Where Destiny Lies

A | -2

TWO WEARY SOLDIERS lay on the ground, their swords still stained with blood. Aceline noticed their tired bodies, the slow and heavy breaths they took, and how they remained motionless, not bothering to adjust the cloth covering only their legs.

They should sleep, she thought.

Approaching them, Aceline knew they wouldn't notice her presence. This was just one of her visions, a glimpse into the quantum.

"When I get back home, the first thing I'll do is run through the farm," one of them said, gazing up at the cloudy sky. "Just like when I was a kid. My parents would shout, 'Come home, boy,' and I would keep racing with the chickens."

The other soldier chuckled. "I want to see my girlfriend," his dreamy face seemed lost in thoughts of the girl. "Hold her close."

Sitting cross-legged between them, Aceline noticed the soldiers' chapped mouths due to the autumn cold. Their clothes were dirty and torn from enemy sword strikes.

"I don't even know why we're at war," the first soldier whispered. "Do you know?"

The second soldier seemed just as puzzled. "I was told it's because one governor called the other's wife a whore."

Aceline's jaw dropped at that comment. This war marked the beginning of the constructions of the railway lines that connected the continent. Three provinces wanted control of a piece of land to transport their goods to the west, the richest region of the continent. It hadn't been long since the borders were delimited by treaties and recognized by all. Before that, many conflicts arose due to uncertainty about who owned each land, until the leaders gathered and resolved their differences.

Yet, there they were–young soldiers, oblivious to the grandeur of the events unfolding around them, simply seeking a moment of respite on the blood-stained battleground.

"I just wanted a bed," the second soldier mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes as if trying to erase the haunting images of war. "And those pompous ones in tents with always-lit fireplaces."

The first soldier's response was tinged with bitterness and resignation, "Your misfortune is not being born with an arum." His eyes remained closed, perhaps escaping momentarily into a memory of simpler times when he raced with chickens, oblivious to the darkness that war had cast upon his world.

Aceline couldn't help but ponder the irony of it all. Here they were, risking their lives for a cause they didn't even comprehend, while the true motivations behind the war were locked away in the minds of powerful governors. It was a cruel and senseless reality, one that weighed heavily on her heart.

As she sat cross-legged between the soldiers, her mind swirled with conflicting emotions. She wanted to reach out to them, to shake them and demand answers, to make them realize the gravity of their situation. But she knew it was futile. They were mere pawns in a grand game of power and ambition, their lives expendable in the eyes of those who held the strings.

They were lost souls in the quantum.

She could almost hear the agonizing screams and see the chaos of the battlefield. It was a grim reminder of the devastating toll war took on both body and soul.

"Do you believe in the gods?" The second soldier seemed to put his exhaustion aside, not wanting to waste his golden minutes with sleep.

"I used to," he finally opened his eyes, staring up at the skies. Aceline also looked up as if she could see the gods descending from their pedestals. "Not anymore."

"I never believed. Lie," he corrected himself. "When I was a kid, I believed. But one day, some men came and played with fiery arum, burning down our school. All because Miss Filda taught us physics and chemistry."