9:00 A.M

Stockholm, Sweden

_._

_._

"It was so different," I muttered.

"Doesn't seem like it," said Miranda.

I cast a glance at her as she sat down on the gra.s.s beside me.

We were at a park that morning, and it was the first place we visited after arriving in Sweden. Truly, the view in that park proved how beautiful another country than Mongolia could be.

"This is barely entertaining, grandmother." Miranda's expression turned gloomy for some reason. The hood of her brown winter coat covered her head. She sighed and wrapped her arms around her knee. That baggy blue jean of hers seemed weird when I stared at it.

"Isn't that jean too big for you, Miranda?" I asked.

"Hmm? Not really . . . Why are we here again?"

I raised an eyebrow. "We're on a vacation of course."

She shrugged. "Doesn't seem like it. Dad's not here with us."

"Hoh?" My mouth curved into a smile. "Are you sure?"

She gave me a confused look. "Grandmother . . ."

"I've finally arrived!" said a man behind me.

I turned around when Arban patted me in the back.

"Ulii!" he said.

My eyebrows drew together. "Don't call me that in public, disrespectful child."

Arban laughed and went over to Miranda's side. "Sorry, Miranda. I did say I wouldn't make it because of work--"

Miranda proceeded to hug him and his eyes widened. "Stupid Dad! What kind of Dad are you?!"

Hughes smiled and returned her hug. "Well, at least I tried."

"You're here, so it's fine . . ." mumbled Miranda.

"Wait, are you sulking? I thought that--"

Miranda fisted his back and he yelped. His hands pulled away from her immediately.

"Why did you do that?" asked Arban.

Miranda glared at him. "You don't have to say it so bluntly."

"Eh? But--"

"I'm going back to the hotel." Arban stood up and walked away from him.

"Miranda," called Arban, but his daughter kept walking until her silhouette disappeared into the crowd of people.

A laugh escaped from my mouth, and Arban turned to me. "Ulii."

"Eh-hem." I put up a serious expression on my face. "I prefer if you would call me Mom once in a while."

His mouth curved into a dishonest smile. "But Ulii suits you better . . . Mom."

"Is that so? Well, if you can cut that long hair of yours, and take away its grey dye, that would make me happy. A lot."

Arban laughed. "I'm not a kid anymore, Ulii."

"Really? Though, I think we need to get to Miranda right now. She needs you, Arban."

He grinned. "I'll try my best, Mom."

_._

_._

I remembered that night very well.

The three of us were walking down the street somewhere secluded from wandering eyes. Miranda suggested an eatery there she found on the internet.

"Haven't been this hungry for ages," complained Arban.

Miranda punched his arm. "We're almost there, stupid Dad."

He grimaced. "You don't have to do that."

"I have to . . . It makes me happy."

I laughed and they both looked over their shoulders. "That's quite a habit, Miranda. Perhaps I should apply it myself?" My eyes squinted at Arban.

"No way, Ulii. I'm sure yours will hurt more," he said.

"I haven't tried it yet. Who knows?"

We went further into the isolated street, and my heart kept telling me to head back. It was eerily quiet back there.

I stopped.

"Grandmother?" said Miranda. She had her eyes squinted at me after that.

"What is it?" I asked. I was certain Miranda looked like she had just seen me for the first time.

She gasped. "Behind you!"

"Ulii!" Arban pulled my right arm and I stumbled behind him. When I looked up, four soldiers scrambled out of a green jeep.

"Those two will be alright for the experimentations," mumbled one of them. "We don't need that old woman."

"What's happening here?!" demanded Arban. He took a few steps towards them when a soldier smacked his head with his rifle. "Wh-" He fell onto the pavement.

"Dad!" exclaimed Miranda. She went over his side.

"Miranda, no!" I said.

A soldier swiftly went behind her back and hit her in the head.

Anger overwhelmed me at that time. Without thinking ahead, I raised my cane and swung at them. It missed, but I proceeded to swing again. A soldier grabbed it with one hand and it crashed onto my face.

"Argh!" My vision went blurry as I struggled to stand on my feet. "Arban . . . Miranda."

Before I knew it, they were gone. The soldiers had taken away on their jeep. "Miranda . . . Arban." Tears started to pour out of my eyes. I realized that could've been the last time I saw them. Perhaps it was true.

Even so, I searched for them that night. Inquiring about the whereabouts of that military jeep, I walked and walked by myself.

In the end. I gave up.

Dawn came to sight and I knew all too well that they were never going to come back. Frustrated from my incapability, I went back to Mongolia the week after. When I returned to my home in Khovd, those two weren't there.

I didn't want to admit it, but at that time, sure enough, they were dead. And my eyes would never be able to see them again.

_._

_._

A few years pa.s.sed after that event, where a wretched lot from the Great Corporate United attempted an invasion against Mongolia. The C.U had been boldly invading the other countries, and strangely enough, their victories in battle were swift and quick.

I didn't know back then they'd create a new weapon solely to aid their stupid cause of worldwide unity.

The memories of Khovd's collapse were still vivid in my mind.

My legs took me away from the enemy soldiers, trying to escape the fate that everyone else in that area had met. I hid in a dark alley during that night, holding onto my dear life as my eyes nervously scanned the street.

People were being shot to death as the soldiers in black trampled over their bodies. The Mongolian soldiers tried to counter when a wave of white flames washed over them.

"What is that?" I mumbled.

A man in a dark blue uniform emerged from the raging inferno, making sure that the soldiers were dead. He then paused and looked at me.

My heart stopped for a moment.

"Arban?" I called. Unknowingly, I had stepped out of hiding, making my way towards him. "Is that you?"

His eyes widened, but he refused to move from his spot.

I stopped in front of him with tears streaking over my face. Slowly, I held his hands in mine. "You've come back, Arban."

He frowned. "Who . . . Are you?"

"Eh?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Sir Hughes!" shouted a C.U soldier trotting toward us. "The area is clear of hostiles."

Arban nodded. "Regroup with the other squad, and tell the others to do the same."

"Yes, Sir!" The soldier bowed and went back to his comrades.

I clenched my fists. "You joined the C.U? What is wrong with you, Arban?!"

He drew his eyebrows together. "Ma'am, as I said, you've mistaken me for someone else. If you would excuse me." His hands peeled away from mine and walked past me.

"Arban," I called again.

He looked over his shoulder. "I suggest you take cover somewhere, Ma'am. Any signs of hostility from the citizens and we'll wipe them out instantly." White crystals manifested on his right palm, pouring that white flames all over the area. "This place will be burned down soon enough." He nodded at me. "Until we meet again, Ma'am."

"Arban!"

He walked into the flames burning the streets when my hand tried to reach out to him. His silhouette disappeared into nothingness.

"Arban . . . What happened to you?" I muttered.

My head couldn't wrap what had happened just then. It was too surreal.

"Arban . . . Why?"

No one was there to answer me. I was on my own from there onward. In just a span of two days, Mongolia was taken over by the Great Corporate United, forever be absorbed into the country that the world hated.