Last Crack At Hope

Fateful Greeting

—Chapter 1–
Fateful Greeting

Crackling noises of burning flames... Gunshots heard across many lands... Screams of young children and adults alike echoed throughout multiple buildings. Was this the life he wanted to pursue? As a Hero of Justice? Every time he tried to help people and prevent the catastrophe that could occur, he was forced to kill the few to save the many. It was slowly becoming an endless cycle of slaughter left and right. Was this something he truly wanted? It was... in a way which was beyond twisted. He knew something was becoming unsightly of himself, yet he continued this lifestyle of his. After all, he thought this was a way to preserve humanity and remove the endless killing of the system.

His mind too concentrated on the very concept of saving people, his heart had no room to even think about having a love interest. When he was younger, he used to like someone but the feeling fell out rather quickly. He felt that people's happiness were more important than his own. If someone tried to help him with whatever it was, it wouldn't feel that he has done his own part of the task.

However, there was a particular someone that piqued his interest—whether it be due to annoyance or to fascination. A woman with long black hair with emerald eyes hidden behind round-rimmed navy blue glasses. She had quite a small stature—probably around 160 centimeters tall (5ft 3in). He wouldn't consider her as scrawny but fairly built for someone around that height.

He was returning to one of the villages he saved out within one of those deserted locations when he met this lady. He figured that they were just some random person that was bypassing the location. In fact, he was completely wrong. This person was helping the children and adults that were in a dire health situation. What was more fascinating was the way she was providing help.

'A magic user, huh...' He slowly walked toward the group of people that were crowding around the woman, seeing what was being done. She was healing an elderly with poor eyesight. The elder's eyes were behind a white cloth as it seemed to have some sort of liquidity within it. His brow rose up as the male saw this person heal with the most unusual way—using flowers as a mage material.

'Ho? That is unusual. For what purpose does the floral nature even have to help injured citizens like them?' The more he pondered the more fascinated he became at this woman's arts. The red-haired male watched as she muttered under her breath, her hands lightly massaging the rim of the elder's eyes with a light glow of a bluish-green hue. Within minutes, the glow disappeared as the woman began unraveling the cloth.

"Elder Tarja, please keep your eyes closed for another minute. You can open them afterward." A child, probably the age of four or five, grabbed the emerald-eyed lady and shook her hands profusely as tears fell. "Thank you so much, miss! Thank you for helping my grandmother!" She softly nodded, a small smile appeared. "You're welcome."

The elder kept their eyes closed before slowly opening them. "I-I can... see again..." They turned toward the lady, repeating the action the child had done. The crowd, quite fascinated at the situation, cheered. "Thank you, madam! How can I ever repay you?!" She shook her head, patting the back of the elder's hand. "You don't need to repay me anything. I was unable to heal them to the fullest but you can see perfectly fine now. Just make sure you get plenty of rest and have your eyes shielded from the sand." The female elder brightly smiled as they hugged their grandchild in a tight embrace.

The lady packed whatever materials she took out into a shoulder bag and got up. She was about to head to another part of the village when she saw the Auburn male glancing at her. "Hello there." He returned the greeting. "Hello. That was an interesting show you just put right now." The woman walked past him, standing a few feet away. She adjusted her glasses before she spoke. "If you wish to entertain yourself, you can do so by going to a circus or to a festival. My services are not for your entertainment."

A small desert marigold caught her interest as she plucked it off from the ground, dusting the sand off. "Besides, I'm just a normal traveler with a hobby as a florist." He sneered at the short woman, following her footsteps as she walked. "You, a normal florist? That is not the case with what you have just done."

She stopped in her tracks, turning her head towards the male. She tucked a strand of hair behind her head as the silver earring shown from under the hood that she wore. "It's true. If you want to believe my words or to brush it off, that is up to you. I do what I feel is right with my own hands." A smile was emitted from the woman before she turned away from him. 'What she feels right, huh...' The lady waved her hand over her head. "Good day sir. I hope to never see you again."

The male saw her back as she eventually disappeared into the horizon. 'She's rather interesting. Never seen her before. But something odd yet dangerously familiar aura was emitted from her. What was that feeling?' He glanced at the horizon where she disappeared off to before looking back into the village. 'No matter. If she was willing to help others, I can at least manage to befriend her if we ever meet again.'

The male turned back and headed into the village where the children greeted him once more. The adults as well as the elders welcomed him warmly and giving their thanks for his protection. He replied that it was no problem at all—as long he protected them, that was all it mattered to him. He wanted to preserve humanity to the best of his abilities.

What he didn't know was that the meeting of that woman would somehow change him internally—even if it was a little bit way into the future.

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AN: It is very difficult to find Archer with red hair. x_x" The setting is before he submitted into the world (aka Alaya) and being changed into a Counter Guardian completely.

Preview Picture: https://www.zerochan.net/2194276