All of us were born elsewhere, but it just so happened that we would live here from now on. On the other side of the world, protected by many unwritten rules that we are still trying to understand to this day. Fourteen of us, killed by a single person, or if that's a demon, that's for another story.
We tried to elect a leader, but then at the creation of the village, at the moment we decided of a structure, everything collapsed. We came to the conclusion that we cannot find a leader yet, that person has not arrived yet. We can't build anything, forced to live in ruins.
The hatred doesn't leave, we are bound to the feeling we had when we lost our lives. There is no way out of this. It is a painful thing to survive death, there is a reason they made a heaven and hell, staying alive after officially dying is terrifying. It doesn't come with a manual. You just gradually lose your mind trying to come up with a reason to keep going.
We do feel other than rage, whenever someone thinks of crossing our frontier, we have to send our own soldiers, the replicas of our lost potential as humans who died too early in life. So we send those shadowy figures to estrange them as far away as possible.
We do understand to some degree that we have to protect something, we just don't know what. We checked the temple built in the mountain, nothing. Ruins upon ruins. Like something happened, but we arrived too late to understand. Most of us gave up.
"Pride, you have to help us, the newcomers are close."
"They have Genova with them?"
"Yes, that's what Violet said when she warned them yesterday."
"We'll be okay, they can't hurt us. Besides, all they have is a bunch of weapons, which don't affect us."
"Still, we have to deter them from entering the territory."
"No. Let them in. We still don't know what we even are. You can't escape fate, if we're here there's a reason. And we need help figuring that out."
"I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"Control your replica. Stop being so afraid. He's yours. Yours to control, he's your other you that will never see the day."
"You've mastered yours but how? Mine scares me."
"Your highest potential means nothing without its' foundation, you. So you have to think that he owes you his existence."
"I'll try. Mine is dangerous. He keeps flipping the script at the last second and makes everything harder than it has to be."
"Then look in a mirror. Tell Fern I said it's okay for you to use the mirror."
"Thank you, Pride!"
"Nothing. Hey, remember. Look at yourself and ask yourself what you want. Then reflect on what that means for all of us. I'm not the leader, because we can't have one, either that, or our true leader hasn't come yet, but regardless, I don't really like choosing for other people. I don't want to mislead my family. Truly I hope we grow up to become autonomous, or at the very least, grow in maturity."
"Pride, this is you. All of this is you. You've made this happen. We were wandering around, crying for help and you heard us and delivered. Now it's time to for us to repay you in a way that truly matters. If we can't have you as a leader, we'll have you as a mentor. Now, they're getting close."
"Test them. Tell Kent to send his replica to them. Before they simply get to us, we need to make sure they even deserve to see us. So check on Kent before seeing the mirror."
Lisa executed the orders, running around, asking the others where he could be, before finding him further on the larger mountain.
"Why are you all the way up here?"
"We can see them. Especially the ruins."
"Pride wants you to test the newcomers with your replica."
"I already am. They're struggling."
"From that far away?" She thought, impressed. "That doesn't make any sense, I can barely feel any connection to my own replica."
"Rest assured, they will not bypass my challenge."
"He doesn't want you to kill them, he wants you to challenge them. See if one of them is our leader. "
"Our meant leader is not here. He's in one of the close cities. But this group sure is interesting. Not just because of Genova, but one of them is one of us."
"What does that mean? Are you sure?"
"I'm the best here at feeling things. Will you bring this information back to Pride?"
"I will, thank you."
She bowed a little, both out of respect and lack of confidence. Slided down the mountain and avoided the more dangerous pointy rocks. Joined the one in the temple who was busy meditating. Her every footstep had resonance, the entire place was silent.
"Fern, I'm here! Pride said I should use the mirror to learn to control my replica."
"If you do, find peace first. Envy comes at a price. Don't try to obtain something that Kent or Pride has. They have what they have because God said so. You don't get to want that, instead, focus on what you already have. If your replica is so dangerous, learn why."
"I will."
She positions herself in front of the large mirror and stares into her own soul, bright tainted eyes into the glass, focused like a laser. Something roared on the outside, getting closer and closer. It finally crawled to her, the large thin hands on her back. The long and sharp fingers walking their way to her neck and she sees her replica in the reflection. And looking into its' eyes for long enough, she enters a different state of consciousness.
"Where am I?"
"This is your place. This is our place." The voice was demented and disembodied. Monster-like.
"I just want to understand you. Get to know you."
"You want to know me? I've made it back to my family, you haven't. I've seen our garden and slept in the backyard again and you haven't. I've played with the cat and the dog in the house, and you haven't. That's who I am. And that's what you are. You have nothing. You are dead."
"I know I've died. But you can still help me. All of my friends have their replicas in check. Tell me more."
"Your friends are able to control their replicas because they've accepted their deaths. You haven't. You think you can go back to civilization and be integrated, but remember that I am a replica not of you, but of myself. I, live there with the humans, and you remain here."
"What can you do, not just for me but for my friends?"
"I can empty weapons. Your fear of being killed by steel, now you can take it all down."
"Then you will", she ordered. "You will empty those clips. Because without me, you would not exist."
"Then tell me, Lisa. What will you do about the angel?"
"The what?"
"As expected. There is a person that was brought here that is not human anymore. He died but he is not like the rest of us, he has no replica, he will simply ressurect. But something was created here, coded as an extension of his dna."
Lisa woke up, panting.
"Is everything all right?"
"No...no, we have to leave now and get Kent with us. Right now."
As they left, Genova and the others were struggling against Kent's replica. But as all of the children gathered, Lisa explained everything.
"This is what you got?"
"Is it not a lot of intel?"
"It's more than enough", Genova replied. "The only one that would fit the description would be Ismael himself. The one who tried to stop me from killing."
"I don't understand how you're still alive somewhere in your home country, but dead here", Basil asked.
"Our parents know that we died, and this place is kind of like where our souls are trapped so far. There is a version of me still home, living my life. My theory is that we can't leave by ourselves, someone has to take us out of here."
"Even then, it has to be a specific person. A leader. That we haven't found yet."
"What will you do, once outside?"
"Look for a place to stay. We'll adapt."
"Moreover, not as a leader but as a spokesperson for these kids, I would ask of you to gently put that coffin down on the ground and take a few steps back."
Genova placed the coffin in the middle of the two groups and walked back, uncertain. After a short moment, a kick from the inside propelled the top off and two arms reached out and the one in the coffin rose back up.
"Ismael? Is that you?"
But he did not respond. Genova then remembered that hatred only is the fuel of the dead who come back to life. Drops her weapon at hand and grabs a large war knife. She moves around fast, testing angles and stabs his other eye. Ismael strangles her and pushes her body on the hard coffin wood plank. He picks up the weapon that she dropped and a creature unlike any other stares at his victim. Ismael aims while blind and shoots in her skull.
Ismael grabs the necklace and attaches it on his neck.
"What the hell happened? What did you do?"
"I'm coming for you next."
"I'm not dreaming or hallucinating, he used the eyes of his creature to see."
"Pride, this is..."
"I know. The angel. Everybody gather your replicas! Defense formation!"
"I can see you. I can see all of you."
"But you can't kill us", Pride countered, scared.
"No. You are not my targets. The one who talked to me through the necklace, who are you?"
"We haven't been formally introduced yet, my name is Ambroise Ler. I'm the current president of the Shill Na Ter continent."
"You're dead. Tell all humans in your continent to hold for dear life. I'll be exterminating every form of life on the outside."