The Enemies

Order

Rhea

I lay in my room, staring at the ceiling. Like I have been doing for two months by now. Quite a laborious task. The salty wind chides through the open window. It is already too dark, but the moon shines bright lightning the room. Usually, the sound of the sea calms me. Not tonight. I already feel tranquil because of Oden's presence in the house. The simple thought that he is close soothes me and makes all the guilt go away. I do not agree with his decision, but the crazy excitement of him being here is much stronger than anything. In fact, I am elated even allowing the thought that he could choose me despite what I have done.

I struggle with myself not to go search for him, and I am restless. The pain in my body has gone leaving a little nagging in my heart. The sensation triggered purely by the device that helps me stay alive. They say it will fade away eventually, but I welcom it. I always felt pain. It was my constant companion throughout my entire life. So I am not ready to let it go just yet, it does not seem right. Letting go feels like cheating. Is there a life without the pain and the struggle? Will you be alive if it goes away? Isn't pain an ever-present reminder that you are still fully functioning peiece of meat that can damage the planet a little more?

I rub my eyes in frustration. The sleep will not come, I go to the window and stare at the sky. Someone is sitting on the shore. First, it seems to be Joolls. His insomnia is manageable, and now he gets a lot more sleep than he used to, but there are still times when he stays awake. When the moon picks through the cloud and the moonlight lights the shore, I see that it is not Joolls at all. It's Oden. I frown. It must be hard for him in Karm. Moving into the enemy country is no easy decision. I need to stay away, but as in many cases before that, I am not able to. Taking my quilt, I join him on the shore.

The night is a bit chilly but not cold. Moneree is warm again. Oden sits with his legs crossed and hands resting on his knees, watching the sea, his back hunched, the dark scowl on his face. He is barefoot and has a black tee and grey pants on. Oden stares into the horizon so intently as if he orders the sea to give him answers to his unspoken questions. Deep in thought, he does not hear me approach and notices me only when I sit beside him.

'Oden.'

I am slightly annoyed as the overpowering sensation hits me whenever I am close to him. I can't think straight.

'Rhea,' he smiles.

Silence. I look directly at him and say, 'You will be a pariah if you decide to stay.'

'What a moronic assumption is that.'

He mocks me, which makes me even more annoyed. Oden, the unbreakable spirit.

Then I start with an exasperated sigh.

'The moment the bullet hit me in Sunbright, the pain drained from my body. Suddenly, it became quiet and strangely peaceful. Death is painless, freakishly painless. The month after I regained consciousness was severe. Pure agony. I was used to the ache in my body, yes. What I was not used to is to be weak. And I was feeble, flaccid, powerless. My body was frail and refused to act on my own volition. I was not the master of my own body anymore, and it pissed me off. The doctors, my farther and Joolls were jumping around me like annoying monkeys, doing tests, and checking on me every second of every day. Which made it even more terryfing is that I was never alone, always irate and tense. A cripple or an invalid. My father and Joolls were worried, and I was aware how morbid my condition was. They attempted to disguise it, but I knew. I was weak, not blind.'

He gazes at me, not interrupting. I draw extra air into my lungs.

'You were on my mind all the time. The bitterness towards you was just as overpowering as my longing. As much as you resented me, I knew you would never make me suffer through the last minutes of my life. One of the Fren doctors who implanted the device said my wound looked like someone took a tiny little knife and started digging a hole to get to my heart, but he did not know which way to dig, so the tunnels ran in different directions. I am not sure if his explanation was of any solace to me, but the strange metaphor is curious. That's what the Drellian MQ50 bullet could do to you, right? Drellians have no idea how to make a decent weapon, you know?'