AFTERGLOW: of survival✓

36.2 Aija

The story so far:

----Zuri waits for Aija to wake. When she goes to check on Luka, she hears Nala talking to Z'our. Thieron tells Aija he's in love with her. Aija tells him she hates him. Thieron is stunned by Aija's non-acceptance of him. Thieron accepts Irih'va's offer to work for the Crown. Rei gets back with Vincent. Wiet publicly executes Gale members, Rei is upset that he isn't able to do more for his people. Luka speaks with his former mentor and tells him he's quitting the Ithi'hra. Aija and Irhi'va speak in the Throne Room. When Irih'va kisses her she kisses him back but realises she cares more for Thieron. Irih'va is devastated when Aija leaves. Ruyanir is scared for Ze. She hopes he wins. Ze wins against Na'thwir. Zuri and Nala attend the Red-Moon festival. The Gale releases their video on the Main-Lands. They bring the Leadership down. Mike Wiet escapes, Rei asks Je'ai to catch him. Aija accepts Thieron.

----Ze is blessed and becomes the Ema'i of the Zayr. Thieron gives Aija the blade-blessings. Irih'va tells Thieron Ea tried to destroy Earth. Aija and the others go to Earth.

----Wiet is captured, Rei talks to him. 

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****36.2 AIJA****

Sunlight brought out the varying shades of wood of the walls.

Aija eyed them, counting five different types of wood that made the walls of the Core mostly to calm herself. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. She hated the heaviness of it, for while it told her she was alive, it also reminded that she could lose it all in seconds. Ever since she'd had a blade strike her chest in Zya'ara, her heartbeat made her queasy.

And what she'd heard just now made her ill.

She hadn't meant to overhear the conversation; she'd only been searching for Rei. She'd waited for Thieron; when he hadn't come, she'd sought her brother to ask if he knew what was happening with Ea. She's come to his office-room to find the door slightly ajar. Aija had tiptoed closer, unsure whether to enter, listening to the raised voices floating out. Mike Wiet's laugh had taken her off-guard.

Everyone knew the Leadership's Representatives surly, grating voice thanks to his video-messages that were aired frequently on DigiScreens all over the Cities. It was a voice that reflected how highly he thought of himself.

Aija had peered into the room through the slit. Wiet, tied to a chair, hands at the back, looked haggard. He'd laughed at her brother, gone on to accuse Rei of making a mistake, that the Earth, half-ruined, wouldn't suffice for everyone.

She took one last glance at the wooden walls, gleaming under the sun's golden rays, and left before someone caught her eavesdropping. She sauntered through near-empty hallways, with no destination, brooding over Wiet's words. He had twisted ways of trying to achieve what he believed in. Even so, Aija knew Wiet was correct. If not them, some generation in the future must face the full consequences of a half-liveable planet infested by radiation, human-eating beasts, along with dwindling resources and large populations. Unless Rei set up solutions for them right now. Aija knew Rei was capable, but Wiet's words consumed her concentration.

"Aija,"

Ba'diur approached her from the other end of a hallway. She'd forgotten that he and Var-Inu were still on the South.

"Hello," she greeted him with a bow as she would on Ierne.

Ba'diur grinned, returning a bow. "How've you been?"