Tales of Mana et Mecha

This is a place for short stories related to the main story of MEM or its characters.

## Title-less story (AKA how Riv met Corleia)

There wasn't really a point to living anymore, was there? At least, that's what River thought, as she sat by the gray, rocky cliffs high above the foreboding waves crashing against the shore. Her blue eyes, bright with life many years ago, now only dimmed down to a dull, soft, and weak shade. Her eyes had been like this for years now, only more recently have they been forming dark circles under her eyes from sleepless nights of terrifying nightmares and recounts of awful memories. As her long, snow white hair blew in the breeze, she wondered if he was still watching her from afar. He had done so before, months before he took action against her. She remembered small things from back then. Sometimes her clothes would go missing, or she would hear something behind her or out of sight, disappearing before it could even be spotted. It was him, it was always Andok.

River wasn't supposed to be out of the hospital at this time. She's had strict hours designated to stay in, be treated, and rest herself. She wasn't allowed to leave for most of the day, only four hours tops. The doctors had to check her often, to see whether she was developing any infections from her injuries, or if any sort of diseases had transmitted into her. The thing that always worried her the most was when she was checked for more than illness. Each time, the doctors would come back informing her that it was safe, that she had nothing to worry about. She wasn't pregnant with his baby, that had to be definite. They had checked multiple times, there were no signs of anything being in there. Yet, she could only panic whenever they checked another time, because there was always a risk, always a chance that it would happen to her. River didn't even know for herself when it first happened, she was just so scared, terrified, and traumatized that she didn't even bother to notice whether he had gone out in time or not.

Recalling that memory began to churn her stomach somewhat. The girl shook her head, and looked down below her at the rolling waves splashing, rolling again, then splashing again for eternity. The movement only began to make her even more sick, much to her dismay. She almost gagged remembering how he had kissed her and forced his tongue into her mouth. One thought let to another when she tried to forget about it, and suddenly her mind brought back when he had pushed her onto the bed, and lifted her legs... it was atrocious. Even her hips and pelvic region in general seemed to ache as the fear returned.

This was getting ridiculous. It was always painful, simply bringing the thought of Andok back into her mind. Every day she had gone to this rocky cliff, wondering when she should jump. It was high enough off the ground, the seas were rough below, she knew it would kill her... at least she hoped that it could. Yet the only thing that bothered her was how she would chicken out at the last minute, pretending as though she never had such thoughts, and returning to the hospital to be recovered.

Why can't I do this? She often asked herself that question. Her people would be better off anyways. She's the reason why they can't go home, she's recieved so many death threats that it would be a favor to them to take her own life. Once a priestess at the age of the child, and now she was absolutely nothing to them. Almost every other Ali'kian has called her a whore after word of her rape had been spread amongst the village. Even Andok had told her this himself, she remembered it clearly. She was nothing to these people now, she couldn't save them, she couldn't bring them back. As he had told her, the only thing she was good for now was being his plaything, being his ideal dream girl; he told her in the near future that she would at least be able to provide him with children. That was all she could ever do now. She was utterly useless.

River inhaled a deep breath, shaking her head slowly, and inching her bare feet a little closer towards the edge of the cliff. Maybe if she could just bring herself to stand up, it could work, she would finally have the guts to jump down and end it all, and forget every awful thing that had happened to her. The girl moved her arms, pushing herself up, and now supporting herself with her legs, which were shaking slightly with soreness. She tilted her head down, and barely leaned forward, staring down into the waters below, preparing herself for a jump. Come on, leap, she told herself. Fly off this cliff; get down there and just do it already.

The young lady turned her head away in shame. Another moment passed by where she bailed on her original intentions, her natural instincts wanting to cling onto life so pathetically. River sighed, turning away from the ocean, and took her first few steps forward, beginning to head back to the hospital. It was hopeless. She could have leapt and ended it all, or maybe she could have even miraculously sprouted wings and flown away from the others into isolation, but she was just too scared to try. Either ending, realistic or ridiculous, could have worked, but no. She's still a coward, tied to her people and chained to her land. River sighed, shaking her head, and now she was already back on the barely visible dirt path that had led to the cliff from earlier. Only when she looked back up to see where she was going, her eyes locked onto the gaze of another girl, even younger, seeming to barely be a teenager.

She was short, and somewhat thin. Rather cute, although it was obvious she hadn't grown too similar to a woman quite yet. Her skin was dark, just lighter than River's, but still a shade lower nevertheless, and like all Ali'kians her hair was a glowing snow white. Her soft, rounded eyes sparkled of a golden color, uncommon among their people, but not absurdly rare. River's face suddenly seemed to go pale, shocked to find another person here, even though she thought only she was aware of this location. The other girl practically mirrored this same wide-eyed look, freezing up and tensing her shoulders at the sight of the one in front of her. She held her hands up to her chest with great shyness, and took a small breath.

"... Aren't you the priestess...?" she asked, her left foot stepping back, but her weight was still focused on her right. Without words to speak, River nodded slowly, not even moving a single limb of hers. The girl looked down, breaking eye contact, "I thought so... uh, f-forget I was here..." she spoke once more. River gave this girl a strange look, and stepped forward closer to her.

"What? Why should I? How do you even know about this place, and who are you?" The blue-eyed girl suddenly bombarded her with questions, tensing up as well from the awkwardness of being caught in this situation, with a younger girl she barely knew. The other seemed even more timid, her face now suddenly going red, "M-My name's Corleia, I've been here before, but... not often."

River eyed Corleia suspiciously, going closer, but swaying a bit to the side, as if trying to bypass her, "Okay, Corleia. It's... nice to meet you. Look, I don't want to give you any trouble or anything, so don't tell anyone that I was here. If the doctors find out..."

The other girl gave no reaction, still seeming as tense as she was before. With quick pace, River passed by her and tried to quickly make her way down the path without any more contact or confrontation. She didn't feel safe around anyone alone anymore. Too often over the past five years had she been caught alone, with no one to help her, and had usually been beaten sensless, mostly by her own uncle, and other times by bullies that she once considered friends. Even now it was more risky, because the last time she was alone and in the open with anyone, she had been raped without a thought. She couldn't go through any of that again, especially when she needed to be recovering.

Yet of course, she couldn't even get out of eyesight from Corleia until the younger girl suddenly turned around and called for her back. River's shoulders dropped, her fists and teeth clenching, expecting a verbal onslaught from the other. But when her eyes met with the girl once again, she saw her trembling, her legs shaking with weakness as River had once before. "Please, wait... I want to talk. I really need to talk to someone..."

River raised an eyebrow, but when she processed that tone of voice that the girl was using, it was almost as if she were hearing her own fearful sound. Something was troubling her, something big. As much as she wanted to isolate herself from others as much as possible, she knew that leaving this girl would be wrong. With a small sigh for giving in to her morals, she walked back up to Corleia, and tilted her head with a questioning gaze, "Sounds like there's something going on... what is it you need to say?"

"Things have been really rough lately. Everything's been building up and it just can't come out. This place... it's awful..." Corleia was shuddering immensely, it was obvious that these were things she hadn't even spoken to a single person about. It was as if she was an old clay pot, carrying so much water, and cracking from the pressure and weakness after so long, "My parents... both of them are gone... they've been gone for years. They... they're dead because of y-!" she almost burst into a shout, and her eyes were almost glaring at River, when suddenly she had caught herself before she finished, "Because of... the tsunami. I only have my grandparents now, and I don't even know how to take care of them..."

River stood there with wide eyes, awestruck by all that was suddenly dumped on her without much of a warning beforehand. But it was obvious that this girl needed some help, there needed to be something she had to do. She had been left alone in situations like this, she couldn't put another through the same hard times she's endured. Although they were only acquainted, the priestess put her hands upon Corleia's shoulders, and watched as her eyes grew a little puffy and red, and she began to cry harshly. River pulled her gently into a soft hug, and let her sob and bawl and release what she needed to. She put her hand to the back of her head, smoothing out her hair in hopes of comforting her. Then suddenly, with her face hidden by River's shoulder, Corleia spoke once more, "I don't know what to do... I came here because of the cliff. I just... I want it all to end, I want to jump off and die so I can't feel this way anymore."

Only then did the priestess' eyes widen in surprise and shock. It seemed as though she and this girl had much more in common than she had initially thought. Slowly, she pulled the girl a little bit away so that she could look at her, "No... don't... don't think like that. You've got a lot to live for, you... shouldn't give up when you're still so young." River spoke, now her voice was beginning to waver. She was practically contradicting her own thoughts that she had about herself when she was saying all of this, "You're not alone either. Coincidentally... I was actually trying to do the same thing a little while ago at the cliff... and the day before that... and a few other days before that..."

Corleia still didn't stare at the other, but her eyes were wide enough to show that she was shocked by what she was hearing. River, the priestess, a young woman imbued with magical abilities, who wanted to kill herself as well? She couldn't understand such a thing, why someone would feel miserable even with such a blessed role, "Why? I don't get it. Aren't you okay? I thought... I thought that you didn't care about anything... what's happened to you...?"

"It's a long story, a very long story... are you sure you want to even hear it?" River asked, and Corleia nodded with attentiveness, lacking any sign of hesitation, wiping away some of her own tears so she could listen to her story. The priestess sighed, and glanced away, "Nobody here knows what it's like to be in this position. I was lied to my whole life, I was never told that the ceremony was meant to be a sacrifice. The only reason I ran that day was because my dad told me, he... he just didn't want me to die. And then what happens? Our own god drowns all of us! I... I didn't know that he would do that, I thought he was benevolent."

"My aunt died, and the only boy I loved died too. My uncle blamed me for it, just like everyone else, and he would always try to catch me alone and hurt me as some... some sort of punishment for what happened to her." River began to feel sick, now she was becoming the weak one, and Corleia put her hands on the girl's arms in an attempt to keep her stable, "Then only last week, one of the few people I thought I could trust... he shoves some freaky drug down my throat, takes me to his home, and... and he forces himself inside of me! No one in the village believes me, not even the shaman thinks it's true. Every morning in the hospital, I wake up terrified not knowing if I'm pregnant or not..."

Corleia didn't speak another word, only giving out a breath as she took in all those words, and it seemed as though her crying had ceased completely, overwhelmed with the instinct to want to help River. "That's heavy... I'm so sorry, I... didn't even know about all of that. I should take you back to the hospital... I don't know if it helps any, but do you want to keep talking about this...?"

River silently nodded, and put an arm around the other girl's shoulder for support, and also in a wish to continue comforting her as well. She took a deep breath, beginning to walk along the path back down to the village, which was a distance away already, "Thank you, and... I hope you're a little better now too. When I'm done recovering, is it okay if I help you take care of your grandparents...?"

Corleia nodded, not giving a verbal response, only letting her motions do the talking. And so, they walked back to the village, sharing recounts and dark memories with each other, relating and connecting, and in the end they felt less alone than they did before.