Prologue

It was raining again. The torrent beat down on the small marble structure, a dense fog rolling in with the evening tide. The stars were blotted out; covered in a blanket of clouds. Only the distant beacon of the lighthouse could be seen. Thin wisps of grass peaked out from beneath the stonework, desperate to reclaim the last bits of life-bearing soil. A small field of flowers, some scattered weeds, and the human inhabitants were the only signs of life for miles.

The young boy leaned against the broken pillar and tried to forget his nightmare. His yellow shirt clung to his skin. Loose strands of his brown hair sent drops cascading down his cheeks. It was handy when one wanted to pretend he hadn't been crying. He could barely bring himself to move. He would stand at that very spot until the morning came, and the sunlight washed away the bad dreams in its brilliant glow.

In his dream, he had been alone. Tossed about in a black void, he wandered through an endless nothingness. His feet grew tired as he marched along, shaky steps propelling him forward along the desert. The fading light from somewhere above revealed his path a few footsteps at a time. The boy was seeking somebody important to him but couldn't find her. The darkness had swallowed him whole. Ripples of sweat trickled down the boy's body as he remembered the panicked sensation of time running out. He had reached the edge of his path, the void encircled him, with nowhere left to go. He would die, alone and lost forever in that abandoned corner of infinity.

He awoke before the end came, crying as he always did whenever he had this nightmare. In the morning he knew he would get a reassuring talk from Matron. When the sunlight came all his troubles would be over so long as light ruled the heavens. However, this would not be for a few hours yet. He still felt trapped in the dream somehow, even though his senses served as testament to his present reality.

There was a light from inside, casting an orange field upon the black garden. Out came the slender figure of an older girl. She was a few years older than the boy, and while all the children here looked up to her as a role model, the boy's relationship with her was special. She was his 'Big Sis'. It was true that none of them were related by blood. All of them were orphans abandoned by intentional design or unfortunate circumstance in this backwater repository of the unwanted; the forgotten victims of a senseless war.

Big Sis was different. She had been here the longest, and all the other orphans looked up to her as a figure of both comfort and guidance. However, the young boy had always found her to be something more. Their connection was somehow more tangible. Had he been a bit older the word "soul" might have come to his mind. As it was, he simply felt special when she was around him. There was no metaphor in her title as far as he was concerned. This young woman was his family.

"You had another nightmare," the girl said, matter-of-factly; this was a near nightly occurrence.

"Sis," the boy replied weakly, rubbing his foot along the dirt nervously.

He could never bring himself to look in somebody's eyes. Whenever he was forced to, a bit of that weakness that he tried to bury came unhinged in him. He felt pangs of fear unfitting to a boy of his age. It was as though somebody looking into his eyes could see his soul laid bare.

"You were lost again, weren't you?" asked Sis.

The boy simply nodded and folded his arms. He looked at his Big Sis seeking comfort, but not wanting to actually ask for it. And yet, Sis was magical. She knew exactly what he wanted and pulled him close into a hug, not a thought for her clean, dry dress.

"I… I can never, f-find you," the boy choked out amid stifled tears.

"What's that?"

"I look, and I look, but I can't ever find you. I know if you were there you could save me, but you're never there."

"I'm here right now," Sis said, rubbing his back gently.

"But what if you're not? What if tomorrow I wake up and you're gone? How will I find you?" the boy sobbed.

Sis kneeled slightly and looked the boy in the eyes. She was the only one allowed to do this, and she knew it was the best way to get his attention. While he hid from all the others, fearful of their intrusive judgment, Big Sis never made him feel that way. She gently brushed his hair out of his eyes and put her free hand on his shoulder. Their eyes locked, her vivid brown gazing into his radiant blue.

"I'll be here," Sis said.

The boy rubbed his face and stopped sniffling. He was taken aback by the sudden change in her tone. It was kind but direct. Matron would take that tone whenever she needed to clarify one of the orphanage rules to a troublesome child. Perhaps it was that authoritative quality that Big Sis was trying to emulate here.

"Why?" he asked.

Sis smiled, she had his attention now.

"I'll be waiting here."

"For what?"

Sis took her free hand and poked him in the belly. He let out a soft giggle.

"I'll be waiting for you. So, if you come here," she gestured to the expanse of garden beyond the stone pillar, where the field of white flowers had been blooming, "you'll find me."

A gust of ocean wind came crashing up the coast, sending fresh petals into the air. Amid the snow-white whirlwind of flowers, Sis hugged the boy.

"I promise."