After Fate Fell

7 • ELLA

1 year, 3 months, and 12 days after it all
•ELLA•

The storm has settled down a bit, and the pilot comes over the speaker. I'm guessing we're about to land. I realize that in all my excitement of leaving the mountain and of making this journey across the world all by myself, I had forgotten to even figure out where this plane was going. I guess it was the only plane on the runway, but still, I should have checked. So as the plane descends, I start to worry about how far off course I could possibly be.

The plane lands smoothly and eventually people start to get up and grab their luggage. So I do the same. I am the first one off the plane and into the airport, wherever I am. This is definitely a larger, busier airport than before. I look at the signs on the wall. Definitely Arabic. Well, I'm still far from Mexico, wherever I am, but hopefully I can make it there in one more flight.

I get in line for tickets, hoping I won't have any issues this time. After 15 minutes of the slowest moving line I've ever been in, I finally get to the front. A man behind the counter looks at me expectantly. I then remember that certain people and countries look down on or punish the people or Garde who are gifted with legacies, so I'd better not use the same trick I used at the last airport here. I then remember that I have the jewels that were given to me from my Loric chest and take out a handful of the shiny gems from my bag. I shove them across the table to the man. He looks up, confused. He reaches for the phone, and I realize I'm going to be taken away, so I start to turn the other way to run. He says something, and I turn around. He is pointing to the destinations on the computer screen, asking me to pick one. He wasn't reaching for the phone. I'm just being paranoid.

I scroll through, and I'm happy to see that there are translations below each destination. I keep scrolling, getting frustrated. The closest flight I've seen so far is to Newark, New Jersey in the United States. I can't take two more flights. There has to be somewhere in Mexico.

After scrolling through dozens of flights, one finally catches my eye. Merída, Mexico. Bless the stars. I point to it. The man gives me a ticket and points to where I need to go.
I walk down a long hallway full of people. Some stare at me, so I just try to keep my head down. I see a map on the wall and walk over to it. I grab a small map from a display, that reads "Mexico" and put it in my bag. The map on the wall shows all the destinations that this airport offers. All the dotted lines branch out from Southern Spain, no that's Northern Morocco, right on the Strait of Gibraltar. A city called Tangier. I'm not too far from the convent where I met Marina, and my journey with the rest of the Garde began. It seems so long ago.
I reach the hangar where my plane is waiting, I board, taking a seat on the window near the back of the plane.

I remember back to when Six, Crayton, Marina and I were on that plane back in Barcelona, headed to India, where we found Eight. Where I just came from, in the mountains. I must've crossed the border into Bhutan during my bus ride. That plane ride was right after our battle with the Mogadorians, and we were trying to get as far from them as we could. We used code words and phrases, and we had to act like Crayton was our teacher and we were going on a field trip. I remember being scared, but I wasn't alone. I had Crayton, my Cêpan, as well as Marina and Six, my newly-found Loric sisters.

But this time, I am alone, and somehow, even though we beat the Mogs and I have nobody to run from, I'm still scared, and I'm still running.

After another long wait, the plane begins to move. I get the map of Mexico out of my bag and start to plan my route to the Sanctuary. I had forgotten how secluded it was, and I'm just starting to realize that I'll need to make most of the journey through the forest...alone. But I'm prepared for it. I need to talk to Legacy, and a little hike through the forest isn't a big deal as long as it means figuring things out. I just need to find out why this all happened, and what should be done next. I'm hoping for reassurance from Legacy that we need to return to Lorien.
Then what? I don't know.

But I'll find a way to Lorien, whatever it takes. I'm making things up as I go, but at least I'm going.