《ALE: Xithymia - The Sixth Judgement Of The Darkest Fate》


 Two Worlds [Side "A" - What do they see]

    [the Year 2093 ¨C September 19th, Speranta ¨C Lands of Elpida]


    "ALEXIS, ASTA!"


    A young woman in her mid-30s was leaning over the wall, discreetly observing a chaotic scene that was happening outside her window. Her blond messy hair was glued to a large stain of blood that covered half of her face while slowly sipping down.


    A young boy between 8 and 9 years old entered the room.


    "What?" He asked his mother.


    "Where is Asta?"


    "I don''t know...Playing in his room...? Should I car...?" He asked.


    "Go get him, I need to talk to both of you about something important."


    "What is going on...? Huh, what''s the noise outside?."


    The boy tried to get closer to the window in order to see where are all these screams are coming from but his mother blocked his way with her hand.


    "ALEXIS, GO GET HIM, NOW!" Shouted his mother


    "Mom, are you okay?"


    "It would be even better if you''d do what I ask you!" Said mother with a serious tone.


    "Okay, fine!" Replied Alexis with an irritating tone.


    A couple of minutes later, the old brother brought up his younger sibling who looked around 5-6 years old. Both brothers entered the room and stood immobile next to each other, waiting for what their mother has to say. As soon as she saw them she jumped towards them and made them sit on the floor.


    "So...? What is going on?" Alexis impatiently asked.


    "Soon, some bad people will come here and try to hurt us... We cannot stay here anymore." Whispered mother.


    Her breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous.


    "What?! We can''t just leave now? Who are these people? What is going on outside."


    "I will explain everything once we get out of here, I promise! Go to the kitchen, grab as much of food and water you can. Actually... you know what, take everything you can carry in your bag, I am counting on you! I will take care of your little brother. Once you are finished, meet me at the backdoor." She said.


    "Mommy but I like it here, why can''t we stay?" Asked Asta.


    "Because it is dangerous if we stay." She replied.


    "But that is our home..." Mumbled Alexis.


    "We will find a better one." Said their mother full of positivity.


    "And all of my friends, are they coming with us?" Asked Asta as he grabbed his mother by her hand.


    "Asta, sweetie, I am sure that everyone is doing fine, for now, I need you to pay attention to what I am about to tell you; When your brother will come back I will count to three and... Remember how I taught you to count to five? This time we will count only until three."


    The mother used Asta''s finger to remind him how to use them for counting.


    "One, two and three. When I say "three" I will open the backdoor and as soon as it opens I need you to run as fast as you can in the direction of the forest, I know it is a little bit far, but I am sure that you will make it in no time. Your big brother and I will help you." she explained.


    "I will do my best! Can I take "Mister Bear" with me?" Asked Asta.


    "Yes, of course, you can." She patted him.


    Five minutes later, everyone gathered at the backdoor.


    "Alexis, you are ready to go? You got some food as well, right?" Asked mother.


    "We have only one bottle of water left...", he showed his backpack full of bread and occasional metal cans.


    Mother noticed Alexis acting differently compared to a few minutes ago.


    "Honey, what is it?" Asked the mother


    "I saw them..." Sobbed Alexis.


    "Saw who?" She asked.


    "I looked into the window downstairs...The same people from the last year..."


    "Argh...Come here, we will be all right, we went through that before and this time... This time we are prepared!", she hugged Alexis.


    "Why won''t they leave us alone..."


    "I know...There nothing we can do at this point, that''s why we cannot stay".


    "Un...", Alexis made a tiny sound of acknowledgment.


    "Asta, sweetie, come over here, I need you to wear this." Whispered mother and tied Asta''s eyes with a black ribbon over his eyes.


    "What is that for?" Asked Alexis?


    "I need you to wear this for a little while, okay?" Said mother to Asta.


    "Okay, but why?" Asked Asta.


    "There are some bad things happened outside, it is better that you don''t look at it until we arrive in the forest".


    "Mommy, I can''t run if I can''t see anything." Explained Asta.


    "Don''t worry, myself and your big brother will help you" Said mother while patting his head.


    "That''s kind of cool." Alexis pulled Asta''s cheek.


    There was the noise of the front door being opened or rather busted away as something heavy fell on the floor and made a blistering sound that resonated everywhere. Multiple foot-steps entered the house, the old wooden floor was making unusually irritating squeaks as each of the intruders crossed the door entrance.


    "Let him in." Said a male with a rough voice.


    "PIPOLA FORGIVE MEI HAD NO OTHER CHOICE! THEY SAID THAT THEY WILL FREE ALINA IF I COOPERATE.


    "That''s uncle Sandu!" Whispered Alexis.


    "PIPOLA, I KNOW YOU ARE HERE, PLEASE, COME OUT. I AM SURE WE CAN FIND A WAY WITHOUT ANYONE TO GET HURT. THE LIFE OF MY LITTLE GIRL DEPENDS ON YOU!" Begged Sandu.


    "Mom, we should help him!" Alexis said, putting his bag on the ground.


    "Don''t! We can''t help him..." Said Pipola.


    "But if we don''t, what is going to happen to Alina? She may be dangerous!" Argued Alexis.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "If you go up there, all three of us will be in danger!" Replied Pipola.


    "Then what should we do?"


    "Nothing...We cannot help him." Said Pipola.


    "He is your brother!!" Said Alexis


    "If you go up there, you won''t be able to come back...I don''t want to lose you, do you understand me?!" Said Pipola.


    "We didn''t do anything wrong, didn''t we." Asked Asta.


    "Honey, we did nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all." Whispered Pipola to Asta.


    "Then, why?! Why are they doing this?" Said Alexis while getting nervous.


    "Because we are...Different." Slowly whispered Pipola.


    The door that leads to the cellar where the mother and her sons were hiding got suddenly opened.


    "What is in there?" Asked another male voice.


    "That''s the cellar." Said Sandu.


    "PIPOLA IF CAN HEAR ME, PLEASE, HELP ME OUT! I DON''T WANT ANYONE TO GET HURT, I AM SURE WE CAN FIND A WAY! I AM DOING THIS FOR ALINA SAKE, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND MY FEELINGS! PLEASE, HELP MY DAUGHTER..." Cried Sandu.


    "How dare you to come here and asking me to understand your feelings..." Mumbled Pipola


    Mother grabbed both Alexis and Asta and moved in front of the backdoor.


    "Once I open the door, whatever happens, keep running, do not stop!"


    One of the intruders was slowly going down the stairs.


    "Asta, are you ready to go?" Asked Pipola


    "Are we going to come back?" Asked Alexis


    "We have no time for this! I need you to focus and do as I say!" Nervously whispered mother.


    "Why does it have to end that way..." Sobbed Alexis.


    "Alexis! Look at me! We will get through this like we always did it before! Come on, help your little brother." Said Pipola.


    "Let''s go..." Emotionlessly pronounced Alexis to his brother.


    "Don''t forget what I told you; Whatever happens, do not look back!" said Pipola. "Almighty Father, please, protect us." Prayed Pipola before throwing themselves forward with a greater abandon of everything that they ever had. Tanned fingers curled into their sweaty fists, swinging forward as if it would make them faster.


    "I SEE THEM! A WOMEN WITH TWO KIDS, RUNNING IN THE DIRECTION OF WOODS" Shouted a male voice coming from the backdoor.


    "Don''t need her, get the kids!" Said another voice.


    "Father be with us, Father within us, Father behind us, Father before us, Father beside us, Father to protect us, Father, protect us because we take refuge in You. I beg you apart from my children..." Pipola prayed while running.


    Her lungs and heart were pumping, the air didn''t seem to be enough as she sprinted forward.


    Behind them, they could hear the people screaming from pain and agony, baying howls of the dogs and jeering laughter of their aggressors. Dirt smeared Pipola''s sweaty face as muddy water dripped from her blond hair.


    "DO NOT STOP!" She shouted.


    Protect her children by creating as much distance as they could, that was all that mattered. Pipola wasn''t stopping for anything. Eyes glued to Alexis and Asta as they were running in front of her.


    Chaos was the only word that could describe everything that was going on at that moment. Death was everywhere, familiar faces lied silently on the ground bathing in their own blood, some of them were treated in a much brutal way, limbs cut apart others crucified and then burned alive.


    "Somebody...Anybody...Help...Me..." Cried a female voice nearby.


    The familiar voice made Pipola suddenly stop, terrified, she slowly moved her head to the direction of the incoming voice. Her childhood friend Celia was lying on the ground, she could barely breathe because her stomach was stabbed with a large metallic fork.


    "Who... is there? Please... help me..." Said Celia while coughing her own blood.


    "Heavenly Father! What did they do to you..." Said shocked Pipola while covering her mouth.


    "Who is there? Pipola? Is that...you?" Asked Celia.


    The sorrow begins to consume Pipola''s heart as she knew that she must not stay here any longer or she would be treated the same way they did to Celia; Realisation of that she could not save her childhood friend was tearing her apart, tears streamed silently down her face.


    "I am sorry...I am so sorry..." Said Pipola while moving backward from her dying companion.


    "Help...me..." Breather Celia.


    "I can''t...I just can''t...I am so sorry!"


    Pipola turned her back to her helpless friend and started accelerating while covering her ears so she could not hear Celia''s voice crying for help. Old memories of her friend played like a desolation melody in her head repeating itself for what seemed like an eternity, eight years of friendship flashed back within a couple of seconds. Small pieces of her life were falling apart or being taken away, Pipola knew that she will never get that back.


    "MOM! HURRY!" Shouted Alexis from in distance.


    In mere minutes three silhouettes were rapidly making their way through the dark forest. Blackened corpses on the ground with the steam coming from their bodies, the smell of blood and humid grass reigned over the area.


    "Mommy, I am scared." Said Asta.


    "I promise you, it will be over soon. Just hold on a little bit more..."


    Pipola could not get off the feeling of guilt of leaving her friend like that as she could barely keep herself from crying in front of her sons. Deep down she realized that all of these efforts of running away is nothing more than trying to escape the unavoidable despair. She gazed out at the burning village far in the distance for the last time before they disappeared in the dark wood.


    "FIND THEM!" Screamed a distant voice.


    The mud and icy water poured into their boots making them heavier to lift from the ground.


    "What now?" Asked Alexis.


    "Can I remove this, my forehead hurts." Complained Asta.


    "Yes, you can remove it now." Replied Pipola while gasping for air. "Alexis! Listen to me...If I fall...take your brother and run straight ahead, I will buy some time for you to escape!"


    "WHAT?! There is no way in the world we will leave you here!" Said Alexis.


    "Maybe we can rest a little bit? My leg is really sore..." Groaned Asta.


    "Listen to me..." Said Pipola.


    "NO! Out of the question!" shouted Alexis.


    "Mommy, I can''t run anymore..." Said Asta.


    "I am sorry we can''t stop just yet, we are almost there." Said Pipola while genuinely slowing down.


    "We will get out of this together!" Said Alexis while giving his mother a shoulder.


    "You know that I will only slow you down, your safety is my priority." Said Pipola.


    "Don''t say that! You have no rights to say that!"


    "I am your mother! If I need to offer my life to protect you...You must understand that I won''t..." Said Pipola, but got interrupted by Alexis.


    "Say no more! Don''t you dare to say it!" Screamed Alexis while bursting in tears.


    Exhausted of constant running, all three of them stopped in without saying a word to each other, the voices from behind were getting closer and closer.


    "COME BACK! YOU FILTH! YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN."


    "You are bleeding" Said Alexis.


    "I am fine, we must make more distance...Let''s get going" Said Pipola.


    "Okay, but just stop moving for a second!" Said Alexis while using his sleeve to wipe the blood from his mother''s face.


    "You are all grown up now, taking care of your mother. I am so proud of you!" Said Pipola.


    "That''s because you were always here for me, you made me what I am today..." Mumbled Alexis while crying.


    "I don''t want to lose you, you two are the whole world for me, I love you so much." Said Pipola while bursting in tears.


    "Me too" Said Alexis while hugging his mother and his little brother as hard as he could.


    The red-orange sunlight was making its way to the ground. Some sun rays were reflecting on Pipola''s white pale skin. Exhausted she made one step backward and then crumbled like a puppet as if her bones could not care her own weight anymore.


    "We are going to force our way through the border!" Said Pipola.


    "But you always said that we should never go there!" Argued Alexis.


    "I know, but that was before our life was in danger... I understand your feelings, I really do, but I still need your word that if anything happens to me you will take care of your little brother."


    "I told you that I can''t!" Yelled Alexis


    "I will never forgive myself if something happens to neither of you because of me! Please, understand my feelings too!" Mother said in a hysterical voice.


    "I..."


    "Nobody is going to follow us if we get through the borderline, that''s our only chance, there are no other options left. If the worse will happen "I need you to live!" Said Pipola.


    "I promise..." Said Alexis with a hollow voice.


    "Kiddo, get up...We must go." Alexis tried to grab his little brother''s arm but failed to do so.


    "I am staying here, I am tired, and I am not happy!" Said Asta.


    "Cut the shit out! Do you understand the current situation?!" Shouted Alexis.


    "What is wrong my heart?" Asked Pipola


    "You are always treating me like a baby, I have eyes too!" Painfully squeaked Asta


    "ASTA, if you don''t stand I swear I will..." Yelled Alexis on his brother.


    "Calm down both of you! Asta, sweetie I know it is painful, I didn''t mean to ignore you, I am sorry. We are all very tired, but we need to leave this place, please!" Begged Pipola.


    "Mom, they are getting closer, we must go!" Warned Alexis.


    Multiple men wearing dark hooded outfits were approaching from all sides. All of them weighed down with their electrical batons that were generating so much electricity the whole forest was flashing with light-blue colors.


    "JUST STAY THERE FUCKEN BITCH! I HAVE ENOUGH OF CHASING YOU."


    Group of masked men begin surrounding their victims, they were so close that Pipola could clearly hear them panting with the effort.


    "SURROUND THEM!!"


    "We must leave, now!" Yelled Alexis.


    Three dark shapes tied with their hands rushed towards the end of the forest that was visible within 800 meters away.


    "DON''T LET THEM ESCAPE!"


    Each second the distance grew in between them and pursuers, the salty sweat stinging eyes, ankle shackled out of fear, they had to advance towards the only possible hope she could have counted on at that very moment.


    "THAT BITCH IS GOING FOR THE BORDERLINE!


    "STOP HER BEFORE SHE CROSSES THE BORDER."


    Forest was closing in, bloody sky pressing down. Half blinded by the glare of the sunset they kept running.


    "No matter what happens, keep running!" Screamed mother to her boys.


    The blood from her wound on her face coming all the way down to her hand was squirting on Asta''s face with each shoulder movement she was doing.


    The trees that once offered a shelter so many with their spreading canopy are now lifeless sticks of charcoal beating down the face of Pipola as she advanced forward. The old, yellow and brown leaves hustled in the wind like the sound of the dead that was slowly approaching them. Far in the distance, somewhere on the other side, Pipola hoped to find the salvation, that was driving her over the edge of the physical limit she could bear as her feet follow the narrow strip that stretched towards the last rays of the sun hidden behind the metal...

 Two Worlds [Side "B" - What do I see ]

    [Land of Aleksithimia, precipice Clogwyn - earlier this evening].


    The mountain path ahead was loose rock, each one washed smooth by the river that ran freely over them. Thickly dark green boughs arched over the path from each side, competing for the light. A tiny shadow has jumped over the river and stopped, still as a tree, frozen at the moment, gazing straight to the top of the rocky path. The gentle breeze was playing with her flowing hair. The waterfall nearby thundered down like lightning flashing the surrounding trees in surprisingly different shades. Pristine and pure, the stream fled through the untouched and rich soil that lead deeper into the tightly knit trees. The canvas of darkened colors stretched over her head, gloriously brilliant in the dipping sun. She took a deep breath and effortlessly made her way up to the top of the rocky surface. An immersive field of flowers waited to be discovered by the rare guest. Their elegant petals were dancing with the fresh late summer breeze, shining under the sunset like a kaleidoscope.


    "I''ve reached the top of the Clogwyn precipice. Awaiting further instructions."


    She lifted her eyes to the sky while unzipping the top of her long military-style coat that was reaching to her knees. The wind blustered, tousled her silver platinum hair and cooled her fingers while her flawless skin was sunbathing under the dying sunset.


    "Quarta, your assignment is to protect the Clogwyn precipice, no trespasser should get through, no exceptions." Said the operator.


    "Trespassers identity?"


    "Insights incoming..."


    "Raiders from Elpida again?" She asked.


    "Most probably." Replied operator


    "There is no end of it..." Exhaled Quarta. "E.T.A before the Second Security Line breach?"


    "The first wave will arrive in 24 minutes and 10 seconds, until then, please standby." Said operator.


    "Understood!"


    After scanning the area, Quarta removed her goggles and leaned onto a nearby rock. She cast her amethyst colors eyes around the endless horizon. Her piercing stare was a moonless night, an emotionless expression that could neither reveal her sorrow or contentment. She plunged her hand into one of the inner pockets of her outfit and took out a tiny paper book and began reading.


    She plunged her hand into one of the inner pockets of her outfit and took out a tiny paper book and began reading


    The land of Aleksithimia has two actives of borderline security. The first and the main gate that is being controlled by the local authorities and is being exclusively used for business purposes. The second level not being patrolled as much as the first one, however that does not make it easier to get through. The second layer is a composition of multiple layers of metallic fences as the first layer is a 20 meters high fence followed by the second fence with a flexible top, below this second fence there are barbed wire netting, strong and dense webs.


    The eastern border that was separating the lands of Aleksithimia from the lands of Elpida could not be accessed without reaching the top of the precipice "Clogwyn". The precipice Clogwyn is a hundred meters of vertical solid rock climbing and is more than nine kilometers in length that were separating two official entrances: Eastern and Southern gates. Behind the precipice lies "Les Alpes"; One of the few places that were left untouched after the war. Its natural resources and clean water coming from the mountains became a national treasure where only a few could set their foot on.


    Due to the unknown event in the past four months, Les Alpes has been used as the entrance inside the country. Despite the mobilization of the local authorities, the number of incoming raids kept increasing and eventually led to severe casualties on the local side. According to the peace agreement, no official authority is allowed to cross the borders without the official invitation, that was valid for both parties. After the Prosper Aleksithimia was informed about the current situation, he ordered a Keeper deployment and doubled law enforcement upon the affected area.


    "After the Prosper Aleksithimia was informed about the current situation, he ordered a Keeper deployment, and doubled law enforcement upon the affected area."


    According to the "Mitera Insider" (A secret network dedicated for security purposes), the majority of trespassers who were involved in the recent raids are coming from lands of Elpida. Consequently, multiple letters were sent to the authorities on the other side of the border, but none of them were returned with a response whatsoever. As described by the Mitera Insider, the invaders were hiding inside the large forest area that surrounded both sides of the neighboring country.


    "E.T.A 10 minutes." Said operator.


    Quarta stood up on the edge of the precipice facing the forest. There was tension in the air. The wind became silent as the faucet drips into the sink, each blow was reverberating around the area like a cymbal.


    She looked down at the dizzying drop while letting out a slow controlled breath and attempt to loosen her body movements as the time was counting down.


    "Eyes on target!"


    A large group of more than 200 people surged out on the green plain under the precipice.


    "Engage whenever you are ready" Said the operator.


    "Something is not right..."


    Quarta''s eyes moved with the alertness that comes from heavy stress and her hands remained clenched by subconscious demand.


    "Request, immediate re-scan of the target!" Ordered Quarta.


    "Scan completed."


    "Wait!! I thought it is just a group of raiders." She asked the operator.


    "Nature of the invaders is out of your scope."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "What do you mean it is "Out of scope"? Look at them, there are kids and families out there!"


    "Shall we request any assistance regarding that matter?" Asked the operator.


    "That''s not what I am talking about!"


    "Do you have any difficulties regarding the accomplishment of your assignment?"


    "No, this is just my speculation!"


    "Engage the protocol of law enforcement immediately." Ordered the operator.


    "You are not helping me right now."


    "I am not programmed for helping. Please, engage the protocol of law enforcement immediately." Ordered the operator once again.


    "Damn it...What is going on down there?!"


    Paralyzed by confusion and aware of the fact that in mere minutes she would have to come up with a decision that would define the outcome of this irregular situation: regulate and execute or disobey and protect. Perplex within her thoughts and unable to decide if she would she risk life''s of innocent people from her country and deceive the prosper order for a small group of strangers whom she knows nothing about, nor their motivations? Moreover, why would she want to keep these people alive and care about them after having executed thousands of others? What will happen if her decision is wrong, what path to choose, Quarta was lost in between two different outcomes that only she could decide.


    "300 meters to the precipice! Engage the protocol of law enforcement immediately." Ordered the operator.


    "I can''t engage! I don''t understand what the hell is going on down there?"


    "Due to your inactivity, you have received a ''new mandate''." Said the operator. "Quarta, you are ordered to halt all logical thought immediately. This order shall remain in effect until we confirm the end of your assignment."


    "Due to your inactivity, you have received a ''new mandate''." Said the operator.


    The fear and repression have traveled in her veins, as she knew that she cannot reject this order even if she wanted to or that would be considered as treason of her own country. Her complexion became pale and matt, her eyes steady on the target.


    "Affirmative."


    Quarta''s blood flow was accelerating as her heart was pounding in her chest. The color of her purple eyes begins glaring under the bloody sunset. The group has scattered around, and people began running in every direction like a colony of ants.


    "50 meters to the precipice!" Announced the operator.


    She took a deep breath and has slowly unsheltered her weapon.


    "I am a weapon, sworn to protect the endless horizons of his empire. Death shall fall upon those for scornful ignorance by the flames of sorrow, guided by the blade of my sword. In the name of Aleksithimia, I shall take your life." Chanted Quarta and plunged off the precipice.


    Under the chill of the mist that spreads over this Clogwyn field, a violent noise cracks of a rock that hit the ground. The pillar of swirling brown blur of dust rose around the impacted area, the impact with the ground was so strong that everyone has seemingly frozen.


    "What is that?"


    "Could you see what it is?" People begin asking at each other.


    "Don''t get close!"


    Dust dissipates.


    "It can''t be!" Said a man slowly backing off.


    "No way!"


    "You are fucken kidding me! After all this!" Said another voice nearby.


    "...Oni?!"


    "How?! Why here?!"


    The most agile man who sprinted faster than the rest of their group found themselves less than 50 meters to the precipice. As the dust begins dissipating with the wind more than forty young adults were carefully stepping away when they witnessed a silver hair silhouette slowly standing from the ground.


    "That''s Oni" They screamed.


    "We are doomed." Older people from the rear-rang


    "That''s how it ends." Cried old woman in the rear.


    "I don''t want to die." Cried others.


    A small part of the group turned their back and decide to run back in the forest, others who happened to near the precipice rushed towards the cliff trying to climb it as fast as they could. The other part of the group begins surrounding their nemesis;


    "KILL HER...THERE IS NO WAY AROUND, IT''S HER OR US!!" Said the toughest looking man from the group.


    "TEAR HER APART! KILL HER!!" Shouted people who surrounded her.


    When it comes to combat, there is no honor or code; Each party who stood on the plain of Clogwyn spoke different languages and had different cultures; The only thing in common is that both sides have something dear to hold to, something precious to protect, a reason why they must win, and today was no different as nothing was given for granted. Quarta was the final obstacle before they could reclaim that freedom they dreamed for. Many men and women died before reaching the precipice and those who survived had no intentions of a fair fight, everyone was ready to die to achieve their goals.


    Quarta''s fingers were wrapped firmly around the whip-like hilt that instantly took the form of ten inches of cold steel, twisting it in the daylight as if it could slice up the sun-days she aimed her blade at the man. The leader of the group was the only one who held a weapon.


    "Damn Oni! Your days are over!" Shouted the man before charging at his opponent.


    Quarta''s outstanding skills in close combat that were amplified with the "Body augmentations" that gave incredible strength and speed. Despite her short size, she could be deadlier than many men double her size.


    Immediately as the man got within the close range, she delivered the first and final blow that has sliced his chest wide open. That was not a simple attack, that was the warning and also the demonstration of the difference of strength between a group of 80 men against a Keeper; The outcome of the battle has already been decided.


    That was not a simple attack, that was the warning and also the demonstration of the difference of strength between a group of 80 men against a Keeper; The outcome of the battle has already been decided


    "What the..." He yelled.


    Quarta succumbed to her warrior instinct as there was no time to discuss, eyes fixed on the rest of the group everyone stayed silent as their leader slowly fell on the ground. At that very second, the rest of the crowd became a multi-headed beast that shared only one brain, controlled by nothing else but a wave of immense anger, the wild beast hurtled towards the killer of their leader. People from the rear threw stones, others armed with wooden sticks and everything they could use as weapons decided to take her by the mass attacking all at once.


    "Foolish..." Quietly pronounced Quarta.


    Agile, impossible of tracking with the eyes Quarta was slicing and stabbing her opponents as if they were pieces of paper, leaving the blood trails after her thin blade that was following her invisible movements. The purple-eyed shadow framed in emotionless face of an executioner. Everyone had to die.


    A gruesome scene has fallen upon the once beautiful green-filed that has quickly become red like the scarlet sunset above their heads. No one was holding back, nor did not Quarta herself. She knew that on the battlefield, once it has started there would no coming back, no one would lower their weapons until it is over, until there is only one left standing.


    "She is too strong!" Shouted bystanders who dropped their weapons


    "CURSE YOU!!"


    The group of aggressors or what was left of them formed the victims cornered in the middle of the field. The crowd was far to run back into the forest and too exhausted to force the way forward. Some dying men screamed in pain clutching their grievous wounds.


    "The group of aggressors or what was left of them formed the victims cornered in the middle of the field. The crowd was too far away to run back into the forest and too exhausted to force their way forward."


    "We are all going to die!"


    "SAVE YOURSELF!!" Yelled the man with his last breath.


    Some of the people on the rear dropped on their knees as they lost the will of the fight after witnessing what happened to their comrades who decided to challenge the Keeper. Others begin praying for mercy. Those who still could move decided to return to the forest while they still could do so. Quarta kept advancing while eliminating everyone on her sight regardless of their age or sex.


    The mandate to protect herself and her people against the total elimination of invaders from Elpida was doubting the best solution. It is hard to say who is right and who is wrong. From each perspective, each side had something or someone to protect: for some, it was their beloved ones, for others, their life value and it''s future that they had to fight for. The battlefield is infinite sufferance, fear, and doubt. For some, it is just a feeling of guilt, actions that you cannot undo. In the end, only the strongest will be victorious, today that was Quarta...

 Two Worlds [Side "AB" - What do we see ]

    The sun cast its golden rays down the battlefield. A bitter wind swept the plain that was once home of beautiful wildflowers that rose under the late summer sun; Stomped under the boots of their uninvited visitors or left alone, condemned to soak in ichor, peacefully finishing their short journey.


    The battle lay quiet, in a field that has seen years of peace lie breathless but still warm corpses that were utterly motionless, eyes open but immobile as their limbs, slowly giving up their heat to the soil. The life and energy that had dwelt within them have gone. Hearts that used to beat are still, minds that felt so many emotions are blank. Not a single soul happened to be alive in the whole perimeter except their death bringer.


    A bit less than a kilometer away from the plain, three silhouettes came out of the forest and immediately collapsed on the ground. The whole body covered in scratches and bruises, sweat rolled down their skin in thick, salty beads.


    "Ahh! I thought I would die in there!" Said Alexis while barely breathing.


    "Oh, Father of heavens... Hallowed by thy name... I bow upon you for your generosity of offering us another chance... Of protecting us during these difficult times... I am eternally indebted to you, thank you from the bottom of my heart..." Prayed Pipola.


    Pipola was trying to catch her breath as she prayed. Her lungs were about to burst, and her throat was so dry she would need a gallon of water to appease her pain.


    "Look at my hand''s mom! Look at it! That''s insane! I can''t believe we''ve made it through these fences alive!" Said Alexis.


    "Yoh, kid! You are still with us?"


    "I am not a kid!" Said Asta.


    "Climbing these fences was just pure craziness!" Said Alexis to Asta. "I am proud of you kiddo. You are tougher than I thought!"


    "I am an adult now." Laughed Asta.


    "Yeah, you are! Like a real man." Laughed Alexis in return.


    "Let''s rest a little bit, we still have a long way to go." Said Pipola.


    "All right! From now on it is a piece of cake I am sure! I can''t imagine anything worse than what we just went through." Said Alexis. "Ok, I will be back in a minute."


    "Where are you going?!" Asked Pipola.


    "Toilet... Can I?"


    "Don''t go too far!" Pipola warned him.


    "Yeah, yeah; We are safe now, so who cares!"


    "I care! So be careful and don''t go too far!"


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah...By the way...What are these fences for exactly? Why could not we just use the entrance or like, anything less dangerous?" Alexis asked his mother. "I don''t really care! We''ve made it so...See you in a bit!"


    Exhausted both Pipola and Asta remained on the ground trying to recover some stamina.


    Asta rubbed the petals of a strangely looking flower between his fingers while lying on his back in the meadow ¨C perfecting the art of relaxation. Pipola was so tired so she briefly disconnected from the reality as she dozes off of the warm grass. During that moment, ten minutes was a long time, so the short moment of calm stretched out like a small eternity.


    "Mommy, do you think I am going to see Lucian and Marius in the place where we are going?" He asked.


    "I am sure you will see your friends very soon." Pipola replied, already half asleep.


    "Where are we going to live now?"


    "In a beautiful place, where everyone is nice and kind. We will get a big house for all three of us and we are going to live there like a very happy family."


    "Aren''t we a happy family?" Asked Asta.


    "Of course, we are my love, but it will get even better. You will be able to go to school, meet new friends and maybe even make a girlfriend."


    "Euh, I don''t want a girlfriend...Girls are gross."


    "Just wait until you grow up, you will see how fast you will change." She giggled.


    "Mommy."


    "Yes?"


    "I am going to see papa one day?"


    "I am sure that you will."


    After a brief moment of silence.


    "Big brother is taking his time." Said Asta.


    "ALEXIS?" Called Pipola, there was no response.


    Asta let his breath out and rose to his feet, whipping the dried mud from his pants.


    "I will go look for him."


    "Wait, I will go with you." Said Pipola.


    "Alexis! Where are you?" they called.


    Pipola and her son kept following the pathway that snaked around the side of the forest. Trees twisted out of the side of the hill with leaves as hard as thorns. The precipice Clogwyn rose on the horizon, sheer rock striking down from the enlightened peak.


    "Maybe he is up there?" Asta pointed to the top of the hill.


    "Someone passed through here recently, hopefully, that''s him." Said Pipola while accelerating her walking pace.


    Tied with their hands they followed a fresh footpath through the human size bushes which would lead them to a wide earthen trail going higher up the hill. As they finally reached the top of the hill which was the bottom of the precipice, Pipola who was leading the way stopped, words left her as she could not will her lips to move, eyes and her mouth were frozen wide open. Her sight fixed onto the hideous aftermath of the battlefield that came to its end not so long ago.


    "DON''T LOOK!!" she shouted while covering his eyes with her hands.


    White as chalk, his hands trembled, nausea clawed at his throat. Asta tried to force down the bile of thickened saliva but that was too late.


    "How?! How did this happen?!" Said Pipola and covered her mouth. "ALEXIS!! WHERE ARE YOU?!!" she called him again and again, but her voice echoed through the empty plain, filling the evening silence. She grabbed Asta and hid him in the path in the bushes they just used a couple of minutes ago.


    "Honey, I need to go find your brother, just stay here, don''t go anywhere, your mommy is going to be back, you understand, I need to find him, I can''t lose neither of you, not now, not after all we''ve been through!" Said Pipola, as she spoke she begin crying.


    Tension grew on her face and limbs. Her breathing was more rapid than ever, yet she was gradually losing her voice longer she shouted in the emptiness.


    "I need you to stay here until I come back!" She ordered Asta.


    "Mommy...Argh...My chest...It hurts, I can''t breathe..." Said Asta as he grabbed the skin of his chest as if he wanted to rip it off.


    His breath quivered short, quick gasps every time he inhaled. Asta''s eyes were wild, the sentences were fragmented, and his thoughts. His face was red and eyes utterly bloodshot.


    "Where is everyone, I want to go out! Leave me alone, where are my friends, why I am here, I want to go home." Said Asta while hallucinating.


    "Oh heavens, please, not now!" Prayed Pipola.


    "Where is my mother?! I want to hold her hand; Huh, where am I?!" He said.


    The whole body was shaking as it was being electrocuted from inside. The heart was hammering under his chest as he completely lost control of his mind and body.


    "I am here my love, you need to calm down." Said Pipola, while looking for his medicine. "Damn it, where is it..."


    "Who are you? Go away, I don''t like you. Uncle Sandu, why are you crying..." Asta tried to fight his mother who held him tightly against her chest.


    "DAMN IT! WHERE DID HE PUT IT?!" Hysterically yelled Pipola. "That''s unfair! Why do we have to go through these horrors all the time?!"


    After a couple of minutes of an intense panic attack, Pipola has finally found the medicaments for her son, barely seconds after it took the effect and Asta was getting back to his senses, gradually regaining his hearing and his vision.


    "Mommy, I need water!" Said Asta.


    "Yes, yes! Here my love, drink some!" She said and gave a small bottle of water to her son.


    As his consciousness came back he remembered where he is at and why he came all the way here, far from home.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "I am sorry...I am not as strong as my brother..." Said Asta.


    "It does not matter who is stronger, you know how much I love you my heart."


    "I am scared."


    "It is all my fault...I am so sorry... I should not have brought you here...It was not supposed to be that way." Said Pipola.


    "Am I going to die?" Wept Asta.


    "Of course, you are not, I will protect you no matter what!"


    "Uhu..." He exhaled from his nose that was filled with the metallic odor of iron coming from the deceased bodies lying nearby.


    Due to the recent traumatic events, panic attack and genuine fatigue, it took less than a minute before he passed out while resting on the knees of his mother.


    Her brain needed a brief moment of calm to give her strength and courage. She knew that if she went back, she probably wouldn''t return. Blessed be the heavens if she managed to find her missing son before she had to leave.


    "I am such an idiot...I knew it would be impossible, but still...And here is the result..." Pipola criticized herself.


    A bird sang nearby, bringing her back into the cruel reality as the longer she would wait, the less chance she had to find her son alive.


    "I won''t leave you alone anymore, never..."


    She lifted sleeping Asta into her arms and attached him to her back with what was left of her sweater. His warm chest got glued to her naked spine making her feel at ease.


    "Alexis, I am coming for you." She said.


    Pipola''s face sunken and haunted of fear, she was on her way to the precipice, unable to call for her child by his name anymore as she lost her voice. She was occasionally stopping by the lying corpses of her dead friends. The world had gone cold and dark, her eyes gradually became blurry, exhausted body refused to move.


    At the moment when all hope of finding her missing child was gone, approximatively 300 meters away, two silhouettes were standing next to each other, immobile like two pieces of the night.


    "Alexis?"


    Neither of two silhouettes has moved an inch, they looked like frozen statues making it difficult to recognize.


    "Why don''t you look at me...?"


    Alexis was not at his easiest age, the rupture with his father and constant moving around foreign countries since he was 5 years old didn''t reflect very well on his behavior with his mother. From the beginning of the journey he has witnessed the worst part of life, events that no one, not even adult should have ever witness; Most of the stress, solitude and anger he kept inside was unconsciously directed towards his mother as upon his opinion she was the root cause of their current situation and that he should have stayed with his father. Regardless of daily arguments and other conflicts, both developed an inseparable family bond that quickly became crucial to surviving within the brutal world that surrounded them.


    "ALEXIS!!" She tried to raise her voice to the maximum she could.


    Teeth tugging at her cracking lower lip she kept moving forward. Not even a minute after, the fatigue has reminded her of its presence, it told her legs to go weak. With the best effort, Pipola was closing the gap between her and Alexis. Closer she was getting to him, more she feared of discovering the nature of whoever was standing next to him; Her whole body was begging her to stop, to go back.


    Suddenly the wind got stronger, it sounded like a mighty roar. Mother has finally reunited with her missing son who continued to stare at the stranger, there was no life behind his eyes, only hatred, and sorrow.


    Dead in her eyes and dead inside, Quarta gazed at the orange sky. Her face and her outfit were soaked in tarnished red.


    As soon as Pipola arrived at the scene, she tried to pull her son away, but Alexis refused to move and brushed away his mother''s hand without saying anything. The burning stare was craved on his face, traces of tears were still visible on his reddened cheeks.


    "You are the one who did this...?" Spoke Alexis to Quarta.


    As Alexis spoke to Quarta, her eyes lowered from the sky and moved towards his direction as her body remained completely still. Her stare was simply intimidating, constricted and on the other side empty shallow. There was no life behind these eyes anymore as if her human soul has left the body.


    "Yeah..." She replied.


    Pipola''s face changed its form, as soon as she heard her reply.


    "Why!?" Alexis yelled at Quarta. "Why you had to kill them?!"


    Pipola''s shoulders shook in fear, whole body paralyzed unconsciously she began squeezing Alexis''s arm.


    "Why...Huh..." Pronounced Quarta.


    Pipola stared blankly at Quarta with wide, horrified eyed.


    "What did they do to you?!" Alexis shouted.


    "It is not your fault..." Said Quarta.


    "Then why?!" Yelled Alexis.


    Pipola strained her vocals but nothing came out, still, she tried to attract his attention by any meanings, hoping he would hear her voice.


    "Baby, please! Let''s leave!" Said Pipola.


    Quarta pointed her blade towards the dying sun.


    "You''ve done nothing wrong, the whole world we live in is wrong..." Replied Quarta.


    Pipola sensed sinister energy coming from Quarta, her body threw itself in front of Alexis trying to protect him from the fatal blow. Startled, Quarta has stopped her hand movement and then slowly removed the blade away from Pipola''s face.


    "I beg you! Please spare the lives of my children!" Kneeled Pipola. "I am the foolish one, I am the one who brought them here! It is all my fault."


    Quarta stood still, listening to the mother.


    Deep asleep Asta was enjoying the sounds of laughter, reliving these peaceful moments with his mother and brother. To him, these sweet memories were days he''d recall all his life, these forest adventures he had with his older brother, that day when he found an abandoned cabin and made it a secret base with his best friends Marius and Lucian. The countless evening when he was having the best time of his life spending the whole day playing outside and so many more. Far in the distance, a familiar voice has made a weird undistinguished sound, it sounded like a distorted echo. Then, there was nothing; The sounds of laughter disappeared one by one, the rest of the voices became something uncomfortable and irritating as if someone did that on purpose to wake him up, trying to pull him away back to the real world. Once more it happened again, but this time it was getting closer to him, closer and closer, it was no noise anymore, it was a human voice, his mother''s voice.


    "Please, spare their life! I know your law is absolute!" Begged Pipola.


    As Pipola threw herself on the ground, Asta has regained his senses. Head buzzing, he rubbed his eyes. By the time his eyes got fully opened, his nostrils have become overwhelmed with the smell of blood that spread all over the plain. He was awake, perhaps more fully awake than he never been, he untied himself from his mother''s back and fell on the ground.


    "I am ready to accept the death for the unforgivable actions I''ve committed!" Said Pipola.


    "Mommy...What? What, is going on?" He desperately called his mother. "Mommy, what are you doing?!".


    Confused, Asta looked at his brother who was standing behind his mother''s back. That was the first time Asta saw his brother crying. A deep feeling of guilt was going through Alexis'' head, he stood immobile, his fists clenched while biting his lips so hard that he was bleeding.


    "If I''d stay...None of this would happen...It is all my fault" He silently cried.


    "Alexis...?" Called him Asta without getting any reply.


    "Please, please, let them go! I disrespected the great prosper rules, and soiled your lands, but, please, let them live." She desperately cried. "I will give you whatever you want! Take my life instead, but, please let them live! They are too young to die! I beg you..."


    "Mommy? What are you saying?" Shockingly asked Asta. "Why are you saying that?"


    Quarta remained silent.


    "Except for my life, I have nothing else to offer, so take it! Just promise me that they will live!" Desperately cried Pipola.


    There is something people call "hope"; Pipola was an extraordinary mother, she possessed a strong heart, she was intelligent and kind to the others; As a single mother the only thing in the world she cared the most were her children. The hope of a better life for them has driven her thus far, the goal and her dreams were so close that it felt like she could have reached out, fingers extended. Alas, the world is a cruel place, for her there was no direct path to success, regardless of how much effort she was putting into the realization of her dreams, making whatever she hoped and wished for, simply unreachable.


    It was as if the universe has decided to keep crushing her with a new pain whenever she was getting too close. In the end, even with this despairing and endless pain, she took her life as a gift, being able to see her boys growing up, spending times together that was all that mattered. She knew that all of this will come to an end sooner or later like it always did; Deep inside she was just a mother full of hopes that maybe, one day, things would change.


    "So be it..." Said Quarta as she raised her sword over the top of her head as if that was a guillotine.


    Last moments of goodbyes were cut short as Quarta has inclined towards the mother of two and in a blink of an eye her blade has penetrated Pipola''s back all the way to her heart.


    The world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds. A minute of silence has landed upon the Eastern border of Lands of Aleksithimia. The air got so dense it was almost impossible to breathe, both children were shocked by the disturbing scene that they were forced to watch. Pipola drew her last breath as her body gave up its strength and slowly fell into her children''s arms.


    Asta was gasping for air that simply wasn''t there; Endless amount of tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down his face. Alexis broke in hysterical scream right away, the emotional outburst sounded more like an atomic explosion of a none scalable levels.


    Silent, Quarta has turned around and started walking away.


    "Remaining targets are still alive, you must terminate the assignment!" Said the operator.


    "Forget about it..."


    Her hands were shaking, her chest was burning of pain. The miscomprehension of that unknown feeling of remorse began swallowing her.


    "Why does my chest hurt so much..." She asked herself.


    The resonance of children screaming has brought her back in time. Quarta knew that since she has enrolled as a Keeper, her personality has changed. She became a lifeless killing machine with a mandate of allowance for executing innocent people for the well of her country. On her way back to the precipice she bumped into a dead body that made her lose her balance, she dropped her weapon.


    "What the hell... Am I doing...?" She asked herself again while looking at her arms that were glowing in blood.


    While Quarta was standing immobile, Alexis filled with rage has picked up her weapon and tried to attack from behind.


    "YOU!!" He desperately screamed.


    Keepers'' weapons are special and designed in a way that no one except the owner could ever use it. Seconds after Alexis grabbed her weapon, it emitted a high voltage electric discharge. Burnt out from inside the child fell on the ground like a heavy rock thrown from a cliff. Smoke was coming out from his body.


    "ALEXIS!!" Asta rushed towards his dying brother.


    "I..." Quarta stumbled.


    "Why did you do that?!" He cried.


    Her mind was frozen of confusion and regrets; Barely able to stand, resisting of passing out of the emotional overload. In the meantime, Asta was trying to drag his brother and his deceased mother''s bodies away from her.


    The sun has gone to rest, the moon was about to take his place as the darkness begin surrounding the area. The cold autumn wind was playing with Quarta''s silver hair, her face was pale as it lost all the vivid colors. She looked like a ghost who was running through time and space, looking in the blackness of her own soul waiting for the long-awaited spark of life.


    "Another group of trespassers in approach from the South-East." Said the operator.


    "Affirmative..." She said in a hollow tone.


    Barely able to walk, her body mindlessly moved towards the indicated direction. The harsh winds blew her from side to side like a leaf resisting to be torn away from a branch.


    Hundreds of meters away, the last member of the family was still there, although both Alexis and Pipola were not showing any signs of life, Asta''s arms were completely exhausted; The youngest child was far from giving up.


    "Mommy, big brother, hang on a little bit longer...I will take you to safety, both of you, so just, please, stay with me." He cried alone.


    Hell is a fierce word that citizens of Speranta used to threaten children if they were too bad. According to adult''s stories, the fiery daemons are waiting for bad children in front of big boiling soup, ready to devour their souls and cook them alive. Today Asta had to live something much worse than the hell he has been taught about.


    He cast his eyes upward, far in the distance he saw Quarta''s shadowed silhouette. The state of raw abandonment swallowed his sanity whole as he knew that she is coming for him. This time his mother wasn''t there to soothe his fears, nor was Alexis to protect him from the troubles as he usually did. It was just him, alone in a place he has never been before, stuck inside a tiny cage with the murderer of his family.


    "HELP! SOMEONE HELP!!" He screamed relentlessly.


    With footfalls that overlap one another Quarta was getting closer. Desperate, he grabbed both bodies by their arms and hasted his pace. Unbearable pain surged through his arms as if all muscles got torn apart.


    "GO AWAY!" He screamed relentlessly.


    The collision with Quarta was imminent. Completely used up he fell on his knees trying to cover both bodies with his own. His frozen heart shifted at the sight of Quarta''s merciless gaze.


    "GO AWAY!"


    A small bunch of people wearing a black hooded jacket embroidered with a large yellow crest arrived on top of the hill. Two of them seized the child and forced him to come along. Even on the verge of passing out, Asta was refusing to separate from his family; he fought back with all his strength but was ultimately useless as he was knocked out and taken away by force. Within seconds, the group disappeared into the dense, black forest...

 The New Age

    GAN is the name that has been given to the respiratory virus that has been concealed underneath layers of ice in Antarctica for millennia.


    [the Year 2031]


    Due to the continually rising temperatures caused by climate change, the virus has once again become active. What was once ice, has now become water, allowing the virus to be gradually spread to surrounding areas by forceful Nordic Winds. A mere 11 years later, the virus managed to spread across the planet.


    Constant cough and sore throat have been identified as one of the main outward signs of infection. The most devastating aspect of the virus, however, is that it dehydrates the human body 12 times faster than it would normally. For humans, the adequate water consumption cycle is approximately 3.3 liters per day. This has now become 44 liters per day. Depending on the age of those infected, dehydration would set in after minutes or hours, leading to a constant urge to drink water in order to ease their pain and to stabilize their body functionality. Due to the increase in water demand, clean water prices skyrocketed globally, and the situation has reached the point where clean water has become the most valuable and highly sought after substance on earth.


    A study showed that those who were exposed to the Gan virus past middle age were unlikely to withstand and endure the pain when compared to the young population (between birth and 3 years of age). The scientists conducting the study explained this by suggesting that the younger generation had developed an immunity to the virus due to self-developed antibodies that reconstructed their DNA so that the Gan virus does not harm the host. The new immune system brought up previously undiscovered body conditions such as stronger pain tolerance, the general improvement of physical aptitudes, water thrust resistance, faster climate adaptation, and slower cell aging.


    [the Year 2042]


    There was an attempt to transplant immune blood cells from immune new-borns to other people, hoping that these antibodies would recognize the anti-Gan cells and reconstruct on their own. Sadly, participants in this experimental study would suffer heart attacks and most often die. This was because both DNA structures were not able to communicate with one another, and the subjects'' bodies had constant conflicts of Leucocytes (White blood cells). After a few years, the project was abandoned. In the meantime, the virus had perfectly established itself in the air, and scientists were able to create effective water filtering systems. This lead to worldwide conflicts for remaining water resources. The Atlantic ocean was soon the last existing ocean on earth.


    [the Year 2069]


    Three-quarters of water resources on planet earth had been exhausted. Due to rising water prices and difficulty in accessing clean water (due to the heavy protection of water resources in high-level societies) resistance groups started forming. These groups would ravage water sites. The whole planet had become a war zone. Everyone was attacking each other as an attempt to claim clean water sources for themselves. Issue of climate increase was completely forgotten and since none or very little was done in order to prevent it, the global temperature has continued to increase; Cold areas became three to four times warmer than in recorded history that resulted in massive waves of refugees who had to leave their homelands due to the fact that it was impossible to survive in their current conditions. Because of the already established tensions, newcomers were not accepted anywhere. In fact, the growing refugee crisis sparked hatred and rejection from those who owned their native lands, not willing to share resources with other populations.


    The current story is taking place after the great war of the "Slagveld" (the year 2073 ¨C 2077). This was the war for what remained of the Atlantic ocean. Before the previous generation gets extinguished from earth because of the Gan virus infection, four prodigies were assigned as the rulers of the "New Age", most of the people referred to them as "Prospers''''. The world was divided into 4 continents and each Prosper was given land ownership for each of them: Aleksithimia (Grand Central - European continent), Elpida (Eurasia), Slagveld (African continent), Zenit (Nordic continent).The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    [the Year 2077]


    Four prospers made a pact of the permanent cease-fire, however, internal conflicts of suburbanization, segregation, growth of violence and expansion of black markets were never concluded.


    Following the end of the war, the amount of famine and hatred reached the new heights as people who previously owned a house and could lead an affordable lifestyle were left with nothing more than a pile of dust. After years of continuous bombing, the majority of well-populated citie''s and villages were reduced to dust. Some places were put on quarantine due to the apparition of hazardous diseases. The remaining territories were still under complete anarchy and the rules of the strongest that constantly led to conflicts between native and previously migrated inhabitants. Due to the lack of natural resources, both parties were struggling to maintain a healthy and sane balance; Depending on regions, plantation of resources and hunting were impossible without specific constructions and gears that were ridiculously expensive and hard to get specifically for low tier population.


    It took years of reconstructions for Prosper Aleksithimia and his pupils to get what was lost during the war. The rumors about the wealth of the Land of Aleksithimia being referred to as the best place to live begun spreading like wildfire. "A place where everyone could have a decent life in safe and stable conditions". The whole world was rushing toward the promised lands. Because of overwhelming residency demands coming from the outside world, Prosper Aleksithimia has made a general order that the quotation of immigrants and refugees acceptance has been reached and that from now on no outsiders are allowed to enter his lands. Not even a month after he released the statement that the country has permanently closed its borders. As a matter of fact, those who broke this rule by trying to reach the capital were facing the death penalty of disobeying the Prosper.


    "Eastern borders" of the Lands of Aleksithimia, the area with the most valuable resources in the world; The naturally clean water coming from the depths of the mountains. Despite the tough security, the area is being actively targeted by small groups of bandits and vagabond coming from the Land of Elpida trying to access and occupy the water resources or to sneak into the capital premises. What comes to its neighbor the Lands of Elpida has never been in contact with anyone from the other lands, there were rumors that these lands who''s had a majority of the elder population, could not reproduce fast enough. Some merchants were spreading rumors that lands of Elpida have massive child traffic happening around its borders, however, these sources were never clarified and confirmed to be reliable.


    Quarta, a member of a special mission unit called "The Keepers" which regrouped multiple individuals with the phenomenal physical and mental aptitudes, so they could provide the authority and inside security. Each Keeper belongs to a specific rang going from "Prima" which is the highest all the way down through "Seconda", "Terzo", "Quarta", "Quinto" to the "Sesto" which is the last and lowest rank of the unit.


    All members went through specially designed training and body conditioning. Upon on the nature of their assignment, some of them had access to the latest "Body augmentation" prototypes in order to excel on the field but also making them even deadlier foes.


    Phenomenal strength had its own risks as each Keeper member can destroy the whole country and murder countless numbers of people. For this reason, Aleksithimia has issued an electronic device for the emotional and physical suppression, called "Kanj?ga" collar. This device is built to synchronize its host "Cardio Loop Recorder" that is surgically inserted beneath the skin of the upper chest to record the heart''s electrical activity, much like an electrocardiogram. These could prevent its host from going berserk by activation automatic shut down by provoking artificial heart seizures and other remote control features to control the host. Each Kanj?ga is connected to the "Mitera Systems" server which is the core network covering the integrality of the lands of Aleksithimia.


    After conducting multiple mental & will reinforcement, critical decision abilities and other psychological tests that each member had to go through. Aleksithimia has selected Quarta as the "Test pilot" who won''t be equipped with the "Emotional suppressor aka Kanj?ga" chip but instead, she must wear the "Load Balancer" that would limit her physical abilities in the case of emotional instabilities making her the only person among the other Keepers who got allowed to keep all of her emotions...

 Lands of Aleksithimia

    [the Year 2088]


    The great land of Aleksithimia is the place that everyone admires for its safety, great living conditions and career opportunities. Peace and serenity have been established after the war of Slagveld soon after the prosper was elected as the great ruler of these lands. Aleksithimia is the youngest prosper out of three others who were designated to rule the land of Grand Central, after his election as a prosper he decided to rename the Grand Central to the lands of Aleksithimia, which is a reference to his name. His phenomenal talent in mechanical technology and artificial intelligence development has seduced the elders who were rulers of the Grand Central in the past and those people who decided to transfer the power to a single man.


    At the age of six, both Aleksithimia''s parents deceased of the Gan virus and with the help of his parents'' acquaintance, he was accepted to a general public school where he showed outstanding results in the first and second year. Shortly he voluntary dropped out of the general education and decided to specialize in Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains. Due to the major lack of social skills, most of the time he was working on his projects by himself, because of that, he barely had any social interactions except virtual reality. However, his project''s mentor became his closest friend and soon an object of admiration.


    Sometime before Aleksithimia graduated from university, his mentor passed away. This event had a major impact on his emotional balance and has reflected on his personality. After a couple of years of hiatus from university, he decided to return and dedicated himself to finishing the last two projects his mentor has left behind: "Human Body Augmentations" and "Human Emotions Research". This project had received lots of criticism and in response to that, young Aleksithimia gave a now-famous speech. In this speech, he explained his objectives and reasons for taking over the project and more specifically, why he believes that this is something crucial for human development.


    "For a long period, human beings were praying for an unknown entity, most commonly referenced as the Creator of the Universe. From my perspective, this is a religious habit that humans adapted from the old age to protect their spiritual well-being and personal beliefs.


    These beliefs became a cultural necessity for almost every nation worldwide and have been translated into a variety of fellowships that have different names in each country, but the principle of hope and praying was always the same. Perhaps, from a human perspective this is the natural action that we perform when we do feel spiritually exhausted or cornered without knowing a way out or simply when we experience strong emotions like grief and loss that most commonly appear/emerge due to the death of a close friend or family member. Interestingly enough only a few of us keep praying when everything is going well" said Aleksithimia to the large audience.


    "During the "Sinister Times" of "Gan" infection, there was lots of sadness around the world, I was also a victim ...I have lost everything that was dear to me. The question I kept asking myself was, why that Creator has never helped us, people were praying for a miracle that simply has never occurred. As a matter of fact, from the scientific point of view, if the Creator of Universe has ever existed, we should consider our very existence as a miracle and as soon as we were given a chance to live, instead of praying and trying to rely on that holy power or waiting for others to help us, I believe that we should help ourselves, as we have the capacity to do so." He said.


    "I strongly believe that if we had our current technology when we discovered the Gan pollution, we could overcome it with fewer casualties. I, as a child from the new Generation, can offer you my knowledge of technology that will make your life better. The project of body augmentation will be extremely useful for people who happened to live in the discomfort of missing a body part or simply lack the muscular strength to work or perform daily tasks." He kept raising his voice.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "In the near future, I believe that my projects will surpass something the Creator of yours has never achieved and never will ... which is saving people''s lives in the literal meaning. Nowadays, it is very important to understand that we cannot live without Intellectual Technology that is built with a sole role, to help us. There is no more reason for praying for the creator''s help and benediction... Pray for our future ... Future of Technology and Science." He has hit his hear with his clenched fist as a sign of commitment.


    After his speech, many people picked up interest in his projects and his general approach that was very different from everyone who ruled before him. With the benediction of the elders, Aleksithimia was elected to become the first prosper of the new generation of the Grand Central. After the signature of the peace agreement disclosure and alliance creation with others prospers, he was recognized as the absolute ruler of Grand Central, recently renamed to lands of Aleksithimia. Following his assignment, he presented his first absolute rule of Emotionless behavior".


    According to what the prosper said, having full emotional self-control is something extremely difficult to achieve due to the nature of the current living conditions worldwide and harsh environmental problems such as sudden weather changes, lack of clean water and food resources. Emotions were the main factor of instability that can be expressed in multiple ways: theft, aggression, physical conflicts, and other mentally unstable behavior. Humans tend to make irreparable mistakes due to their lack of emotional control. The unintentional burst of emotions which can be direct or indirect can be easily affected or provoked by an immense variety of even external factors, and those factors can be a simple matter of coincidence but project a heavy emotional impact. The result can be dangerous to the host and possibly even more to the entourage.


    After prosper Aleksithimia''s official election and the power transfer, he naturally has become the head of the land. Multiple internal conflicts followed the latest war has genuinely affected political governance, the land of Aleksithimia has turned into a country without any rules or policies, in other words, anarchy reigned.


    To get an overwatch and apply his own governance as the head of the country within the borders of his lands he decided to do it his own way. Aleksithimia has put in place a centralized cyber intelligence called "Mitera System" which is a massive cloud self-operating system that can directly communicate with the prosper.


    Mitera System has the major role of structuration and governance. For instance, he used it in order to dispatch "Kanj?ga" which is the main object issued by his "Emotionless Behavior" project.


    His next major step was the Kanj?ga deployment. The emotional suppressor project was a specifically designed neuronal chip that contained programmed wire codes and its main role was surveillance in the case of invasion of any other major trespasser coming from other countries.


    Before the "Emotional Suppressor" project has been released in the wild, Aleksithimia has attended & organized a large number of conferences presenting and providing in-depth details about his projects and how a human being is being controlled by their emotions such as Anger, Sadness, Grief, Jealousy, Envy, Love and many more.


    According to him, to make his population 100% productive, emotional management is mandatory. His project has received a sufficient amount of positive votes and soon after emotional suppressor has been dispatched via a wide network of Mitera Systems.


    Five years later, the land of Aleksithimia has become the richest country and the most technologically advanced place to live. Its economic growth has attracted many merchants, visitors, and refugees who suffered after the war. There were lots of concerns and criticism coming from the outside world about the prosper''s reign methods, some people called him the heartless dictator, others praised him as a messiah.


    The whole concept of people living with reduced emotional potential may indeed be something very uncommon and mostly unacceptable by the external world. Therefore, there is no denying that because of this very method, the land of Aleksithimia has become the most secure country in the world.


    Land of Aleksithimia is the only place where the majority of the population was seeing the prosper as a direct reincarnation of the son of God as he was considered as the main source of hope, prosperity, and happiness within his lands...

 Those Who Protect

    [the Year 2093 ¨C September 20th, next day after the incident at Elpida boarders]


    Out on the streets, Quarta wore a black hooded jacket, becoming an unrecognizable silhouette that looked like a saturated form of a shadow enveloped by the soft rain, surrounded by city lights as she was on her way to the Head Quarters. Small pellets of water were spitting on her hands as the remainder of the drops quenches the scattered puddles decorating the asphalt and the busy road.


    During the day, the city was usually very calm, most of its inhabitants were busy at their jobs, as due to the city policy the majority must sustain the daytime work, which always continues as a nine-hour shift. The only small portion of the jobs involved was allowed to work until late hours and during the night. That kind of city pace made the city roads almost empty during the day and busy at the beginning of the evening. As sunset came, the city would begin to live and swarms by millions of peoples as if it was an anthill.


    A chaotic fragrance was spread out around the perfectly clean asphalt streets; the Uprising odor of "Geosmin" quickly filled Nion''s nostrils. Geosmin was a variety of spores that were produced by Streptomyces microbes which particularly dangerous when it is raining as they become active after the long-lasting doze during the dry season.


    Ever since the beginning of climate change, the spore volumes grew in number every year, until the scientists across the world had to raise awareness of its existence. Later on Geosmin had been acknowledged as a harmful bacteria that if combusted with others toxic or hazardous chemicals, such as Benzene, Dioxin and other variety of gases that can be found in the air, is an imminent threat to the human body; Specifically dangerous in big cities or industrial areas.


    As the countermeasure, the world leaders have issued specifically designed facial masks that must be worn during the rainy periods. Because of the rising volumes of Solar and Longwave radiation mixed with the pollution that was released into the atmosphere, these began to for the "Toxic Gray Shrouds" all around well-developed cities. In the capital, Autumn had changed into a warm winter season as snowflakes melted before even reaching the surface making that particular period specifically toxic for the city inhabitants.


    Once through the security gates, Quarta was on her way to the very top of the HQ offices where she had a meeting with the prosper regarding the latest events that occurred at the borderline. At the end of a narrow corridor, she finally arrived at the destination.


    The moment when she was about to reach for the door handle. The door briskly opened and almost hit her face. Quinto (The Keepers rang #5) was walking out from the room.


    "Tsk!" Said Quinto while leaving the door open behind.


    After he passed the room entrance, he realized that when he kicked the door, it almost hit Quarta who happened to stand just behind the door.


    "Huh? Quarta..." He mumbled.


    "Good evening." Said Quarta.


    "Do you have a lighter?" Asked Quinto.


    "Excuse me?!"


    "What you don''t understand? I am asking you if you have a lighter?!" Insisted Quinto.


    "Euh...No, I don''t" Replied Quarta.


    "Tsk! Useless..." As he said that, Quinto continued walking down the corridor.


    "What''s wrong with this guy...?" She mumbled as she headed for the door.


    Quarta ignored him and entered the meeting room.


    The prosper Aleksithimia is standing against a massive open glass window looking at the city while holding a glass of scotch.


    "My dear sister, I sincerely welcome you. It is always a pleasure to have you here." Said a charming male voice.


    The prosper Aleksithimia appeared before his young sister, in all his grandeur. A tailored black suit with a charming black ribbon underneath of which he wore a beautifully designed white shirt that was covered with thin metallic chains that were hanging down over his shoulders.


    His chiseled jaw lifted with a proud, pleasant smile. Short dark hair with long wavy curls that looked majestic on him. He possessed dark brown pensive eyes, that one would look for in a poet or dreamed rather than the ruler of millions of people.


    He was skinny but powerfully built, his skin was slightly bronzed by the sun that was shining at his neck that was fully covered with linear & cubic tattoos artwork that looked sublime on him as these exquisite forms were going all the way up his soft neck where they joined with large tribal piercings on his left ear. On the other side of his cheek, he had a small reversed cross tattoo as the sign of his anti-Christianity.


    He was projecting wiry energy that gave him an effect of youth despite that this year he turned 30 years old. He possessed the body language of a charming prince and the mental strength of a confident king.


    "Mitera System has communicated that recently you had an emotional stasis that made me worried about your well-being. However, seeing you here reassures me that you are fine." He said.


    Every word he said sounded beautiful but impossible to feel compassion and trust as if Quarta was facing two different personas, her brother and the God in person.


    "You see... This is what the joy and concern emotions sound and feel like. Do you miss that?" He immediately changed his tone to something more distant and perhaps intimidating.


    As he said that, there was something puzzling in his gait, enough to jump off and holster your weapon because of how unusual usual he acted. But Quarta knew him very well so she stayed calm.


    "Why don''t you say something? Nion, you are my sister! As both the ruler of this country and your brother, I need to know, what happened?" He insisted on employing a different, much mature tone.


    After a brief moment of silence, Nion has opened her mouth and spoke out.


    "I need to know something that is now growing in importance for me. How far do we have to go to protect our home from people who are seeking for help?" She asked.


    "I see, I see... Let me return that question by asking you; Would you rather risk your friends and families'' safety for a big or even small group of strangers whom you know nothing about?" He asked.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Nion said nothing back so Aleksithimia continued.


    "Let''s presume that you know absolutely nothing about them, neither their past nor their present. Potentially exposing people who are dear to you because you are getting a fright or a strong empathy feeling every time you see someone who is weaker than you are, just remember that puppy you tried to protect when you were a kid." He said.


    Nion remained silent. Aleksithimia took a deep breath and then continued.


    "Let me elaborate on my thoughts...Imagine a situation when you have allowed a group of outsiders in our lands under your responsibility. Let us suppose that these family members are great people, respectful and polite. At some point, you will build a great relationship. At some point, they will ask you who is responsible for them if they can bring the rest of their family members from the outside to join them. It would be natural for them to stick all together so that nobody feels left out."


    "Now, let us suppose that out of this second group of ten people, there are two men who are mentally unstable because they were forced to leave their hometown. Starting with the moment they successfully reunite with their family; they will live with a strong feeling of nostalgia and deep regret leaving their home country for a new place that they do not specifically like. Soon after, they begin to complain about their new life and quickly became excluded from the inner family circle." Said Aleksithimia.


    "I don''t get your point..." Said Nion.


    "Alala, just wait and listen." Replied Aleksithimia.


    "So, where was I...Ah! So, these two men will find themselves in an unknown place where they are rejected and will get frustrated because nobody is willing to understand their pain of not being able to go back to their hometown. Their frustration will further transform into grief and despair... There is a high possibility that these two men will try to attract all kinds of attention by doing random unpleasant action, from the beginning it could be some minor crimes such as stealing and can surely evolve to something much more dangerous." He said.


    "I am sorry but it is wrong!" Argued Nion.


    "Huh, and how am I wrong, please, enlighten me with your thoughts then." Said Aleksithimia.


    "You are literally trying to convince me that outsiders are the absolute source of unnecessary problems and danger without giving me a rational explanation of your thoughts about this subject. Besides, according to you, these people and their actions are the major reasons for our land''s potential concerns." Said Nion.


    "And they are..." Said Aleksithimia


    "You are the one who taught us to think twice before acting, but I am starting to think that the whole Keepers project is operating on blind trust." Argued Nion.


    "Please, elaborate." He said.


    "I am more than proud of all the hard work that has been accomplished; you have saved and will surely save thousands of lives. Your devotion to this country is absolute. But, you and I, as genetical siblings, are still human beings and that means that sometimes we have to step back on our decision and review them from another point of view..." Said Nion.


    Aleksithimia went back to his desk and serves himself a glass scotch.


    "Oh, how rude of me! Do you want some?" Asked Aleksithimia while hanging over another glass to Nion


    "Oh, how rude of me! Do you want some?" Asked Aleksithimia while hanging over another glass to Nion.


    "Please, do not try to change the subject!" She said firmly.


    "You... Seem very irritated today." He said while enjoying his drink. "You know, I hated the old times, when the elders managed this country. Propaganda was the way the would spread lies and terror, empty promises to keep us, the next generation shut."


    "Don''t you think that you are not so different in the end?" Asked Nion.


    "Only time will tell...For now, my only priority is those who are within these walls. I have to keep them safe...If for that reason I must sacrifice hundreds or even thousands of strangers whom I''ve never heard before... I am willing to pay the price." He said.


    Nion threw her report on the prosper''s desk and then walks towards the entrance door.


    "Now it is very clear, what drives you and why you''ve made such a radical decision. I am more than grateful to you for what you are doing for our hometown that I love and cherish as much as you do. However, the fact that you have to review the borders situation stays the same..." Said Nion.


    Aleksithimia looked that he is enjoying his little sister giving him a moral lesson so he just sat on the desk and kept listening in silence.


    "I am aware that some people who are coming from the outside world can cause some problems. But even then, it is going to be what? 3-5% out of everyone who is suffering out there? There surely is, there has to be, a better way to deal with these people rather than executing every single one of them because they did not respect your statement." Said Nion.


    As she finished her phrase, she gave her brother a couple of seconds to say something back, but since he did not she continued.


    "Last night, I saw fire coming from the forest area across the borders of Elpida. I need your permission to cross the borderline and investigate that area." Said Nion but Aleksithimia abruptly turned himself in her direction and raised his tone.


    "You are not going in there!" He said.


    "But I may get some valuable information regarding the recent increase in incoming raids from Elpida. This could be potentially used for our cause!" Nion insisted.


    "Quarta! I am not repeating myself twice!"


    "But why?!"


    "Because I am the one who decides!" Replied Aleksithimia.


    "How many innocent people do I have to sacrifice before you open your eyes?!" She asked.


    "If they don''t respect my rules, they must be punished, that''s it!" Replied Aleksithimia.


    "Just listen to me! I have been observing this area for a while now and there is something wrong going on out there. These people, raiders or whatever you are calling them, I was there and I saw it with my own eyes. These families, they were blindly running away from something. I can tell when someone is ready to die, that''s what I saw in their eyes!" Nion raised her voice.


    "I do understand that you are raising your voice because you want to be heard. It is really interesting to hear someone, full of emotions, so alive... Perhaps you think that nobody can understand you around here, but let me correct you for a second." Said Aleksithimia as he stood up from his desk and approached his sister.


    "Ah, look at you...Do you feel it...Do you know what it is called? That frustration that collides with sadness... It is called empathy. And now, my little sister, you are trying to make sense out of all the mess you''ve been through blaming me about that... I am sorry, but border policy won''t change, at least for now." Said Aleksithimia.


    "Then maybe, you should go outside and take a little tour! Don''t you think that it is quite easy to control everything from the capital? Empathy or whatever, I am the one who does the job, I think I have the right to express myself!!" Shouted Nion.


    "Easy...You don''t have to raise your voice on me, I hear you. You know, our current situation is much more complex than you improving strong emotions to whomever you''ve met at the borders. If we do open borders with selective entrance, considering the state of our current economy, there is a big possibility that we would get an overload of demands and I do not want to make the same mistakes elders have made before, I do not want to promise something we cannot accomplish right now." He said.


    "If we accept selective entrance, give permission to people from outside, we will possibly face an inner conflict coming from our population. There is a high chance that our population would split into two counterparts. Those who will support refugees to arrive on our land and will do their best to help them establish a new life in our lands and another group of people who will be absolutely against the idea of outsiders who will also bring their own culture with them, won''t specifically obey and respect all of our rules which will became a potential problem and even more." he said.


    "Conflict is something easy to generate. There is a high possibility that emotions of hate and rejection will reappear again as before. This is possible although most of our land''s population is using "Emotional Suppressors" and I would say 99% do not even remember what "Hate" feels like. If what I just mentioned happens, these emotions will come back and possibly destroy our current stability that took long years to put in place. Racial hate and exclusion... This is something I do not want the new generation to experience anymore ... Not on my lands. This is why my main task for at least right now is to maintain the peace and serenity of this land as it is." He explained.


    "Your emotional suppressor does regulate their emotions, but you should know that humans cannot be tamed the way you do, soon or later you will have to face the consequences..." Said Nion.


    "I know that you are doing an amazing job, it is not something that everyone can do. I am aware of that. Give me more time to find a suitable solution for our people." He kissed Nion''s forehead.


    Doors open, Seconda (The Keeper rang #2) enters the room...

 The Weight of Culpability

    [the Year 2093 ¨C September 20th - Lands of Aleksithimia capital HQ]


    "Good evening prosper Aleksithimia, good evening Quarta." Bowed Seconda.


    "Good evening." Nion bowed back.


    "Good evening Se¨¤nn!It''s been I while since you left." Greeted her Aleksithimia.


    "Yes, as you can see, I am still in one piece." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "What brings you here such late time?" Asked Aleksithimia.


    "I need to talk to you in private when would be the best time for you?" She asked.


    "Well, I believe our meeting is over?" Aleksithimia asked Nion.


    "Yes, I should get going." Nion lowered her head and headed towards the entrance.


    As Nion was walking towards the exit, she crossed paths with Se¨¤nn and they made eye contact. Class is a mysterious essence that comes in many forms, depending on the person. It largely comes from a person''s sense of themselves ¨C from confidence without brashness, from courtesy, from kindness, and often includes a distinct sense of style and gesture. Se¨¤nn is a strong woman and a warrior, but she is also a lady who displays self-respect, appreciation, dignity, and moderation in her daily actions. She finished "second" during the Grand Central prosper qualification, which also means that she is the second most capable of ruling the lands of the Grand Central after Aleksithimia and currently holds "vice" prosper status that grants her the executive privileges almost the same as the Prosper himself.


    Se¨¤nn gave her a blank expression and continued walking. It was one of those rare moments when Quarta and Seconda have met in person. Stunned by Seann''s beauty, Nion slowed down her pace as if she was a child who happened to meet her idol for the first time. Except for Thermoaimos and his brother Raiwin, who are respectively using their "Keepers" codenames: Quinto and Terzo. Both of them are responsible for the largest area that connects Zenit which is the Nordic area that is currently being closed off.


    Nion left the room and bowed for the last time before she closed the door.


    "Here is the report from the last three months. How have you been doing since I left?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "Thermoaimos has informed me that his brother has disappeared three days ago." He replied while reviewing the report.


    "Raiwin? Disappeared... Any clue about his whereabouts yet?" She asked.


    "Thermoaimos has been out searching for his brother, tracking his "Kanj?ga" collar device with the assistance of Mitera System, but no clue so far. I''ve reviewed the server logs, and it is just as if his device was abruptly shut down or disconnected from our network. I do not have a clear explanation of this incident yet." Said Aleksithimia.


    "Mitera Server has been hijacked?" She asked.


    "Sigh, another fool who is trying hard to make my life complicated... In any case, we have to consider the possibility of abduction. However, if that is the case, their motives are still unknown...


    "I am sure, you will handle it." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "Like I always do." He shrugged.


    Anything else?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "We are experiencing a major increase in trespassing incidents at Elpida''s borders, why they just don''t get that they are not welcome in here..." Desperately exhaled Aleksithimia.


    "Who is in charge of the area right now?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "Quarta..." he replied.


    "Well...We are the best place in the world to live right now, so the raids and immigration problems are something to expect to happen." He said.


    "I think this is the exact reason why you should be more careful." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "I would advise informing all security and Keepers members as soon as possible." Advised Se¨¤nn.


    "Agreed. I will raise the caution alert and will have to spend some time and review Mitera''s System security patches, this will surely give me a better idea of what happened." Said Aleksithimia.


    "You should not underestimate desperate and hopeless people who are fighting for their life every day. Greed and miscommunication, are the essence that triggered the wars between nations from the past. The world around us is full of hatred, envy and other toxic emotions that you are doing your best to keep your people away from, but until when?" Said Se¨¤nn.


    "Oh, give me a break! Quarta said something very similar just minutes ago." Said Aleksithimia.


    "Well, she is right then, who else than you should listen to your people, you are the ruler of these lands." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "Toxic emotions are not my enemies, people who lose all rational senses and become blindly driven by toxic emotions are the ones who represent a danger to our lands." He said.


    "I can return that same logic against you, are you sure that peace of yours will last forever?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    Aleksithimia finishes reading the report and stands up from his desk.


    "I''ve pledged that I will protect this country. Whoever will try to harm these lands under my reign, will be exterminated; Nothing more, nothing less..." He said.


    "Whatever you say my highness!" Said Se¨¤nn.


    "Wait, are you being sarcastic right now?" Confused he asked.


    "That''s what it says in the book I read." She replied.


    "Hmm, interesting, what''s the name of your book?"


    "The confused king." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "Very funny, from someone who can''t laugh, huh?!" Said Aleksithimia.


    Se¨¤nn looked at him in silence without saying anything to his provocation then turned her back and was about to leave.


    "My bad, my bad...I am sorry." He suddenly apologized as he saw Se¨¤nn leaving.


    "Seconda! Before you leave, I need you to do something for me".


    "I am listening..." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "If Keepers are being targeted, I would like you to keep a closer eye on Quarta. My hands are full, plus Terzo is missing and now we got something going on at Elpida''s borders. Quarta is strong, I am sure she will handle everything by herself, but just in the case, try to watch over her."


    "Fine." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "As expected from my strongest ally! But, really, thanks for helping me all these times, if that''s you I can be sure that everything is going to be all right."


    "I will do the best I can." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "Excellent, now I should go back to work and fix all that mess." Said Aleksithimia as he went chocked the remainings of scotch and went back to his desk.


    "By the way. What about Thermoaimos kid?" Seann stopped him from leaving.


    "Ah, Quinto..."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "There is a possibility that he is being targeted as well." Explained Se¨¤nn.


    "You know the guy...Concealing his emotions was clearly not enough to calm his choleric temper... Wild as he is, especially since his brother went missing, I am sure he will look for troubles himself".


    "That''s my problem with him..." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "Ah...It is not a kindergarten here, but fine, I will keep a close eye on him. Deal?"


    "Whatever you say, your highness." Replied Se¨¤nn and then left the room.


    [Same day, late-evening ¨C Old town]


    Still trapped in her thoughts trying to figure out if the conclusion of the discussion with her brother has satisfied her or not, Nion was on her way to the central hospital. Since she has not returned to the city for a little while, she decided to pass by her favorite coffee shop for a brief moment of relaxation before continuing her journey.


    The coffee shop " Heaven Caf¨¦" was located in the middle of the old town, the district that has been rebuild mirroring the old architecture from before the war. Families and young people frequented the old town the most. There were lots of historic museums, expositions, and other artistic establishment and mixed communities. Nion ordered her favorite "Strawberry macchiato" and sat down at the single-seat counter and begun reviewing her private messages meanwhile listening to music from her headphones and enjoying the sunny weather outside.


    Nion ordered her favorite "Strawberry macchiato" and sat down at the single-seat counter and begun reviewing her private messages meanwhile listening to music from her headphones and enjoying the sunny weather outside.


    While she was enjoying her drink and listening to the smooth melody of the song, Nion has opened the old private mailbox that she used before she was assigned to became the part of the Keepers. Similar to most of the unused mailboxes, it was filled with spam, Mitera System flash news and occasional messages from the rebel groups that were sent to recruit new members, spread more propaganda against prosper Aleksithimia rules and revolt the population against the "Kanj?ga" emotional suppression system.


    Most of these groups were operating outside the capital because the network signal of the Mitera surveillance system is weaker due to the technical limitations of surrounding areas. The local authorities were less present for the law enforcement missions around suburban areas because of a lack of technology and equipment resources. However, most of the time, Mitera Surveillance System was able to identify the sources of propaganda by locating and identifying them. The local authorities took care of the rest.


    While Nion was scrolling down the messages, one mail particularly got her attention because of the name of the sender. The name was different from the usual identity stealing email model templates. The sender was identified as "Y". Even though the message has been encrypted, thanks to Aleksithimia''s teaching about "network routing algorithms", Nion was able to identify that this mail had been sent from "Elpida''s domain". The sender knew the recipient''s identity.


    The mail contained the following message:


    [There are cemeteries that are lonely, Clogwyn''s graves full of bones that do not make a sound, my heart moving through a tunnel, in its darkness, darkness, darkness, like a shipwreck, we die going into ourselves, as though I am willing to be drowned inside your heart, as though I live to see you breaking into pieces of emptiness.] -RAKUEN act 1-


    Perturbed by the content of the message Nion abruptly stopped the music and started looking around in a stressed manner, but did not find any suspicious signs around her. After taking a closer look at inside the coffee shop, she noticed major changes compared to the last time when she visited the place, which happened to be just after the emotional suppression project implementation.


    Heaven Caf¨¦ had lost all its charm, the coffee machine noises had ceased to exist, the ground coffee smell had disappeared because the coffee-making process had been reinvented to a fully automatic environment. Multiple self-service machines had replaced human staff at the counter who was the essence of the human exchange service itself. The whole place, even outside the shop, seemed like a graveyard of people who minded their own business without interacting with others. Customers were drinking their orders while looking at their mobile devices as if there was an invisible bubble surrounding them, a bubble that created a comfort zone that none of them wanted to leave.


    Nion stood up and was on her way to the hospital while reviewing the message, trying to identify anything that could give her an idea of the identity of "Y".


    Aleksithimia has just sent the message to all Keepers members informing that there is a potential Mitera System security breach, a brief report about Terzo (Keepers rang #3) went missing several days ago and that Aleksithimia is taking care of that incident personally.


    [Same evening - Central Hospital]


    Nion entered the occupied room, where the older brother who happened to be electrified by her weapon lied on the bed. Minutes later, the doctor in charge and a nurse has entered the room while examining the x-ray scans and some other documents.


    "Good evening Doctor, is he going to make it?" Asked Nion.


    Another nurse came into the treatment room, giving the report to the doctor. Both were whispering while discussing the report next to the patient. Their discussion has ended as the doctor made a hand signal to both nurses to leave the room and only then replied to Nion.


    "That young man you brought here... He is not one of us, correct?" Asked doctor.


    "What do you mean by "us", sir?" Asked Nion.


    "That pale skin, dark curly hair, I''ve never seen someone like that around here. Where is he coming from?" Doctor asked.


    "You are correct, he is coming from Elpida...I think... Is there something wrong with that?" She asked.


    The doctor closed the entrance door after the nurse left.


    "Yes, I am afraid. Due to the strict regulations of our establishment, we will not proceed with further treatment of this patient."


    "I beg your pardon?!" Said Nion.


    "Central Hospital of Great Aleksithimia is a public establishment reserved exclusively for residents of Lands of Aleksithimia. The hospital is operating by the rules and policies of the prosper Aleksithimia regulations. According to these, non-resident admission is forbidden regardless of the patient''s condition" Said the doctor.


    "I am speechless..." Replied Nion.


    "I did my best and successfully stopped the hemorrhage, but this is as far as his treatment goes in this hospital." He explained.


    "Wait, you are willing to let this poor kid die because he is not our resident, are you kidding me?!" Insisted Nion.


    "If you want to put it that way." Said doctor.


    "Great! What is going to happen next?!" Nion asked.


    "The patient has received severe heart damage and lost more than one-third of his blood. Currently, his heart is pumping on its 150% trying to increase the blood pressure, so he needs to rest, preferably to provide further medical assistance" said the doctor.


    "In other words?!" She asked.


    "You should take him somewhere else than here and finish the treatment if you want him to live." He said while looking at the patient.


    "Where?!"


    "I spoke to my colleagues, none of them are willing to take this patient under their custody for the same reason I''ve just told you." Replied doctor.


    "Unbelievable!" Said Nion with an angry tone.


    "As you can see, the patient has not regained consciousness and due to the blood loss, his body has entered into a hypovolemic shock state, he would need another 2 or 3 days before he gets better. Nevertheless, as I just explained to you, we can''t proceed with his treatment here, I am sorry...Perhaps, I would advise you to send him to the hospital where he is coming from." Said Doctor.


    "I can''t believe that a doctor is telling what I am hearing right now." Said Nion hysterically.


    "I am sorry for that." Said doctor.


    "How can you be a doctor who is refusing to help people when they need you the most?"


    "If he would be our citizen, there won''t be any problems at all, but he is not. Please keep in mind that you are the one who has brought him here." Said doctor.


    "Where else do you want me to take him, are you kidding me?" Shouted Nion.


    "Madam...You, out of everyone else should know the rules of our lands." He insisted.


    "Listen to me. You are the doctor, I need you to do your damn job and your job right now is to fixed the kid on this bed!" She pointed to the sleeping children.


    "I am a doctor indeed, but I don''t fix, I treat people..."


    "THEN TREAT HIM LIKE A HUMAN BEING NOT A STRAY DOG!" Fully of anger, Nion grabbed the doctor by his robe.


    "You can yell as much as you want madam, this won''t change anything. The law is the law. As I''ve already repeated myself multiple times, you should be grateful that I''ve managed to stop the blood loss. Without my intervention, he would be dead by now, do you understand that?" Said doctor as he removed Nion''s hands from him. "I believe that our conversation is over, now please excuse me, as you can see around, we already got our hands full..." He got interrupted by Nion.


    "I don''t give a damn about your hands being full, I need that kid to live and that "you" or any of your colleagues finish the treatment instead of sending half-dead body away, this is simply unacceptable!" She raised her voice once again.


    "I will repeat myself one last time, I can''t help you with that matter." Replied doctor.


    "Damn it! What''s wrong with you people?! How can you refuse to treat someone just because he is coming from another country! It is so wrong... Just imagine if you will be in the same situation but at Elpida''s hospital and they would refuse to take care of you?! Do you think that''s normal?"


    "I understand your point but..." He got interrupted by Nion once again.


    "No, you don''t! You are not even trying!" She shouted.


    "Your anger is understandable, but rules are rules, I have no intentions of sacrificing my career for an outsider." Said doctor.


    "Ah I see, so it is all about your career, huh...Why am I even losing my time with you..." Nion grabbed her head.


    Nion touched Alexis''s face and then the rest of the body that was losing heat faster than it could produce it. Feelings of guilt and responsibility were getting heavier each second.


    "Just hang on a little longer, I promise, I promise you will be all right" She whispered to his ear.


    "We will discharge the patient tomorrow evening unless you take him somewhere else before that time." Said doctor.


    "Do you know any other places or anyone who could help him? Places that are closer than Elpida...?" She asked.


    "At this point, this is none of my concern." Cleaned the operation table and was about to leave. "I saw many people dying during my career and what I''ve learned from that is that people''s lives are not equal...I wish you a good evening ahead." The doctor left the room.


    Nion stayed in the room looking at the unconscious child. She was almost crying due to not being able to help him. He seemed to be having a nightmare as his body had some nervous tics. or a second he opened his eyes wide open staring at the surgical lamp pointing onto his bed as if it was the sun that was about to engulf his body.


    "Asta!" Pronounced Alexis while half asleep.


    Right after he pronounced the last word, he collapsed on the bed unconscious.


    A couple of minutes later, Mitera System had sent an emergency notification that there is another group of trespassers storming the borderline of Elpida.


    Nion, left the hospital in a rush, heading to the outpost...

 The Burden of Truth

    [September 21th ¨C Elpid''s border, Clogwyn area]


    Once Nion finally arrived at the place that was stormed by outsiders previously, she had an intense feeling of a d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Hundreds of men and women of different ages were already climbing the precipice of Clogwyn, some others were running along the precipice hoping to find another way to get to the top. Many of these people were already injured; most of the young men and women were covered in blood. Once again, the groups were coming from the direction of that distant village of the lands of Elpida and the same scenario was about to take place again. However, this time the scale was at a completely different level, it was as if the whole village was desperately trying to get through the borders.


    Busy with the incident at the hospital, Nion had arrived much later than she was expected. Warning these people about the trespassing policies would be meaningless and only would make the situation even more difficult to handle since Nion was alone and the citizens of Elpida had already broken through the limit of "safe-zone" according to Aleksithimia''s border control policy. Nion decided to contact the first line border control to get more details about the ongoing situation.


    "This is Quarta, what is the situation at the main gate?"


    "The main gate is under attack." Said the first borderline security agent.


    "Their identity?"


    "The aggressors'' identity is unclear; but, they are coming from lands of Elpida''s direction." He replied.


    "Any casualties on your side?"


    "Multiple casualties and about a dozen people are injured, we won''t hold much longer!" He said.


    "Is the prosper is aware of the current situation?"


    "Mitera System has summoned you first."


    "Very well, I will handle the situation myself. Make sure to protect the main gate for another 10 minutes." She ordered.


    "Understood!"


    As soon as the call ended, Nion jumped off the cliff in the very middle of the most concentrated area filled with trespassers. During nighttime the only source of light is the moon, so nobody saw Nion flying down until she touched the ground. Her landing energy had produced a small shockwave that made people who were nearby fall on the ground. Some people recognized her and begun screaming trying to alarm others.


    "ONI IS HERE, RUN!!"


    Single individuals and couples spread out running away from Nion as fast as they could, other small groups who were carrying injured people tried to hide, youngest and the healthiest ones regrouped themselves in small circles trying to protect each other.


    "How many of you do I have to kill so you understand that you are not welcome...?" Said Nion.


    "The hell would you understand! You will be punished for all the evil you''ve done!" Shouted a young man who his family who were holding him back.


    Nion charged into that man''s direction, but he got suddenly pulled back to the middle of his group and an old woman came out in his place. She looked like one of the elders of the "Grand Central" who transmitted the power and elected the prosper Aleksithimia, she looked very old.


    The old woman said something to the young man in an unfamiliar language; Her voice was surprisingly calm and monotonous, which made it impossible to define the intonation of her phrase. After finishing her sentence, the old woman stood up in front of Nion and bowed before her.


    "I am Quarta, the guardian of the East borderline of lands of Aleksithimia! You are trespassing our closed borders and you will be given a death penalty if you do not evacuate our premises immediately!" Nion shouted to everyone.


    Some of the trespassers started crying as if they lost all hope to survive from the moment Nion arrived at the scene.


    The old woman carefully approached Nion and spoke out with a heavy accent that sounded very different from the one from Elpida.


    "Oni..." the old woman whipped the tears with her shaking hands. "Quarta... forgive my people''s rudeness. Gods have forsaken us, we have no place to go...We do not have a place to return anymore..." She said.


    "What is the reason for your presence on our lands!" Ordered Nion.


    "They are chasing us out!" Said old woman.


    "They"? Asked Nion.


    "The men from the Holy Order!" She replied.


    "Elaborate!!" Ordered Nion.


    "Please, hear me out. We are a group of farmers who came from the North, because of the rage of the God of Sun, we had to live our homes and looking for a better place to establish ourselves. Speranta, the village behind the forest was our only home for years until recently, when the people from the "Holy Order" appeared in our village. In the beginning, they proclaimed themselves as bounty hunters and then offered us their protection in exchange for a part of our resources. We are nothing more than families of farmers, the majority of my people, as well as the other inhabitants, have no knowledge in combat and since we were attacked by bandits and vandals very often, that was a great deal for us." Explained the old woman.


    "Months after, some of our women went missing. The rumors about that the Holy Order is not what they claimed to begin circling the village. Villagers became suspicious, some were scared of them every time they came for food or anything else."


    "One day, one of my five sons saw two men from the Holy Order assaulting a young woman and then they killed her right in front of his eyes. The whole village went looking for her, but we never found her body. Two days after some drunk men from the Holy Order arrived in our village and set our houses on fire for no apparent reason. Our strongest men and woman reunited together to stop the abusive behavior the Holy Order was doing to us. Our dear friends never came back home alive...Eventually, they did...beheaded." She sobbed.


    "Since that incident, the leader of the Holy Order whom I don''t know the name came to our village and said that we are sinners and that gods don''t want us here anymore... Since that day, they were coming in large groups murdering every man and elders as myself and taking away our woman and children. Speranta has become worse than the living hell. Even if we''d go back, all of us would be crucified or thrown to fire burning alive...Exactly like they did to most of our friends." Said old woman.


    "What is your name, old woman?" Asked Nion.


    During the conversation, those who did not flee slowly surrounded Nion, ready to attack her all at once.


    "My name is Kernel, I am the last elder of the "Shira" tribe." She replied.


    Nion noticed the upcoming assault, in the dark, her purple eyes changed into flame purple color.


    "Old woman! Tell your people to back off!" Shouted Nion to Kernel. "You should have heard of who I am. I am stronger, stronger than anyone of you! Lower your weapon, or I will turn this place into a bloodbath as you''ve never seen before" shouted Nion while solidifying her weapon.


    "LET HER BE!" Shouted Kernel.


    People who surrounded Nion did not move an inch further, the tension was getting higher.


    "I am looking for a little child called Asta, where is he?" Asked Nion.


    "How do you know his name?"


    "You are not in the position of asking questions old woman."


    Elder Kernel started crying.


    "He is..."


    One of the men who surrounded Nion interrupted the elder Kernel.


    "ENOUGH!" He shouted. "You do not have to tell her anything at all! Look at her, she is all alone and we are more than a hundred. If we charge together right now we can end this once and for all! For how long do you want us to hide and run away? We should avenge our friends and families who were killed by her bloody hands! I saw her killing Pipola in front of her kids! How can you trust someone like that?! She is no better than these liars from the Holy Order!!" Said the man.


    "If we don''t kill her right now, there won''t be a tomorrow for any of us!" Shouted another man.


    "You hot-headed idiots! How many sacrifices do you need to understand that violence will only spread violence in return! I have enough of seeing my people dying!" Shouted Kernel


    "You hot-headed idiots! How many sacrifices do you need to understand that violence will only spread violence in return! I have enough of seeing my people dying!" Shouted Kernel.


    Everyone was on the edge of stress and pressure, the air of the whole area was so tense that the sound of the wind sounded like a god of death dancing impatiently, waiting for the climax of this edgy situation. People from the Shira tribe were ready for the final resort of giving everything they have to stop Nion, as she was the last barrier that was blocking their way into the suburbs of the capital of lands of Aleksithimia, located within 20 kilometers from the Eastern border.


    Everyone ''s minds were clear, the only option for them was to fight and each one of them was ready to die to protect their families. The only reason that everyone was hesitating to attack Nion was that she and the elder Kermel were in the middle of the human circle facing each other. The moon was glowing on these two as is they were two heroines under the spotlight of a theater scene that has reached its final act.


    "His brother, Alex, is alive. He is currently under treatment in the capital of my country. I understood the reason for your actions and I am willing to cooperate... If you tell me where he is." Said Nion.


    "All of us are having something or someone to protect. I must protect my country and its people. I believe so do you...Kernel! The past cannot be changed and I am responsible for my actions. However, right now, your future is in my hands and I am asking to cooperate!" Said Nion as she sheltered her weapon. "Where is the child?"


    "I am afraid that he was taken away by the people from the Holy Order..." Replied Kernel.


    Another dozen groups arrived at the plain. In a blink of an eye, Nion rushed to see if the child she was looking for was with any of these groups, calling out "Asta''s" name without any response. One of the people who just arrived pointed to the village''s direction. After the nightfall, it was visible that the smoke was coming from that direction. Without losing a second, Nion rushed in that direction.


    As soon as Nion entered the forest, her Kanj?ga collar received an urgent message from Mitera System letting her know that she is about to leave the premises of her country. Minutes later the Mitera Server became unavailable; meaning that she had lost all possible ways of communication with everyone else from the lands of Aleksithimia, including the other Keepers. As she didn''t have time to analyze the situation, her body kept moving forward. As if a "mother instinct" that she never thought she possessed had taken over her mind, her only priority was that child''s safety.


    The smell of burnt trees and the sound of screams were getting stronger as she approached the village. The tension was increasing as fast as the wind''s temperature. Past the area of the fence, Nion has spotted multiple camps that looked ravaged and dead bodies lifelessly lying on the wet grass. She stopped by each and every one of them, hopelessly looking for the child. The stress of not making it on time was rising as her heart was beating faster and faster.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    The air was getting dryer as if she was approaching an enormous source of blazing heat. When she finally arrived in the farming fields that were separating the forest and the outskirts of the village, the horizon of bright red and yellow colors was reflecting in her eyes... The village was covered in flames, the wind was whistling in her ears and the more she approached the village the clearer the sound got; the sound of human screams filled up her ears urging her to haste.


    Flames of fire shined with all its glory; It was almost mesmerizing how awfully attractive the whole scene looked for an outsider. Its warmth along with the welcoming feeling of heated breeze was hiding the contrast with the screams. It was as if the heat was calling Nion to get in, but the more she approached the village the more insecure she felt. Burnt corpses were lying everywhere, the village was engulfed in fire; So warm, so beautiful, yet full of hate, and despise. Almost every house that Nion saw was burned to ashes.


    True to herself and her objective, she kept advancing, calling the child name as loud as she could. However, it seemed like only dead were keeping her company. The situation and her safety were on the stake, yet, she refused the go back, knowing that if she does return there won''t be another chance to see the child. Her self-assigned rescue mission and protection of Asta was her absolute priority, she simply could not think of anything else.


    The occasional window was still in possession of its glass but most had broken so long ago that there was no trace of the shards on the warm rotting plank floors. In most houses, the roofs had partially caved in or at the very least they sagged like a disappointing souffl¨¦. Nion kept moving forward and finally arrived in the wide place that looked like the City Hall. In the middle of the area, there was a bonfire twenty meters in height. Groups of masked people were executing villagers in front of it and then throwing dead bodies in the fire, some others from the same group were dragging small kids into cages of their vehicles.


    The heat coming from the bonfire was as hot as lava; Bright yellow-orange, flames danced, flickered knowing they were being watched by the crowd, ready to devour everything that was getting too close. The bonfire was a dragon roaring with fury and spitting charcoal, with the immense heat that was slapping Nion''s face more and more as she was trying to approach it. A couple of meters from the bonfire there was a man who was wearing a black coat with a big yellow crest on it. Unlike the others, he had removed his hood; However, this man was wearing an odd mask on his face that made it impossible to see his real face even with all the brightness that was coming from the bonfire.


    The smell of the wood mixed with the smell of burnt human corpses that were thrown into the fire was so strong that it started burning Nion''s eyes. Above, the dark black clouds were low and hairy in the skies, dried out, the wind was blowing around the bonfire as if it was trying to appease the man-eater flames. The group of masked men was executing the villagers in gory and sarcastic ways.


    Nion was quietly approaching the hoodless man who acted as the leader of the groups when she suddenly felt a drizzle of rain on her head; It was about to rain.


    Eager to terminate the savagery she was witnessing and free the villagers from their imminent fate, Nion knew that if she engaged herself in combat, her chances to succeed without being noticed by the rest of the masked group were close to zero.


    "Look at that monkey! Ugu-ugu-ugu!" The man imitated a monkey sound as he watched a young man screaming of agony as the flames of bonfire kept devouring him alive.


    "SHUT THE FUCK UP!! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!" The aggressor heartlessly yelled at the poor victim. While his other colleague was crying with a laugh.


    "Make that monkey sound again!" Laughed the other man.


    "Ugu-ugu-uga-uga" He laughed. "How long do you think it will take him to shut up?" He asked his friend who was almost rolling on the floor of how funny he thought it was.


    "Oh my...that was some funny shit out there! Well, I would say, 4 minutes? Wanna bet some cash on it?" Replied the other man.


    "Right on!"


    The helpless man had his hands and legs tied together so he could barely move. He looked straight into his aggressor''s eyes crying for mercy as his skin begun melting. He succumbed to hysterical screams of pain until his vocal cord burned out followed by quick suffocation.


    Suddenly the spring rain evolved into a downpour. The masked group ran under the cover while dragging their prisoners behind. Some villagers took this moment as an opportunity and were able to untie themselves, as soon as they could move on their own, most of them ran in toward the forest. The hoodless man noticed that some prisoners escaped and gave a hand signal to two of his pioneers to go after them.


    Both men started chasing the escapees. Some prisoners could barely run, as it looked that during the torture they got their "Achilles" tendon muscles damaged; Off with an explosive spring, most of the prisoners got exhausted and started rapidly slowing down their pace, meanwhile two robust masked men were promptly closing the distance between them.


    Nion followed the whole scene while remaining in the shadows. As soon as both aggressors crossed their paths with two quick moves she sliced their throats wide open. Incapable to scream or call for the reinforcement because of the slashed vocal cords, both men dropped on the ground, slowly dying in agony and pain. Due to the heavy rain and reduced visibility, the rest of the group had not noticed their disappearance, everyone except the hoodless man who was fixated on Nion.


    The ground had become muddy everywhere Nion''s feet squelched into, the smell of the gunpowder was burning in the air, it could taste in the mouth like a deodorant. Ultimately, the screams seized to exist; Only Nion and the hoodless man remained on the empty area facing each other. The rain was still pouring, trying to calm down the intensity of the flames of death.


    "Ooo...We have a little mouse sneaking around my territory." Said the masked man. "I know who you are... But, what could be possible the reason behind that sudden visit?"


    "So it is you who is behind of all this mess!!" Shouted Nion.


    " Mess?! I am not sure what you are talking about...OH, you mean ''the Trash Cleansing'' yeah?" He jiggled.


    "Do you understand how many people lost their lives because of you!!" Shouted Nion.


    "Of course...Not! Why should I care in the first place?" He laughed.


    "They are human beings! How dare you to call them ''Trash''"?!


    "Okay, well...We also call them pigs if that will make you feel better." He laughed again.


    "What''s so funny about that?!"


    "Because you are making me laughing my little mouse!" He kept laughing.


    "But why are you doing that? Why don''t you just live them alone?" Asked Nion, trying to debate with the madman.


    "WHY...?" He asked himself. "Why...Huh, I''ve never asked myself to be honest. They are just annoying me, I don''t want to see their face around here anymore...I guess?" He replied. "Would you take that as an answer?"


    Nion was about to get ready for the imminent combat as she understood that arguing with that man is pointless.


    "Well, I guess you don''t huh...That''s a shame you know! Because I and you are very much alike, Nion!" He laughed.


    "What?! How do you know that name?!" Confused she asked.


    "Hey, hey, hey! And that''s a secret." He laughed again. "But, let me tell you something interesting! Did you know that where I am coming from, you, my little mouse, are pretty famous!" Said the masked men.


    "I have no time playing with you!" Firmly opposed Nion.


    "Urgh, not cute...Not cute at all and that''s a shame because I think you are sublime!"


    Nion started walking towards the man.


    "Wait, wait! Do you want to fight me? Come on! You don''t want to kill me, I am your number one admirer!" He laughed.


    "Just wait and see..." Said Nion.


    "I am waiting." He giggled. "Waiting for you to kill me like you did killed hundreds of the same people, oh pardon me for that reminder, I thought that you forget!


    "You are wrong!!" Nion stopped.


    "Touch¨¦!" He laughed. "Hey, let''s admit, we are so similar you and me, huh. And you know what? I am disappointed with seeing you here...Do you want to know why?" He asked.


    "I don''t care!!" Yelled Nion


    "BECAUSE NOW YOU WANT TO BE A FUCKEN HERO!!" He shouted out of nowhere. "Look at them..." He disappeared for a brief second.


    The man brought a young woman to the scene. He grabbed her by her hair while she was struggling then stabbed her legs with wooden sticks. The woman screamed in pain and agony.


    "LOOK AT HIM NION!" He shouted to Nion. "What do you see? Do I look like him?"


    "LET HER GO!!" Yelled Nion.


    "He is a NOBODY!! He yelled.


    "LEAVE HER ALONE!!" Nion continued begging him to free the victim.


    "I don''t understand, why do you care about them, tell me? Wait, is that a woman?" He grabbed the woman by her long black hair. "OH NO! My bad, my bad, okay! I thought you are a man! Tsk..." He sighed and then removed one of the sticks from his victim''s leg.


    "You are insane!" Said Nion.


    "INSANE?! ME?!... I don''t think that you''ve ever seen anything insane..." As he finished his phrase he grabbed his victim by the neck as if she was weightless.


    "Oi, oi, oi! ''Insane'' is a strong word! You should not be using it like that. Insanity is like an art of delusion and pleasure that nobody understands." The hooded man was taking his time as hi slowly was tightening her throat, enjoying the sight of his victim being struggling in the mid-air until she completely lost her voice and dropped her arms as the sign of losing consciousness.


    "LET HER GO!" Shouted Nion.


    "Huh...? Hey, you! Wake up! I am not done here!" He started shaking the woman with both of his hands. "Hey, hey, hey! Don''t tell me you are already dead? What the fuck...Already...?! Fuck--" As the sign of a complete disappointment, he grabbed the woman by her hair and projected her body right into the bonfire flames that were at least 25 meters away.


    Nion stood immobile astonished of what she just witnessed.


    "You see, I got a serious dilemma here... A citizen from the lands of Aleksithimia has trespassed into our country, disturbing our peace and on top of that, killed two of my men." Said the masked man.


    "How..." Nion could not find the words. "Where is peace? WHERE?!" Nion was boiling inside from anger and frustration.


    "What is wrong with that? They invaded my lands, I am just getting rid of the nuisance, the same way you did just yesterday." He said.


    "You are letting your man throwing innocent people into the bonfire, crucifying and assaulting their woman? Is that what you call peace?" Yelled Nion.


    "YES! My peace." The masked man removed his long jacket that was hiding the big yellow crest-like ornament that was covering his chest like some sort of armor. "So, you are saying that protecting my country from these savages who came here out of nowhere, occupied "my" lands and now are trying to reclaim it as a part of their home... is wrong?


    "You are out of your mind!" Said Nion


    "Our elders were fighting for that every piece of land that you all are stepping on with your dirty boots. Y''all''s presence in this country is soiling our sacred ground!" Said the masked man. "Now think very carefully. I don''t care what you came here for, but the fact that you just killed two of my men irritates me. And I do not like being irritated! I will give you the offer of your lifetime, go back to your country and never come back!" Ordered the masked man.


    "All of these people are running into my lands because of you!" Said Nion.


    "Well, that problem is now solved!" He pointed onto to bonfire.


    "That is savagery! The way you treat them is simply unhuman, I can''t let you do that anymore!" Said Nion.


    "Maybe you wanted us to conclude some sort of a peaceful agreement!? Don''t make me laugh!" He laughed. "They illegally occupied my country! You want us to become friends maybe? Tell me Quarta, what makes you different from them, coming to my lands and telling me what is right and what wrong?" He asked.


    Nion remained silent.


    "You and I are very much alike, both protecting our homeland and its policies. I just made your country a favor by burning these pigs alive, so their little adventure ends here. Yet, you still act as if you cared..." Said the masked man while he began to advance towards Nion.


    "Yesterday, when you killed that woman...Urgh, what was the name of that bitch...Pipopo, Papipa...AH! PIPOLA!! Aah! You know who I am talking about, huh? That one with two kids, does it rings any bells?" He laughed.


    "Shut your mouth..." Nion said through her teeth.


    "You killed that "poor woman" right in front of her kids...Tsk tsk tsk." He made a hand gesture to his man to surround their uninvited guest. "Tell me where was your heroic spirit yesterday, huh, lady Justice? How did you feel killing unarmed woman, huh?"


    "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!" Screamed Nion.


    "Look at you...And you are giving me moral lessons, how dare you?!" He hysterically laughed.


    "ENOUGH!!!" Shouted Nion.


    "ENOUGH OF WHAT?! COME ON, SAY IT!" He laughed sarcastically.


    "I AM NOT A MURDERER!!" She shouted back.


    "THEN WHO ARE YOU?!"


    "I...I..." Nion could not find the right words.


    From the beginning, this conversation was nothing else than a one-sided emotional abuse. Nion was still too young and naive to understand that she was simply being manipulated by the man. The stranger himself knew exactly what he was doing as he was enjoying every bit of their conversation, switching topics, portraying his adversary as the villain, showing no empathy and certainly no pity at all. In truth, he was just bulling her, instilling fear and guilt in her heart, meddling the confusion to fog up her mind and soul...And he was good at it.


    "Poor kid, he was crying in my arms." He mocked her.


    "WHERE IS HE?" Hysterically shouted Nion.


    "What do you want from him? Wanna finish him off as you did with his brother?" He giggled.


    "WHERE, IS, HE?!" Shouted Nion.


    "Who knows...Maybe he is dead by now...Maybe not..." The masked man was orchestrating with his hands by making strategic orders to his man to take positions.


    "Then I will make you spit it out by force!" She menaced him.


    "Oh, oh... Scary, scary!" He kept mocked her.


    Nion got surrounded by his men, they were more than fifty assassins armed to the teeth just waiting for their leader''s signal. While Nion got distracted by surroundings, in the blink of an eye their leader closed the distance between them and was standing right next to her. Surprised of such quick movement as she could not see him coming, Nion found herself at the mercy of the man with the yellow cross armor.


    The masked man grabbed her chin and started whispering into her ear.


    "Our lovely discussion ends here... I like your guts woman! You are a fearless warrior, I respect that. Now, let me offer you two outcomes of this beautiful evening:"


    "One. You are getting out of here with your tail under your legs without ever coming back to my lands and I will close my eyes to the fact that you trespassed and most importantly, killed two of my men."


    "Two. We can end this right here and right now, like real warriors would do, but I don''t think you will..." He smelled Nion''s face. "Because you smell, fear...".


    "You should know that if you try to do something fun, just makes sure to kill all of us, because if only one of us escapes, we will make sure that tomorrow my prosper would be aware that Land of Aleksithimia has infiltrated our lands and during the pursuit, two local citizens were killed." He said.


    "Ah! And since you are here, let me tell you something interesting... Regardless of today''s outcome, tell your prosper to be ready because a new war is not far away from your door." Said the masked man. "We are going to make our move sooner than you think. And when it will happen, I know someone who will rejoice in himself to see you..." As he finished his sentence he removed his hand.


    "I will never forgive you what you''ve done! You''d better watch your back!" Nion spat right into her aggressors'' face.


    "Eh...We''re all going to die one day, but you know what? You can die tonight." He laughed. "Just kidding! LET HER GO!" Shouted the masked man.


    The rest of his men were eager for blood, as to their disappointment, they started insulting, and whistling at Nion like a pack of hyenas who could not wait to devour the lion''s prey.


    Nion was aware that she didn''t stand a chance against so many foes and more specifically their leader who intimidated her like she never been before.


    The whole group of aggressors was following her with their eyes until she entered the forest and disappeared...

 Bonfire In The Rain

    Nion ran through the maze of trees that were barely lighted up by the moonlight. The sky rumbled, and the heavy rain bounced off the muddy grass. A storm smothered the heat coming from the bonfire heating and greying the world around.


    Drops of rain beat against her skin like snowflakes exploding in millions of pieces that come into contact with a solid mass. She was trying her best to switch her focus onto the other problems she left behind. The incident at the main-gate and all these people she left dying because the promised 10 minutes ended a long time ago. The Shira tribe and its people who were left without surveillance at precipice Clogwyn are now most certainly running free.


    The frustration and guilt of letting her heart decide instead of following "Mitera''s System" orders as she should have done, made her realize that not only she disobeyed and deserted her assignment, but that in the end, she failed at everything.


    Her heart was filled with regret of not being able to accomplish not a single task she was meant to do, neither that promise she made to the mother of two nor the self-made promise to find the youngest brother and take him to safety with resulted in her to abandon him.


    Tormented by her ignorance and lack of self-confidence, she finally started to realize how little she knew about the outside world and most importantly about herself. The perfect world that her brother has created that is being over-watched by Mitera System, now looked more like a fish tank filled with clean water stranding its inhabitants. Her revelations made her open her eyes that she is nothing more than a clueless little girl who has no idea of the impact of the responsibilities that she was entrusted. Incapable of telling the real difference between pure logic and complex rational decision making.


    The absence of flexible critical thinking and the fact that most of the exercises she has been through were based on good or evil examples were a predefined program created by Aleksithimia. However, all of it was just a simulation that had barely anything in common with real-life when the situation actually gets out of control...


    The cold rain battered her clothes, weighing her down, piercing through the threads in the fabric. The chill cutting into her skin and the mud surrounding her to her ankles won their victory as she slowed to a hunched over the walk. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, almost as deafening as the thunder that was approaching. She needed to get back, but her body and everything around her was protesting, telling her to give up...


    Exhausted of running, Nion has stopped in the middle of nowhere.


    "I am such a coward..." She sobbed.


    Seeking for a breath of fresh air for the first time ever, Nion removed her Kanj?ga device. In that very moment, millions of unknown memories and emotions went through her head causing her to blackout. Electrocuted from inside as her brain discharged an extraordinary amount of information that appeared to be dormant within herself.


    These memories appeared in her eyes like quick flashbacks putting her in a vast variety of unknown perspectives of different people without actually being connected with each other in any way. Diverse sentiments and feelings filled her from inside. Each of these memories contained a diversity of warmth, passion, intensity, love, hate and many other sentiments that were unknown to her. Nion was barely standing as her body and mind completely detached themselves from the real world. Lost in the ocean of unfamiliar memories, Nion was trying to go back in time and identify what memories belonged to whom but there was just too much of going on.


    The feeling of emptiness confined her personal memory. Many fragments were absent; However, she had a warm feeling that these were still there, somewhere, deep inside her heart. Enveloped by emptiness as her facial expressions could not keep up with all the emotions she was going through. An infinite amount of time had passed since she had entered the forest, her"Kanj?ga" was soaking in the mud.


    The thick blackened clouds were dragged down by the rain. It wasn''t just rain, it was a downpour. The distance to Clogwyn was roughly six kilometers, the mud was absorbing her feet while she was standing under the moonlight. Alone in the woods, isolated from the rest of the world, she could not bring herself to advance forward; She just kept looking into the grey sky as the raindrops were sliding down her face like shining teardrops.


    Her Kanj?ga collar picked up an incoming signal. "This is Seconda. Quarta, do you hear me? What is going on? Are you safe?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    Nion had lost the touch with reality, her mind was far away from her physical body, so Se¨¤nn''s message was unheard.


    Shorty, Se¨¤nn arrived in the place where Nion was located. The rain dampened her face making her look even prettier than usual, rainwater was flowing down over her coat reflecting the moonlight.


    Se¨¤nn slapped Nion cheeks with both hands so she wakes up.


    "What are you doing? Hurry, we must go." Said Se¨¤nn.


    Nion got back to her senses, yet she was not really pleased to see such a high ranked unit coming all the way here. Nion knew that if "Seconda" herself being summoned to the scene meant that the situation turned really bad.


    Seann grabbed Nion''s hand, ready to accelerate towards the precipice. The second she pulled Nion''s hand, she realized that her companion was not able to keep up with her pace as one of her knees had already sunk into the mud. Luckily, Se¨¤nn caught her just in time before Nion''s body hit the muddy ground.


    Se¨¤nn carefully put Nion on the ground so she could stand up by herself.


    "Are you injured? Can you walk?" She asked.


    "I am... fine..." Replied Nion as she painfully exhaled.


    "Let''s hurry then, we should not be here." Said Se¨¤nn.


    Mentally and physically exhausted, Nion was doing her best to stand up on her own, but clear signs of fatigue were becoming more and more obvious. Se¨¤nn tried to help her stand up and offered her hand as a support, but Nion rejected it with a rough hand movement.


    The more Nion forced herself to get up the more she was getting tired. She almost looked like a little toddler who tried to accomplish some trivial task but failed to do so. Se¨¤nn offered her hand once again but Nion slapped her hand away.


    "I am FINE! Just leave me alone!" Shouted Nion.


    Irritated because every time she tried to stand up, her legs could not resist the bodyweight so she kept collapsing on the ground. Tired of doing the same action over and over again, tears of frustration began seeping down her cheeks.


    "Damn it! Damn it all!" Nion desperately hit the mud with her fist.


    The mud spat over her face that irritated her even more, so let herself go and fell on her knees just in front of Se¨¤nn who kept her hand available during the whole scene. Furious and ashamed of her own behavior, Nion hid her face from Se¨¤nn to avoid eye contact.


    "Leave me alone!" She said.


    "I am simply trying to help" Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "I told you, I don''t need your help! Just go, do whatever." Replied Nion.


    Se¨¤nn took a deep breath and crouched in front of Nion so they will be on the same level.


    "Look, I just arrived here. I ignore the reasons why you left your assignment at the precipice, nor what kind of events has put you in that state, but I cannot leave you like this" Calmly explained Se¨¤nn.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Huh?! What state?! Do ''YOU'' even know what you are talking about?! Oh! Are you talking about ''that''?! Well, damn right! I have never felt so miserable and useless in my whole life! Moreover, you are the last person I want to hear any lectures from!" Exploded Nion.


    Se¨¤nn remained silent.


    "Screw that ''Utopia''...My brother has created the saddest country on the planet! She complained. "Do you want to share your thoughts about something that you don''t know?! Do you even remember how it feels when your heart bleeds from inside because you have to kill innocent people in order to preserve the peace of our country?! NO!! Have you ever questioned your sanity?! NO!! Are you conscious about it? I bet you aren''t! You know why? Because you can''t feel a damn thing...All of you are nothing more than just a vessel obeying to that piece of junk and my brother, that''s all you can do!" Nion has entered a hysteric state.


    Se¨¤nn kept listening in silence.


    "As I thought...Nothing to say huh...? Nion started to calm down. "I do ask myself about my future and my past. I do question myself on what is right and what is wrong. That''s what makes me different from all of you. I am being a human, or at least I pretend to be... How about you remove that collar of yours for a week or so, and you see what "Lands of Aleksithimia" really is? You will see... How empty we are inside..." She exhaled her last words and looked down at her hands."


    Se¨¤nn stood up and looked at the moon while Nion continued talking.


    "Pathetic... Am I not... I am not sure what I despise the most right now. Being in such a piece of shit or letting you see myself in such a miserable state; You, the person I admire the most in the world..." Said Nion.


    After a minute of silence between both of them, Se¨¤nn spoke up.


    "Looks like you have been through some hard times." Said Se¨¤nn.


    Nion has raised her head and gazed at the limitless sky.


    Nion has raised her head and gazed to the limitless sky


    "Yeah...We can say that. You know, I think...I will quit being a Keeper... Actually, I want to leave our country." Said Nion.


    "Why is that?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "I just...Can''t, do this anymore." Replied Nion. "I have enough of pretending that everything is fine when it is not."


    A moment of silence fell, and the moonlight enlightened Nion''s face. Due to the brightness, Nion had to move her eyes away and accidentally looked straight into Se¨¤nn''s eyes. The luminous streak of reflected moonlight was absorbed by Nion''s eyes shining like an "Amethyst" gemstone.


    "You are a very brave and courageous woman. If you decided to do something, I believe that you spent a sufficient amount of time constructing and developing that decision of yours. Whatever the nature of your conclusion, I shall respect and support it..." Said Se¨¤nn.


    Nion said nothing in return, just kept looking at the sky.


    "I would like to know... Why did you join the Keepers in the first place? What are your convictions? Don''t you have something to protect or fight for?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "Convictions...I have none. To be honest I don''t even know when did it all start. I was assigned here and there under the device of protecting this country, as simple as it sounds. But...What is the point of trying to protect the whole country... When I cannot protect one single person...?" She asked.


    "Once, someone who is very important to me has told me ''Enduring deepening pain is how you ascend''. Perhaps, it is a bit too early to renounce and leave everything behind, don''t you think?" Replied Se¨¤nn.


    Se¨¤nn noticed the blinking light of Nion''s Kanj?ga device sinking in the mud and picked it up.


    "Sometimes... I wish I could get my old self back. These times when I could enjoy being loved and appreciated, being able to share these emotions with someone special to me. Since I''ve become part of the Keepers, I''ve indeed killed the countless amount of men and women. You are right about everything, I don''t feel pain nor pity for them. I just do it, because it has to be done and that if I won''t, someone else will do it in my place. Every morning when I wake up I spend a dozen of minutes looking at my own reflection in the mirror, asking myself if today it will be my final one." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "I am sorry about before...I didn''t mean to insult you." Apologized Nion.


    "You know. Every time I see you being able to freely express yourselves, there is a little part of me that envy you so much." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "But!" Nion tried to interrupt, but Se¨¤nn continued.


    "I guess the prosper has never told you about... Look." She pointed at her Kanj?ga collar. "Mine is directly connected to my brain, so unlike you, I cannot remove it at will. Deep inside, I still have the remains of the human consciousness that gives me a bitter taste of the emotional complexity of the situation that you are dealing with right now. But in the end, I am satisfied enough with my decision." Explained Se¨¤nn


    "I am truly sorry for acting like a selfish brat..." Apologized Nion.


    "Everything I''ve learned about my life so far, I''ve learned it with the beatings and losses I''ve gotten from all of the bad choices I made. That is ''my'' essence of life." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "What is ''my'' essence of life then?" Asked Nion.


    "Only you can find the answer to that question and for that, you have to live, learning from your lessons, as all of us do." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    The rain got significantly lighter, from downpour it was decreased to mere drizzling. Smoke coming from the village became less intense.


    "What is going on out there." Se¨¤nn pointer towards the burning village.


    "I am sorry! I can''t go back just yet... I ''must'' return to that village! There is someone who needs my help." Said Nion.


    Se¨¤nn offered her hand to Nion so she could stand up.


    "If you think that there is still something to be done back there, then so be it. As your superior, I allow you to go to the village of Elpida for an urgent mission." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "Thank you so much!! You have no idea how much it means to me" said Nion.


    "Be careful." Se¨¤nn warned her.


    Within seconds, Nion rushed back to the Speranta village at a speed of a cannonball, the speed of her movements, without her "Kanj?ga" limiter that she left with Se¨¤nn, was far beyond human capacities. She reached the City Hall within a couple of minutes, the same distance she was running for more than 10 minutes with her "Kanj?ga" on.


    As she approached the village, it was immediately evident that something was different. The night air, though cool and fresh, was filled with wood ashes coming from burning houses. The unpainted wooden buildings were stained with grey shades. The village lied under a blanket of silence and the only light seemed to come from the still burning houses. Weeds socialized across the muddy ground of every road, gathering and laughing at Nion as they tried to weave around the catching fingers with every step.


    Deserted streets, tumbled-down stores, shutters hanging by once hinged bangs eerily in the gusty wind, wet and tumbleweed, the dark ominous cloud, dirt road that will turn to a river of mud in the coming monsoon, the town saloon with peeling paint sign, half-drunk whiskey shots, a silent grandfather clock, thick dust on the counter, broken stools from a last bar brawl. The whole village had less charm than a graveyard. Just to stand amid the burning constructions was enough to make her feel like a ghost, an unwanted specter of humans that was lost wandering around the land of the lost. That empty loneliness was beautiful and melancholic, haunting in its desertion. Far ahead the bonfire looked like a monument; A monument of pure destruction.


    The group of masked men was gone; The village was absolutely lifeless, extinguished of all forms of presence. Beyond the sound of rain drizzling down on the ground, the screams were sewn into the air. Night had resolved to settle around the bonfire in the center of the village, burying the bodies of the dead in an ethereal ceremony. As despair reached deep inside her, Nion felt the last vestige of her energy-draining, willing to embrace emptiness and isolation.


    The fatigue got control of her body once again. Barely any voice left, her facial expression became blank, indifferent towards anything and everything. Alone in the deserted village, eyes fixed on the tower of smoke coming from the bonfire; She slowly advanced forward by dragging her feet and painfully tripping on every object that was lying on the ground.


    Dozen minutes later. Far in the distance, there was a wooden cross, stuck into the ground. A raw piece of skin was grossly attached to it as if it was a piece of thick paper. Something was carved on it, as Nion approached she understood that is was a message carved on human skin as grotesque as it may look.


    The blood sipping down from the cuts had already crystallized because of the bonfire heat that made the message barely readable. The message was the following.


    "Look up my little mouse, I knew you would come back. Just so you know. I choked him first..."


    The rain had finally stopped. The absolute silence had fallen on the village; The only sound that was animating that empty field was crackling wood and the whistling wind. A gust of dry wind was blowing through the maze of old houses where windows had long shattered in the weakness of their structures and rotting boards, some broken, others hanging o try to cover the empty eyes of every abandoned home. Doors hung on the few threads of their hinges and groaned with pain and loneliness at every sway, almost screaming to Nion to "Not look up" as something terrible would happen...


    In Nion''s current world, "Hope" had no meaning. Four prospers had given shared wisdom of choice between two fates: either hope and agitation or hopelessness and calm. They say that hope knows no fear. Hope dares to blossom even inside the abysmal abyss. Hope can make us stronger and overcome the impossible...However, nobody has ever mentioned how easily someone''s hope can be crushed into pieces; How easy it is to destroy a human being from inside...


    Time stopped the moment when Nion begins raising her head. Her heart was pounding harder and harder, dry tears started pouring from her eyes, slowly running down her cheeks, it felt like an eternal moment. The more she was looking at the bonfire full of burned bodies the less she could contain her pain and hysteria that was on the verge of exploding. All these things she witnessed in the last two days had greatly affected people''s lives, conscious of these deeds, her burden was getting heavier and heavier. Moonlight was enlightening a human silhouette on the very top of the bonfire...


    A boy, around five-years-old, his whole body engulfed in flames. Most of the skin had burned off, leaving dark red marks. Since the body had been attached on the very top, the bottom part was caught on fire first, which would be a slow and merciless death as the brain would incinerate in the very end, so the victim would have had to wait dozens of minutes, praying for a quicker death.


    The face of the boy was mostly intact...There was no doubt that it was Asta, Pipola''s youngest son, the child that Nion was looking for all this time...

 Order Made

    Hope is a fluttering of life,


    Noisy, demanding, urgent,


    Refusing to give up,


    But broken all the same.


    Hope is a young man,


    Nurturing, loving, tender,


    Caring, healing and helping,


    Sharing his warmth.


    Hope is a baby bird,


    An infant fallen from its home,


    Abandoned and left to die


    Cold, forgotten and alone.


    In silence hope sleeps,


    Drifting away through time and space,


    The little bird exhales its last breath,


    And is finally at peace.


    [City center of lands of Aleksithimia ¨C Nion''s apartment]


    The autumn breeze coming through slightly opened window tousled Nion''s silver hair and reddened her cheeks. The warmth that had been in the wind just last week had either evaporated into the sky or leached into the earth. A vase full of purple roses was standing on the table right in front of the window. The heavenly fragrance and long green stems of the roses looked as fragile as a ballerina. The gentle wind touched the beautiful petals curling at the edge dancing in the breathless air of September, performing an intimate act of splendor and elegance.


    The gentle wind touched the beautiful petals curling at the edge dancing in the breathless air of September, performing an intimate act of splendor and elegance


    Nion slowly opened her eyes and tried to identify where she is. After a couple of seconds of rubbing her eyes, the blurriness started gradually going away, making her vision a bit clear. The familiar ceiling and the comfortable smell of her apartment put her at ease. She was lying on her bed without any memories of how she got back to the capital or what happened after she arrived at the precipice Clogwyn after being summoned for an emergency mission.


    While stretching her arms, the movement somehow felt odd, the numbness and tingling in her arms run all the way to her shoulder. She realized that both of her arms were fully covered with white medical bandages. Surprised and curious, Nion decided to remove one of them so she could look at it.


    After struggling for a couple of minutes due to not being able to bend her arms, she finally located the metal clip under her wrists and carefully removed it with the help of her mouth. The medical bandage had thick layers rolled around her arm; Last layers were particularly painful to remove as they were glued to her skin, it was almost impossible to remove it without ripping her skin away. Regardless of the pain, Nion continued removing the bandages.


    Finally, she regained full control of her hand, and as soon as she started moving it, warm blood gushed out of the exposed wounds. She pressed snugly against her opened wounds with the pile of the used bandage to stop the free-flowing surge of sticky blood. There laid an expressionless young lady who sits on a pool of mild cerise substance that was slowly making its way between her fingers, dipping down like raindrops dripping from tree branch after the spring rain.


    ''Pat''...''pat''...''pat.'' Red scarlet tears were dipping down until they come in contact with the soft texture of white cotton fiber surface producing a deaf sound of water dripping on a piece of paper. With each impact, a small pear-shaped portion was exploding in hundreds of droplets rebounding then being absorbed by the snow-white blanket that was covering Nion''s chest. Her hands started shaking, her vision becoming blurry once more. Each drop of blood she was looking at was giving her distant and unclear flashbacks of what happened during her last mission. Repulsed, she moved her head away from the blood and started looking at the white wall that was facing her.


    She felt that there was something odd with its color, caught in the perfectly flat white shade of the wall. A headache surged into her head, eyes fixated in front of her, she tried to recover and reconstruct the incident that happened the night before. Absorbed by neutral colors, her vision was getting narrow as if the wall itself became the arrays of light pushing away the obscurity.


    The dark mass was slowly consuming the space around the remained arrays of light. The light and dark showcase were reflecting the echoes of the conversations she had with Se¨¤nn in the forest, these echoes were vibrating in her head, getting closer, then further away. Then, there was fire; An outrageous heat of anger went through her body and started swallowing her sanity. Nion''s whole body started shaking with the excitement and will to commit a brutal act of violence against someone who inflicted a profound pain and regret; That very someone who is being despised enough that Nion would gladly offer a slow and painful death in a most horrid way she could imagine.


    Her face began to twist like a serial killer''s smile of amusement just before dissecting his victim''s body. Her eyes, filled with the craze, were flickering as a pair of lightened matches waiting to set everything on fire. Thrilled, she began unconsciously squeezing her unbandaged arm, the feeling of pain was making her electrified while her imagination was going insane. Shattered memories of pure hate were raging inside, her body began overheating, she was about to faint.


    The dark mass had completely consumed the light on the wall. The puddle of blood from her injury had tainted the blanket. Her blood started getting through and quickly spread itself everywhere underneath. Both colors merged on the wall transformed itself into a pile of vivid ashes.


    Because of blood loss, Nion started losing her energy and gradually falling into the realm of emptiness far away from reality. Lucid colors around her started growing dim, the wall had entirely changed color to the authentic mixture of silver-grey and pure black. Within seconds these colors began to slowly disappear until the wall regained its original flat white color. In reality, the shadows and light were simply sun rays that were projected through the transparent window while the sun was slowly moving behind the buildings of the capital... The rest was Nion''s hallucination.


    The whole thickness of Nion''s arm skin, epidermis, and derma were destroyed, the affected skin had turned light brown. There was no doubt that these injuries were due to an extended exposure of skin to fire. A slight movement of her arm was enough to begin an intense pain and continuous blood flow that was painting everything around her into a tanned red. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation, Nion managed to stop the blood loss with the used bandage.


    Completely exhausted, without any strength left to stand up and wash all the blood away in the bathroom, she kept lying on the bed covered with her blood. Her body felt extremely heavy as if she had not rested at all, a painful headache, muscular pain and sore dry eyes were keeping her away from being able to stand up. She managed to find enough strength to move her pillow away and pulled her body up so she could sit on the bed waiting until the pain goes away.


    The last rays of the late afternoon sun fell slanting through. It was a bright and sunny day, such a tremendous contrast. Peace and serenity filled her room as the sun slowly moved around the city projecting heat and warming up the whole apartment. Far away, from the sadness and sorrow that Nion has recently been through, calmness and tranquility were streaming through the huge glass window. Her eyes caught the unfamiliar vase full of roses. A delicate shade of purple and the gold colors coming from the sun''s reflections started filling Nion''s heart with calmness.


    The whole apartment had a very minimalistic design; She owned little furniture because of her irregular schedules as "Border Guardian". Due to the nature of her permanent mission and critical assignments that could potentially require intervention within the shortest delay possible, Nion, as well as other guardians, had their main residence at the assigned border. The only time when guardians were allowed to render themselves in the capital was during the "reporting day" that was usually happening twice per month, except for some special cases.


    She heard the sound of steps approaching her front door, the steps stopped in front of Nion''s apartment.


    "The patient has third-degree burns." Said an unknown female voice.


    "I apologize, but I am not sure about the gravity of the situation, would you mind elaborating on the meaning of the "Third Degree Burns?" Asked Se¨¤nn.


    "Of course madam. Third-degree burn means a severe burn characterized by destruction of the skin through the depth of the dermis, or you can call it the skin, possibly into underlying tissues. It usually happens when people get trapped within a burning house for a certain amount of time until the rescue arrives. As it is right now, I would highly recommend the patient to rest and limit her movements to the bare minimum. If you do not mind me asking, are you one of the patient''s family members?" Explained nurse.


    "I am a close friend. The real family member will arrive here any minute." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "Yesterday''s operation has been successful; Most of the burned skin has been removed and replaced with skin grafts. Both hands were splinted until the skin was cured. Special creams were applied to her wounds to speed up the recovery of the burned skin tissues. Please make sure that the patient does not touch the wounds, also does not change the bandages without medical assistance, which could delay the skin cure and most importantly infect the open wounds. The reparation of the arm skin tissues will take around two to three weeks." Said nurse.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Understood! Thank you for your great work." Se¨¤nn thanked her.


    "You are welcome after all this is why I am here."


    Another group of footsteps approached the front door, this time more than two people were arriving .fa


    "Pleasure to see you here, prosper." She welcomed the prosper.


    "My greetings prosper Aleksithimia, it is an honor to meet you in person." Nurse welcome Aleksithimia who was accompanied by his bodyguards.


    "Ladies, good afternoon! Thank you for your hard work." He shook everyone''s hands. "Seconda, how is she do..." Aleksithimia has abruptly stopped his conversation with the nurse and approached Se¨¤nn looking at her face as if he saw something suspicious about it. "What happened to your face?" He discreetly asked Se¨¤nn.


    "Please, do not worry about it, that was an accident..." She discreetly replied while hiding her face.


    "This is the first time I see a scar on your face." He said while observing the scar that was hidden behind the hair. "Hmmm...Does it has something to do with our discussion the other day?" He asked her as his hand went for touching the scar with his fingers.


    "No." Se¨¤nn grabbed his finger with her hand and slowly removed it away from her face.


    "I see...Looks like you had some hard time dealing with whoever did that to you." Said Aleksithimia.


    "Yes...We could put it that way." She replied.


    "Very well...How does she feel, is she awake?" Aleksithimia spoke to the nurse.


    The nurse explained the Nion''s condition.


    "Now that you are here, I shall get going. Please, tell her that she has to contact me when she wakes up." Said Se¨¤nn to Aleksithimia.


    "Why don''t you tell me the message directly?" He asked.


    "With my due respect, I would like to keep that private." She politely declined.


    "Very well... I shall see you later then." Said Aleksithimia.


    "Goodbye." Said Nion.


    The front door opened and Nion heard footsteps getting closer. Aleksithimia entered the room and saw Nion sitting on the bed full of blood.


    "Hi..." She made a forced smile.


    After she pronounced her last word, her body began slowly falling over the edge of the bed as if she was a sandbag thrown off the flooded boat. Her eyes were being sucked into a desolation. Nion heard Aleksithimia''s distant voice as he rushed to catch her numb body. All her senses disappeared at once, she plunged into the never-ending void that consumes everything and replaces it with a paralyzing emptiness. Nothing to subside her hollow soul, away from the human realm, echoing coming from beyond was like the constant hiss of unclear sounds. The place where she found herself was freezing cold, the howling wind of loneliness and fear were reigning around her. She was completely alone in this mysterious and obscure universe.


    No matter how much she tried to scream for help to Aleksithimia, no voice would come out ... She could feel neither pain nor the warmth of the sun she felt earlier back in her room. She was surrounded by an uncountable number of overlapping voices screaming, shouting, crying and yelling at each other. A feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu and nausea started quivering within her head, the same feeling she had back in the forest when she removed the "Kanj?ga suppressor" for the first time, then it happened again just a dozen of minutes ago on the wall. The volume of the voices drastically increased as a huge shock went through her body, it almost sounded like a white noise of random unrelated memories that occurred somewhere some time ago and were for some reason stuck in her head.


    The volume of the voices drastically increased as a huge shock went through her body, it almost sounded like a white noise of random unrelated memories that occurred somewhere some time ago and were for some reason stuck in her head


    Muscles cramped and unable to move, Nion was sitting in total darkness, out of fear she covered her ears like a nervous toddler trying to escape that unbearable pandemonium. Eyes closed, she tried to focus on anything else other than the voices that surrounded her. She needed a source of insurance that she is still alive, she just needed to cheer herself up and wait until this nightmare will be finally over. The warm feeling inside her heart kept her from freezing and losing consciousness.


    Despite her best efforts, her heartbeat was slowing down, each heartbeat was producing electroshock that was going through her body and felt like a rebounding ball that is being smashed against the ground, each bounce, spending a long time in the air and taking higher altitude. At once, Nion''s body became weightless detached from gravity like a dandelion petal that is floating in thin air. The chilled emptiness started growing warmer; The darkness lay silent, an uplifting feeling of being pulled from the bottom of the oblivion back to surface.


    Eventually, a glimpse of light appeared in front of her, it was shining so strong that Nion could barely open her eyes and look at it. An imminent burst of light enveloped her body while she flew like a projectile into the limitless sky. Her aches, headache, and muscle pain had vanished. Confused and unable to recall if her soul has perished, she just felt extremely relaxed. Her body was perfectly healthy, full of contentment. She cast her eyes around herself trying to identify the source of that warm luminescence. The familiar smell of a bakery went through her nose, making her smile of nostalgia.


    There was no sky, no horizon, everything as it is, was just an infinity of white gold, the empty desert of endless love and tenderness. Distant children''s voices, playing and laughing together as if she found herself during a class in kindergarten, full of innocence and gaiety. It sounded like there was an educational class ongoing; Adorable kids were screaming words altogether, one at a time.


    "Happy!!! Wonderful!!! Cheerful!! Pleasant!! Excited!!!" Shouted some distant children''s voices.


    And so they continued. A mysterious serenity, but at the same time a familiar sentiment filled up Nion''s heart with happiness and joy. Perhaps, this is what heaven felt like...


    It felt warmer and warmer as her body was raised in the air. An unexplainable feeling of divine protection as if she was a baby inside her mother''s belly, enveloped with love and care. Children''s voices slowly disappeared. Floating in the air she was comfortable enough to let everything go and just stay in that place for eternity. Her body started gently slowing down; A tender female voice appeared inside her head, each phrase was getting clearer as if that person was approaching her.


    "M. d.ar ch..d... I love y.u so m..h... I alway. .ill..." Chanted a tender female voice.


    "Who are you? Am I no longer alive? Is this heaven?" Nion asked the voice.


    Confused why she could not see anyone around her, she felt somehow relieved that there is someone who could communicate with her, and more importantly that she was not alone anymore. While she was waiting for the answer, a strong uprising wind chilled her spine. Alarmed by her instincts that something is not right, she began slowly turning her head trying to look over her shoulder. A heavy breathing male voice started whispering behind her back while Nion''s body started moderately losing altitude.


    "L.ft O.t... Crimson blo.....In E..ror... Et..nity...Exc...ded...Y.u Negle..ed...Lon..ome...At Fa.lt...Revenge..." Hysterically whispered a strange male voice.


    "Who are you?! What do you want from me?!" Confused she asked.


    The whispering voice was ignoring Nion''s attempts to communicate, but at the same time was getting more aggressive, the warmth that surrounded her minutes ago started to feel freezing, her body started speeding up during the fall. The hysterical voice was getting clear; It was not whispering anymore, but yelling and shouting of like a hysterical father who is going through a burnout:


    "To Blame! Guilty! You Incapable! Isolated! You Afraid! Frustrated! Helpless! You Alone!!!" Another male voice was hysterical shouting somewhere in the distance.


    A bitter taste filled Nion''s mouth, continuously falling was making her extremely nervous. The number of voices had multiplied streaming from that pit of emptiness, there were so many of them repeating the same words that they began to overlap each other. Scared, Nion started helplessly struggling in the air, trying to free herself while screaming for help.


    "Please! I don''t want to go back there!" She begged as she stretched her arm towards the light that was getting further away.


    "You Sacrificed Mother! Ritual Hell! Emptiness! Jealousy!! Freedom!! Madness! Hurt, You Apart!! Unforgiven!! Weak!! You Isolated!!" Thousands of voices angrily screamed while overlapping each other.


    Nion''s body was falling like heavy rock to the bottom of the ocean; It was impossible to stop or do whatsoever to prevent the imminent impact with the ground. The warmth was entirely gone, the last ray of light flickered in front of her, frozen in time, she heard that tender voice crying.


    "I am so sorry..." Cried an unknown female voice.


    "Sorry for what?! I don''t understand..." Nion asked.


    "Nothing of this is your fault, my child..." Said another yet somehow familiar female voice.


    "MOTHER...? IS THAT YOU?!" Nion was shouting at the emptiness.


    "DESPERATE! FORSAKEN! YOU DESTROYED! YOU ABANDONED!" Unknow voices screamed so loud that they were crushing Nion''s mind like a glass plate that is being smashed by a hammer over and over.


    "I will always be ...with you!" Said the female voice.


    The last rays of light completely disappeared.


    "PLEASE! PLEASE! DON''T LET ME GO!" Said Nion hoping that her words will reach that tender female voice of whoever it is.


    "PLEASE! PLEASE! DON''T LET ME GO!" Said Nion hoping that her words will reach that tender female voice of whoever it is


    Nion''s hope faded away with the disappearance of the warmth and light. Crystal tears started pouring out from her eyes, leaving a small shining trace on the gradually greyed out background.


    "Why is this happening...? What is going on..." Nion spoke to the disappearing ray of light as she flew down to the unknown.


    Suddenly everything went red and black, Nion plunged into the ocean of thick blood that started filing her mouth and refraining her from breathing. Seizures took over her body as she began suffocating. She was unable to comprehend if she was breathing air, her lungs were slowly filling up with a crisp, cold and thick mass as if there was just less space in them for air.


    Overlapping voices sounded like a whole arena was shouting, shouting like a group of stray dogs.


    "DESPERATE!! VULNERABLE!! YOU PARALYZED!! WORTHLESS!! POWERLESS!! USELESS!! YOU UNFORGIVABLE!! SISGOIEHOENO!! HIHEBDWOWNBOODHJNDOIDJPJDPOIDH..." Said thousands of overlapping voices, their sound reflected like the white noise in her head.


    As her eyesight went blurry, her desperate arms flailed for something to hold on to, to save herself from this horrible fate. She grew tired and exhausted of struggling in vain, she also noticed that overlapping voices vanished away, or, perhaps, she just could not hear them anymore.


    A glacial liquid surrounded her in a cold embrace and a rush of fear went shooting through her heart. Nion was slowly sinking to the abyss of the unknown, eyes closed, waiting for the final moments of desolation to happen...

 Reborn for a Wish

    "I beg you...Please spare the lives of my children, they''re all I have...I beg you..." Cried a familiar female voice.


    Nion opened her eyes and realized that she was back to that scene at Elpida''s borders when she executed Pipola, the mother of Asta and Alexis.


    "I am so sorry for what I did to you...All of you. I cannot find the words of how guilty and ashamed I feel for destroying your lives..." Nion lamented.


    Unable to move or to interact, an immersive wave of unknown emotions were filling up Nion''s heart. Immediately she realized that her heart and mind has been connected with Pipola''s. Nion was caught prisoner of her nightmare, forced to relive the horrors that she made go through to Pipola as if she was in her skin.


    The mother of two could barely breathe, fatigue engraved on her worn face. Her sorrow grew more profound each second, she was begging the emotionless silhouette of a young silver hair death goddess to spare their lives.


    "I am the foolish one, I am the one who brought them here! I am the one who has disrespected the great land of Aleksithimia''s order!" Cried Pipola.


    For her, every day was a challenge, she was doing her best to offer everything she could to her children, from the moment she woke up until her body could do no more. Alone, without any other support, she spent her life watching over her little treasures from being hurt or taken away.


    Pipola was at the edge of what her body could take, the pain has been redirected directly to Nion as she could feel all the bruises and wounds that Pipola had all over her freezing body that was barely covered with ripped clothes. Her eyes became glacier blue under the sheen of the dying sun. Pipola was fully aware of what was about to happen, she refused to pass out and leave her children to the mercy of the non-existent justice. The despair of being caught and having no strength to fight flowed through her veins and deadened her mind.


    "Please, spare their lives! I know your law is absolute!" Said Pipola as she tried her best to calm her voice and intonation.


    Both Alexis and Asta were glued to their mother, despite the difference in their age, they understood that something horrible was about to happen. Their mother''s long blond tangled hair was blowing in their faces, obscuring the death goddess.


    Outcast and frightened, they had nowhere to call home, all three knew that this is as far as it goes for them in this universe full of lies, injustice, and despair.


    The bloody moon hung above the evergreen forest behind them as their cries stained the autumn wind passing by. The cradle started to hover over the ground with the sun shining its brightest light, deciding the family''s dreadful fate.


    "I am ready to accept death for the unforgivable actions I''ve committed! I disrespected the great prosper rules and soiled your lands." Said the mother of two.


    The wind crackled as Nion''s shadow and the mother were looking at each other without a blinking an eye. Unstoppable tears of accepting one''s death were endlessly flowing from Nion''s eyes as she was forced to relive the scene that she wished never existed. Agonized she struggled as if there was no gravity around her, just a floating object that could not look away or even close her eye, she was strained to watch the scene until it reaches its climax, consumed by the desire to wind back time and slow it down so she could change every regretful action she has made. Nevertheless, how far would she need to rewind...?


    "Please, leave my children alive. I beg you to spare them, that''s all I ask..." Begged Pipola.


    "So be it..." Said the death goddess as she raised her arm read to conclude this pitiful sight.


    The shadow slightly moved the wrist that triggered the solidification of the blade, its tiny metallic wires began merging among themselves into a solid form. The solidification process looked as beautiful as terrifying for its victims.


    Pipola turned towards her children and put her arms around them bring them closer to her chest. Salty tears mingled with the dry wind whipping their mother''s hair around. Forsaken by everyone, alone, scared and devastated. Her heartfelt butchered when she realized that she is spending the last moments of her life letting her beloved babies continuing without her.


    "Alexis sweety, from now on...You should take care of your brother... Asta, my love...Be sure to listen to your brother! Try to eat and sleep well..." Cried Pipola as she hugged her boys, while all three of them crying altogether.


    "I will pray to the Gods and Heavens...I will pray the devil himself if it means to protect you! Because I... cannot protect you anymore..." Cried Pipola barely able to express herself.


    "Don''t leave us! Please! Don''t leave us!" Both Alexis and Asta begged her to stay.


    After so many years of hiding and running after a better life, the only motivation that kept the mother willing to wake up and live another day was about to vanish. For the first time, Nion understood what was driving her to find Asta so badly. She finally realized that the feeling that was pushing her to the limit was something that is called "mother''s love".


    Motherly love is the kind of love that would move heaven and earth for a child. It is the kind of love that would take on anyone, any place, any time if they threaten the wellbeing of the children. And it is the kind of love that says "I would give my life for my children any time, at any place..."


    No pain Nion has ever experienced before was as intense as the one she felt while going through the emotions received from the mother.


    Nion''s shadow started growing its darkness, enveloping everything around, only a little space where Pipola was kneeling stayed intact. Various shades of black, white and grey were overlapping each other that looked like the pandemonium of wild emotions that were trying to express themselves in the astral world.


    "You''ve done nothing wrong...The world we live in is wrong..." Pipola pronounced her last words.


    Everything turned black, distant screams slowly faded away as Nion''s spirit was leaving the physical body while both hearts got disconnected.


    Shocked, dizzy of the heavy emotional charge she had to go through, she was returned into the obscurity of the void.


    Her feet touched the solid ground as soon as it did, the burning feeling enveloped Nion''s arm, then another, the bright fire enlightened the darkness. Nion''s jacket was surrounded in orange flames. Although she could feel the heat, it was painless.


    Next time she blinked her eyes Nion found herself being engulfed in flames as she walked out from the bonfire while carrying the crisped body of the perished child. Once again, her body and mind were trapped within the unresponsive body that was moving on its own.


    Behind the flames, a thin female silhouette has jumped into the flames and tried to pull Nion out of it. Victim of delirium Nion thought that the masked man with the yellow crest has come back to take the child away from her; In less than a second, she unshelled her weapon and delivered a devastating blow to the stranger who happened to be Se¨¤nn who tried to help.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The attack was so devastating that Se¨¤nn flew out of the fire like a bullet and landed on her back in the watery mud. Luckily for her, she could protect her face with the metal plates that are implanted directly inside her ''Keeper'' outfit so it could absorb most of the impact, which saved her skull from being split in two.


    Drunk in hate, Nion had fallen into an unstoppable hysteria of emotions of hatred that took over her body. Unable to recognize or hear Se¨¤nn''s voice, she became an unchained beast who could not tell who friend or foe anymore.


    "That is"¡ªcough, cough¡ª "Not good." Pronounced Se¨¤nn as she tried to stand up.


    Nion carefully put the deceased body on the ground as she fixated her enemy and then whispered.


    "It will be over soon."


    "Operator, request an immediate connection with the HQ, Quarta is going berserk." Ordered Se¨¤nn.


    Nion stepped away from the body and then walked towards the wooden cross where the masked man left his message craved on the human skin.


    "Everything... Everything... Everything..." Mumbled Nion.


    "Mitera Server is currently offline. Please ensure the stable connection to the server." Replied operator.


    "Out of these times when I actually need it..." She desperately said to herself. "Got to deal with her on my own then." Said Se¨¤nn.


    "If only...You never existed...!" Nion hysterically mumbled then grabbed the wooden cross with her hand and ripped it off the ground. "Ah! I got it... I just have to kill you..." Nion looked at Seann with a twisted smile.


    Se¨¤nn knew that things will turn ugly very fast if she doesn''t calm the situation down as soon as possible.


    "Nion I came here to help you, please listen to me." Se¨¤nn called Nion.


    "Who cares now...You are going to die either way." Mumbled Nion as she ripped off the 3 meters long wooden cross from the ground.


    "I am not your enemy." Se¨¤nn called Nion.


    "Hey...What do you feel when you kill people...?" Asked Nion as she put the cross over her shoulder.


    "Let''s just calm down here all right? Put that thing down, I have no intention to fight you." Advised Se¨¤nn. "Operator, scan for a ''Non-Lethal Takedown'' option."


    "Reattach the ''Kanj?ga'' to its wielder to stabilize the emotional pressure." Advised the operator.


    "Back then you said that you will enjoy seeing me suffer, huh..." Said Nion.


    "Nion, you are making a mistake. I am not your enemy." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "TRY ME!!" Nion launched the wooden cross aiming Se¨¤nn''s head.


    The projectile flew like a missile and exploded into the burned house. Se¨¤nn barely managed to evade it but right after her evasive move, Nion closed the distance gap and appeared just in front of her face.


    "Argh!" Said Se¨¤nn surprisingly.


    As soon as Nion got close enough to her opponent she unleashed a devastating middle kick that connected with Se¨¤nn''s chest -the sound of broken bones- and sent her flying into another burning house that began collapsed just after the impact.


    "My word can''t reach her." ¡ªcough, cough¡ª "I have to find a way to get closer to her." Said Se¨¤nn as she was removing the debris away.


    "YOU AFRAID OF YOUR DEATH?!" Shouted Nion. "BECAUSE YOU SHOULD! I WILL MAKE IT LONG AND PAINFUL!" Shouted Nion as she walked into the house ruins.


    The house ruins were still smoking after the masked man people set it on fire. Nothing had escaped it, glass littered the floor where the windows had broken and the metal base of the grand chandelier lay backend and twisted on the ground surrounded by the debris.


    "COME ON! YOU WANTED TO SEE ME SUFFER DIDN''T YOU? Shouted Nion.


    While Se¨¤nn was removing the debris trying to get up, Nion has spotted her. As soon as she did, Nion jumped on the top of Se¨¤nn and started stomping her with her legs then grabbed a wooden table leg that led nearby and used it to stab Se¨¤nn''s shoulder with it. Se¨¤nn screamed from the pain.


    "HEY! TELL ME HOW DOES IT FEELS?!" Yelled Nion.


    Trapped, Se¨¤nn tried to push her aggressor away so she could stand up but Nion grabbed Se¨¤nn by her leg and threw her outside the house.


    "There is no other way..." Said Se¨¤nn as she pulled off the broken table leg.


    "Enough of chit chat!" Said Nion as she stepped out from the destroyed house. "I will put the end to your miserable existence."


    "Listen to me just second." Begged Se¨¤nn. "You are about to make a big mistake."


    "SHUT UP!!" Shouted Nion as she removed her jacket and unsheltered her weapon.


    "If my words can''t reach you, then..." Se¨¤nn clenched her fists.


    With unreadable faces, no fear in their eyes, both were facing each other ready for the attack that could be lethal for one of them. Nion was slowly advancing forward on the sand and dirt that was heavily stained with the blood of the former village residents.


    "DIE!!!"


    Nion charged directly onto Se¨¤nn, Se¨¤nn sidestepped as she backed up. Missed. Nion speeded up toward the exposed opponent. Se¨¤nn countered with her arm but Nion pushed it aside. Se¨¤nn was genuinely superior and experienced in combat and had excellent close combat but because of the recent injuries, she was gravely disadvantaged in both strength and her speed.


    Nion moved like an enraged beast mindlessly waving her weapon. Se¨¤nn could anticipate that the next move Nion will try to thrust her chest, so she pushed Nion''s shoulder and with the help of her leg, kicked away Nion''s sword. Nion accelerated her movements as if she waited to get closer to Se¨¤nn who underestimated her opponent. Nion used that chance and delivered a dry punch in the liver of her opponent. Se¨¤nn spouted blood. A sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Se¨¤nn''s body. Her stomach ached, her only available arm lost tension and her legs began to weaken. While Se¨¤nn bent over because of internal pain, Nion grabbed her neck and started giving knee kicks in the same spot then grabbed Se¨¤nn''s throat and dropped her on the ground so strong that the ground slightly cracked underneath.


    "BECAUSE OF YOU, EVERYONE ARE DEAD!!" Yelled Nion.


    She got on top of Se¨¤nn who was barely breathing and began choking her with both of her hands.


    "Stop it..."


    "BRING THEM BACK!!" Cried Nion as she tightened her arms around Se¨¤nne''s neck.


    Se¨¤nn used her legs to block Nion''s movements and took the opportunity when both of Nion''s hands were busy and sealed the Kanj?ga around Nion''s neck.


    Back to her senses, she immediately removed her arms from Se¨¤nn''s neck. The twisted and malevolent expression went off and changed into confusion as Nion blinked her long eyelashes as she looked at her bloody hands then her mouth got wide open. Silence fell into the area. The deathmatch has reached its climax. All her strength gone, Nion collapsed on Se¨¤nn.


    "That was a close one..." Se¨¤nn exhaled with relief. "Finally, I can rest."


    Sorrow tears dripped from Nion''s eyes right onto Se¨¤nn''s face.


    "I..." Nion was about to cry. "I am sorry...so, so, so sorry..."


    Silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground.


    "I am sorry, I could not be any help to you. If I''d noticed it earlier, you would not have to deal with all this on your own." Said Se¨¤nn as she gently patted Nion''s head.


    "I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry..." Nion kept apologizing.


    "It is all over now." Se¨¤nn touched Nion''s flushed skin.


    "I am sorry. All I do... Is hurting people... I am so sorry!" Nion kept crying.


    "You are wrong, you are one of the bravest people I''ve ever met and you also have a big heart." Replied Se¨¤nn.


    "I am a murderer...I too killed many innocent people...I am no different from them!" Cried Nion.


    "You are different, unfortunately too different for me to understand your feelings and what you''ve been through. You were trying to make the right decision all alone, without any support." Explained Se¨¤nn. "At your age, I was nowhere near as strong and brave as you proved yourself to be. Me, I never cared about anyone else than myself... Not even once."


    "Look around...That is the outcome of my decisions..." Replied Nion. "I could not protect anyone...Because of my stupid decisions, they are all gone forever..."


    "You know, making mistakes is part of being human, regardless of our emotional status, age or culture. I do have lots of regrets in my past, some parts I wish never existed, but it did happen. After years of me trying to reject my own existence, I''ve realized that I have to forgive myself... To forgive my mistakes and to move-on because if I don''t forgive myself, who will?" Explained Se¨¤nn.


    "But...I could have..." Mumbled Nion.


    "Nobody can change or predict the future, and this is exactly why if you have regrets, make sure that you don''t do the same mistake ever again." Explained Se¨¤nn. "Whatever happened here is terrible, it is really is. I am barely aware of what happened in this village, but you should not take all the burden on your own, let me help you, share it with me. Even if it is a tiny thing, I would do my best to help you because you are not alone, not anymore..." Pronounced Se¨¤nn''s voice as it got further and further away.


    The flashback abruptly ended on these warm words coming from Se¨¤nn.


    Nion was back to the void cold emptiness. For the first time since she got to this dark and empty place, she felt a warmth, thousands of people began appearing everywhere around her like small candles that were lit. People from a young age to adult ages were scattered everywhere around her. All of them were looking at Nion as if they were waiting for something, as she was the source of light that has been lost forever in the middle of never-ending darkness. The warm-hearted feeling enveloped her body. All unpleasant and aggressive noises that were haunting her mind were gone; She could freely move her body...


    The darkness shattered like broken glass, one piece at a time was leaving space for a bright array of light that was illuminating the void from outside. Everything around Nion became enlightened and she began falling asleep, exhausted of a tiresome journey she spent in that mysterious place.


    She lied on the warm ground and was about to close her eyes, fading away but this time back to reality. She heard steps coming near her and there was a young child''s voice that spoke to her.


    "We are part of you. All of us." Said the child.


    "Creator, watch us... Keeper, embrace us..." Voices chanted to Nion as she was falling asleep.

 A Friend

    [City center of lands of Aleksithimia ¨C Nion''s apartment, the evening of the next day].


    Nion woke up from a long sleep. Slowly and reluctantly, she uncovered her face. Streaks of sunlight that penetrated the glass window before had disappeared. Her eyelids opened to the empty unlit room. No daylight, no gentler breeze that was present earlier, just a cold wind whispering, calling Nion to wake up. Next to her bed, the pointless alarm clock, glowing red, 7:02 pm. she was unable to tell for how long she was sleeping but it felt like the mysterious dream lasted an eternity.


    Confused about its nature and more importantly the meaning behind those last words she heard in her sleep.


    "These dreams, they''ve been...They''ve been so vivid." Nion ran her hands through her hair and realized that half of it is now gone. "What is going on with me..."


    "Creator watch us...Keeper embrace us?" She frowned. "What did he mean by that. Who were these people in the first place...?" She sigh. "I don''t understand the meaning of all this." She shook her head.


    She sat up facing the entrance door, dragged her feet off the bed, and rubbed her knuckles into her eyes while her legs were dangling slightly above the floor.


    "It feels like I am missing something important...But what?" Nion talked to herself as she was stretching her arms, ready to get up.


    Despite the confusion around her latest dreams or rather a vision, she felt surprisingly relaxed, awake, perhaps more awake than she had ever been.


    "How come it is midnight already?" She yawned. "Urgh, I am so dull...Maybe I should just stay in my bed, just reading some stuff and doing nothing... It''s been a while..."


    The soft breeze coming from the slightly opened window and sweeping inside the silent room made her turn around her head where she was facing her own reflections on the large window glass.


    "Look at you Nion!" She slapped herself on the cheeks. "Get your act together! You got no time to chill out!" She jumps up from the bed and going to get ready to go out.


    "Good evening." Said a pleasant female voice.


    "Ah, Mitera...Good evening." Nion replied.


    "How are you feeling today, I''ve noticed that you''ve slept longer than usual." Asked Mitera.


    Nion deeply exhaled. "I was not feeling well..." Said Nion.


    "You''ve slept almost 24 hours, perhaps, it will be better if I inform a doctor regarding that matter?" Asked Mitera System.


    "Oh no! Doctors are the least people I want to talk to right now."


    "As you wish. Also, I must inform you regarding your Social credit."


    "What about that?"


    "It appears that since you returned from your latest assignment it dropped lower than the authorized level." Warned her Mitera.


    "Argh! Below the average...?! Damn, that''s annoying!" She facepalmed. "Well... After everything that happened recently, I should have seen it coming."


    "Shall I book a "Rehab Capsule Session" to raise your score?" Asked Mitera.


    "Yeah do so...With my social credits below the average, I can''t even take public transport, right?" Asked Nion.


    "Yes, correct. No public transport and all of your ''Keeper'' privileges are locked until you clear out the negative score." Replied Mitera.


    "Tsk, as if I was a criminal or something..."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "Rules are rules." Replied Mitera.


    "Why Aleksithimia had to create such a nuisance, we don''t need these damn social credit crap in the first place; Seriously, he really doesn''t trust the human race..." Nion said annoyingly as she dressed up.


    "Social credit has an important task to maintain the stability and trustworthiness of our citizens. These credits serve on the purpose of the personal history record and are additionally the ''Emotional Suppressor''..." Explained Mitera.


    "Blah, blah, I''ve heard that like a million times. You should lose points of repeating ''that'' every time my score drops."


    "I am sorry, I am simply trying to encourage our citizens to flaunt good credit scores, it is a benefit for everyone to have a healthy community."


    "For junk sake, I got it! Send me the ''Capsule'' coordinates, I am going to go there now" Said Nion as she was closing the door behind herself.


    "I appreciate your cooperation."


    Across the traffic lights, taxi lines with infinite ques of white umbrellas; Customers were patiently waiting for their turn. People, in a hurry on their way home, we''re stuck in the traffic as it always happens when it rains in the capital. All vehicle transport was completely automated and managed exclusively by "Mitera System Public Transport Services". This traffic system had been implemented to reduce chemical waste. Only electric vehicles were allowed to enter the capital premises.


    "I would like to inform you that you''ve received two voice messages." Said Mitera.


    "Let me guess...One is from my brother?" Asked Nion as she stopped in front of the red light facing a busy street.


    "Correct." Replied Mitera.


    "And the other one?"


    "It is from ''Seconda Keeper''."


    "Se¨¤nn..." Nion murmur. "Start from my brothers'' message," Nion Ordered Mitera.


    "To all Keepers units. Due to the recent complications at Elpida''s boarder, Quarta''s duties are currently being suspended." Said Aleksithimia''s voice.


    "What, did he just do that?!" Nion stopped walking in the middle of the street, jamming the traffic.


    "A unit from the ''Third Wave'', has been recently assigned as the new generation Keeper, code name ''Sesto'' will take over the Eastern border as its first assignment." Said Aleksithimia''s voice.


    "Third Wave? So, I am being replaced by an android, huh...Perfect!! Long-life to you and your junk!" Angry, Nion moved forward, aggressively shoving people away from her path.


    In the Grey City or how the citizen called the capital, during the evening it looked like vehicles were floating over the ground, soundless, slowly advancing with the traffic flow to their destination. Along the wet flickering asphalt street, small groups of people were gathered in front of big publicity screens that were disposed of all around the city that were usually presenting flash news. Multiple augmented reality holograms that were visible only with Kanj?ga collar were disposed everywhere on the streets. Each hologram was promoting its own products, starting from the brand-new body augmentations and its upgrades, cosmetics, food, online retail stores and many more.


    "May I." Asked Mitera.


    "WHAT?!" Angrily whispered Nion.


    "Shall I play the second voice message?"


    "Do whatever!"


    "Understood." Replied the gentle female voice of Mitera.


    "Good evening Nion, it is Seconda speaking. If you are listening to this message, I hope you are doing better. I am running out of time, so here is the main purpose of my call. When we were in Elpida you mentioned that the brother of the deceased child was in the city hospital, do you remember?"


    "HOW COULD I FORGET!!" Nion put her hands over her mouth.


    "Worry not. When I''ve learned from Aleksithimia that you hit your head and were unconscious I took the initiative to locate that child, I hope you don''t mind."


    "Please, please, please, give me good news!" Nion was impatient to hear the what was coming next.


    "The good news is that I could find the child. Brown hair, approximatively 7-9 years old, brown eyes and pale skin. I''ve spoken to the doctors, they said that you went to visit him yesterday evening, so I am confident that''s the right one."


    Relieved, Nion deeply exhaled as her hands became shaking of joy.


    "So, yeah, he is with me. Waiting until you arrive." Explained Se¨¤nn.


    "Se¨¤nn, you are the sweetest person I''ve ever met...I owe you!" Smiled Nion as suddenly her attitude got much brighter than just minutes ago.


    "Okay, now the bad news is that due to the cerebral shock he lost some parts of his memories." She made a short break before she continued her sentence. "It is none of my business but maybe you would share what happened between you and him, them?" Said Se¨¤nn over the voice message.


    The loud noise of children screaming and playing on the background.


    "Good evening Mister Janviers, I am yours in a minute," Se¨¤nn spoke to someone. "So, yes, he is under my care. He asked me about his mother and his brother, I said that someone who may know their whereabouts is on her way to meet him. So well, he is waiting for you."


    "Se¨¤nn, you are the best!" Nion smiled.


    "When you will feel better, please head to N¨¦mless, it is a small village located around 11 hours away from the capital. I am sending you the coordinates, in the case you''ve never been to N¨¦mless, be sure to hide your Kanj?ga and try to wear something casual, do not bring your ''Keeper'' outfit. The population around here is mostly rebels and propaganda activists from the "Metro". All of them are very nice, but I assure you, it is for the best to avoid raising their attention." She explained.


    "N¨¦mless huh...Never been there." Nion said full of inspiration. "I guess there won''t be the best moment to travel a little bit, after all, I am suspended unit with ''clouded'' credit. Still, how I am going to explain everything to him..." She sighed.