October 13, 1999 — Outskirts of Eva — Zone 47
The sound of glass shattering was the first thing that echoed in her mind.
Sarah wakes up with a start because of the noise.
While she is still lost in thoughts about these recurring dreams, she begins to get up.
Still sleepy, hair messy and dressed in loose clothes, she leaves her room and goes to her parents' room. When she sees that it is nothing more than her mother knocking down yet another mirror while cleaning, she smiles faintly and goes back to her bed.
But the glow of the king star that has just awakened insists on touching her face and making her brownish gaze shine, giving her no alternative other than getting ready for another day of class. However, when she remembers what awaits her today, she jumps excitedly out of bed and begins to change clothes.
The birds now reconquer the sky while the clouds that were once apathetic now gain golden tones that mix with the usual white. Even the fog, now almost imperceptible, begins to withdraw from the stage.
"Do I really need to answer this?"
Sarah asks the wind, more murmuring than anything else. With her left elbow resting on the kitchen table, she stares at a white sheet full of questions and options in front of her while her head lies in the palm of her left hand and she plays with the pencil between the fingers of her right.
"Yes, daughter, everyone at your school has to answer it. That is how they decide the curricula for the final years."
Leila takes the opportunity to pull Sarah's long black strands back and let them fall over her back.
"But mom... I do not want to be any of these!" She finishes speaking as she lets out a breath and relaxes her shoulders.
"Not even an archaeologist? It may not be sporty, but it is really nice to discover the..." While her mother's eyes shine with each word and she even drifts away in her mind looking into the distance, her voice becomes almost inaudible to Sarah's ears, who keeps staring at the options.
"Hunters' Guild
Military Service
Fishers' Guild
Archaeologists' Guild
Collectors' Guild
Librarians' Guild
Other: _____________"
"I just want to enjoy each day. Live each moment." She whispers to herself while her mother's voice starts coming back.
"Your friends already know what they want to be. Marcela even brought me some seeds that are very hard to find around here."
"Are some of hers passion fruit?" Sarah even gets distracted for a moment and turns her face upward in search of her mother's emerald-green eyes.
"You know their seeds are only found on the black market." She replies while brushing her daughter's forehead with her hand and redirecting her face, against her will, back to the paper on the table.
"Good thing potatoes are very common." Sarah finishes the line making a pout to the side with her mouth and looking at the options again.
"Come on, answer already or you will be late."
Leila watches her begin to move the pencil and do something on the paper.
"That is it!" Sarah then drops the pencil there on the paper and the table and runs off still barefoot and goes upstairs, disappearing toward her room.
Leila smiles faintly after letting out a handful of air while staring at the paper. When she sees that instead of marking one of the predefined options, Sarah circles the "other" option and writes "LIVE EACH MOMENT!!!!" very large on the line in front of it.
Sarah is already saying goodbye to her mother at the front door. Her black and long hair in contrast with her pale skin sways softly with the morning breeze.
"Again without a uniform?" Leila, her mother, fixes a strand of her red hair while frowning for a moment as she looks at her daughter's dark jogger pants and black shirt.
"Today there is physical education! I have a reputation to uphold." Sarah answers her with her firm voice, adjusting the dark green backpack on her back.
"I even ironed it for you." Leila grumbles after putting a fruit and the paper she forgot on the table into the backpack.
"My bad!" Sarah is already mounted on the bicycle.
"Do not talk to strangers!" Leila raises her voice to try to reach her already far away, her greenish and vague gaze getting lost in the memories of the news reports she has been watching.
Sarah follows her path without looking back.
During the minutes of pedaling, she observes the houses, some cars, and even a military forces vehicle all painted in a light brown tone, making its morning round. She notices the gray glow that emanates from the rear bumper. Shortly after, she sees another one just like it. But her curiosity soon passes when she spots the school gate.
Upon crossing it and reaching the bicycle rack, three girls leaning against a half wall watch her arrival. The whispering begins.
"Hey girl! Come here!" Grace, with light brown hair, calls her.
Sarah approaches, hesitant.
"What grade are you in?" Grace asks with her nose in the air.
"Eighth grade. Why?" Sarah answers, raising her eyes toward her.
The three exchange glances in silence before letting out restrained giggles.
"How old are you, thirteen?" she asks her again.
"Fourteen..."
"What a pretty backpack, little girl." Rita, with dark brown and straight hair, approaches and touches the fabric with disdain.
Sarah only watches out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey, is she not that businessman's daughter?" Rita comments out loud, casting an accusing look at Sarah.
"It is true! The one who does business with the nobles of Âmica." Grace adds while making a disgusted face. "She must be one of those spoiled little girls, actually, why are you not in a private school?"
"Now I remember! She is always playing among the boys from the second year!" Letícia, with curly chocolate-colored hair, throws her sharp words in Sarah's direction.
"Ugh! Gross! Stay away girl... boy... I do not know what you are!" Grace steps away.
Sarah looks at the girls fixedly. Her fists tighten.
Before anything else happens, three boys approach and wrap them in hugs. A few seconds later, Sarah is no longer there. No one seems to care.
The minutes pass and the bell rings. The students head to their classrooms, and one by one leave their answers on the teacher's desk. And then the teachers arrive and begin to work.
At a certain moment, when a teacher turns to write on the board, Marcela, a slender girl with blonde hair, who sits behind Sarah, pokes her in the back.
"Hey, why did you not go eat with us today?" Her voice is sweet even in a whispering tone.
"I was not hungry..." With her hoarse and low voice, Sarah throws words to the wind while losing herself in the floor between the rows of desks.
Marcela notices that on Sarah's desk there are small marks as if some liquid had been wiped away in a hurry. She looks at Sarah's expression, however, she remains silent.
One after another, the classes fade away. Explanations about guild systems, and how human beings can become stronger, arise.
One of the teachers named Miguel, wearing a black cloak and leather armor, writes three words on the board and then looks at his long green bow that is resting on his desk.
"Training, trauma, and equipment. These are the three main ways of becoming stronger." He explains to the class.
But Sarah barely listens. Her mind is still stuck on the girls' laughter... and on the dream of the woman with golden strands who asks her to dance.
Soon the first questions arise.
"Teacher!" A boy with an athletic appearance and blonde hair raises his hand.
"Go ahead, Sebastian!" The teacher lets him speak while sitting down.
"I train every day, do you think I can face the androids in the future?"
Some murmurs arise in the room, but quiet down upon hearing the teacher's voice.
"For us humans who are not royalty, even with a lot of training, it would be extremely rare to achieve such a feat. It would take decades of continuous training, and even then it is consensus that the help of qualified equipment would be necessary to match them." He looks again at his bow.
"But what about trauma? How does it make someone stronger?" A girl with short hair does not miss the opportunity. Silence suddenly settles in the room while almost everyone listens attentively.
"Iris, pray that you never become strong that way. Because only those who go through true hell and survive gain strength through that method." The teacher even runs a hand through his short brown hair as if to soothe his thoughts.
"I heard that those who go through that method can even defeat an android." A voice echoes from the back of the room, drawing Sebastian's attention.
The teacher in silence first looks at Iris's white hair with purple streaks, as she is turned toward whoever spoke, and then stands up while sighing.
"Listen! Strength always comes with a price. Whether it is years of life training, spending rivers of money, or losing yourself in the darkness and ceasing to be who you are." He breathes a little, leans on the desk in front with a distant look, and speaks again.
"I have already seen what those who survive traumas deep enough to break them to the point of becoming stronger look like. And trust me, you will not want that!" He finishes the line with the bow in hand and stretching the string, a large scar appears on the wrist that holds the bow and disappears beneath the leather armor.
At that moment, an almost funereal atmosphere is hanging in the air, but the sound of an alarm clock ringing very loudly breaks the silence, giving the cue for new adventures.
"Do not forget that the guild test is coming." The teacher's voice is already distant to Sarah's ears, since she was the first to leave. "Marcela, wait a moment." He calls the girl to talk a little with her.
After everyone has already left the room, Miguel is still inside observing three of the answer sheets the students left on the table. Sarah's brings him a slight smile, but it soon disappears when he looks at Iris's and Sebastian's sheets, both marked with the option Hunters' Guild.
Upon arriving at the courtyard, Sarah sits on the ground and leans against a wall in search of a little sunlight. The children who just moments ago were running to form a line and get food are now already running and playing tag. The older students are sitting, talking, and eating. Some still risk embarrassing themselves trying to play something.
"Hey, may I sit down?" Marcela approaches from the left with her brow furrowed while looking at Sarah, who is sitting cross-legged, with her head dropped into the palm of her hand, and elbow resting on her thigh.
Without turning around, Sarah answers with a slight nod in a positive way.
Silence stretches for a few seconds.
"So... tell me what happened?" Marcela asks her. However, the only answer she gets is the silence that takes over that small region for some more time, until another voice breaks that silence.
"Are you like this because of those idiot girls, right?" A young male voice comes from the right side. Marcela recognizes him amid the sunlight that illuminates his dark skin.
"I saw you at the entrance today. Those idiot girls were picking on you?"
"So that is why you cried?" Marcela asks her without thinking.
Sarah throws a sulky look at her.
Bernardo sits down on Sarah's right side. After a few moments, Sarah takes a deep breath and lets the air out with her eyes closed.
"Do you think I look like a boy?" Sarah asks now looking downward.
"No! That is just your way of being." Bernardo replies. "And to me, you are still a girl, the coolest one in school. To this day I still do not forget your courage in going down that huge street without braking the bicycle." He lets out some enthusiastic words while watching the children running in the courtyard in front of him.
"It is true, I am afraid even to get on a bicycle, but you always encourage me." Marcela exclaims kind words while her gaze leaves the ground and turns toward her friend.
Tears run down Sarah's face.
Marcela moves closer and hugs her. Bernardo does not stay behind and does the same. Smiles are born amid the rays of sunlight.
"I love you!" With her somewhat hoarse voice in a tone that conveys immeasurable peace, she lets herself be carried by the moment.
"I do too!" Bernardo returns the kindness.
"I looove yooouuu toooo..." Marcela begins to cry.
Bernardo and Sarah begin to laugh at their friend.
Sarah gets up and turns to the two of them smiling with body and soul. She grabs them by the arms and pulls them.
"Come on, let's go! I have a reputation to defend. I want to see whether someone will finally be capable of defeating me." With a smile stamped on her face, Sarah leads them to the battlefield.
Laughter mixes with the afternoon wind.
While the three cross the courtyard discussing the tests that are approaching, and Marcela tells Bernardo that teacher Miguel wants to talk with him.
By the window, the principal remains standing still.
Her glasses reflect the illuminated courtyard, but her eyes are beyond it.
The phone rings.
She answers it.
"Confirmed."
"Yes. Half have already gone."
"In two weeks."
She hangs up.
On the table, a clipboard with a long list of names.
Three are marked.