Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (4 page)

The woman scanned the room. “No deaths on either side. Good,” she said before touching the convex glass face on her forearm device. “Mission accomplished. Minerva, 
Restore
 this area.”

For the first time, Terra looked at the woman in detail. She appeared in her mid twenties, with silver hair that reached halfway down her back. The tanned hue of her skin contrasted with bright sky blue eyes.

Terra couldn't help, but feel envious. Not of Silverwind's beauty, but her power. This woman stood without a single scratch amid smoking ruins, a breeze flowing through her silver hair. An immortal with power over time itself who used that power to stop villains and save the innocent. A real heroine.

Terra wondered, just for a moment, what it would be like to have such power. What would she do with that power? If she had that power, she wanted to be like this heroine who moved like a silver wind.

“Who are you?” Terra asked at last.

“Me? Don't worry. You won't remember I was here,” she said. “What is your name?”

Terra observed the blue light overhead again. The same ring descended over the library, however this time it restored the building to its previous state as it fell, erasing all the damage caused by the battle. Terra shook her head and looked at the woman again. “Name... Yes! My name. It's Terra. Terra Mason.”

“Well Terra,” the woman said as she looked Terra up and down, “You should know that your tactics were awful. A direct charge against an armed foe? You should have at least tried a flanking maneuver or engaged in ranged attack using commandeered weapons.”

“Um. What?” Terra asked, her brow furrowed.

The woman turned to walk away from Terra as she touched the glass face on her forearm device. “Minerva, access Saturn City Archives for a person named Terra Mason, age late teens, reference year two thousand on Continuum Lambda, eastern continental United States.”

Terra raised a finger to ask another question when the ring passed over her, erasing her memories of the library invasion and returning everything back to normal. At least for now.

“
Alya Silverwind, we need
to talk about this report. It just says 'Bad guys defeated.'”

“
Right. That sums it up
rather nicely.”

“
Crashing End, Alya! Have
you ever considered filling these out properly?”

“
You know Orion, that's
the thing I like most about you. You are adorable when you try to
give me orders. Although I suppose I should have noted how that girl
saved the mission. I think her name was Terra.”

“
Who?”

“
It was rather odd. Her
tactics were awful.”

“
Well whoever it was,
have you considered that she might be just a civilian?”

“
Oh. You may be right. I
spend too much time around Legendary Blades. I tend to forget that
even civilians can be brave. You know, I think I may actually look
into that.”

“
The Hanns case?”

“
The girl. Yes. I think I
will. Orion, I will send you the rest of the data on Hanns. Have
Minerva issue a formal warrant. Meanwhile, I am going to take some
personal time. I will talk to you later.”

“
Wait what? Alya?
Crashing End. No one ever listens to me!”

-Conversation log appended to
case file for Hanns Speer, full report still pending

“
These
memories
we will cherish forever...” the girl trailed off, her
speech paused as she rubbed tears from her eyes.

Terra rolled her eyes. The
graduation robes made the crowded gymnasium even more hot and stuffy.
Graduation had dragged on long enough without every student giving a
speech breaking into tears. Why did they care so much? She had no
happy memories of this place. Almost all the classes were boring and
most of the students didn't even acknowledge her existence, except
for the ones that annoyed her.

Hannah, the class
valedictorian, dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief before continuing
her speech. “These memories we will cherish forever, even though we
go into a larger world. Now we, the graduating class of 2000, stand
at a crossroads. We shall keep the past in our hearts while we go
forward into the future.”

She walked off the stage as
the history teacher, Mr. Smith, approached the podium.
“Congratulations class of 2000! Go forth into a new world!”

A cheer went up from the
students as applause thundered through the gymnasium. Terra allowed
herself a brief sigh. High school was done.

Terra made her way through the
crowd, searching for her parents. She just wanted to go home. Now a
slow, packed crowd stood in her way.

She grimaced when someone
stepped on her foot again. Such things happened often to her as
people never noticed her presence until they stumbled into her. When
she looked down, she saw a graduation card at her feet dropped by the
person who had just walked by her. Terra looked over to see Ray who
walked to meet his family.

One of the football team's
stars, Ray stood tall with a bulky build, but was not a perceptive
individual. Ray was nice, if lazy and often coaxed admiring girls
into doing his homework for him.

Terra
picked up the card, opening it to read the words
Congratulations
Ray. Love Grandma!
.
Three one hundred dollar bills laid in the fold. Terra closed the
card, leaving the money untouched and followed Ray.

“Such a smart young man and
so sharp,” an older lady said to Ray. “What are you going to do
after graduation?”

Ray grinned and saluted. “I'm
joining the Marines.”

“Why?” she asked.

Ray smiled. “Because I want
to be a baddass!”

Terra cleared her throat and
Ray turned. She presented the card to him.

Ray checked the card. “Hey
thanks! See. I have everything covered.”

Terra rolled her eyes as she
walked away. She then rejoined the crowd, trying to push through to
find her parents.

“Well if it isn't Terra the
terror herself,” came a voice from behind her.

Terra turned to see Hannah
with her arm outstretched towards Terra's face. Hannah's graduation
gown sleeve concealed her hand.

“What?” Terra asked,
crossing her arms. She knew Hannah plotted something as usual.

Hannah smiled as she shot her
hidden diploma out of her sleeve, stopping right in front of Terra's
nose.

Terra stared at Hannah,
unblinking.

Hannah shook her head. “Didn't
even flinch. Do you know why I'll miss you?”

Terra pursed her lips. She
would not miss Hannah's strange mind games. “No.”

Hannah grinned. “Because I'm
better than you in almost every way. I'm prettier, smarter, have
better grades, and I'm more motivated. Despite all that, you are
better than me in one way.”

“I don't stroke my own ego
every five seconds?”

“You never flinch. In a way,
I'm really glad you didn't try hard in class. Otherwise, I would have
had to actually work to be valedictorian. Though I am also kind of
sad that you didn't compete with me. I feel cheated, like I never got
to see Terra Mason, at her best.”

Terra scowled. “Are you
done?”

Hannah stared at Terra for a
moment before tearing up. She then embraced Terra. “I will miss my
rival!”

Terra rolled her eyes while
she patted Hannah awkwardly on the back.

After a moment Hannah let go
and wiped her eyes. “Now if you excuse me I have to go gloat some
more before I accept all my scholarships. A PhD won't earn itself!
Good luck and I hope you find a decent rival to replace me.”

Terra almost asked Hannah what
her plans were after graduation, but decided not to give Hannah the
pleasure. No doubt she had already planned her future, unlike Terra
who spent most of her time reading about the past.

“Terra Mason,” came a
voice from behind her.

Terra turned to see her
history teacher, Mr. Alden Smith. “Mr. Smith.”

Smith nodded as he approached
before cracking a slight smile that always preceded his usual
criticism. “Well it seems you have graduated despite your lack of
effort.”

“Hey! I made an A plus in
your class even after you gave me extra assignments, like that report
on FDR.”

“I did that to push you into
doing better. Why didn't you try to get all As in your other classes?
I know you are capable.”

“Why should I? This place is
stupid.”

Smith shook his head. “Honesty
isn't always tactful, young lady. To you this place seems stupid, and
yes much of school is foolish, but you still owe it to yourself to
try harder. You are tougher than you look. I can only imagine what
you could accomplish if you turned all that stubbornness into
determination. So what will you do now?”

Terra gazed down. “I'm not
sure. I want to go into geology, but I'm still undecided. Everyone
else already seems to have a career choice.”

Smith smiled. “Well just
remember, Terra, that you have a choice. I think the hardest thing
for you is realizing that you have choices. You are always so busy
holding still that you forget to move forward.”

Terra looked at Smith. “What
should I do then?”

Smith gestured to the other
graduates. “You see these youths? They all think they know what
they want. Wealth and fame. Others have already planned their futures
unaware of just how much the future doesn't care about their plans.
What should you do then?”

He locked eyes with Terra.

“While you live, shine,”
he said with a smile. “Be the best person you can be. That is all
anyone should ever do with their life. Don't squander your time
staying still, Terra Mason. Grab opportunity when it drifts by on the
wind. Make the most of your life because time demands its toll on us
all.”

∞

The next three months flew by
as summer began to fade into fall. Days passed quickly while she read
and spent time in her quarry. Today, Terra returned home after
visiting the library for the first time all summer. She had avoided
the library. She no longer felt safe there for some reason. She
guessed it was related to that strange gap in her memory before
graduation.

That missing afternoon at the
library bothered her at first, along with her sudden fixation on
World War II books. By the time of graduation though, she had
dismissed the whole missing day affair. Instead, her mother's
relentless college campaign became Terra's primary concern. She
worried as the final battle over college with her mother drew close.

Terra approached the door to
her home and opened it with care to avoid the creaking sound it made
when opened too fast. She peeked into the hallway, making sure it was
clear. With the hallway vacant, Terra tread with soft footsteps
around the boards that squeaked. In the living room, she could hear
the television playing while her mother, Bethany Mason, sat facing
the computer with her back to the hallway.

Terra made her way to the
stairs. When she was out of sight of the living room, she sighed in
relief.

“Terra. Come here please,”
Beth said from the living room.

Terra grimaced as she let out
a low growl. How did her mother do that? She sighed in frustration
before walking back towards the living room.

“I think you may like this
one,” Beth said, still sitting, as she turned to face Terra.
Bethany Mason was still in her business dress. Terra almost never saw
her out of formal business attire or without an unimpressed frown.
Beth gave Terra her light brown eyes, but not her light colored hair
which she kept tied back. “They have a really good finance and
accounting program. I think your high math scores can get you
admittance.”

Terra looked at the computer
screen, pretending to read. “Do they have a geology major?” Terra
asked in bored tone, already knowing the answer.

“Well no.”

“Don't care.”

“There is that bluntness
again. No wonder you have so much difficulty making friends.”