Chapter 1:

How truly hard is it to withstand suffering?

From the creation to the destruction of the world, from the depths of the seas to the heights of the mountains, every human being had an idea on how to answer this question. 

Everyone had suffered at least once in their lives. Some grieved because of losses, some because of bad decisions, some because of social conditions and some because of illness.

Everyone had suffered in one way or another. 

Everybody, except for Elisabetta.

...

Boom Boom Boom

Different bombs exploded inside the village of Villetta, as the Nugan army was invading the Rostrovian territory.

Many houses were destroyed due to the impact of explosions occurring and everyone was panicking. There was an atmosphere of hopelessness, with nothing to cheer and be grateful of.

Before the attack had started, there was a great festival in Villetta. Glasses of wine were drunk by the old men of the village, while women were gossiping about random facts that they would have soon forgotten. That, however, had stopped when the sunlight was covered by the shadow of the aggressive mechas.

Suddenly, from under the mountains, another mecha appeared.

The mecha's name was ZA-7. It had sharp features, which were enhanced by its purplish color. It's red eyes gazed at the enemies' mechas, as its menacing sword was waiting for its time to shine.

The mecha lifted its arm, pointing the sword against the village. 

BOOM

The mecha had swung its weapon against the Nugan army and, within some seconds, the frontlines were gone. 6 mechas had exploded, only sparing their control room, which was positioned inside the mecha's heads.

This gave instants of hope to the citizens of Villetta, who had seen their lives ruined and saved once again in some seconds. Not only were they hopeful, but also amazed by the ZA-7's pilot's prowess.

This little moment of joy was bound to end, as, from above the mountains, other Nugan mechas came. They were numerous, and each one of them was colored with the pigments of the Nugan flag: blue, red and white. Instead of focusing on ZA-7, they launched bombs against the village, then ran away.

Boom Boom Boom

It was a complete disaster. People ran away from the village they had lived peacefully in for a lifetime, as it became a portrait of ruins. The Nugan mechas did not care to destroy the potent purple mecha, but rather damage the cities.

Moms were persevering on their run, as their carried children were crying while unconscious of what the families were facing.

Some kids who were just 6 or 7, instead, fully comprehended what was happening, but instead decided to remain still. They were too heavy to be carried by someone and they were too weak to run on their own. The only thing left to do was to look around for protection and cover themselves.

Some others, instead, were already dead. A part of the city was completely vanished and all the dreams and hopes were gone in instants.

At this sight Elisabetta, the pilot of ZA-7, could not stand it. The mecha rushed towards the enemy's army and stucked its sword inside 5 mechas in one go. It crushed them all to the ground. The other mechas fired against ZA-7, but for the wicked Nugan army it was a hopeless situation.

SWING

Elisabetta, with her rapid movements, had destroyed the entire Nugan formation, with the exception of one mecha. The pilot of that last mecha tried to convey surrender, but he was not fast enough.

ZA-7 grabbed the neck of the last mecha and pushed it against the ground. After immobilizing it, she placed the ZA-7's hand above the lasting mecha's face and began to press it down, inch by inch. The mecha's core was about to be completely crushed, giving the pilot a slow death to suffer. Each piece of metal was gradually detaching from the mecha's structure as the pressure grew stronger and stronger.

The mecha's pilot, who was even struggling to breathe properly, had to find an exit, or, either, he would have had the same end as all the others. 

Unlike the others though, he had some hope.

"Please, God!" In this moment of apparent hopelessness, all he could do was pray.

But still no chances for his survival came.

"God, Please! Please, God! Please!"

For him, who wasn't even inhaling oxygen correctly, it was even harder to pray his holy father, and yet, he did.

But no result seemed to arrive.

"God, please please please please God please god please i beg you with all my heart please! pleasee!" he cried in agony.

Suddenly, as the metallic structure was being pushed down, a small aperture was formed on the mecha's face due to the detachment of two separated parts of the robot.

Although the space to pass through was now minute, the man still used all his forces to climb to that aperture.

Step by step and fatigue after fatigue, the man reached the top with countless scars on his arm.

He then turned his gaze to ZA-7's face.

"I'm a spy for the country of Rostrovo. I beg for you to bring me to your barracks and prove my authenticity there!"

"Are other enemy's mechas coming?" Elisabetta asked to the unknown spy.

"No, they aren't."

Elisabetta used the Enemy Recognition function to control any possible attack from the enemy in 50 miles.

No enemies were directed against Villetta. Perhaps the spy was truthful.

"Alright then, hop on my mecha's hand" She ordered the spy.

And so he did. Elisabetta opened ZA-7's head and made the spy enter the central room of the purplish mecha. The inside of mecha's head was surprisingly beautiful. Unlike all other mecha's inside, it was colorful and joyful, with countless paintings of happy spring days attached to its walls. 

At the center of the room, there was her. Elisabetta started moving the mecha towards the nearest military barracks.

"What's your name?" She asked, as she was controlling the mecha with attention.

"Mark Auzbern, born and raised in Commodo, city of Rostrovo."

"Mark, how is life going?"

"It's going pretty well, Sir."

Elisabetta then turned her face towards Mark.

Although she was a main soldier for the Rostrovian army, she was just a 18 year old! Her purple eyes shone brightly, enhancing her young face which had a beautiful aspect due to her nice facial proportions and her middle-length brown curly hair. Unlike other soldiers, she was wearing a beautiful yellow dress, which fitted her body perfectly.

Even though Mark was older, 21 years old, he had to keep himself composed as he was gazing at the person who had completely dissolved his fake allies and was about to destroy him too. His grey eyes were staring at Elisabetta's purple pupils, which reflected Mark's face and his blonde messy hair.

Elisabetta then smiled, a soft laughter exiting her mouth. She was really happy to be with someone, after a long time of perpetual loneliness.

"Come on don't look at me like that! Truly, how was your day?"

"Uh?"

Hearing such friendly question, Mark looked at Elisabetta in disbelief. He had been raised in an environment of formality and regulations. How could a soldier of such rank behave like this? How could a soldier of Mark's rank be treated like this by a superior?

"I am truly happy to have been saved by you, but..."

"But?"

"But I am really sorry to have ruined so many lives!"

Mark, understanding that she was a person he could talk thruthfully to, was genuinely sad about what had happened. He regretted it all. He could have refused to take the role of a spy long time before. Although he was pleased by her charming face, it wasn't enough for him to feel good again. It wasn't enough to bear the pain he had carried for so long.

He kneeled on the ground and cried his words of movement out expresionlessly.

"But I have killed so many people of my own country. I don't deserve to be treated so well! You don't know but- but before coming to this village I've destroyed so many other ones just to get intelligence for generals. God is never going to forgive such a sinner as me!"

"I may not be God but..." Elisabetta murmured, "I forgive you."

But who was she to pronunciate such words? She was not a divine judge, nor was she one of the people who had grieved deaths and hardships due to war. She was simply a bystander, who watched people die and run for their lives as she was controlling a well protected robot whose use was to avoid that such sufferings happened.

And yet, Mark felt better thanks to her forgiveness. The most probable reason was that he understood how transparent of a person Elisabetta was. The fact that she didn't have any idea of what Mark had to bear and was still able to empathize with it made him feel something unrecognizably positive, something most definitely pure.

"Thanks..." Mark responded, as he turned his face to the side, "I guess."

After the conversation, Mark took a chair which was in the lower right hand corner of the mecha's control room. It was a wooden chair, with a figure of a heart carved in it. He lifted it an put it near Elisabetta's core chair.

They both enjoyed the sight of the mountains in front of them. It was 5 PM of a day of december and the sun was setting. The sky was covered in purple and blue, which would have enhanced the beauty of the stars that were about to appear.

Mark then opened his mouth. 

"I haven't asked you yet. What's your name?"

"My name is Elisabetta. Elisabetta alone, without a surname."

"Oh. Well, Elisabetta." He was happy to be able to talk to someone about himself, "In those moments you were destroying my mecha's face... I saw the end."

"What's the end? Your life hasn't faded away yet. I can testimony it. You are here. You are alive." She responded.

"Well, not that end. In those moments I felt judged. I can't tell if it was the voice of God, but it was judging my sins one by one. The more I heard them, the more I wanted to be forgiven." Only at that time did he understood the crimes he had been committing all along.

"As you are not dead, that voice was most definitely you. As long as you comprehend what you did wrong, you can still do something about it and move on." She responded, "and even if you can't move on on your own, there is still someone by your side. Me. I know how you feel. I can help you. Even if I have just got to know you, I will forgive you, whatever happens."

"Well, from today I will never see you again though. You know..." Mark replied.

"Hmmm, do you have a home in Rostrovo?" Elisabetta, interested, asked.

"Well, I did but, it got destroyed last week, by me."

"In that case, you will live with me."

"What?-" 

"Yes! I haven't had a friend in a while, and having someone who talks to me so freely is surely a wonderful experience. So, why not?"

There was no doubt that this argument was solid. What was actually impeding this, though, were Mark's thought.

Did he have the right for it? Was he worth of living a happy life? Did he, who had committed so many sins, deserve even a bit of it?

As he asked himself those questions silently, someone broke that silence.

"You do deserve this."

That someone was Elisabetta, who, recognizing Mark's silence, perceived his thoughts accurately.

"Oh..."

Mark felt an emotional connection that was far beyond anything he had experience in the Nugan army. 

Since he was 10 he had gone on a spying mission in Nugany, along with his father. His dad soon died in war, but he continued to train in the Nugan military schools until the age of 18, when he finally joined the Nugan army. As time passed, to pursue his mission, Mark was occasionally able to give important intelligence to his homeland Rostrovo. Yet, the attachment to his origins had always been something temporary. 

For 11 years of his life, Mark had only experienced fake friendships, and he had no memory of its previous ones. Thus, for the first time in the life he could remember, he had a real friend.

"Well, then I happily accept your offer."

Elisabetta smiled, and Mark, seeing her joy, rejoyced and smiled too.

As they had finally gotten to the military barracks, Elisabetta parked ZA-7 in one of the spots available and exited the mecha through an elevator which brought to the right foot of irt.

Before doing so, though, Elisabetta had blocked Mark's arms with handcuffs, as a way to show formality to the people in the barracks, due to the fact that a possible enemy was entering it.

The assurance of Mark's identity was quick. They entered the barracks and after asking, the manager checked the documents where all spies were reported. There it was Mark Auzbern, on one of the thousands pages printed. 

Mark was freed from the handcuffs and Elisabetta entered her personal car, which was parked outside the barracks, to drive Mark to her house.

It was not a very long drive. Her house should have been at Cosco village, only 20 minutes away from the barracks. The road to the village was dangerous due to the battle that had just happened. 

No one had expected the enemy to attack that territory, so there were no protections at all, thus, it made Nugany's attack even more disastrous. Thankfully, the Rostrovian defense had been fierce, therefore it didn't ought to be another attack by Nugany in the future. This, alongside with the protection of the hydric underground structure, made it safe for citizens to come back to their houses.

However, for Elisabetta, it was another story.

As she had finally arrived to her destination, she wondered where the house which was so precious to her were. Mark tried to help, and when they had finally reached the place where it should have been, the realization was unpleasant.