Revi sat on the side, just living in silence and deep in thought while her friends were happily playing.
"Revi!" Fritz shouted. Revi looked at her and the ball hit her. Revi was dumbfounded. Her friends laughed, and so did she.
After playing, she decided to walk with Vida and Ender, just the three of them. She doesn't want to play anymore, so pouring all of her energy into an activity is a bad idea.
"I think you need to go home, Revi." Vida caressed Reviʼs shoulder. She looked at Vida. "The moon will rise soon. Itʼs gonna be dangerous at night."
Revi gazed at the sky. The sun is still there but it's slowly fading. Her forehead furrowed and looked at the two. "Itʼs safe at night here. What are you talking about?" Vida was dumbfounded, she couldn't answer.
"What Vida means is itʼs dark. You might fall, Revi," Ender uttered.
Revi nodded and turned around. She was stunned when she saw something in just a split second. She thinks sheʼs just hallucinating, but it felt real. If Ender and Vida didn't react, then itʼs just her.
A pleasant breeze blew, her hair waved with the wind. Sheʼs trying to calm herself, and what she saw was something catastrophic. She gazed above. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened as she saw whatʼs in the sky. "A-airplanes. . ." She took a step backward. "T-theyʼre here, Ender. Madreign is here." Then she thought, will they do the same sins again?
"Letʼs get out of here." Ender pulled the two girls to go away, but Revi extracted force to stay. "Revi, letʼs get out of here! What are you doing?"
Revi clenched her jaw. "My mom! Mom is still there!" She pointed to the tall building that can be seen here using her free hand. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. Ender was still holding her wrist, but Revi struggled to get out of his grasp.
"Someone will save her so donʼt worry! We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" Ender shouted and glared at the kid. "Revi, trust us!" He tightened his grip on her to prevent her from escaping.
"No! Iʼll go check my mom!" Revi insisted on seeing her mom. In an unexpected event like this, thereʼs a low chance to survive. Atolon didn't have a strong military force and compelling armories, so they lacked preparation. At this rate, a lot of Cidgians will die.
"She is safe, Revi! Follow Ender and the guards will save her." Vida touched Revi, helping Ender to take her away from Rajanseth, in a safe place where intruders canʼt hurt them.
"Iʼll go and save her! If you want to save yourselves, just save yourselves! No need to take me with you because I will never leave my mother!" Revi yelled as loud as she could while doing her best to retrieve her wrist from Ender. "Ender! Donʼt touch me!" Vida teared up. She canʼt stand seeing Renata miserable.
"Revi. . ." She wiped her tears as she heard footsteps. She turned around and the guards appeared in her sight. "The guards are here, Ender."
Ender gazed behind. "Thatʼs good. Weʼre now safe. Theyʼll-Revi!"
When Revi noticed that Ender let his guard down, she harshly retrieved her wrist and ran away. This shocked Ender.
"Revi, come back!" Ender and Vida were about to run but the guards stopped them. "Let us go! That kid must not die! We made a promise!" The guards didn't listen and tightened their grip on the two and brought them to the train station.
"Revi!"
Revi viewed the catastrophic scenery sheʼs in while running. Blood, thereʼs blood everywhere-corpses everywhere. The screams and cries of the people around her were damaging her fragile mind. When she gazed at the sky, it wasnʼt as peaceful as before. As she continued to run, the steps she took became the way to enter hell full of anger, sorrow, despair, and sufferings.
A tremendous explosion made her fall and dumbfounded. When she recovered, she stood up and ran again. No one can stop her. The sounds of hell almost broke her eardrums. After that, she heard gunshots and screams. People killing people, thatʼs how cruel the world is, yet Renata continued running just to see her mother. Even though she wanted to step back and save herself, she continued just for her mom. She will never leave her.
Her eyes widened as she saw Rajanment in pieces. Her mom was there, but hidden. Renata didnʼt hesitate to go inside with her remaining energy, but the entrance was blocked by a rock.
She held the rock and tried her best to move it so she could enter and search for Velo. The midget succeeded, but the rock gave her a wound.
Thankfully, she easily found her mom whoʼs lying on the floor together with the rocks and dust. Without hesitation, she ran towards Velo. "Mom, wake up. Iʼm here, Revi. Youʼll be safe—weʼll be safe." Velo looked at her and smiled. She caressed her daughterʼs cheek.
"Hold me, Mom. Donʼt fall and letʼs go home." Revi tried to lift her mom up. Her hand is bleeding, making it hard for her to lift up her mom.
Velo resisted, "no!" Tears fell from Veloʼs precious eyes.
Reviʼs jaw dropped, and she couldn't believe what she just heard. She gritted her teeth and didnʼt respond. Her left hand was injured, the bleeding wonʼt stop, sheʼs just enduring the pain to save Velo.
"Revi, stop! Just stop! You canʼt save me!" Velo exclaimed. She used her remaining strength to get out of her daughterʼs grip.
Revi breathed heavily and slowly gazed at her mother. She gave her a crazy look like a shocked psychopath. "Mom, whatʼs wrong with you?" Her voice was trembling.
Velo looked downwards and started sobbing. "Go away, Revi." She gazed at her daughter with tears falling down on her cheeks. She suddenly reminisced a moment, a moment where everything was peaceful, she was watching her child play with a smile on her face. "Save yourself. Youʼre important to us!"
"Why?! Arenʼt you important too?!" Renataʼs eyes were bloodshot, tears started to fall down. She gulped. "Father . . . Father is expecting us to reunite again. Heʼs going home soon-so please, survive with me, Mom! Donʼt break his hopes please!" Instead of lifting up her mother, she decided to pull her even though sheʼs injured.
"Just follow what I said! After this, youʼll live longer, Revi!"
"No!"
"Renata, listen to me!" Velo gritted her teeth and gulped. "I lost my leg, I canʼt go with you. Weʼll end up as corpses if you insist on saving me!"
"I donʼt care! I donʼt care if weʼll end up as corpses-I donʼt care if you lost your leg! Just survive! T-this . . . this skeleton will save you!" Renata found it hard to catch her breath. With all the tension sheʼs feeling, she might pass out. "I-iʼll listen to you after this. Iʼll f-follow your orders. Iʼll clean . . . my room every day, every night-whenever you want! Iʼll never disobey you-never again! Just . . . donʼt die." Revi cried.
Velo stayed silent. As Reviʼs mom, she couldnʼt stand seeing her daughter cry. She just wanted her daughter to go away, even though Renata will escape without her, Veloʼs contented when she knew her daughter survived. She can rest in peace. But what happened was completely different from what she expected. She just wanted her daughter to survive, no need to hurt her like this.
"T-thereʼs a sea with black sand, and I want to explore it with you outside this island together with Father!" Renata screamed. She wiped her tears and that action left blood on her face.
"W-why?" Velo asked. Sheʼs not referring to why Revi wants to go outside, sheʼs referring to why Revi insisted on saving her.
"I-I want a complete family-so donʼt break it so early, Mom! Do this . . . for us. Letʼs remain complete, I donʼt want to lose you." The way Renata said those words touched Veloʼs heart.
Velo canʼt believe whatʼs happening right now. Her daughterʼs words hit her. She stood up with the help of Renata, but instead of walking away, she embraced the girl tightly. "Follow your fatherʼs orders, Renata. Go." With those words, Velo kissed the hand of death.
Renata Viglianco was left in the stygian and lost her consciousness.
Stellan sighed as he watched Revi sleeping, waiting for her to wake up. When he first saw her after the sudden attack, her face was bloody and her hand couldn't stop bleeding. They waited for her for hours to see Revi safe. Revi came back unconscious, was carried by one of the guards who saved her.
Revi slowly opened her eyes. When Stellan noticed it, he grabbed his water bottle. "Glad youʼre awake. Drink this, for sure youʼre thirsty." He handed her the bottle.
Revi sat on the bed. Instead of receiving the water, she facepalmed and lowered her gaze. "M-mom . . . died." Stellan was stunned.
"She died because I didnʼt save her." Renata closed her eyes, holding her tears. "H-how can I defeat the victors if I canʼt save my own mom?" She gazed at Stellan, tears falling down, gritting her teeth. "Stellan, how? How can I defeat them?! How?! Stellan, tell me! Tell me-how?!" Her eyes were bloodshot.
"Graaah!" She violently touched her hair. "My mom-she died because of me! I didnʼt save her! I want to defeat the victors but I canʼt save my own mom! The freaking hypocrisy of mine!" she started screaming. She was trembling, hurting herself. "I am nothing but a useless piece of shit and a pathetic hypocrite!"
Stellan was dumbfounded; he can do nothing but to watch Renata scream and whimper in pain.
Outside the room, there is Vida, Dion, and the others, who overheard Renataʼs screams. They were chilled and terrified. Leones was covering his ears, Dion was pitiful; Fritz closed her eyes and grinded her teeth; Ender was punching the wall, blaming himself; and Vida burst out her tears.
The sudden change took Renataʼs mom away. This was the day when Renataʼs sweet dreams started to become nightmares.
To be continued . . .