Eden Prime was the capital planet of the Alliance.
It was midsummer in the central region. Because most of the land on this planet was surrounded by water, the climate was always humid and hot.
In humid weather, wounds easily got infected.
Lyra lay in the barn on a farm far from her family. She had been there for three days without anyone caring for her.
At first, Lyra thought she would die from blood loss, but her bleeding had slowly stopped. Just when she thought she was lucky, she wished she were dead instead—the wounds on her limbs and chest began to get infected, and flies started to gather.
Lyra woke up several times. She bit her lip hard, trying to sit up, but it was useless. She could only watch herself slowly die.
After God knows how long, she was woken by someone's sobbing.
"Lyra, don't leave me... Can you hear me?"
A boy, who looked about ten years old, was sitting next to Lyra, his face streaked with tears.
Lyra's eyes moved slightly, and her cracked lips twitched.
The boy was overjoyed, his sobbing paused but then became even louder.
"Great, you're still alive! I wouldn't know what to do if you were gone."
Lyra gasped for breath. "Help me... clean my wounds."
Kail looked at Lyra's exposed flesh. He hesitated for a moment but then started looking around for useful tools.
He was Lyra's younger brother.
Lyra had always protected him. He was like a bird that had never left the nest. So, it was natural for him to be scared when he first saw the wounds.
"Why did you go on a rampage? I begged Grandpa to find a doctor, but he said you wouldn't survive. He even threatened me, telling me not to come near you, or you'd tear me apart."
He didn't yet know how cruelly his beloved grandpa had treated his sister.
Exhaustion made Lyra's vision blurry. She weakly explained, "I didn't... I didn't rampage... It was him..."
Before she could reveal the truth, her brain felt like it was being electrocuted.
The curse activated.
"Lyra, what's wrong? You're scaring me!" Kail looked like he was about to cry again.
"Stop crying... help me up," Lyra weakly said.
With Kail's help, Lyra lifted her body from the bloody ground. A faint green light appeared on her body, emitting weak energy, keeping her barely alive.
"Kail, we need to leave... Eden Prime."
This place was too dangerous for the siblings.
She used to think, like everyone else, that Grandpa was still family. She believed that no matter how much he hated her mother, he wouldn't harm his grandchildren.
Ansel, their grandpa, acted just as she predicted. Though he was sometimes cold and strict, he never showed ill intentions towards Lyra and Kail.
Day after day, this was their life, and Lyra's suspicions gradually faded away.
Things changed so quickly that Lyra didn't even have time to blame herself for her naivety or to mourn the loss of her last family member.
She didn't even know if she could keep living. But her mother had left them some money for emergencies. At least now Lyra and her brother had enough to get through this crisis.
"Leave...?" Kail blinked his big, red eyes. "Why do we have to leave? That's our home."
He had never left Eden Prime and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
"It's not home anymore! Kail, didn't Grandpa tell you anything? Do you know why I'm like this... argh!"
The curse activated again. Fiery pain burned in Lyra's eyes, like it would burst out and consume everything.
Seeing this scary sight, Kail shrank back and said, "Wait until I get a bit stronger, then we'll go."
The curse drained what little strength Lyra had just regained. Her vision went black, and she passed out again.
When she woke up, the barn looked the same as before. Kail was gone.
Lyra forced herself to sit up. As she thought about what had happened, a dull pain hit her numb heart.
...
In the largest city of Eden Prime, skyscrapers towered over everything.
These buildings were like giant trees in a forest, blocking most of the sunlight. The streets were lined with brightly decorated shops, many with large screens showing the latest humanoid models.
The roads were full of levitation cars, or Levs, moving non-stop.
Lyra carefully walked through the expensive Levs, limping to the Shedd family mansion's gate.
A strong arm in a uniform stopped her. The security guard looked apologetic. "Sorry, we've been told not to let you in."
Lyra didn't want to make trouble for him, so she said nothing and walked away. She headed to the servants' entrance instead.
It was quiet here, with only one very familiar figure standing there.
As if knowing she would come back, Erin stood by the door, arms crossed, staring straight at Lyra.
Lyra remembered those eyes—Erin always had a look of barely contained rage when she looked at her; now, those eyes held a hint of disdain, like she was looking at a stray dog.
Lyra wasn't surprised to see Erin. She stared at Erin and asked, "Where's Kail?"
In the next moment, a sudden chill crept up Lyra's back. It slowly climbed from her spine to her arms and neck.
Lyra looked at her hands, where her once pale skin had turned purple from the cold.
Lyra took a few steps back, nearly falling. She frowned and asked, "How do you...?"
Lyra knew Erin's ability was the power of force, but what she had just shown was the power of freezing.
Lyra quickly thought of her own stolen power of freezing. She could hardly believe it. Stealing someone else's superpower—how could such a shameless technology exist?
"Tasting what it's like to be frozen solid, you should try it too," Erin sneered. "You were pretty tough when you used this trick on me."
The sound of water freezing into ice echoed in the quiet air. A sharp icicle formed in Erin's hand, and she thrust it toward Lyra.
Lyra instinctively tried to use her own superpower to defend herself but was interrupted by a wave of pain from inside her body. In desperation, she stumbled aside to dodge the attack.
The sudden movement reopened the wounds on Lyra's limbs and chest.
The pain hit her like a shock of electricity, numbing her instantly. Lyra's vision blurred.
Erin's joy at Lyra's misery was evident. She laughed heartily, wanting to continue tormenting Lyra, but at that moment, someone kicked her hard from behind.
"Stop attacking my sister!"
It was Kail.
Seeing Kail appear suddenly gave Lyra a burst of strength. She quickly asked, "Why are you back?"
Her eyes held hope, hoping this little boy had seen the cruelty of their family. She hoped he would flee this place with her.
But Kail's next words struck Lyra like a lightning bolt.
Kail cried, "I came back to beg Grandpa to heal you. Can we not leave? Grandpa said healing you would cost a lot of money, so I told him about Mom's money... Ah, Lyra..."
Lyra grabbed Kail by the arm, staring intensely at the "naive" child, her eyes almost bleeding.
"You told Ansel the password?!"
For Kail, this was the first time he saw his sister with such a stern expression.
Lyra quickly opened the bank account on her opticomputer, but all she saw was a series of zeros, mocking her.
Her frantic actions and the sudden halt of her expression looked both comical and tragic. Erin clapped and laughed. She shook her head and said, "Oops, I didn't mean to laugh, but this is just too funny. You poor thing."
Lyra felt her blood boiling, her vision blurred with rage. She gritted her teeth, glaring at her helpless brother, her ferocious expression making Kail tremble.
"Lyra... Sis?"
Lyra wanted to slap him, but he was only ten years old. She paused and then, still calmly, said, "It's all my fault. I kept you sheltered, and now you have no idea how dangerous the world outside is."
Lyra wanted to cry, wondering if things would be different if their mother were still alive.
Kail's eyes, so similar to their mother's, cut her heart like a knife.
She wiped her blood-stained hands on her tattered clothes, then gently caressed Kail's cheek.
"What else did Grandpa say?" she asked.
Lyra's hand was cold, reminding Kail of their mother before she died. He felt scared and replied, "Grandpa said he wants me to go to boarding school, and then to military school. Are you okay with that?"
Kail looked up at Lyra, seemingly waiting for her approval.
"That's fine," Lyra said, looking up. But she didn't look at Kail. She locked eyes with the old man standing on the balcony above.
He looked down with arrogance, like he was looking at maggots in the gutter.
And below, the girl he was watching had anger boiling inside her like lava.
"Then stay here," Lyra said without turning back to Kail.
Kail panicked. He clung tightly to Lyra's hand, shaking his head and crying, "No, I want to be with you."
A small, warm smile cracked through Lyra's grief-stricken face. She gently wiped Kail's tears and said, "You'll be safest here. I need you to remember everything that happened today, can you do that?"
Lyra knew what Ansel was planning. Kail was young, a blank canvas, much easier to control than she was. Ansel could mold Kail into his perfect tool. In time, Kail would become exactly what Ansel wanted.
Though it was a grim outcome, at least Kail would survive. And as long as he was alive, there was hope.
Lyra could at least ensure he would have a better life than she did. This was her final act of protection for him.
Then Lyra pushed Kail away. Her wounds tore open from the sudden movement, leaving a trail of blood behind her. Step by step, she walked away from the place she once called home. She wobbled with every step, leaving bloody footprints as she went.