Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Anna was taken to an all-girl orphanage she could afford for the next 6 years and a half. There, she faced a new reality. She used to be pampered by her parents, lived with comfort and never did home chores. In contrast, in the orphanage, she had a simple life, without luxury and also had to work a lot. Ms. Blackmoon, the orphanage owner, didn't employ many servants, so she obliged the girls to take turns doing home chores. She also exerted a strict authority over the girls.

At the beginning, Anna suffered a lot, because, in the eyes of Ms. Blackmoon, she was just a spoiled girl who was unwilling to work, so she gave Anna the hardest chores. Ms. Blackmoon had pleasure in criticizing the girls and even humiliating them when the tasks were not made according to her high standards, so Anna was a constant victim at the beginning. Anna never complained, as she considered that part of ther education. With the time, she learned how to do the tasks according to Ms. Blackmoon standards and Ms. Blackmoon stopped assigning her with the hardest chores.

Ms. Blackmoon, a bachelorete in her mid-thirties, was not a bad person. She just had a love for authority and was deeply concerned about the education of the girls. She cold and harsh, but that was part of her character. When she was a child, she was raised with lots of comfort and few obligations. While a teenager, she went through lots of deceptions, culminating with an ex-fiance, whom she caught cheating her. She faced a long depression after that and resurfaced to life with a completely different mind. She thought girls should be raised to be strong, so they could face the hardships of life and not be so easily deceived as she was. But her theories had no scientific basis and the girls could barely stand some of her harsher abuses.

As the months passed, Anna became more introspective and lonely. She didn't have much in common with the other girls. After her traumatic experience, Anna became a very cold and rational person. She didn't have any pleasure in joining the silly joys of the other girls, which where the same joys she used to have before her family was murdered by the scoundrels. Most of the time she spent reading books borrowed from Ms. Blackmoon library.

One day, a new girl arrived at the orphanage. Sara was a 16-year-old redhead, who was sent to the orphanage by her parents, who considered her too clumsy and lazy, so they sent her daughter to the orphanage to act as a boarding school. That way, they thought, she would be taught how to be smarter and more responsible. At first, Anna utterly ignored her because she saw Sara as her complete opposite. Sara was a lucky girl, well-cared and pampered by her parents, who was just too weak and stupid. If she didn't know how to behave according to what is expected from a 16-year-old girl, it was all her fault.

As expected, Sara soon became the main target of Ms. Blackmoon. She was assigned the hardest tasks and failed to accomplish them every time. Ms. Blackmoon humiliated Sara daily, but Sara could not get better. At first, Anna thought she did deserve the punishments and humiliations, but, after some weeks, Anna started noticing that something was wrong with Sara. It was not that she didn't want to learn the tasks, she just couldn't. Anna learned fast the tasks, overcame the initial difficulties and ended being one of the most responsible girls in the orphanage. Other girls sometimes earned a reprimand because they did some tasks carelessly, but not because they didn't know. With Sara, it was always the same. She tried hard, but was unable to perform well. Anna noticed that Sara was always depressed, crying in the corners, being bullied by other girls. Cold as she was, Anna still had a flame into her heart and that flame triggered some compassion towards the clumsy redhead. One day, feeling uneasy, Anna timidly approached Sara's room. There, she found Sara on her knees, with her head only almost touching the floor, her hands were on her face, sobbing bitterly.

“Girl, why do you cry so much? If you learn to do the tasks properly, Ms. Blackmoon will stop saying bad things to you. It is not that hard.”
“Anna, oh Anna, I just can't stand this life. I don't deserve this loneliness, this humiliation... I have a family, I shouldn't be here, suffering with these terrible tasks...”

For a moment, Anna was surprised that Sara knew her name. They were never formally introduced and Anna didn't even know the girl's name at the time. She was somewhat ashamed of not knowing Sara's name, but she got a bit angered by the girl's response for she hated people who put themselves in a victim position.

“You are just a big cry-baby, girl! You can't stand such easy tasks! Why is it so hard to scrub the floor or remove the dust from the furniture? Your parents want you to grow up! Even a 7-year-old can do these tasks!”
“But... I don't need to go through all this abuse and humiliation. The tasks are too hard for me. Besides, I have a family...”
“Oh, shut up! If you can't stand that, how do you expect to stand the hardships of life? Listen here, you spoiled little brat! My family was murdered in front of my eyes, I had to fight the scoundrels who murdered them for my life, and, even so, you have never seen me crying in the corners because life was unfair with me and I have to scrub that stupid kitchen floor twice! You are just a coward cry-baby!”

Angered by Anna's heavy remarks, Sara stood up in a moment, faced Anna and shouted back, staring intently her green eyes, which were on fire, into Anna's blue eyes:

“I'm deeply sorry for your tragedy, but you just don't need to accept injustice! Nor do I!”

Anna was surprised and scared by Sara's reaction. Sara was several inches taller than her and had a much more developed body, so she looked menacing. She also had a valid point. Anna was paralyzed from shock and kept staring at Sara's eyes, without moving or even blinking. She was unsure whether she should knock Sara down or run away, but, for her surprise, Sara fell on her knees, crying again. She embraced Anna's hips and rested her head in Anna's bosom.

“Forgive me, Anna, forgive me, please! I didn't know, I didn't know that! You didn't deserve, you don't deserve. Poor Anna... I just can't stand that anymore. How can you accept every thing that happened to you? You don't deserve, dear...”

Anna was still frozen, staring at the same point Sara's eyes were when she was facing her. Anna released her tension, but did not move. She just put her and over Sara's head and stroked gently her red locks. “I know, I know...”

The relationship between two girls started developing. Anna offered her help and protection to Sara, who, for her turn, was the only acquaintance Anna had. Anna noticed Sara had problems in learning how to accomplish the tasks assigned to her not because she was a fool or careless, but because she had a real problem in learning, so she patiently started teaching her how to do the things. She also secretly covered up Sara to make her not be punished. She also noticed that Sara loved abstract thinking and loved chatting with Anna. She even easily surpassed Anna knowledge in abstract subjects without reading the books Anna read. Anna discovered that Sara had special needs and that she was, in fact, a good girl. With less harassing from Ms. Blackmoon and their friendship, the lives of the two girls improved.

Suddenly, Ms. Blackmoon changed. She started acting strangely. Her behavior changed, she was often nervous and she, who always ruled the orphanage with iron fists, started to overlook and even neglect the management of the orphanage. At first, Ms. Blackmoon was only target of frivolous gossips, most saying she was in love. She denied that and punished the girls she caught talking about the subject. Anna and Sara didn't care about the subject, they were concerned about more serious things. The things got worse and Ms. Blackmoon started applying random punishments not only to the girls, but also to the servants, who were not a bit pleased. One of those days, Ms. Blackmoon appeared with a black eye and scratches in her face and arms. She was not able to conceal them and people got really worried.

One of the teacher assistants followed her for some days and discovered she was in fact dating a guy, a twenty-year handsome guy, who was a crook and always drunk or drugged. He also demanded money from Ms. Blackmoon. She started spending more and more with the guy, and the orphanage started suffering financial difficulties. She delayed the payment of the employees and there were occasional food and cleaning material shortage. The payments didn't come and teachers and maids started abandoning the orphanage, till the girls found themselves on their own. Ms. Blackmoon was almost never there and when she was, she only blamed the girls for her personal problems. Anna and Sara supported themselves, but both were scared. Anna felt a very bad omen that tragedy would struck again in her life, and that would happen soon. She tried to prepare herself, but she was really frightened.

One day, Ms. Blackmoon's lover stormed the house, drunk and drugged, pulling Ms. Blackmoon by her hair. He threw her on the kitchen floor and started saying bad words to her. The girls listened to the commotion and were deeply scared. They started retreating to their rooms and locking the doors. Anna was alone. reading a book, and locked her door. She heard the man scream “You are not worthy a penny! You are old, ugly and stupid! I'll have your girls as a compensation!” Anna grabbed an iron bar she had hidden in her room and waited beside the door in case the man tried to break into her room. Though she was just 13, she had become stronger than she was two years ago and her confidence she could protect herself has grown too. Even so, her heart was racing madly for she couldn't feel at ease.

Suddenly she heard a woman screaming. She heard some noises of a fight, the man screaming bad words towards the woman and the woman screaming. By his words, she knew it wasn't Ms. Blackmoon. She paid more attention and realized it was Sara screaming. Sara was tall and tried to fight the man, but he was very strong and she was no match for him. Anna was moved by her friend's screams, so she decided she should do something. She knew all the other girls would never do anything for Sara. She also knew that she could sneak into the hall and call the police, but she had already a bad experience with the police arriving too late. She decided she had to take a stand and help her friend. She unlocked the door and, trying to not make much noise, climbed downstairs. Arriving at the hall, she heard Sara's screams weakening and the man changing his words. He was still using bad words, but now praising the girl's appearance. She only realized now how Sara was attractive. She had to act before it was too late. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a poker, in the fireplace. She didn't think twice, she dropped the iron bar, grabbed the poker and raced madly towards the kitchen, were Sara was.

Arriving there, she saw a disgusting scene. The man has hit Sara's head on the floor and she was partly stunned. The man was ripping Sara's dress. Without thinking too much, Anna ran and stabbed the man in the left eye, full force, with the sharp extremity. The stab was so violent that the poker made a hole through the man skull and the sharp extremity exited from the back of his head. He collapsed as Anna released the poker. Ms. Blackmoon fainted as she saw the scene and blackened out. Anna was horrified too. “Oh my God, I've killed a man! He is dead! Dead!” But she didn't have time to lose. She started shaking Sara and screaming her name, for she was stunned. Sara didn't react, so Anna raced to the laundry, caught a cleaning product with ammonia and gave it to Sara smell. That helped the girl regain her senses.

“Anna? What happened? My head aches...”
“Sara, be quick! We must get out of here now”
“Why? What happened? My body aches.... GAHHH! What is that? What have you done, Anna?” Sara had just seem the body of the man beside her and a pool of blood soaking her partly torn dress.
“I have saved you from this scoundrel. Now we must leave this place immediately. Pack your things now!”
“Anna... Anna...”

Anna was already running upstairs. She was not feeling well, but she didn't have the time to think. She had to run for her life. She packed her things and went to Sara's room to help the girl to pack hers. Sara was in doubt. She didn't know what to do.

“Where are we going, Anna?”
“You are going back to your home!”
“And you?”
“It doesn't matter. I just can't stay here, otherwise I'll be arrested.”
“Anna...”
“Fast, fast, we must leave before the girls get out or Ms. Blackmoon wakes!”

The girls finished packing their belongings and exited the house. For a short time they walked side by side in the streets. Sara was still scared and uneasy, as it was still dark outside.

“Anna, where are you going?”
“I have to hide myself, Sara, I've killed that man...”
“I wish you could come with me.”
“I know, Sara, but that would be dangerous for you. By the way, it is too risky for you to stay with me. Go to the hospital or any open drugstore and, from there, call your parents. We must part ways now. Farewell, Sara.”

Anna quickly hugged her friend and then started to run away from her, through the dark streets. She heard Sara crying her name, by the cries became fainter and fainter as she kept distancing herself, till the cries disappear in the night... the last cry would be the last time she would ever hear Sara's voice.