May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 22: Knowledge

Days passed by and Aila left that episode in the corner of her mind. She and her friends were going overdrive doing small things here and there and they were too busy around the clock to take care of anything else. Aila had been busy in the last six months of her rebirth, but what she was feeling after she opened up was more exhausting than she thought it would be.

She went back to work after she took her leave for a few days. Jemma was a faithful customer who apparently did not drop by during the time she was not around, much to the jealousy of her workmates( she knew they were eyeing on her regular customer during her leave). At this point Aila did not know if Jemma was just around because she wanted to provoke her or anything, but the blonde’s presence nevertheless made her feel at ease.

Today was another day at the workplace and Jemma was back again. Far as Aila remembered, the university they attended had a different school opening and closing compared to other institutions. It was relatively late in both the opening and closing of their semester, so at the moment Jemma just had her first day of semester break. Apparently, the girl thought that going to her was the best way to start her vacation.

Jemma was sulking when Aila saw her drop by the store. She was noticeably without her usual friends, no doubt they were out and enjoying everything without the blonde. Sad how fickle the people around Jemma were, there is just nothing she can do if someone chooses to stay in such a crowd.

“Bad mood?” Aila said off-handedly as she presented the size Jemma wanted for her shoes. With how much the the girl dropped by, she more or less knew her particulars and had pretty much prepared similar products of her size nearby for her.

“I am not.” Jemma refused as she took the shoes and checked how they fit her. Satisfied, she puts it on her left to pay for later after she is more or less happy with the products she is browsing.

Aila only smiled professionally at her and catered to her needs and wants. Knowing how childish she was most of the time, Aila was more tolerant in dealing with others. But different from usual, Jemma is really more down than she usually was.

Currently, she is an employee and she is not really close to the girl to stick her nose in her business. Unless the other was first to open up the topic here she could pipe in, she could only make sure that Jemma has a smooth and comfortable shopping experience.

“Say, are you not returning to school next semester?” Jemma asked out of the blue. Pointing out a certain bag for her to see for check out.

Surprised a little, Aila straightforwardly replied she wouldn’t, as she handed the bag she wanted. Making excuses that at the moment she really does not feel like returning for a while. Which had apparently made Jemma a little displeased for some reason.

“Are you really that poor not to return to school to support yourself?” Jemma asked unnaturally. Finding the bag not to her liking, she gave it to Aila while she pointed to another bag.

“I’m not.” Aila denied, as she really had no financial problems as far as she could remember. Like her parents, she worked simply because she wanted to, only that most of her motivation nowadays was rounded up to her wants to survive the last days.

“You have enough brains to continue your education, evident from how you were always mentioned with so much regret by the teachers. You don't need to do this to attend school.” Jemma mentioned the kind teachers who valued the students with good potential. “The school could have offered some aid if you so needed it.”

“But I really don’t need it.” Aila was helpless as she more or less understood the infatuation of the other with her presence. “There are other reasons why I did not see Jemma. I cannot give these reasons, but perhaps I could give you some warning about something about your friends. Be careful of who you trust, there is already some damage done without you knowing.”

Jemma was pale as she heard Aila’s words. Perhaps her advice was a little late with the girl’s reaction. Jemma is not a fool, maybe she has come across it during the period Aila was not in school. Fake masks are shown to her, but they were a devil with a forked tongue whenever she turned around.

“What do you know?” Jemma was helpless and angry, judging from her tone. “You are not there, how can you say that so confidently?”

“When one is down and poor, one can know who really cares about you,” Aila said as she remembered her dear friends in her first life. They did their best to hide her from her family and made sure she would not suffer to the best of their abilities. “Real friends need no flattery nor any exchanges. These people will defend you even if you don’t know you’ve been mocked by others behind your back. They will do their best to make sure you are okay in the ways they could without caring whether you are hurt by the truth initially, just to save you from greater pain. And when the world seems to abandon you, they will offer you shelter until you are good enough to stand for yourself again.”

“Do these people really exist?” Jemma sports a mocking expression as she says this. “That sounds like something out of a book.”

“They are. In fact, in your cliche, there were few who sincerely cared for you. Only that they were not your most favored friends, therefore they mostly look after you out of sight.” Aila was remembering three of Jemma’s friends who were restless in looking for her during the apocalypse. “You’ll be surprised how far they can go for you.”

Jemma no longer chats with her after her remarks. She just took her picks and left the store in a much lighter mood. No doubt she is looking forward to seeing the "truth" or at least proving Aila’s words to be wrong. The blonde doesn't only know, this advice from Aila is the biggest help and protection she could give the other. Making her avoid the tragic future that looms above her head, just by identifying and getting along with these people.

Aila was in a much happier mood as she took care of the matter of Jemma. There were fewer things she could care about and she could now focus more on some abnormalities she noticed around her.

Her shift ends around 2 pm and she has no other side-jobs at the moment. Her previous side-job was a part-time job at a fast food restaurant. She quit that one when she left for her villa. There is less need for her to work at the moment, so she just left there with a peace of mind. Thinking of better usage of the time working for something else.

Recently, Aila had noticed an increase in foreigners in the city. Normally, it doesn’t bother her, because a city is normally a great hub for people of different ethnicities to gather and do business. Not to mention, tourists were actually very welcome to increase the city’s revenue in the tourism sector.

But the increase in foreigners was really weird to her for some reason. She had been observing them for some time now and she knew there was something up. The instincts she had honed in the apocalypse had told her that and she did not doubt it and trusted it.

Like a normal person, Aila wandered around aimlessly. Once in a while, she would drop by some stores where she checks out some materials and supplies she thinks she hasn't hoarded. Along the way, she unexpectedly found some things she had missed in her list of supplies to be bought. To make things less suspicious and to remind her of buying these purchases in bulk, she bought some of them to try later while listing those she cannot buy at the moment due to their size and weight.

Doing all this, Aila wandered almost a quarter of the mall. She, more or less, saw some familiar faces that had made her quite puzzled. She doesn't know if it was the effect of her returning back in time or if it really happened in the past without her knowing. Most major people in the chaotic time were here in the city for some reason.

Aila was suspicious of another one like her —someone who had been returned back in time. But without a closer investigation as to why they are here, she cannot cross out that possibility. Who knows they came here to make some preparations for them to take when the chaos ensues.

When the sky turned dark, Aila returned home with a heavy mind. Things were messy as she thought of possibilities if someone had indeed returned in time just like her. It is too much of a variable for her to ignore. She doesn't know if they are targeting her friends with how eye-catching they were back then. Her blood boiled just as she was thinking about it.

She wanted to eliminate this variable out of selfishness. Her wants were not grand and she only protected those of hers. No big bases nor great influence, she wished, only a safe haven away from the power plays humanity seems to cannot let go of.

Just as she was drowning in her paranoia, her phone rang and saw it was Albert calling her. She was somehow expecting to have a conversation with him a few days ago. It was a few days late, but considering how much his parents like to parade him around in parties and events, Aila was not too surprised at the lateness he contacted her.

But what she heard from the other’s mouth was something she did not expect at all.

Alfred Geroy.

Her protagonist is in the city hall and is somehow negotiating with the mayor for a project just in time before the major signs of apocalypse sink in. Without any evidence, she knew that her protagonist was also like her. Back in time and is making appropriate preparations to build a settlement for humanity to continue existing in the dark times. She only knew that with his presence everything would be harder for her and her friends to escape from the chaos with his presence nearby.

Aila’s chest hurts as she feels like the air seems to be too thin for her to continue breathing. Panic sinks in as she thinks back about her death. The pain of dying overloaded her brain as she clutched her chest in attempts to stop her heart from jumping out of her. Her whole body is growing weaker as she can’t regulate her body all of a sudden.

She wanted to scream and trash. Her lungs were telling her to supply the needed air for her to do anything strenuous. With a blank mind, she fainted on the floor of her living room.