Apologize

Chapter 1: New World

     As a few people were speaking, one was starting to wake. Raya. She was groggy beyond belief, with a sharp, throbbing pain in her head. Moving in the slightest would send shooting pains throughout her body. Everything, from moving her head to even breathing was treacherous. Her cries and moans of pain filled the immediate area.

"Raya?" One person called, an older woman. "C'mon, wake up. Please wake up! Raya, baby, wake up!"

Raya's eyes flung open, but she refused to move. Everything burned. Something pricked her arm, but she barely felt it. After a small while, the pain and burning subsided. She tried to sit up, but it caused her head to spin. She looked around the field, trucks and people littered everywhere. She barely remembered what happened. She saw who was around her; Juan Rodriguez, her mother, Mama Thatcher, and a young boy with curly blonde hair she didn't recognize.

"Mama," she said, strained. "Mama, what's wrong? Where are we?"

"You don't remember?" Mama said. Seeing Raya shake her head no she continued. "We were kicked out of the Central Community. All of us. Because we went against that bastard Hemsworth."

Hemsworth. Familiar.

"All of us?" she said quietly as she looked around the vast field. "Wait-"

"Amor! You're ok!" Before Raya could look, she was embraced in a hug so strong she fell onto the soft grass. She looked and saw her girlfriend, Selena Rodriguez.

"Selena, are you-" Juan started.

"You can't do this to us!" a mother yelled, clutching her newborn. "This violates the Heavenly Principles!"

Heavenly Principles? It hurts for her to think.

"You have no say, wench!" a guard yelled as he shoved the poor woman off of the wagon. "We gave you ungrateful bastards too many chances! You all have enough resources here. Build another life!"

"Aaah!" Due to the woman's screams and the sudden fall, the young infant started to cry, grabbing everyone's horrified attention.

"Mister, wait!" Raya ran to the guard, stumbling multiple times. "What happened to us? I need to know!"

"Raya, dear, wait!" Mama yelled after her.

"Captain, don't," Ádomás, her second-in-command, said, stepping in front. "We've done enough already, the plan needs to move on."

"'Iron Fang' Raya," the guard said, jumping off the wagon. "You truly do have some gall. Still rebelling even after all that was given to you."

"'Iron Fang?' What do you mean?"

"Raya," Ádomás called with more force.

"Ádo?" She said. "Wha-"

"Ah, don't tell me you don't remember? How hard did you hit that head of yours?" he said tapping on her head with his knuckles.

"Piss off, I'm pretty sure you wacked my head. So, no shit I can barely remember things right now."

"Well now, lemme help that pretty little head of yours remember. You, yes, you lead a rebellion against Emperor Collins. Because you somehow got this cute little idea-"

"Cute?"

"-That he was the bad guy and that you would stop him." Venomous sarcasm was heavily present in his voice. "Where you got this? No clue."

"Don't you dare fucking talk to me like that," Raya quietly spat. "You wanna know what I do remember? What I just remembered? You and your family lost your nobility status due to a murder that you committed with very fucking solid evidence to prove it and were forced to either go to jail or do hard labor. Of course, your rich-ass parents paid off people and you got off easily."