A/N: First things first. It's been forever I've updated this story, and hello readers! Haikeria is back :) I know it's unannounced, but I decided to remake this story (just because after 4 years, I've realized how cringy my writing style was P:)! All the OC characters are going to be the same, but I decided to create a series and interlock various OC together here and there (you'll get it once I publish another OC x CHARACTER story)! I'm sorry, for the long unannounced hiatus, I hope you guys like the renewed chapter :)

1ST DAY :

the girl who was loved by the world_

—

A flutter of black hair was what caught the attention of legions of the Orthodox. A deafening strike of lightning and wind was what brought their full attention to the young female who had just walked passed them as if the chaotic scene of battle around her was nothing. The sky was clear, and they sensed no presence of magic being activated. To the legions, it seemed as if the world was noting her arrival at the chaotic scene. How she did this, they did not know. However, what they did know, was that they had to stop her. So, staying loyal to their job, the legions raised their staffs to cast their magic to the female, only to see their body spurting blood from its neck as the head fell to the ground. The female didn't even look back, she didn't even activate her own magic. Yet, how? Those questions were left unsolved as the unnamed legions were left to be trampled upon several other beasts who were rampaging and drooling.

Still walking, as if all the lightnings and thunders and winds were normal, the young female walked up to a male around her age who was ordering other people to break through the central gate of the Gunud.

"Young Master, I'm here!" The female exclaimed brightly, shifting her weigh back and forth. The male whom she called as young master casted a side glance towards the female, nodding in acknowledgement. After he looked around and posed more orders to others around him, he finally shifted his full attention to the female. The young male thought of briefly scolding the female for joining late and for creating a big scene during her entrance, but he quickly dismissed that thought,

"Follow me along with Ugo and Ithnan. We're going to steal the 'Divine Staff!'" The young male said, getting ready to leap forward upon seeing Ugo and Ithnan make a small pathway for them to pass through.

The female nodded, following close behind her master as the four quickly flew to the top of the room. Once they reached to the top, the crew began to search around every existing room for traces of alive divine staff wielders. Room after room, each individual took each room and searched inside, but never went away too far from each other...Just in case something happened. No hope seemed to be left for them to find when the female suddenly twitched. Turning around, she looked at various directions to see which room had just caught her attention. Ah-ha. She slightly sighed in relief as she realized that one room definitely had some kind of feeling that gave off a vibe that something...or hopefully, someone, was alive. She didn't know how she could figure this out: it was an instinct of hers that she herself couldn't understand.

"Young master, Ugo-san, Ithnan-san," she called, not taking her eyes off from the room. "I think we should go to that room," she said, grabbing her master's hands as she quickly jogged towards the room that was yet to be examined. She hastily pushed the door open, inside revealing a petite girl surrounded by — a possible borg.

While Ugo and Ithnan commented on the girl's supposed fate, the young female and the young male walked forward without hesitation. The male forcefully pushed in his arm through the borg, causing cuts to form along his cheeks and his arm. The female could hear the two older males calling out in anxiety, but she didn't look back as she too, fearlessly pushed her hand in and grabbed the weaker girl inside, forcefully dragging her out from the little cage she had encased herself into.

"You know," the young female started, smiling sympathetically. "The ones you wish to meet will not come."

"So, come with us in order to live!" The young boy offered, making the girl inside the borg flinch in surprise.

"Who...are you...?" The trembling girl asked, looking at the two brave hands that were unhesitant.

Upon the young girl's question, the young male confidently smiled and replied:

"Solomon."

...

...

...Shortly after that, the Gunud crumbled down, returning the other species their own intelligence as the surviving members of the battle holding the divine staff started to retreat.

The Resistance.

That's what the members wielding the divine staves called themselves. Those who were sick of the Orthodox and escaped from the great Church government.

After introducing who all the members were, Solomon shifted his gaze to the female that came along with him. He looked at the female who was now just wearing a similar clothing with him — with the exception of the cleavage the clothes was revealing. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Solomon asked if she was really okay lending her big scarf to the weak girl, freshly rescued.

"Of course young master! I would do anything for you if you asked for it!" She chirped. She didn't seem to really notice the fact that her clothings were quite revealing.

While Solomon opened his mouth to offer to lend is own draping cloth, Wahid whistled in amusement, causing his attention to shift to the said male.

"Is this yet another pick-up line, Kashira~?" He snickered, causing the raven haired female to flush in embarrassment.

"N-N-No! I wouldn't dare!" She vehemently denied, shaking her head frantically.

Upon saying that, Solomon could feel Kashira take a side glance to see if he was, by any chance, offended. Noticing her stare, Solomon lightly smiled, ruffling the said female's hair with affection. Kashira blushed upon the affectionate action, and she blushed more when Arba and Falan, as well as Ithnan and Setta all took side with Wahid and teased her. Almost sobbing in embarrassment, Kashira frantically flailed her arms, endlessly denying that she was just being true to her words. The young master watched the group chat amicably, a warm smile grazing his lips upon seeing them in such friendly state.

He then lowered his gaze to the new girl who was wrapped around in Kashira's scarf, her lifeless orbs looking straight at the horizon. He could instinctively tell that this one was going to be one little feisty religious girl.

Hours later, Kashira found herself frantically looking for a certain girl that escaped several hours ago, along with Solomon. While reading his own book, Solomon internally sighed at how accurate his predictions could be when he thought that this new girl was going to be feisty...and not in a good way. He took a glance at Kashira who was looking for that girl with all her might, when he himself had a briefest knowledge of where she could be.

"Oh no...I should have really watched out for her when she said she wanted to go back to the tower!" Kashira anxiously said, now getting ready to head outside.

Solomon just hummed in response while reading his book, leaning against a nearby pillar. Kashira made a face akin to as if she was going to cry. She knew he was waiting for her to finish getting ready to head out, and making him wait was the least thing she wanted to do right now. Once she picked up her staff, however, Kashira couldn't help but to reminisce about the conversation she had with the girl...Apparently named as "Sheba."

'She surely said she wanted to go back to the tower...' Kashira thought, unable to understand why Sheba thought like that. Sure, she had moments when she didn't know how the world really went around her, but Sheba seemed like as if she was nearly possessed by something. The desire to fulfill the task that Ill Ilah gave her? The religious belief? She, again, couldn't understand.

"...ra...shira..."

"..." Too engrossed in her thoughts, Kashira didn't notice a certain voice calling out to her.

"Kashira!"

Yelping, Kashira turned around, only to face Solomon who seemed to be dissatisfied with her absentmindedness. Scolding herself endlessly within her brain, Kashira apologized continuously, feeling extremely bad that she had once again, made him wait. She quickly caught up with Solomon who started to head out from the base fort, waving a quick good bye to Arba and Ugo who were worried about the disappearance of Sheba. The others? Too busy eating.

Drifting out using their borg, the two members of the Resistance began their search for Sheba. Kashira tilted her head, however, when she saw Solomon head towards a specific direction — as if he knew where she was.

"Young ma—" Kashira started, only to be stopped by Solomon who glanced back. His eyes seem to say something to her, and Kashira knew exactly what he wanted. Sighing, the said female called the name of the said male by his name.

"...Solomon."

However, she stopped when this time, he fully tilted his head backwards and smirked slightly, looking at the female who blinked thrice in response. Suddenly, as if she realized something, Kashira's entire face went beet red, sputtering in complete embarrassment.

"You want me to call you by 'that'?!" She exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands. "Come on—," she drawled, peeking at Solomon through her fingers while he snickered playfully.

"Why? It's good to reiterate some old nicknames from the past, isn't it?" He playfully remarked, slowing down his pace to match with Kashira's.

"Ughh, you're sometimes just too cheeky. You know that?" Kashira huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm well aware," Solomon retorted back, looking at Kashira expectantly. "So?"

Grumbling, Kashira murmured something incomprehensible beneath her breath before taking a deep breathe.

"...Abe," she finally said, squealing in embarrassment as she said so. "God! Wouldn't it be better for me to call you by your first name not your last!?" She exclaimed, looking at Solomon who laughed carefreely — contrasting the mature image he upheld in front of others.

"But everybody calls me like that. Isn't it better for someone to call me differently?" The said male said, cheekily smiling at Kashira who just 'hmph'ed in response, whipping her head away from the said male.

Abe was the nickname Kashira used when she first befriended Solomon when they were in the Orthodox Church. A nickname derived from Abraham, Solomon's last name, Kashira used to use the nickname whenever it was just the two of them together. Solomon honestly wanted Kashira to call him by that nickname all the time, but last time he had requested that, Kashira had outrightedly denied that request, claiming that: 1. It was too embarrassing, and 2. She liked her nickname personal between him and her only. But to Solomon, Kashira calling him by "Abe" was even more meaningful than just a regular nickname. It was what made his last name less resentable — given the fact that he was sharing the name "Abraham" with his detestable father. But putting those thoughts away, the two chatted like real young teens, joking around with each other whilst laughing light-heartedly.

While playing around with each other, it was Kashira who first noticed a human-like figure, along with a young Manticore.

"Hey Abe," Kashira started. Good. She was now used to it. "Isn't that Sheba?" She said, pointing with her staff.

Solomon looked at the place where Kashira pointed. He sighed as he saw Sheba on the ground, trembling in fear...and probably disgust. He quickly flew down to save Sheba from getting torned apart, leaving Kashira to follow behind as she knitted her brows together in confusion. 'Why isn't she using her Borg?' She inquired to herself, soon reaching to the conclusion that either Sheba was just probably too scared, or, too dumb to think of activating her Borg. The last thought was mean, but, oh well. Kashira hoped Sheba wasn't on the latter side. She watched from behind as Solomon calmed the rampaging Manticore down. However, she twisted her face in discomfort as she heard Sheba complain about how beast-like they were...Smelly and furry and barbarous.

Just as when she was about to say something, Solomon stepped up and held Sheba's hand, blatantly calling her "despicable."

Jaws opening in total shock, Kashira scurried over to Solomon and Sheba, grabbing Solomon's shoulders.

"A-Abe!" Kashira exclaimed, glancing at Sheba's shocked face. "She's still like, 12! You shouldn't be saying that to her!"

Solomon shrugged. "I'm just being honest. In my eyes, she is the warped and filthy monster here."

The raven haired female just slapped her forehead in response.

The next day, Kashira found herself completely mesmerized by the scene in front of her. Was this for real? She couldn't really understand. She felt like she was dreaming. She looked around frantically, jumping up and down. She could barely hold herself in. Turning back, she yelled to the other Resistance member to hurry up. Just as when others entered the village, Kashira dashed out, excited that she could truly explore the civilization of other species — ones that spoke a completely different language from what humans spoke. Sheba watched Kashira with weird eyes, unable to understand how was this ever exciting. She looked around, feeling uncomfortable at the fact that there were so many other species that she deemed as being barbarous. Unconsciously shifting her attention to Solomon, she flinched when Solomon had the same eyes with Kashira, beaming with curiosity and interest. Once Solomon dashed out like what Kashira did, her attention once again shifted to Ugo who excitedly exclaimed at how the Manticore let the Resistance in. She noted how Ithnan also chimed in, claiming it was his first time seeing an underground Manticore village.

"ℑ℘ℳ£₹₠₢₣₤₥₦₪₫₭₮₯₰￡¤µ ℵΩµℑ"

That's right. They were well welcomed to the Manticore village.

Sheba watched as Solomon ran up to Kashira — who was unsurprisingly giggling while riding on top of the Manticore — both of them attempting to communicate with the Manticore. Both didn't seem to understand each other, but the two young members of the Resistance members smiled brightly, as if the wall of language didn't exist at all. They seemed to have fun.

Sheba just.

Didn't.

Get it.

How?

Why were they acting like humans? Everything from well-built buildings, desks, language, even manners! They were just bunch of stupid idiots who were drooling, killing each other like a dumbass! They were "supposed" to be like that!

She reminisced all the lessons she learned from the Church, where they deemed other species as being horrendous and uncivilized, killing and torturing the human ancestors.

While indulging in her thoughts, Sheba gasped when something touched her shoulders, turning back to see who it was. She flinched when she saw the same young Manticore from the day before, eyes filling with fear as she pointed her staff to it. However, she stopped when the young Manticore handed a humungous flower, shifting her attention to Solomon and Kashira who were smiling brightly at the Manticore.

"µΩ₹₠₢₣₤₥₦₪ℑℳ"

"He's saying he was sorry for what he did yesterday!" Kashira chirped, bear hugging the said Manticore with utmost affection. "Isn't he so nice?" She added smiling deeply at Sheba who cautiously looked at the young Manticore, now unsure of how to actually react. Maybe...it would be okay...

...

...

...And from the friendship she built yesterday with Momo, the young Manticore, Sheba knew that what she had done up until now was wrong. She felt bad for not telling him that she was the one responsible for the death of his father. At first, she tried to deny the full responsibility that she had, arguing that it wasn't only her that casted those dehumanizing magics upon the other species. However, the more she denied, the more she came to accept that she, indeed, was the one at fault. She wanted to apologize, she wanted to beg for forgiveness.

She didn't want this.

The said girl helplessly watched as the Manticores from the village that they stayed yesterday growl like beasts, their eyes flipped and mouth dripping saliva.

No.

No no no no no no.

She didn't want see all of them broken like this. They were smiling just several hours ago when the Resistance departed. They were living peacefully, they were living happily, they were all sweet and kind, they were no different from how humans lived. And yet, why? Why were "they" doing such cruel things? All the cruel words Solomon said to her didn't help. She didn't get him. He had told her that he came to like her, and yet, here he was, blaming her and chastising her to face the reality of what she had been doing inside of the tower. Sheba glanced at Kashira — perhaps the first human friend she truly befriended yesterday — but felt devastated when even she, looked at the horizon, sadly gazing at the Manticores who were not themselves anymore.

She should have died in that tower afterall. Yet, why did they save her?!

All the feelings she expressed out in words were silenced by a push in her shoulder.

Sheba glanced up, facing Wahid, Falan, Arba, Solomon, Ugo, Setta, and Ithnan who were holding up their staves. She then glanced at Kashira who was now smiling at Sheba, her eyes turning cold as she faced the front. All of them held up their staves, a third eye appearing in front of their forehead. All of them knew what they ultimately had committed the same sin as Sheba did. After all, they too, were also the survivors from the tower. Ones who once casted the same despicable magic upon the other species.

Upon realizing that, Sheba's eyes went wide, her mouth unable to articulate any words. "Don't tell me...You guys are..." Words behind were left unheard, as Sheba knew the answer of the 8 people in front of her.

"We too, are sinners who survived from the tower."

A/N: Hey ya! Thanks for reading the first remade chapter! I won't erase the next two chapters, but I'll just replace them as the chapter flows. :) Thank you so much for bearing with me guysㅠㅠ I really appreciate your patience and love 3