A Normie's Recollection

Watching the now freed prisoners gave Glen a feeling he thought he would never have the day he was captured. That day, he thought that he would never taste freedom again or do whatever he liked whenever he liked because he was a human. Seeing how happy the people were as they rushed towards the entrance, ready to embark on their journey back home made him feel when he first met Mackie and Kita. They have been friends for a long time before the Anomalies invaded their homes and took them as slaves and prisoners for forced labor. 

The first time they met Maryna was in the first camp but when she had tried to escape, they put her on a transport to another camp where she would work to work in a diamond mine. When Zini first refused him and stayed back at her cabin, he felt worse than he did on the day of his capture. But she came along and helped them in ways they would never be able to repay her no matter how hard they tried.

He turned around from where he stood on the edge of the cliff overseeing the quarry and spotted his friends huddled together and Zini sitting a few feet away from them laughing at something they said. Maryna sat with Mackie and Kita and spoke to them with an ecstatic look on her face. They were different from the look she had when she dug stones out a few hours ago. Her hands, feet, and knees were wrapped tightly with clean cloths. Kita's head was also wrapped in similar bandaging.

He liked Mackie for a long time before their capture and was about to tell her before they were taken away from their families. He hinted at this to her many times during and out of their capture, but she always missed the point. Or perhaps she pretended to miss it. He knew that meant that she didn't reciprocate what he felt.

Sighing, he turned back around to look at the ship that was almost out of sight. When she felt Glen's eyes off her, Zini looked in his direction and lowly sighed. She hated this feeling. It made her feel vulnerable and low but high in ways she could not imagine. When she looked at him, it was a different thing she felt amidst feeling vulnerable. For the past few weeks she'd gotten closer to Glen and became his friend. She thought nowadays that feeling vulnerable didn't feel too bad at all. But the thing was, he wasn't facing her. Not her at all. He faced Mackie and there was nothing Zini could do about it.

"Zini!" Zini's head shot up when she heard her long-time friend's voice. Without thinking, she got up from her position near a the diamond mine's entrance and hugged Maryna tightly. Maryna stared with this content feeling inside her. She was free. What's more, she was reunited with her best friend again. The last time they were together seemed so long ago, and she wondered just how she had been faring after being banished. That was all on her mind.

But in Zini's mind, she was happy. All the happiness from years ago when they were friends to just themselves and felt different from the world came rushing back and even Star was at peace. After a long moment of holding each other, they sat back down on by one of the ruined buildings.

"I'm sorry, Maryna. I'm so sorry." Zini broke down into tears and cried into her hands as Maryna watched her with squinted eyes.

"Oh, no, Zini. Sorry for what?"

"For everything. For leaving you and getting into trouble with my parents. I should have stayed out of my father's way and my mom's. I knew if I left you, you'd be alone with everyone else who taunted and mocked us. But I just couldn't let my father go for what he did. There is still no excuse. I'm so sorry."

Maryna grabbed a hold of Zini's hand and even though she had tears running down her face and her voice was choked with sobs, she said. "Nothing is your fault. It's all theirs. The question is why they would treat us that way even though we were a part of them?"

Zini looked up from her hands and stared at Maryna in surprise at what she was saying. How could she still defend her?

"But I had powers and you didn't. That solely meant I was to stand by your side, but I got so wrapped up with my family."

"You're not seeing it right, Zini. You keep referring to how bad you think you behaved but you have forgotten that our own people treated us like Normies. Nothing... nothing at all is our fault. It's all theirs." Maryna punched her friend's shoulder lightly in a playful manner and said with a small smile.

"And stop blaming yourself for anything. If anyone should be at fault, it's me. Hit the girl that just couldn't squeeze her powers out when she became of age." 

Zini smiled lightly too. She had forgotten.

Maryna was an Anomaly but without powers yet only on the outside, just like Zini. She was born with poor eyesight but when she grew older, things changed. Maryna could see miles across landscapes at night like others could during the day. Unaided, even Anomaly soldiers needed tech called night-vision googles to do what Maryna could naturally. Lastly, Maryna could sense living creatures around her as far as her night-vision. This power, though, worked during the day and night time hours.

Both girls both hoped to grow up and into their powers but when only strength and smarts came to Zini and nothing substantial came for Maryna, their lives grew harder. Sometimes the 'gay' title they were given because of how much time they spent together made things worse. Of course, they would spend such a lot of time together! They had been segregated from their kind because they were a little different. Zini's thoughts changed direction when she remembered the hardships she and Maryna faced when they were young.

"Maryna." Zini looked closely at her friend who looked back, waiting for her next sentence. "How did you end up here?"

Maryna's expression changed from a light to a sad one. Zini turned away from ruins to face her friend and repeated the question.

"What happened back home?" she asked again.

Maryna looked away from Zini and toward a passing crowd of humans looting the place before departure. The winds were gentler now and a little evening light had begun to shine through the dark clouds. Thoughts from two years ago rushing into her mind. She remembered the day Zini was banished. Although she wasn't right there in the throne room where the big fight occurred, she could feel it deep within her that her friend was gone. 

""The King made a decree three months after they banished you." Maryna began. "Anyone without powers that identified as an Anomaly would be forever treated as a Normie." 

Yet all of them knew the rumors of the king actually being in fear of people like his rebellious daughter and believed they hid in Caprice under his nose. This decree sparked many riots started by those from both parties--the king's supporters vs. his many haters. The city was divided but eventually, Don's side won.

Maryna's family hid her for those three months amidst jabs from the same family. They continued to tell her in past times that if she willingly kept away from Zini, they might not have come into this predicament. And if she willingly gave herself up to the king, they wouldn't be in all this trouble of hiding her away from him. He might as well treat her good for giving herself away or may just be banished. But he didn't treat his kind well, let alone his daughter. He wanted her murdered by his men. What made Maryna's family think he would treat Zini's powerless friend any better?

Maryna decided to run away. She felt that if she didn't, her own family would eventually betray her and give her up to die in the hands of her king. Consequently, she ran and never looked back.

As she did, the king's men were right on her trail. Before long, they caught her and returned her to the king. He banished her along with many others to different parts of the world to be slaves and prisoners.

"Since then, I've been transferred all over to different camps. In one of them, I met these three who stuck by me like glue." Maryna smiled as she looked at Kita and Mackie who now stood with Glen on the cliff lookout.

Zini apologized again to Maryna and looked in the direction she looked—At Glen. She hadn't realized she had been staring for so long when Maryna tapped her hand. "You like him, don't you?" Maryna said looking at Zini.

Zini snapped her head back to her friend and shook her head with an awkward smile. "No." 

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Yes, you do!" Maryna repeated further teasing Zini who laughed and looked back at Glen. Now, sadly.

"I'm sorry, Zin." Maryna read her friend. She knew all too well that Zini liked Glen and had caught her stealing long glances and looks at him as he stood right there on the cliff. She'd seen that look in Zini before when they were little. Yet Zini quit after no Anomaly male was interested in her. They always went for the more outwardly powerful ones so Zini gave up on trying to get a boyfriend. On the subject of love, Maryna knew her friend was infatuated with Glen. What she didn't know was that he didn't like Zini but liked Mackie.

"He likes her." Zini affirmed and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Yeah. I see that." Maryna replied and looked at Zini with a smile. "Now, when did we start getting attracted to guys again? That is so unlike the 'Forever Alone' girl AKA: Ms. Lonely."

They both laughed at Maryna's remark and sat together as the sunshine through the clouds.

"If there are people as cute as Glen out there, there's hope for me yet." Zini looked at her friend and her friend looked back.

"We shall see!" Maryna teased.

"Okay." Zini stood up and dusted her bum of sand and then stretched a hand down to Maryna. "Let's go."

At that, Zini and Maryna joined the others. They then got in a boat and traveled down the river leading to Destiny.