Chapter 40 - Aftermath II

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Pandora's POV

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When I had finally woken up and got lectured by Keaurin and Juilam, half my family stared at me in shock, while the others looked slightly scared. To be precise, Mom, Dad and Aroura were the only ones who looked shocked, while mainly only dad had worry in his eyes. The rest looked at me like I was a monster for befriending a tribe of beasts.

My parents and sister seemed to still be absorbing all the information when I finally decided to ignore them and look at the leaving tribe with a genuine smile. Not only had they given me a home for 4 days, but they had taken care of me and even trained me. I was eternally grateful to them for that.

When they were finally out of sight, I started walking toward the house while stretching my limbs a bit. Before I opened the door I felt the hugging of a particularly light female around me, embracing me into her well renowned chest like a baby.

"Why did you leave? Did you not know how worried we were for you?" Aroura said between sobs

"I gave you all a note so you should have kno-" I was cut off by another deep hug from my father which followed by that of my mother. If I did not have physical prowess of a beast, I would have probably suffocated to death by now.

"A note doesn't tell us if you are safe! A note doesnt tell us if your alive or dead! A note doesnt tell us...doesnt tell us if you hate us or love us.... A-a N-note doesn't tell us if we are at fault for your disappearance." Said my father between sobs as well, only whispering the last two parts

I didn't understand the worry nor did I know why they were feeling so much pain, yet I knew that they were feeling pain and it was my fault. The only thing my mom was doing was staining my clothes with even more bodily fluids like tears and snot while the rest quietly hugged me, sniffling every now and then.

Damn... I might actually be a dick...

Finally, I found a way to excuse myself after a few minutes of standing still and taking the weight of 3 adults while I could clearly see everyone else look at me in suspicion, even my own brothers. I didn't like my brothers, but their silent accusation pissed me off making me release a slither of killing intent towards the ones who were just staring at us.

They immediately jumped back, while my brothers turned pale, the other adults took a fighting stance worried if I might attack them. The people hugging me seemed to realise this and quickly shut down their worries a little.

"PUT DOWN YOUR SWORDS NOW!" said my father to Elaina, Sebastian and his two children who had small pocket knives.

"but dad sh-"

"NO BUTS" my father retorted

Elaina and her husband relaxed a little while Argenta didn't move an inch. They had not brought their youngest child because they didn't want him to grief with them, but now it seemed more and more like the correct decision to keep Pandora away from their child. I could see relief on their faces and I somehow knew what they were thinking off, or the topic that they were thinking about.

"deer, what happened to you, why are covered in blood? Did you fight beasts? Did humans attack you? You are not hurt right?!" my mother threw a barrage of questions right before I had found the way to escape the situation on hand.

"it's along story, ill tell you once I shower" I said while walking inside

"WAIT! Please tell me, was it the humans or the beasts that hurt you and made you draw so much blood?" My father asked with a pleading voice

"Humans." I said while purposely making the answer misleading.

-30 minutes later-

I had finally come downstairs and had cleaned myself and my clothes with soap detergent and water. It didn't take very long with magic so I got finished in less than 10 minutes while i took a relaxing bath for the rest of the time.

"so... Are you going to explain what they meant by 'saving the village'?" Asked Elaina while narrowing her eyes

F*CK! THIS CUNNING B*TCH! And here I thought I had dodged the question!

"well, I told them that the humans were going to attack them. They got themselves ready while eliminating the army before they could even reach the beasts." I said with a natural voice, as if i was talking about the weather.

"Why?" Elaina asked...

"HEH?" I blurted out loud without thinking

"Why did you betray the humans for the beasts? You know they eat our species every day, right? They kill women, men, children just to eat every day. They are monsters and you just helped them live" Elaina said in a stern voice

What? Is she trying to brainwash me or something? Beat me into thinking that beasts just eat humans for fun?

"Well, you see, unlike you pathe- I mean humans, beasts don't lie. Also, isn't that what we do on a daily basis anyway? We just slaughter weaken animals to eat their meats, for survival of course … right?"

"Yet you bitc- I mean, you complain the moment the beasts do the same as us humans. They hunt to survive, just like us if not better than us. Unlike us humans who are blinded by our own greed and envy, the move forward as a collective rather than splitting themselves into households." I said when trying my hardest to not swear whenever I could.

Maybe I did spend s little too much time with the beasts. Swearing had become second nature to me.

"Yes, but you prioritize your own race before that of others. We are your family while they have not a single tie to you." Elaina argued back, trying to convince me that beasts were bad.

This b*tch needs a slap or something.

"That's where you are wrong. I don't care what race I am from nor do I care which kingdom or empire I am in. The one who gives me food on my table when I need it, the one who shelter's and warms me when I sleep will have my favour over anyone from my own race or Kingdom" I snarled back. "I will not help those who are moved only by their greed and lust over those who just want to live and survive. If it were you or them, I'd choose them any day" I said to hit the final blow and end the conversation right there.

"uhm, sis... Are you okay? You have kind of changed. What's with the swearing too?" Aroura asked the questions plaguing everyone's minds, yet they did not have the heart to tell me.

I saw them all nod in unison before I replied "Oh god, don't remind me. Between being chased by an oversized lion and the horrific training that the Juilam had imposed on me to even fighting the humans, my vocabulary for the last 3 days had been reduced to swear words" I said while pouting before realizing that I said.

Everyone in the room seemed to not have missed the part about the humans and... the lion?

"You fought a lion?" Asked Alan in worry

"No" I said with a stern voice "I ran away from a lion with wings. That idiot followed me to the lake until i hit him once with a 3 meter long 250 kg sword on the head. He seemed to have taken a dip for a few hours which I took advantage off and ran." I said while trying to make up the best explanation I could without sounding too suspicious.

Alan and Throid squinted at me for a second before nodding and shrugging. Elaina then asked me "You said you fought humans? What did you do to them?" She asked with an unwavering voice

"Kill or be killed, rule of the jungle 101" I said with a shrug.

It seemed to have been the wrong answer due to the fact everyone but Elaina had gone pale at those words.

"Pandora... Don't tell me, y-you killed a h-human... You didn't, right?" my mother asked me looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"No, of course not. But it's not like I let them kill me either. when they attack i weaker them and lrt the wolfs take the kill" I said while lying through my teeth and shrugging.

"Was it scary?" asked the girl who I cannot remember the name of even if my life depended on it.

"No, why?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.

"hmm, nothing. Don't worry about it much. Just remember this, the moment you kill a human there is no going back." the girl told me while looking right into my eyes.

Oh shit, she knows. At least she is not an a*shole. I might as well ask the questions that would piss her mother the most though. I think it would be quite funny.

"What is the difference between killing a human and beast? They are both smart aren't they? That lion might have been stupid, but at least he could talk, love, hate, envy. The wolves cried for their fallen comrades, the death of their loved ones and the mourning for their children. They are no different from us, so why do you treat them differently?" I asked while playing with my knife.

The girl seemed to understand my intention so she chuckled. Her mother turned red with rage and the rest of the family, excluding the kids, pondered my words.

"Because those beasts aren't your species! They are animals and nothing more!" Elaina said with outrage

"Then us humans are monkey's and nothing more. I wise man once told me... 'If you cannot accept change in your life, you can never become stronger nor can you move forward. Being stuck in the past will not only hold you back, but those around you'. What do you think her meant by that? If Intelligent beasts are just animals, then we are pathetically weak monkeys who can barley bang two rocks together to create a spark." I lectured

"a wise man?" asked Aroura with suspicion in her eyes

"Pandora is right" my father chimed in before the noble could shout again. "We ask for change yet we fail to accept it. Maybe us an beasts are the same, just another way they developed their society. They feel just as much as us, they have dreams just as much as us. That's why I don't tell you or any of my children that there is a right side or a wrong side. In life, there is only two sides with equal problems and conflicting beliefs, yet we all are human in the end, right? 'In war, there is no right or wrong, there is only lose or win. The winners will rejoice and the losers will suffer.'." my father said before Pausing to let his words sink in.

"It doesn't matter if you take the life of a human or a life of an animal, in the end, they are both lives, right? What matters is what that life is worth to you. A reasonable slaughter to survive, eat and clothe yourself, or was it something like petty killing just because they are from another nation?"

Everyone in the room except me and the sassy girl stood there, motionless. They were so speechless that it took me and my father to exchange looks to finally change to topic.

At the end of the day, the news went around the town and everyone rejoiced that I had returned. I thought of getting a new friend with the sassy girl/ women due to the similarities between us.. I had spent most of my time with all my family excluding my brothers as I told them stories of the forest throughout the day until we had to finally sleep.