Broken - Stories From Gaia - R.P. Lauer

(The following is a story set in the world of Gaia, from my upcoming novel, The Scars Of Gaia. The main character is unique to this story, but some background characters are either in or mentioned in that novel. This story is just a small slice of what will be found within that world upon its release in 2021.



Alex held Melina; Melina's head resting in her lap, a hand to her face. She closed her eyes and with all of her might, she tried to push extra life into her friend, knowing that the attempt would be futile. Though she could encourage many things within another, life simply wasn't one of them.

"It is ok, my friend," Melina said through a weak voice. "I am not afraid, not anymore. So you should not be either. This is, after all, a natural part of life."

"But you are all I have left... What am I supposed to do? How can I go on without you?"

"You will live... you will survive... That is what you do. That is what you have always done. There must be others out there somewhere... people who will not fear us, who will not hate us. Find them and then truly live; live, and find happiness. Do that for me. Do that for all of the fallen."

Tears began to flow down Alex's face through her closed eyes.

"Please," Melina pleaded, "look at me. Promise me that you will honor me with my one, last request."

Alex opened her watering eyes - black elongated oval pupils, with striking emerald green irises, on pale green sclera - and stared into her friend's. A smile stretched across Melina's face as she said, "It is extraordinary; you are so truly special, you know. It never ceases to amaze me how you never change; how you look just as you did when we met, all those years ago. I feel in my heart that you must have some greater and essential role in this world... for this world. You must find out what that is and fulfill your true purpose."

Her breathing became slower as she struggled to maintain consciousness, never taking her eyes off of her friend. "Perhaps this has all been but a dream, and it is simply time for me to wake up..."

Her smile then became rigid as her eyes began to change; what was once an equally striking green - and full of life - now began to gloss. Her oval pupils grew wider, until eventually all that was once green and bright became black and foggy.

Alex wailed out in agony, holding tight to the shell of her last friend in this world.



She was kneeling at the foot of a dirt mound far from the ruins of her home; the grave of her friend. It was surrounded by dozens - possibly hundreds - of other mounds in varying states of settlement. She was weak beyond all measure, after dragging the body and digging the grave by herself. She worked for most of the day without a single break, pushing through her thirst, hunger, and exhaustion. The truth was that she had hoped to work herself to death, as she could not handle the thought of going on alone.

"I am sorry, Melina, but I do not believe that I can honor your last request. And to be honest, I feel that it was most unfair of you to put that on me. We all tried - many times, over many years - to leave this place and find a new home. How am I supposed to succeed on my own where we all failed together so many times before?

"I am afraid that I have lost my faith, my hope."

Alex stood up and looked around at the sea of graves, looking from one to another, remembering each and every one of her friends and comrades. She thought at first to the early days of her adopted nation; the people who took her in and showed her such compassion. The memory of the years of friendship and happiness filled her heart with such warmth and love that it overwhelmed her. Then that warmth turned to sorrow and anger, as visions of the invasion flooded in.

That was almost fifty years ago; or had it been longer? Did it even matter? The memories were too painful for her to willingly re-live, so she struggled to pull herself together to the best of her abilities. With one final look around, she said, "I am sorry my friends, but I must disappoint you all. I am simply not strong enough on my own to do anything more." With tears falling she turned around and headed back towards her broken home.



A blurry figure stood at the undamaged gates to a pristine nation, raising his voice to a sea of unblinking eyes. As he spoke, his words faded in and out as if speaking through a stampede of silently charging beasts.

"My leaders have sent me to announce that we would like to seek a truce with your people! Though war tore us all apart, it is time to rebuild this world!"

'No,' her voice cried from the shadows. 'Do not trust him!' But no one could hear her.

"Your people started that war; your people tore this world apart," a voice called out from the sea of eyes.

"It is true that we have done wrong in the past, but we have amended our ways," the figure replied. "We now seek only peaceful coexistence with our neighbors!"

'Lies!'

A pair of eyes distorted and sprouted a mouth. "Tell your leaders to send a delegation..."

'-invasion-'

"... to negotiate peace..."

'-slaughter-'

... one week from this day."

'-our end.'

The figure smiled wickedly, then grew taller and taller, laughing hysterically while towering over the city walls.

'No! Do not...'

"... allow this!" Alex screamed as she bolted upright from her spot in a far off chamber of the ruins, sweat dripping from her face. Her eyes darted all around her surroundings until finally, she realized that she was safe; at least as safe as one could be when all alone. As her heart began to slow back to normal, she rose from the ground and prepared for another day in isolation.



Alex was once again kneeling beside the grave of her most recently departed friend, pain and anguish burned into her face. "I have been having those dreams again. But they are now worse than ever before." She looked to the freshly disturbed dirt, tears gliding down her cheeks.

"Not only are they more frequent, but they are also more shrouded than ever. If only I had pressed Sofia for more information, asked her further questions. Even if only to describe the people involved, so that I would no longer be mocked by these nameless, faceless images in my head.

"And Frank, Horus, Joan..." She looked from grave to grave, pleading to those who could no longer respond. "All of you. I miss you, so much. I wish I had made sure to spend more time with each of you while we had that chance.

"I want to be able to see you all again, but not like this; these dreams are going to turn me completely mad."

She picked herself up from off the ground, and after one final look around, she went back to the ruins of her former life.



Weeks - maybe even months - had passed, and Alex had gone from living in the ruins of her home, to sleeping out in the forests, to hiding and living inside the caves that had once saved her life. She was conflicted in every way about what to do next. So while she waited for a path to be set, she did what she could to survive.

Ultimately she wanted to escape; life was not worth living alone. But she was scared. Every time she and the others had tried to flee, they were spotted and chased by soldiers of some kind, or attacked by some vicious beasts. And as frightening as those times were, at least she had others to lean on for support.

And then there was the guilt; guilt from which she seemed to have no reprieve. For the first few weeks following the death of Melina, she would visit the graveyard every day. But whenever she did, her heart ached; not just over the loss of her friend, but also because she knew that her friend would be disappointed in her for not even trying to save herself.

But how could she leave? All of her memories were surrounding this place, and her only friends in life were laid to rest here; leaving this place would also mean leaving them. That was a thought she simply could not bear, even if they had already left her.

There was also something else that gnawed at her every single second of every single day; she felt guilty for simply remaining alive. It was irrational, and there was at least a small piece of her mind that knew that it was irrational, but she still felt it nonetheless. She was alive, all of her friends were not, and for that, she felt an uncontrollable pain in her heart. And as bad as that pain was at any given moment, it was at its absolute worst whenever she was among the graves.

So eventually she stopped visiting them all together, which also made her feel terrible. It would seem that no matter what she decided to do, guilt was going to be her new eternal companion.



A group of men and women sat around a table as Alex watched from above. Some were solid and she immediately recognized who they were. Yet others more closely resembled condensed masses of fog that had assembled into the form of a person.

"Is this truly a good idea?" Sofia asked her colleagues, her emerald green eyes staring with a burning intensity. "How can we trust the people who experimented on us? The very people who destroyed everything?"

"That is just rumor and speculation," said one of the shapes of fog. "For all we know, the others were the ones responsible."

"Or both," Sofia countered.

"More conjecture!"

"What do we have to lose?" another mass of fog asked. "If we only allow a small group in, we can handle them! But if peace can be obtained, it is worth that small risk."

The room filled with the rumble of voices all talking at once, increasing in volume until there was nothing but a roar of endless thunder. She screamed as the noise overwhelmed her. Then the room flashed and the blurry figure from before appeared out of nowhere. He looked to where Alex was watching from above, his arm became a sword and he slashed at her.

'No!'

The room flashed again. The solid and recognizable were gone, and the shapes of fog all lay on the ground, dead. There were more blurry figures all throughout the room. Fire engulfed the scene but the figures just stood in place and laughed.



Alex had moved back into the ruins of her former home; she was used to moving around as no single location felt right to her. It had been too many years to count since the last time any kind of intruder had been seen, so she felt free to go about her life as she pleased. She was getting ready to start a fire so that she could prepare her lunch when she heard movement somewhere outside.

Sounds of movement were not unusual out in the wilderness, of which these ruins now qualify, but this was different. Something more than an animal or beast seemed to be roaming around nearby. Immediately she froze and listened intently; a tool in one hand, and kindling in the other. For several long moments, as fear built up inside, she heard nothing more. Thinking she must have imagined it, she was about to get back to what she was doing, when a man's voice rang out.

"Do you really think we're going to find anything out here?" the voice questioned. "This place has already been looted many times over the past several decades."

"There's more treasure out here," a second voice said, "I'm sure of it! I've seen the inventory sheets myself; there's no way they got everything. No nation is that poor!"

Alex's heart started to hammer so hard within her chest that she was sure if she didn't simply have a heart attack, the thumping itself would give her away. Panic gripped her, but she knew she had to keep her cool. As gently as she could, she set down the tool and kindling, then slowly got up from where she had been kneeling. She was in the kitchen, and the voices seemed to be coming from somewhere just beyond the entrance hall; this meant that only a pantry and the main dining room stood between her and them. This also meant that she didn't have many options; due to the space between her and the unknown men, she could only access the kitchen, pantry, and maybe the dining room; depending on who got there first.

Maybe I should just reveal myself, she thought. They will surely kill me on the spot. Then I will no longer be forced to live with these burdens... But what if they do not kill me? What if they decide to capture me, take me somewhere, to people that will perform those tests? Or force me to use my powers in ways that pervert the will of God? For as far back as I can remember, I have heard the rumors...

With the stories of an older era in her head, Alex realized that even the sweet relief of death wasn't worth the risk of imprisonment. So now her only choices were between attempting to run or trying to hide. As quietly as she could, she crept through the kitchen to the pantry. From there, she opened the door to the dining room just a crack.

Peering out she couldn't see any signs of life, so she waited. Finally, after several long moments, she heard more talking.

"Dirk, what are you doing?" the second voice asked.

"I'm checking out the dining areas."

"Why?"

"I want to see what the dishes are like. That kind of stuff can fetch a good price if they're fancy enough!"

"No, no! We gotta look for the vault! There's no mention of it on any of the inventory sheets! That means that the previous raids missed it! Therefore all of that treasure will be ours!"

"How do you even know that there will be a vault? These people weren't very bright you know."

"Every nation has a vault, that's simple fact!"

"You go look for your vault then. I want to see the dinnerware."

Still peering out of the crack in the door, Alex saw the first man, Dirk, step into the dining room and look around. If he was really interested in the dishes, the pantry would surely be his next destination. Quickly she moved her head away from the door, then slowly began creeping back to the kitchen. As soon as she stepped in, she looked around desperately trying to find a place to hide.

Unfortunately, there weren't that many options; the room consisted of a fire pit in the center, with a ventilation shaft above it. If she had more time, she could try escaping through that, but with the man so close she doubted she could be quick enough. Not only that, but the attempt itself would be sure to cause too much noise.

Then there was an oven. However, not only did that not go anywhere, but it was also too small for any person older than a child to fit. Other than that, the room featured various shelves, counters, and a few smaller cupboards, none of which offered any real help.

Just to the side of the kitchen door there stood a series of closets, all standing in a line. It wasn't a great option, but it looked to be her only one. She hurried over as silently as she could and opened each in turn, hoping one would offer something the others did not.

Sadly, nothing stood out immediately as being anything truly helpful. Primarily they held various cooking tools, dishes, and some chef related apparel. Then, one instrument did stand out as a potential weapon. One of the closets held a very solid looking peel; a large shovel-like tool used for placing and removing food from an oven.

With no time to spare, Alex grabbed the peel, made sure all of the doors were closed - but not fully shut - and then went into the middle closet. Like the other doors, she closed hers just enough so that it was not fully shut. This way, she could still see a small amount through the crack that had been left. Now all she could do was hold her breath, wait, and hope for a miracle.

As she stood there in silence, she heard the sounds of muffled footsteps, the squeaking of rusted hinges, and even more squeaking. Then there were sounds of disappointed muttering, and finally, a series of loud crashes, breaking ceramic and Dirk's voice screaming, "Damnit!"

Next, the kitchen door slammed open with a loud bang as more footsteps sounded Dirk's entrance. Alex peered anxiously through the crack, her peel at the ready. As she stood watching, she saw a blurred figure pass the closets all together; his attention seemed entirely focused somewhere else.

This was just the break she needed. She realized quickly that were she to simply continue hiding, this man would most likely find her in time. Therefore she needed to take action. Pulling from deep within herself, she built up the strength and courage to carefully open the door. As it swung out, she hoped and prayed that the hinges would remain silent.

Sure enough, the door did not make a sound, and Alex opened it just enough to safely make her exit. With his back to her, Dirk appeared to be searching through the cupboards along the back wall. He kept tossing various objects behind himself while muttering; Alex could only make out the occasional word like 'junk', 'impoverished' or 'appalling'.

She was now out in the open, not too far behind him. Holding tightly to the peel, she inched towards him bit by bit, doing everything in her power to keep calm. She focused in on the man and was almost within striking distance when she faltered; her foot slipped slightly on a towel that had been carelessly left on the ground.

Turning around, Dirk said, "I thought you didn't care about..."

CLANK!

The sound of slamming steel followed by the crashing of utensils and dishes pierced through the air. Alex stopped dead in her tracks as the noise ripped through the ruins; she could hear the echo traveling farther and farther, and she knew that this man's partner would surely hear it.

However, after remaining motionless for several moments, nothing more could be heard. At this realization, she turned her attention to the unconscious man before her who was now laying upon a pile of rubble. He was wearing a uniform much like the ones worn by those who slaughtered her friends, and he was armed by a sword at his side.

She thought for a moment about what to do next; should she try hiding again? Eventually, the other man is going to go looking for his partner, which would eventually bring him here. Seeing what became of Dirk, the man would surely go looking for whomever or whatever caused this to happen. Should she run? If the other man is even close to the entrance hall, her only means of escape, he would surely capture or kill her.

She could always stand ready and strike the unwitting man as he eventually searched for his comrade. But what if Dirk wakes before that?

No, she thought. My only chance is to run. I must get out of here and hide. She started to move towards the door when she had another idea. But do I have enough time for that? The other man might not be far enough away.

She looked to Dirk, then looked back to the door. This will add unneeded risk, but it is worth a try, she thought. She walked over to him, crouched beside his body, and put her hand on his cheek. She then closed her eyes and concentrated.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes, removed her hand, and looked upon him. Maybe now you can be a better person. Maybe you can learn to see beyond power and the superficial. But I will hope to never know, as I hope to never see you again; no offense, dear Gaian.

Alex took one last look at the man, then turned to the door and quickly headed towards freedom - still holding the peel - though continuing to be as careful as she could to stay quiet. Soon she was in the pantry, and flat against the wall next to the door, she moved to look into the dining room. Seeing and hearing nothing, she continued through the door, past the tables where her people once ate, and to the opening of the entrance hall.

She took a quick glance to the left, then to the right. When she was as sure as possible that the coast was clear, she made a dash to the world outside. From there she didn't stop running - as fast as she could - until she was deep within the caves that would once again provide her safety and a bare minimum amount of comfort.



The main gates burst open as a flood of soldiers charged through, donned in an all too familiar uniform. At the same time, more soldiers - the 'peace' delegation - joined the fray from deeper within the main castle. Alex watched in horror as her friends were impaled, sliced, bound, knocked out, or otherwise disposed of. Panic began to sink in as she took in the carnage surrounding her, framed by billows of smoke coming in from all around.

After several moments of frozen fear, she finally snapped herself out of her stupor. Her countrymen were doing their best to defend their home, but clubs, batons, and staffs were no match for these invaders. Escape was their only chance for survival.

"Everyone, run!" Alex screamed.

As best as she could, she raced from person to person, doing whatever she could to convince them to abandon their home. She checked body after body, looking for any sign of life. Those that could move on their own were told to save themselves, though most attempted to help those who couldn't. Then, she felt a hand grab her shoulder, and she turned around to see a friend.

"Sofia! We need to get out of here!"

"Yes, I know! Come on! Follow me!"

Sofia led the way through a series of hallways and connecting rooms, up flights of stairs, and finally out of a window onto a ledge. A group of a dozen or more lept one by one from the ledge of a watchtower to the north-western wall, then fell to the ground outside of the borders. Without wasting any time, they ran north into the forest. After several minutes of running, they slowed and turned to look back. What they saw was terrifying.

Their nation was in flame and their people were running in every direction away from the destruction. Groups of soldiers made chase, and they could see one after another of their fellows fall to the ground. There was another group of citizens just slightly south of where they stood; quietly, Sofia grabbed their attention.

As the two groups of people merged, they all ran further north, stopping only to help those who struggled to keep up. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the opening to a cave. They all began looking to one another, questioning whether or not this was a good idea without saying a word. With no other viable options, the crowd headed inside.

Deeper and deeper they traveled, hoping to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the outside world. Then, sounds of movement ahead stopped everyone dead in their tracks.

"What do we do?" Alex whispered.

"I do not know," Sophia responded.

"Who is that?" a whispered voice called out from further within.

"Horus?" Sophia asked.

"Yes!" Horus cried out.

Alex followed as Sophia led on, and as they passed several turns in the pathway, a chamber opened up and dozens of others - Gaians and Mediators, young and old - were huddled together, frightened looks upon their faces.

'Welcome to your new home...'



Several weeks had passed before Alex was willing to even attempt leaving her shelter. In her mind, the best-case scenario would find the man called Dirk thinking he was simply hit by a falling pot or pan. The worst-case scenario would be that he actually saw her before he was knocked unconscious. If that is what happened, those soldiers would know that there is a Mediator running loose amongst the ruins, which would be sure to draw unwanted attention. As the cave that kept her safe was several hundred meters away, it would be almost impossible for her to know if there was an army of soldiers out there scouring the area.

She had to do something, however, as she was beginning to go crazy. Emerging from the cave into a deep forest, clinging tightly to her steel peel, she looked all around trying to find any sign of trouble; visual or auditory. Sensing nothing unusual she pressed on, taking an extended route towards the fallen nation.

Eventually, she found herself standing before the ruins of her home; an eerie silence surrounded her in a suffocating manner. As she edged forward, stepping into the entrance hall, every movement she made - no matter how careful - echoed all around her. It took time, but room by room she searched the entirety of the small nation and found nothing but her own fears and anxieties.

Once she was sure that she was in fact alone, she started to seriously reflect upon her life and her situation. She made her way to her old room in the community plaza, surrounding herself in what remained of her old life. I cannot continue living like this, she thought. But I have tried to leave already; we all did. I have yet to find anywhere that is free of soldiers!

And what if the other ones come back? Or if they tell their friends about what happened, and their friends come here? What if right now is simply a brief moment of calm between invasions? For all I know this place was crawling with troops while I was hiding...

Those last thoughts terrified her to her core. With this new motivating factor, she scoured every millimeter of her surroundings, looking for any supplies that would aid her on the journey she knew she must take.

After a few hours of searching, she found herself outside on the edge of the ruins. Unfortunately, she was not able to find much of real use; she did gather more than enough food, primarily various roots and fungi, but she had nothing capable of carrying portable water. The best she could do in that regard was grab a metal cup, hoping to come across a clean river or stream.

She also did not have any real weapons; her people were peaceful and did not believe in armed conflict. Any armaments they had at one time were long since looted. But she was getting pretty good at whacking things with her steel peel - mostly just random objects she arranged as practice - so she figured she would make do with that. Her last major preparation came in the way of a map drawn in the dirt; she did her best to recreate all that she knew of Gaia - the world around her.

Starting with her current location, she knew that there was nothing of interest further north; eventually, you just find an impassable barrier. Somewhere to the east and slightly south is where soldiers belonging to the invaders typically patrolled. The west area held another army, and though they had not been involved in any invasions, they turned out to be just as aggressive; a previous escape attempt saw this army attack and even capture some of her friends.

South was a complete mystery. Several scouts had gone out in that direction, but none had returned; not a single person. Everyone who went looking for a new home understood how important it was to return, should they find anything - to tell those left behind. No one from her nation would have been selfish enough to settle into a new life, and not do everything in their power to come back for the others.

But there was always a chance that forces outside of their control could have kept them from returning, even if they were able to find a new home.

So with the east and west both being blocked by armies, south seemed like the only option.

This is it, Alex thought. It is now or never. I must seek to find something, somewhere that I can call home once again. She used her feet to wipe clean the map she had drawn, then looked towards the graveyard; she wanted to go there and say goodbye, but she could not bring herself to do so.

With a deep breath, she set off traveling south.



Alex traveled for several hours through thick trees and bushes. She rested for about ten minutes every eighty, in hopes of keeping her strength. Eventually, the trees began to thin and she was starting to see something beyond. At first, it looked like nothing more than an open field, but as she got closer and closer, she realized that there was something more out there.

Just before the forest disappeared completely, she stopped to get a good look. Using one of the last trees as cover, she strained as hard as she could to see what lay before her. There was in fact a great, open field, but somewhere out there - maybe five hundred meters - there was another forest. And just before that forest was what looked like a road of some kind. She couldn't tell for sure, but that was what it seemed like from this distance.

She looked to the left as far as she could, and then to the right. From what she could tell, she was alone. With no other options, other than simply retreating back, she pushed forward. Walking carefully, she moved into the field and headed toward this new forest off in the distance. She didn't make it far when she heard something that made her heart stop; from her left came a voice.

"Stop," a man called out, "identify yourself!"

Alex looked in the direction of the voice and saw a soldier looking directly at her.

"It's a Mediator! Grab it!"

And then several footsteps thundered throughout the air, and she saw maybe a dozen soldiers appear from various spots in the tree-line just east of where she stood. She ran back into the forest as fast as she could, fear engulfing her as she moved. She didn't dare look back, but it sounded like the soldiers were in pursuit and gaining fast. Her adrenaline was pumping through her, but she didn't think she could keep this up much longer.

She did her best to zig-zag around the trees, hoping to disorient them, but it seemed futile. Then she heard something that confused her - massive footsteps that sounded like they could only be coming from some large beast. She had to know what it was, so she gave a quick glance behind her, and what she saw took her breath away; about thirty meters behind her a soldier was charging towards her, sitting on top of a runner - a large and fast reptilian creature with a long neck and four long legs.

By the look of it, this charging soldier would be on her in no time, so she did the only thing she could think of; she climbed up the closest tree and tried her hardest to hide. Immediately she knew that this tree would not provide real cover, so she quickly came up with another plan.

As best as she could, she balanced herself on one of the lowest limbs of the tree. Holding the peel as tightly as possible, she crouched and waited. As the beast approached, she took aim; the second the soldier was in sight and close enough, she swung with every bit of strength she could gather.

The soldier flew off of the runner, but at the same time, Alex lost her footing; she fell, dropping the peel in the process. She wasted no time and scrambled to her feet, then chased after the mount. From the moment the soldier was knocked off, the runner had already begun to stop. So Alex used that moment of surprise to catch up, grab the reins and hop on top.

She then motioned for the runner to move and directed it to head west. She got as much distance as she could between her and the soldier, who was now back on his feet and stopped to get a good look at her surroundings. At the moment all she saw were the dozen or so soldiers, and she now had the only runner. She knew that she could easily outrun anyone on foot, so she took her chance.

She motioned for the runner to head south, back to the open field. As soon as she arrived, just a moment later, she looked all around. At first, she could only see the other foot soldiers, and she was about to make a break for the southern forest. But then she noticed that just south-east of her were more soldiers atop runners. Then she also noticed that somewhere south-west of her, other soldiers were roaming around. Right then she realized that she had no choice but to retreat.

In order to try and confuse them, to keep them from making out exactly where she was headed, she went north-west for as long as she felt comfortable. Then she continued farther north. She pushed the runner as hard as she could, hoping to put as much distance as possible between her and the enemy. In no time at all, due to how fast she was now going, she was pretty sure that she was about even with her former home. But instead of heading east towards it, she kept north for a while, then traveled east and finally south.

Soon she found herself once again at the entrance to the cave. With a feeling of complete hopelessness, she dismounted her stolen runner. Holding onto the reins, she walked it inside. Once they were deep enough in, she let go and collapsed to her knees, tears running down her face.



Alex once again waited another week or two before attempting to leave her cave, just in case anyone had connected her to her fallen nation. And over the course of many months, she attempted more escapes using her stolen runner. However, all of them failed, again and again. Finally, she resigned herself to the fact that this would remain her home, and this is where she would eventually die - however long that would take.



Several years had passed - more than she could count - and Alex had made quite a home for herself between the ruins and the cave. Using vines, rocks, and trees, she had created traps and alarms all around her area. She made sure that nothing would be able to move through her space without her knowing.

She also cultivated sporadic patches of land in order to grow various fruits and vegetables, doing her best to make them look at least somewhat natural. Everything she did to make a home for herself was done in a way that would not be obvious that someone lived there.

Occasionally strangers would wander in - either soldiers, mercenaries, or just random explorers - but she was always alerted in time to hide. It also didn't take long for the intruders to realize that there was nothing there of any real value. Eventually, people stopped showing up altogether; in fact, it had been more years than she could count since her last unexpected visitor.

Her runner had died, but she did her best not to dwell on her hardships. In fact, she was quite used to the solitude. There was one thing that did haunt her though; at one point she realized that she could no longer remember what her friends looked like; any of them. That more than anything deeply disturbed her.



After many more years, Alex was finally starting to resign herself to an end, one way or another. At this point in her life, it simply did not matter anymore whether she found a new home, died in the attempt, or found herself captured; even the thought of the tests and torture rumored to befall her kind no longer mattered. What did matter, however, is that something needed to change as she could not go on like this any longer.

So once again - after all this time - she found herself at the start of an unknown journey. She looked around, soaking in her surroundings, trying her hardest to absorb every sight. No matter what, she knew that this would be the last time she ever saw this place again. And that is when she realized that there was one last thing she had to do before she left, regardless of how hard it would be.



Alex was kneeling at the site of her friends' final resting place. A roaring fire nearby burned so hot that it could be felt from several meters away; the intense heat had placed her in a state of deep meditation. A sea of emotion had washed over her the moment she entered the area, when she saw how the years had worn down all of the mounds that once marked each grave. But as she settled into her trance, she could finally see each and every one of her old friends once again. In her head, they were as clear to her as the day they last took breath.

Overwhelmed with a strange mixture of joy, grief, and guilt, she fell to the ground and cried. But in her mind, she saw her friend Melina smiling at her.

My dear friend, how good it is to see you once again. It has been almost a century since I left this world, and the one constant is your sweet, beautiful face. But I must ask, why are you still here?

"Melina, how can you ask me that? You know what I have gone through. You know that I have tried to leave this place, many times."

But have you? Have you really?

"Yes... Of course I have."

You know that you cannot lie to me, my friend. No more than you can lie to yourself.

"I... I do not understand..."

Yes you do. Think about it. Think very hard.

Alex returned to a kneeling position, pondering what the friend inside her head was saying. She thought for several minutes going over everything she could remember from throughout the years. Then she saw visions of the invasion, her friends being slaughtered, captured, or running, never to be seen again. She watched in her head as each of her surviving friends died; killed in escape attempts, dying of malnutrition, disease, old age. Then Melina, dying right in her own arms.

And then it hit her.

"I... I never left this place, did I? I do not mean the castle, but this place right here."

No, you did not.

"I wanted to stay right here, forever. I wanted to crawl into the ground and join you all. This is where I stopped living."

The image of Melina in her head smiled wider. That is correct. Your guilt over being the only survivor kept you from moving on, and your attachment to us kept you from leaving. We were all guilty of that to an extent, and you carried that on within yourself. Furthermore, you feared letting us all down if you failed, but you also felt tremendous guilt over the possibility of actually finding a new life elsewhere; you feared your own happiness should you succeed.

That is quite the little conundrum you created for yourself, my everlasting friend.

For the first time in forever, Alex smiled.

Now that is more like it! That is the friend of mine that I remember. Now, who are you?

Alex gave herself a puzzled look. "What?"

Who are you?

"Alex... I am Alex."

No. Who are you, really?

She thought some more about this new question. But then it dawned on her what her imaginary friend was getting at. "I get it now. My name is not Alex; Alex is what my savior called me, the nickname he gave to me when my real name made him laugh."

That is correct. What else? Why did you adopt that as your own?

"I... I did not wish to seem ungrateful. I wanted him to know just how much I appreciated him for saving my life, for bringing me here."

But you do not owe him anything, my friend. Many lives were saved that day, and many more were lost. That is just how it was around the time of the great war. And what is more, he did not even need you to adopt that name as your own in the first place; he was more than happy to help you. Just as all of our people are happy to help anyone in need.

So I ask you again, who are you?

"I am Alexandra, a child of God, and the last surviving citizen from the nation of peace."

Yes! Good! That is the friend that I remember! Now please, Alexandra, go find your new home! Go and find your true purpose! And leave your burdens here with us; I promise you that we will shoulder them for you.

Tears fell even harder from Alexandra's eyes, but these were tears of joy; thinking about her friend like this warmed her heart in a way she hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Now, promise me, like you did not before, that you will finally honor my last request. And do not do this for me, do this for yourself, do this for the life you deserve to have!

She got to her feet, looked at the ground before her, and said, "Melina, my friend, I promise.

"For you, and for myself... I promise."