The story so far: 

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija has a crush on Ze.

---- Aija catches a man – a possible kidnapper looking at her from the Apartments opposite her school. She decides to complain to the Principal, but he isn't at school.

---- On her way home Aija runs into the man who'd been staring at her. Later, that day she runs into him again at the rooftop of her apartments, where she, Zuri, and Ze had gathered to watch the rain.

✽✽✽

****2 - LUKA****

Knowing his sole purpose in life didn't make things easier for him.

Knowing one's reason for existence should have made everything easier to endure, it ought to have given him some sense of tranquility. But, it only made things worse for him because it tended to make him run from things he liked; things he desired – like love. Or even the simple things in life like friendship.

Luka removed the glass jars from his blue-brown satchel and placed them on the table. He remembered her fingers as they moved across the glass jars; her slender fingers, her hair. Was her hair straight or wavy? He couldn't remember it well. He had been too out of his element at that moment just seeing her. He hadn't expected to see her there; he hadn't expected to see her anywhere at all.

The lights in the jars bobbed as he ran his fingers across them. They'd done the same when she had done it too. Did it mean anything? Could she be like him, perhaps? The thought surprisingly scared him. No, she couldn't be like him. Please let her not be, he thought.

"Are there fifteen of them?"

Luka looked at Thieron, who marched into the room all ready to go out. 

Luka nodded answering in the same language Thieron had spoken in. "You can give them to him."

"I've wondered for a very long time – why do you carry them around?" Thieron asked taking a glass and filling it with water."You can just leave them here."

"It's just that I feel they are safer with me. What if someone finds this place?"

Thieron thought about it and nodded in agreement.

The three of them shared the rather small house. Luka, Thieron, and Lalana were always together.

"I'm going out to meet Var-Inu. I need you to scout that apartment again, just to make sure everything's on track."

"Sure..." said Luka.

"See you later, Luka." Thieron gave one of his rare smiles. "I'll take those to him tomorrow. Hold on to them."

Luka nodded.

Thieron drank the water, tied his long hair up in a bun and headed out dressed in full gear. Luka knew he had his weapons on him even though it didn't really look like it. They all knew how to hide them in seemingly normal clothes. Meeting Var-Inu warranted carrying all weapons one owned. Var-Inu was neither friend nor foe. One gave him what he wanted, got what they wanted from him and walked out. His eccentricity was well known. Some even claimed he owned ancient creatures – the Messengers of the Old World, even though everyone knew the Gods, Spirits, and Messengers didn't exist in the world anymore. But, Luka hadn't seen Var-Inu before. Thieron never took him or Lalana to meet him. So Luka didn't know what to think of the man.

Luka put back the jars into his satchel, stood up and stretched. Black and Mr. White Tail mewed approaching him. He patted them on their heads and looked at the time. It was time to feed the cats.

They weren't really his. Thieron had adopted them. One night he'd simply brought the kittens home and declared that their home was now the kittens' home. Luka sometimes wondered if the kittens – now cats – had taken his words literally. They seemed to roam about the house as if they owned the house and the three of them along with it. They demanded to be fed, petted and given lots of attention.

Luka found Thieron strange sometimes. He seemed heartless and cold. His reputation wasn't a kind one either. But, he'd brought in four kittens, saying they were on the road, abandoned. And, he'd taken care of them well. Luka couldn't understand Thieron despite all the time they seemed to spend with each other.

Just as he poured some cat food into the four bowls Izemirn and Ein joined Black and Mr. White Tail. Luka picked up his satchel and left the house.  

He had picked up tracks of two possible targets at the School Housing Apartments. He was sure there were more. Something told him there was one more close-by. Luka sighed as he walked to the Terra TurboStation. They had purposely chosen a house far from Innermost on the hills, knowing it would keep them away from vigilant eyes in Innermost. But, it meant a lot of travel.

He thought about the girl as walked to the Apartments. He'd seen her by chance. He'd been searching through the Apartment room when he'd slid the window curtains open to let in more light. What he hadn't expected, was to see the school building from the window and least of all – her.

She had looked so happy, that her smile had made him wistful.

The children surrounding her were looking at something she was showing – on a DigiBook perhaps, he'd thought. Once, she was done the children had gone back to their seats. Everyone had big smiles on their faces. He'd thought of his own childhood. Not once had a teacher made him that happy.

She'd stood and her hair swayed behind her. Her black hair reached below her waist. He didn't have to see her up close to tell she was pretty. He knew she was. That smile made her beautiful. And then she had turned and looked directly at him. It had taken a moment for him to realize she had caught him looking at her. He had instantly dragged the curtains close.

He'd knelt on the floor, his heart racing.

Each time he went to the block of Apartments he went just to see her. She'd caught him looking at her every time.

He wished he could just talk to her – but knew it wasn't possible. His fate demanded him to stay away from love.

But she made him long for the impossible.

Luka stood behind the compound wall that made the block of Apartments into a gated space. He removed a small device and switched it on. He adjusted the dial till he heard a small beep. The signals were successfully tampered with; now he could get in undetected. The device made sure all the SecureCams images froze within a two-mile radius. The drones were a bit trickier as they needed live moving images. He had a device to reconfigure them, but doing it very often gave way to doubts in the minds of those going over them. So he didn't reconfigure them this time. But, Luka had timed them. There were four drones and he had about a minute between each of them to follow his route into the Apartments without being caught.

Luka scaled the wall and jumped easily over to the other side, mindful of the drones. He'd been watching his target for over two weeks, enough to know his schedule. They'd have to catch him soon. He had avoided the apartments for a few days. The Secures had been in and out of it ever since the old man he'd help take had been reported missing. Of course, there wasn't any kind of evidence since he had tampered with the SecureCams.

It was dark already by the time he reached BlockB; it was the one by the School. His target was on schedule which meant he followed a set routine and he was alone during the night during Saturdays. He made a mental note of giving the go-ahead to Thieron. Luka walked all the way to Block H. It was also where he had sensed another possible target. He hoped it wasn't the girl – he wouldn't like that.

He left the Apartments and roamed about the Capital. He loved to do that whenever he had time. Thieron and Lalana would be gone a while and he'd gone round the Apartments thrice and still had some time to spare before he went home. 

Home – it was a word Luka never knew the feeling of. He'd never met his parents and had never belonged anywhere. The only place he really felt came anywhere close to home was with Thieron and Lalana. But, he found that ironic and hated the idea of it.

Luka had no idea how this world was before the Wars. But, he liked this place as it was now. It was rather peaceful with no countries, no borders to fight over. Although he did know not all was what it seemed to be. People in many towns suffered a lot. He would love to change that, although he knew he wouldn't be able to see the effects of it.

Luka walked into Market – a place bustling with people; there were lots of hovering lights floating around the place. The Market was the place for entertainment. It had virtual game centers, food stalls, musicians playing their instruments, dancers showing off their new productions and so much more. The Market was the only place to have the food stalls where savory and sweet snacks were made fresh. Luka liked the variety of foods he could eat there. Market buzzed with DigiScreens showing new food items, new drinks, and new games available. The DigiScreens also carried messages from the Leadership – showing Mike Wiet's image. It also bore the list of missing people with their photos and the number to be contacted in case anyone saw them and updates regarding the Green Plague. The Market also led to the huge circular park that sat in the midst of Innermost. 

Luka walked around Market and bought some fried sweetlings for himself and got some packed for Lalana. Lalana loved the sweet fried dough, although she refused to admit it.

He sat on a bench in the Park and opened the paper bag containing his portion of sweetlings. He loved the view of Innermost from the Park; the surrounding buildings gave way to the huge circular park and the hover lights lined the streets, the ones farther away looking like fireflies as they bobbed mid-air. Evenings and weekends brought a lot of people making the place crowded. 

He was well aware as someone sat a distance away from him on the bench.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you." the man said.

"Eiva..." Luka acknowledged the man, eyes still on Market.

Eiva was eating something savory and it smelled good.

"Busy?" Eiva asked. "You're hard to keep track of."

Luka nodded popping a sweetling into his mouth.

"One target, South Land," Eiva said softly and bit into whatever it was he was eating. 

"Okay."

"Prince is rumored to visit." Eiva continued between bites. Luka looked at an old woman across from where he sat walking with her grandson. He was dragging her, trying to make her walk faster.

"When?"

"Don't know," Eiva said. "Word is that he is preparing for a long visit. It's up to you – whether you go to the South Land when he arrives or before."

Luka sighed. "Thanks."

The old woman lost her balance and fell to her knees. About ten people went to help her up.

Eiva said, "Night." and left.

Luka continued to look at the people helping the old woman. People were kind. There was more peace than before.

Did humans deserve another chance? 

Could humans do better this time around?

✽✽✽

A/N: Don't forget to VOTE if you like the chapter :) :) Thanks :)