*
The darkness eases from my vision. I awaken in an unfamiliar place, filled with dust-covered beds and medical equipment. The Medical Station? So they managed to enter it after all…
“Come.”
The boy is lying a few feet away, his mouth twisted into an agonised grimace. There is nothing I can do for him. His demons are of his own design…
“Come to me.”
I notice a meal set beside my bed, and I take the time to finish it. I don’t need its nourishment, but I eat it nonetheless. Gathering my things, I head towards the door, careful not to wake the old one sleeping by the desk.
“Come to me, and witness the truth.”
Outside, the fading moonlight washes over the glade, bathing everything in silver light. Nearby, the re-mech’s grave lies still, a reminder of what I did, and what I will do again in the future. My body feels light and strong, and my feet quickly carry me far from the station.
“Come to me, and witness the truth of your past.”
With my renewed strength, the hillside might as well be flatlands. I speed across the landscape, the wind whipping my hair into a million shapes. Far below, a second path winds its way along the cliff-side, punctuated only once by an out-of-place tree. The land ahead is black and grey, the colours of death and degradation. Looking back, I see a lance of green, stretching from my feet to the distant station. Life behind, death ahead. I have made my choice, for better or worse…
“Come to me, and witness the truth of your past, Alza.”
The voice has grown in intensity as I travelled, becoming louder the closer I come to a hill that is larger than the rest.
I ascend the hill without effort, relishing my newfound power. The carpet of life follows in my footsteps, quickly blanketing the dead earth in colour. And there, standing at the top of the hill, is the one who had called out to me. A woman of unnatural beauty, with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She wears a sapphire-coloured cloak, and waits for me with a regal pose.
“Come to me, and witness the truth of your past, Alza, daughter of none…” She says, with a voice like a thousand rainstorms. Everything about her is overpowering, and yet I cannot bring myself to see her as a threat. If I have a mother, then this is surely what it would feel like meeting her.
“Seek me out, unloved daughter, and I shall reveal the path you must walk. Seek me out in the Sands of Isolation, and I will give you purpose…”
Before I can speak, she is gone, and I am alone once more. In the distance, I can sense that he has awoken. Will he seek me out, as I must seek out another? There is nothing else for me here, but my body refuses to move from this spot. Something inside me wants to stay… to wait for the coming light. I stand in a quiet world, ready to begin my silent vigil…
Awakening Page 53