73 Reason to figh (1/2)
Bonnie groaned and tried to move, a sharp pain on her hand made her jolt up.
”Ouch!” she cried.
”If you feel your hand, you got lucky,” Hera said.
The explorer was sitting on a chair by Bonnie's bed. She had her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.
”What happened?” Bonnie asked.
”You got trigger-happy. You figured out how to do something with mana and overdid it. They checked the logs. Your trainer gave you a warning about what you were doing. Why didn't you listened to it?” Hera scolded.
”I... thought I could do it.”
”Since when did you not listen to warnings. Bonnie, you don't even cross the street outside the crosswalk. Explain why you ignored the warning of a trainer while you were using magic.”
”I... I just have to use magic,” Bonnie mumbled.
”Why? Seriously, why? We just had to deal with Leo almost getting us killed because of something he had to do. At least he had an explanation, not that it changed the fact that he messed up. Please, give me one explanation, even if it is a crappy one.”
”It was my mistake. It won't happen again,” Bonnie said, clutching the sheets.
Hera rolled her eyes. Her friend could have gotten seriously hurt just because she was too eager to do something, just like Leo. Hera understood better than anyone what it was like to be excited about something, but nothing good would happen if they end up hurting themselves.
”I hope it doesn't. It was a stupid mistake, and you are not stupid, are you?”
Bonnie started to tremble, tears rushing down her face.
”Sorry, sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad, please don't be mad, father,” she wailed.
Hera looked at her friend, spooked with the reaction. She wanted to scold Bonnie, but not to make her feel that bad. She sat down on her bed, hugging the woman while she cried on her chest. They stayed like that for a few moments, Hera's shirt was wet with the researcher's tears. A few minutes later, Bonnie finally stopped sobbing.
”I'm sorry I went too far. I was just worried about you. This time I was near you, but what if I wasn't? We were alone in that ATR. You could end up bleeding out there,” Hera said, trying to justify herself.
”I know, sorry. It's not your fault. I just... It was my mistake,” Bonnie said.
”I'm not going to say it wasn't, but I could have handled things differently. But I saw a friend falling into the ground by the second time in two days. It freaked me out a little,” Hera explained.
”Really? What happened?” Bonnie asked.
Hera explained the whole situation with Leo, avoiding going too much into details about his uncle.
”Oh... sorry to make you go through that,” Bonnie said.
”And I'm sorry for making you cry... but what happened?” Hera asked.
Bonnie looked away and let go of the hug. Understanding she needed some space, Hera left the bed and went back to the chair.
”Look, if you don't want to talk about it, it's ok. But I need to know if I have to be worried about you,” Hera said.
”I need money, a lot of money, and fast. I can't hunt right now, but if I have magic, I can start going with you guys,” Bonnie said.
”Why? You know we can cover for you for a while. Not only that, we already have enough to pay for this week's lodging. Why such a rush,” Hera asked.
”It's because of my father... He always demanded that I would be the perfect daughter. If I got an A in class, I was punished for not getting an A+,”
”Oh, Bonnie, did he ever hit you?”
”No… well once, but that's when my mom stepped in and left him. It was in the middle of my sophomore year. I spent a week barely sleeping to get a good grade on my midterms. The school ranked the student's grades, and I got the 15th place. The day the results came in, I was so tired, and I ended up sleeping in class. They were very strict and suspended me for it. When my father heard about that, he scolded me and started to go through my things. It was my birthday, and one of my friends gave me a makeup kit, it was still in my bag. He saw that and got even angrier, saying awful things and calling me stupid. I tried to say it was a gift, and he slapped me,”
Bonnie took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. Hera held her friend's shoulder.
”You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to,” Hera said
”No... I have to. My therapist said it helps. We left the house and went to live with my aunt. I thought that we were done whit him. But a couple of days ago he sent a lawyer, saying that since the investment he made in me was worthless we had to pay back all the money he spent or I had to go back and do my job as his daughter. That means not only working for him, but also living with him. In the contract, he showed us there was even a clause saying that I could be part of acquisitions via family ties. It basically meant that he could marry me off to some random guy just to make a quick buck. My mom refused him and said that we would pay it all back. But it is a lot of money. My mom started working double shifts and looking for another job, but she already did so much for me. I can't let her get all that money by herself, especially if I can make that money here,” Bonnie said.
”I get it, I mean, not really, but I understand. Just tell me this. If you end up dying because you were reckless, is that going to clear the debt?” Hera asked.
”No, it would go to my mom since she also had some benefits with my upbringing.”
”Then don't kill yourself for it. You need to be alive and well to help her,” Hera said.
”I know, it's just a lot of interest, even if the monthly payments won't be that high initially.”
”How much is it going to be?”
”Five thousand for the first month, then double that every next month until it reaches 40 000 gold per month. Then 100 000 when it reaches 1 year, and double that in another year, after that. I don't even know.”
”Oh, crap. That is a lot,” Hera exclaimed.
”Tell me about it. He says the total debt is around 10 million. The MAZE is the only shot I have at paying it. I know that,” Bonnie said.
”Good thing we can already make the first payment in a bit over a week.”
”What?” Bonnie asked.