Chapter 18: In the Dark

What was her endgame? How did we come to this? I asked myself these questions, over and over again as I sat in my small room, all dressed in red, waiting in the dark.

I saw the destruction. How could anyone, have survived it? How did I survive it?

There was a lot I didn’t know. A lot I didn’t understand. How many more truths were people withholding from me?

Like always, I was kept in the dark. And as I sat in my small room, all dressed in red, waiting, so did my friends.

Everyone of us was alone…

6 days earlier

The car slowed down on the road, which had become an obstacle course. On the seat next to Fenn was a gun. He grabbed it slowly, as to not be noticed. He then quietly unbuckled his seatbelt and at the first occasion, kicked open the door and jumped out of the moving car. He didn’t turn back. He heard the tires scream as Fiori slammed the breaks. He heard his name being called out. But he ran. He ran as fast as he could until the overpass was in sight.

He had expected Fiori to come running after him. But Fiori didn’t.

Fiori knew better.

Fiori knew the piece of paper was blank.

Fiori knew a second bomb would soon explode: a much bigger bomb.

Fiori knew just how long, exactly, he had to escape the blast.

Fiori knew Meyer was in charge of detonating that second bomb.

Fiori knew there was no time for him to run after Fenn.

Fiori knew all of this… because he had planned it. Every detail of Hana’s plan was of his making.

But Fiori hadn’t planned that Fenn would jump out of a moving car. He had always seen Fenn as lacking motivation, lacking decisiveness. Jumping out of a moving car was contrary to his nature. It was unfortunate he thought, Fenn was going to be collateral damage. He liked the kid. His heart filled with sorrow. But there was no time for it, so he cleared his mind and stayed on track.

Hana and he had spent hours laying out this plan and now it was about to fail. What was Hana’s endgame? He wasn’t entirely sure, but he knew she had to die. The second blast was going to be her grand exit, and with her would go the entire city, citizens, and all. If she was going to die, then everything was coming with her; the central administrative building, Ortus University, Nova Terra…everything! That was her ultimate personal vengeance. But that was not her endgame. Her endgame was bigger. Much bigger. Though she would never see it to completion. All she could do, was to set the wheels into motion, and hope Evian and Fenn would see it through.

Time was ticking, only 12 minutes left before the second bomb explodes. He still had a long way to go to be safe. The outskirt of the city was now deserted. The rebels had done their job well and drawn everyone towards what would soon be ground zero. Maximum impact was what he was going for. Although they had very different reasons, both Hana and Fiori sought revenge. He hadn’t planned on going as far as destroying an entire city but knowing that this alone would bring peace to her heart, had been enough to convince him.

Doran and he had built the two bombs. The first, Little Bell, was a toy compared to the second they had nicknamed Tsar Bell. The building of these two weapons had been a tedious task with access to limited resources. It had taken them two years to assemble the material and see their realizations. But today was finally the day!

As Doran liked to say: “Dante’s Inferno would soon grace the earth, sending everyone to purgatory.” Doran was an artist who sought beauty in destruction. For him, humanity had long disappeared. Humans no longer abided by a sense of justice, foresight, and introspection. In its stead, humans had become empty vessels with tainted souls. Humans, Aethereusians and Meliors alike, did not deserve grace. His bomb, Tsar Bell, would bring forth all nine circles of hell. Fiori had always worried a little about Doran’s state of mind. But his skills were unmatched when it came to bomb-making. He had full trust in Doran’s ability. Because of that, he knew just how bad the situation was. A blast so powerful, no one could survive. Destruction and misery all around.

Fenn was lost. Anyone within Congyro Avenue was as good as dead. Those on the outskirt didn’t stand much of a chance either. And if he didn’t hurry back to the hotel, he would be lost too.

6 minutes left. He had just entered Porta Advena. At this point he knew; he wouldn’t make it back to the hotel in time. He had to find shelter. He pressed on the accelerator, ignoring the gaping potholes, and headed straight west. He had to create as much distance as possible between himself and the blast.

The car was bouncing back and forth on heavily dilapidated roads, hammering the undercarriage. It started pulling dangerously to the right. He knew immediately that his front axel had broken. He lost control of the car and jumped the curb to finally smash into the side of a building. He hit his head gravely. His vision went blurry as he fought to remain conscious. He struggled with the buckle unable to take his seatbelt off. He had to run. He wasn’t far enough, yet.

On the dashboard, the digital clock showed 9:00.

Game over, he thought.

***

Moments before, Eli had been sitting on her bed.

After their mission was completed, Doran, Ashe, Yuki, and she, had been instructed to wait in their rooms. Eli didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. She was scared. She didn’t understand what was happening.

This is not the original plan. Where is everyone else?

Doran had issued the new command. Ashe and Yuki didn’t seem surprised, or at least didn’t show it.

Why had there been a change of plan? Where had Fiori gone?

Doran’s directive had been clear: “Go back to your room. Change into the clothing provided. Stay away from the windows and wait until Fiori comes back.”

She had thought by now, they should have been celebrating. Everything had gone according to plan: the bomb had been put in place in the early hours of the morning. They had positioned themselves in a strategic location to assure the integrity of the bomb and they were to remain on site until the explosion had been confirmed. But Doran had ordered them to retreat.

In the distance, as they were driving back toward the hotel, Little Bell detonated.

They reached the hotel shortly after, she went up to her room. She put on the clothing. It was identical to the uniform she had been wearing at Nova Cibus. The sight of it made her stomach turn.

This has to be a sick joke, she thought.

It made her uneasy. It made her nervous. It awoke feelings she had worked so hard to supress. She was nauseous. A million thoughts racing through her mind. Her hands were shaking. Her head was hurting. It was like being back at the orphanage.

She tried sitting on her bed but couldn’t do it.

She got up.

She paced back and forth for a minute, then suddenly turned, and walked straight up to the window.

She pulled the curtain back just as her watch struck 9:00.

***

Fenn ran as fast as he could. He had to reach the overpass. He had to find Hana. Something was wrong. Deep down in his guts, he knew; everything was wrong!

He finally reached the overpass and started to climb the ladder. In the distance the gunshots and small explosions had intensified. The city was in panic. Chaos. People were screaming, sirens were blaring.

The wind had really picked up, his anxiety too. It made it hard for him to climb. He had to stay close to the ladder to not lose his grip.

With great pain, he reached the top.

Hana was alone. He called her name, but the wind covered the sound of his voice. It covered the sound of his footsteps. She didn’t hear him arrive. She was fixated on the scene being played out in front of her. It was everything she had hoped, everything she had imagined. The panic, the fear, the violence.

Are they feeling powerless? Are they feeling trapped? She hoped they did.

She hoped they suffered.

Suffered as much as she had.

In the distance she could see Ortus University. So tall, so dominant; an ivory tower overlooking the city. This was where it had all started. This was were humanity had been reborn. She smiled. Soon it would be gone! Soon she would put an end to it!

She would crush them all like ants beneath her feet.

Crush the ivory tower.

Crush the city.

Crush humanity’s revival.

She smiled.

Her face relaxed.

Her lips parted slightly.

She was at peace with herself.

Perhaps, this is what happiness feels like, she thought.

It was sweet, it made her heart feel so light. She dropped her weapons to the ground. She undid her hair and let the wind whirl it freely. Soon, she would be gone. Fenn, Meyer, Eli, Fiori, Arno, Yuki, Ashe, and Doran would be safely taken away. She would rest in peace and trust that her legacy would live on.

A deep, liberating sigh raised from her chest. The sound of her soul soothing its pain; releasing its burden into the wind.

Soon, she thought, it is finally going to end.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder.

She froze.

“Hana,” Fenn called again.

Her heart sank.

Tears welled up.

She turned around to face her little brother.

“NOOOOOOO,” she screamed from the depths of her soul.

Her voice pierced the ever-dark sky.

Fenn felt like the world came crashing down on him.

She grabbed his hand, fell to her knees crying. “You promised me you’d stay alive,” she howled.

But it was too late.

She raised her face to the sky and wailed in despair. Until the very end, she would never get to know peace. Everything she had done to save her little brother… had been for nothing.

She squeezed his hand hard and pressed it against her heart.

***

Back at the hotel, Meyer, and Arno, oblivious to everything that had happened, started the countdown. They had been sitting in that dark windowless room all morning. The directive given to Meyer had been clear, at 9 am precisely, he was to start the countdown.

10-9…

Fiori managed to crawl out of the wreckage and enter the building through the breech his car had made.

8-7…

Eli stared at the stars trying to calm her nerves. She took in 3 deep breaths, closed the curtains, and curled up on the floor by her bed humming to herself.

6-5…

Yuki was resting on their bed. They had learned not to question the General’s orders, yet this was unnerving.

4-3…

Doran was sitting on the floor of his room, on the opposite side of the window. He was excited to finally see the results of his hard work. He had never built such a powerful bomb. There had been no way to do a test run. The anticipation was devouring him. He closed his eyes and thought of his parents. “This is for you mom and dad,” he murmured with clenched jaws. “This is for all the babies, ever taken away from their families.”

2-1…

Tears were running down her face. She had been defeated. Completely defeated. She looked Fenn straight in the eyes and said, “Without you, humanity doesn’t stand a chance. I’m sorry little….”

***

Meyer pressed the button. He felt sick to his stomach, but he had to do it. Arno was by his side. Silent.

The room shook.

Meyer rushed out of the windowless room. Something was wrong. This! The building shaking! This was not the results of Little Bell. His brain was working faster than his feet. He made his way to the rooftop. Arno right on his tail.

The shock knocked him off his feet. What was he seeing? No, it wasn’t about what he was seeing. It was what he wasn’t seeing that took his breath away. In the distance, Nova Terra was gone.

Meyer struggled back down to his room. He had been instructed to stay put until Fiori’s signal. Arno was running his fingers back and forth through his short hair massaging his scalp. The disbelief of what he had just witnessed had numbed his brain and left him speechless.

On Meyer’s bed laid a pair of red pants and a red shirt. Who put these there? He frantically looked around his room. Someone’s been in here! Someone had left him orphanage clothing. He grabbed the clothing and threw it to the floor. He was about to leave his room again when Fiori appeared before him, covering his bloody head with his shirt.

“We have to go… NOW,” he said. “Put the clothes on! We have to get the others and go!”

Meyer didn’t need to be told twice. He quickly stripped down and put on the red clothing. He had never had to wear these awful clothes before. In Nova Summus, red clothing was not implemented. But he knew about it. He knew exactly what the outfits looked liked.

Fiori made his way down the hall. Ashe, Doran, Yuki, and Eli all came out of their rooms. Except for Doran, they all had the same haggard look of terror and disbelief.

“Get the car ready,” Fiori ordered Yuki.

“Where are we going General?” they asked skeptically.

“We have a meeting at 1:00 with one of Meyer’s old friends,” Fiori answered as he led the way to the garage with great difficulty.

Meyer did his best to hide his reaction.

So that’s what this is all about, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, amidst all the uncertainty and the chaos, things made a little bit more sense. Meyer relaxed.

Things will be ok, he thought…