Juniper

The countryside was beautiful. 

We were only a couple minutes into the WellRide when I started to notice our surroundings change. Sterile single-unit residential buildings gave way to the sea of sand, an infinite golden ocean stretching out as far as I could see, the edges fading into the distant horizon. 

Inside the cabin, Elia and I had fallen into a comfortable silence, both of us probably too tired from the day's events to even think straight. 

Hah. Think straight.

In the front seat, our driver had put on some traditional music station and was nodding his head along with the beat. The songs were in some foreign language - at least not any language I was familiar with - but they were quiet and relaxing. 

I missed my home. It was strange, my old memories always hit me the hardest when I had a particularly eventful day. It was like they were taunting me, urging me to return to my peaceful, quiet life on Xylia. 

That life was long gone. Honestly, it had always been a fragile fantasy. Its broken facade was left splintered the moment I left. 

I remember racing my harvest-sisters through the fields of bloodflowers, our tiny golden heads parting the oceans of red. We would come home from the Harvest Season with the soles of our feet stained crimson, barefoot with unbreakable smiles decorating our faces. 

And once the Great Dying arrived annually, as we migrated back to our schools, Mother would try to scold us, try to reprimand us for leaving footprints on her beige rugs, but would fail, her face eventually breaking out into an amused grin. 

It was so different on Gamma-8. Everyone was so strict, as if the only thing that mattered in the world was upholding order. There was no gray area - only right and wrong. 

This was why I should have been worried. I knew the ambassadors had already decided on my punishment - death. 

But for some reason, I felt strangely calm. Sure, I was fading fast, but I had no worries about my future. In a way, once everything was certain, I no longer felt the need to fight back. 

I was withering. I felt it in my bones, the last remnants of the plants of my home planet leaving my system. That one piece of flora I had snatched from that official was my only hope, my strength dissipating from my body every minute I wasted. I needed that apple. 

I drifted off with my head against the door of the WellRide, my last thought before drifting off being the sea of sand right outside my window. I had found my peace, unsteady as it was.

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"Juniper, wake up."

Elia tapped my shoulder, a serious expression set across her face. 

"We're almost there. Are you ready?"

I fluttered open my bleary eyes and sat up in my seat, gazing out the window. The golden desert was gone, replaced with austere cliffs that surrounded us on all sides. The cliffs were covered in glass-covered caves, shining like tiny stars amidst the quickly darkening sky. 

I had no idea how I had managed to fall asleep, but I didn't regret it. Earlier today, I was having problems thinking through my actions, and I knew I needed to reset my brain before Elia finally broke and told me what she really wanted from me. 

I turned to face her, plastering on a faked grin, trying to hide my nervousness. 

"I'm ready," I replied. "Where are we?"

She looked up at me from the window, her eyes reflecting some far-away place and her mouth curved in a distant smile. 

"Welcome to Xena, home of the last resistance, a group that has all but disappeared from history yet still has an unbreakable grasp on the city. This land is in my blood, and the people are always in my heart."

Uh, what?

I shot her a confused look. 

Why did she always have to be so dramatic?

Elia shifted away from the window and positioned herself so that she could look me in the eyes without craning her head. 

She shot me a deadpan look. 

"I grew up here."

"So... we're going to your childhood home?" I asked. 

 "Not exactly," she responded. "It's a long story."

I shot her a curious glance, eager to know more.

Elia paused, struggling to pick the right words to explain. 

"Just a couple of years ago, I spotted this mansion on the market, and I decided to purchase it. That's it," she let out a small sigh. "I had made millions over the years through my work - the only benefit of this job, if I'm being honest - so it was no big deal money-wise. I just needed a place outside the capital, that's all."

Elia already had a house and she was what? 25?

Even as a planetary outsider, I knew the housing market on Gamma-8 was terrible. Prices were record-high, and it was nearly impossible to get a loan large enough to purchase a house. 

She must have some sort of generational wealth behind her. There was no way she was able to procure so much money, enough to buy property, with nothing. 

I shot Elia a surprised look and she shrugged it off, turning back to face the window. I did the same, eager to examine the cliffs more thoroughly.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my right folder. Elia grabbed my elbow and pulled me close to her, leaning in to whisper in my ear and pointing at something far off in the distance, a wistful smile on her face. 

"There it is," she whispered. "That is my house."

At the top of the cliff, just barely visible from down below, sat a massive black house. It was ginormous - it could fit at least 18 guests - and austere, its shadowy facade only further adding to the fear factor.

Yet, the house was hauntingly beautiful. I couldn't see much from the WellRide cabin, but of what I could see, it reminded me of the past, of gilded glamour stained with nostalgia. Of yachts, of clear water, of sun-kissed days of summer glory.

Elia was back to looking at me, her expression conflicted. She looked as though she wanted to ask me something, but just didn't have the courage to say it. 

I glanced up at her eyes and flashed a small smile. 

"What do you think?" She asked. 

"It's gorgeous."

"I know."

It was like I had unlocked a secret to her soul. She lit up, her eyes shining like the stars earlier this morning. 

"Isn't it magical?" She replied. 

I let out a small chuckle. 

"I really haven't seen it yet, Elia. I'm sure it's amazing though."

"Well," Elia paused, forgetting how far away we were. "We're only a couple of minutes away - you'll be able to see it soon anyway."

"I am looking forward to it."