obvious that that was what she was doing, but she shook her head, “Nope, my juice is mimacking yours.”

 

He rolled his eyes and looked back out to the waters, “Uh-huh, kid… whatever you say.”

 

She turned her own gaze to the waters and sipped away at her orange juice. The sun shone on them both there, on the island, but out on the waters a storm could be seen where the mist and trepid waters ruled and the sky was dark and warning. John watched tentatively and so her eyes examined him and then followed his gaze to the storm.

 

She remained silent until he decided to speak which wasn't until after he had finished with the food. “That storm will be bad still when it comes in.”

 

Chinemsei shook her head and set down the empty orange juice container, “It not coming to shore.”

 

“What?” He looked over to her peculiarly “Why do you say that?” He asked his tone perplexed. She just shrugged lightly and he persisted, “Chinemsei?” He had slight difficulty but still managed to get it right.

 

She looked over to him and smiled, “'Cause, it never does. Oh, and you can call me Nem if you want.”

 

He nodded slowly but furrowed his brow as he looked back out to the waters again. “But the wind would have to push it in or pull it out eventually.”

 

“Maybe Wind doesn't want to do either?”

 

He considered this briefly, displeased with it as an answer, though he muttered out absentmindedly, “No, maybe she doesn't…”

 

“So John, where are you from?” She asked out of curiosity.

 

“I don't know… somewhere other than here.”

 

She nodded but her content died away slowly as she found the pain of not knowing in his gaze, “Well, Tohma can be your home, `til we know, okay?”

 

He was going to scoff at her comment, because it wasn't as simple as that, but when he focused on her face, he could see how sincere she was. Trying to help in any way she could to make things better for him and his cynical attitude became less important. There was the same manner to her as when he had awoken to her beaming features on the beach; one that could do no wrong. A stray thought came to him, Was it that simple? To treat this place as his home while trying to remember the rest. It wasn't an easy question to answer… not at all, but he gave her a very slight smile and raised his good hand up to ruffle her hair, “Alright, kiddo.”

 

She grinned and it was easy to see her joy of accomplishment, “How `bout I show you town?”

 

He nodded and shifted his position as she put the empty containers and cloth into her bag, and then carefully hopped down. “Where to first?”

 

She looked up and shrugged but swung her bag on to her back, and started off from their little meeting place. He followed her as she headed into town the way she had been traveling originally. Her carefree pace was fine by his injured knee. They walked quite aimlessly which was something Chinemsei was used to, but for John it seemed somewhat unusual yet pleasant nonetheless. She pointed out many different places and what they were as they went by. The turn and the different streets which were so new to him, he knew he'd never remember any just off-hand. He let her take him all the ways she wanted and observed the manner, in which this town worked. Some people just ignored them, some politely greeted them with a `hello', wave or even just a smile, and others greeted Nem and called her over, then John had to introduce himself which made him feel awkward most of the time. Nem was still asked to do some errands, which he ended up helping with in the end. Hours past by on their tour, and as they reached a mostly residential street, Nem brought John through a pathway back to the beach. They stopped there and rested on some large tide-smoothed rocks. She sat in a relaxed way and looked out to the clearer skies. He looked to her, while they sat and soaked up the peacefulness. Uncertainty of feelings filled him, he should have hated this whole situation, but slowly he was starting to think of ways he could use it to his advantage. Start anew maybe, or was remembering more important? Nothing was simple and easy to decide anymore, but… was it ever?

 

The only conclusion he could come to was that he was who he was right then, even if it proved to be different than whom he had been, and if it changed again later then so be it. He had to live then and there, and off of what was left of what he knew. Nem seemed like some sort of proof to him; she had been there when he had came to and as the morning had been crawling away and the lost and hopeless feelings had been filling him with dread as if the darkness had been fleeing to his heart, but she had come with food and friendship. It was all a conclusion that didn't purely satisfy him, but there was little else he could do. He had been wondering whether or not he was just going insane, the forgetting and everything which seemed so unnatural. When he had awoken to those soft and kind silver eyes, it had been as if at first they hadn't belonged to a being but rather were just windows to paradise, where he could only see truth. He had been seeing things though, images of something that might have once been or rather just things he had conjured up. When he had been walking alone in the morning, he had seen a man whose look seemed untrustworthy. There had seemed to be some evil aura, like a black mist around the dark haired man, but as John had closed his eyes for a moment then looked back, the man seemed normal. So had he simply imagined it, maybe he had hit his head too hard during the `accident' which had landed him on Tohma.

 

He slid himself down the rock, to get closer to her and his hand came to her face, the back of his fingers brushing back her long bangs. Nem looked over to him somewhat surprised, but she tensed and began still again as he moved her bangs. Her gaze lowered and she did nothing as if trained to not resist contact. His brow furrowed slightly as her forehead became visible and he quickly ran his thumb over the paled skin of her scar. He withdrew his hand quickly and he looked back to the sky. The clear skies were slowly graying with thin sheets of clouds.

 

“Come on…” he said somewhat blandly and stood his sore body up, “We should head back… at least I should.” Despite what she had said earlier, he didn't trust the sky, it seemed another storm was starting to brew and was feeding off the larger one out to sea.

 

She got up and finger combed her bangs back into her face before she nodded, “Okay, I'll go to… if you want me to.”

 

He glanced back to her briefly but then started walking, “Yeah, kid. Whatever you want.”

 

Nem looked to him with remorse as he walked away from her. It wasn't hard to see that he felt lost and out of place. She may have been young, but she had seen many circumstances, none such as odd as this, but enough to know some of what he said with his gaze and expression. She couldn't be sure why he had looked at her forehead, but she wasn't do far off the truth, which was he was testing himself for detail to see if what he had seen before was still there. Once he had seen the scar though he had started to wonder how she had gotten such a marking and wished to change the attention of his thoughts.

 

Nem couldn't imagine how it would be to not remember the past, so she found it hard to believe John's situation, but she was worried asking him if it was true or not would just upset him more. So her bare feet just treaded over the sands after him.

 

Even as the clouds overcast the sun a bit here and there, the walk back wasn't bad; the sand was soft and warm. Nem walked in the shallow waters when they came to a place where uneven patches of long grasses sprouted up for a few yards. John considered following her water-bound strides, but he decidedly stayed on dry land, with the sand getting stuck in his sandals. They walked quit far, but along the beach was shorter than all the streets they had taken. He tried not to show it but he was beginning to get rather exhausted, and started to watch the sands as he dragged his feet forward. Until he heard the splashing of water his gaze was down, but he found the origin coming from Nem as she was running through the water to a group of people further up ahead. She smiled and waved to the group as she ran up, leaving the water and going specifically to one teacher who waved back. It was again the same classes doing their beach activities. John pushed his hand into his hand's pocket and he kept going at his handicapped pace. The kid's were looking for seashells along the beach for a project and the teacher's were simply supervising.

 

Nem hurried up to the one and hugged her around the waist, “Miss Alexandria!”

 

The young female smiled back to Nem and patted her on the shoulder, “Sei, how are you doing?”

 

Nem let go and looked up cheerfully to the kind and pretty teacher. She turned and pointed to John, “I okay, and walking with John brings me here.”

 

“Oh…” she said softly and looked to John as he was making his way over. Many of the children who were closer had noticed and looked to the man they didn't know and seemed so roughed up.

 

Nem looked over the children until she found two she knew very well, and she chirped out, “I'm going to see Noah and Sammy now!” then she quickly bounded over to them. Sammy or rather, Samantha, waved to her and Noah greeted Nem when she got over to them, “Hey hey, what are you guys doing?” she asked as she peered into a small metal pail filled partway with seashells.

 

“We're collecting shells to identify, want to help us looks, Chi?”

 

Nem nodded with delight and kneeled down to start looking through the moist sand. Meanwhile John made it up to the grouping and the woman teacher who Nem had greeted walked up to him, extending a hand in greeting.

 

“Miss Alexandria Decé, it's nice to see you're doing alright.”

 

John pulled his hand out of his pocket and shook her hand, “John Doe, and well thanks.” He eyes her over quickly, smirking and decidedly tried to hide any pain and exhaustion, “You know me?”

 

“Oh, no sorry. I was one of the people who helped get you to Mr. Karinno's. You're very lucky Chinemsei came to tell us about you.” She smiled softly and quickly looked to him over as discretely as possible, “I'm actually surprised you're already up and about.”

 

He glanced up to Nem with the other children and came to the realization that, that was where she had run off to. To tell people of where he was, “Maybe, I shouldn't be.” He muttered out in a distracted manner. He suddenly felt much more in debt to her, the young orphan who he knew nothing about.

 

“Well don't overexert yourself.” She warned him.

 

“Huh?” He looked back to her and then what she had said clicked, “Oh yeah, sorry I just missed that at first.”

 

She smiled at how unintentionally absentminded he was being. It wasn't that he looked terrible either, but he definitely looked tired, and since the children were well-on their way, she offered, “You wouldn't like to have a seat for a while, would you?”

 

“Well…” he considered it briefly but was decided when he looked to her pretty face, “Yeah sure, not like I have anywhere else to be.”

 

“Alright then.” She said as she turned and headed over to a large blanket on the sand, slipping off her sandals before she stepped on to it and sat down cross-legged. He followed her mimicking the way she took of her footwear first, before he sat down careful of his knee.

 

There was an awkward silence, so he spoke up with questions, “Would you be able to tell me a bit about Tohma?”

 

Her expression conveyed a subtle look into the surprise inside of her, “Of Tohma? The whole island?”

 

He nodded, “Yeah… I don't remember anything about it, really.”

 

“Oh…” she smiled softly and nodded, hoping she hadn't come off rude. “Well… it's rather large, but much of it is covered by woodland and mountain range.” She tried to think of more to say, everything felt so common to her. “Oh there's three towns, this is one of the two biggest, we call it Baleto, after the-“

 

He cut in as he muttered out, “-the baleto tree that was said to have grown in the shape of a shelter.”

 

“Yes!” She smiled admirably to him, “Did you happen to have studied the old legends as well?”

 

“I don't know.” He stated somewhat coldly as he tried to figure out where that had come from, or more importantly how he knew more. `It was the baleto tree that was said to have had its saplings grown in the shape of a shelter around the sleeping Gods when the separation of the world occurred'. He laid back on the blanket as he thought over the saying from mere legend. “That's not just it, though…” he spoke out factfully as he looked over to her. “They were supposed to be shelters for Gods and turned to stone when the Gods awoke.”

 

She nodded and he looked up to the sky, before she spoke, “Right… but that's just a legend.”

 

His eyes widened and the sky seemed to twist with a feeling in his stomach. Dizziness came over him and he shut his eyes tightly. Darkness came as he moved through a flashback and a wave of warmth fell on him. The room was dark but the orange glow of candlelight cast visibility on to some things, including the chest he was looking up to, paler soft skin covered by lavender silk as his head sat in her lap with his arms stretched back in a confident manner. He couldn't see her face but he wasn't trying to hard, he rather watched the darkness as her hand brushed back some of her dark red-violet hair, and then came to comb through his locks from front to back. She had just finished saying something, and though he hadn't heard it, he knew it had just been what he was thinking about the baleto tree.

She kept stroking his hair, but he didn't show how he enjoyed it. Rather, h spoke up, “Don't tell me you believe in those fairy-tales.”

Her hand stopped in his hair, and her gut moved with a deep but bitter `heh', her other hand lowered and her cool palm rested on his chest, “You mistake me, I don't believe, I know. They're truth.” She said it with some dark pleasure.

He could only scoff at her as if he knew better and closed his eyes.

She continued to stroke his hair affectionately and whispered out clearly, as if it were a secret, “You'll see soon enough.”

 

His hand moved up and clamped down on his face as a pain started to throb in his head. He let out a slight moan but opened his eyes as he heard his alias, “John… John is everything alright?”

 

“Huh?” He pulled his hand away and used his arm to anchor himself up a bit as he looked to Alexandria, “Yeah yeah, sorry… I just got light-headed, I guess.”

 

“Please do take it easy, getting yourself hurt more won't help any.” She looked to him with genuine concern.

 

He was surprised a bit that she would worry about him at all, but the surprise quickly turned to guilt and anger that he was so pitiful, “Yeah, don't worry about it.”

 

She pursed her lips a bit, but gave a nod before looking back to her students to see what they were up to. She smiled softly as she saw a small group had gathered around Nem, Noah and Sam. “I believe… they're talking about you.”

John arched a brow slightly and looked over to the grouping which caused many who had been looking over to quickly and obviously look away.