Chapter Seven

Mission Complete?

The dense foliage of the frigid Alaskan wilderness clung to its secrets, but at the edge of a small clearing, the veil of greenery parted, revealing a scene frozen in time. In the heart of the wilderness lay the wreckage, a twisted monument to the clash between nature and the advancements of technology. The downed aircraft, a testament to humanity’s relentless pursuit of progress and innovation, now lay humbled and broken, entertwined with the roots and vines of nature's embrace.

Nëmi stood at the fringe of this clearing, her eyes wide with curiosity and wonder. The wreckage stretched before her like a metallic carcass, a mysterious relic from a realm she is now only beginning to know. Shafts of golden sunlight filtered through the canopy above, dappling the clearing with patches of light and shadow. Nëmi’s small frame cast a delicate silhouette against the remnants of the fallen craft.

The symphony of rustling leaves and distant calls grabs Nëmi’s attention, as she sees Sarah emerge from the forest behind her.

“What’s that?” Nëmi said, pointing at the peculiar glimmering object.

“That’s the whole reason I’m here.” Sarah responded, out of breath. “You know kid, I’m starting to realise you might be a bigger pain in my ass then my attackers back there.”

“But I hit you on the head, not your butt.”

“God dammit kid.” Sarah was unable to believe that such a simple minded child had extraordinary power. “How old even are you?” Sarah went on, following Nëmi who began to casually walk towards the downed craft. “How can you speak so perfectly yet understand so very little of it?” Sarah said, following Nëmi’s lead.

“Well to be fair I’m new to the whole ‘human interaction’ thing. I spent most of my existence alone in the void. The only semblance of language I knew was from the other me’s inside of me. It’s kinda weird to explain. It’s like having memories that are yours but not your own, if that makes any sense. I had no Idea of what I knew was right or not, all I knew is that it made sense to me.” Nëmi then stopped in her tracks, turning around and smiled at Sarah. “But I gotta say, the fact that you understand me means I did a pretty darn good job, didn't I!?” Nëmi boasted as if seeking Sarah’s approval.

Sarah didn’t know what to say, she was completely taken out of her element and placed in a world of uncertainty and oddity. She had come to Alaska on a mission, expecting to encounter danger and intrigue, but nothing could have prepared her for Nëmi.The little girl possessed an otherworldly charm, an innocence that was at once endearing and disarming. Despite the chaos that Sarah had gone through, Sarah couldn’t help but feel a sense of protectiveness towards Nëmi.

“Oh, by the way, I don’t really have an age really. Like I said, I’m new here, I literally took my first breath earlier today.” Nëmi said as both her and Sarah continued making their way towards the craft.

“Is that so? Happy birthday.”

They reach the wreckage, the remnants of a once powerful aircraft now reduced to twisted metal. Nëmi ran her fingers along the jagged edges of what appeared to be a wing, tracing the path of destruction with a childlike curiosity.

“Careful There, That could be sharp.” Sarah said as she rested her hand on the little ones shoulder. Nëmi in turn simply chuckles before speaking up.

“So what happened? Were you shot out of the sky? Was it those people back there?” Nëmi asked as she continued to examine the twisted metal.

“What? No, that thing should be unmanned. No one was in it, and if there was, no one would have survived whatever happened to it.” Sarah watched as Nëmi walked circles around the craft. Nëmi’s eyes were filled with awe. Nëmi’s shining eyes reflecting off the metal frame, casting back her ethereal glow.

“You know, this thing is really shiny.” Sarah chuckled, her gaze fixed on Nëmis gleaming eyes. Sarah had momentarily forgotten about Nëmi’s innocence. Sarah smiled as she knelt down besides Nëmi, patting the little one on the head.

“Yeah, it is, isn’t it? But there’s more to it than just being shiny. This aircraft holds secrets. Secrets that could change the whole world!“

Nëmi’s eyes widened even further, her curiosity piqued. “Woah! Really!? Like what!?”

“Well, I’m not really too sure, but before my boss sent me here, he told me I may not be able to see it in the first place. Apparently this plane has ‘perfect’ camouflage, and is made of a man made metal that is meant to be indestructible.”

“Huh?” Nëmi blurted in confusion. She took a moment to look back at the clearly visible and destroyed remnant of this ‘secret’ plane. “I think your boss is a liar.”

“Well, that’s why he specified ‘may’. But clearly it was a failed experiment.”

“Clearly.”

“Yup, and that’s why I was in charge of destroying it before anyone could uncover its secrets.”

Nëmi’s eyes light up again. “Woah! Really!? So were you, like on a secret mission!? Are you like a secret agent!? A Spy on a mission to save the world!?”

Nëmi then gasps as she thinks she has come to a realisation of the situation. “And those men back there found out about it and wanted to steal your plane and assassinate you!”

Sarah couldn’t help but giggle at Nëmi’s perspective. She may be a little girl with unfathomable power but she was simply that, a little girl.

“Your guess is as good as mine kiddo. In fact, that was exactly what I was thinking.” Sarah couldn’t help but to pat Nëmi on the head. This seemingly innocent little girl was far more perceptive than she led on. Sarah felt a surge of admiration for Nëmi’s intuitive nature. Not only that, but The Nëmi’s child-like innocence was a breath of fresh air in the otherwise chaotic world Sarah knew all too well. Sarah couldn’t help but feel a piece of her own innocence resurface as she spent more and more time with Nëmi.

“So how are you gonna do it? Destroy it I mean.” Nëmi asks, her eyes wide with intrigue and wonder.

Sarah pointed out some brick-like objects that were connected via wire, all around the aircraft.

“You see those blackish bricks all around us? Those are C-4 Charges, Bombs I managed to lay out before rudely interrupted. My plan was to light this piece of junk in a massive explosion. I was honestly looking forward to just laying back and watching the whole damn thing burn.” Sarah said as she began to walk around the craft, looking for the bag she had left behind.

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“An explosion!? That’s so cool! Can I watch it!?” Nëmi asked as she balled up from the excitement welling up in the body. Sarah couldn’t help but to chuckle at Nëmi’s enthusiasm. She knew it was a dangerous situation, but there was something infectious about the little girl’s excitement.

As Sarah was processing Nëmi’s request she had finally found the bag she had left behind. She tosses her bag, holserting it across her shoulder and then looks over to Nëmi.

“This here should be more than enough to blast this thing into smithereens. If we want to watch, we’ll have to do it from a distance.”

hearing these words, Nëmi's eyes light up. “Really!? No problemo!” Nëmi’s speed was nothing short of superhuman. Sarah watched the little girl practically teleport behind the treeline, away from the open field the crashed craft had created. “Is this far enough away!?” Nëmi yelled out as she peaked around a tree.

“Yeah that should be good! Wait for me there! Okay!?” Sarah yelled back, beginning to line the remaining explosives around the craft.

With Sarah’s objective, littered with C-4 charges, she hid behind a tree next to Nëmi. Sarah had one ear covered with her hand, ready to detonate the explosives as Nëmi eagerly watched.

“You might not want to look directly at it, it’s going to be really bright and loud.”

“Don’t worry, I'll be fine. I am a Goddess after all. ” Nëmi responded without taking her eyes away from the craft. Sarah still questioned the validity of Nëmi’s proclamation, however, she did know that This little girl was anything else but an ordinary child. With a magic rock on her head and surviving a fall from who knows how high up, Sarah decided to trust in Nëmi that she wouldn’t be injured.

“Alright kid, here it goes!” Sarah yells out as She presses the detonator in her hands.

An powerful shockwave crashes up against the tree Sarah took cover in as a massive ball of fire erupts out in the distance.

“Whoa! That's so cool!!” Nëmi yells out as she feels the wave of sound and heat wrap around her body. She sees the ball of flames form into a mushroom cloud as it slowly dissipates into the air. However, out of the short lived explosion, Nëmi’s eyes fall upon the same craft, twisted and mangled, and seemingly unaffected by the sudden explosion.

“Uh, Miss Sarah…” Nëmi muttered over.

“What is it? Shit! Did you get hurt!?”

“No, look.” Nëmi said as she pointed over to the unaffected craft.

Sarah looked over and was immediately in a state of disbelief. The craft, laying in the middle of a now scorched forest, remained unscathed. Well, as unscathed as a tattered scrap of metal could be.

Both Nëmi and Sarah walk over to the wreckage, their eyes fixed on the strange phenomenon before them. The twisted metal wasn’t even scratched by the explosion, but within the clearing smoke, Sarah noticed an unusual glow coming from the frame of the craft. Pulsating like a heartbeat, the pattern of the glow wrapping around the entire craft like a spider's web. Sarah couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine as she approached the seemingly indestructible craft.

“What in the hell…?” Sarah muttered under her breath, her voice barely audible over the crackling of the flames that still engulfed parts of the wreckage. Nëmi stood beside her, her gaze locked onto the mysterious craft.

Nëmi smiled, as she rested her hand on the mangled metal, her curiosity peaked.

“Oh wow, maybe your boss wasn't such a lire after all.” Nëmi said, knocking on the twisted metal frame.

“I don’t get it, how the hell did it get in such a state in the first place?” Sarah said as she two reached out to touch the craft. To her surprise, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary from said craft, but the fact that it withstood a massive explosion, yet somehow managed to end up in such a deteriorated state made Sarah mind boggle to no end.

“This is so COOL!” Nëmi spoke up. “I wonder how strong this piece of junk really is!? You know Miss Sarah, if you really want this thing gone, I could give a whack at it if you’d like.”

Sarah gave a condescending smirk, after all, Sarah had only seen Nëmi float in the air and be able to control a rock that sat on her head.

“Ha, yeah sure kid, let's see how much damage that rock of yours can manage.”

“Don't you worry Miss Sarah! I’ll show you just what a goddess can do!”

Nëmi took in a deep breath, and stretched her arms out, Nëmi did a variety of stretches, reaching towards the sky and down to her toes. She goofily exaggerates her exercises, chanting

“One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!”

Nëmi then enters a widened stance, her feet shoulder width apart. She then claps her hands together, the tips of her fingers directly at her eyes level. The way Nëmi positioned her hands in front of her face made it look like she was about to pray.

Nëmi then smirks and a gleam in her eye appears, and within the blink of an eye, the whole world turns upside down. The cheerful expression on the little girl's face completely vanishes. The gleam in her eyes wither, and her pupils dilate, enveloping her entire eyes in pure. . .

…darkness…

Sarah is blasted with unrelenting bursts of wind. An explosion immediately followed by an implosion of powerful winds.

Out of nowhere Sarah found herself in the midst of chaotic gales, pushing and pulling her from all directions. A chaotic storm that Sarah could only see as complete armageddon. It was a terrifying yet beautiful sight, it was as if She had left earth and entered the beautifully terrifying skies of saturn.

In the midst of all the chaos, stood the lone girl, her eyes darker than black, and the stone on the top of her head glowed in the purest white. It looked as if Nëmi was exerting an gargantuan amount of strength, her arms and hands trembling as if she were pulling apart an unimaginable force with her own two hands.

In Between the palms of Nëmi’s hands formed a singularity, a single point in space and time that of infinite mass that seemed to suck in everything around them. The very day turned to night, as the light around them began to sink into the singularity Nëmi held in between the palms of her hands. The world around Sarah completely turned upside down, as the area around the two began to break down, smearing reality across Sarah’s very eyes.

Everything fell into this infinitely dense ball of mass the little girl held in her hand, turning the lush green forest into a barren wasteland. The air around Sarah began to heat up, hotter and hotter, to a point where it felt her very blood would begin to boil. Time itself, contotting in accordance to the creation in the palms of Nëmi’s hands. Sarah couldn’t tell the past from the present, as it felt like everything was happening simultaneously. everything being sucked into the ball of death, everything except for Nëmi herself.

Sarah’s breaths came in ragged gasps, Each inhale a struggle against the suffocating weight of the oppressive presence surrounding her. Fear gripped her like icy tendrils, sending shivers down her spine and paralysing her with its intensity. Her chest constricted with each heartbeat, a relentless reminder of the danger she potentially faced. Sarah’s once vibrant sapphire eyes, now mirrored the emptiness of the void she beheld.

However, amidst the dread that groped her soul, Sarah did not succumb to fear; instead, she felt an overwhelming sense of awe and curiosity. beneath the surface of her terror, a spark of curiosity flickers to life, mingling with the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. The adrenaline surge brought a euphoric rush, a sensation akin to dancing on the edge of oblivion.

In that fleeting moment, she bore witness to a terrifying sight she had never known she longed to see. It was a dance between beauty and chaos, a sight Sarah couldn’t begin to comprehend; it was as if she stared directly into the eyes of God, the embodiment of the universe itself. Sarah couldn’t help but to be drawn to the unknown before her, causing a sight that made a haunting grin tugged at the corners of her lips. It was a twisted expression, a bizarre amalgamation of fear and fascination, painting her face with an eerie allure.

Sarah turned to Nëmi’s direction, The little girl seemingly unaffected by this singularity she held in the palms of her hands, then let go of it, as the ball of infinite mass and energy slowly wafted its way towards the craft. In an instant, the craft was sucked into pure nothingness and as soon as that happened, the single point in space time then erupted in a flurry of blinding colours.

The area around the two looked even more lively than it had before. The scarred clearing the craft had made, now replenished with a field of the greenest grass and the most vibrant of flowers. Peddles littered the air, as they slowly made their tranquil descent back to the earth's surface, and in the midst of it all, stood a lone girl, with the most innocent smile she had ever seen. Nëmi’s eyes shined so vibrantly, Sarah could have sworn she was staring into the heart of the universe itself. Sarah couldn’t help but to be completely enamoured to This little girl, with a rock on her head, who seemed to be the universe itself incarnate.