The war

The next morning I opened my eyes to a day of chaos. Everyone was running here and there all over the place. It was the bizamuls. Everyone was panicked. Grandma told me that hundreds of Bixamul shuttles were on their way to Pluma.

The members of the royal family were taken to the safe chambers which were located under the palace. Though I was just a maid, grandma took me along with her saying that she needed me. I squeezed several things that I thought I might need into a bag and tagged along with her. I never thought that it would be the end of the easy-flowing life I had on the planet pluma.

The king, grandma and all Chithak's siblings were there inside the chamber. but I couldn't see Chithak anywhere. I tried my best to understand what they were talking about. But they talked so fast. After listening for hours, I figured out that Chithak was outside getting ready for a war with the army.

I cuddled the small bag I brought down and sat in the corner of grandma's room of the chamber. The room was so tiny that I felt as if the walls were getting closer and closer each time I look at them. the crystal glassy doors no longer thrilled me. I felt like a caged bird inside it. Though I was supposed to feel safer inside this cage, my heart was hurting. All I could do was pray the whole day for Chithak's safety though I was not sure if there were any gods up there on this planet.

It was very quiet outside the chambers for the first few days. But we started hearing wild rumbles after a few days. Every day grandma went out of the room to discuss matters with others with the door closed. She said since others didn't like me being here, it was better if I didn't come out.

when days turned to weeks, the supplies inside the Chambers started shortening I started feeling as if I was a burden to the Royal family inside the chamber. So I decided to talk about it with grandma.

"Grandma, I know that you care about me a lot. But I don't want to be a nuisance to anybody," I sighed. "I also want to find Chithak."

"That is not going to be a playground up there darling," she turned towards me. "It is a battlefield. There is no way that you will survive up there."

"It's not like I am excited to go on and live on this planet anyway," I sighed. "Just let me go, grandma. Please"

Grandma hugged me tightly. "I don't want to lose you," she started crying. "But if that is what you truly want, then you may go. But please be safe. And please take care of our prince if you can. The whole royal family would be grateful to you."

The next day the chamber doors were open to me. I could see the relieved happy faces of the Royal family staring at me. I was the type of girl who never liked to be dependent on others. As I stepped out, I felt more relaxed.

The large door closed behind me with a large bang. As I looked up, all I could see was the darkness covering every corner of the beautiful city that once shinned like a glittery galaxy. Fear kept creeping inside my soul. I could feel my heartbeat rising each time as I kept one step ahead. I'll have to find food and water and look after myself until I find somebody or it would be better if I could find him.

I walked past the ruins of the city and started going up towards the opening of the city. There was no one I could find except the carcass of the brave soldiers that protected the royal family. The royal chambers were protected by hundreds of soldiers. And due to its location which was under the palace, I guess bizamuls were not able to find it.

I walked for hours to find a single living soul, but couldn't. I was starving. My legs couldn't take me another step forward. They were wobbling involuntarily. So I sat down to take a rest. Inside my bag was the chocolate I was saving for months. I ripped the packet open. It was all melted, but that was not a problem for me at all. I licked a tongue full of chocolate into my mouth and closed my eyes. That was heavenly.

After resting for a while I started walking again. As I walked up, I could hear the explosions getting louder and louder. So I decided not to go up. Instead, I started walking into the ruins of the palace.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Will they be able to build this place back again even if they defeat the bizamuls?" I wondered.

Not long after that, I heard someone talking. It was a group of voices. I started running towards it.

That was when I first saw a real bizamul. But it was dead. Around him were the men in coats, checking their vitals to make sure it is dead. All of them were surprised to see me. When they started staring at me I quickly put on the mask that I removed earlier because of the sweating.

"What are you doing here?" they asked me in their language.

I wanted to say that I was looking for Chithak, but before I could match the words to make up a sentence, he asked me to follow him. I thought maybe he remembered that I was on the ship and wanted to take me to Chithak. So I followed him.

We climbed down again into the darkness until we found a large door. He opened the door for me and asked me to go inside.

"Am I finally going to see him?" I was screaming deep inside. I ran inside the door with a lot of hope.

But what I saw was not something that I hoped I might see even in my wildest dream. When the door behind me closed tight, hundred of eyes of earth human beings were staring at me as if I was a traitor.