Forward

I was not only a soldier, I was the death and life of my country. And now I’m the last left. After the invasion was announced, I didn't have enough time to do what was only mine to do. And that is my biggest regret. It all was changed by a heart shaped locket.

My name is Emine, I was a soldier for the country of Ebrela on the planet of Casse. Here we lived in harmony, our military the best of all the planets. We are seen as the last defense from the outsiders for the other planets. Our planet, though covered by water with nearly no land masses, thrived. At eighteen you are selected for community roles. These roles don’t give you money but rather essentials needed to live. Money is earned through good deeds. My father died when I was ten, he got ill from an unknown virus that wreaked havoc throughout the country. My brother, Archer, was also a soldier, but my mother was merely a shop worker. Ebrela thrives on the basis of social status, if your parents aren’t in the military then you are most likely going to not be selected for the military unless you are one of two exceptions. One, your sibling is in the military. Two, you are scouted. Now here is the part in my story that we need back up, to the day of my eighteenth birthday.

I was eating the leftover birthday cake from earlier this afternoon when a thud sounded at the front door. Sitting on the porch was a letter. The letter was a military style letter that only the Ebrela government used. It was the letter I had been expecting for weeks, it was just announcing my selection into the military program. I ran into the next room to tell my mother, sliding on my socks into the bedroom. She was standing at the end of her bed folding endless black clothes. She looked up at me with a graceful smile on her face as she always had.

“What is it Emine dear?” she said, looking me up and down, making sure that everything was okay. “I got accepted to the military program.” I said calmly, catching myself from being over enthusiastic. “That’s excellent dear.” she said with a slight sigh as she went back to folding the clothes. My mother always hated the fact that my brother was selected for the military because it was danger that he didn’t really need to be putting himself in. And I knew all too well that she thought the same of me. When I was ten they started training for the program and if you become good enough you are accepted, that’s how people are scouted.

When my brother got home I told him the news. He looked at me and then brought me into a huge hug. But looking back on it I couldn’t decipher whether the hug was one of congratulation or condolence. But either way he reacted in complete silence, facial expressions hidden by the hug. Then he just walked away completely expressionless. Like he had seen a ghost or something. I followed soon after him. I know my brother is a soldier, but he doesn’t usually react this way to the horrors of his job. Something is wrong. I followed silently after him towards his bedroom. When I reached his doorway I leaned against the frame to watch him. Though he knew I was there he paid no mind. Gently, he pulled a heart shaped locket out of his pocket.

“This, was fathers gift to you. It was a project he had been working on a long time at the lab.” I walked closer to him and brought it out of his hands. It had words engraved into the silver metal, but the words were illegible as if they were in another language. It read as, ‘mees yehts asyawla tone ras gniht rebmemer rethguad.’ What in the world could this possibly mean? I walked out of the room without uttering another word.

I spent the next few days trying to debunk the code, when it finally clicked. The words were backwards, ‘Daughter, remember things are not always as they seem.” What is that supposed to tell me? Knowing my father, this locket has more of a purpose than meets the eye. He was a scientist and inventor, and he loved puzzles. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the locket open, but as always I knew there had to be a purpose to this puzzle.

After spending days in my room, my brother forced me out of my room and off to training, I was finally able to let it go. As long as you call wearing the locket wherever you go, letting it go. I ran the track a few times and practiced climbing the wall. When the alarm that we have dreaded since we were kids sounded, all we could do was move. The outsiders were coming, the war is here. I ran across the track toward the gear room, then collected my vest and other gear. When I was finally ready I found my brother amidst all the chaos.

“Emine? Do you still have that locket I gave you?” I reached for the chain in an instant. “Yes, Why?” My brother looked towards the floor then back at me. “Look, the locket contains a gas that will put a shield over the whole city. But the issue is it needs you to be at the highest point in the city. The Casse planet building.” I looked at my brother one last time, knowing full well I did not have enough time. “I love you, Archer.” He smiled a grim smile and said, “I love you too.” Then I began running down the hall.

When I reached the Casse building, I began the climb. Hands aching, fingers slipping on the small ridges of the windows, I had to fall back on every ounce of my training. When I reached the top, I had no time to catch my breath. I tried to pry open the locket again. Then I remembered what the locket said. Things are not always as they seem. So, I traced the perimeter of the locket with my finger. An attempt so foolish I thought it would never work. But, the locket opened immediately. As soon as the locket opened I saw the incoming ships. I held the locket as high as I could hold it so the sun reflected off it, blue light sprayed the city. But it was too late. An outsider fired a shot and the whole city erupted in a fiery rage. And that is the last thing I remember, before I woke up in all of the rubble. I lost all of the family I had that day.

Today I walk the rubble for what seems like the billionth time looking for other survivors. All I see is the memory of what was once there. Then I heard what could only be described as beauty. Steps, human steps. I turn around to see the most beautiful boy I have ever seen in my life.