“Your friends, they mean the world to you, right?” She asked in a mellow tone.

“Ya,” I replied.

“Your dream—what is it? What is the answer you desperately seek so much that you’ve dropped lives in the process?”

She didn't smile. Her face was colder than biting into the snow with your front tooth. Emotionless, she stood there, waiting for an answer.

“I want to live in the City of Ionia with my friends. I want to live in paradise. And to do that, I need to find a way past the walls. No outsider knows how or where to find or create an entrance. But they know where the answer lies. The only way to find that answer is here. So please, show me the way through the walls.”

“Why? Why must you live in the city? You could easily live here, isolated with your friends, away from danger. So why are you pressuring this?”

I sat upright on the couch, my forearms resting on my knees while my fingers intersected. I dipped my head low, my hair covering my face.

Back in the cells, I imagined the outside world to be a vigorous place where only the strong survive. Savages who roamed around, looting, killing, and feeding off others. That was the mental image I placed for as long as I could remember. I lived in a place I wanted no part of.

Someone proclaimed how there was a city where worries and suffering faded away—a land where anyone could live in peace.

Peace. Happiness. Comfort. Beauty.

To live is to recognize all four, to cherish all four, and to love all four.

Yes, I could live with my beauty in a remote land. But I wouldn’t be at peace. Guilt would overshadow my smile, and happiness would become a distant concept.

I couldn’t turn away from the city after everything that happened. I owed it to many people. I gave my word to many people. I convinced them I would be able to achieve this.

I promised them.

If I had turned away from my dream, everything would have been for nothing. I refused to let those lives mean nothing.

With my eyes staring at hers, I inhaled, “That’s where I’ll find what I’m looking for.”

“What are you looking for?”

“Same thing as everyone else is. Peace and comfort.”

With all the lives on my shoulders and the burden I’d carried, I finally had the opportunity to bring them there.

I promised them I would take them to paradise. And my word was absolute.

Once I’m there, maybe my guilt will be much lighter. I hoped that was the case.

“If I give you your desired answer, you won’t betray them, right? You won’t put them in harm's way, right?” She dropped to her knees, holding my hand, tears at the edge of her eyes. “They’ll live, right?”

I was speechless. The look on her troubled face resembled a parent looking for their stolen child.

“Please…please tell me…tell me…nothing will happen.” She buried her face in my lap, weeping.

The words finally came out of my mouth. “Are you—”

She covered my mouth, silencing me. “I don’t want to hear your words. All I want... is for you to promise to keep them away from danger. That’s all.” She lowered her hand to my throat, her face stained with streams.

I didn’t know what this was all about. Why would she, a stranger, get emotional? Come to think of it, I didn’t know anything about her. Who even was she? Why was she alone at this house? She mentioned isolation. Why? So many questions boggled my mind, but it wasn’t enough for me to care.

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She was a stranger I would probably never see again, so all I said was what she wanted to hear.

“Promise.”

She smiled, but it was hardly noticeable. I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell if I was a few feet back.

“Tim is waiting. I suggest you see him. Take a left, and it’s the last door on the left. In the meantime, I’ll make the necessary arrangements for you.”

She pushed herself up, offering a hand. She lifted me and walked towards the exit in silence. I followed her directions by going left, but she went the opposite way.

Owen was at the end of the hall, outside the door. His head tilted against the wall, both hands stuffed in his pockets. His caramel eyes were distant, focusing on something that wasn’t in the present moment.

“You ok?” I asked while walking up to him.

No response. It was like talking to a hollow body.

“Anyone in there.”

His body jumped as if he had a nightmare. “The hell is wrong with you? Who knocks on a person’s head like that?” He rubbed his forehead, clearly aggravated.

“Relax a bit. No needa get so worked up.”

Owen wasn’t having any of it. He signed, shaking his head. Did something go wrong?

“Did something happen?” I asked the disturbed Owen.

“Forget about me. The real question is, are you okay?”

“Oh, ya, I feel completely fine.” I looked at the miniature bruises on my arm. “I have all these injuries, but I don’t feel any pain.”

“Your hand, it’s not hurting at all?”

“Hpmh? My hand? Oh! I totally forgot about my hand. But no, it’s like nothing ever happened to it.”

He looked down at my hand. "That lady put a cast? Must've been serious."

"Tendon tear. She told me to leave it like this for a couple of weeks."

Owen crossed his arms, leaning against the door. “She really is a wizard.”

“Huh?”

“While you two were passed out, she told Roger and me how she was going to inject you both with something that should nullify the pain. And I guess she did just that.”

An injection that nullified pain? Outsiders didn’t have advanced medicine like that. The only ones who could potentially have that were…

“Are you saying she’s an Ionian?”

“No clue. But something about her seems a bit fishy,” he shrugged.

Thinking about it more, I knew where he was coming from. The SCAR agent protects the house, advanced technology, and medicine—none correlated to any outsider.

The one thing, however, that raised an alarming red flag was her mention of isolation as a form of punishment. Could she possibly be connected with Ionia? I mean, it made sense. A SCAR agent wouldn’t randomly guard a house up on a hill.

“It does sound a bit iffy. Ehhhh… let’s not worry about it. We’re so close to heading to Ionia. I say we should stay ignorant and keep our suspicions between us. Don’t mention it around Tim, and don’t mention it to Roger. I can’t trust his babbling mouth.”

“Speaking of Tim,” Owen said while looking down the hall, “She gave much more care to him than you.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Your injuries are more vital. Shouldn’t she be focusing on you more than Tim?”

Disgusted, I punched Owen in the arm. “How can you even say that? Do you not care about him at all?”

“I—Of course I do. Ugh, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“She cared for him like a mother would her child. She checked on him every so often, making sure he was alright. At one point, I caught her holding his hand to her face. But for you, nothing. She checked on you not even half the times she checked on Tim.”

Scratching my neck, I suggested, “Maybe you’re over-speculating this?” I seriously couldn’t give a reason as to why this could be.

“I guess so?” He exhaled a frustrated sign and almost slammed the wall but pulled back at the perfect time. “I don’t know. This all seems a bit odd.”

“Ya…”

I wasn’t going to tell him how she shed tears earlier. I wasn’t going to expose my promise to her. She wanted them to not come in harm's way for whatever reason. There was no reason for her to care so much, but she did. I wasn’t sure why. I had multiple thoughts in my head, but they were all theories. I refused to nag at the what-ifs but instead turned my head to the direction in which I knew was inevitable. Entering the city was guaranteed. Even if it meant walking in blissful ignorance, I shall do that.

“The arrangements are ready,” said the woman across the hall. She galloped over to us, her hands behind her back. “Did you get a chance to speak with Tim?”

“Oh, not yet. We’ll leave after I check on him.”

She gave a warm smile. “I’ll be waiting in the main room. Take as much time as you need.” She turned around, her hands still behind her back, and left our sight.

“I’ll wait out here for you.”

“Sure.”