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 witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him. Aija agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Thieron kidnaps Aija. She finds out that Nala works for Thieron. Ze, who was following her to rescue her, gets captured along with her. Thieron binds Aija to himself. Luka asks Aija not to talk of Zuri to Nala, especially in front of Thieron. She agrees for Zuri's sake. Thieron and Aija go to the Open. They meet Alton Ivar. Thieron finds Aija is out of the room and when he goes to find her, he sees that Dhor-Wo has found her. He gets her back to the room, furious. When they go to see Var-Inu, the Ytai man asks to see her. And, then, he tells Thieron to take her to get the Avo. They are attacked by a Savage. He manages to stop it. Var-Inu burns it. Aija asks if he is really Ah'n. He tells that he is Ah'n.

---- Xan speaks to Aija. He tells her what happened to him.

---- Zuri is having a hard time with both Aija and Ze missing. She finds Iyler at Aija's apartment and confronts her about not being form the Secures. Etrie informs them about the bond Thieron has with Aija. It makes getting them back all the more complicated. Zuri is invited to Aija's parents' home. She accepts the offer and goes. Zuri sees that Aija's family is ostentatiously rich. She and her brother Rei talk and he asks Zuri if Aija really was happy. She says yes. 

---- Aija confronts Thieron about he being Ah'n. he agrees that he is and tells he has done it to keep the attention off himself in case things go sour.

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****25.2 - Aija****

Dinner was quiet. 

Luka wasn't there, and she kept looking out for him. Luka seemed genuinely friendly. She almost believed him when he said he would protect her. He sounded truthful, but he was Ytai and a part of H'eon. He killed humans. How would he protect her? 

After dinner, she followed Ze into the study. 

"Where do you think you're going?" Thieron asked.

 "Where I want to," she announced. 

"Go to your room. Now." 

"And, what if I don't?" she questioned, turning around. 

Thieron looked angry. His calm from before had melted. "Room. Now," he said through clenched teeth. 

She stood her ground, unwilling to lose to him. His last bit of patience crumbled, and he moved towards her. She decided it wasn't worth the trouble and made her way upstairs. To her dismay, Thieron followed her. 

As she went into the room, he stood at the door and said, "Don't test my patience. Just because we don't harm you doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. You do as I say." 

He left, closing the door behind him. 

Aija huffed as she sat on the bed. Alone in the room – it was driving her mad. There were days when Thieron spoke nothing to her and days when he seemed calm and friendly. She didn't understand him. And she knew that just because he was a little warm, it didn't mean he would hesitate to kill her. She knew he had planned something; he was only waiting for the right time. 

She paced around the room, hoping Xan would come. She hadn't seen him all day, and she was starting to worry. Had something happened to him? Had Thieron done something? 

She wondered how far she could run before Thieron sensed she wasn't in the house. It had not taken him very long to find her at the H'eon Headquarters. Could she and Ze give it a try? Maybe they could go far enough and ask for help, and by the time Thieron and Nala realised they had run, they could somehow leave to Innermost. They only had to get themselves to Etrie or Kuna. They would help them both. 

Or Aija could stay; stay and thwart every Harvest Thieron tried to make. She was sort of stuck with him after all. She didn't know how it worked, but she was certain of the bond between them. She felt it that night in the Mansion when she had wandered away from him. She had also felt the distance closing between them as he came for her. She couldn't explain it, but she felt it. It was physical; it didn't permeate her thoughts or feelings. But, it was there keeping her close to him. 

Aija wanted to go back home to her family, to Zuri. But, she also had the rare opportunity to keep disturbing Thieron's plans – if that was even possible. Thieron was too careful about everything. S

he wondered how Ze felt. How was he holding up? What was he thinking of doing? 

She had spoken to Ze properly only once – the day Luka had allowed her to see him. Ze's arm was healed. He'd been sure he had broken his arm. He'd told her that Nala offered him a balm and some kind of solution to drink before setting his bone straight. The pain had disappeared almost immediately, and his hand felt better in two days. 

The Ytai technology was undoubtedly more advanced than their own. 

Aija stayed up a long time, letting her thoughts drive her crazy before she decided to take a chance and go downstairs. She knew Thieron slept on the couch, but she'd rather risk his anger than stay alone in the room with nothing to do. 

She made her way down the stairs slowly. She could hear the Ytai speaking softly in Ytèan. 

"What are you doing?" Thieron's voice was curt. 

"I can't stay there by myself." she protested. "I'll stay here, do nothing. I don't even understand Ytèan." 

As she reached the last stair, she saw Luka on the couch. He was looking at her, concern in his eyes. Thieron and Nala were at the table. She must have interrupted something important. 

Luka and Nala looked at Thieron. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Strands of blood-red hair slipped from the bun and brushed his face and neck. He went to the couch and picked up his Scroll as he switched on the DigiScreen. On his Scroll, he tuned to the entertainment channel on which a concert was on-air. He turned the volume up a bit and turned to her. 

"Sit," he motioned her to the couch. "Do not say a word. Understood?" 

Aija nodded and went to the couch. She sat, keeping a considerable distance between herself and Luka. Luka smiled at her and went to the table, and the three Ytai resumed their conversation. It sounded serious, though the sing-song tone of the language was rather deceiving. 

She moved closer to the DigiScreen and voice-commanded it to change to the News channel and reduce the volume. She looked back at the Ytai. No one had noticed what she had done. They were busy with their discussion. 

She sat closer to the Screen and concentrated on the News. It was about the blast at the Research Institute. The Secures had leads that the Gale was responsible for it. The Secures and the Leadership were claiming that the Gale was to blame and that the Gale was destroying the peace in the Cities. Mike Wiet, the Representative of the Leadership, was giving a speech regarding the urgency of stopping the Gale. 

Aija was confused; she had heard that name – The Gale. She wasn't sure where and when. 

The news changed, and a photo of Ze popped up on the DigiScreen. The word 'Missing' was written underneath it. The footage of a woman – his aunt – came up next to it. She begged for news on her nephew. 

His aunt was searching for him. Of course, she was. But where was his mother? She must be sick with grief - so much so she couldn't step out. Aija understood how she felt. Her own mother would be worried sick. 

 She looked towards the study. The door was closed. What did Ze do there all day? 

Aija moved closer to the DigiScreen and felt the buzz of it. The electricity seemed to prick her skin despite her distance from it. She'd never experience it before. It was a pleasant feeling. 

The news anchor continued with grim reports of more missing people, and it continued on to a different one. It was about Xan. 

"...still no news on who might have killed the young boy..." the female anchor was saying as Xan's photo appeared on Screen. He had been a cute kid - tall, lanky with black hair. A middle-aged woman appeared on Screen pleading people to tell them if they had any kind of information on her son's killer. 

Xan looked so much like his mother. Zuri, who studied History, would describe him as someone from the Eastern part of the old world. But those terms didn't exist anymore, and Aija didn't know which the Eastern part was and which the Western part was of the post-war world. Thieron resembled the eastern part of the old world in looks, much like Xan, and it had her wondering why Ytai and humans looked so similar. 

"In other news," the anchor – Ms. Rora said, "the Green Plague has increased in magnitude. More cases are being reported. If you live on the outskirts of Pristine One, please wear masks and, if possible, move towards the core of the City. Stay vigilant and avoid traveling to the outer parts of the City..." 

How could the people who lived on the outskirts of the City even afford moving closer to Innermost? The Leadership was responsible for taking care of every town in equal measure. Aija had seen a few places and gauged that those who lived out of Innermost did so because they couldn't afford to be at Innermost. Why would anyone live in a Plague infested area if they had a choice? 

"How pathetic." 

It was Thieron. He was standing near the couch and she hadn't noticed him. How did he always move so quietly? 

"The Leadership creates the Green Plague to create fear - to make the people move to Innermost, to an insanely costly place, a place where people who don't make much money can't afford. They overwork themselves just to be able to flee the Plague, and when some try to move, they are held back in the name of 'Quarantine' since the disease is rampant in the outskirts. 

"They aren't allowed into inner parts of the City saying they pose a risk to the others. They are made to stay out, sometimes at Quarantine homes under the pretense that they are being checked for the Plague. Those poor people stay there believing the Leadership will send them in one day. But all that's happening is that they aren't working – meaning they aren't earning money. They wait, getting poorer by the day, for something that will not happen. It's disgusting what the Leadership does." 

Aija looked at Thieron, unable to decide whether he was on the people's side or not. Maybe he only hated the Leadership? 

"Why would the Leadership create the Plague? I know they are rather strict, and some rules are unreasonable. But, why kill their people by creating the Plague?" 

Thieron looked at her, "You don't know what's happening around you, do you? The Leadership only wants to remain in power and will do anything for it. Do you think R'ies is protecting humans? It's doing it at the cost of your freedom. Who do you think controls the Leadership? It's R'ies. Who created the Leadership? The R'ies. There are things that the Leadership does under the R'ies's nose." 

She looked back at Luka. He nodded. 

"Why doesn't R'ies bring the Leadership under control?" she asked. 

"They have bigger things to worry about," Thieron said. "Like us. We threaten their control of Earth. They want to take care of us first." 

R'ies and H'eon were competing for control of the Earth, and the Leadership was trying to maintain its small hold. 

"How's what Etrie's doing any different than what we're doing?" 

"At least they see a future to Earth with humans in it," Aija told him. "And I think you're lying about R'ies. They're an organization that helps civilizations on different planets to maintain life." 

Thieron scoffed. "It's not happening on Earth, human girl. Earth was on the verge of total destruction. Someone from R'ies saw the opportunity to control humans and helped form the Leadership." 

Aija let it go. She wouldn't be convinced by Thieron. 

"What's the Gale?" she asked. Thieron was in the mood to talk, and she had to take advantage of it instead of arguing with him. 

"It's a human organization working against the Leadership and H'eon. They want to bring equality to all humans and have a better quality of life on Earth. They're really working for the Earth and humans. Not the Leadership." 

She looked at him. Could she really believe what he was saying? Then why were the Secures blaming the Gale for the blast? 

"It's late. You should sleep," Thieron told her as he switched the DigiScreen off. 

She still sat on the couch, trying to understand everything. 

"You must go before I decide you need my help." 

She scowled at him. She didn't want to be dragged up the stairs by him. She settled in bed, but she was far from sleep. There was a knock on the door, and Luka entered. 

"All okay?" he asked. 

She didn't know the answer to it. If Luka was asking if she was alright physically, then, yes, she was. But if he was asking her if she was okay with being held, prisoner? Then, no. 

 Aija shrugged. 

Luka seemed tired. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but decided against it. He nodded once and left.

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