1 Scar

When he crushed the crystal with his bare hands, I knew nothing would ever be the same again. The glare in his eyes as he stared down at me like I was some inferior being made me lose my mind. It was as if he had forgotten that he ruined my life, and he had to take the one last thing that was precious to me.

Years ago, I would sit in the midst of the slums downtown alone and bare. Now, I find history repeating itself as I gazed endlessly into the abyss of the dimly lit bonfire in my wake. Horseflies tickled the back of my dry neck as I slouched to bask in the warmth of the flame. My shaggy clothing was torn and musty. I gazed up into the sky to see that travesty of a paradise they call Aries still floating. I envisioned a planet with a face cackling with laughter finding ecstasy in my heart's shattering. I raised my fist towards the sky in a fit of rage and slammed it against the bonfire to extinguish it.

There were too many scars from the people I tried to save, and their hearts were plagued with malice from my actions. I let the crystal slip from my fingers, and now Aries is suffering an energy crisis with homes and lives from planets lost forever. Their memories would be erased from Earth's history as they returned to their desolate planets ruined by corporate power. Some of them didn't even have the opportunity to return home to the galaxies they conquered. To think that my feeble and reckless hands were the cause of this genocide is just laughable.

Would you believe me if I said that I ruined the lives of intergalactic aliens that came to inhabit Earth and Aries? Not the stereotypical colorful googly-eyed aliens a child would read through their goofy children's books, but actual aliens with human emotions and characteristics. They spoke the same languages, ate the same food, and studied history that pales in comparison to our disastrous planet. I never wanted to call them aliens. It was always a disrespectful term that they rejected to passively retaliate against the hostile masses. These were lives that I always believed resembled humans, and their homes were lost because of my carelessness.

I trod down the dimly lit streets of the slums with my hands in my pockets. Thoughts of the United States government's initiative to help acquire new life from galaxies raced through my head as such a clever way to expand diversity amongst the people of Earth. No matter how beautiful Aries was, its beauty slipped away because of its secret. No matter how paradisal it was described to be, its secret always tantalized its breath of fresh air. The dream was a myth, and the legacy of the future generation was an utter lie.

My brain paused as I glanced up into the sky once more to see more than half of Aries's landmasses crumbled in a catastrophe that collided with Earth's surface. Millions of human and alien lives were lost as the floating landmass crashed into Asia, Europe, and parts of North America. What I envisioned as beauty was nothing more than an illusion. The secret of Aries slipped through my fingers as I felt the surging shockwave from the collapse of the floating continent. To think that a simple memory was the cause for such a disaster. The sudden misty illusion of my hands gripping on a throat played back through my mind like watching a horror film. If only I had loosened my grip… perhaps the world would be different.

My earliest memories on this planet were vital to me, but they always punctured my heart the more I thought about their faces. The shattering tears that rippled down their chins rattled my heart with guilt. My mind was a slideshow replaying the colorful cartoons I've watched, replaying the eerie cries and screams from the people I've bullied, and the healthy hearts I've broken. I was soulless, dependent, and weak-minded. I hurt so many people in so many different ways that I can't envision a life without solace.

After walking endlessly against the winds of the desolate slums, my frail legs began to cave in from my anguish and fatigue. I eventually collapsed and struck the pavement with my body reluctant to move any further.

How is it possible to identify yourself as a human when all you have caused is genocide and chaos? Half of Earth's population was massively against aliens living on Earth, condemning them and committing violent acts such as murder and theft. Aliens were not seen as an equal race because of their powerful capabilities and their human characteristics. They were ostracized and treated with extreme prejudice. Things haven't changed at all.

Riots that broke out across Earth condemned them to hell for world reformation. The humans wanted a total structural revolution. They wanted to be treated fairly and thought of more highly than the aliens that didn't belong on Earth. But to think that millions of lives and homes would be lost all because of one man still boggles my mind.

Countless litter cluttered across the streets as the winds brushed against my back. I picked myself up and dragged my frail body towards a hill piled full of dead grass and dirt. As I clawed through the dirt, I felt my energy running out by the second. I relaxed my back against the hill and gazed into the stars and skies, only clouded by the remains of Aries. I could see the largest tower still standing from a distance. I wanted to go back to settle the score. I wanted to enact justice, but I deserved the karma of loss.

I closed my eyes. All that was left I could see from a glimmer of hope was her bright eyes gazing deep into her mind without a single judgment clouding her vision. I could hear this specific melody, and even if it wasn't present in my ears, it still rang clear as day. The smell of her divine perfume, the smile of a thousand suns, and her angelic heart was all that I wanted. But what did she want? What did everyone else want? To think I even stood a chance against the test of time and to achieve redemption was a mere joke. To see her would merely revive me, but I let her slip through my fingers just like the secret of Aries. She was crushed along with the downfall of Aries. You poor, miserable paradise.

This world is broken. This world is lost and will never be the same again. I kept telling myself that, no matter how much hope I had before. And as the last of my energy fades away, I could only dream of the angel that saved me prior. I could only imagine the touch of my remaining family holding my hand to support me. I could hear the laughs and cries of those that I held dear to me. With the last of my energy sapped and my limbs numb, I could hear one last plea for help. Just one cry. The last cry. But how could I heed its call after everything I had done?

Open your eyes. Heed the call. Redeem yourself… or die trying.

I opened my eyes once more. The strength to keep fighting will never elude my grasp. That tower in the sky is my next target. He took everything from me, and I will never forgive him.

My story will never end... as long as you are alive.