Meryl raised her hand toward Alvin's body, which was bleeding in Elena's collapsed arms, hesitating. Was saving him the right choice? It was a question she didn't know the answer to as she saw the thread of life mending with the severed thread in Alvin's body.
But on the other hand, she could see a seed of goodness inside him. When the hunters tried to turn her into their whore with the intent to kill her afterward, Alvin didn't say a single bad word to her. She could close her eyes and be in the same place with him without fear.
He had helped her many times, and today, he helped a little child whom no one knew what would have happened to if he hadn't been saved.
There was so much darkness emanating from Alvin, but there was also a little light!
"Meryl! I beg you, don't leave him... He's my only family!" Elena said between her continuous sobs. She looked at the body lying in her arms, refusing to let go, fearing he would die if she moved away.
She placed her hand on his chest. He was gradually starting to breathe regularly. Her hot tears fell on his face, but they weren't enough to wash away the blood covering him...
She closed her eyes and mumbled inaudible words, and without realizing it, she too sank into the darkness and lost consciousness under Meryl's weary gaze. The latter tied the severed threads of life, reconnecting them directly with each of them, including Tulip by her side.
"Thank you, Mr. Elyor. If you hadn't given me a bit of your strength, I wouldn't have been able to save him." Meryl wrote slowly, then sent it with a small, grateful smile toward her planet's kindness.
[I did it because he avenged you on his own. He avenged you without anyone telling him to do so.]
[Alvin is not a good person, but he's not entirely bad either. He's just a mentally disturbed human who needs treatment, and then he'll be fine.]
[And remember this, Meryl. There is no creature without evil inside them, except for angels. So don't expect pure goodness from Alvin, but expect evil from him every now and then.]
Meryl nodded in understanding. Her planet was right. And this didn't apply only to Alvin, but to all humans on this planet.
Also, the times now are different from the past, and evil has become a necessity for surviving this chaos!
Meryl looked around with a silly smile. Only now did she remember the situation she was in… Alone in a desert full of monsters, with three unconscious people! And around her, many creatures were transmitting the scene to the planets.
"Master, how will I get out of here in this condition?"
[I will send you a gift, accept it.]
Meryl nodded with muted enthusiasm. She stared at the digital screen while gently running her fingers through Tulip's hair.
"Ting"
{.You have received a gift from [The Last Minstrel].
Would you like to accept it?
▪️ [Accept]
▪️ [Reject]
}
Meryl immediately pressed "Accept," then opened her palms to receive the gift, expecting a flower or a white hair tie like before… but…
it was a small brown cottage with a slanted roof and a chimney emitting soft white smoke, with a lemon tree beside it. There was a small room built behind it. Meryl lifted it and brought it closer to her face to see the details more clearly.
The cottage stood on a flat, wide piece of land covered with green grass, some flowers, and colorful mushrooms, with a white fence around the boundary. In the back, a large wooden fan slowly turned, emitting a faint sound.
"Master… what is this?" It was like… a toy! A small toy that wouldn't even fit her little finger inside it.
[Place it at a good distance from you, then say to the house: "Miss Cloud, please, I would like to enter!"]
Meryl stared at the message in disbelief. For a moment, she felt like her planet was joking with her. And also… who was Miss Cloud?
[Hurry. The monsters will soon emerge from beneath the sand due to the scent of blood!]
Although she wasn't convinced by the idea, she did as her planet instructed, then said with a skeptical tone: "Miss Cloud, I want to enter!"
[Not like that! You must be polite and ask kindly.]
"Miss Cloud, you are a wonderful lady, with a kind and compassionate heart. Could you kindly allow me and my friends to enter?" Meryl lowered her head as if she were bowing to the house.
[That was… a bit exaggerated.]
Meryl raised her head slightly to see if there was any difference, but the house remained the same. She sighed in disappointment as she straightened her body again. For the first time, her mouth filled with curses, and she almost uttered one when she saw the house move slightly back and forth.
To her surprise, Meryl watched as the house quickly grew larger… but… her astonishment faded quickly when she saw that it stopped at a size… small!
It barely seemed big enough! It looked like a tiny room! Meryl decided to ignore the size, she needed to… then only now did Meryl remember… she was supposed to get out of here! "Master, aren't the monsters big enough to eat the house while we're inside?"
[Pull your friends inside and don't worry about that now.]
[Hurry, the monsters are getting too close!]
Meryl could tell from the slight vibrations beneath her. She quickly picked up Tulip and placed him on the grassy area, there was no time to get him inside the house. Then she returned to Elena, pulling her as well and laying her next to Tulip.
Finally, it was Alvin's turn. She grabbed his arms and started dragging him toward the garden with difficulty due to his heavy body, but the slight tremors of the ground helped her a little. When she reached the garden and glanced at him, she saw something… his pants had slipped down slightly.
She lifted them with her fingertips while looking away. "I don't want to see such disturbing sights!"
Suddenly, her body wobbled a little. She panicked, thinking the monsters below had come out. She leaned on the edge of the fence to look down, only to see the sand moving away… or was she the one moving away? No, the house was rising into the sky!
"Master!" Meryl shouted in astonishment, and she wanted to add something else, but her master sent her a message saying: [Pull your friends inside before they fall and become monster food.]
Meryl slapped her forehead when she remembered her friends lying behind her. Tulip was the lightest, so he was the first one Meryl carried inside. When she entered and saw the scene, her eyes widened in shock!
It was a very large room, divided into two sections. On the right side, there was a living room with couches covered in bear fur, a brown rug covering the floor, and a stone fireplace filled with wood.
On the left side was the kitchen. Meryl glanced at it as she walked toward the living room to lay Tulip on one of the couches. There was a calm fire burning beneath a copper kettle.
After placing Elena and Alvin on the rug, since their weight was too heavy to put them on the couch like Tulip, Meryl sat down to rest for a moment. "It's so hot!"
[Turn on the ceiling fan. The button is next to the TV.]
Meryl looked in astonishment toward the front of the room and saw a TV there… a TV! She forgot about the heat and quickly walked over to the TV to check.
She looked at it from the right side, then turned to the left side. "It really is a TV!"
[Forget the TV and turn on the fan. Also, if you want some privacy, close the window curtain.]
Meryl furrowed her brows in confusion, looking toward the window on her right to see numerous planetary cameras watching them. She sighed in annoyance and ran toward them. "Leave us alone!" she shouted angrily, pulling the curtain shut with force to block the view of those circular creatures.
She sat beside Tulip and rested her head against the back cushion of the couch, staring at the fan wearily. "By the way, sir, where is Miss Cloud now?"
The house was a large room, and Meryl hadn't found anyone here. So, where was Miss Cloud?
[The house is Miss Cloud.]
"Hah!" Meryl didn't understand what that meant.
[This house is mine. I infused some of my power into it, and it became like this.]
[You can say it's a living being—it hears, sees, feels, but it doesn't have a soul!]
"I think... that's amazing!" said Meryl with admiration, then adjusted her position so she could see the details of the place better. As she turned left and right, she spun around to see what was behind her. Her eyes landed on a piece of white cloth hanging on the wall.
Meryl walked toward it slowly, and as she got closer, she realized there was something hidden behind this thick white fabric. Most likely... a painting or a picture.
Meryl estimated its length and width with her eyes—it was two meters tall and about the same in width. A bit of confusion fluttered in her heart as she raised her hands, wanting to remove the cloth and see what was behind it.