Val(first person point of view)

  I rushed the girl to where Dr. Trauss clinic immediately upon my arrival to the settlement. I think i was breathing heavily-not only due to the cold weather, but also while I was running to the clinic.

  Dr. Trauss saw me with his keen-lizard eyes and gestured me to put the girl on an empty hospital cot. "Ah, Val. So, you did find someone from the mountains."

  It wasnt a question, he already knew that I was only going to the mountains as I had told him. I nod at his statement, already confirming what he had just said as I gently put the girl down on the hospital cot.

  "Well then, let me do my work. Val, go and get some heat packs"

  I followed the doctors orders and retrieved a few heat packs from the storage room of the clinic and gave it to him. Dr. Trauss immediately pced them on the girls head and her hands. He was more focused on warming the exposed areas of the girls skin as he didnt want her to get frostbite on her hands.

  After Dr. Trauss administered the heat pack on the girl, he then spoke to me. "Val, go get some rest. The girl needs rest, warm food, and time. Ill handle the rest."

  I nod at the doctor and left outside to my temporary small apartment room given to me by the settlement.

  As I slept for a few hours and finally got up, I then heard a knock on the door. When I opened it up, a panting nurse stood there, struggling to catch her breath.

  "The Girl...the girl is awake. Dr. Trauss had requested you to come immediately. Apparently, the girl too had asked for your presence as well" The nurse managed to say between breaths.

  I nodded and quickly got ready to go. When I arrived to the clinic, Dr. Trauss had been there waiting for me with a warm toothy smile.

  "Ah, welcome. You'd be happy to know that the girl is well and safe." Dr. Trauss cheerfully commented. "The girls recovery is actually quite astonishing. I had presumed that it would take another day for the girl to wake up, but I am quite happily wrong! HAHA!" Dr. Trauss let out a hearty ugh.

  "Oh and before I forget Val-the girl would like to see you. Appaently she was conscious when you took care of her during your ride back." Dr. Trauss then leaned forward and whispered in my ear something secretive. "I am not sure, but I think this girl is noble descended. Her mannerisms and speech are refined and it resembles much like a child raised in noble household"

  I nodded at his observation.

  As I entered the room of where the girl is held in, I noticed immediately that her appearance in the room is quite striking. The young girl has straight bck hair, but here and there, streaks of golden-yellow glowed faintly, like flickering light in the dark. I could only see one eye of hers-striking ruby-red colored eye. The other eye was hidden beneath her bangs.

  "Hello, your...Val right?" The girl spoke in a calm and yet in a noble strict manner. She gives off the feeling of having been trained in noble speech since a very young age.

  "Yes thats me. Dr. Trauss told you huh. And you are, little miss?"

  "The names Eclipsara...my st name; however, probably has no worth at this point, so its no use saying it." The girl replied bluntly.

  I felt like she was holding back alot with how she speaks to me. And even her name itself felt extremely unique-almost otherwordly.

  "Hey, Eclipsara...I wont ask about your past or anything that makes you uncomfortable until you yourself feel like you want to reveal it. But you dont have to speak formal with me you know. Just speak freely with me"

  Eclipsara gave me an uncertain expression and spoke something shocking that caught me off guard.

  "You mean like using 'fuck' or 'Bitch'?"

  I heard Dr. Trauss snicker behind me immediately. I look at Dr. Trauss with a shocked look with a sudden realization.

  "Dr. Trauss...dont tell me-"

  "Hey dont look at me. The girl must have overheard those words from the soldiers in the clinic" Dr. Trauss said with a toothy mischievous grin. He was enjoying himself alot and I came to know why a second ter.

  Behind him, a beastfolk nurse-with prominent big fox ears and 2 sharp canines-who had been here in the clinic for a long time, fuming with absolute rage after realizing the soldiers have cursed openly around a young girl. "THAT DOES IT, I AM GETTING RID OF ALL THE DESSERTS AND BEER FOR THE SOLDIERS FOR 3 DAYS AS PUNISHMENT!" The nurse decred before storming off.

  Dr. Trauss snickered and looked as if he was pitying the soldiers for their impending punishment as they will now be devoid of delicious deserts for 3 days even though he was the main cause of the situation. A sentence of having no desserts and beer is an equivalent to a death sentence to the ears of the soldiers. Sometimes, I think Dr. Trauss probably revealed who said it just to enjoy the chaos. He may be a gentleman, but that doesnt mean he cant enjoy the chaos he had sneakily brought in. He probably predicted where this conversation would go and got a nurse near him so she can hear that the girl learned those words from the soldiers in the clinic. A certified instigator and menace to society thats for sure. I should take notes.

  "....Eclipsara," I sighed, turning back to her. "I think those words are a abit too much for a girl at your age, you shouldnt use them till your a bit older....wait, I never asked, but how old are you exactly?" I asked now realizing I hadnt asked for the girls age.

  "...I am 13 years old, I am soon to be 14." The girl known as Eclipsara replied.

  I nod at her comment. I had figured she was around that age due to her youthful appearance, but I still had to ask. Of course, looks also arent always reliable to look at to determine age. In my life during this world, I had come across a vampire who appeared to be extremely young, but was in fact centuries older than she looked. Never judge a book by its cover like I did, but I am sure certain unque scenarios like this case would give me the pass.

  I then asked a question that I had been dying to know. "Eclipsara...could you tell me where your home is and why you were high up in the mountains?"

  Eclipsara became eerily quiet, but she spoke a minute ter with a hint of resignation and sadness. "I hail from the nation of Vitalia...or whats left of it"

  I became quiet. Dr. Trauss too became quiet. Even though I had already suspected that the girl hails from the recently dead nation, reality still hadnt hit me that Vitalia as a nation was dead. But with the girls finality and words, a survivor of that dead nation itself, the acceptance that it was gone finally tied the knot in my head.

  Eclipsara then further spoke, "There were... 2 beings of astronimical size that used the nation as a battlefield. Its....appearance was...strange. I don't know what it was. They just came out of nowhere from the kingdom and started fighting each other. I saw...the sky ripping itself apart, buildings and people...bend as if they were noodles or like...paper. I dont know what else to describe it. I....I escaped and I think I was one of the st survivors or...the st one at all."

  Thankfully, Dr. Trauss and I were the only ones hearing this girls story. If the soldiers or the nurses have heard it right now, there would be chaos and panic in the clinic. The war was finally over, its best not to cause another panic attack with this new information revealed as people still think the nation of Vitalia was destroyed by something else. They dont believe in the rumors that an eldritch battle had commenced and for now its best not to reveal that the rumor was actually true this whole time. Besides, the girls descriptions of the sky, building, and even the peoples fate made me think that the eldritch entities powers were causing space and time to bend around them and nation was just colteral damage in the admist of their fight.

  As Eclipsara finally stopped talking about her tale, her eyes downcast as she was relieving the horrors from what she had seen and remembers. Eclipsara didnt reveal much of her own background, as I suspect that shes not comfortable with revealing private information. I did tell her that she didnt need to tell me if she didnt want to, so I suspect Ill get more information about her ter on when she herself feels more comfortable.

  Dr. Trauss then speaks as if in deep thought. "Val, its best not to reveal that this girl is perhaps the sole survivor of the fallen nation. If people knew, they would overwhelm the girl or worse probably use her for poltical gain." He paused, deep in thought. "Besides… I have a feeling the truth will come out soon. The nations know something. If they’re only letting rumors spread instead of stating the facts, it means they’re hiding something."

  I nodded.

  Rumors could be true or false—it all depended on who was spreading them. The other nations' intelligence forces had likely already witnessed what Eclipsara described, but for now, they were choosing to remain silent.

  Maybe they were buying time.

  Maybe they were figuring out how to break the truth to the world.

  Whatever the reason… the existence of those eldritch beings wasn’t going to remain a secret forever.

  "Oh and I have to say something." Eclipsara said suddenly.

  "Yes?" I asked.

  Eclipsara then gave one st shocking request-actually no, it wasnt a request, but a demand.

  "I'd like to live with you and no its not a request. Ill do it against your will"

  Dr. Trauss and I suddenly paused.

  And a final line with every bit of emotion and shock from me was heard.

  "Pardon me, Miss?!"

  Dr. Trauss then ughed and snickered heavily again as he fell oon the ground clenching his stomach.