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Lost in an Eternity
Athena woke abruptly to the shrill ringing of her alarm tone. Groaning in irritation as she glanced at the display of her phone, it read 6:45, the time she got up every morning to ensure she could eat, shower and get changed and reach school safely before the first bell rang. School was not something Athena looked forward to; there had been nothing to look forward to ever since her secret had been leaked. Everyday followed the same routine, and if she was lucky, maybe she could get by the day with no one paying her any attention at all. She clenched her fists. Everyday she would ask the same question: what had she done to deserve this? She unclenched her fists. Everyday she would get mocked and teased as if it would satisfactorily answer the question she posed. She clenched her fists. It didn't. She unclenched her fists. The more she dwelt on the topic the madder she got, and the more often she dwelt on the topic the more maddening it was itself. It must have been at least a good fifteen minutes in which she had sat in bed, angrily immersed in her thoughts, but when she glanced at her phone again, the bright display showed the time to be only 6:47.
Athena was puzzled, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Instead, she sluggishly showered, changed into her uniform -unfortunately her navy blue tie was still slightly dusted with flour- and finished the breakfast Min Seo had left out for her before grabbing the house keys and locking the door safely behind herself. Descending the many flights of stairs, Athena rushed through the main foyer and set off to school.
***
Kai, Chanyeol and Sehun's eyes widened in disbelief; none could properly register the scene which lay before their eyes. Rebellion. A rebellion like no other. The air above and around them was filled with a thick smog, or was it smoke, it was impossible to tell. The roads and ground beneath their feet was covered in litter, grime and speckled with blood. The buildings which once stood tall and glistening now looked like no more than ugly, gray boxes amidst a gray landscape, and to add to this, the sky above was gray too; gray and overhung. But perhaps the most bizarre yet terrifying aspect of this landscape was the main character - the people.
Not only was a state of order gone, it was as if it had never existed in the first place. It was as if the individual's morals and conscious state of mind had been corrupted and overrun by one single commanding order: rebel. There were men setting fire to cars, bellowing at the top of their lungs, women setting fire to flags, screeching to the crowd, children running around unattended, some injured, some unclothed. Yet in stark contrast to these people were the other citizens, intimidated and understandably afraid. Among these were women with small children sobbing into their chests, men with their wives, arms wrapped tightly around their waists, and the senior citizens, hanging onto their partners hands as if their lives depended on it.
The EXO members glanced at each other, back at the scene, then at each other again. During their time in office, they had dealt with many cases, situations and scenarios, but none involving the general public to such an extent. What had even been the initial cause of this uprising? As with previous missions, they should have received a message within an hour from Suho. Within this message would include the most essential details of the mission: the trigger of the situation, and how long ago the trigger occurred. However, it had been almost two hours and there was still no sign from their leader.
Chanyeol suddenly jumped, feeling a vibration in his back pocket. Pulling out the device, a wave of relief washed over him.
'Guys' he notified the others 'Suho's calling.'
All three gathered around the small electronic device and Chanyeol picked up the video call. Positioning the device so that all three members fit within the screen boundaries, he addressed their leader and Baekhyun, who was also present.
'Suho, Baekhyun, we arrived at the scene a while ago. What information do you have for us?'
A sad smile washed over Suho's face as he looked down
'I'm sorry...this has never happened before. We have not been able to trace the cause of the uprising at which you three are present. The tracks are so faint, we can barely read them, even with all our effort concentrated.'
Indeed, even though it was through a digital screen, it was quite evident that both their leader Suho and Baekhyun bore dark circles under their eyes. Sehun was the one who spoke up this time
'It's alright. Don't be sorry, Suho. We understand. It's just that...it is virtually impossible for us to carry out this mission without the right lead.'
Without that information, it would have been like asking them to complete a puzzle, while only providing half the puzzle pieces. Baekhyun was the one who replied, voice crackling through the weak connection
'We really are sorry guys, right now we still have Kyungsoo trying to trace down the faint track we managed to follow. He's trying to stabilize it as we speak. We can't apologise enough, honestly. But in the mean time...you guys will just have to....'
His words trailed off towards the end and their leader had to pick it up, in a weakening, authoritative tone.
'We are sorry, you three. In the meantime you will have to stay put. It may be for a few minutes, it may be for a few hours. At least until we can trace this damn lead down. This has not happened before I know, but it is the best we can do when we are only at around or even less than 50% of our full potential.'
Chanyeol opened his mouth to protest
'Suho! We - !'
His words were cut off all of a sudden by a large hand clamped over his mouth. Kai. The tan one spoke up in turn.
'Suho, it's okay. Take all the time you need, just make sure the lead is certain.'
Suho nodded.
'Thank you Kai. We will contact you three shortly. Hopefully.'
With a curt nod and a small wave from Baekhyun, the screen flashed blank. Replacing the device in his back pocket, Chanyeol sighed and turned to the other two
'I guess we just have to wait. There;s nothing else to do.'
Glancing at the havoc that played out in the streets, all they could do was wait. Wait and hope.
***
It was lunch time, and just like any other normal school day, a group of class mates approached Athena's table where she sat alone, slowly eating her food.
'Awwwww, sitting alone again?'
One of her classmates cooed as she leaned down over the table, flicking her long brown hair and knocking down Athena's juice as she did. The sticky orange liquid spilled over the edge of the table and dripped onto her school skirt and knees. She giggled and stood straight again.
'Oops. Let me help you clean that up. Does anyone have water with them?'
A boy stepped forward with a bottle of cold water from the canteen and handed it over. She smiled sweetly at him.
'Thank you. Aren't you glad to be helping a class mate in need?'
Walking over to Athena once again, she leaned over and said
'Here, I'll help you get that awful mess off. A pretty girl like you should be clean, right?'
A smirk came over the girl's lips
'I'll make you cleaner than you ever will be, stupid orphan!'
With that, she removed the bottle cap and poured the entire contents over Athena's head, soaking her right through her blazer and tie. Capping the empty bottle, she tossed it into the bin, crossed her arms and said to Athena with a sickly smile.
'There, isn't that better? Even the mess from yesterday has been washed away now.'
As she turned around to leave, class mates all laughing and joking around her, Athena slammed her palms onto the table surface. Rage filled her body from head to toe but she managed to keep a cool exterior. Suddenly it was silent. Too silent. Not a slight breeze swept through the room, and none of her class mates moved an inch. The girl's skirts didn't flutter, not a single person smirked, laughed, nor did they blink. That was when Athena took her chance and stalked out the class room door.
When her class mates looked towards her seat again, Athena was gone.
No one had seen her leave.
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