NoGift

CLAY STARED at the three people in front of him. The brother and sister pair looked plain, like someone you could passed by anywhere and would never remember. The only thing that could probably attract people's attention was their hair color - one silver and one gold, just like their names. The little boy looked completely harmless. But he saw the way he fought the mud dolls he created. This kid was definitely far from harmless. Just like this guy, Silver. The way those spikes disintegrated, he has never seen anything like it. Not to mention, the sword that turned into a bracelet.

These three were definitely far from ordinary. He could even say that they're dangerous. They might even be lying about their identities. No, there's a high possibility that they really do. So why the heck did he just agree to cooperate with them? He must be going crazy. But then again, what could he lose anyway by agreeing? At least them saying they wanted to go against the Temple was pretty genuine.

So Clay chose to gamble. Something he would never do under normal circumstances. But desperate times required desperate measures.

He took a deep breath and started answering Silver's question. "The village is a place where the Temple drop off children they found. Children with no parents, children who ran away from home, children who comitted petty crimes, children who were abandoned."

"Like an orphanage? So, they sort of helping kids?" Aurum asked, frowning.

"No, I don't think the Temple is charitable enough to set up that kind of place, at least not without a hidden agenda." Argent was not being judgemental. But with a huge religious organization like the Temple of Gaia, corruption was inevitable. Yes, there must be some who's really in it because of the goodness of their hearts. But she would bet those priests were few and far between. So setting up a place like this village just reeked of all kinds of red flags.

"You're right," Clay agreed. "They took in children who have no one else to turn to. They promised to give them a new home, give them food and new clothes. The whole works. But it's all bullshit. A fake propaganda."

"What do you mean?" Argent asked.

"Children who first enter the village are put in a prison cage. They are not allowed to eat. They starve them for three weeks. They only give them three glasses of water a day which was barely enough for a person, not to mention a young child, to live. At the end of the third week, the Temple will give the children a copy of their scripture. The amount of page a child manages to memorize a day will be the amount of food that will be given to them. And if they don't manage to memorize at least a page, then no food for them. That situation will continue until the child manages to memorize the whole scripture. Anyone who can successfully do that will be given a soft bed to sleep in and delicious food to eat." Clay explained with a self-deprecating smile on his lips. "After you experience hell, you can finally experience heaven. As long as you continue to follow everything they say, you'd never want for anything. Amazing, right?" he continued, his voice dripping of sarcasm.

Clay could still feel the hunger and hopelessness he felt back then. The kids who died one by one. But what he remembered most was the rage. The kind where he just wanted to kill everyone around him. He probably wouldn't feel that if he was the only one suffering. But he wasn't. Flora - his younger sister, was with him. Seeing her getting thinner and thinner by the day, asking him in her small voice when would they be able to eat, it was just heartbreaking. Just for that, he would never ever forgive the Temple of Gaia.

"That's awful," Aurum commented. Now she's thankful that she and her brother were not exposed to the teachings of the Temple growing up. One, their mother was not really the religious type and two, the Temple has no huge influence on Amexem - the country they lived in for the past seven years.

"In short, the Temple takes in homeless kids, mentally torture them so they could be more pliable and then sugar them up so they could grow up as loyal servants of the church?" Argent shook her head, that was quite insiduous. What they were doing was a typical reward and punishment scenario. And because they're target were children, breaking them down was easier.

"They're brainwashing the kids they take in, making them believe that everything they do is for the greater good. And why wouldn't they believe? After that torturous process, the name of the Temple simply became synonymous to the word 'savior'. A place that could give them shelter and food. What a joke," Clay scoffed in anger.

"But you were not brainwashed, weren't you?" Argent said.

"There's no way they could instill their beliefs in me." Not after what they did to Clay's parents. But there's no reason to elaborate that to these three so he just continued on the topic about the Temple. "When a kid reached the age of 16, they could either be sent to the capital to continue serving the Temple or they could be thrown out of the village. Those who are sent to the capital are basically people who were completely brainwashed. And the people thrown out are those who the Temple couldn't control even after years of brainwashing."

"I take it, you belong to the latter group?" Argent said.

"Yes. I was thrown out of the village two years ago along with three others."

So only four were thrown out. Which meant the brainwashing method of the Temple was quite effective. "If you managed to get out, why did you come back?"

"When we were thrown out three years ago, they gave us a map that could lead us to the nearest country. We traveled according to the map but just after a day of travelling, we were ambushed. Not just by anyone, but by people from the Temple. They never intended to let us go. They're probably afraid we would tell someone about the things they did to us." Clay lowered his gaze and clenched his fists. "Only I survived that day."

He knew long ago how bad the Temple was. But he never realized how bad until that day. The smell of blood, the mutilated bodies, the cry for help. If his Gift was not S level, he probably would also die that day.

"How do you know they're from the Temple?" Aurum asked curiously.

"Because they bear the emblem of the Temple Knights. I say knights, but really they're just glorified assassins of the Temple," Clay said sarcastically. "I knew they'll come after me so I hid in the mountains after that. When the heat of the attack subsided, I traveled to the nearest country. Hiding in plain sight. Then last year, I came back here to save those who would certainly be killed by the Temple. It was those four guys you saw earlier."

"Is today the day the village are sending out people?" Argent asked, that's the only reason she could think of why they were waiting up on those trees. Clay nodded. "So you're here to save another batch of not so brainwashed teenagers?"

"That and some. My younger sister, she's 16 this year. I'm pretty sure she'll be sent out of the village today."

Argent raised her brow. A sister, huh. "You're certain that she'll be sent out?"

"Yes," Clay said full of certainty. His sister would never succumb to the Temple. Not after everything they've been through.

"Then let's go and wait for them," Argent said.

Clay looked a bit surprised. "You're going to help?"

"There's really nothing much to help. I mean, you probably have some kind of base in the mountains, right? That's where you probably ordered your mud dolls to take your friends." Clay looked surprised again after what Argent said. "We'll help you escort them to that base. But after that, you'll lead us to the capital. And we'll each do our end of the bargain."

Clay nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them were standing on different tree branches. It only took another ten minutes before they saw three teenagers walking slowly from the direction of the village.

Clay furrowed his brows when he saw them. All three were boys. He looked further and did not see anyone else. He suddenly had a very bad feeling. His whole body was just filled with extreme fear. [No, please no.]

He jumped from the tree he was on and landed in front of the three teenage boys. All three widened their eyes when they saw him.

"Brother Clay, what are you--?"

"Where's Flora?" he immediately asked, his heart beating faster and faster.

All three hesitated but one still spoke, "She was chosen to be sent to the capital."

Clay suddenly felt like the ground he was standing on just cracked and swallowed him. "Impossible..."

*****

Mini-theater:

Author: Good day awesome readers! Have you noticed the new button on the info section? Yes! You could now send gifts. (looked around and saw Argent) Come, Argent. Tell our readers to send you gifts.

Argent: (looked indifferently) Yes, send us gifts. (・-・)

Author: Hey, be more enthusiastic, will you?

Argent: (sighed, shook her head helplessly and then looked ahead and smiled) Hi! Even though I'm a NoGift, I'd really appreciate it if you could send me a Gift. Love you, guys! (said in a perky voice) (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))

Author: (wrinkled her brows) Somehow, that doesn't seem right.

Argent: (frowned then walked away without looking back, leaving the silly author alone)

Author: Don't mind her. She's just a little bit of a tsundere. Anyways, please do send Argent a gift! Thank you! ꉂฅ૮( ๑'ꇴ'๑)აฅ｡*ﾟ✧