Reality

Our mother recoiled from the window. Mouth agape. Raising a quivering hand to cover it. Muttering under her breath as her eyes bulged as if her head were being squeezed. Pressure that could not be avoided. Pressure born in her own mind. Born from a memory, a nightmare she had long forgotten. 

No. One she remembered all too well. 

The nightmarish wrath of a human. 

Her pendant fell to the floor, rattling like a mortal whisper. 

We all watched. Watched our compass shatter before us. The strings holding us together, cut away. Without her to keep us afloat, we would surely drown. We needed her. And yet she could not bare the weight anymore. 

So water rushed into our lungs and hearts. Freezing. Contracting. Squeezing at our insides. We knew-- as long as mother could not be strong for us, it was because there was no point. We knew-- no matter how hard she could have tried, she could no longer shield us from her fears. But we did not know what they were, or why they were so dangerous. Knowledge is fear. That's why she was the most scared of all of us. 

Swallowing my dread, I forced my sight back to the window. There hadn't been much change. The girl still spoke to the leader. 

"Something about this isn't right. They've always said they killed humans on sight. We're outnumbered. And yet they're only hiding..."

The leader pulled her closer, chuckling, as if these were the incoherent ramblings of a child he needed to educate. 

"Oh, Dora... just because they're cowards, doesn't mean they aren't malicious. In fact, I would wager the opposite."

Pandora turned to him. Dazed, yet curious. Every word from his mouth went against what she could see. All she could see seemed to go against what she had been taught. I found myself wishing she would dismiss the lies, and arrive at the truth. 

"So they haven't attacked, because they can't?" she asked. 

'Never mind.' 

"Precisely." he replied. "We'll start with a particularly troublesome one."

"Troublesome?" 

"Indeed, this one appears to be the most dangerous."

He made it sound so simple. Thoughtless. Like catching fish or starting a fire. At least I could name those. But there was simply no name for this. This skill of his. The one he was now trying to impart on another. Placing that name would take longer. 

The leader traipsed back to the same house as before. Tugging his pet 'Pandora' along with him. 

They arrived in front of the door. The breeze fluttering their cloaks and garments. The leader sighed deeply. Were we wasting his precious time? 

"Okay! I'll give you one last chance to open this door, or else I'll open it for you." the leader said. 

No response. The leader's fidgeting grew more restless. Not annoyance, but glee. He knew he had won. 

"Come now! Don't get shy! Whatever happened to that big mouth of yours?" he mocked. 

Another bout of silence. 

"Oh no! I don't suppose the presence of the Lady Pandora has made you nervous? Fret not, I understand. She is a beautiful girl! But by the sound of it, a bit young for you, no?"

A few human soldiers snickered. The leader wasn't done. 

"Oh... I jest, of course. We all know you gremlins have no standards. You'll go for anything you can get your hands on, won't you?"

The laughter grew louder. Yet stranger. Soldiers glanced at each other, as if to say, 'What's wrong with him?' That did not prevent it from stirring my skin. 

Pandora lowered her gaze. Turning away, arms folded. 

I expected no response from the house once more. I was surprised to be proven wrong. 

"Just stop!" the Gimen grimaced. "Stop this! Don't do this to us!" 

The leader's fidgeting grinded to a halt. 

"Oh? Surely not..." he gasped mockingly. "That can't be what I think it is."

"Is that begging, I hear?!"

The voice still muttered. 

"Stop... just stop this--"

"Yes! That is certainly begging! No mistaking it! And yet I still detect a hint of pride! You want to preserve your ego, so you tell me to stop as if it's a command. But really, you're merely pleading for your life. Quite two-faced, you gremlins are!"

The voice fell silent. The leader kept up the abuse. 

"No. If you want to beg, then beg. If you want to kill me, then open this door and try. Pick either option. Just don't straddle the fence like a coward... show me the nature of your kind."

All eyes latched onto the scene. Watching with bated breath. As if this man's outcome would make a difference for ours. Deep down, I suppose we all knew it would not. Yet, we watched regardless. Why? Who knows. 

A glimmer of hope. Albeit false, meaningless. A distraction. 

But hope nonetheless. 

"Please. Please don't hurt us sir. I am sorry if I have offended you. We humbly beg for mercy." the voice muttered. A script. One he had likely been rehearsing in his head once he realised the power disparity at play. Simply saying the right combination of words to spare us all. But not meaning them. Not truly standing behind them. Begging like a coward with the mentality that he was still better. Perhaps he was right. But humans can see through such a shallow ruse. As could I. I knew my kin all too well. 

That was why I knew what would come next. 

We waited for an answer. To know our fate. We waited in silence. Focused on that silence. Listening to it. Waiting to hear the leader's voice cut through. Instead we heard the wind. 

A whisper. Hardly worth suspicion. Barely ratting doors and fence gates. But it continued to blow. From a few short seconds I knew. This breeze was not merely passing by. It was here. It started and ended in front of us. But how?

My eyes darted around. Confused. Damian lifted his head to the window. Mother turned her back to it. Her fear became my clue. 

My gaze narrowed on the human leader. Something in his stance had changed. Loose, relaxed but not nearly as fidgety. Focused yet limber. I knew not what he was doing. Yet I could tell he had mastered it. 

Crack!

Sparks burst from his hands. He lifted them slowly. The now wind whistled and wrestled with the walls. Leaves whirling through the air. But I kept my focus on him. 

The sparks grew, taking shape across his fingertips. He raised his hand to the door. Ever so slowly. As if he would lose it if he moved to fast. The wind whipped his cloak and I could no longer see him. But I didn't need to. 

I already knew what this was.

'The human powers...'

"Sorry, wrong answer." The leader sighed.

"No no no! Please! Please sto--"

CHROOM! 

I flung back from the window. Beams of white and blue tore through the cracks. Mother ducked her head and wailed. Damian crashed to the corner. Mickey covered his ears with a scream. 

And there we remained. Fearing to even open our eyes. Murmurs from the other houses ensued. No point in keeping quiet now. I was first to lift my head. The most curious. 

I leapt back over to the window. Little more than billowing smoke. Raging through the air. I squinted vaguely in the same direction, trying to catch a glimpse. 

And as the dust settled, as the smoke cleared, I did. 

Black chunks. Charred splinters of planks with nails sticking from them. Sparks of orange glowing hot on the edges, The roof blown to pieces, Darkened like charcoal, and just as hot. The corpse was likely burned to a crisp. 

'That was... lightning, wasn't it? And wind...'

All this. This predicament. It appeared as nothing more than a trance at first. Something to be watched. Something to be curious about, a change of pace. Indeed it was. We raced to our demise ever faster now. 

Fiction became reality. My wish became my nightmare. 

I had wished for a change I had not even experienced enough change to comprehend. Something I could not be sure even existed. Now I had seen it. Now I was just wishing I hadn't. 

A shame lightning never strikes twice. 

I crept away from the window. 

"What happened?" Damian whispered at my back. I didn't turn. 

"...He's dead... that man. The human blew his house to bits."

As we wrestled with that in silence. Coping and seething in our own distinctive ways, my head shot up. The leader spoke again. I had quickly grown sick of his voice. 

"Yes. That's right. Kill all who resist. Take the slaves."

'What...?'