Memories

"I protect them here because of a promise" shes says, she turns around, walks up and sits next to Artur, " A few years ago, I was only a teenager, my mom died not long after my birth so my dad was the one taking care of me. Before, we didn't live in the undercity, we lived in the upper section, making money was hard, my father needed to take care of me and always be on the job to get barely enough for us to survive, he was a construction worker, it was dangerous and with the lowest salary. My dad, knowing that this money wouldn't be enough for the both of us, knowing that getting another job would be impossible with me to take care of, thought that the only way out was to make more money by trading metal illegally. It didn't last long before the security department quickly noticed the missing metal and started searching for my father, the city was no longer a safe place for the both of us, so we went in the only place we could without getting caught, "the undercity", the conditions here were even worse than in the city, the only way of getting food was through pillage in the buildings or stealing from the other refugies. We were barely surviving, until one day, my dad went outside our shelter, looking for any food or water, noticing that he was gone for a long time, I went outside myself to find him. After hours of wandering, I finally found him, he was sitting there, next to a beautiful tree, I thought he was sleeping, so I went to wake him up. When I got closer to the tree, I passed out. The next thing I saw was waking up, next to a woman, she looked so kind, she ressembled my mother that I saw in her photos: flowing red hair and emerald green eyes, she reassured me and told me that I was safe with her, her name was Nebulia, she had two beautiful daughters, Sunny and Luna. I asked her where my father was and how was he, at that moment, I learned that my father died, due to the overdose of the drugs and gas the tree released, he was apparently laying there for hours, if only I could have went out sooner.", a tear flows on Stell's cheek slowly. Before Artur can say anything, she recomposes and continues:

"Nebulia was taking care of me from that moment, I never understood why, out of pity? Or just pure kindness? Probably. She was like the mother I never had, keeping me, like one of her own children. I was doing my best to return this gratitude, helping them in every tasks I could accomplish. I learned not too long after that they were all anomalies, I already knew their existence from the announcements of danger up in the city, saying that every anomaly is dangerous and destructive, but Nebulia showed me another version of it. She was an anomaly, but she was kinder than any human I saw in the whole world. I stayed with her for years and loved her with all my heart.

Through out the years in the underground city, I learned the majority of all it's dangers, other than the mirage trees, SARCO is an even bigger threat, drones and hunters were always nearby and I learned to be careful around them. 5 years after the death of my father, I wanted to thank Nebulia for all the care she was giving for me by offering her a gift, it was a small globe which showed image of space inside it, she told me that with this globe, she could show the stars to all of us. After months of planning and preparation, I was finally able to get the globe in a destroyed store, excited I rushed home, extatic about the idea to finally please my adoptive mother for all the work she was doing for the 3 of us. When I arrived home, I happily showed Nebulia the globe, before she could say anything, an explosion destroyed the entrance of our home, with my excitement, I did not notice that I was follow by a hunter, the worst outcome, he coldhearlty attacked us, I was petrified, in tears, Nebulia did not hesitate and with her powers, she had hold off the hunter long enough for me to take the sisters and run.

I was waiting for Nebulia to come with us but instead she had thrown us into the sewers, opening a way to escape, I was in tears, beggind her to come with, but she refused. Her finally words to me were "Run and protect your sisters Stell! Your their last hope! Survive!", she told me that she was sorry that she was abandonning us and finally, she said that she loved me. I wanted to stay, to cry, to fight with her, but I knew I had to run, the girls were crying uncontrolably, begging to come back to their mother. I took them and we ran as hard as we could, we heard screaming, explosions, then nothing. After hours of running, we stopped here, in this shelter, we didn't move for days.

I knew Nebulia died, but I couldn't accept it. After that night, while I was looking for water and food for my sisters, I was also looking for her, even to this day, I still hope to find her one day, with her warm smile and beatiful eyes. 3 years has passed since that night, the girls have grown more but they still miss her, I try my best for them but I just feel like..." tears flow from Stell's eyes, Artur knows it's still difficult for her to say all this, be reminded of all those memories, he wants to stop her but does not know how, "I just feel like this is all my fault, if I was more careful, that hunter would not have killed her, we would have been happy, if I looked for dad sooner, I could have saved him, we could have been like a big family together...", Stell can't control her emotions anymore, her face is red, she tries to hide her face with her hands, she tries to wipe her tears, but they keep comming back. "It still hurts to remember all of this".

Artur gets closer to Stell, he can't find any words that could magicaly help her, so instead of talking, he simply decides to hug her, carefully placing his arms around her, he gives her a warm hug, not saying a word. Stell freeze at Artur's touch, trying to stop her uncontrolable cries, feeling the warmth of his hug, she hugs him in return, crying in his shoulder, "Thank you, you didn't had to do this, thank you" whimpers Stell softly, "I am sorry Stell, for not understanding all the pain that you feel, you have been through hell trying to survive in this world, you deserved so much better" calmly says Artur, hiding his sadness. She also feels another touch, she looks down and sees both Sunny and Luna, they are hugging her with all their weight, she also hears small whimpers comming from the girls, "Please don't cry Stell" cries Sunny, "We miss her too" whimpers Luna.

Stell stopped her whimpers, surprised from the feeling of warmth given by everyone, she smiles and cries once more with a little chuckle, "I know it's hard for you too girls, Nebulia was truly the best mother I could've wished for" says Stell with a shaky voice.

After enjoying this moment, everyone went to sleep once more, "Thank you Artur, we barely know each other and I have already dumped you with all this, I'm happy you understand, good night" wishes Stell before going to her own hammock, "Good night Stell, sleep well" replies Artur before getting on his favorite wooden boxes once more to sleep.

After what seemed a quick nap, Artur wakes up with a backpain, "These boxes are small killers" he says to himself. He notices Stell, already awoken, preparing a few tools before putting them in her belt, "Are you going somewhere?" asks Artur quietly, trying to not wake up the girls, "We're low on food, I need to get some outside" says Stell, "I'll go with you" affirms Artur, standing up, feeling a slight pain in his chest. Stell stops him with a sign of hand, "I would prefer if you stay here, you're still in bad shape and with my own condition" she looks at her arm, "I won't be able to make an escape like last time" she explains, "I won't take much time, I'll be back in a few hours." she looks with a concerned look at Artur then at the girls, hesitating to leave. Artur knew that Stell didn't completely trust him yet and that for her, leaving him with the girls is still a potential risk. That's the reason he wished to accompany her in the expedition but knowing that even in full health, danger is still high outside, he preferred to stay in the refuge. "I'll stay don't worry, but if I could've come with, I wouldn't stay here. Come back safely, I wouldn't forgive myself if you would get hurt once more because of me" says Artur with a genuine voice. Stell is still hesitant but in the end accepts to leave Artur in the refuge, giving him some of her trust.

Stell leaves and Artur is now alone with Sunny and Luna, making an akward environnement for Artur who was just resting in the distance. At first, the girls were still not totally feeling safe with him, but after a few time they started to find activities to cure the boredom. The sisters were playing by themselves at first, but feeling the presence of Artur, they felt uncomfortable leaving him out. The girls started to show all their drawings to Artur they made since their in here, most of the drawings were hung on the walls, the girls were imitating a museum exposition with their drawings, explaining them and their artistic message.

It didn't take long for Artur to finally lose some of his tension and play along, playing the role of a welthy client, looking to buy the drawings, the girls laughed at Artur's imitation and pushed the price of their drawings to the millions. After they ran out of drawings to sell, Luna decided to show Artur the book she was reading, it seemed like an old classic tale about a knight, a princess and of course... a dragon. Artur feeling the potential of a new game, started inventing a new story where the sisters were the knight and the princess and Artur was the big bad dragon, the girls quickly understood their roles they started to flee from Artur who was waving his hands and roaring around, imitating a destructive dragon. Sunny played the role of the courageous knight, protecting the elegent princess Luna.

They played like this for some time as Artur was continuing to tell his tale. The only way to defeat the dragon, was to unite their forces and strike all at once. Everything was thrown around when Stell arrived at the refuge, she saw the girls hiding behind a barricade of boxes, from Artur who was waving his hands and roaring playfully like a silly voracious dragon. When he saw Stell, who was concerned and confused for a moment, he froze, trying to quickly explain the situation to Stell before she would get the idea that he was actually trying to attack the sisters, Artur's word were coming out as mumbled blobs who were less and less understandable as his anxiety increased. Before Stell would start to accuse Artur, the girls interrupt her and explain that Stell is the hero they need to defeat the terrible dragon and finish the tale, Stell looks at the girls who are smiling and giggling behind the boxes and finally understand the situation, "Alright then "terrible dragon", time to defeat you" she says in an unserious tone, smirking. Artur finally defreezes from his paralisys, releasing his tension, he is grateful to the girls who probably saved his life just now by resolving the misunderstanding. "You can try if you want heroes but I will win" says Artur in a low proud voice, retaking his role of big bad dragon. After an intense battle, the girls unite their strength and defeat the big bad dragon with one final blow, the heroes are victorious. All of them sit down, resting, exhausted from the imagenery final stand.

Stell looks at the girls who are laughing and smiling and can't help but to smile herself, it's been a while since she saw them so happy, she knows that it's hard for the sisters but even in condition like these, it is still possible for them to laugh and have fun. Stell looks then Artur who is also tired but is still smiling from seeing the girls happy, she hasn't met any person she could trust in the undercity for years, she still had some doubts about Artur but was thankfull that he was trying his best to make the girls feel a little more joyful in this gloomy place, maybe she could finally rely on someone else than herself when taking care of the sisters. The thought quickly crossed her mind but she denied quickly, knowing that more time is needed to know if he really is someone to trust. She couldn't make any mistake by giving her trust, she didn't want to lose a loved one ever again, even if it meant rejecting everyone else.

The days continued to pass as Artur was staying in the refuge, resting and healing his fractures, with every knew day, he was feeling better and better, growing his bond with the sisters and Stell. Stell tried to stay as much as possible in the refuge, giving company to the sisters and as much information as she could to Artur who's questions seemed to be never ending about the world around them. Since she spent most of her life in the undercity, Stell didn't have much information about the upper level cities, she did explain about the term "circle" that she was using when explaining the cities.

"So you are saying that, this whole place is like a huge circle?" asks Artur, "Basically, imagine this whole complex of cities as multiple circles stacked on each other. Each circle is a level, we are on the lowest level, underneath all the other cities. The "undercity" is only an area of the lowest circle and most of the other areas are for the energy production companies or other destroyed cities like this one." she explains making gestures with her hand representing the layered circles. "They are three levels in total and the higher you are in levels, the richer you probably are. Unless you are one of the noble ones and you are even higher in the floating city in the middle of the circle, above everything else.", "Noble ones?" he asks. "Yeah if you are associated with the emperor, than you are one of the most powerful persons in the whole circle" she says gesturing again the floating city, in the middle of the circle, higher than any of the levels, making a cone shaped complex. "Okay but if the emperor and the floating city are high in the middle, what is in the center of the circle on the ground?" he asks more and more interested.

"From what my dad told me, they call it "the eye of the storm", the whole place is deserted except of a huge tank like machine rolling in the middle, collecting energy from a special sources. The energy found there is powerful enough to power the whole circle and even sell it to foreigners. Except that only machines can reach the center because of the unending radioactive storm that is happening there, even right now." she explains also getting more excited as she develops the subject.

"But what is that energy and why is there a storm?", "Well, the official information is kept secret, but some say that a meteorite fell here long ago and that the radioactive ressources coming from that meteorite is the energy. Some also say that it's related to the anomalies in some way but that's all just theories." she says, seeming to lack the info about the subject.

Their discussion about the structure of the circle continued the same way for a while and during the next few, Artur tried to get as much knowledge as he could about the wolrd he was in. Learning about the circle didn't help him much to find out about himself, but he was practically certain that he was from this place and that with some time, he would get some revealing clues.

After a few days, Artur's injuries have healed, it seemed a little too fast for Stell but Artur was just happy to be able to get out and be useful for the group. Artur wished to go out alone and explore, so that Stell could stay with the sisters. Stell was hesitant at first, she was already giving as much information she can about the ruins, she was worried about leaving Artur to go outside alone, his wound was healing quickly but she also knew that SARCO augmented their forces, especially after the pursuit of the drones.

Artur insisted for days and Stell finally gave in, she handed Artur the materials he needed to explore: a gas mask, a lamp for light, electronic binoculars to spot the drones more easily and her bracelet with a screen which displayed a self made map of the ruins. He was prepared, Artur promised to not waste his time exploring and bring back any food and useful materials he can find. He has quickly recovered from his fractures, a little too quickly for Stell but Artur was just glad to be able to explore as early as he could.

After rehearsing the plan with Stell dozens of times, she was finally confident enough to let him go. Artur leaves the refuge and carefully makes his way through the sewers. He is quiclky reminded of how he got in the refuge, following Stell, extenuadted from the pursuit of the drones. The memory of it sends a shiver on Artur's spine. He continues to wander for a while before reaching the heavy metal door once more, he flashes his light at it, hesitating to open it. The last thing protecting him from the outside world was this door but Artur was determined once more, knowing that he might finally get more answers about the world that he is in.

Artur rotates the heavy valve of the metal door, making an old screeching sound. He pushes the metal door with all his force checking carefully for any presence outside, a brise of fresh air flows, pushing his hair, he sees the undercity once more. As he lifts his foot, he pushes some bullets on the ground, looking back he notices on the door countless bumps of impact, giving a cold sweat to Artur.

The ruins seem deadly quiet as Artur discreatly traverses through the buildings, he can imagine how the city looked like before the war. A developped city with numerous residenties and malls, now all reduced to broken boxes. The landscape is dark, the scars of the war are unavoidable everywhere we look. Artur notices a smashed window on the wall of an old mall. He quickly climbed and jumped down, hoping to find some food to thank Stell and the girls for everything they've done for him.

He roams around the isles, picking up some cans to check if they have still something of value. When talking about the history of this with Stell, Artur learned that before the war, the "undecity" existed for a long time, even before the construction of the circles. The cities around here were apparently thriving due to their large sizes and numbers of constructions, but the "Last war" was the thing that definitely sealed the fate of those cities, being abandonned and buried under the more wealthy and modern ones.

Artur looked practically everywhere around the mall but nothing seemed to be useful to bring back to the refuge. Every gadget seemed to be too old or too damaged to be of any use to Stell has some experience crafting devices out of scrap. Even the flashlight and the mask that was carrying Artur was selfmade by Stell, "she has some talent, I can't deny that" he thought while throwing away an old broken watch.

In the end he only found some water and seeing that it was already a few hours that he was roaming around he decided to call it a day. But when he is about to leave, he notices a toy that intrigues him, it's a well conserved plush toy that was partly covered by some carton boxes. Artur picks it up and takes a good look at it with his flash light. The plush seems to be a small jester, having the motives of the sun and a crescent moon on his head, he naturally thought of Sunny and Luna and thought that it could be a perfect gift for the sisters. After carefully wrapping the gift with a near towel he goes on his way to leave the mall.

He traverses the undercity by the same way he came, surprised to still not notice any drones in the nearby area, the fact reassures him but in the same time, a wierd feeling makes him uncomfortable, making him fasten his pace.

As he gets closer to the metal door, he looks behind him once more, feeling that he is observed, but there was nothing except the wind and some old debris. He lets out a sigh and enters before closing the heavy door behind him. "This was better than I thought" he said to himself before continuing his way to the refuge.

But as Artur leaves, releaved that nothing bad happened during his expedition, the metal slowly opens once more. The breeze flows in once more and behind the door, in the darkness, a shadowy figure approaches slowly, with a predatory approach. Only the sound of the wind can be percieved but the shadow enters the sewers, leaving a scent of steel and blood. The door closes behind, leaving no hope for escape for any prey inside.

___________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading !

Hope you enjoyed !

Following in chapter 5: Flammes