Mara stood at the edge of the city's forgotten district, a place she had long tried to avoid. The towering structures, once symbols of progress, now loomed like skeletal remains over the streets, cast in the soft glow of a setting sun. The air was thick with dust, and the streets were eerily quiet. It was as if time had stopped here, leaving behind only memories and shadows.
This place had once been her home.
She had never planned to come back. But the rebellion, the betrayals, and now the discovery that Dante—someone she had trusted—had turned against her, had driven her to this point. It seemed like everything was unraveling, and Mara needed answers that the present could no longer provide.
As she stood there, staring at the broken windows and crumbling walls, her mind drifted to the ghosts of her past. The voices of people she had known echoed faintly in her ears—her family, her friends, the people who had fought beside her in the early days. She had buried those memories deep, along with the pain they carried. But now they were clawing their way back to the surface, demanding to be heard.
"Mara," a voice called out from behind her.
She turned, hand instinctively reaching for the weapon at her side. Miko stood a few feet away, his face a mixture of concern and confusion. He had followed her, despite her insistence on coming here alone.
"I thought you were going to handle things with Dante," Miko said, walking toward her. "Why are we here?"
Mara glanced back at the derelict buildings. "I needed to come back. To see it for myself."
Miko looked around, his brow furrowing as he took in the decaying district. "This place... it's been abandoned for years. There's nothing here but ruins."
"There's more than that," Mara said softly. "This is where it all started for me."
Miko paused, his eyes flicking between Mara and the crumbling facades of the old neighborhood. He had known Mara for years, but there were still parts of her life she had kept locked away. This place, it seemed, was one of those pieces.
"Is this where you grew up?" Miko asked, his voice more gentle now, the weight of realization settling in.
Mara nodded. "Before the Syndicate took control, before the city fell apart… this was home. My parents, my brother—we lived here. We had a life, a normal life. And then everything changed."
She didn't need to elaborate. Miko had heard enough stories about the Syndicate's rise to power and how they had destroyed entire neighborhoods to make way for their corrupt empire. The people who lived in places like this had been left with nothing—forced into poverty, driven underground, or worse. Mara had escaped, but not without scars.
"So why come back now?" Miko asked, crossing his arms. "You've spent all this time building a new future, trying to put the past behind you. Why drag it all up again?"
Mara hesitated, unsure of how to explain it. The past had always haunted her, but she had managed to keep it at bay by focusing on the future. Now, though, it felt like the ghosts of her past were influencing the choices she was making in the present. Dante's betrayal had shaken her in a way she hadn't expected, and it had forced her to confront parts of herself she had tried to forget.
"I thought I could move on," Mara said quietly. "But the past has a way of catching up with you. Dante, the rebellion, all of this—it's like a cycle. We keep repeating the same mistakes, over and over again. And I can't help but wonder if I'm part of the problem. Maybe I'm not as different from the Syndicate as I want to believe."
Miko frowned, stepping closer to her. "That's not true. You've been fighting for something better since the beginning. The Syndicate tore this city apart for their own gain, but you're trying to rebuild it. You've made tough decisions, sure, but you're not them."
Mara shook her head, her expression distant. "I don't know anymore. I've been so focused on keeping control, on making sure we don't fall back into chaos, that I've started questioning who I can trust. Dante, one of the people I've relied on the most, turned on me. And maybe… maybe that's my fault. Maybe I pushed him too hard, or maybe I didn't see what he needed."
Miko's eyes softened, and he placed a hand on Mara's shoulder. "Dante made his own choices. You gave him opportunities, and he turned his back on them. That's on him, not on you."
Mara sighed, glancing up at the faded signs of the shops that lined the street—places where her family had once shopped, where she had spent her childhood. Now, they were just husks, like the rest of the city. She had tried to be strong, to lead without showing weakness. But standing here, in the ruins of her past, it was hard not to feel the weight of everything.
As she turned to leave, her gaze landed on one building in particular. It was smaller than the others, tucked away on the corner, but Mara recognized it instantly. It was her old home.
She walked toward it slowly, her heart pounding in her chest. The door was hanging off its hinges, the windows broken, but the structure was still standing. She hesitated in front of the door, memories flooding back. Her mother cooking in the kitchen, her father fixing things around the house, her brother laughing in the small living room. It had all seemed so simple back then, so normal.
Now, it was just another ruin.
Miko followed her, his footsteps quiet. He didn't say anything, giving Mara the space she needed to process what she was feeling. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I lost everything here. My family, my future… everything. And I swore I'd never let it happen again. But now I'm starting to wonder if that's even possible. The city keeps fighting back. No matter what we do, there's always another enemy, another threat."
"That's because the city isn't just bricks and mortar," Miko said. "It's the people. And people are complicated. They're scared, they're angry, and sometimes they do things that don't make sense. But that doesn't mean we stop trying. You've given this place hope, Mara. You've given the people a reason to believe in something again."
Mara looked at Miko, a small flicker of gratitude in her eyes. "I hope you're right. But sometimes it feels like the ghosts of the past are stronger than anything I can do for the future."
Miko nodded, his face serious. "The past will always be there. But you can't let it control you. You've already done more than anyone else in this city could have. Now it's time to finish what you started."
Mara took a deep breath and stepped away from her old home, leaving the ghosts behind. There was still work to be done, and she couldn't let the past define her any longer. As she and Miko walked back toward the city's heart, Mara felt a renewed sense of purpose. The fight wasn't over—not by a long shot—but she was ready for whatever came next. The ghosts of the past would have to wait.