Chapter 899 Mist's Dreams
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After seeing everyone's Status, I have to admit that I was left... slightly speechless. Why is my name in the Divine Blessings thing?!
"Why is it there?! Alice?!" I asked her in desperation.
"C-Calm down a bit..." Alice sighed. "It's not like it's a bad thing! It just counts as a Divine Protection because you've given them heroic seeds."
"The Talent Awakening thing?" Wondered Aquarina. "Hey, I was wondering why we weren't getting that..."
"It's because you already have a Heroic Talent and a powerful Heroic Seed, something Gods plant into your souls to make you flourish through their Divine Protections." Alice explained. "So you can't get another one... However, it is different with Sylph and her friends. Because they lacked one, when Sylph gave them one, even if much smaller and weaker than the one that Gods can create, it still counted as that, and it was qualified as a Divine Protection, just like when Gods do it."
"U-Unbelievable..." Said Zack. "I always knew something was wrong with you Sylphy, you're a goddess!"
"I-I'm not anything like that, geez!" I gave him a karate chop. "Anyways, are you happy now? Try practicing your Skills whenever we find monsters to fight. The system will be especially powerful for non-heroes, who can develop their power even more than us, it might take some time but you'll get even stronger."
"A-Alright! I'm quite looking forward to it, actually!" Mist seemed the most excited. "I-I'll practice all my Skills like I've been doing since I got them! I won't fall back!"
"You sure are motivated." Celeste laughed, giving Mist a head pat. "I guess I'll give it a shot too... Hmm, come to think of it, why is your Bloodline so low level? You haven't awakened your innate powers?"
"E-Eh?" Mist was confused. "Dunno... It says Jaw Demon, but I don't like using my jaws... It's ugly, right? So I prefer to heal and shoot from afar! N-Nothing wrong with that, right?"n/.o)-V/-e--L..b-)1.)n
"They're not ugly..." Zack sighed. "But well, it still your decision, so don't worry."
"Mist should try biting some more things! Her bite will get stronger!" Celica commented. "Maybe she can gain the powers of Glutton or something! She could bite everything and store everything and-"
"S-Shut up! I-I don't wanna become an ugly biter critter...!" Mist got very angry out of nowhere. "S-So enough already!"
"Okay, sorry..." Celica sighed, but Mist ignored her.
Mist remained in silence after saying that, looking elsewhere while furrowing her white eyebrows. Zack was trying to comfort her, but for the first time ever, she was ignoring him!
I approached Celeste as we made our way to the Dungeon, to ask her what was wrong. She knew Mist the most after all.
"Ah... Well, when she was much younger, before meeting you guys, I remember that human kids used to bully her, they called her Ugly Biter Critter..." Sighed Celeste. "It has been a while since then, but I guess she hasn't gotten over that. Kids can be so cruel..."
"Well, we are kids ourselves, but yeah." Aquarina sighed. "That's really going too far. But can be expected from the human kids of that Eastgrain city, it was filled with filth."
"Yeah, nobody here has ever bullied her since we got in here, it has been years now but... I suppose Mist is taking her sweet time getting over that." Celeste sighed. "It's understandable now, she got a stigma over her jaws. Despite being the pride of her tribe she sees them as something ugly and unsightly. I remember... many times seeing her looking herself in a mirror, covering half her face with a piece of paper, pretending to be a "normal" girl, and then she would start crying. I haven't seen her do this since we got here but... yeah."
"Oh... That's so awful, poor Mist." Sighed Lara. "She's such a cute girl! I would beat down anybody that were to ever bully her!"
"Now I feel so bad I told her that... I-I just wanted her to make her feel better..." Celica seemed very regretful.
"Dang it, that place was hellish. I can't imagine how they would had treated us Anima folk over there." Luck crossed his arms.
"Yeah, I'm glad we're out of that place..." Celeste sighed. "Though, it's better to leave this to her boyfriend, he's the only one that has gotten so deep into her heart. Zack's a bit rough around the edges though, so I don't know if we should trust him too much on this one."
"Hmmm, let's just hope. If nothing works, we'll make something for Mist. She's our best friend after all." I smiled. "I bet we could bake some of her favorite pastries, and big loaves of bread."
"Sounds good!" Aquarina nodded. "Let's give her all the love she needs, she's our sunshine sometimes after all, hehe."
"Yeah! Besties forever!" Lara giggled happily.
"Well, alright, tell me what I can do to help too." Luck nodded.
"You sure are good friends." Alice smiled, sitting atop my head. "Sylphy, I'm feeling a bit sleepy... I'll be going to the Soul Scape for now... Yawn..."
"Sure, rest well!" I said, as Alice disappeared.
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After having been reminded of her Bloodline, and the abilities which she believed to be ugly and bizarre, Mist fell into depression, as she recalled the bullying she suffered by the hands of the human children in Eastgrain.
She ended yelling at Celica, her friend, and she felt so embarrassed and angry at the same time that she couldn't even talk anymore, something very different from her usual cheerful self. It seems that as years went by and she reached puberty, her emotions changed, and she recalls her traumas much more painfully than she used to do back then, when she was much more naïve.
Going as far as distancing herself from her group to not bother them anymore with her temper tantrums, she sighed, looking into the forest.
However, she wouldn't be left alone, as the warm hand of Zack gently touched her shoulder.
"Mist... Let's talk. You don't really need to act like this, we're all your friends. And I... well, I'm your boyfriend, right?" Zack asked. "So please..."
"Z-Zack..." Mist glanced back at him, as she hugged him tightly, crying over his chest. "S-Sorry... I didn't wanted to be rude! Sniff..."
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