Poetry was something she always hated. She never understood what about it could compel people to leave the comfort of their own homes just to listen to someone recite a few lines on a rainy day, not to mention in the middle of a civil war.775Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjCJ3RsokQ
Perhaps she should have listened to her friend and accompanied her. Then she wouldn't be in the mess she was in at the moment.
"Where are they?"
"Are any of them even alive?"
"There—someone moved!"
The half conscious girl under a pile of rubble winced when pain shot up her leg. She heard footsteps rushing towards her before the edges of her vision began to darken. Three voices—two of them were male, one was female. She could tell that much, though not where they were coming from.
"I think Thandisry's men are coming. They'll fire at us if they see movement," the female voice said. "After all, he didn't hesitate to bomb this neighbourhood."
"As if he can't just rewrite it the way he wants," the first man said.
"He hasn't changed anything for the past few years. I'm sure he's not going to decide to change something today," the second man said.
What are they talking about?
"Hey, girl, you okay?" the woman asked. She sounded far…too far. "We'll get you out. Hang tight." They helped lift the rubble. The next moment, she felt rain hit her face. When they moved her, she screamed and blacked out.
775Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFJggTw2YP
"…there. That's about it. Also, we need… no, not there, here…now that that's…"
She couldn't hear full sentences. Was it because she was still groggy, or was it because this was a dream? She had certainly never slept in such a warm bed as this—in fact, it was heading towards a boiling temperature. She was surprised that her skin didn't just peel off.
"…for the second unit's storage as well as the medical unit's emergency rooms."
"The—she's waking up."
"Ah. Hello, Neesha."
She opened her eyes to see two expectant faces. The one who spoke her name had dark brown hair tied back in a loose bun. Her eyes were green and her nose looked like it had been broken once or twice before.
Neesha shifted her attention to the man standing by her feet wearing a dark lab coat. Or is it a doctor's coat? Why is it dark blue instead of white? Her mind couldn't make sense of it.
"You are Neesha, right?" Her gaze went back to the woman. She had a heavy accent, one she couldn't place.
She croaked, "Yes."
"We got you out of the wreckage of your home a while ago. You're in our hospital right now. It's a good thing we found you before the Imperial Force did."
The Imperial Force was what everyone called Thandisry's army. Her eyes darted around the room nervously. "Who are you?" she asked. "How do you know my name?"
The woman spoke slowly. "We're part of Erik's revolution movement. And you're wearing a bracelet with a name. I took a guess."
"Bed's too hot," Neesha mumbled absentmindedly. "Where am I?"
"In our hospital," the woman replied patiently. "The bed's hot because it's part of the healing process. If you haven't noticed, you're actually enclosed in a transparent bubble. You will heal faster this way." The woman knocked gently on the glass separating them. "Technology in the fourth millennium is amazing, isn't it?"
"My family?"
The woman's face turned sorrowful. "I'm sorry. We weren't able to revive any of them."
Neesha blinked. She waited for tears, but none came. It was her step family and she didn't have any blood relations with any of them. But surely she should still feel some sort of sadness for them?
"She should sleep, Ida," the doctor said. He turned to Neesha. "We will come back later when you are well rested and feeling better."
Neesha grumbled, "What's going on with the war?"
"Why do you want to know?" the doctor asked.
"I keep on top of things…" she mumbled and closed her eyes.
775Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wrryjkjXK
Throughout the following week, Neesha's health began to improve. They removed the glass compartment that enclosed her so she could rest in a regular room. The walls were soft green with comfortable seats for guests. Her visitors were three people in total: the doctor, whose name she still did not know, Ida, and Doram. All three took part in rescuing her from the blast.
Doram was a quiet man who didn't talk much though he never worried about interrupting Ida whenever he had something to add. He had a battle worn look to him even without the physical evidence of battles won or lost. It had taken Neesha a while to warm up to the man thanks to his intimidating look, a look that, Ida reassured her, he used on everyone.
While they only visited when their schedule allowed them to, the doctor visited her daily. "How are you feeling today?"
After the first few days, she was bored out of her mind and told him so. "When can I leave?"
"In a few days. I'm concerned with your concussion." The doctor pulled something from one of his deep pockets and handed it to her. "You can write in this if you're bored. Do you write?" The book was taken from his hand almost immediately.
"A bit. I used to have a bunch of stuff in my old house. It's in a metal crate."
"Then you'll welcome this I suppose," he said with a cheerful smile. "I'll visit you again tomorrow."
Finally, on the seventh day, she was greeted with good news. The doctor came in first, followed by Ida and Doram.
"You're well enough to leave," the doctor said.
Neesha huffed out a breath. "It's about time. You've holed me up in here for ages."
"Teenagers should be cared for," the doctor said with a raised brow. "And we did just that."
Neesha swung her legs to the side of the bed and got up carefully. She was relieved when she felt both her legs, unlike the terrifying moment when the roof collapsed on top of her. She let go of the table slowly.
"I'm sorry if you find it intruding, but I looked up your name," Ida said. "You don't have any other family members other than the ones who were in the house. Would you like to join us?"
Neesha fell back onto the bed with an alarmed cry.
"Perhaps you were a bit too blunt," Doram muttered.
"Join? As in, join?" Being confined to the bed, Neesha had hours to think of what they told her about themselves. She knew enough of her country's history to piece a few things together. Thandisry and Erik were the two sons of the late king. The heir, Thandisry, became Emperor. Because of a few rumours that turned out to be true, he casted his brother into exile; he didn't want anyone to threaten his seat on the throne.
Erik wanted the country to become a democracy, which didn't sit well with Thandisry and the counsel. For years there has been resentment between them. Finally, around six or seven years ago, even after Erik's banishment, Thandisry sent someone to assassinate his own brother.
It caused an outrage among Erik's supporters and sympathizers. They took up arms and swore to kill Thandisry. But it never happened. No one knew why. But war was inevitable by that point. To this day, Erik continued to fight for what he thought was freedom and here she was, stuck in the thick of it all.
She didn't like Thandisry much. His methods were cruel. She herself had witnessed him ordering the execution of several captured civilians who supported Erik. Erik's revolutionists did their best to save the civilians but they were unable to.
It was true that she had nowhere to go. She'll be on the streets. The shelters didn't accept anyone past the age of sixteen, which was the turning age to becoming a young adult. She was sixteen and a half.
"I…guess?" she said cautiously. "If I stay, what will I do?"
Ida shrugged. "I haven't decided. Surely I think that you'll need to be educated in how to protect yourself. Perhaps some fun with a stick will do for now."
"Stick?" Neesha repeated. "What stick?"
Ida beamed. "Fencing! Have you heard of fencing? I love fencing. We can begin the day after tomorrow. I'll be overseeing your training in several different areas of expertise. If I'm to be your instructor, it means you will only answer to me or to Erik. In case of an emergency, you will always answer to those whose rank is above yours. Any questions?"
"What's your rank?" Neesha asked while wondering, Why is there fencing in this day and age?
Ida grinned. "I am captain of this base. There're two for each of the ten sections." She pointed to Doram. "He's also one, though he doesn't have his own section."
Doram scowled. "That's only because you insist on finishing your job as a captain before accepting your promotion."
"Ask me if you have any questions," she said, purposely ignoring Doram. "Are you ready to leave?"
"I'm ready when you are." . When they left the room, the first thing she noticed was the silence. She thought the reason she didn't hear other people was because the room was soundproofed but this proved otherwise.
"Why is it so quiet on this floor?"
"This section in our base is reserved for the doctors, so it stands to reason that silence is a must. The floor beneath this one is where all the noise is found. The other end of this hall is the library, computer labs, and meeting rooms. You shouldn't have to go into any of them. Since it's near supper, we'll head down so you can meet the group."
Neesha felt nervous all of a sudden. What if they don't like me? I mean, I'm just some person they found under a bombed house. And I'll probably be useless at everything.
It turned out that she didn't have time to worry about that, since the moment she sat down with her food, she was peppered with questions until everyone had their fill of interrogating the newbie.
"Are there any famous people in your family?"
"I'm sure I don't—"
"Do you like cats?"
"I—excuse me? Well I don't hate them—"
"Come practice with me tomorrow morning!"
"I'm booked with Ida. Sorry."
At least ten people responded with, "Oooh…" while the rest laughed and shouted out advice.
Her plate of food was cold by the time they left her alone, which was when Ida decided to join her with a mug of coffee in one hand.
"Do you really teach everyone how to fence even though they'd probably never use the skill in real life?"
"You never know when you’ll be in a situation where the only thing available is a pointy stick," she said. "Besides, it's fun."
"Whacking people with sticks that could possible kill, maim, or knock them out is fun?"
"Yes," Ida said without a thought.
"Right. Should I go off to bed now?"
Ida looked at her watch and snorted. "Jeez, it's just nine. Sure you want to call it a day already? Be my guest. You might never get to sleep this early from now on, so I suppose you should enjoy it while you can."
775Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SpCo98zsM
The next morning, Neesha awoke from a vivid dream that was already fading. She laid there on the soft bed with light sheets for a moment. The room was plain and small with the bunk bed against the farthest wall from the door. A writing desk with her recently claimed possessions on it was directly across. She only needed to reach over to touch it.
She sat up and glanced at the tinted window. The sun was barely up, and yet she could already hear several people shuffling around. She too got out of bed to change into the clothes on the desk.
Meet Ida in the training room…the one with a door that needs replacing…will I really know it when I see it? she thought. Neesha looked at the empty top bunk. If she had a roommate she might have asked for directions but seeing as she had the room all to herself, that would be impossible.
Then another thought crossed her mind. They were talking about how Thandisry could rewrite history. Rewrite it how? I'll ask her that when I see her, she thought as she closed the door behind her.
She recognised a few faces from supper as she walked down the hall. They helpfully directed her first to the kitchens, then to the bathroom, to the lounge, then to the garden, before she found an honest soldier who took pity on her and told her the correct path to the training hall.
"Thanks." She walked slowly down the hall, wondering which one needed replacing. They all looked pretty old and rusty, but they were all working. Neesha stopped in front of…well, a room with a door that was leaning against the door frame, totally unhinged but seemed to be pretending that it was somehow still attached.
"Yeah, I can't miss that," she said. Ida wasn't there yet, but the equipment was. She picked up a helmet to examine.
"Sorry for the wait. There was an emergency meeting." Ida rubbed her temples with gritted teeth. "Thandisry struck again. Damn his powers."
"What powers are you talking about?" Neesha asked.
Ida frowned as she gave Neesha a considering look. Before answering, she walked to the rack and selected a blunt weapon and tossed it from hand to hand. "We'll talk after this."
775Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhEfBi2ekn
