"Fuel and food. Those should be our priorities," said Jorden. Lisa nodded.
"There are plenty of other towns and small cities nearby. I just hope they haven’t been burned to the ground," said Lisa. There was a pause.
"You think it was the same lady?" Jorden asked.
"Yes. I saw her. She was with a small group of people there. They were all wearing the same uniforms. I heard them talking. I know it was those people who set the fire. I just don't know why. How could anyone do something so horrible without anything stopping them?" Lisa shook her head. What a strange world she was living in.
"I wonder who she is. From what Riley describes, she has a lot of money and power. She's also not working alone," Jorden said. Yes, all of it was strange.
"I just wish that I knew what she wants from the sisters and their abilities," Lisa sighed. “I think I found out what her name is.”
“Really? How?” Jorden asked.
“One of the others called out a name and she answered to it. If I’m remembering correctly her name is Inola. Isn’t it a strange name? It sounds a tiny bit like a real Forma name.” Lisa paused. Jorden’s eyes were wide.
“I-it is an old Forma name. That was the name of a character from an old Forma folktale,” said Jorden.
“Really? I didn’t know that. I-is something wrong?” Lisa asked. Jorden looked downright terrified.
“Things might finally be making sense,” he whispered. Should that be a good thing? Why was he acting like this was the end of the world?
“What happened in that folktale?” Lisa had only ever read human stories and fairy tales that had been retold by Formas. She had no clue what their original tales and legends were like. Jorden frowned at her. “What? I don’t spend half of my life reading like you. I don’t know the story!”
“I only remember it faintly. It’s been a long time since I’ve read it. But I remember the basic idea.”
“What happened?” Lisa asked. Jorden cleared his throat and began speaking in his ‘storytelling voice.’
“It began with the end of the world,” Jorden said.
“Oh… okay… dang, that’s not good,” Lisa muttered.
“I don’t remember how the world was ending. But I remember that was what the story opened with,” Jorden went on. “The story mainly focused on Inola, a young woman who wanted to save the world.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Wow, exactly the same name," said Lisa.
"Yes, you see why I was so surprised," said Jorden. "Inola met two young girls in the story. They were sisters." As Jorden spoke, Lisa's heart began to sink. "The girls weren't given names. But the story described them as the daughters of the two great beings." Lisa gasped.
"Humans and Forma?" Lisa whispered. Could that be what that meant?
“Inola took care of the girls. She cared for them, because she knew that they were destined to save the world. The world was destined to end in flames. Inola sacrificed the girls in fire to save the world. First, she sacrificed the younger sister. The older sister attempted to avenge her sister. But she failed. Both of the girls died, and the fires stopped. The world was saved. That was the basic idea,” said Jorden.
Lisa wasn’t sure what to say. What kind of story was that? Was it the kind of thing you’d read to small children as a bedtime story?
“Cheery story, isn’t it?” Jorden remarked.
“H-how is this possible? Why does that sound just like the sisters?” Sally stirred in the seat behind Lisa. Lisa lowered her voice.
“I know! It makes no sense,” Jorden whispered. All of this felt too real. The fire, the girls, Sally’s injuries; it was all too perfect.
“What if the lady wasn’t just punishing Sally? What if she was acting out the story?” Lisa asked. Shivers raced all through her. It was a truly awful thought, but in a way, it made more sense. “Is she… acting out the folktale?”
“Perhaps. Didn’t Sally say that she normally had her face hidden behind a veil?” Jorden said.
“Yes, she did.”
“Inola was described as always having her face covered in the story,” said Jorden.
“I know that we can’t know anything for sure. But if we’re right and she’s acting out the story, what does that mean? Is she trying to end the world? Does she want to burn everything down? Is that her plan?” Lisa asked.
“There is a chance. Either way, we need to keep the sisters far away from her and anyone she works with,” Jorden said firmly. Lisa nodded. She couldn’t agree more. Were there others helping Inola? Could there be a whole group of people who were trying to burn the world down?
“At this rate, they won’t need to burn the world. If war breaks out, it will burn,” said Lisa.
“Maybe that’s their plan. Maybe they want war,” Jorden remarked. That was true.
“War… of course. Argh! Why do things have to work out like this? The humans and the Formas are just going to rip each other to shreds! It’s like we don’t even know what mercy is. Everyone just wants to see their enemy suffer! I bet they don’t even understand why they’re fighting. Killing innocent Formas won’t help humans,” Lisa burst out. Jorden let out a sigh.
“It’s sad. I thought that war was meant to fix something. But it always seems to turn into cruelty. Nobody is allowed to give up and surrender. Because if you surrender, nobody can hurt you.”
“People aren’t allowed to surrender anymore. W-when I was with the humans… I had nothing to defend myself with. The more I begged them to stop, the harder they hit me. I wasn’t fighting them. They just wanted to hurt me.” Lisa’s fingers brushed a bruise on her cheek. It was the same kind of cruelty that the soldiers had described to her during the ninth war. Jorden gently placed his hand on Lisa’s shoulder. She shook herself. That was over. She was safe. “I’m sorry,” Lisa whispered.
“Are you okay, Lisa?” Jorden asked. Lisa shrugged.
“I don’t know. What does it mean to be okay? Are you okay?” Lisa laughed. “I’ll be alright. I just need to stop thinking about the future. It doesn’t solve any problems.” Riley let out a little grunt. After a moment, Riley stirred and sat up.
“Good morning!” she said brightly. “I had so many weird dreams!” Riley added.
“Could I hear about them?” Lisa asked. She smiled at the child.
“Sure! They’re really funny!” said Riley. Lisa was ready to talk about funny--silly things. It would help her take her mind off the horrors she couldn’t control.