AFIRE: fight for the Earth begins✓

10.1 AIJA

The story so far:

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him.

---- Thieron works for H'eon. The Leader of He'on is Alton Ivar. Thieron tells Alton that he will find the second Priority Soul so that he can be sent to retrieve the Àvo. Thieron is provoked by Dhor-Wo (Alton's bodyguard). He hits Dhor-Wo and breaks his nose. Thieron trails Aija; he finds that she is an extremely powerful soul. And, so, even though Alton asks him to Harvest her, he decides on a different plan by himself.

---- Nala seeks Zuri out. They spend the day together, and go to the APC. Zuri introduces Aija to Nala. Nala is contacted by her partner, who sees her mingling with humans.

---- Nala is confronted by her partner – Luka. Luka tells her that Thieron is trailing Zuri's friend Aija. Alton ordered Thieron to Harvest Aija.

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****10.1 - Aija****

"When the sun's first rays kiss the ground softly, the snow sparkles like the iridescent magic it is," she read to herself. "Snow makes the whole place that much more magical."

Aija had fallen in love with those words the first time she had read them when she had been a student. Reading it now, she fell in love with it again.

She was taking care of the class three students, and they were showing her what they had learned that day.

"Have you seen snow, Ms. Niyarah?" Marya asked her voice vibrant.

"No, Marya," Aija replied with a sad smile. "There has been no snow for hundreds of years now."

"Ever since the Wars," clarified Riya. "The Wars changed everything."

"Yes," Nadim agreed, joining in the conversation.

The children settled into a discussion of their own. 

Aija Niyarah Rao-Oshiro settled into her seat behind the teacher's desk. She loved children, and she could see herself teaching in the future. But, there were times when Aija felt like there was something else she was supposed to be doing. The problem - she didn't know what it was.

The classroom was brightly lit, the sunlight streaming through the side walled entirely by glass. Aija looked out towards the Apartments. She was half expecting Luka to be looking at her from one of the Apartments. He wasn't there.

Etrie hadn't contacted her since the day he had dropped her back home. It had been over a week now. She now wondered if he had even asked her to help him. Or had she imagined it? Had she imagined the whole thing about aliens? Or had he made up some story to toy with her?

She looked back at the kids. They were going through the day's lesson and talking about how cool it would be to see snow for real. Aija herself had wondered the same for as long as she could remember. On her ninth birthday, she had wished to see snow; only it had never come true.

Zuri had once asked what Aija would wish for if she knew it would indeed come true. She had wanted to say snow but didn't believe it could ever come true, so she hadn't said anything. Zuri's wish had been to fall in love and be able to marry that person.