“No you won't, Atjani. That's why you hate me....”

Alana's last words haunted me. I would never find true love. We were on the same sinking boat. I wanted to watch her drown. I had been another week and the pilot had already reached the imperial city. I mutter to myself again and walk down the streets of Lam Lathi. A woman named Alana Eloise was there waiting for me. It had been a long time since I had seen her. I had been fighting and keeping my distance. She had been too, only stepping in to help when my life was about to end. I hated how she waited until the last second to save me in battle. It added to my stress. My reality was different now. Lam Lathi was being rapidly overrun by the pilot.

I still remember seeing the row of bayonets and heavy shields formed up from the previous day. It stuck to me like a bad dream. About half of us died. I walk down the streets of Lam Lathi, and pass the stallion and dancer. The statue had a different meaning to me. I kind of liked it. It was ready to be knocked over and that was fine with me.

I head to a familiar room. It was the room where I took Alana hostage with her help. She was meeting there and keeping me safe from the leechers that flew in the open skies. Every so often they would fly down and grab a soul or two. It was safer indoors. It created a delay when they lured you in with good feelings.

I open and old door and walk inside. I look at Alana. I had a gift for her. I grip Alana's bandanna in my hand and wrinkle it. I was wearing a new one to wear that I picked up off the ground. I liked giving Alana her fair share of my revenge. She got me in this mess. I wanted to flee to Capara where the Neandelerians were. With the Caparans united under their king, we could make a last stand against the pilot. It also gave me time to find Lani. The pilot had decided to attack the Ryoken tribes first. I wasn't sure what I thought about abandoning my home.

Alana smiles at me. There were others in the room with us, hiding. I watch as loved ones kiss and return their bandanna to their lover's hair. They kept the promise of returning. Tomorrow they might not get a chance. The couples embrace each other and I watch the silent gestures in front of me. I glance over at Alana. She seemed a bit jealous.

“Jealous some?,” I mock.

Alana smirks. She stands in my way and motions gently. “Nope.”

I grin. I was going to die under the empire that destroyed my childhood. Alana made sure I didn't run off too far. In a way, I could relate to Alana. I was stuck with no way out. Like a tempest, we both were victims to the will of others. I walk closer to her as she leans against a wall. She puts her knee out and I slam my back beside her. I lean my rifle next to me.

“All that dancing, and you still couldn't find true love,” I mutter sarcastically.

Alana tries to ignore me. I was pissing her off. I knew why she wanted my memories. She knew I was hellbent on finding the love she could never taste. With all her influence and power, she was still powerless to control intimacy. I was just a personal endeavor to her. It sickened me on some days, but I liked the flattery when it was good. I grab Alana's hand and slowly smear it up against the stone wall. The movement of my hand was sensual and biting against the stone. I've learned a lot from her. It's derogatory. A slang girl would know. Alana shakes her hand free of mine.

“You shouldn't play with fire, Atjani.” she says venomously.

“Really? Why is that?,” I mutter back.

Alana pulls out a cigarette. It was the same kind Melinal smoked when we met on the balcony before I left Corsana. I knew it by the taste. Alana smirks and puts it to my lips.

“Taste,” she mocks.

I bat the cigarette away and Alana takes in my annoyance. She knew getting Melinal back was a long shot. It never worked out, even when we tried. Part of me wondered if Alana even wanted it to work out. I think she did, she just made a mistake like me. I should have left Lam Lathi earlier,

Alana and I stand there and watch the loving couples. It made me happy to be part of the Ryoken tribes. I stare at Alana from behind my other bandanna. I smelled like cinnamon and it even had a mocking hand. I reach for my tribal belt. I tuck Alana's bandanna in her miniskirt. I make sure it fits well and give it a nice pat so she feels it. I watch as she tries to hold back her hurt.

“It's nice to have her back. I missed her,” Alana whispers. She touches her bandanna lightly and smirks. “Wouldn't you say so, Atjani?” Alana tries to hold her composure as she mocks me. In the end, she had the lonely love story of a Lam Lathi messenger. At least she was suffering like me. I was going to enjoy bringing her down with me.

I give Alana a stare down, colder than the room we're in. There were a lot of tempests. I could already hear gunshots outside. The pilot was moving in on the city itself. Tomorrow was probably going to be my last stand. I pick up the cigarette on the ground and smash it into the wall.

“I have friend to join, named Melinal. See you on the other side.”

I walk away from Alana. I give he a hard shove as I leave. I rush out the doors and into the street with my rifle. I look out above me and watch the massive glow approach me. It was getting brighter in the distance. I take a harder look.

In front of me was the pilot's glowing tower. It sat like a basilisk of loving feelings, surround by the wings and glowing bodies of the pilot's leechers. On the top is was a throne. It was his magical seat where he emanated his most powerful energy. The feelings around were hard to fight. They were soothing and positive, like the drink of a lover that was never real. I close my eyes. I could hear the pilot's shrieking. There was no suffering in the air when I was close to him. It felt good, like nothing mattered. I hated it. It felt like love without the love story.

A sudden explosion hits above me and I panic. Chunks of rock sling against my back and I gasp. I run further into the street. The pilot was destroying everything and redrawing it. He was turning our own bullets and explosives against us. They were meant to head in his direction. I run out with some others, who had already planted their shields. The noises and shouts around us contrast the silent movement of hands. Other Ryoken natives rush passed me and I cover my eyes. I hear more gun fire, as beautiful sounds fill the sky. People run and gesture. I see pointing, as the buildings in front of me topple over, and grind under the weight of the pilot's tower. I gasp and try to push others past me as they flee. I aim my rifle and shoot several times. Nothing seems to make a difference.

A bright light changes my entire perspective.

A leecher lands near me reaches through another soldiers chest. Immediately, it is possessed by an army of tempests, who struggle for control against their many casualties. I watch as the leecher flies back to the pilot to leech from him. Vespers wrap around it and I her faint psychotic laughter. The winged creature is immediately erased and redrawn with his energy. It shines with beauty, free of its tearing eyes, and emanates good feelings at me. I begin to walk closer.

My armor becomes luminous, as ghostly patterns of white and gold overtake me. I stretch my neck looking up at the tower that had descended on the city. Rooftop statues topple over, as his tower crushes through the buildings. I cover my ears as the ground shakes, while the pilot moves closer toward me. I feel better and better with each step closer. I snap back to reality. I begin to run away.

“This is worse than I thought!”

Another winged creature lands in front of me. It tries to reach into my chest, but I block it with my rifle. I stab it with my bayonet, but every jab gets healed and redrawn. I feel the wings whoosh around me, briefly touching my cheeks. I start to think of my tribe Mercyan and my days in Corsana. It was like I was reliving those days, but as an outsider and not connected. I smile. I start to close my eyes an let the feelings take me.

I manage to resist again. I run frantically through the streets with the others. I hear them scream in pain, as their souls are ripped from their flesh, and they twist and drop their carcass. I keep running, breathing heavily through my bandanna.

Another leecher drops in from the sky behind me. More fall around me like glowing hail. I stand there helpless, but comfortable. Without warning, a winged creation reaches to take my soul. The rumbling behind me consumes the area. I watch in disbelief, as the statue of Lam Lathi begins to grown and crack. I cover my ears. I hear metal twisting and writhing. The rubble starts to topple and I choke on the dust of stone. Obsidian shards clank off my armor. Another angelic hand reaches at me. A new one does the same. I look back at the building I left behind. I close my eyes.

I run away from the creations as fast as I can. I manage to make it back to the room I was in before. I barge into the room and slam the doors. The others had fled already. No one was there, except one person. I see Alana still standing against the wall. She was waiting to die with me. She had given up and was starting to accept her fate like I was.

I stare into the open room.

“So you came back after all, Atjani,” mocks Alana.

I look at her leather thigh boots and corset. I seem her ribbon cords dangle by her feet as she leans back with a smile. I see her scarf and naked shoulders. Alana locks eyes with me as the building starts to shake. I shake the dust from my armored plating and walk next to her. Before, I can say a word, the door busts open. It falls over, in a flurry of glowing dust.

A strange pilot enters the room with a hideous smile. He looks at us an points with his finger.

“No more suffering. Easy love. Easy sex. Pleasure and love is free and easy. No more pain. No more love stories. Perfect partners fast. Come to me my loves.”

The pilot slowly redraws the room. His powerful vespers redraw the stone, creating marvelous blocks of gold and beautiful colors. The lights become blinding as the pilot walks closer. The building breaks and the floor above me creaks. I stare at Alana. She walks closer to me and we both stare at the pilot.

The pilot shrieks. My whole vision shakes with his blinding power and light.

I pull Alana close and toss my bandanna to the side. I could see the fear and pain glisten in her eyes. We grip to each other and close our eyes.

“Goodbye, Atjani.” whispers Alana.

“You first,” I mutter.

The pilot walks even closer. I stare at Alana with hatred, then open her eyes gently with my fingers. We lock eyes one last time. I wasn't going to die like this and neither was she. I think about Melinal fiercely and all I had been through with her. I grab Alana's face and give her the deepest and truest kiss I could ever give someone. Our tongues touch in warmth and I give her a taste of true love.

As much as I hated Alana, I was in love with the moment. It was real and in front of me. It was my struggle that led me to it. Everything had meaning, because nothing was easy. Our kiss becomes longer and deeper. I wanted her to have it. I wasn't sure if this was love or just my hatred speaking. A bright and evil light starts to overtake us.

A long time ago some dancer named Alana made me kiss her. She possessed me and forced it on me. I wiped my mouth. I was just returning the favor. It was like a stage dance I saw long ago with a dancer named Lani. It became a moment, where, the moment unites us all

“I hate you Alana. Damn me.”