GARDEN

Fortunately, there were no complications getting off the train. Kain and Rika were in one of the further back segments, so they could slip out unnoticed. They slinked along in the shadows, avoiding any form of contact with anybody. Once out of the loading yard, they found themselves in a fenced off area. Warehouses littered the place, and workers busied around loading and unloading boxes and other things into docks and bays. Beyond the fences closing off the yard, tall white buildings glistening with light dotted the horizon. The capital, Olympus Mons, was visible as well. Huge walls blocked the horizon, spanning as far as the eye can see. It was a magnificent sight, like something either of them had never seen. These walls were pure white, almost as if they were made out of some ethereal material. They reflected light almost perfectly, a prismatic halo shining around the outside of the walls. This sight took the breath of both Kain and Rika. “Whoa…something like that is…” Rika stared on in amazement. Kain reached his hand out at the capital. In there were the answers to every one of his questions. That place would finally tell him who he once was, in turn bringing “Kain” back. A smile broke Kain’s face. He was so close now, just a few more days. So close now, so…so close. Kain grabbed Rika and pulled her forward. “Whoa, man. Don’t pull me so hard!” Kain looked back at her to see an annoyed Rika. Kain let go. “Oh…sorry.” Rika walked in front of him and sighed. “I get your excitement, but calm down! The Holy selection doesn’t even start that soon anyway. We’ll need to find a place to stay for the next two weeks. That’s our main priority right now.” Kain clenched his jaw. Once he did not mind waiting, but now it just seemed stupid. He was so close, but time stubbornly delayed him. “Alright, alright. I’ll wait. What’s the plan right now.” Rika walked over and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. “We can’t just find an abandoned building to hunker down in like we did in Acres. The Garden is different.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “This is the real challenge right here. We already stick out like a sore thumb compared to all the others in the Garden. Look at us.” It was true. They looked severely different compared to all the others. Their jackets were worn and dirty, the shirts underneath equally as stained. Their jeans were ripped and ugly. They had both gone a while without a new change of clothes. From what they saw, even the warehouse workers wore nicer clothes than them. “I guess we’ll need some new clothes, too. If we walk in there like this, we’re practically screaming that we’re from the outer districts of the slums. To the Garden, the outer districts are like what the slums are to ‘Mons. We’ll be treated like garbage if we waltz in there like this.” Kain nodded his head. “Yeah, so our first priority is to get a change of clothes?” Rika nodded. “Yep, right on the money.” Kain pondered for a moment, then asked, “How’re we going to do that?” “Beats me!” Kain grumbled. Suddenly, Rika spoke up. “I gotta idea, how about we just take it from one of those guys? They seem easier to take down than an enforcer.” Rika pointed behind her at two of the workers loading crates and boxes into a cart. “They can’t see us from here. How about we just make some noise and draw ‘em over here, knock ‘em out, and go about our merry way. We can find a base later. For now, let’s just get into the city.” Kain nodded in agreement. He motioned for Rika to hide behind a crate as he banged on the wall with his fist. Kain just got hidden when the two workers came over to investigate. “Seems like nothin-” One of them was interrupted by Rika tripping one man. He fell unconscious on the way to the ground, his head hitting the side of a crate with a loud clang. His coworker turned around to see, but was knocked out with a punch to the back of the head by Kain. Walking over to Rika, Kain patted her shoulder. “Nice job.” Rika pushed him away. “Not too bad yourself.” She smirked at Kain, then waved her hand dismissively. “Now turn away. You shouldn’t peep at a lady getting dressed.” Kain smiled and muttered, “Hardly a lady.” “HEY! I heard THAT!” Rika threw a helmet at Kain, bonking him on the head. “Ouch! What was that for?!” Rika just turned her head to the side and crossed her arms, letting out a “Hmmpff!” After getting dressed, they climbed the fence and started to walk toward the main city of the Garden. Rika suggested they follow a main road, seeing as it was practically a straight shot to the Garden. “Ya know, Kain, I’m tired of walking after all this! I can’t wait till we find some place to hunker down. Have a rest for a while, ya know?” Kain nodded his head in agreement.Their journey was hardly an easy one. They had gone hungry, thirsty, and even had an encounter with an enforcer. They had made it out, though. Even more impressive, they reached their destination. All the pair needed now was rest. Kain’s feet hurt, and Rika’s joints were sore. Walking multiple weeks nonstop took a toll on both of them. Halfway to the Garden, Kain heard the rumbling of a truck approaching quickly. He nudged Rika to get her attention. “Rika, there's a car coming. Do we hide or…?” “Nah, we’ll just keep walkin’ along. If they found us hiding, we’d be super suspicious.” Kain nodded. It made sense, but he couldn’t shake the feeling something would go wrong. He moved his hand into the work vest’s left pocket, feeling the sleek metal of the gun pressed against his fingertips. Kain knew it didn’t work, but he felt like it at least gave him some sense of safety. The rumbling sound of the truck grew closer. Rika’s shoulder’s tensed, Kain’s jaw clenched. The screech of brakes squealed behind them, the truck coming to a stop a small bit ahead of them. The door opened, and a large man stepped out wearing the same work uniform that the duo were wearing. “ Ay, y'all goin’ ta walk all that way?” The man pointed his thumb behind him at his truck and smiled. “Hap on in! I got some room!” Kain looked over at Rika, who nodded. After that brief exchange, Rika changed her demeanor. She smiled and stood up straight, adopting a light friendly voice. “Thank ya for your offer, we’re pretty tired from walking all this way. You see, our return car was delayed and couldn’t pick us up.” Kain followed behind Rika, a glare directed at the man. “Well, come on in! I’ll take ya to ta city limits.” Rika and Kain got in the truck, Kain in the front and Rika in the back. After settling in, the trucker started up the car and headed down the road. A couple minutes of silence later, the trucker spoke up. “Ay little lady, I heard your accent back there. Ya from the outer areas of ta slums?” Rika responded, “Yeah, we’re from one of the unnamed districts. Around a month out from the Garden, actually.” The trucker smiled and slapped the wheel. “Well howa bou’ that! I’m from ta slums me-self! Lucked out and foun’ a gig up here in ta Garden a year or two ago. When’d y'all come all ta way up here? Names Jeremiah, by ta way. Nice ta meet y’all.” Rika returned his greeting and introduced them both. “I’m Rika, and this is my close friend Kain. Nice to meet ya too. We came up here bout a month ago with our families. We landed a job a week back, and here we are!” The trucker–Jeremiah–widened his eyes in surprise. “Pretty rare ta find a pair of hard-workin’ young-in's like y’all roun’ here. Well, cours’ y’all are! Y’all are from ta slums after all! These native kids from ta Garden are basically jus’ like the kids in ‘Mons after all! Not workin’, gettin’ special treatment from ta people in ‘Mons, lookin’ down on us others, they aint worth a credit in my pocket! It’s almost like they refuse ta believe there in ta slums like us!” His hoarse laughter echoing throughout the truck. After a moment, Jeremiah spoke up. “Kain, was it? Ya look pretty peculiar, ya do. How’d ya get enough credits ta afford stuff like that?” Kain’s eyebrows raised. He looked at Rika in the rear view mirror and she nodded, signaling he should talk. Sighing, he responded, “It’s not fake. I’ve always looked this way for as long as I can remember.” Kain smiled at the ironic statement, given as he couldn’t remember much. Has he always looked like this? This, among other questions, would hopefully–no, would be answered in the future. “That’s a pretty rare look ya got there, then. I only ever saw one other person like ya. Was a while back, bou’ two years ago. A lad, jus’ like ya, but darker hair and blue eyes, still rimmed red though.” Kain turned his head to look at Jeremiah. The notion that someone might have looked like him led him to believe that he might have people who knew him in not just the capital, but the Garden as well. Kain spoke up quickly. “Where is he now? Is he still around?” Jeremiah's face clouded over, his brows furrowing. He was silent for a moment, eventually speaking up. “He was shot in ta head in fron’ of everybody. They said he was a sinner, said he was unclean, an abomination of virtue. I don’ believe that, after all he’s jus’ a kid. Jus’ a kid.” Jeremiah set his eyes forward, not speaking the rest of the ride. Kain looked out of his window, disappointed. A potential lead on who he was disappeared a long time ago, and all he had left to do was revert back to the original plan. Kain closed his eyes and sighed. The truck prattled along the road, all people inside silent.

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Eventually they reached the main city of the Garden. Horns blared, lights shined, people talked, and noises reverberated all throughout the city. It was truly something neither Kain nor Rika had seen before. Jeremiah kept on the road until he stopped at a large box-like building colored black and yellow, a symbol showing two lines intersecting a circle. “Well, here we are! Y’all know were ta go from here?” Rika hopped out the back of the truck, stretching. Kain followed suit, leaving the passenger side door. Rika smiled at Jeremiah and saluted him. “Thank ya for the ride, kind sir! Yeah, we’re good from here.” In turn, Jeremiah saluted her back. “All right, I’ll be seeing ya around, ta both of ya. We work at the same place after all!” Another bout of horse laughter echoed through the lot. Waving their goodbyes, Kain and Rika started down the sidewalk. For them, it was even more of a spectacular sight up close. The buildings towered into the sky like great monoliths and marvels of technology sped on the road right next to them, causing them to crane their neck at every sight and sound. “Whoa…I’ve only heard about this stuff from my dad’s stories. It’s more impressive in person, really.” Kain nodded, equally impressed at the scenery around them. Above all, though, was the towering walls of the capital, Olympus Mons. They filled the horizon, blotting out anything that could be past it. What was more surprising was how the walls did not cast a shadow over the Garden. It seemed that their white color reflected enough light from the sun to illuminate the city. Kain was in some way frightened by the walls, their sure size and stature imposing. Rika, however, did not seem to feel that way. The walls of Olympus Mons captured her attention, a look of amazement and excitement on her face. Kain spoke up, snapping Rika out of her stupor. “Now that we’re in the city, where are we going to find a place? I’m pretty sure sleeping out in the streets is going to draw some unwanted attention. Plus, I am really tired of sleeping outside.” Rika brought her hand up to her temples and thought about the problem. “I guess we could find an empty house or something to stay in for a while, but I bet that’s pretty risky. We don’t have enough money to buy lodging either…” Kain looked around while Rika was thinking. If he could get lucky and see something, they might have a roof over their heads. While walking, they heard a commotion from behind them. Kain turned around, Rika still oblivious to all the noise. People were yelling, forming a crowd around a piece of the street behind them. Kain put a hand on Rika’s shoulder for her to stop. “Huh? What? What’s up?” “Over there.” Kain pointed behind them over at the gathering crowd. “What about it? It’s better if we keep moving, the sun doesn’t stay up forever now.” Kain shook his head. “Nah, I want to check it out. Could be something interesting.” Kain started ahead, and Rika groaned, eventually following him. Shoving their way through the crowd, they eventually saw a girl waving to the people in the crowd. She had blond hair, fair white skin, and was wearing a white robe with gold hemming…wait, where had he seen this before. Kain furrowed his brow. It was…where he had seen her was… Just then, the girl spoke up. She held her hands in the air, silencing the crowd. “Hello, citizens of the Garden! Today marks the annual healing for the unfortunate! I hope to see you all at the clinic down the street. As per always, the healing is completely free. This is the grace of my House, House Kindness. Please spread the word to all who need health and goodwill.” She waved to the crowd and began down the road. Several escorts followed her, each sporting the enforcer uniform. There! Kain remembered where he had seen her before! It was when he and Rika were running from those enforcers that day. On his way back, he had seen a billboard with this girl on the front of it, advertising something. He couldn’t quite completely read yet, but he did remember the girl on the front of the board. Rika was in shock, and pulled on Kain’s arm. “That was a Virtue born, one of the major ones too! What’s she doing out here, the Holy Selection hasn’t even started yet!” Ignoring Rika, Kain pressed forward. “Hey, where are ya going? Hey!” This girl was supposed to be the top of the top. If she didn’t know a thing about him, no one did. Multiple people in the crowd yelled at him or grumbled in protest as Kain and Rika shoved by, but none did anything to get back ahead of them. Eventually Kain made his way up to the front of the crowd. One of the enforcers escorting the girl turned to see Kain trying to shove his way through. “Hey kid, watch it! Wait till we’re at the clinic like everybody else.” Kain ignored him, causing the enforcer to hit him in the chest knocking him back. Rika caught and steadied him. “Kain, ya okay?” “I’m fine, I’m fine.” Kain stood up and tried to go forward again, causing a commotion among the enforcers. This caught the attention of the girl. “I said WAIT!” The enforcer shoved Kain back again, but to no avail. The enforcer cocked back his hand to punch, but was stopped by the girl dressed in the white robe. “Tell me, why aren’t you being kind to the unfortunate? Can’t you see they need healing?” The enforcer shifted back uncomfortably. “Honestly, I have such brutes for guards.” She closed her eyes and sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Anyway, since you are all so desperate for healing, come walk with…” The girl in the white robe faltered when her eyes landed on Kain. She dropped her arms to her side, and stared on in shock. “You…” She walked forward and put a hand on Kain’s cheek, her eyes welling up with tears. “I know…you…” Those words shot through Kain, his eyes widening in shock. She…knew him? He tried to stutter out a reply, but failed. The girl removed her hand from his cheek and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Send them to the clinic, make sure they get in first. Or…make sure she gets in first. You-” She pointed at Kain. “-Come with me.” Rika tried to get beside Kain, but an enforcer stopped her. “Hey, let me through! I stay with him! Listen to me!” Kain turned to face Rika, but the girl stopped him. She grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the clinic ahead. “Wait, what about-” “You’ll get back to her soon enough. We have things to catch up on!” The girl opened the door and pulled them inside. “After closing the door, she went and sat down on one of the chairs. Kain followed suit and sat down across from her. Before Kain could say anything, the girl spoke up. “What happened to you? Ever since they said that you’d be relocated, I haven’t seen you since! Well-” Finally Kain interrupted. “You said that you knew me…well, just who are you?” A surprised expression came over her face. After a while, she laughed a small awkward laugh. “Even if it was years ago, you couldn’t have forgotten me, right? I mean, we used to talk near every day when I came to visit you!” Kain looked her dead in the eyes. “I don’t remember you. I don't remember anything. How about I ask you some questions now.” Kain leaned in to ask this question. The girl swallowed, tears again building up into her eyes. “Who was I?” The girl stared back. Then she shook her head, the tears now rolling down her cheeks. “Now it makes sense…after all, they just wouldn’t let you out. No, they just wouldn’t.” The girl took a while to respond. “I’ll tell you what I know. But first, you can’t just go out there again.” She looked toward the window warily. “They’ll kill you, just like that other boy. He got out and they killed him.” The girl looked up at Kain and stood up from her chair, walking over to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Are you doing the Holy Selection hosted by House Charity?” Shocked by what was going on, Kain responded with a simple “Yeah.”. “Good. I’ll make sure you two get in. It’ll be harder for them to do anything at the Academy. Come on, we have to go. I’ll heal the people some other time. I need to get you two safe.” She walked over to the door and opened it. Immediately the hollers of enforcers could be heard as Rika burst through the door. “Kain! Kain! Are you okay?!” She frantically looked around the room until she saw Kain and the girl next to the chairs. “Kain!” Rika ran up to him and gave him a hug. When she let go, Rika rounded on the girl in the white robe. “Do ya know him?” The girl ignored Rika and looked at Kain. “Kain? Why is she calling you such a filthy name?” Rika looked taken aback. Kain stood up and held his hands up, stopping the upcoming argument. “You,” Kain looked at the girl. “Kain is the name that my close friend gave me. I treasure it. And Rika,” Kain turned to look at Rika. “Rika, she apparently knows who I am. This is the closest we’ve ever been to finding out who I am. Also, she says that we’re in danger. Also she says that she can get us into the Holy Selection.” Rika’s eyes widened at that. “Really?” The girl nodded. “Yes, I can. I’ll even provide both of you a place to stay until the ceremony. But we have to get…Kain to safety first. There are people who want to kill him.” Rika looked even more shocked. “Wha–why?” The girl looked uncomfortable, eventually saying, “I’ll tell you later.” She walked over and clinged to Kain’s arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what I know when we’re safe. For now, just come with me. Please.” Kain shrugged her off, which seemed to make the girl cling to him tighter. Rika seemed to shift uncomfortably. Suddenly, she let go and clapped her hands together. “Hurry, yes hurry! Follow me!” The girl turned to go and stopped abruptly. She turned to look at Kain and smiled, posed with her hands behind her back slightly leaning forward. “My name is Celina, nice to meet you again!”

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