Starry Skies

“That’s a little creepy, don’t you think? Prowling about in the night?” Ezri asks, releasing my wrist and sitting up. “Funny, you don’t strike me as a stalker.”

“No, I wasn’t— I was just—” I stumble over my words, struggling to come up with a reasonable excuse.

She smirks, raising up her hand. “No need to explain, stalker. I get it,” she stands up, brushing the sand off her. “You just missed me, right? In that case, why don’t you join me for a little walk?”

“Actually, it felt like paradise without you around – and no, I’m not interested in any ‘walks.’”

She pulls me to my feet by the back of my collar with an iron grip. What does she think I am, a puppy?

“Too bad, I want you to come. Get moving.”

Being made to do things 24/7 is getting beyond tiring. Knowing she’d probably just drag me by the hair if I refused to go along, I trail behind Ezri as she strays from the camp. Don’t know what the point of walking is in the Boundary, it’s not like there’s much to sightsee, unless you really like boring hills and dusty-looking pebbles.

“You know, you’re not very efficient at your mission here,” I say with contempt.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, why did you land the Spearhead in the Capital instead of continuing to attack? Especially with all the golems out of order, that was your chance.”

Ezri laughs, then looks back at me. “You’re giving me advice on how to kill all of you?”

“The ship is broken, you can’t do anything with it anymore, dummy,” I snap.

“Ah, right. Forgot,” her eyes return to ahead, a never-ending terrain of nothingness. A chill wind brushes past us, blowing up particles with it – the only bit of motion this place has to offer, aside from a shooting star if that counts. I’ve never felt more awkward.

“But if you really want to know,” Ezri says, “then I’ll tell you. I’ll start with a question; how do you think I came to be the person I am now?”

Sigh. I’d rather just get to the point, but as always, she won’t let me have my way. After a guttural sound, I say, “Probably the same as your lackeys – the IPU gave you consequences, and you threw a fit over it.”

“Sure, let’s go with that. But you see, the IPU is involved. If I were to fully wipe out the organization that created me in this time, your present and my past, what would happen to me? I’d no longer exist.”

She trudges up a rocky mound, one that’s a bit higher than the others. She offers a hand to help me up, to which I respond as if she presented me with poison instead. After a “suit yourself,” she further unfolds, “And if I never existed, who would’ve founded the Liberation and destroyed the IPU to begin with? Nobody. All my work would be undone, and the IPU would prevail,” she reaches the top of the mound.

“To win, I need to follow more ‘alternative’ methods. Defeating the IPU, while also keeping it around for long enough to ensure my present self stays. Does that answer your question?”

Not wanting to admit her elaboration was suffice, I reply with a small, “Sure, I guess.”

I join her at the summit, where there’s a bird’s-eye view of the Boundary. The edges of the Capital are still visible from afar, and even though it’s only been less than a week, my homesickness upon seeing it matches an eternity of being apart. Another shooting star across the sky asks me to make a wish for a remedy, but I don’t believe in such superstitions.

“Why here?” I ask.

“To reminisce,” she bends down, lazily tracing patterns in the ground. “When I was here in the past, this very hill is where I laid on the brink of death, feeling lost and abandoned,” her eyes meet mine, in a way that looks condoling – the only shred of pity she’s ever given me. “I’m sure you can relate, when your father left you to die.”

For a brief moment, a heavy emotion overcomes me – a mix of betrayal, sadness, and bafflement all rolled into one, inclined to pull me into the void of despair. I shake it off, push back the thoughts, while a third shooting star passes above. She just had to bring that up, to have the gall to pretend to care.

“It wasn’t an easy choice. As the president, Dad had to do the best thing for the country, even if it meant sacrificing me. Whatever you went through, it was nothing like it. I was never ‘left,’” I say, but part of me wonders if the statement is directed at her or myself.

“He let you go without the smallest thought. That doesn’t bother you at all?”

“ … No, there was no time to ‘think.’ You wanted an answer, and you wanted it fast. What was he supposed to do?”

“Maybe show just a little bit of concern for you?”

I stomp my foot, a wave of heat washing over me. “He does get worried about me! You don’t know anything. He didn’t even want me involved in the case about you, for my own safety!”

“Oh, I see. So basically, he only cares about you when the IPU isn’t in jeopardy, but when it is, you’re expendable like some object. What a loving parent.”

“Shut up,” I grit out, and for only a second, the temptation to hit her again is a dangling carrot. “Just— shut up. Please.”