Chapter 3: Chapter 2 – Keeping up the Act

Watching as the guard leaves to question more people, only feeling confident to stop watching after a sizable distance where he was barely visible to Cynthia.

Letting out a long sigh she steps back into the shack with the broken door, bringing Newt in she collapses on the dirty torn-up floor.

"That was close, kid you did a good job." She gave Newt a nod whilst pulling out the package she had received from her former acquaintance.

"This better be fucking worth it..." She starts reading old scrolls and texts.

And reading, and reading, until all scrolls, texts, reports and "holy enlightenment" that high ranked officials experienced.

Then she broke into laughter, not humorous laughter, one of despair, anguish, and finally, acceptance.

"Hey kid get a load of this pile of horse feces! Here! Here! Read these!" She hands Newt the numerous, he stops, looks at the scriptures, looks up and responds, "I'm 15, obviously not nobility, why would i be able to read?"

Cynthia freezes, facepalms and explains, "Okay i'll explain what's in all this. So basicall-" Getting cut off by Newt, "Can you teach me to read and write?!" Practically bouncing in excitement.

Annoyed at getting cut off she replies, "Hah! A brat like you would take years to learn to read! I can just tell you what it says and we can be on our way."

Newt was curious as to why the women was so insistent on telling him the contents of the scriptures when it hits him, "Are these stolen?"

"Wow, I'm so impressed you manage to figure out what was blindingly obvious! It's not like there was a guard asking for my exact appearance less than 5 minutes ago?" Whilst she continued insulting Newt he was just realising why she wanted him to know the information.

"You want an accomplice who would be as deep in trouble as you, if caught, forcing cooperation?" Newt questions without expecting an answer.

"Guess you're not a complete moron, let me enlighten your pea sized brain. Whilst yes that is the case, you, brat, are already in hot shit for helping me trick the guard. You're stuck in this situation as much as i am." Cynthia replies, "Even if you knew no information, the church would just off you just in-case you possibly new any information. Oh of course after torturing you in horrible ways trying to get any information which you won't know." She says grinning at the horrified expression on the kid's face.

"W-w-WHAT?! There is no way the local law enforcement would allow for all this!"

"Hahaha! Oh dear gods! That has got to be the funniest thing I've ever heard! Kid how ignorant are you? The law doesn't give a flying fuck about most people! Unless you're rich or of noble standing, it doesn't matter! Hell you should be aware of that, No less than an hour ago you had a stab wound, and if it wasn't for me, you'd be dead! Grow the fuck up kid, the world isn't some happy fairy story where everyone has a happy ending. Trust anyone? Get backstabbed. Do good? Get taken advantage of, Stop doing good? You're a horrible person from doing so, its your duty to do so."

Cynthia gets progressively more quiet and her eyes get more and more blurred as she reminisces on the past, until she was snapped out by a cough.

"Kid, i'll give you some words of advice. Trust nobody, everyone is out for themselves. If they can make a profit, they'll sell you out in a heartbeat."

"You can't live like that! How will you ever love? Have children, grow old with a loved one?!"

Cynthia looks at him and firmly shakes her head. "Love is overrated, often its fake and to acquire an advantage of the gullible, I've personally witnessed it... However there is a way..."

Newt looks expectantly at Cynthia, she had a clearly distraught and hateful past, though he disagreed with some of her "advice", it would be naive to disregard her advice.

"Get strong... So strong you can kill gods, so strong that you can overcome any situation solely by yourself, and if you are truly determined to have "loved ones"" She spat as if the words itself disgusted her to her core. "Then, become strong enough that any betrayal means nothing. Become Invincible."

Cynthia was letting a stranger she had barely known for a day get a glimpse of he past, unknowingly letting Newt glimpse her past experiences, emotions and how they moulded her. Why she did this? Newt didn't know.

Cynthia was the most confused however, her current actions we the antithesis of who she was currently.

While Cynthia was getting her emotions straight and trying to break out of her carefully crafted walls she had kept up for decades, Newt was deep in contemplation on the "advice" he had been given.

That is until Newt's stomach rumbles so loudly that it snaps Cynthia out of her thoughts, and promptly snatches Newt's legs from under him as his already worn out and malnutrition body was on its last legs without Newt, nor Cynthia realised how badly he needed food.

"Ah shit, kid you alright?!" She says as she lightly slaps his face multiple times. Eventually getting a response from the kid, "Food please..."

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Damnit this was the last i had. Cynthia thought as she takes out a sandwich, that barely qualifies to be called so with two slices of a single piece of bread cut in two, used as the bottom and top of the sandwich with some dry jerky in-between.
"Eat up kid." Slapping him two times in the face to get his attention and feed him.

Newt promptly shot up and devoured the meal in a blink of an eye. "Wow how starved were you brat?" Cynthia asked, which Newt responded with 2 fingers held, "2 days?" Newt shakes his head as he chews the last pieces of the sandwich, "Weeks, 2 weeks, and if you couldn't tell i wasn't the most well fed beforehand." Newt said with spite which Cynthia noted and replied, "Seems like you got a grudge against someone. So you should understand somewhat my advice?" Cynthia said with a dark smirk as Newt nods.

"Let me guess, parents?" Newt Shakes his head, "Parent, single."

"Half correct, alright, next i assume Newt isn't your actual name?" Flinch, Definitely not, Cynthia noted.

"Newt is my name, just... Not the name my parents gave me."

Ah parents, plural, so one died. Cynthia putting together pieces until it finally clicks.

"Let me take another guess," Newt flinches a little before sparing a short nod, Cynthia gives a small smile before switching back to her normal brooding face. "Father is abusive, or at least isn't helpful enough to protect you, Mother died in child birth or died sometimes soon afterwards because she was weak and an illness or something occured, perhaps the Father wasn't able to protect her from something? How close was I?"

Cynthia asks, expecting she nailed it on the head, to which her expectations were fulfilled.

"How were you so accurate?! Um, yes, Father is abusive and Mother died shortly after i was born from illness. Father blames me for it." Newt grumbles and said sadly before switching back to questioning Cynthia.

"How did you know?" He inquires.

"Simple, first, when i asked for your name you automatically started to reply with something, before stopping and saying a name completely different from the start of the first, second, you were alone and after getting healed, have no inclination to go back to your parents, which meant either you didn't feel safe with them and you didn't care about them much. Third you were bleeding alone in a crappy dilapidated shack with a stab wound, considering that you... Oh shit, kid was this your parents shack? Did your Father stab you and leave you here?" Cynthia asks as she realised that there was no blood trail and a stabbed starved kid wouldn't be able to travel far, let alone find a random residence to stay in with no occupant was damn near impossible.

"Ah yeah, Father stabbed me whilst he was drunk and then ran for it after assuming i was gonna die. He probably won't return." Newt responds with a shrug, Cynthia however wasn't so calm.

"Shit, okay this is bad, how long ago did your mother pass? Also do you know what their history in Pila is?" Newt stands their confused which reminds Cynthia, "The 'city' we live in currently." Newt nods and helpfully gives an answer, "Father mentioned whilst drunk that he and "Karen" should have never moved here. I assume Karen was my Mother. And to the first one, a month or two after i was born, around 7 years ago."

"Okay, we may have to move in a couple weeks, months if we're lucky." Cynthia said, confusing Newt, why did they have to leave?

Cynthia catching Newts face cuts him off before he asks saying, "Okay brat, the guard knows that "Margarette and her son" live here. they know our appearance, now whilst its commonly discarded and overlooked, there is a record of every property in the slums, eventually they will realise that no "Margarette" lives here, luckily your father is missing currently missing so we can stay here for a while, however eventually the church and guards will come here, while there are a lot of people using other peoples property without them knowing and the records are outdated, it will be good enough for them to arrest anyone who is falsely living somewhere they shouldn't, including us."

Cynthia catches a breath and checks with Newt ot make sure he understands whats said, Smart kid, and then continues, "Not only that, but they can use this for information gathering, all the people living near this shack will know that I shouldn't be there, and know that suddenly on the same day the Church was stolen from, I appeared, someone who looks like described. And if they arrest us, its onyl a matter of time before someone who has seen me figures out my identity. Remember if i'm going down your coming with me." She says with a piercing glare at Newt, before realising what she was doing and apologizes, "Sorry, forget that, if i'm caught just say i threatened you. But you have to read this inforamtion, and give it to someone i know if i'm caught alright?" Newt agreed, however he was in a daze for a short period after what she said, not because of all the troubles they would be going through, but because she apologized and also came up with a cover story for him. Was this the same women who told him "Not to trust anybody"?

"So whats the plan?" Newt asks seriously, causing Cynthia to chuckle a little, "The plan is, to think of a plan!"

Newt was shocked, this calculated and distrustful women wasn't sure what to do?

Cynthia looked at his shocked expression and curtly replied, "What, did you think i would come up with a plan for the situation we have realised we are in less than 3 minutes ago? I appreciate the compliment but i'm not that smart kid."

Newt was confused but thought it through and it made sense, of course, she's not some once in a life time genius able to immediately come up with a plan when encountered with a problem.

"Alright i have a plan!" Cynthia determinedly said, NEVERMIND, Newt thought before cutting her off, "Before that I have an important question!"

"What is it." Cynthia annoyed again that she was cut off replied.

"What's your name?"

"..."

"..."

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