UNTITLED: Book One

DAY 137

I’m not running

I’m not losing

Just know I’m scared

“Ohh fuck,” Thema mutters to herself while amongst the other onlookers. The reflection of a defeated Solara showing in her sunglasses lenses.

She’s able to stand up now, using the sword as support. Shit, she curses while trying to come up with a new plan. Where’s Aiye when you actually need him!? Is he really still stuck fighting that Electrum lady?

Her eyes dart around the crowd of onlookers, at all New Wave. It’s just us? It finally dawns on her. That’s it! All of us here! This is exactly what we were made for, to take on a Hero of the Dark State—duh!

“Tozi.” She says.

Tozi turns to her, “Uh, yeah, what’s up?” Her focus still on The Hero who is just staring them all down after dropping Solara on the ground next to her.

“Solara looks bad.”

“Yeah.” Tozi nods, still watching.

“If Solara can’t beat her, I don’t think I can take her in my current state.”

More nodding, “Yeah.”

“You need to fight her.”

Tozi begings to nod yet again, “Yeah…wait WHAT?” Tozi pushes Thema a bit for saying something so crazy.

“Shhh! Chill, chill. Please. Hear me out. I’m going to give you this sword, let you borrow it somehow. I don't know how, but somehow. When it comes to this thing I feel like it’s possible if I will it or whatever.”

“Oooookaaayyy,” Tozi nods her head up and down, then she starts shaking it side to side as she continues, “But still, no? Are you insane? Look at her! She beat Solara! That’s not Sollar! That’s a HERO.”

Thema rushes to put a hand over Tozi’s mouth, “Shhh! I need you to trust me! You can take her! I only need this for a little while. Trust me. I saw you take on this sword and Sollar with just a pulse staff—”

“Tay, I lost. BAD.” She points other missing arm. “And not only that, he wasn’t even right in the headspa—”

“What did it sound like?”

“Huh?”

“The sword. What. Did. It sound like? What’d you feel?”

“What’re- when? What sound?”

“When you fought Sollar!” Thema catches herself and repeats it more quietly, “When you fought Sollar. What did the sword sound like?”

“Uhmm I-…” Tozi’s eyes rapidly moves, scanning the floor as she racks her brain to remember. “I don't know. It sounded…dark.”

Thema listening intently, nods her head to encourage Tozi to continue.

“It sounded dark. Not dead like him, but like something large. Crying. Or a lot of something large. Like-” Tozi shudders and shivers suddenly as her memory grows more detailed.

Thema puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, “And what do you hear when I use it?”

Tozi looks at her with hesitation, clearly holding back.

“It’s okay, you can tell me.”

“Pain still. I hear pain and rage. Most of the time it’s rage. It still screams when you use it.”

“Right!” Thema excitedly responds until she’s humbled by the understanding of Tozi’s words. “…Right… So, that tells me that this thing responds to a person. Who they are, and what drives them. There’s a good chance that Sollar was never a good person to begin with? Considering just how wrong we were about The Warden. And me, you know about me. You, however, you could do this. You, are THE BEST weapons specialist on this fucking planet Tozi. You. Can. Do. This. I just need to go heal in the infirmary for even just a little while. And all of you are going to hold that woman off.”

“I guess... We’re in the middle of a war so not much point in arguing. What do you by ALL of us? You mean-?”

“Yep. All the New Wave here. Y’all are going to hold off The Hero. Just 20 minutes. That’s all I need. 20 minutes. Junaid, think you can do that?”

Junaid gives her a nod with a smile. Then he slaps Tozi’s back hard, in approval. “WE can. Especially with Tozi blade.” He glances at Solara’s body, “Just hurry back, because I feel like 20 minutes is ALL we can give you, Tay.”

Thema nods while looking Junaid sincerely in his eyes. She touches his shoulder before letting go, then she turns to The Broker who once again has been silent as if he’s not there.

Thema now takes mental note of this, realizing that this man might be planning something, yet again. She needs to make use of him, quick. Then get rid of him, quick.

“And you, Tozi and Junaid told me that there’s someone in the infirmary that should be good now. She’s New Wave, like us, so even if she’s not much of a fighter she still strong as fuck. And I know, that she’s our absolute best pilot, so the two of you are going to evacuate every non-New Wave and prep an escape for the rest of us, got it?”

The Broker nods silently in agreement, making sure to maintain sincere eye contact.

“Good” Thema says as she stabs the sword into the ground next to Tozi. “Don’t pick it up until you feel the conviction in your heart, or you can die. Please Tozi.”

“Yeah-yeah. Shoo now. We’ve got this.” Tozi waves Thema off then follows up with pat on her back, nudging her gently in the direction she needs to go.

She’s now standing tall with all her concentration on The Hero, who still hasn’t budged. A bead of sweat falls down Tozi’s forehead and off her eyelid. She’s nervous, but focused. Thema observes this and decides that any more words of encouragement would be an insult now.

“Broker, I’m going to carry you because we are going to move as fast as I possibly can.” Thema says before turning around to pick him up. Then, she sprints off at top speed.

There’s 7 other New Wave there. That’s normally an entire army’s-worth, but these super soldiers weren’t just gifted with insane physical and mental abilities.

Because of the existence of New Wave like Solara, Aiye, and Thema, the “others” also all gained a great sense of battle judgement. Their judgement was telling them that this lady ain’t one to fuck with, but their hearts tell them that they have to. That they’re going to die. And that’s going to have to be all right with them, soon.

It’ll have to be. Because they’re dead either way. Run and get destroyed along with the city, or fight and spare some time, maybe even win—who knows. They heard Thema speaking. Enhanced hearing and all. They know she’s that the ranked fighters have been taking on the brunt of the battles—even Solara and Aiye apparently. So now it’s their chance to show what they can do.

The Hero levitates again. Tozi desperately tries to move while she stares at The Hero rising next to Solara. But fear has got its hold on her. Her leg is shaking. She’s quickly reverting back to her old scared self. I can’t do this. No I can’t do this at all…That fight with Sollar was nothing compared to what this woman is. This is gonna be a slaughter. Solara was defeated easily and I’m nothing like those three. I can’t do this. Why was I acting like I changed? Because of one fight? No! This isn’t who I am. I’m just going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I. Am going. To fucking die. I need to run. I’m sorry Tay—

Junaid suddenly stands in front her, facing her while blocking her view of the Hero. He squeezes her arm in a comforting manner, then smiles at her before looking back at The Hero. “RAAAAAAAA!” He roars at the top of his lungs, banging his chest with one arm and his other fist raised high.

He charges at The Hero while continuing to roar, jumping at her and punching as he lands. She moves slightly out of the way, leaving him to miss and smash the ground near her. The rest of the New Wave charge, silently. Same conviction, but they don’t expect to make it if Solara can’t. Still, they’re willing die trying if it’s these two that are fighting because other than No.2, Tozi and Junaid were the most respected numbered New Wave. Most New Wave would follow these two warriors anywhere.

Tozi watches them all fight desperately. The Hero’s terrifying powers on display, Tozi continues to watch the fight. Still not able to move. Only 20 minutes huh? Just 20 minutes… She looks at the sword. 20 minutes, please…

—

Aiye lands using Silver’s halberd to skid to a halt. Electrum charges him again, slamming down with her power rod once she’s in front of him. Aiye redirects the attack and its shockwave with the middle of the halberd, then he barrages her with a bunch of attacks. All his movements contradicting the last. Impossible to predict.

Hand-to-hand wasn’t working out so she had to get her weapon again. If she weren’t faster and stronger than him, then she would’ve died 5 times now. She’s been using her armors abilities to defend from any critical hits and then releasing her power at him to create and maintain distance. But, he’s clearly starting to figure it out. She’ll need a new tactic. For now she’ll stall.

“I was right to try to kill you. You’re just like your Mother. Both of you, have a skill for murder. And even more frightening than that, both of you are mentally unpredictable. It’s obvious with The Hero, your Mother, but…there’s something off about you. I don't know what it is, but I feel it. You have what she has. She should have never been our Hero!” Electrum shouts as she launches the same shotgun-like attack that initially destroyed the environment on top of the city—using as much power as she can summon, in that brief moment.

Aiye jumps behind the large Narra tree, still standing in perfect condition. Electrum continues her swing. Fool, this attack will go through this tree like it’s air. Right before contact, she notices Aiye’s dark smile. Then she makes contact with the tree and a large explosion occurs.

After a few moments pass, Electrum jumps backwards and out from the blazing fire. She falls to one knee, realizing that she’s cut deep on her side. He must have got her right when she made contact. He was certainly dangerous, she acknowledges, but he should have dodged. I understand now that that tree was unnaturally sturdy, but it’s foolish to assume it could withstand our powers. She looks down at her wound, removing her hand briefly to assess it. This won’t be enough to stop me.

She struggles to stand and instead drops back to her knee. Her eyes black for a split second from her heavy blood loss, but her vision of the burning tree comes. It’s cold on top of this city, I need to stay awake.

Her suit shines as she tries to power up so that she can heal, but it stops halfway. Shit. That fucking woman. She’s using everything we’ve got. What’s she doing?? She’s killed her own brother, and sacrificed all of our people on the ships she’s already drained. Without clearance, or even a warning! They could have evacuated first, like protocol!

She think of Carbon and sadness overcomes her for a minute. You were wrong to trust your sister, to rely on her. You knew she hated Core more than I did. We’re all disposable to her. She’s a danger to our home, what’s left of it. I must kill her after this, when her guard is down. Electrum shakes her head at this thought, then she remembers Silver. I had to use her mirror barrier ability to hide this battle. The Hero would have certainly killed me if she saw me fighting her boy. It is sad, but if I let the barrier down now, she’ll see her son’s body and let her guard down. I will have to use that opportunity take her life. It’s my only chance.

Electrum grimaces from the pain of the deep wound and her heavy blood loss, but also at the pain of thinking of this tactic. As a Mother herself, she understands how much it will hurt. Still, her duty is to Core, to Earth, and to her family most of all. She thinks of her little boy and girl, her little twins. Likely not so little now since she’s been gone. She chuckles but stops abruptly as she watches the tree. Wait. That tree is still standing. I thought I knocked it down? Did I?

Electrum looks up realizing that she’s only just now noticing the towering branches are still there. Now it’s sideways? It merely fell over? Did the boy defend the tree? No, he—I don’t know… What is …this tree? This city? …What is with this colony?

She wishes now they were briefed more on what to expect coming here, but ever since arriving it’s been one surprise after another. Thankfully, the leaders and their scientists prepared them well enough to take what’s thrown at them. But knowing in advance could have saved so many lives, she calmly ponders. Then she shudders as she realizes theres a hole in the shields, slowly repairing itself. That… must be why it is suddenly cold. When… the color was drained from the sky…earlier. The Hero’s… true power… was used.

Now she realizes the tree is still in one piece. Which means that she never broke through it. Which means…The boy still lives! On cue, she sees his silhouette in the dying flames and smoke. He steps out of it, unharmed. Walking towards her with a blank look across his face. She can’t read him at all. Oh, he’s changed again…like his Mother. Like The Dawn Hero did before killing her brother. Another chill shudders up and down her back. It’s numbing, but she won’t let that stop her.

She gets into battle stance… When he comes I will draw him in. I will draw him in and then take another hit, but this time move just enough for it to not be fatal. Then strike! That way- that way… tears stream down her face as she thinks of her boy and girl again, giving up on this fantasy of hers. This delusion. She begins to accept her fate.

She’s blinking rapidly as she loses blood, laying there on her side while Aiye stands over her dying body. He got her when she unknowingly struck the indestructible tree.

The blood pools around Aiye’s feet as he blankly stares at her life fade. She watches him through her peripherals while the sideways perspective of the unharmed tree remains in her line of sight. Her undoing. A tree.

“You’re…*cough* dangerous. Just like your Mother.” She says through the blood trickling from her mouth. “Where are you… *cough* in that head of yours?” She says with her last breath.

Aiye raises the halberd and removes her head from her body. More blood splatters on him. Then suddenly he blinks back to reality as he snaps out of it.

SOL! He completely forgot she was fighting! He frantically surveys the top of the city. Where is she? They disappeared when I first started fighting this lady. He tries to remember any details. Then the sky went all black and white. Agh…Weren’t they across on the other side?? He then spots the new and larger hole in the ground and he takes off towards it.

—

Feeling the sword’s power rushing through her body. It was like being filled with liquid fire. From space. Liquid galactic fire. Regardless. She feels connected. Stronger. She feels its balance, its weight. Its strength. Then she opens her eyes and looks at her empty palm, and feels nothing. She glances at the sword still stuck in the ground. Was that its voice reaching out, or was she genuinely just imagining shit for the sake of her wounded ego and failing confidence? She looks up to see Junaid, bloodied and ragged, breathing heavily as he refuses to quit.

They’re down to just 4 left—6, if you count her and Junaid. The other 3 fought and died valiantly, but it all feels so… in vain. All because of this woman’s power. 12 minutes left.

The 4 others look at one another, then to Junaid who is heaving. He’s scared, but excited Tozi observes. She knows him well, sometimes better than herself. Clearly better than myself, she regrets as she looks at the sword. They all have the look in their eyes and Tozi wishes it were contagious. They prepare to attack again.

One of the New Wave steps up by himself. He’s definitely Tozi’s and Junaid’s same age—from their batch, she recalls. He gets in battle stance, radiating conviction despite the tears streaming down his cheeks. 11 minutes. He charges The Hero by jumping at her, Junaid follows behind. Their new strategy ever since it helped them land a literal scratch on her after the second death. A scratch is the most they’ve accomplished so far.

The Hero catches the New Wave boy’s fist and in return, punches a hole through his stomach. However, he catches and holds on to it before she can pull it out, smiling through his tears while Junaid comes in and starts furiously barraging The Hero with punches. He finally gets a few good hits in this time, his raw strength being the closest to Solara’s, but he’s blown back when a shockwave erupts from the Hero’s arm that is sticking through the New Wave boy. Another one lost, and Junaid taking even more of a beating. Only 3 remaining, other than Tozi and Junaid. 10 minutes left.

The next one steps forward bouncing and shaking the nerves out. She’s one of the younger ones. “Guess that means I’m up.” She mutters to herself, knowing that winning this isn’t about her living.

Her bounces turn into small, side-to-side hops while she continues shaking out the nerves, then she suddenly lunges at The Hero. She uses all her best attacks, but The Dawn Hero blocks them with ease. Junaid, watching this, stands back up and charges again, tanking attacks while this other New Wave girl uses her speed to continue her quick, unrelenting blows on the more vulnerable areas of The Hero. It does nothing, at first, but then… another scratch!

This would be insignificant and demoralizing if it weren’t for the fact that they’re realizing The Herois defending herself more often and they’re able to leave another scratch. They all come to the same conclusion that she must be running out of energy.

The Hero gets annoyed and releases another shockwave from her suit that blows both the girl and Junaid back. The Hero then goes for Junaid first. The girl recovering before him, charges in to protect him. Sacrificing herself she runs right in front of the The Hero’s extended palm as she releases the same bubble shockwave that she got Solara with. It’s much smaller than when she was fighting Solara on top of the city, but she follows up with another one using her other hand and this blows the girl’s body away.

As Junaid jumps to his feet to retaliate, The 11th Hero twirls into a spinning backhand across his chin. He tries to block it last second, but it does little to protect him as his head whips back from the force. 8 minutes.

Tozi reaches for the sword, but she cringes when she’s suddenly filled with another wave of anxiety in her heart. Pulling back her hand, she clenches her fist—cursing herself. Furious at being such a coward in a moment that none of that shit should matter. Not when her people need her. Not when Junaid is in danger of dying, right in front of me!

The Hero immediately follows up her spinning backhand by spinning into a kick to his liver. This forces Junaid to take a knee after he stumbles back a bit. He’s taking too much damage at this point, he’s at his limit. But The Hero doesn’t stop there. Continuing her momentum from her spinning kick to his liver, she follows up with a hand chop aimed at his neck to finish him.

This time, however, the third New Wave who also jumps in between the two to save Junaid, catching The Hero’s arm and throwing her while he’s falling into his landing roll. He continues his rolls into a slide then barely ducks a right hook, from The Hero who zoomed back up to strike him. Instead, her attack that blows away a wall behind him.

She’s increasing power again! Tozi is shocked to see this guy. She can tell that he’s one of the older ones. From the first batch of New Wave. The earlier ones who ended up working on the surface—thought to be complacent. Imagine that. It must’ve been a coincidence, him visiting the city when it was under attack. She assumed these types lost their fighting instinct long ago. But she’s one to talk she chides herself as she remains standing there. STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF. People NEED you right now!

With a lot of hesitation in her movements, she extends her hand out toward the sword. She watches Junaid get beat down after the third New Wave falls after once again sacrificing themself for him. This must be tearing Junaid up inside even more so than her. She NEEDS to do something, NOW. MOVEEEE. MOVE YOU FUCKING COWARD, Tozi berates herself. 7 minutes.

The last New Wave who had hung back to observe this second round, pats Tozi on the back and steps forward. He gives her a quick, encouraging nod before charging in. He attempts to dodge and redirect The Hero’s blows but she’s too fast and strong for him. Each of her attacks now comes with a small shockwave.

She is definitely ramping up her power output. It’s a crushing realization knowing that at least half died before she felt the need to take them seriously.

The Hero is about to deliver a fatal, finishing blow to Junaid whom she’s got by the hair. His body dragging behind him. He’s hardly conscious as he pathetically tries to swat at her. She sees all 7 bodies of the others. She suddenly remembers that there’s an entire war going on outside the city, across the planet, with even more people fighting. MOVE!

The Hero is about to strike Junaid and Tozi’s mind goes blank as she reflexively grabs the sword without hesitation this time. The moment her hand grips it, a piercing screech fills the room and she’s hit with excruciating pain. Her arms feel like the blood inside them is bubbling—boiling even, as her mind is taken…somewhere. Then she sees something and listens for the sound of the sword. This can’t be it, she desperately wonders to herself as she struggles to maintain mental clarity, or even consciousness.

She closes her eyes and listens deeper. She’s suddenly transported back to the somewhere. It’s like space- no, it is space? It’s like she’s floating in the middle of it, at the center of it. She looks at the something she caught a glimpse of earlier. It’s almost formless? After floating above it for what feels like an eternity, she realizes that the something is like a black hole. Like, but not one. It’s- it’s so strange…? Is this what she heard?

It sounds like it’s in pain, calling for help. She doesn’t know what comes over her, but she dives in. She reaches into the something and tries to grab it. Suddenly, she is sent to back her actual body with amazing force, like she is being rejected. Before she leaves the space though, she manages to pull a single strand of the black hole-like entity.

As a result, the screeching stops abruptly and turns into a base-filled hum-like vibration that resonates throughout her body. It’s soothing her mind despite the internal burning pain continuing at the same time.

She blinks back to reality and realizes no time has passed at all when she sees The Hero still at the beginning of her finishing blow on Junaid. Her arm moves reflexively again, shooting up for a downward swing in The Hero’s direction. She knows this isn’t coming from her because the movement is stiff and forced, unlike what she’s practiced all her life. The sword is moving for her, based on her will. Furthermore, with Junaid in the line of fire, she wouldn’t dare attack with a weapon of mass destruction like this one. Tozi starts to panic, terrified that the sword will kill Junaid along with The Hero.

But fortunately for Junaid, The Hero stops mid strike and her head snaps towards Tozi, immediately noticing that something is off about this… Time feels like it slows to a crawl as:

••The Hero drops Junaid, changing her priorities, and zooms toward Tozi.

••Tozi screams as the sword begins slashing down. She tries to stop the sword with all her might.

••The Hero is now right in front of her and about to attack.

••The excruciating pain flares up to a more intense pain—a black line streaks up her arm.

••The Hero tries to attack with color-drain attack, but it’s canceled out.

••The sword swings through it, pulling color back as if the Hero’s attack is being swallowed.

••STOP. PLEASE. Tozi screams internally at the sword, her eyes focused on an incapacitated Junaid directly behind the Hero.

••No shield pops up for Tozi, so Hero’s attack gets closed.

Her fist is all Tozi sees now as her arm involuntarily slashes down. It’s okay, I tried. We tried, and I’m okay with that. As long as she doesn’t hurt Junaid. So she closes her eyes for the moment and allows herself to feel the deep vibration of the sword, and the pain—all that the sword is trying to say. But then, she connects. She connects!? She’s alive??

She opens her eyes to see a thin red line streak diagonally down The Hero’s body, cut through the armor. It’s like a deep scratch, barely a cut with how shallow it went. It seems like the sword held back its power. In fact, the Hero doesn’t look bothered at all. She even stopped her own attack. Why?

Tozi follows The Hero’s gaze to see Aiye standing there. The Hero walks over to him as though Tozi isn’t there anymore. Tozi doesn’t care. She drops the sword and runs to tend to Junaid. She’s unharmed, other than the fading streak traveling up her arm.

“You’re okay.” Anaye smiles as she puts a comforting hand to the side of his face. “I knew you would be.”

Aiye stands there, unable to attack her, or say anything. Again. Until he sees Solara’s body. Rage fills him and he slaps away The Hero’s hand. “SOL!”

Aiye sprints towards the fallen Solara. His demeanor frantic and desperate as he checks her. The Hero watches this, clenching her fists and her jaw. Glaring at Solara. She’s not dead?

“Wake up wake up wake up, Sol. Pleaseee! WAKE UP.” He taps her face to wake her. Shaking her until she starts to open her eyes. He closes his eyes in a moment of gratitude. She’s alive.

Solara opens her eyes to see Aiye smiling down at her. She begins to regain the focus of her mind. Aiye moves to hug her, but she pushes him away. She crawls backwards from him with a little fear and a lot of anger.

This catches Tozi and The Hero off guard. They just watch on, confused. Aiye too.

“GET AWAY FROM ME.” Solara shouts at him.

“Sol? Haha. What was that for? Stop playing.” Aiye moves towards her again.

“I said, get THE FUCK back!”

“What’s wrong with you?? It’s me!?” Aiye asks, completely unaware of the sobering experience Solara just had.

Solara who was the strongest of them all. The bravest. Who never doubted that Aiye would have her back, until she called for him for the first time ever. Begged for him to come save her, like she would for him. The one she could always rely on, until his Mom came in and fucked her up.

“Where were you?? You abandoned me!” Solara continues to shout at him. Knowing it’s not all his fault, but her shame and embarrassment won’t allow her to stop. So she projects it all on him.

Aiye moves toward her and she leans back and tenses up as though she’ll attack again. Aiye holds up his hands to signify that he won’t touch her. Then slowly moves toward her side.

“I’m sorry Sol. I was fighting the other lady. I didn’t know! I looked for you immediately after I finished on my end. Immediately.” Aiye speaks softly to soothe her as much as possible. He knows fear when he sees it, and he knows is her first time feeling like this.

Solara starts to cry. This time it’s not faked like how she did with The Warden. This time it’s very real. She talks through sobs, “I thought you left me because she was your Mom and you don’t need me or something. I thought you left me. It was too much and all I could think about is how much I needed your help. You weren’t there!” She punches his arm.

Tozi uses this opportunity to silently drag Junaid’s incapacitated body down the hall and towards the infirmary. Getting the hell out of dodge of this ticking time bomb of a situation. Then she stops dead in her tracks, looking at the person in front of her. She narrows her eyes on them, then deciding to ignore them, she continues dragging Junaid to safety.

“I should have been there. I’m sorry Sol. But just know that I would never abandon you. I swear.”

The Hero’s patience nears its boiling point. She has had enough of this girl…but, maybe. Hm. She watches them longer. Maybe… this is what it means to be a Mother? She never got the chance, after all. This girl is strong. She hates The Warden too.

Rather than some random breakthrough, it’s mostly the realization, that her son won’t go anywhere without this girl, that motivates The Hero’s new approach. Since, more than anything else, she wants her son back. And she’s getting tired. These so-called New Wave have put up a much greater fight than she ever expected. It was surprising, and at this point she’s using too much energy to keep fighting like this when she still has someone to kill and a war to win.

She calms down and stops levitating. Her armor reverts back normal, from its dark star mode. Maybe she is the problem right now? It’s a war and all, but how can she take love from her loved one? Take purpose from her purpose. What if she takes this from him and loses him because of it? That thought sends more fear surging through her. She then walks over to Aiye.

“Aiye. Son.” She says reaching out to them.

“No! Go away! Stay away from her! I won’t let you!” He shouts at her.

She stops in front of them, looking down at them on the floor, Aiye moving his body in front of Solara to protect her. She smirks at the sight of this. Confirming the strength of their bond and of her new course action.

She tries to calm and reassure him, her voice sincere. “I know…. I know. I am sorry Aiye. I was wrong…I see that now. She is the Warden’s daughter, but she is NOT him…Just like you are not me. And at first that was hard to accept, but looking at what I’ve become, I couldn’t be more glad that we’re different. And I’m proud of you. The Warden and I are filled with hate and fear, while all of you kids respond to your fear with love and courage. I’ve seen it firsthand now.” The Hero says while extending her bloodied hand. She’s closes her eyes for a moment as her heart starts processing all she’s done.

Solara flinches at first and then clenches her jaw and fists tight, furious with herself for doing that. For being so scared. She glares at the woman while Aiye looks at her like she’s crazy. Still, The Hero holds it there patiently while summoning all the good will in her heart. Summoning all the positive and sincere energy she can so that it’s that very energy that she can project towards them. So that it’s the aura she in which she can radiate.

“I’m sorry Solara. I’m sorry to everyone for what I’ve done here today. War or not, there’s no redemption for me. I was meant to be a Hero, but instead I was something else. So today I will put my life on the line to help end this cycle once and for all. If you all were trying to kill The Warden today too, then that tells me you want out of here. We can defeat him together, and then… *sigh* and then I will help you all go wherever you wish. Free of this place once and for- URGHH!”

She’s suddenly stabbed through her back, the blade piercing through her and flying out from her chest. Despite the gaping hole, she falls to all fours, rather than immediately dying.

“How about instead you just die.” The Warden says walking up, with a slight limp, as his blade zooms back into his hand. He’s now wearing full battle skin—a black, skin tight one-piece outfit. He’s still wearing his thin, cape-like overcoat over it. His injuries clearly still bothering him. “Die like all those before you.”

“Anaye?” Aiye watches her fall to her knees. “Anay- Mo- Mom! NO!” He shouts as he’s filled with confusion and horror, watching her bleed profusely on the ground in front of them.

“Your son will soon follow you.” The Warden mutters to himself as he watches The Hero’s blood pool around her body.

The thunderous drum strikes once…