FINAL CHAPTER - Part Twenty-Four of my NaNoWriMo challenge. Finally reached the finish line, just in time!

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Esha and Emerald entered the specially arranged transport shuttle to take them to the New Chapel site. It was an area that was close to both of their hearts. Esha had always promised herself, and her deceased family that she would preserve what once was, and what could have been, by building a monument to Mars' future over the burial site to her past. Esha saw her dreams turn to smoke upon that escarpment, overlooking the enormous valley system snaking its way into the distance. She felt very close to having had her whole life turn to smoke. The incident came close to completely breaking her. But somewhere inside her, somewhere deep where the soul screams to be heard, a seed was planted. A desire to rebuild. To start again, renew, if at all possible. From the ashes of her dying dream, Esha called out for the gods to help her make sense of it all.

She truly believed that seed was all that stood between her and total breakdown. Like her compatriots, who had faded into the distance – there, but not really. Broken and tossed aside. For the longest time she wondered if that seed that was planted, that tiny dream that was nurtured, and caressed into being, would ever show life. Would the Mars dream, her Mars dream, die, along with all those she knew and held dear?

They reached New Chapel, and disembarked. The shuttle driver had instructions to wait for them, for their return trip. In the meantime, they walked out into the enormous domed amphitheater. There were no building work going on, no construction teams still on site. The place was all theirs.

“It's time to visit the graves,” Emerald told Esha. Emerald wondered about how much she knew, and how she came to know such things. This place doesn't seem a mystery to her. She's a better intelligence agent that Jones is, she told herself. But I'd say she gets her information from a vastly different source. Esha started to believe that when it came to Emerald, she may as well consider that she knows all things. Whether she does or not, I don't know, she thought. But it's starting to appear that way.

They approached the escalators designed to shepherd people to the lower levels. They weren't in operation, so they started the long walk down from the large open space that marked the centre of this brand new city, to the depths below. The museum wasn't the only place down below, but it was the only place of interest for them. They walked straight towards the old chapel, visible as they emerged from the escalators.

“This is it,” Esha said, as they reached the entrance to the old chapel building. It looked remarkably like a standard rectangular building, nothing about it really said chapel. No steeple, no stained glass windows. It had served a purpose once upon a time, for the early settlers - Esha included – to pray to a god they once knew, and hoped had joined them in their new Mars endeavours. The fact that this was the only chapel they had built said everything about what become of the relationship between the old gods and the new world. There seemed to have been a compatibility issue.

They walked inside the old chapel, and took in the old, small space that surrounded them. “So this is where your dream almost ended?” Emerald said.

“Yes, this is the place we had put our hopes into. But it wasn't to be.”

“Do you remember how you felt, as the realisation of what had occurred flowed through you that day?”

“I do remember, although I try not to think about it too deeply.” Esha replied.

“I understand this was the place your family died. But I wanted to bring you here for another reason as well,” Emerald started to tell her. “This was also the place where I was born, so to speak. Where my energy came into being. The events that have lead us all together on this journey, this is where it began. And it began on that day, that fateful day, that your family perished.”

Esha studied Emerald closely, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. She knew the child was different, and unique, but failed to see any connection between the events she was mentioning. “How did this place impact your birth, I don't understand.”

“You called out for a sign. For more than a sign – for an answer. To understand the purpose of why all of this had to happen. You turned your back on the old gods, the old ways, the old thought processes. You rejected that which had rejected you, and rejected the new. Now that sign has arrived, and you are standing with her. I was destined to arrive here, to assist you.”

“You are the embodiment of my desire for healing?” Esha asked, tentatively.

“In a way, you could say that.”

“Because of the loss that had occurred here?”

“Yes, because of the emotional trauma that rose up within you from those deaths.”

“But did they all have to die?” Esha asked, voicing the question that had stayed with her through all of the years.

“Does anything have to happen? I can't answer that question. There are things that are simply beyond me. What I do know is that life transitioned here, in this spot. This truly is sacred ground. You were right to preserve it. The life of some moved on, and new life for others arrived. And you brought a lot of that life into being. You brought me into being. These things are not linear, they aren't even genetic. But that is our connection. In a way we are family.”

After many minutes of standing in silence, soaking in the new awareness of the place, they made their way back to the main level. Exiting from the end of the escalators, Emerald looked around at the vast buildings overlooking the open space. “My sister Ruby will be arriving with her guardian on the shuttle. Is this where all the new arrivals will be living?”

“It is, yes. I'm looking forward to meeting your sister. I'll make sure we put aside one of the best apartments up here,” she said pointing to the ones with the best view. “She'll be able to see the gardens from there.”

“She'll love that,” Emerald told her. “The trees will remind her of home, in a good way.”

---

Esha returned to her office, whilst Emerald disappeared into the background. She wanted to hang around, and participate if need be. But for the moment Esha had an urgent meeting with Jones. They had received a communication whilst on the shuttle back from New Chapel that Jones had received an urgent message from the Earth High Command. They had both spent the whole trip back trying to guess what the contents of the message could be. Emerald didn't try too hard, she could actually know if the matter were urgent enough. But it wasn't, so she chose not to dig too deeply. Let the events unfold as they are meant to, and deal with them from there. Such a policy had worked out just fine for her up until this point. No point changing it now, she thought.

Jones walked into the office and hurried directly over to Esha. He removed the message he had received from his clipboard and handed it straight to her. He didn't want to add his own commentary, not yet.

“Well I wasn't expecting that,” Esha said, felling a little flabbergasted by what she had just read.

“I must say it took me by surprise also,” Jones replied.

“And this message is verified? Direct from High Command?”

“Yes, it has been verified. I had to double check when I first saw it. But it is legitimate.”

“So what are your thoughts?” Esha asked him, eager for him to speak whilst she thought through all the potential ramifications of the message's content.

“I've never heard of one side suing for peace when they aren't actually at war with the other side.”

“Their fear of Emerald must be extreme. She has become like our nuclear deterrent.”

“At least with this we can guarantee that Earth never invades Mars. For any reason,” Jones said.

“But does the message say anything about the war on Earth?” Emerald asked, materialising to join the conversation.

“I wondered where you were,” Jones said, feeling far less startled at her sight the second time around.

“I've been around. But this message has me curious. They wish to sign a peace treaty with Mars, to make certain that I don't cause them any problems. Well that is good for Mars, I agree. But that is not so good for the people of Earth. Those armies will just keep destroying and killing as they see fit,” Emerald explained.

“What do you recommend?” Esha asked.

“Sign the treaty with Earth. But on one condition. And make it non-negotiable. It must be a peace treaty between all parties. On Mars and on Earth. All of Earth's armies must put down their weapons, and any future actions that puts Earth's children's lives in jeopardy should be considered the greatest war crime.”

“You would be making war a war crime,” Esha stated.

“Seems logical to me,” Emerald replied.

“You have no argument with me on that,” Esha responded.

“Nor I,” Jones added.

“Well then let's start the negotiations with Earth then,” Esha told Jones.

---

The shuttle continued on its trajectory towards Mars. They had all had a few days now to recover from the harrowing experience of taking part in humankind’s first space skirmish. It had obviously not gone at all how the attackers had planned. Their attempts at launching a surprise assault had failed, as had their true intents – removing Emerald from the equation. Did they fear her that much? It was the question on everyone's lips. But no one asked it. The crew had assessed the damage, and gone to work repairing it as needed. The shuttle had actually emerged relatively unscathed. It could have been far worse. If they had a different strategy, one that involved direct attacks on more vulnerable parts of the shuttle, then things may have been different. But they weren't different. They had turned out as they did. This is where fate had brought all the different players, and this is the outcome they all had to share in.

And fate had brought Emerald into their lives. Sure, if she hadn't been on the shuttle, then the attack wouldn't have occurred. Yet she was on it, and she had the capacity to defend it. All those who witnessed her actions that day knew they were witnessing something remarkably life changing. Individually, but also for humanity as a whole.

Richard was sitting at the captains table, awaiting the night's dinner to be served, when word came through from Mars on the latest developments. Jelena and Ruby accompanied him, as he read through the message that had just arrived.

“Says here that Earth has requested a peace treaty with Mars,” Richard explained, as he read through the message. “Your sister has them petrified, it would seem,” he said as he looked at Ruby and gave her a wry smile.

“No soldier has been able to stop her yet,” Ruby replied.

“The dogs of war have clearly met their match. So now they are scrambling to rewrite the rule book, whilst they still hold any relevance.”

“They wont hold any relevance for too much longer.” Emerald joined them at the table, appearing out of the blue, something she was starting to make a habit of. She sat next to her sister, so as to be close to her as the full extent of what they had achieved became clear.

“And why is that?” Richard asked her.

“Because we have put a condition into the treaty for us to sign it.” Emerald went on to explain what she, Esha and Jones had agreed on, and the significance it would hold for humanity's future.

“So if they want peace with Mars, or peace with you more precisely, then they have to make peace with everyone?” Richard asked, getting to the gist of the situation.

“They have to make peace with life. With the next generation, and give that generation the opportunity to steer the ship in another direction,” Emerald explained.

“So will this end the fighting on Earth?” Jelena asked.

“If they sign it, and abide by the agreement.”

“Do you trust them?”

“No, not completely. But they do genuinely feel stuck. Forced upon them or not, this treaty may actually work.” Emerald said.

“And the children will finally have a chance to live without fearing the approach of death,” Jelena added

“That is correct. A dark age was descending upon the Earth. But not any longer. Now we will let the light shine in, and reveal the truth; let it shine into those hidden places, where all the monsters have been hiding, terrorising humanity whilst pretending to be spiritual and political guides.”

Emerald remembered her words to Esha – in a way we are family – as she took in her new family. The rules of life and death were changing. Was that her doing, she wondered? Or was her arrival just a coincidence of timing. But just as Esha had breathed life into her, and created the spark that brought her forth into this Universe, so too had Emerald breath life back into others. Standing within view of her, but unseen by the others, Emerald could see Alexander, Jelena's child who had returned earlier to complete unfinished business, and relight the flame in his mother's soul.

And beside Alexander, newly arrived, but old acquaintances of Emerald's were Esha's deceased husband and two children. They had shown themselves to Emerald as she had come to understand her connection to Mars and the old chapel area. They looked content and at peace, as Emerald wondered what their unfinished business was. Or is this all part of Esha's healing? Have they come to share their peace? Have I come to share my peace, she asked herself? Only time will tell. And time will tell, when it's ready to share her story. Until then, we must all march along wondering why things happen as they do. Why the gods remain silent as they do. And why it took a child to save humanity from itself.

---

Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
Chapter Ten (Part Seven)
Chapter Eleven (Part Eight)
Chapter Twelve (Part Nine)
Chapter Thirteen (Part Ten)
Chapter Fourteen (Part Eleven)
Chapter Fifteen (Part Twelve)
Chapter Sixteen and Seventeen (Part Thirteen)
Chapter Eighteen (Part Fourteen)
Chapter Nineteen (Part Fifteen)
Chapter Twenty (Part Sixteen)
Chapter Twenty One and Twenty Two (Part Seventeen)
Chapter Twenty Three and Twenty Four (Part Eighteen)
Chapter Twenty Five (Part Nineteen)
Chapter Twenty Six (Part Twenty)
Chapter Twenty Seven and Twenty Eight (Part Twenty One)
Chapter Twenty Nine and Thirty (Part Twenty Two)
Chapter Thirty One (Part Twenty Three)

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This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com

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