Mother Earth.

Chapter 16: Valentine, Wildfire.

Lisa Huo.

Russian Bastion,

The year 2173.

"... I cry."
The wooden counter melted into the air as her head rested on her arms, glass in hand, swishing around her drink with clanking ice cubes. A quiet, distorted tune rang in her ears as she stared blankly into the gaping void before her, swirling from spiralling memories crawling forth. She struggled to keep her eyes open as her body was drawn deeper, yet farther as she began to drown. Breathing in, and out. Her dry lips burned as she was quietly breathing, with quiet voices murmuring in the background. She didn't have words, she didn't have anything. Little fireflies began to flutter about in the air in little blips, like sparks of lightning.
"Someone... someone out there..." Lisa muttered to herself, knowing full well that there was no one there. One of the fireflies landed by her hand, its dim light glowing against her arms, bringing light to the monochromatic flames that were tattooed onto her arms. Her chipped, fragile nails scraped against the wooden counter as she closed her hand to catch the lightning bug-
"Hey! Wildfire! Hey!" A distant voice barked at her, and the fireflies disappeared, and the world stopped bending into the vortex; she finally opened her eyes. Bottles of alcohol lined the shelves behind the counter, with glass cups placed neatly, shimmering under a low fluorescent light. It was a quiet night, only a few people were sitting at the bar and the booths were sparsely filled.

"Ugh... fuck." She groaned, her head throbbing in a groggy haze, barely opening her eyes as she ran her slender fingers over the scar on the left side of her face. Each ripple across her face, licking her chapped lips as her messy black hair fell over her eyes. Grunting, she tried moving her malnourished body off of the bar, her tattoo sleeve of monochromatic black flames coming into her blurry vision, only for her to fall back down. Her breath reeked of stinging alcohol, her teeth aching.
"You finally drink yourself to death?"
"F-fuck off Anthony." Lisa snapped back, her head heavy on her arms. She sat up slowly, pushing against the counter for support. She could see the empty bottle beside her now.
"Never thought I'd see you like this."
"Like, what?"
"So still. You're just sitting there spacing out for half an hour, I tapped you on your shoulder and you just stared-"
"If your dumbass didn't take so damn long I-I wouldn't be. Just what took you so long..?"
Lisa turned on her spinning stool to Anthony, her sleeveless leather jacket falling into place on her bony body. His face was young, only he was around twenty-five while she was twenty. Anthony pushed back his short, clean brown hair with his cigarette alight in between his fingertips, the glowing embers shining against the silver discs embedded in his temples. These implants connected to his brain stem, and to his cybernetic eyes that reflected the fluorescent lights. He put his cigarette out on a nearby ashtray as soon as he saw Lisa sit up, hunched over in a drunken drone beside him. He slipped his light back into his juniper green jacket, bearing an angled crest on his back, rattling his holstered weapons dangling off the top of his loose black jeans. Anthony took a sip of his drink and looked over at Lisa.
"I had to talk to Miroslav and Samuil, we along with the rest of The Restavratory are targeting The Krasnyy to take control of the Bastion tonight. We want you in." Anthony proposed, Lisa stared blankly at him.

"To have the 'Wildfire of Russia' on our side... why not join us? You have the reputation for it, people are scared of you. No one has seen a Russian of your... habits before." He asked. Lisa looked to the counter again and began scratching at the counter, etching something into it.
"I'm from China. No, I d-don't want to join you."
"You miss that place?"
Flames crept up from their burnt bodies.
"No."
Anthony nodded his head slightly and silently. He took out a lighter and a box from his pocket, lighting a cigarette.
"We'd love to have you on our side, Wildfire. Your chaos is what we need, you'd get along great with Miroslav."