​"So what was the lesson I was supposed to learn today?" I ask, kicking around the debris on the ground and dusting whatever junk was on my clothes. Not sure who I was addressing. Damn, things didn't go the way I wanted at all. Not sure who answered. People were still evacuating the building. It was orderly and chaotic all at once. The people ran out the building, but they maintained their separation into three groups. Weird thing was, Theodora and her bandits didn't even bother to go out and help them. Rather, we were all just sitting at the entrance to this- other world, watching the building burn up in flames. 

"I wanted you to know about the work we were doing here. I wanted you to understand the truth of this world, of the Originals, of the Humans, of the Stalkers." Theodora spoke. The lens of her glasses clearly reflected the burning of the establishment she must have worked so hard on. "...before it's too late."

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I had a nightmare, but I liked it. I was living a nightmare, but I was just a part of it. 

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

The woman-I heard someone call her Page- cried out. Her knees buckled and caused her to fall to the ground. Even though she looked weak, no one dared step anywhere near her.

Dia called me in. She said that it was important I come and experience this. One of the "dire circumstances". 

Page held a coin in between her fingers and pointed the fingers at her head. The police chief leader lady... Silk Lady was fighting back tears. She was saying something, but I couldn't really focus to understand what she was saying. All I could hear were the thousands of questions running through my head and Page's screams. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. She had a voice so eerie to it. I couldn't place my finger on what made it that way. Was it the shakiness in her voice, the varying pitch of her scream, or the insanity of the matter. It kind of sounded like she was singing. But, still, I don't really get the direness of the situation. She was just holding a valueless coin to her head. 

Silk Lady stepped closer, hand outstretched. Page shook her head. Her hand was shaking, or maybe her arm was just tired for holding it up so long. FIND YOUR OWN DAMN TRUTH! She finally yelled. 

I thought it would be the last thing loud that'd I'd hear; only to learn seconds later that the explosion that took her head clean off would have that honor. 

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"There are beings in this world with abilities beyond imagination; some that are even beyond the control of their beholders. I have come to discover that this is a world in which those with and those without have chosen to live on in harmony, leaving those 'with' to sacrifice their gifts and become those 'without'. Those capable have discarded the memory of the past and chosen to share mutual peace. This is no small feat. Mind, I have used certain diction as peace and sacrifice. The past is filled with blood and turmoil suffered between the two groups. Those 'with' oppressed by those 'without'. Shall we give them names? They already have them. Burned with the label by the Humans as Stalkers. To my understanding from a lengthy period of detailed research and exploration, we are not the whole world. As a matter of fact, we are but a very small fraction. We are what's left, islanders, and, if we were to die, 'humanity' (whatever you may deem humans as being) becomes extinct. We are endangered."

"Bullshit."

"Keep reading"

"It would be hard to believe. I understand that well. I would not have believed that our world was but an island or any of the other truths had I not done what I did all that time ago. Had I not seen the Angel of Death (as my mother had told me about) with my very own eyes. I had taken a boat. How I procured it, I won't go into detail. My crew: my mother, a young girl who never stops crying, and a bitchy teen. We didn't know our destination. We simply sailed out. And out we went until we came upon a darkness. My mother had convinced us to go on the journey and had to do so once more so that we didn't turn around. Yes, of course, a part of me was curious as to what had my mother so emphatic. But I knew I wasn't prepared to take the measure to reach the bottom of the darkness as she had. The end of the world was a black pit that never ends. At that moment, as we had nothing to venture onward to the bottom, my mother revealed the truth. About me. About her. About Stalkers. About her own ability."

Damn, can you just get the point?

"My mother has the ability to clone herself. She can determine what memories that clone can keep as well as the age it can be. I as well as the others, of course, was shocked at hearing that I too was, in fact, one of those clones. But that's not the subject of the matter. It was a cruel thing she did. She made clones, brain dead each and every one of them; they looked just like me (to prove a point possibly); she had them stack until we could climb down their bodies to reach the 'bottom.' I did not believe there was a bottom, but I hadn't believed I was a clone either. No. No. Despite my tiring arms and legs, we somehow reached a bottom. Maybe the pit had deemed us worthy of seeing it."

Blah blah pit blah darkness blah. Skip to the important part. 

"When we found her, bodies that made the floor of the pit which her feet rested. We couldn't see her face through the darkness, couldn't make out the blood on her face and body, but there was something clear in the threatening composure she held. It was calmed, emptied, yet a great emotion suddenly surged through all of us as though through osmosis. Involuntary tears flowed down our cheeks, a pain pinged through our heads, and the very essence of our souls weakened. The only way we could tell that she was standing there was through the flickering surgery light above the metal table in the center of the vast pit (the last remains of what once was). I'm still unsure why I did, but I stepped closer to that girl. There was something inside of me. A strong force urging me to grab her and hug her small malnourished body. She looked over at us with empty wet eyes. I was absolutely captivated by them. One was green while the other, silver. The light grew stronger, and, at last, I could see the blood dripping through her hair onto her forehead. Her palms reached up to her head, touched it, and presented blood to her eyes. She stared at the blood. I wanted to offer my hand or my hand began to offer me, but, before any such action, mother-I- had already charged forward and grasped her in a tight embrace. At that moment, I wasn't sure why, but I had thought that I was alone. 

That is as far back as I can remember. 

All that's left now, is the mission. To save the world. To save the girl."

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"Why have you been washing your hand for this long? There's not even any more soap left in the dispenser." Dia asked watching curiously through the mask. At least I'm assuming she looks curious. It's really hard to tell with her.

If I were to be honest, Page's sudden death has had me thinking. Thinking about the safety the Originals offer to our world. The world us Maidens have been tasked with protecting. "I can't go back in there." I tell Dia. It's not that I can't go in there because of Page. Most of me, oddly, feels calmed as though I'm already accustomed to this kind of scenario. It's just- I can't bear to see Silk Lady right now. She reminds me too much of myself. 

Dia put her hand on my shoulder, and the arm registered the touch, sending a wave of warm metallic warmth as if indicating that's how it should feel if I had a real arm. "It's no longer our business anyways." Dia says and guides me out the building. 

Almost every single day I've asked myself "what comes next?" I used to think that I was the only one who does that in this- what was the word I heard Dia say once? Stagnant world. Letting out the breath I was unknowingly holding all this time, I ask aloud, "What comes next?" 

"We're going to give you your memories back."

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"Cig?" Kaide asks me, holding out a small cylindrical white object in her two fingers. She had already lit one, and the black puffs and toxic smell had already filled the room. I close Theodora's little diary and put it aside taking the "cig."  It makes me wonder what would make her actually like this. She pulls out a little metal thing and a small flame pops out from it. "Gimme the thing already." She says. Putting the flame up to the cig, she lights and hands it back to me. Do I eat it? She's putting it in her mouth and then takes it out and air comes out, almost like a lollipop. Do I lick it? Slowly I start to put it up to my mouth, warily watching that she's doing. 

Fuck no.  

I see him, me, again. It's been a while actually. He's squatting somewhat beside me somewhat in front. Don't even think about putting this thing in my mouth.

 "You're not my boss." 

"Already too late for that"

Huh? I look up at Kaide, looking down at me with a sneer. "Tch- shut up." I say back to her and bring it up to my mouth starting to inhale the cig. Jumping up to his feet, I grab my hand and throw the cig to the wall beside. It hits the ground, and I get up and smash my foot on top of it. "Wow. You could have just said no." Kaide rolls her eyes and huffs.

 "Body is a temple, Seánshine." 

"Don't ever call me sunshine, ever."

Walking back into the room, hands in pockets, Ten sways into the room and stops before us. "They're all gone." She nonchalantly informs us. "...so that means... all hell is about to break loose." Kaide reasons. "And I have yet to even start on my investigation." I spat dragging and smudging whatever was  in that cig on the ground. "oh yeah..." Ten says.

"let's go do that then."