The first mechanoid tank that attacked us, after we ran from it,

It never moved, never pursued us,

At the back of my mind, I wondered why,

It wasn’t stuck in one position, so why wasn’t it moving?

It just continued shooting making noise,

Little did we know that it was slowly reproducing,

Reproducing?

Reproducing what?

How can a machine reproduce?

What technology is that?

How would I know?

I only see what they see and know what they tell me.

****

The machine had been secretly creating a mini army that began to gather around the unknowing three behind their fort of stone

Karina however not with the group, noticed.

“You all stay where you are do not move!!!” she shouted warningly

But it was clear she was not heard,

Something she hated the most….

Shrugging off her fatigue Karina shifted into high gear sprinting towards the others, but it was already too late,

The ‘golems’, from her perspective, had them right where they wanted,

As Kage began to step out from the walls the firing begun, Lyra and Apollo followed closely behind him…

Without hesitating Karina leaped forward moving at the speed of sound,

She had never done this before..

There was so much more about her magic she had to learn…

A shame…

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttt!!

The bullets begin firing indiscriminately,

Shove!

Karina pushes the three back, but in that brief moment she stopped, it was already over…

The bullets flew through her, a pain she had never felt before, she breathes firmly and smiles, as she falls forward into Kage’s arms,

The bullets that shot through her hitting Kage as well,

But her eyes are already shot out she doesn’t know that……..

………

*****

Karina falls into my arms spiling blood,

“Kage…” she mutters

“Yo…you.. know soemthi….ng?

I….

N… never….

Liked you.”

She drags her face along face along my letting our lips brush past,

I taste her blood as she does so,

I think that was supposed to a kiss,

Her last one before she di—

Everything fades out

……………………..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*****************

A candle burns illuminating a dim room and a desk which I sit behind, a cool night’s breeze blows through an open window,

Something about me feels different though,

My hands are smaller my hair longer, I smell a nice familiar scent, my muscles ache however and my feet feel sore,

I try to move but I can’t, my body moves on its own,

Digging into the desk’s compartment I take out some blank pages,

Placing them on the table I take a nearby quill and dip it in ink as I begin to write:

Kage, this is a mental experiment I am testing right now, if you are seeing this years from now, maybe I am old by then and have just died, or you could be seeing this a few days or weeks from now, who knows with the level unpredictability in Sweepstake city,

I remember you said you saw Darius’ memories when he died,

Well I am not comfortable with you snooping around my memories, so this is my attempt at allowing to see what I want, which is this…

My goodbye letter,

Currently it is the night after Zinnia has arrived, the Bellwethers Ball is tomorrow and I do not have too good a feeling about it, maybe I am being just paranoid.

Seeing Zinnia today made me happy, I respect her, and her intentions, the way she acts,

She is not living for just herself now, but for her soon to be born child,

It made me realize, how selfish I appear sometimes, all I want is to find something that makes me truly happy,

But maybe I am purposely telling myself nothing truly makes me happy because I do not know who I will become if I was happy,

Almost my entire life I have spent being bitter,

I was never happy with Club Hedon back in Soterra, I knew it was not happiness, but it kept me occupied it helped to learn about myself…

Kage, Is Lyra still alive right now?

If she is, tell her I am sorry for everything for calling her monster, for telling her to kill herself. The fact that we were children does not change the fact that I still feel terrible for it, I know she does not care for me and probably never will,

I only hope to fix what I caused in her.

Tell Apollo I will miss him, he always acts weird around me, well I guess that is my fault as well, I used him at a point where I was at my most confused, he was too, but it was more than that for him, he has a big heart and knows it, he wants to share that heart with everyone but knows he can’t, I hope he learns to care for himself as he does others, tell him dreaming to be a hero is not a stupid goal to have.

Pinoki, somehow I feel like Pinoki might live the longest out of all of us, he may be the most careful care free person I know, tell him, even though I find him annoying at times, I admire your selfish personality, you know what you want for yourself and will get it no matter the means, you love a good thrill or adventure as you call it,

I think Pinoki has the most drive of all of us as well…

Zinnia, I know she is going to do great things, she has always been my go to person when I needed an escape from the depressiveness of Soterra. She was always so bubbly, so positive,

At first, I did not get it and was annoyed, why would someone act so happy and unbothered in situation like this? I thought.

Slowly I realized she was hurting just as much as everyone else, difference being that she knew dwelling on the pain amplifies the hurt,

Tell her that I am going to meet Darius, we both will be watching over her from now on,

Even though I do not believe there is anything after death, (Don’t tell her that though)

Kage, we have only know each other for a couple months now, it feels longer that though,

I still cannot make out what kind of person you actually are, but something in you, it draws me in, I want it, I need to be near it, I don’t know if the others feel it too, but you are like a walking puzzle, I want to solve you, want to get close to you, see what you are made of,

When you speak it feels like I don’t hear one voice but multiple voices, you seem like you don’t care but act like you do, you are as selfish as Pinoki but as caring as Apollo, as hot tempered as Lyra but as composed as Zinnia,

I really am so interested in you,

From the first time I saw you, I have been enamored by what you are,

Kage, I never liked you,

I only saw you as someone who could make me complete…

………….

I stop writing…

………..

Sitting in the quiet I stare and stare and stare at the words.

……….

Finally, I take the paper and place its edge at the tip of the candle flame,

Watching as it turns to ash.

“Hhhhhhhhh!”

I let out a huge sigh, getting up and walking out of the room, into the silent hallway of the institute,

………..

My feet doesn’t make the slightest of sounds as I navigate to a familiar room.

………

The door opens quietly as I enter the room,

“…..?”

A figure wakes up groggily on a bed which I begin to crawl in.

“Karina?” they notice me

“Shhh, Kage,” I reply, snuggling next to him,

“Let me sleep.”

End of Elegy.