Our Forgotten Souls

Chapter Three

Even though I lived in the inner woods, the walk was never easy.

I'd never timed it exactly. I just knew that it went on and on...endlessly. It didn't matter, though. It was my only route in.

By the time I reached the city once more, the sun was setting. Burnt orange and subtle blues hung in the sky, no clouds in sight. It hadn't rained in a while either...

Droughts weren't common around here. I had to remind myself of that to stop my fear. Sure, they may have ruined cities and destroyed lives elsewhere, but here...we'd had other problems to worry about.

That was in the past now anyway. The Catastrophe, as they called it. I never understood why they'd named it such when they could've easily just dubbed it "The Apocalypse."

Because that was what it had been. They liked to pretend that it was just a blip in humanity's existence, something so minor that gave way to The Winnowing. Don't ask me why they call everything one-word names either. I assumed it was easier for political discussions than to have to say, "the death and destruction caused by climate change" or "our excuse for killing poor people."

They likely preferred "The Winnowing" to the latter simply because it sounds nicer. Like less of a human rights violation.

Caring about human rights died during the Catastrophe, along with the six billion we lost.

I jumped over another boulder and finally saw what I'd been waiting to see: the City of Marble.

Sometimes, called Antheia. Mostly, not.

Home sweet home.

The name was ironic really. Not City of Marble – that made total sense. Nearly all the expensive buildings in the center of the city were made with glowing white marble, a tribute to ancient Grecian architecture.

It was Antheia that had always confused me.

Since the Catastrophe, society had looked back at the Greeks as some comfort or something. The Greeks had created democracy, and I guess finding that root and re-connecting with it was a way to feel hopeful about the future. Greek architecture began to grow in the newly built cities while people started wearing more of the white, flowy clothes reminiscent of that age. Clothes similar to what we always imagined Greek gods and goddesses to wear.

Along with it came the need to rename some cities in the manners of the Greek. Not all the cities changed, some of them just placed "new" in front of their old names to make it seem like they were turning a new page. But others decided to go all in – naming cities after ancient Greek gods and goddesses.

So, when all the cities were changing, my city had chosen Antheia. Goddess of swamps and flowers and whatever. Goddess of growing things and nature. Funny, when they were such proponents of death and destruction.

It didn't matter. It was just a name.

From here, the city did look godly. I could easily see the innermost area where the government building sat. It was an elegant marble palace, really. They'd named it the Mantel, since it was supposedly what held all of us together. Tall pillars, smooth arches, and plenty of windows all the way towards the spire at the top.

Surrounding that were tall skyscrapers reinforced with marble at the base. Some metal still peeked through near the penthouses. They weren't tall enough to touch the clouds, but they definitely were big enough to be intimidating when standing in the city square.

It was quite large, large enough that I could easily make out where the skyscrapers ended and the marble floor of the square started. It was almost busier than it had been when I'd visited earlier in the day. That's where the board was. The giant list of the suffering and soon-to-die. And then...

I saw the stage. It'd always been far enough from the square not to scare the hell out of passerby's...but close enough to the palace to remind them who controlled their lives.

I looked away quickly. I never went there. I didn't think about what was there and I didn't like to even remember it existed.

Other than that, a myriad of skyscrapers, buildings, petite shops, and people filled the rest of the city. It wasn't too large – it was the remnants of a city that used to be. Only a portion of the monstrosity sleeping beneath it. Sometimes I ran into metal hunks out in the forest, leftover from a time pre-Catastrophe.

But right now, I needed to focus at the task at hand.

I picked up the pace, double checking that my bow and arrow were strapped to my back. It was only a couple more miles. Most of the rich lived in mansions overlooking the city. And that was where I needed to be.