"..."
And as the light shone down on her, all the whispers that still lingered in the dome died down. But even then, Aerith could hear the people through the look in their eyes—the look of expectation.
But of course, they would be expecting something. This is the very first time that a themarian would be addressing the public. A species that has kept their silence since the dawn of time, only letting their might talk.
Aerith knew that—that is why she also knew how important the words that were about to come out of her mouth right now.
She can't make a mistake. And she can't rely on Riley's flowery words; it needs to be her. It wasn't like she had no experience talking to the public. Back on Earth, she had always addressed the people whenever something world-changing happened…but then again, that was as Megawoman.
Right now, she was standing as Aerith. She was a woman who spent hundreds and hundreds of years of nothing, and if it wasn't for meeting the people of Earth, she would have continued to drift as nothing—the rest of her race was not as lucky.
She just wants her people to have a future that is more than just their past.
"I won't leave, Aerith."
"!!!"
Aerith then slightly gasped as Riley gently pushed her away, removing him from the spotlight for the people to only see her.
"..."
"..."
[A million years…]
And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Aerith's voice started being heard throughout the entire dome. She did not even introduce herself, because she realized that she was not even speaking as Aerith—no. Right now, she was just a themarian.
[A million years—that is enough time for civilizations to be born, to grow, to fall, and to start again 10 times over…
…But for Theran, that was just yesterday. And I do not mean this in a way that we experience time differently than you, because we don't; we're not evaniels. For us, a day is a day, and a year is a year—we've just grown numb from the trials of time. A million years is just yesterday for us because we have not changed since then.
…And I do not mean that people from a million years ago still live with us today, they could very well be—but they choose not to. You live for thousands of years, only to die in the very same place you have been in for thousands of years. And for millions of years, that has been enough—even now, a number of my people are content with Theran…
…but I am not.]
The people that have been drowning themselves in silence all gasped at the same time; all of them carrying expressions of shock, some in confusion… but most in fear.
[Like most of you fear us…] Aerith then turned to look at Riley as she thought of his words earlier,
[We are also afraid. We are afraid of spending another million years of nothing. Every one of you could explore the universe freely, I believe we deserve the same—and I know, I know that we can do so; there's no law that we can't…
…but you are afraid of us. You know us as a race of warriors capable of snapping planets with our fingers and we can. But when have we ever?]
"..." Once again the people turned to look at each other, their whispers, almost becoming screams as they filled the entire dome.
[When have we ever threatened the existence of the Universe? It can't be just because we exist. I want my race to experience the universe as you do, free. It won't even be all of us, just the future generation. The older ones are… they have chosen to stay on our home planet to give way.]
Aerith was lying, of course. The politics and customs on Theran were much more complicated than just this—but they did not need to know that.
[If you are worried about our strength, don't. I was on a planet, much more frail than most, for 300 years and we learned to co-exist. I think… I think… I just…]
And perhaps due to her not being used to lying, Aerith started mumbling her words; her breaths, stuttering randomly. But after a few breaths, she shook her head and sighed,
[I just want all of you to welcome us when the time comes that we start to venture out from our territory. Because we will, and it will be soon…
…because I will personally lead more than a hundred million of us to venture out into the Unknown, and for that, we would have to travel throughout the Known Universe. And the reason I am here is to ask that please…
…please do not fear us, we're just like the rest of you.]
And finally, as she finished her short speech, Aerith was able to let out a long and very deep breath, closing her eyes in satisfaction. She tried to make herself vulnerable, she tried to relate to the people as Riley said. She has done her part, whatever reaction the people will give, it didn't matter—she wasn't here to ask permission in the first place, she was just here to tell them so that they wouldn't be surprised.
And with that, her job was done. Aerith opened her eyes free of any anxiety she had coming here… only to see a majority of the people running and making their way out of the dome.
"...What?"
"Report! We must report this!"
"The themarians are starting to make their appearance! We need to get ready!"
"The G.o.ds help us all!"
"Wait, no. Guys…" Aerith grabbed one of the people she recognized that was talking to her earlier.
"Ack! She… help me! She broke my arm!"
"I didn't!"
"No! Help, help us!"
And all of a sudden, the screams of the people filled the entire dome; some of them even crying as they rushed to the only entrance of the dome—the door slid open…but they found themselves unable to step out as some sort of invisible wall was blocking their path.
"What… what is this!?"
"Help us! Elders! Help us!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Why…" Aerith's breaths started to turn heavy as she saw the fear in everyone's eyes.
"I did tell you, Aerith," Riley then appeared from behind Aerith, standing beside her as he looked at the people screaming; trapped by his telekinetic barrier,
"They will always fear you, it is impossible for them not to."
"..."
"Now…" Riley then very slowly stepped toward the panicking crowd, "...Shall I silence all of them, Aerith? You can always give your speech to another set of crowds until they agree with you."
"What? No!" Aerith raised her voice, "Just… let them go."
"..." Riley looked Aerith in the eyes, before just shrugging and saying, "Okay."
And with that, the people found themselves tumbling and falling on top of each other as the invisible wall blocking the way out disappeared. None of them seem to mind, however, as they just continued to run… probably making their way to their ships.
"Well… that was a disaster."
There are, however, still a number of people left in the dome—most of them, just looking at Aerith with a certain weight in their eyes. Only one, however, approached her—the newest Elder, Elder Olseyir.
"Now that the chickens are gone…" Elder Olseyir's oversized pink robes flapped in the air as she approached Aerith,
"...How may we help…
…and what do we get in return?"
***
Outside the dome, all the people scurried and ran back to their ships—most asking Ahor Zai's AI to a.s.sist them, carrying them back to their ships with the hovering platform at breaking speeds. No one really stopped them, not Aerith, not Riley, not even the Elders.
"I… I need to tell this to the Emperor!" One of the fastest people to reach her ship, a pink humanoid named Kaia, quickly tried contacting her home planet—but alas, any form of long-range communication that is not permitted by Ahor Zai can never go through—one needed to leave the Living Codex.
And so, every one hastened to start their ship, flying away from the plateau; not looking back until they were finally past the four colossal Rings of Ahor Zai. And soon, Kaia saw the signal of her ship coming back online.
"Kei, please call President Alak, now!"
[Calling President Alak. Please wait.]
"Hurry… hurry, hurry—What?" And before she could finish her words, she saw the ship that was in front of her suddenly crumple into a ball. And before she could even take another breath, the ship on her left her also crumpled in an instant.
And as she saw that, the only thing she could really utter was,
"...Oh."
[Kaia, why are you—]
And just like that, all the ships that scattered outside Ahor Zai were crumpled, before completely disintegrating…
…washing away into nothing.