The noise in the basement's been keeping me up all night. The endless sounds of enchantments, drillings a water flow's been filling the air for the last few nights. It's rather annoying, but I was never one for sleeping anyway. So was my brother, who's the reason behind those loud noises downstairs. He's been cooped inside that laboratory of his for the last few weeks, barely coming out to eat or even bathe! Heck, for the last few days he doesn't even come out for the meals I cook for him! When he comes out I try to tell him how importan it is for him to eat regularly, which is a luxury we couldn't always afford anymore. He tells me how important his research is and how "It will change the face of mankind forever" or whatever he said. I know how angry and disheartened he is ever since the rebellion was crushed, even if it's been almost too long since the day the white flag was raised. To him, I guess it was just yesterday.

Perhaps it was... just yesterday. I probably can't honestly deny that the pain and the scars of that day have left me. They haven't, even though I've been trying to forget them for so long.

My brother didn't agree with the council. The council suggested that the Aeons give up all rights to the government, as a sign of humility so that the Aeons could at least retain some living dignity. My brother saw things differently. He didn't want surrender, he wanted to fight on. Even after resistance ended he's been working tirelessly on his project, which is to be he Trump Card for our race. He's been working on it for so long that I've ceased to believe that he'd finish it anytime soon. Sometimes, since he's always down there, I get to think he's forgotten about me...

I can't believe I just said that. Of course he hasn't forgotten about me or our cousin, Leraya. I haven't told anyone about this, but we adopted Leraya after our uncle and aunt were killed durig the rebeliion. Leraya was left alone until we rescued he under the debris of their house. If it wasn't for her orange hair we wouldn't have found her!

"Andrena? Is dinner ready?"

That may have been the oddest thing I've heard in days. I think it's the first time I heard him ask about food since he entered that dimly-lit room of his. He slowly came out of his laboratory, and I quickly notice how weak and thin he looked. He walked rather slow to the able, his hands clealy thinner than before, and almost trembling. He must not have touched the food I've been leaving by his door.

"I'm sorry, but I can't eat out here. I' almost done! Soon our troubles will be over!"

I spoke as he carried his plate back to his room.

"Brother... are you sure tis will work? I mean... I don't want anbody else to die. Human or Aeon."

He slowly put his food down on a side table. He had a grim yet caring look on his face. It was both.... scary and comforting. A strange feeling.

"Sister.... let me tell you something...."

He slowly took a seat by the dinner table. He beckoned me to sit beside him.

"Andrena.... the Aeons have long been feared, as well as respected, since time imemoriam. It's is not just a belief, it is fact. Despite our lineage and power, there have been those of inferior race who have desired the fall of our race. I used to think that it was all due to misunderstandings and misplaced fear."

He shifted from his seat, probably from discomfort.

"I always believed that these things could be healed, corrected. Endlessly I tried to mend the wounds between Aeons and humans. And yet.... it wasn't until the surrender did I realize why humanity sought to destroy us in the first place."

He leaned towards me, as if he was going to confide a big secret to me.

"Humanity sought our destruction not because of fear or ignorance, but rather.... due to envy and greed!"

He pounded his fists on the table, startling me. He was starting to scare me....

"I peered into the minds of the generals and the president with one of my [Relics}, and there did I unravel human nature. I saw, inside their hearts and minds, nothing but the lust for riches and the desire for power. There, in the deepest recesses of their existence, I saw their envy of us. Thye envied our power, and our enslavement was their way to attain a way to inherit the power in our blood as well as our [Relic]s. It was not the benefit of mankind they were seeking, rather, everything that has been done so far was simply for their own greedy ends. Nothing more, nothing less..."

He got up and started walking back to his room. He spoke aloud as he walked. His words reached into me like a vice onto my heart.

"I.... saw more than I wished to see, but it is the truth, and I must carry it. Man, with his heart of darkness, will only succeed to destroy this planet.... so I am left with little choice. It must be done. It must be done.... must be done...."

He mumbled those words as he trudged back to his room. I heard the slow creak of the door as it closed, along with the faint sound of his voice...

"Humanity is tainted... tainted... tainted..."

****************

My brother's words echoed in my mind as I lay in bed that night. He used to be such a peace loving man, but now it's like he's planning man's ultimate doom. I listened carefuly to his words, and yet I didn't want to believe them. I didn't want to beieve that humanity is as he said it is. Still... he peered intothe deepest corners of the human heart, and that is what he saw. Is he right? Or is he wrong?

I can't go against my brother. He is a very learned person, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Still.... I have my doubts.

Perhaps.... tomorrow. Perhaps I'll understand.