One Half of a Whole

"He isn't coming, is he?"

The mighty sun that shone after a snowy night always felt warmer than ever before. But now, it was already on its way down. The bright white snow began to glow a faint yellow under the afternoon sun. This shade left a bitter taste in Argoll's mouth. Ema sat against a tree with her head hanging on her chest. She felt betrayed, lost, and yet her faith hadn't wavered still.

"He wouldn't miss it for the world", she said, as if comforting herself.

Was he caught by a Blue again? But it was a Sunday, so people were allowed a free day. He couldn't have been captured. Was he afraid? That was completely out of question. Both Argoll and Ema knew he wasn't the type of kid that got scared of anything.

"Hey Ema, you know, the adults are doing something amazing. I heard from my dad", his voice began to broke, "He said they are building a weapon that no one can defeat. Not even the Blues. So maybe...if we trust them...maybe we can go out soon...maybe we don't have to sneak out...maybe..."

Ema looked up. Argoll had begun crying, but he wasn't facing her. As tough as he acted, in truth he was just a boy that was struggling for his own way of life. Ema pursed her lips, as her eyes welled up too but she remained frozen in her place.

Their friend never showed up.

**************

"Invincible?", the little boy didn't yet know what that word meant.

"Yes. It is quite an innovation, really. But the future of Agartha is hanging on it. You'll see how well we've managed to craft the design. And with such a genius as your father, the pioneer of biomechanics we call him, you can rest assured that we will succeed", the old man that led the boy by his hand had a sinister glint in his eyes.

But as he stood at a towering height, and a massive bode, his fat underbelly protruding quite far ahead of him, it was quite impossible for the little boy to reach his eyes. For now, all he knew, was that this man was a friend and a comrade of his father's, the only relation he had.

"What am I supposed to do, mister?", he asked finally, as they were nearing the secret entrance that led to the basement of the temple.

"Oh, nothing, my dear! Leave everything to us, we will...", the rest of his words got muffled in his head and the boy forgot to listen to him.

"Will it hurt?"

"Not a bit, love."

Lies. The wind howled outside in Agartha but the temple basement muffled even the dreadful screams of death itself.

"No!!! Father!!! Help...that's mine! That's my leg! Where are you taking it?! Give it back!"

The fat man sat laughing like a swine in a corner. He was the one that drew the lines on the boy's body. To mark the incisions, where the limb was to be separated.

"Give it back! I can't walk without...it...I have to...go", he wasn't allowed to sleep through the process, he had to stay awake, even when he felt his mind going numb from the pain, "They're waiting...Ema...Arg..."

"You'll be fine, son. We'll give you better ones. This is for our sake, for Agartha."

He wished it wasn't his father's voice that he recognized but there was no mistaking it.

When he next knew where he was, he heard nothing but screams and he saw nothing but blood. Blues, the doctors, civilians, all together piled on top of each other, foaming at their mouths. He blinked slowly, remembering the feeling in his limbs. Then suddenly the pain at the joints overwhelmed him, and he looked at his arm wild-eyed.

A wave of sorrow and anger ran through him. His porcelain white flesh was replaced with an ashen steel, cold and inhumane. He felt utterly disgusted by his entire self. His head was bandaged too. He knew half of his everything was taken away from him. He wasn't him anymore. He was half of himself now. The boy wasn't whole anymore.

Then he realized he was outside the lab. So he decided to head back to the temple. His steps made a clanking sound which he hated with all his being, but now there was no other way he knew of.

"Get inside, Ema! You can't help him! We've tried but he's a monster! You can't help him!", Ema's father shoved her and Argoll inside the temple.

"We have to see him! He wouldn't just-"

Before Argoll could finish his sentence, he noticed the boy standing at a distance staring at them.

"Hurry inside, you two! Do as I've told you! Get into the pod, Argoll, Ema!", her father forced the two inside.

"Ema...Argoll...", the boy, recognizing them, ran towards them.

"He's coming, you have to leave! You are our only hope!", Ema's father finally managed to push them inside.

Just before he sealed the door shut, Ema extended her hand towards the boy, as if saying we still believe in you. But the bloodied appearance he had, proved that he had indeed gone on the rampage that her father had told her about.

The boy ran on his metal legs that he wasn't yet used to and that weren't yet used to him either. He struggled to utter anything but the look of desperation on his face screamed, "Don't leave me behind."

Ema's father tried to stop him, only to be killed instantly as if he was no more than a fly. But the door was sealed shut. For now, at least, the boy didn't know how to get it open. He waited for a long time for Ema and Argoll to appear but they never did. The boy was left all alone in Agartha. The doors had been shut on him. He'd been left behind, with all the freedom he ever desired.