Aurora Over a Dead World

"W-Wow... that sounds really... heavy... are you really okay?" Eirwen asks, sitting across from a woman on a bench, catching a little sunlight.

"Yes, I really am okay. You know, young lady, this is the kind of thing you learn to live with over time. Losing my eyes wasn’t so bad... I could have been much worse off."

"At first I hated it. I thought it was unfair, until I came to this place and realized there’s always someone worse off, and complaining that something’s unfair doesn’t make it any better." She speaks with a smile.

When Eirwen asked her about her story and why she was out here alone staring at the sky, she explained it like there was nothing wrong at all, and that sent Eirwen’s mind spiraling into all kinds of strange thoughts.

She doesn’t know if she could be that positive in the same situation, and she’s surprised to find someone genuinely happy with what she still has.

"I-If it’s not too much to ask... may I know how you manage day-to-day things?..."

"It’s simple. I had help from a colleague to adjust this." The girl, whose eyes are completely covered by a protective guard, shows her wrist, where a device resembling a watch is firmly strapped.

"This has a customized version of Nexus permissions. It helps me a lot. If I’m walking and I’m about to bump into something, it makes a little beep, and for all kinds of other situations, there are specific beeps."

"Beeps? Wouldn’t it be better if the Nexus talked...?" Eirwen asks, a little less nervous.

"Normally, that seems intuitive to think, yes, but my friend explained that sounds and words are different for the brain. Like, words take longer to process because they carry a lot of complex information."

"Whereas sounds are much faster to react to on reflex. After a few months of listening to each beep, I learned to react to everything before something even happens to me. So, I don’t know if he was telling the truth, but I like it. The beeps are pretty intuitive." Eirwen nods in agreement until she realizes the girl can’t see.

"Oh, right! That must be amazing... you... wouldn’t you want to get your eyes back?"

"...Honestly?... I don’t think so. The damage I took was from a monster’s acid. It corroded the connection between my eyes and my brain deeply... even though they were treated properly, my eyesight was absolutely beyond recovery."

"But thanks to that, I realized who was by my side and who never came to visit me. I have friends who visit me, and I have my family who takes care of me." Eirwen notices the girl’s smile and doesn’t quite understand, but she’s glad to see she’s still happy despite her problems.

"I thought everyone would be sad..."

"Life’s too short to be sad about having a disability. It’s something we learn fast, but many can’t find happiness beyond the disability. War changes our minds a lot."

"I was a combatant, and honestly... I feel so much relief not having to go back to fighting..." The two keep talking as Eirwen learns a new side of life.

...

...

...

"Hey, old-timer, you look totally fine." Tanya speaks in an arrogant tone to a man with a graying beard who is tending to the tree behind the facility.

"...Do you need something?" he asks politely, and Tanya furrows her brows.

"I’m here to talk to people with problems. I was looking for someone to ask questions for a class, but honestly, it’s just weird. Most people here seem really broken." At Tanya’s tone, the man sighs, which seems to frustrate her.

"Something wrong?"

"How about talking to me? Considering I’m 57 years old, I think I can give you some good life experiences I’ve accumulated." When he says his age, Tanya is surprised. Despite calling him an old-timer, he looks very young.

"...You? You don’t even look like you have anything."

"...Many people don’t look like they have anything, girl, and you’re lucky that I don’t appear to have anything right now..."

"Oh? Is that a threat—" Before Tanya realizes it, she’s on the ground, with the man mounted on her, pressing a pen against her throat. Tanya feels that if he drives the pen in, she’ll die, so she instinctively shrinks back.

"I’m a former commander from the past generation. I was retired very early for having a split personality. A second, very aggressive personality that emerged to deal with the war. Today you’re seeing my best side."

"But if you were seeing the other me, you’d be gushing blood to your death right here for that attitude of yours just now." The man puts his pen away and climbs off Tanya, who has persistent chills. It’s a different kind of dominance from Zenith. This man is strong, incredibly strong, a unique strength that seems entirely hidden.

"..." Tanya stands up, and instead of attacking him or yelling at him, she steps back as if she could die right this moment.

"Girl, your gaze is troubling. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And you shouldn’t treat people with disabilities like they’re broken, even if they are."

"One day you might be on this side too. You seem like a proud person... pride is good, but only to a certain point. You look like the type who’ll break fast if you don’t change your attitude."

"I-I’m not—"

"..." The man gives Tanya a look that makes her legs tremble. She nearly falls to the ground as she retreats a few more steps.

"...Learn this lesson, girl. There’s always someone stronger, even if that someone seems harmless. Those who are truly strong don’t need to show they’re strong, nor do they need to exude strength."

"Because strength is a tool. Being strong is what allows me today to water the trees of this place... and help the nurses with troublesome people. You should value the work of others..."

"You know... I regret very much having killed some of those nurses in the past. I know it wasn’t ’me’ but rather the other... but there are things we can’t control."

"You remind me of my daughter. She was impulsive... bold and arrogant... she died on a mission, because that kind of personality isn’t good for dealing with monsters. I recommend you learn from everything you see here and change at least a little. Power won’t save you if arrogance blinds you." Tanya takes a deep breath, and instead of leaving, she steps forward, overcoming the fear.

"W-Why don’t you tell me more, then? U-Unfh, I-I bet an old-timer like you wants company!!"

"..." He smiles, seeing this, as he kneels in front of the tree.

"That’s a good attitude. I’ll tell you some interesting things about the battlefield..." He takes a pill as he starts talking to Tanya in a more animated tone about things from the past.

....

...

...

"You’re so beautiful..." Edith says to a girl beneath an apple tree. Even without the girl saying anything, Edith already knows her power, since various things are floating around her.

"..." The girl glares at Edith and then sighs.

"Never seen someone without legs and arms before?"

"Actually, I have. I have a really hot and sexy teacher who also doesn’t have legs and arms, but unlike you, she uses prosthetics. You, on the other hand, seem to control things with your mind." The girl’s tone is bitter and very rigid as she gives Edith a look of disgust.

"What do you want from me? I’m busy."

’What insane concentration...’ Edith notices the crazy variety of things being done. The girl eats an apple, reads a book, prunes the tree, uses scissors to shape a bush into the form of an apple, controls gardening tools to cut the grass.

While slowly collecting the apples from the tree with a basket, Edith glances behind her, noticing that even things inside a room with an open window are being taken care of. It’s not just the range, but the precision with which she does it without even seeing.

"You have so much talent. Shouldn’t you be on the battlefield? Like, with prosthetics or something?" Edith is very direct with her question.

"From what I can see, you’re a student. Came here to learn? Then I’ll teach you something." Edith starts floating, and before she can speak, she is violently slammed against the ground.

"First lesson: don’t get close to someone no one else wants to be near. There must be a reason for it." She smacks Edith against a wall with even more violence.

"Second lesson: if you see someone despises you, don’t try to act so arrogantly when talking to them." Soon she throws her upward and buries her into the concrete.

"Third relevant piece of information: don’t look at a girl like she’s a tasty piece of meat when she has the power to twist your neck in seconds." Despite the impacts, Edith doesn’t have many injuries, because the girl never intended to kill her and measured the force with extremely precise control.

"As for going into battle... I can’t. Even if I wanted to... see this? This is the army’s fault, for abandoning me to die!! Let’s just say I have a bad history and won’t be accepted back."

"Much less will I be helped. Of course, I guess the fact that I came back alive and then went and killed those who abandoned me and every member of their families contributed to that. Killing civilians is a serious crime, and my lack of remorse caused me problems."

"And maybe I’m too temperamental. So yeah, maybe I deserve this situation. So next time you talk to someone who seems screwed, ask yourself: does this person deserve to be like this?"

"There are people who deserve the evil they suffer, and I can guarantee you, I deserved it... now get out of here, before I crush your head."

"Y-You..."

"Scared? Go away, before I follow through on the warning, and think carefully before approaching another lonely person in this place. After all, for people like the powerful Kairas, killing doesn’t bring automatic punishment if you know where to pull the strings." Her tone is a warning, not a threat. That makes Edith stand up and start leaving, having learned a harsh lesson.

Not just about war, but about what a powerful person can do without punishment and how they can choose to abuse that without consequences. It makes Edith reflect on herself.

Isn’t it similar? Not for using her powers, but for her attitude with girls. It’s intrusive, extremely invasive, and she doesn’t care about what the other feels because she knows she won’t be punished for it, being someone important at the academy.

’...That... really hurt...’

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