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His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and lost himself in thought. He was going back to somewhere in his mind, a place he hadn’t been in years.
She wondered if he would say anything, he was silent for so long, before the words started to flow.
“I was raised in Germania at the foothills of the Brücke Forest along with other refugees from the old Russian territories after the Sereian Empire gained a foothold prior to the Great War. It is interesting now that I think about it. The forest my family chose to settle in earned its name for the bridge that souls crossed over when they died on the battlefield.”
He laughed a little at the irony of that before he went on. She continued to watch him as he moved through his past, lining it up for her to hear.
“We lived in a small village that had been used as a military stronghold during the Great War, so of course, as a boy, I explored those ruins while my dad worked to keep the forest alive and thriving. As I am sure you know, the foothills are all farming communities. None of the luxuries of the old world like in the more populated parts of Germania. You know I never rode in a car until I joined the government forces, and they picked us up in this old truck that was in no way
legal by Zephyr standards, smoke came from the back of it, and it stunk like one of the local
farmer’s hen houses.
“After training, we had our first mission in Sereia, and it baffled me that the people there looked nothing like me, yet they lived in villages like where I was from. Members of my unit looked down on them, were rude, and snubbed them since many guys had never seen a village before.”
Devon stopped talking, lost in a moment and working to find his words.
“One night, I snuck out and went into the village during one of their festivals. Their culture was beautiful and amazing. They had these crazy dragon-looking puppets that several people would wear and walk through the streets. There was this old woman who made me dinner, and I ate with her family. Her daughter and grandsons told me stories of their ancestors and the reason behind the celebration. These people were so open and welcoming to me when they faced such hostility from my unit.”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered when she felt his hesitancy, not wanting to add to his stress.
He shook his head, and she was unsure if that was for her or him. “The third time we went back, we had a new Captain, a guy barely older than me by a few years, and I wondered how he had risen so quickly up the ranks. He was proud of the history of Germania, even the darker parts, and hoped it would rise again as it did when the continents were whole. Honestly, I knew there was something too dark about him, but I was young and didn’t know what to do about it. I worried saying something might cause issues with the promotion I was up for, which seems so dumb, but I was naïve.
“We went into another small village, similar to the one I remembered the first time we visited Sereia, and he just told them it was now under Germania control like that was all it took to conquer a city. Those of us in my unit were unsure of what to do until the Captain walked up to a man who was standing at the front of the people of their little village.
“The Captain just walked up, put a bullet between the village leader’s eyes, right in front of his young son and daughter.”
Persephone closed her eyes. As Devon spoke, she noticed his accent becoming more prominent, lost to his childhood.
“The guys around me, whom I trained with, joked with…” He swallowed, his emotions bubbling to the surface. “They all started fighting the villagers. Killing them, and I just froze. That was when one villager hit me with something — I’m not sure what. Maybe a tool for digging? Anyway, that was where my scar here came from.” He moved his hand to where the scar above his eyebrow had been. “Must have used the sharp end, but it knocked me back and pulled me out of my shock. I didn’t think right then, just reacted. I ran until I found where their houses were lined up at the edge of a wooded area and yelled at the people to go into their homes and lock the doors. Several put their children in, but they refused to stay themselves, choosing to fight instead.”
“Fates…” she whispered into the darkness.
“Yeah. I was scared and unsure, but I refused to harm these innocent people. I couldn’t harm
my unit either, not the young men like me who were fighting out of panic and the fear of not
obeying orders. I was stuck in the middle of an impossible situation, so I ran back, the fighting having slowed since more of them were dead than alive on either side of the battle. I couldn’t find the Captain, so I searched. I had my service weapon ready, no idea what I would do with it, when I heard crying. I ran around to see a small shed, the door propped slightly open and guarded by two guys in my unit I never really cared for. I watched as the Captain came out, zipping up his pants.
“I watched as one of the guards walked in and heard the screaming start again. The Captain came to me and asked me if I wanted a turn as if he was asking if I would like a drink of water. That was when I heard a man screaming at them to stop, that his wife was pregnant. The Captain just raised his gun and ended the man while his pregnant wife was violated by the same men I had stood beside since my service had begun. Something cracked in my mind, my vision distorted, and I raised my gun…”
Silence permeated the air. Persephone put her hand out and was thankful when he placed his hand in hers, entwining their fingers.
“I shot the Captain just as he did those two men. The guard outside started for me, yelling, and… and vines I didn’t see moments before had tripped him. I hit him with my gun, and as the other guard came out, his pants around his ankles, I shot him, too. Then… I ran. I knew they would hang me. I knew I committed treason and could never go home. So, I took jobs for money using the skills I learned throughout my service. I couldn’t stay in one place and earn a living since I was being hunted by my own government. I was staying off the grid in my safe house in Alexious when the jobs were sparse, the heavy snowfall of that country good for keeping me undercover.”
Devon stopped for a moment before starting again. “That was when I realized I had a chance to hunt my old unit, which I did, and ended up meeting my friend, West, during that time. He was on a suicide mission to end a few of the same men’s lives. I offered him my services, and he paid well. I had no idea who he was before I met him. Two men who kept their secrets close and only allowed a shallow friendship. Truthfully, the only friendship I ever really had.”
“I took those souls, the ones from Germania that caused so much harm and hurt. They may still be in the Torture Fields. Their deaths on earth were nothing compared to what happened to them here,” Persephone offered as a small penance for the pain and anguish he felt.
He gave a slight nod as they lapsed into silence, both of them digesting the dark memory.
“I’d love to go back to Germania, see the Great Forest, but I am not sure I could handle it if everything I knew was destroyed. At times, those memories are all that get me through the dark nights, and I need to keep them as they were. I just… the one thing I regret is not seeing my father again before he passed away. To tell him I was sorry for not coming home, for leaving in the first place.”
She squeezed his hand, watching him. He wouldn’t look at her, but she could see the tears glisten as they fell down his cheeks. She stood, still holding his hand, pulling him up. Before she realized what she was doing, she had pulled him into a hug.
He lost himself, crying on her shoulder.
She closed her eyes, running her hands up and down his back in soothing motions. She could see it clearly now. His darkness. His past. The power he held inside himself. She loved it. All of it.
