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A sharp pain pierced Kryta's head. She stopped walking, almost dropping Salem in the process.

"Kryta! Are you Alright?"

"Hu-uh? Whe-where are we?" Kryta realized what she said, "I meant to say where we're going, towards Deaor right?"

Salem's grip on Kryta's shoulders tightened as she frowned, "Yes, to Deaor. I kinda remember the way around here more or less, as long as we keep heading towards this direction we'll be good"

"Alright"

Hours passed since they left the building they took shelter in. Since then Kryta patched up their clothing, for practicality, and found water and bags of chips from some vending machine they found. Salem left some quarters for payment, Kryta was wanted to tell her there was no need for that but didn't stop the girl. And now here they are, walking South to reach Deaor and hopefully safety. Kryta is carrying Salem who has the water bottles and chip bags in her coat that's currently being used as a crude makeshift bag.

"Kryta?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

Salem paused, thinking about how she word what she's about to say, "Don't you think it's weird that we haven't seen anyone like, at all? No dead bodies or even live ones? Have you noticed?"

Kryta looked around, gazing at her surroundings as she took notice of Salem's words. There was nothing, nothing at all, not any bodies, no sign of others, it's as if they all just Vanished.

"The Vanishing, that was one the things that had happened after I woke up, no?" Kryta thought out loud, "An event in which almost half of the solar system's human population just Vanished. But not enough to be noticed…."

Salem looked at the girl's back as she held on tight to her, "It was noticed….By the other planets and cities, it's just that…..Deaor doesn't like talking about things like that, maybe for a day, but no longer than that"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You don't want know"

Kryta was about to ask what she meant by that but froze. Salem may have thought it was because she didn't give Kryta a proper answer had she not lifted up her head to see forward. It was faint, really faint, something you wouldn't have noticed had you not been looking for something.

In the dim morning light out in the distance was a fire, a camp fire it seems, and where there is a camp fire is where people normally are found. Had it been any other case the two girls would have been ecstatic but when they hadn't even encountered any signs of at least one living soul, they reasonably were on edge.

Kryta walked over some broken ledge of a broken down building and sat Salem down to catch her breath.

"A camp fire right after a disaster. Who even gets the time to make one?" Kryta asked, keeping hushed, her voice hidden under the guise of the whistling wind.

Salem just stared ahead, "It has been a little more than a day since the quakes occurred and it would make sense if the said person was in some kind store with some matches?"

"But you said it yourself, Deaor and the cities around aren't prepared for these types of things, 'massive earthquakes of this magnitude just doesn't happen around here', so how is it that those buildings over there stand?"

"Well, we are towards the center of novas where one of the biggest political figures in the five live so I don't know? Maybe they wanted to safe from non existent terrisism?"

Kryta sat with Salem for a while longer wondering what their next course of action should be. Should they approach the person there and ask for help? Or should they perhaps remain wary of the mystery person?

"And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to ask for some help, I can't keep carrying you like this and you know it! We need to get a doctor or something!" Kryta whispered loudly. Any other day she would have stayed away from the unknown, however, with the injuries Salem has and loss of blood left her with no other choice.

Salem didn't say anything else as Kryta left her hidden around some pile of rubble.

Now that Salem was quite literally off her back she could walk much more quickly. Kryta begins to approach the campfire and the closer she got the more she grasped more details. The buildings that surrounded her were all over the place, some crumbled, broken, and the closer she reached the fire, the buildings seemed to be rather tilted with little damage compared to those around.

Kryta walked a little further, finally reaching the origin of the fire. She panted after crossing the uneven terrain. With one more breath, she hastily sat down.

In Front of her lay a crude pitched tent, tins of food, and lots of cooking utensils. This seems like a lot supplies for post disaster that happened not to long ago. Didn't Salem earlier say that earthquakes were practically non existent? Perhaps they were in some kind store that sold such things when it happened.

Kryta got up once more to further approach the settlement. No sooner than she passed the campfire did she retch back in disgust. Tears began to gather in her eyes as she raised her hand to cover her nose. It was a smell Kryta was all the more acquainted with in her life as a princess. It had never bothered her before so why now? Why did she react the way she did? Why did she turn a deathly pale upon the realization? Why did she enter the tent?

Inside was what appeared to be a person huddled in a large amount of blankets. The smell worsened into a vile sense of dread.

"I-Is anyone there?"

Kryta already knew the answer.

Someone was indeed there, just not in the state Kryta wanted.

Kryta got out as quickly as she came and beyond the campfire where she fell to her knees and gasped for air. Once she regained her breath she just sat still, then she began to snivel.

Kryta didn't feel disturbed in any way, it was something she was used to seeing, but she still cried. Why did she cry? Why did her body react-

Her body. She didn't have black hair, it was blonde. She was never this tall, she just barely passed five feet. Her eyes were a hueful blue. This wasn't her body, this isn't her.

How did she forget?

Kryta felt indifferent.

Emily felt sorrow, so very sorrowful and still very much afraid of the death of others.