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The Association is probably going to punish me for running off on my own. I’m supposed to be one of there more diligent hunters actually, right now I’m actually supposed to be working with Tara on a hunt, We were to track down an E level wanderer that escaped from the no-Hunt zone, but instead I ditched her. I don’t know how I got here—well I ran— I just don’t understand how I let my mind travel so far, far enough to end up miles away from Linkton. And when I snapped myself from my trance, I ended up by this creek.
I suppose Its the memories that lead me here, the turquoise mucky lake, the pink lily pads, and the overgrown moss sticking to the rocks and trees. The ambiance (though fantastic) isn’t what brought me here. This isn’t first time I’ve been here, I was here with Dr. Zayne first. He had followed me when I tried to run away a random from a check up, he didn’t let me wallow alone, that’s just his nature.
I stop my train of thought and look over to the yellow buds, and plucked the flower at its roots, it was a wildflower. Dr. Zayne had mentioned it that time I brought him here. He was worried I was going to pick a poisonous plant, I told him it was alright that they were just yellow flowers but he insisted on correcting me, not allowing me to call them ‘yellow flowers’.
“They aren’t ‘yellow flowers’, I’m no florets but… these should be called Wildflowers.”
“Wildflowers? wild-they don’t look that wild to me, no cool color combo or cheetah print, there just yellow!” I had said, examining the flower, humoring him.
“They’re called wildflowers simply for the fact that they grow naturally without any human interference, its more of a blanket term.” he scooted over to me, somehow getting closer on the already small rock. His finger grazed the petals slowly, leading his fingers down to its roots and plucked it from the soil, then tucking it onto my ear. “Some also use wildflower as a term to descried a free spirited person, I think it fits you.”
That memory stuck with me…that even right now it sucks that there is no one to tuck a flower on my ear, I guess I’ll just have to do it myself! I push my hair from behind my ears and slipped the flower on my ear.
“Does running away from my responsibility make me a free spirit? A wildflower?” I couldn’t help but mutter to myself aloud. “What makes me a wildflower? maybe its the fact that I’m still living on, even when grandma and Caleb are gone.” I let the words sink in, I held my temple. It doesn’t take much for me to go back there, to miss them. My body shakes, and I feel like I’m reliving the events, the smell of smoke, sweat, and ash. The feeling of the fire reaching out, licking my tears as I watched it all burn. I can’t help but question why all the things in my life are shrouded in fire?
“Why does everything I love burn?” my voice dips and shakes, watery words drowning in my grief. I cave into myself hold my knees to my chest, I still haven forgot it. Even after all the missions with Xavier, admiring all the painting’s Rafayel’s crafted, getting checkups in Dr. Zaynes office, and even after entering and leaving the N109 zone, I’m still there at the door knob.
“WHY, why…” I hold my head pulling my hair, I just need to hold onto something. The wildflower slipped from my ear and into the mud and muck, the tears stream down hot like the fire that burned them. I’m no flower, I’m shackled to the things that make me human, to emotions, this isn’t freedom.
I feel my wrist vibrate,
“My hunters watch!” My watch is blinking red, signaling Tara’s call. “Loralie? where are you? we cant track your location!?” Tara’s voice is breathy and scratchy as if she been yelling.
“I just went to get some air…” I clear my throat to mask that I’ve been crying, she doesn’t seem notice to caught up with something else.
“The mission! I thought I could handle it since your weren’t feeling well but…Linkton is on fire!”
“…What?” I stood up.
“The wander was supposed to be E level but there was a fluctuation and now its B-possibly A level and I couldn’t create a protofeild, its level is far beyond mine I cant handle it alone we need your Evol, Loralie we need you!”
“I’m on my way Tara! hold on!” I’m so stupid, ignoring my duties now Linkton will burn with me.
I ran as fast as possible, I have to stay focused even if everything hurts right now. I became a hunter so things like this don’t happen to anyone anymore. What happend to that goal? I look back at the small creak and push of forward, I swear I’ll never come back to this place. So far I haven’t let my emotions get in the way of hunters work, I cant fall apart now when Linton needs it most. Truthfully, I cant fall apart ever. Not until those who hurt other are punished, not until I can redeem myself.
When I arrive the stench of smoke and ash is horrific, the more smog I inhale the more it smelt like guilt, I should have been here.
I spotted Tara, her hair was a mess and charcoal was on her face and hands. She was helping evacuate some of the civilians that were caught in the crossfire.
“Tara!” I call out to her.
“Thank god your here!” she breaks down into my chest, holding me for a moment.
“So whats going on, I need details stat!”
“The wanderer was effected by a fluctuation, its not even a wanderer anymore, its mutant or evolved from its prior state its skills are unknown all we do know is…” Tara stutters trailing off, eyes losing its light.
“Tara… you can tell me.” I pull her back from my chest and hold her shoulders, trying to keep her focus on me not the burning city.
“It can cast illusions! these Illusions vary, so many civilians have been effected by it, this means it has an Evol!”
“How is it possible for a Wanderer to have an Evol, is there a person in there?”
“We’re not sure, but I know you can help,” She takes her trembling fingers, and cups my hand that grips her shoulder. “You have a way of saving people even when it doesn’t feel possible.” She smiles, her smile is lopsided and doesn’t reach her teary eyes, her emotions bittersweet. I want to believe her but if its true, how come I couldn’t save them? I don’t say anything though I just give her the same smile back.
“I’ll check out the Wanderer, you keep evacuating the people.”
“I’ll catch up with you when I’m done evacuating.” Tara promises as she scans for any civilians, quickly finding some, now it was my turn.
I stalked through the clouds of dust and ash, the fog blocking my vision, making the wanderer hard to find. Thankfully that isn’t a problem for me, just by using my Evol I’m able to detect the fluctuation in the air. I continue to traverse the fog, moving on just pure instinct. The closer I get, the more the fog clears, and the fainter the screams become. Soon I enter a clearing. The road was broken bits of cement dug up and cracked, only dirt remaining in the plot holes.
“Damn these wanderers!” I mutter, rolling my eyes at what looks like more unnecessary construction work. I turn to see a figure moving in the smog, “whose there?!” I have my gun loaded the aiming at the person, the more it moves the more clear it becomes, then she standing in front of someone his form looks to be a mans, he’s tall and has broad shoulders.
“Show yourselves!” I yell, but they don’t even flinch, I get closer catching a glimpse of the girl, and my hands falter as I suck in a breath.
Its me…
I’m the girl…
It’s an illusion, I know that. But what I can’t comprehend is why it looks like a younger me? The me with short hair just nuzzling above her ears, the me with a normal heart, the me before it all. I understand its an illusion but what does that insinuate? what do these illusions show? do they show your desires, your fears… your memories.
I bite my lip.
I hate how I cant remember a singe thing from my past and I know, I know all the people around me hate it to. The more I thought about it more, the more angrier I got. Why cant I remember a single thing about myself before I got my Aether core heart? And why has this heart continue to take away my past and still dictate my future. Sometimes I see her in the back of my mind, all the time. The past me, the one that remembers, the one that’s burning alive.
I reach for the illusion, I know its fake but I need to see it. If its a memory, if I remember somewhere deep down inside.
“LORALIE!” I feel a hand grip my wrist and pull me back, and the illusion fades. What stands before me is a wall of fire.
“Do you want death to greet you early?!” Sylus pulls me behind him, and I still cant think straight.
“huh?” I turn to look at him.
How is he here right now? “Sweetie, watch my back would you.” he smirks cocking his gun pointing it at the thick fog, as he did the fog disperses reveling the ‘wanderer’ but it wasn’t a wanderer at all, from far away it could look that way, especially with all that Armor. But with a clear view it was obviously a person in a Mech suit, and upon further examination its was (the supposed to be dead) Mr.Sherman!
“I thought he was dead?!”
“Well… he will be, storming into the middle of Linkton in broad daylight, is like asking the Grimm reaper for his scythe and slicing your own neck.” Sylas laughs non-nonchalantly as he lest his Evol take over, streakers of red reaching for the suit.
I can’t believe I was about to do that, In a way allowing myself to be lured in by the illusion feels similar to slicing my neck with the reapers scythe.
“Kitten pay attention.” Sylas huffs, pulls me out of the way of a block of cement being thrown.
“Wasn’t he killed in the N109 zone?”
“Maybe its has something to do with his mech suit?” Sylas gets closer to the suit dodging its attacks, closing in on him, his eyes glowing red as he aims for under Sherman’s neck. “IT’S WEAK SPOT IS HERE!” Sylas immobilizes the man with his Evol, giving me a clear shot to its neck.
“Here goes nothings!” I race forward aiming my gun to get a clear shot, dabris and dust fly past me as the man struggles to loosen Sylas’s grip. I loaded and shot the gun, the energy surrounding the bullet was electric, the bullet pierced through the the armor then it blasted the suit into pieces.
“Did it work?” I question getting closer to the corpse.
“I don’t think that’s the right question.” Sylas says, opening the hatch of the Mech suit showing an empty seat. ” I think Mr. Sherman has been dead, instead its more likely that someone is trying to trick us,”
“We need to report this to the association!”
“Wait,” he holds my wrist stopping me from leaving. “What were you thinking earlier, walking straight into an illusion?” He narrows his eyes at me, he saw the whole thing, he knows it was intention, would it be to obvious if I lied…
“Were you trying to burn yourself alive?” His eyes, instead of narrowing soften, he tries to look into my eyes, to understand me but I turn away from his gaze.
“I just though I could find something in the illusions…”
“What? Death?”
“No! Answers!” I try to pull my wrist away.
“An illusion— A wanderer doesn’t have any answers for you-”
“Sylas just stop! you don’t understand and you never will!” I grab his hand and claw at it, trying to peel him of me as my tears bubble up, he can’t see me cry.
“I know you can’t remember your past…” He says, I pause. “I’m similar to you, the Aether core in my eye did something same thing to me I forgot so many key things in my life but I got them back.”
“Really?”
“I found the answers in myself,” He slowly moves his hand to mine intertwining them cautiously. “You’re not alone.”
“I want to believe you I really do..”
“This isn’t a fairy tail to believe, you aren’t some flower in an empty field, rooted to a construct, you are a petals that flow in the wind and travels.” He pulls my chin towards me and I look at him. At the pink of his frowning lips, the bridge of his sharp nose, and his eyes… when I look at them I start to hear the voices. But, they don’t scream at me to kill or to hurt. They whisper softy and warmly to be held to feel loved, I lean in closer to him, upon this broken battle field and fall into his arms. He seemed to understand my desire, so he smotheres me in his hug, holding me tightly leaving no room for doubt and if he hears me crying he doesn’t say anything, he just holds me and lends me a shoulder to cry on.