Sin of Lust

CHAPTER 24

Sin of Lust by Swapie Achilles

CHAPTER XXIV

OCTOBER

The fight ended with Blanche no scratch at all with only her previous wounds, and looking at the men who are after her, though no one dies they still have severe wounds and some are all heavily bleeding, even the gigantic executioner is unconscious.

“What did just happen?” she breaths out as she looks at her own hand filled with blood but not hers, “how…”

“What is this thing? It controls my body!” She thought, “I can never do this…”

“Hey sis, If I were you, I would get the hell out of here before the rest of the city went after me.” She once again heard the voice of a man.

“Who are you-!” but before she could even ask his name, the weapon turns back into a necklace, and then she heard series of men shouting from distance.

“There she is!”

“Oh crap, there they are!” she screeched and started to run away.

“Chop chop!” the voice exclaimed and there Blanche dashed away.

And then the moment she set her foot outside the gate Blue Bird started to let out a huge and heavy sigh, “We have a criminal at loose, she’s now a fugitive, hunt her down, dead or alive.”

“You heard the Captain, put bounty on her head and propagate her image to the whole Republic.” Blue Bird’s second in command said. “We need him, dead or alive!”

Upon escaping, Blanche stumble on the nearby town, she walks there aimlessly since she’s literally lost both her goals and hope. She looks around and she saw a dark alley, she went there since she has nowhere to go.

When she finally got to lean on the cold brick wall and that’s when she looks at the pendant of Luxuria on her neck and whispered, “I don’t know if you’re a blessing or a curse.”

And just like that she collapsed from intense fatigue.

“Don’t be too noisy! You’ll wake her up.” Tiny voices from her surroundings awoke Blanches from her sleep, “see you woke her up!”

She stirred on her sleep and grunted when she felt that her body needs more time to relax since every part of her frame is screaming for another minute of rest.

“I’m sorry!” another voice squeaks.

“Where am I?” Blanche gradually opened her eyes only to see a ceiling that some parts are ruined, thus layers of linen are there to make it up for the wholes and above her there are two children- one boy and one girl looking down on her lying figure.

“W-Who are you?” she asked and sat up, holding her head, “s**t, my head feels like it’s splitting in half.” She muttered, and subconsciously curse.

The two kids look at each other before looking back at her, “s**t?”  

“No, no, no, don’t say that word again, okay?” she was shocked when she realized that she just thought these kids how to curse.

She then felt a sudden pain on her head that made her wince, gripping her head and that’s when she felt a soft fabric falls down on her lap, “A blanket?” she asked herself.

“Hi…” an elderly woman’s voice spoke up which instantly gained her attention, from the fact that for a a moment she thought that she was being called by Marga.

“Are you hungry? I made some soup, I hope you like it.” The woman emerges from the curtain that serves as the door that separates the room she’s currently in and the seemingly kitchen of the house.

But despite the kind approach of them, she can’t help but get doubtful about the situation at hand, and what she just went through made her skeptic and cautious to most of the things.

“Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing here? How did you find me?” she bombarded them with question, and in her eyes, they can see that even though she’s wounded she will never back down to them if it all went south.

The woman who offered her the soup can feel her utter uneasiness, and because of that, she held on to her smile, “It’s okay, calm down. Here, have some soup first.” She gave her the bowl of steamy soup, “careful it’s hot.”

Blanche was hesitant at first to get accept it, but when she did, she didn’t try to taste it even one bit, since she can’t really trust any of them, and she waits for her to answer each of her questions.

“So, for your questions,” the woman took a seat on the tattered floor beside her and the two children went beside her, “I am Myoral Blanko, and the mother of these two children.” She smiled at her and let her children held the same smile on their youthful faces.

“For the second question, you are in our humble home,” she stated as she looks up to see the wooden ceiling filled with wholes and some part of it are just covering with sheets of fading fabric that is a sign of being there for a long time.

She took a deep breath before she proceeds, “I know this isn’t much but this is all we have.” Her smile is tainted with sadness, yet it still has the tinge of contentment.

Her children hug her from each side, “And these two are my children, this one is Lona,” she said as she introduces the girl with a huge smile on her face, and her teeth has a single missing tooth which made her adorable.

“Nice to meet you!” She beamed.

“And this is her younger brother, Lienzo.” She pats the little boy’s head, he looks timid and shy unlike her older sister who’s obviously outgoing.

The moment he made eye contact with her, he turns his head away and hide on the back of her mother.

“Sorry about that, he’s just usually shy.” Lona apologized for her brother. “But he’s a good boy.”

Blanche didn’t respond, and just keeps looking at them, they can see that the stranger isn’t feeling comfortable yet, thus, they told her how they found her on the ground unconscious while they are on their way back to their home after they went to buy a few things to repair their house.

“O-Oh, is that so?” Blanche responded when she heard their kindness they did to her, “I’m sorry for my rude behavior, I am Blanche, just Blanche.”

“Oh, an orphan!” Lienzo chimed which made Lona jumps over their mother’s lap to put her hand over his mouth.

“What do you think you’re doing! That’s insensitive!” she whispered but Blanche can still hear them, and this made her giggle.  

“Don’t sweat it, I don’t mind being an orphan.” She shrugs it off but then her stomach started to produce grumbling sounds and this made the three let out a smile.

“You should eat it before it gets cold.” Myoral said.

Blanche decided to give the soup that was given to her a chance, “Thanks for the food. I really appreciate it.” She returned the smile before she blows the steam off.

And when the savory soup glided on her tongue, she can’t help but get awestruck at the taste leaving her with wide eyes and brightened expression, “This is really good!” she mumbled her mouth is still full of soup and it leaks on the side of her mouth

Myoral can’t help but let out a chortle from her cute yet messy behavior, “How was it?”

“It’s delicious!” she chimed as her face is in deep on her bowl, “I’ve never tried this before.”  

The compliment made Mryoral fold her arms on her chest with prideful grin. “That is one of my specialty, that is what I call soup number 5.”

“Soup number 5? What a strange name.” Blanche muttered.

“Because that soup is strange, it was a hot bowl of bull’s p***s and testicles!” Lienzo commented.

“Bull’s what?!” she choked after she heard him.

Lona threw a glare on his brother’s way, which instantly shut him up.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have brought that up.” Myoral sighed as she facepalmed.

“I’m sorry Blanche, my little brother has no break on his tongue.” Lona apologized.

And this made Lienzo grew more distant, “Sorry…” he mumbled.

“N-Not a problem.” She reassured them, but internally she’s screaming, “how did I enjoy the taste of a bull’s!”

“So, if you don’t mind me asking you, where are you came from?” Myoral asked, “when we found you, you were full of dirt and blood, and wounded.”

There was a moment of silence between them before the she spoke, “I…” Blanche put the spoon back on the bowl and lowered her gaze, as she remembers how it all started until now.

She can’t say anything at this point because she doesn’t know where to start.

Myoral can see how uncomfortable and at loss of words the lady is so she soothes her, “It’s okay, I’m not forcing you, you can tell us more about yourself if you are comfortable enough, or you can never bring that up forever if that’s where you can find peace.” She holds her hand.

Blanch look at her let her heart be at peace, “Y-yeah, thank you. Actually, I came from the city of Biringan, town next to this.” She replied.

“Oh, there, I heard there’s a fugitive roaming around there and he’s carrying a huge cross.” Myoral said with her finger on her chin, “we should be more careful from now on until they caught him.”

“Do you know anything about it? You came from the same town as that murderer.” The mother queried her.

 “I… well yes… I’m aware of that.” She replied but still chose to play to cool so no one would notice that murderer is actually a she and that is she, “this isn’t good at all, I think I’ve been just out in a few hours and the news are spreading like wildfire. But a ‘him’? do I really look like a boy?”

“Thank goodness you didn’t came across with him, I heard he has the cross of a god, I know those hearsays are exaggerated but I can’t help but get scared when I heard that he has the so-called weapon of Luxuria.” Myoral said as she hugs herself.

“Momma, stop saying that! I’m scared!” Lienzo hugs his mother too.

“Don’t worry I will protect you two! No, don’t worry Blanche I will protect you too so you don’t have to worry!” Lona stood up and spread her arms apart as if she’s protecting them, “I am the protector!”