In all my life, not even in Thaeb, had I ever seen the sea. And now I was going to live right beside it.
I tried to think about that while Anaissa fixed the disaster that was my knee. A minute ago, I surrendered trying to follow the complex processes she used to cure my wound only by using Snow. I could create a variety of drugs from thin air because I knew their chemical composition. That was easy enough for me. But Anaissa? She was reforming my entire joint, from bones to muscles, cell by cell; she was weaving amino acids, proteins, and DNA like it were any other Thursday.
“That should do it,” she announced, exhaling and collapsing lightly to the sand in relief. I looked around while she began to doze lightly, noting that the beach seemed to stretch on infinitely in both directions. Anaissa was clearly tired when she'd rescued me from Colony 32, but she'd now lowered her defenses and truly allowed herself to show me how exhausted she really was.
Not a single word was muttered. With my knee healthy as new, I lifted and carried her back to the Home of the Stork. The kids were completely oblivious to us, playing happily and splashing around on the shore as the caretakers tried, poorly, to keep them under control. This was way over the caretakers' reasonable adult heads: one instant they were near an advanced capital city; the next, on a beach more than two hundred miles away in the wilderness. A child's mind could accept this with little confusion (who could say this was, in fact, normal? Ignorance is bliss, they say), but an adult, someone who had everything "under control”…
…even the headmistress continued on in disbelief, watching the sea from the entrance of the orphanage with vacant eyes.
Anaissa assured her that supplies were already in order. Electricity, water, food, new rooms for the now permanent staff, clothing, tools, materials… still, she knew, as did I, that this wouldn’t satisfy the staff. The staff would want to return to their homes, to their families, to their lovers back in Colony 32. And Anaissa would be so kind, and so cruel at the same time, to allow it.
Why had we taken these extreme measures? Because Vazet had tried to seize the building, no doubt planning to use it as a trump card if I resisted him. Technically, he tried to buy the entire charity organization. Since the day I'd crushed a liver in the arena three weeks ago, he'd profited rapidly and substantially from his businesses - both the legal and illegal ones. So, he'd had the financial means to make a generous offer to acquire the charity organization; and Ellie was maybe a bit taken aback when she received the offer, only for her to be blown away when she received an even larger bid from Anaissa.
Anaissa going legal… that surely was a spectacle for the centuries. I can barely imagine her in a formal suit. If it weren’t for her strategic preparations to acquire the orphanage, spanning back to the first moment she laid eyes on the city, Vazet would have won the bidding.
Well, ”bidding” isn't a strong enough word. Anaissa opted to kidnap the entire building, transfer the money anyway, give an abridged explanation to the workers, a real one to the kids, and a long one to Ellie through a forced dream. Nothing better than subconscious oneiric imagery to wordlessly explain complex themes.
And, at the moment, only Ellie and Anaissa knew what was really happening in the city. I understood some bits, but not the big picture. My dear lover didn’t want to worry me while I was so committed to my intense study of medicine.
We entered the Home of the Stork. It remained mostly the same, maybe a bit bigger on the outside due to the incorporation of new rooms for the workers. And yes, it was the same building. She had transported it instantly, people included, to the coast... I still couldn't follow the complex snow manipulation she'd used, recognizing again how much I still needed to learn.
But, if the building was a bit bigger on the outside, it was now gargantuan underground. Just like that, she had built another inverse spire right below the orphanage. At the moment, the only inhabitant of what was now our de facto home, the only person Anaissa kneeled on besides me, was Hisa. Hisa deserved having the underground palace to herself for the day. The best of beds, the most delicious food, her every whim taken care of, anything desired for the heroine who risked everything to save me. The best rest for the best person, to recover from the helliest of shifts.
So, I ascended to my room in the old attic and put the beautiful sleeping brute under the covers, afterward accommodating myself in the old armchair. She might have appreciated me cuddling with her, but I knew better: her body was in even worse shape than the time months ago that I'd worked myself to the bone trying to understand the Snow. I couldn’t remember the last time she'd rested on her huge bed. Heck, maybe she only slept when I went to spend my days off with her.
“Come here,” she said, just as I touched my seat. She opened the sheets and gave me some space.
I didn’t argue with her, not that I wanted to, so I threw my shoes aside and laid down under the covers of my tiny bed. Then, before I could turn toward her, she embraced me. Not in her usual, aggressive way, but in a weak and tired one. She was consciously willing herself to remain awake.
“…I’m sorry,” she whispered into my ear. ”I couldn’t help you, I almost got your home taken from you. You could have lost your friend, and really, my actions only hastened what happened in Colony 32.” She was genuinely ashamed. I remained silent, letting her vent a bit. ”That guy, Vazet… he’s not just anyone. Do you remember what he called me? Vessel of Despair. I’ve never heard anyone call me that but,” she let out a laugh, "there isn't a more accurate label for someone like me." She then took a long deep breath, as though forcing herself to keep talking. "Tell me, Renate, have you heard of those called Vessels of Despair?”
I turned my gaze to her. She kept her eyes closed, but her presence was clearly awake.
“…yes,” I replied, trying to stretch my memories a bit. "Before my troubles with my father began, I was on the path to become a shaman in my tribe. I studied our old legends and texts and, well, I overextended to stuff reserved exclusively for druids. All my tribe's shaman are female and all druids are male, and their knowledge is isolated from each other, so I only got glimpses about it.” Anaissa’s tense breathing didn’t settle. Still, I continued. "A Vessel of Despair is what happens when any living being is overcome by desperation. They get rid of their faces and substitute them with strange masks, so they can't be recognized again. They're known as either a curse or a blessing, depending on which tribe you ask. For me, they were just an old common folk tale.” Anaissa still seemed tense as a bow string. ”But you are a Vessel of Despair, aren’t you?"
“No,” she sighed after a short pause, ”...and yes. Where I came from, we were called, Wolves of Lucifer, and your description befits our own.” She shrunk even more under the covers. "I watched for them in the Aleph, day after day, to be sure they wouldn’t follow me into this paradise. Our little world could turn into a true nightmare because of them. But the joke’s on me,” she laughed with a note of sadness, "the Wolves in this universe aren’t on Earth, under the surveillance of my Aleph. Instead, they're all Thaebian. I’m the only one on this planet. And now, the one person who knows what I am, wants to use me like the people I tried to avoid by coming here."
What to say? Anaissa just confessed that she was a living legend, and because of that, my entire life had been turned upside down.
What to do? I could feel her trembling beside me, fearing my reply, expecting the worst.
What to think? Easy.
I embraced her back and kissed her in the hair.
“Whatever happened would have happened sooner or later,” I said softly, "and we're lucky you noticed the chains closing over and corrupting the city. You fought all the way to the enemy to make them show their hand. You planned this daring escape to keep at least one person safe. You’re not a demon; you’re our guardian. And no one pressured you to take that job. You kept us safe this whole time. You've earned a well deserved rest…"
…I said all that, but I knew she'd fallen asleep. Not long after, I followed.
When moonlight began pouring through my window, I woke to someone knocking on my door. The noise shook me, but Anaissa merely continued hogging the pillow. So, I begrudgingly stood up and moved to answer the door.
“Oh, you were here.” It was Ellie, still a bit shaken after all the recent changes. She usually had a perfect hairdo, completely clean and her clothes without a wrinkle; a far cry from her unkempt appearance now. ”I hadn't seen you since you walked in in this afternoon and…” she paused and, as uncommon as this situation was, casually leaned on the door frame. ”Please, let’s dine. Anaissa asked me to explain some things to you."
Now that she mentioned food, my stomach grumbled with all its might. My last meal was a meager piece of candy. No more words needed, we traveled down through the silent hallways. The kids were all asleep and the night guard was trying to keep himself awake with the help of strong coffee.
“Sorry if the food is a bit cold today,” The dining hall was already clean, except one table, "You didn’t came down to eat earlier, so…"
I knew she was just chattering to break the uncomfortable silence. We were used to the murmur of freighters near the city wall, and the annoying rumbling the space elevator caused all throughout the domed structure of the city. Now, only the subtle sound of waves broke the stillness, and that was unnerving to her.
Not that I cared about it: I thrived on this hushed ambience. Either way, I had to help Anaissa sort out a big problem for the workers.
“That friend of yours sure is very peculiar,” she began, while I ate some lukewarm soup. "First, she confronted the heads of Loulo Child Services; then, she made us appear here; those new side buildings and then… there's that dream.” her forehead was covered in sweat. "I don’t know what kind of… witchcraft she uses, but she’s convincing.” Ellie breathed deeply twice before continuing. "Anaissa said she’d found Colony 32 'trapped in chains'. I didn’t get her mumbo jumbo, but I assume she was talking about that new drug in the city: The Alivio.
>>That’s nothing new, though. Some unhealthy fads come and go, and someone like me observes them come to light and then fall into obscurity.” She was old enough not to fall into any weird trends. Too many new things, too many times, tired even the most adventurous people. "Not this time though, I fear."
>>According to Anaissa, Vazet Messiah, the CEO of Te’iz Inc., is the person behind it. I didn’t follow all her explanations about how he managed to get the authorities on his side, but it’s clear he’s got civil support in his illegal endeavors. He extended his grasp from hospitals to pubs in less than a year, bribing whoever he wanted to keep silent, and made sure anyone incorruptible disappeared without a yelp. Soon he had even the police force under his direct control, and recently, even the bureaucrats of the elevator couldn’t stop his shady business. We could say he’s a very skillful business man, but the reality is creepier than it seems.” I stopped eating at that point. Her upset demeanor was even more unnerving than her briefing; she seemed about to break down right there. "That man… that… monster! I saw what that drug really does! Super strength? Extra stamina? Pain killer? No! Nothing of that! That’s just a cover! It’s an elaborate tool, a chain to keep us trapped!” Whatever it was, it was upsetting even her Snow. "This wasn’t a 'get money fast' scheme,” she continued at a whisper, "What do you think he did with those who wasted away from the drug? Why do you think one of his first objectives was taking control of the hospitals and clinics of the city? Why did he prioritize those first??"
>>An ill person won’t go away. A poor ill person can't escape. And those touched by the Alivio would end up in Vazet-controlled hospitals. And then…” she stood and took several neurotic steps before stopping. It wasn’t just fear that made her this upset. "Look, Renate…” Ellie turned to me and, soon after, kneeled before me, as kind and motherly as ever. What worried me more than anything though, was that she called me by my actual name. Only when dead serious would she refer to me as anything but little girl. "I love you as you are. I would never let you leave if I could avoid it. I would do what I could to make your life easier, using whatever resources I have at hand, even repeating that little excuse about your medicine skills to give you some semblance of home…” then, she hugged me desperately, "but I don’t know if I can look you in the eyes again without hating you.” I remained silent, but realized now that whatever Anaissa had shown her, was caused by Vazet, who happened to be a black-eyed Thaebian like me. Whatever Vazet had done was enough to shake Ellie's most core beliefs. "Renate, he’s experimenting on us. Dissecting us. Learning what makes us tick,” she separated from me and looked me fiercely in the eyes,. "Turning us into Thaebians like you!"
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