It had been a long time since there was a child at the institute. I was unsure if I'd still be here when there were more. However, at the beginning of our training, one of Liri's higher ups informed us of a recently orphaned child.

"She's around nine years old. Her name is Eden." The man gestures to her. She's small, her hair is braided, silvery and smooth. Her eyes dart around- she's scared. "I was wondering if anyone was willing to watch over her for the day."

The room went silent. Eden fiddles with her hands.

I raise my hand.

"I will."

"I was hoping you would." Saira tells me as Eden and I make our way out of the training grounds.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask her, and she just shakes her head- grinning wide.

We headed into the dining room. Everyone wanted to meet Eden, but I warded them off and took her to a secluded place in the room. I got her some apple sauce and a chocolate chip cookie. I could tell she was not warmed up enough to speak to anyone yet.

"You're a quiet one." I told her.

She just looks at me.

"Well, I'm Mitah. I'm going to keep an eye on you today." I power through the little-kid silence and eat the food on my tray. I can feel the eyes on us, even hidden mostly behind a wall. Like I mentioned, kids were rare around here. In fact, kids were becoming more and more rare in general. War was breaking out all over the world, governments were dissolving, families were broken apart, killed, ruined- there was little desire for children in a place like this.

Around fifteen minutes pass when Badger joins us at the table. He's come from training; I can tell because he smells like plants. It's my favorite scent on him.

"Is this little Eden?" He asks, taking a seat across from her and setting his bag on the table.

Eden's eyes light up at the sight of Badger.

"Are you a healer?"

"I am, yeah."

"Can you do magic?"

Badger looks to me.

"Kind of?"

"He can." I interject. "He grew a flower from nothing."

"Show me!" Eden hops up from her seat and runs over to Badger. Badger looks nervous, I can feel it. I smile gently at him.

"Come on now, this is your thing."

He nods. He holds out his hand, palm up, and he closes his eyes to focus. Eden is staring dead at his hand, hopeful and impressed already. Slowly, a green stem grows straight out of his hand. It stretches tall into the air before a bud forms at the top and drops. The petals of the flower are shining, golden.

"Woah! How'd you do that?" Eden asks, reaching her hand out to pluck it from Badger's palm. He lets her, and there's a little blood seeping from his hand after, but he doesn't show that it hurts- nor lets her see the blood. Keeping it magical.

"I focus hard about what I want- what I need from my body, and it grows what I ask." He explains roughly, and I can tell it's a hard process to explain- especially to a child.

Eden does not seem to mind the strange explanation. Badger takes the flower and rests it behind her ear.

"Pretty flower for a pretty girl." And Eden blushes.

Astra, a warrior, Aven, and Briar are at a table. They call her over. She goes running- I guess finally breaking out of that shyness. I feel a grin growing on my lips.

"You'd be a good dad." Badger tells me.

"Oh yeah?" I rested my chin on my palm and stared at him for a while. I like doing that.

"I think so. And I also think-"

"Do you hear that?" I cut him off.

"No?" I stand up. There's a faint ringing in my ear. It's coming from Eden's little bag she brought with her. She had flung it to the ground earlier, and now it was assaulting my ears. I sprint for it as fast as I can, which is fast mind you, and clutch it against my chest.

Badger runs over.

"What is it Mitah?" His face is all drawn up in concern, and the whole rest of the room is looking at us.

I reach into the bag and pull out something quite futuristic looking. It's a metal box, and it's beeping rapidly.

"Oh my god-!" Someone shouts. "It's a bomb!"

"Oh, shit." My heart picks up, and a commotion begins in the cafeteria.

"I'll be back." I announce, sprinting for the doors. The only thing left behind me is the wind. My legs move faster than I can keep up. I did not allow myself to look at Badger's worried face again, as it is quite distracting and upsetting. In seconds- milliseconds- I'm miles away from the institute. Though everything blurs by me, I try to take it in. I hadn't left this building since the battles. I hated looking around out here. It was all barren and bleak. However, I knew it was important to face the reality of things.

But the good thing is it did not really matter where I threw this thing. So, I threw it in a field.

I could feel my energy draining, but I knew I had to get away from the bomb before it blew me up, so I pushed through it. I got to the institute entrance, and right as I made it, my vision darkened, some hands grab me, I hear and feel a blaring noise, and I faint.