Three solid smacks on an old shack door.

Then three more...

And three more.

An explosion rang; a scream too, a cry for help. A memory, not here, not now.

She was eight years old when her mother died, and two days older now. Her name was Yua, but nobody cared, not anymore.

Three more bangs.

Yua's eyes rose from the dusty old looking glass. Home, she was home. Not in the rubble. Not in the death. Her mother's corpse did not lay bloody and burnt before her. Walls sealed her from the bitter cold of the early morning. Bandages blocked the blood from her eyes. The icy winter rains were held back by shabby wooden tiles, they no longer froze at her seared flesh.

"Child! Open the door this instant, by order of the ministry!" a voice rang out. A cold voice, angry and authoritative. A soldier?

Yua rose from her bed. She passed her mother's empty cot and stood at the door. "I know you are in there, child! Open the door now!" the voice rang yet again.

Yua did so. The door swung with a hollow creek and a blast of ice flooded the barely insulated shack. Yua looked up to the soldier and he looked down on her. She didn't like his face. Aged and marked in the wrong places. Wrinkled from fury, not laughter. "It is far past time for assembly, child. Punitive measures will take place," he said, raising a hand to slap her.

"What the fuck are you doing?" cried another voice. A soldier like the one before her but this one was scarred and his armour dirtied. He clasped the other's arm to stop his slap.

"My job, you fool," he retorted, pulling his arm free. "She is an hour late for assembly. She must be punished."

"Look at her, corporal. She's battered. She was probably in the attack." They spoke about her but never to her. As though she were a fine vase with a crack through the middle.

"It doesn't excuse-"

"-Yes... It does," the second man interrupted. He turned to face Yua with a false smile, seemingly dismissing the cold soldier. "What's your name, kiddo?"

Kiddo. Cold painful rains. Hot painful flames. Kiddo. She said that. She is saying that. She is burning and bleeding... and dying. She still loves her daughter, though. She says, "Run, kiddo. Run far," and she dies. She died. She's been dead. Two days dead. She isn't here; she isn't saying kiddo. Somebody else was. Somebody else was stood in front of Yua. Maybe he can help? Maybe he is here to save her mum?

No, he can't help her. She is two days dead. He is here for Yua. He is talking to Yua. He asked her a question.

"Yua... sir. My name is Yua," she eked out. She did not meet his gaze nor did her eyes wander. They were fixed forward. Not on anything in particular, just forward.

"He is right, Yua. Even if he is a prick. Assembly started an hour ago. You know your way?" the soldier tentatively asked. Yua couldn't answer. Instead, she nodded her head and walked past the soldier, never daring to look him in the eyes.

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A crowd had gathered. Men and women, near on 10,000. This was typical in the stacks where Yua grew up. ASAG, a fishing territory under the control of the Ministry of Galithia. Yua carved a path through the great crowd. She weaved between torn rags and wooden prosthetics. She ducked the legs of fishermen trying to get a proper view of the stage. Eventually, she had managed to reach the front rows. Before she and the crowd of ragged peasantry stood a thin line of pure white armoured soldiers, armed with rifles, holding the rabble back from the ornately carved stone stage.

A well-dressed man stood astage, mid-way through his address. He wore the garb of an officer, a commander. He spoke of schedules and quotas and things Yua could not understand. His words were flowery and elegant. So much so that the folk listening could barely make out the veiled threats should quotas be missed. He rambled and babbled and espoused and declared. Words and commandments Yua had grown all too weary of even at her young age. Platitudes and foreign values imported to maintain control over the furthest horizon of the Ministry's empire. Yua waited in bored silence for the end of the address, or at least for some news.

Yua's wait was rewarded when, at the very tail end of the address, a prisoner was dragged astage. "Now, ladies and gentlemen. I bring forth my final topic of discussion," the commander began with a flourish of his hand indicating for the young man to be dragged in chains. "Two nights past our community suffered a terrible affront. A strike at the heart... The very core of ASAG. Two nights past, a bomb was detonated at Lucky's bakery, claiming the lives of three women; two men and a child. Injuring countless more, no doubt. Both physically... And mentally." He took a breath, lavishing his eyes over the enraptured crowd.

"For how may we sleep in peace knowing killers, murderers, scum! Prowl our streets and claim the lives of our friends. Today, a bakery. Tomorrow? Mayhaps... a school? A hospital? They are not like us! They know no empathy, nor do they comprehend the sanctity of life." A stir began in the crowd. A subtle symphony of rising fear. The commander paused a moment, allowing the crowd to settle; to simmer.

"But - brothers and sisters - we are not without hope! My men have worked tirelessly to apprehend the murderer responsible. My friends... We succeeded. I hold before you, Josef Vie. An agent of the so-called Phoenix Alliance. A group of terrorists - and make no mistake, terrorists they are - that seek nothing but to undo the good and the hope given unto us by our friends in the Ministry. Yes, hard times are to be had under the ministry. This much is obvious. But look, friends, at your alternative!"

Josef was shoved to the ground at the commander's feet. He cackled and laughed like a raving lunatic. He mumbled words none could decipher as his eyes darted all around the crowd. Face to face, to face, to face. He looked as though he was imagining what each man, woman and child looked like without any skin. The commander knelt beside him, seemingly unfazed by Josef's blatant lunacy. He grabbed Josef by the throat and raised him to his feet.

"This is the quality of our enemy. The depths of their depravity are plain to see." The commander placed Josef before a microphone. "Tell them why exactly it is you murdered women and children! Butchered them in these very streets!"

"I greet you all, ASAG!" Josef said. The entire crowd fell deathly silent. It was not a good silence though; it was the kind of silence one could slice with a blade. Josef took a breath and loosed a wicked grin. "It is true, I freely admit, that I - Josef Vie - am responsible for the attack on Lucky's bakery!" He stood a moment, basking in the crowd as though awaiting applause. "You may ask why I did so... My answer would be simple! I wished the bakery to be gone. It was ugly and frankly, it ruined the aesthetic of the whole block!"

The crowd yelled out in disgust as a wicked cackle filled the air. The idea that so many lives were affected, so many families torn apart, over a simple artistic fancy. Yua listened to the man talk, he wasn't a soldier, he was a performer. He spoke like a supervillain from one of her shows. He chewed the scenery as if he wasn't facing the headsman's axe but an adoring theatre. Reason fought hatred within her. She looked upon this man, this beast, Josef and knew him to be her mother's killer and yet within, deep within, a part of Yua screamed out that something was being withheld from her. Yua hushed her suspicions, allowing her grief and rage to flow. She found herself joining the crowd in yelling and insulting Josef. Words flew from her tongue she never knew she could say, words her mother would kill her for so much as knowing.

No chance of that now though.

"Friends, please! Be calm," the commander announced. He raised his hand to the crowd and, like a well-practised orchestra, they quietened on cue. The commander paced for a moment seemingly in a ponderous trance. "The Alliance. These... men, bring only slaughter and misery. They promise liberty and freedom and deliver these only in death! They lie, they murder, they strike at what makes us human!" The commander looked over the crowd. His eyes locked with Yua. He appraised her and noted her wounds. "Now, ladies and gentlemen. I am but a humble instrument of you, the people. As such, I present the people with a choice," he declared with a stifled grin.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Josef Vie requires punishment. I leave his fate unto you, the people," he said, with his crooked smile on full display.

Roars erupted from the crowd. "Death!" they called. "Shoot the bastard!" they demanded. The commander looked out to his crowd, to his beautiful orchestra - played to perfection.

"You," he commanded, pointing directly at Yua. "Come."

As quickly as they had erupted, the fickle crowd had settled. All surrounding Yua pushed her forth towards the stage. Dead silence surrounded broken only by the delicate taps of Yua's bare feet against the cobbled streets. Ten steps felt like ten thousand yet she must take fifty more. Eyes pierce the girl like fingers running through sand searching for something of value just beneath the surface. Yua hoped there was nothing to be found but that didn't stop them from searching.

She arrived at the stage. The commander looked her up and down before bowing to her. "What is your name child?"

"Yua... Sir," she responded, shrinking into herself.

"Were you in the attack, Yua?" he asked, kneeling close to her. She nodded slightly, her eyes falling to his shoes. "Where are your parents, child?" he continued. Yua's eyes filled with tears but she did not speak. Her eyes found courage, or perhaps wrath, and fixed upon Josef. "My mother, sir... She... She died in the attack," Yua said, her voice filling with a new strength.

"What was her name?" The commander asked as the crowd began to stir yet again.

"Akemi, sir... Her name is-," She hesitated for a heartbeat. "Was, Ito Akemi," she corrected as her newfound strength began to strain. Yua was surprised by the commander's reaction to hearing this. He paused for a while too long. Left too much empty air. He must have known the name, perhaps they knew each other. He looked at her, no longer appraisingly but with familiarity; recognition.

"I really hate to split up families," Josef laughed. "Why don't you go kill yourself and join her? Hell, let me outta these chains and I'll choke 10 grams of lead down your throat. Fuck it! I'll sort each one of you MOG fucks out with your own dose of fire and brimstone!" he continued, filling in the empty air the commander's hesitation had left. For a final time, the crowd grew furious, seemingly actually out of control.

"It's your decision, Yua! Mercy or consequences? Life or death?" the commander shouted over the crowd. He drew his ceremonial pistol and placed it to the back of Josef's head. "Decide!"

Yua stood, staring at Josef. His eyes weren't as crazed up close. His smile seemed phoney. He was scared. Yua liked that. She liked that she scared the man who murdered her mother. She liked that his life depended on her word. She could allow him mercy; it would be so easy and it would be so righteous. And yet...

"Kill him."

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He fell down strange. That was her first thought. Yua had seen a man die before. It was like his legs simply stopped working. He folded and collapsed straight down. She heard bones crunch last time. This was different. He fell down strange. He collapsed with a great sway. His arms covered his head before he landed. It was almost like his corpse was afraid of being hurt by the fall.

It was loud, she realised. Too loud. The shot rang still in her ears even over the roaring crowd. He didn't look dead. His eyes were shut, he could just be sleeping. That's when she noticed the red. From his nose, his eyes, the back of his head. More of it than she expected and yet not nearly as much as his victims had bled. Yua thought she would like killing Josef but she was wrong. It didn't feel good, it certainly didn't feel bad and she didn't regret it, but it didn't feel good. Yua felt little. Not sad or happy, not angry, not relieved. One feeling did nag at the back of her mind, however. Yua was thirsty. She would have to walk all the way home to get a drink after the assembly was over.

"Yua," the commander said. He broke Yua's daze and her eyes finally relinquished their grasp on Josef's corpse. She looked to the commander, deep into his eyes now. She had seemingly forgotten her timidity. The commander was momentarily unnerved by this but quickly regained his composure. "Come with me, child," he continued, his hand outstretched.

Yua took his hand. It swallowed hers. The wrinkled, well-manicured fingers bore no signs of hard work. She remembered her mother's hands. Hard and callused, covered in scars. She thought the two ought to have traded. The commander scarred and the baxter, gentle and clean.

She forgot for a moment, within his hand, that yet another corpse lay before her and that a hungry horde had been driven rabid by her single order. She forgot for a moment, within his hand, that she - even amongst the horde - was well and truly alone. He pulled her away towards a craft. It flew an inch above the ground on four blue engines radiating a purple wave of energy that looked to her like legs on a dog. She sat in one of four empty seats and the commander joined her. Two guards sat across from them. They were real soldiers. Cold and distant yet completely present, aware.

The open door slid shut with an audible seal. Yua was too small in her seat to wear her belt and so she sat on her knees to prop herself high enough to look out of the window. They were moving. Up and up. She couldn't tell, she had been in a carriage before and felt her belly swing around inside her as it moved but she didn't feel anything right now.

It was all so small now. There was her school, her street and the park she played in with her friends...

There was the bakery. The crater. The graveyard. So small she could crush them all at once with her thumb alone.

It didn't matter now. The commander was taking her away from it all. From the loneliness, the cold shack, and the angry horde who looked as ants from here. None of it mattered.

"Sir, Cannee has been extracted. Moving to VESTAG," the left soldier said. He took his hand from his ear and rested it on his rifle. “Considering how hesitant he was, he did a hell of a job.”

"Good. He earned our discretion today, see to it the rebels don’t find him," The commander said. Yua noticed him glance over to her. It was a look she knew well. It was a look her mother gave her when she had overheard something she wasn't supposed to. Something spoken accidentally without realising she was present. She had a gift for being forgotten, overlooked. A gift well utilised throughout her childhood much to her mother's dismay.

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They began to descend at their destination. A fortress less than a few kilometres from ASAG. Yua looked out at the great walls. She couldn't tell if they were steel or concrete but they stood thicker than her entire house and more than ten times the height. Rings of bunkers and hangars surrounded inside and out of the walls. Soldiers marched in formation and tanks rolled to their beds. Within the walls was a kind of village.

She saw tall towers and rows of homes. Not like the homes at ASAG. These were large, ornate. Wood and brick rather than splinters and tarps. Painted in all colours and surrounded by greenery and lavish gardens. At the centre, the most resplendent of them all. A grand mansion of European design. A cathedral of military might. Guard houses encircled the majestic fields around the home.

The craft touched down in the mansion's garden. A designated parking spot, it seemed, for the commander. The door opened and the air seal broke. Lavender and rose; lilac and gooseberries. Air so fresh Yua assumed she must have stepped out into a cloud. No oil, no steel; no blood and iron. The rot of fish and stench of sweat were already mere memories after a single breath. Her bare feet met wet grass as she dropped from the ship. It was the first time she had ever felt grass, real grass not the green plastic behind her school that cut her knees and palms. "Come, child," the commander whispered as he stepped out from the craft. "When we enter, Yua, I expect you to stand straight and speak when spoken to. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, straightening out her back. His tone was cold and his eyes seemed filled with dread. He looked Yua up and down as though justifying something to himself. He turned on his heel, stood straight with his head held high and his hands linked behind his back, and marched on. "Very well. Follow," he ordered.

He paced much too quickly for Yua; she bounced and almost ran to keep alongside him. By the time they arrived at a grand staircase, Yua had drained her stamina entirely. The commander looked at her and began up the stairs without a word. Yua hopped up, one by one. Chasing close at his tail.

Someone stood at the peak of the staircase. He wore a suit, old fashioned but elegant; fresh and timeless, unlike the sagging old man wearing it.

"Good afternoon, commander," he said. His voice was gentle and clear but had faded after a long life. He turned to Yua and, after a short appraisal of her ragged garb, lightly bowed to her, "And who may our guest be? I don't believe our general has sent for any new servantry?"

"Not a servant," the commander corrected. He stepped beside the man and whispered something in his ear. Yua could not hear what was said but immediately noticed the man's expression soften. The commander stepped back beside Yua.

"This is Stanley Aicht, the general's personal aid," he motioned for Yua to introduce herself. She sputtered and mumbled and tripped over her words but after gathering herself, she stood straight and looked Stanley in the eyes.

"Yua, sir... My- my name is Ito Yua," she said, only lightly stumbling. Stanley looked at her with a mixture of confusion and something else, something Yua couldn't decipher. Curiosity? Not quite. He looked her in the eyes with a familial warmth. "Ah, a native. I see... Welcome, Frau Yua, it is the pleasure of a lifetime to meet you," his smile was sincere despite his 'refined' attitude. Yua returned it in kind.