Stars Within Our Reach

At the sound of her name, the woman stood and turned around to face Auburn and Sio. Lurio, too, stood and faced them. 

"What are you doing here?" Asked Lurio, his voice strained by surprise. Ava did not say anything, but her mask and hood were down. Auburn gasped at the sight of her face. It was not the face that Sio and Auburn remembered. Instead of smooth skin on the right side and two warm brown eyes, there was a gaping wound. It had since been treated with rough sutures and kept clean, but the sight of it was ghastly. 

What happened to her? Was it the collapse of the mines that caused this wound? Upon looking closer, Sio noticed Ava's good eye was looking at her, not Auburn. 

"You brought the girl?" She asked, her voice small but meaningful. Auburn only nodded, not knowing what to say. What does one say at the sight of a ghost?

"Ava…" Auburn trailed off. He approached her, but Ava did not move. He removed his hood and mask and looked deeply troubled by her appearance. Lurio moved between them. 

"Auburn," he said, "What are you doing here? Did Otheyo send you?" He had said Otheyo's name with such hatred. Sio looked at them all, so bitterly confused. 

"We came to follow you, Lurio. Otheyo–" Sio started.

"Otheyo didn't send us, not directly. Why? What has he done?" Auburn interjected. Ava spoke first after.

"I buried two friends because of him. And have this–" She pointed to her face, " –to thank him for." Ava was looking at Auburn while she said this, but her attention turned to Sio. "Why did you bring the girl?" Her voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke. 

"She deserves to know the truth. I thought Lurio was behind it all, somehow. I didn't expect this." Auburn stumbled back, as if struck, but no one had raised a hand against him. 

"What is going on?" Begged Sio. The adults turned to her. "What did Otheyo do?"

"Sit down, everyone." Spoke Lurio. "This will be quite a tale."

Lurio gestured for Auburn and Sio to take seats opposite them on the other side of the fire. They gathered around the fire and sat as they were told. Lurio and Ava joined them. 

"Otheyo is not the man you think he is, Auburn." Began Lurio.

"He is a snake, a liar, and a murderer." Ava spat. "On the day Atka and Xio went missing, Otheyo took me with him to scout the mines. But Atka and Xio discovered something beyond what we ever could dream; an Obelisk. When we happened upon them, they were in a trance. Otheyo took his pickaxe and struck the Obelisk causing a tremendous shake. In the confusion, I grabbed Xio and Atka and moved away from the Obelisk when the cavern began collapsing around us. We were separated from the others. Atka and Xio came around and I had hoped we would all find our way out of the mines, but then Otheyo turned on us. 

One by one he attacked us, like some demon. He struck down Xio first, then Atka, then me. I was fortunate he only grazed me, but the others were not so lucky. When I came to, Otheyo was missing, Xio was already dead, and Atka on the brink of death, but somehow we were not where we were originally, we were transported here to this strange sanctuary. I tried everything I could to save Atka, but without anything to treat her, she succumbed to her wounds. For that, I am truly sorry, Sio."

Sio couldn't believe what she was hearing. Otheyo, the man that saved her, was the reason her parents were dead. But that didn't explain the mines. No, the person behind the mines was in front of her. She was the only one they didn't see on the cameras, the only person who had access to the water hydraulic controls, the only one who would know how to disrupt the mining system so perfectly that they would collapse. Ava was the one behind her grandmother's death, and that was more than enough to make Sio hate her.

Sio said nothing as Ava continued her tale of how she survived by using this sanctuary's providence. She said nothing as Ava explained her pregnancy was going well despite the trauma she'd suffered. She said nothing while the growing bile of anger plunged her deeper into a sinking despair. You killed her! She screamed in her head. You killed Grandmother! But the words did not leave her lips. She should hate Otheyo with just as much passion, but she didn't. No, Sio's anger was directly aimed at Ava, and she knew not what to do with it. 

Ava finished her tale, and Lurio wrapped an arm around her shoulder to steady her. At some point, she had started crying. Auburn, like Sio, was silent. The crackling of the fire reverberated off the cavern walls, as did the small sniffles coming from the distraught woman. For a while, they sat across from one another, not knowing what else to say. Then Auburn spoke.

"There are a few things I need clarification for." He spoke lowly, "Why set off the machine?"

"Otheyo wanted to control access to the Obelisk, with that he could control the very future of our people, of the people of the Great Void, I couldn't allow that!" She hissed. "Whatever motivates him to act is evil, Auburn. If you'd seen how quickly he turned on us after happening upon the Obelisk, you would feel the same."

"What about how quickly you turned on Yuka and me?" Auburn returned, his tone hard. "What motivated you? And Algodon? Did you think what mess you got us into? A citizen of the Great Void was injured after seeking sanctuary, that alone is enough for the Magistrate to think foul play."

At this, Ava said nothing. Her eye was fixed on the flame. Then she rose and spoke.

"The Obelisk is worth protecting." She turned and left the group. Lurio followed after her. Auburn and Sio were left with their thoughts. It felt cold despite the fire.

Colder still than when Sio first heard her grandmother was dead.