Becky Blackwell came to a stop. She stared. For a brief moment she forgot that she was twenty five years old, that she was wearing glittering engagement ring on her finger, and that she had graduated from Eden Academy six years ago.

"Anya? Is that you?"

The pink haired woman blinked. The large, dark bags under her eyes made her almost look like some kind of overgrown raccoon.

"Oh. It's you."

….

Becky ignored the shocked stares from passerby as she dragged Anya out of the street and into the nearest café. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead in a peasants place like this, and she received many stares as she, dressed in the most ornate fashion in the nation of Ostania, dragged the rather shabbily dressed girl around by the hand.

"You still like peanuts, don't you?" Becky asked anxiously. "I'll buy you as much as you want."

"I don't need your charity."

"This isn't charity." Becky told her, as their drinks were brought to them. "I'm your friend."

"Are you?" Her voice was ice cold.

"Yes." Becky stressed, her voice firm. "Not a day goes by where I don't think about you."

Both of their drinks sat untouched as they stared at each other.

"What happened to you?" Becky asked, her voice gentle. "I had Martha look all over the city for you, while she was still alive. She was just as worried about you as I was."

"You know what happened."

"I know you got expelled from the Academy, but nothing about what happened after that." Becky said quietly. "We studied together for a decade. Everyone was distraught when it happened."

Anya smiled grimly. It made Becky's heart ache. "If that was true I wouldn't have been kicked out."

"Housemaster Henderson fought very hard for-"

"Do you think I don't know that?" Anya asked, her voice testy. "Do you think I don't think about it, every day?"

Becky stared down at her untouched drink. "I know you do." She said softly, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

Anya was staring at her. Becky suddenly felt too uncomfortable to meet her face.

"My entire future hinged on Eden." Anya said quietly. "Either I succeeded there or I would be thrown out of the house."

Becky looked up at her.

"Your father would never-"

"He told me he would before we even started." Anya snapped. Becky felt like she had been slapped. She stared at her wide eyed.

"He abandoned me the moment I was no longer of any use to him." She said, more to herself than to Becky. "His wife… she left too." She looked troubled. "She had no reason to stay, after he was gone."

"Anya…" Becky couldn't find the words.

"I had nothing." Anya said, her voice somewhat hoarse. "Nothing at all."

Many curious people were giving them looks. Becky wished she had dragged Anya into a more private location.

"Look here." Becky said, as she reached across the table and clutched her hand. "I'm here now. I'll help you. It doesn't have to be charity… I've been looking for someone to replace Martha for years. I would love it if you were to-"

Anya shook her head and pulled away.

"I have other obligations."

"Like what?"

"Trying to find something to eat for tonight." Anya said, as she got to her feet. "Good-bye."

"Wait-"

She was out the door before she could stop her. She composed herself, paid for the untouched drinks, and stepped out after her keeping her face as composed as possible. When she got back to her car, however, she slumped down in the backseat and cried.

It had been about a decade since the National Unity Party had taken power to Ostania. Under Donovan Desmond's leadership the party declared war on the country of Westalis and its allies… in an attempt to stop the evils that the west committed. For the past five years the entire world had been embroiled in the most bitter war in the history… The War To End All Wars.

Both sides sent an endless supply of fresh blood to the front lines, very often with very little formal training or equipment, simply to replace the many who had fallen. Combatants on both sides fought bravely, encouraged by their leaders that their cause was good and just.

Both countries were in an absolute stalemate: Many experts on both sides believed that the war theoretically go on forever.

Anya lay on her mattress in her tiny, filthy apartment, trying to ignore the sounds of Ostanian tanks rolling by, patrolling the area and looking out for Westalis infiltrators. Many spies were known to be living in Ostania among the general population, so it was thought that an invasion would be imminent. In reality, this was simply an excuse to justify the existence of a police state. A strict curfew was enforced every night to prevent civilians from being involved in much of anything outside of working for the good of the country.

In other words, they had become completely enslaved.

If only someone could have done something to stop this. Anya thought to herself bitterly. If only….

For ten years she had attended Ostania's Eden Academy. During her tenure there she fought for the favor of her classmate, Damian Desmond, in order to better understand the activities of his father. She had done so on behalf of her adoptive father, Twilight, who had enlisted her aid in this task. She had taken to it with gusto, fancying herself a spy hero just like the one she saw in those old cartoons she used to love… Bondman.

But as the years went on, the operation became more and more complex. Damian did not have a good relationship with his father. Every other lead that she tried to follow ended up as a dead end. Operation Strix continued for a solid decade, with her doggedly doing everything she could possibly do to accomplish her tasks.

And in the end… she failed. And when she had failed, Twilight had no further use for her, or for the woman he had married. He abandoned them both, with no explanation to either of them. Perhaps he had expected Yor to raise her on her own… or perhaps he simply didn't care what happened. Nevertheless, Yor was eventually called to abandon her by her superiors due to the oncoming war, and left her all alone.

It wasn't long after that that the fighting started, and food started becoming scarce. Anya, too traumatized by her experience with spywork, could not bring herself to fight for her country… or to defect to the west. She simply sat and watched as the world around her began to unravel.

She was not numb to it all. The voices of all those suffering around here, on both sides of the conflict, slammed into her mind like a freight train everyday. Her powers had not become sharper as she aged, but her understanding of the world did. The older she became, the more she began to resent the people around her, and their inability to stop fighting a war that none of them had asked for.

How easy would it be, to simply lay down their arms and be a family.

She heard shouting outside. Someone must have gotten caught out past curfew. Her sharply tuned senses were quick to pick up on the thoughts of the people involved in the conversation: the young woman had left her apartment to meet her lover. She had hoped that he would ask her to marry him that she could move out of this apartment, but it had not happened yet. She had come back dejected, but had been stopped by the patrol.

"Pretty little thing…"

Anya narrowed her eyes. She got out of her bed and stared out of the window. An officer was dragging the woman by the arm, waving the others away.

"It'll be alright if I walk you home, Miss." He said. Anya stiffened. His tone was light and casual, and the woman was thanking him profusely… but she could see through him immediately.

"God I can't wait to fuck her."

It was common for soldiers to simply single out women on the street and rape them: it was even more common for those girls to solicit soldiers for favors in exchange for sex. Doubtless the man thought that he would be getting some tonight… vile thoughts of what he intended to do were floating into Anya's mind, and she found herself disgusted.

The girl had no idea what was about to happen… she was still thanking the man for his kindness. Anya gripped the windowsill in her palms, trying to take slow steady breathes.

All she would have to do was go back to bed.

All she would have to do was ignore the cries through the walls. All she would have to do was ignore what was happening. All she had to do was do was what everyone else did every day. For once, for once… she had to be normal.

She turned to her bed and tried to throw herself on top of it. Instead she found herself walking to the door and stepped out into the hallway. The man and the girl were walking up the stairs towards her, conversing quietly. Anya took a deep breath, and then down the stairs.

"Darling!"

She threw her arms around the woman, who let out a strangled cry as the girl wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh, thank goodness you're back." Anya gushed, as she ripped the starteld girl out of the soldier's grip and back up the stairs. "I was so worried when I saw that you got stopped…."

The girl was too startled to respond. After three steps she seemed about ready to speak when the officer called out to them.

"Stop!"

Anya turned to look at him.

"I need to inspect your room to ensure that the two of you aren't western spies." The man said. "I can't let you simply walk away from me."

His tone had become somewhat threatening. Anya smiled at him serenely. The girl, as if by instinct, seemed to understand that Anya had her best interests at heart and clutched at her arm.

"I know what you want." She purred. She released the girl and stepped closer to him, shyly biting her lip and twisting her angles. "And I want you for myself."

The man froze as Anya raised her hands… and shoved him down the stairs. The girl behind her let out a cry as the man let out a scream of terror as he fell back, falling down the stairway head first. His neck let out a large CRACK it connected with the wood, and his limp body came to a standstill at the end.

The girl whimpered.

"Wha- what did you just do?"

Anya glanced at her. There was no hint of the sexual invitation she had worn just moments before: only an emotionless, blank stare.

"I did you a favor." She said, her voice ice cold. The girl was shaking her head.

"No…" She said quietly. "He saved me, just now… he was so kind." Her eyes were welling up with tears. "And n-now he's dead…."

Anya felt a crushing wave rush through her; it was no different than back then. Whenever she tried to do good, those around her thought her sinister, cruel. Perhaps even a sociopath. The girl had no way of knowing just what was about to happen, and as a result thought of her as nothing more than a monster.

"Do be careful not to stay out late next time." Anya told her flatly, as she descended the stairs. She reached the body, procured the weapon the soldier was carrying, checked its ammunition, and made her way into the street. The man's fellow soldiers were waiting for him to return.

"There's been an accident!" She called to them. "Help!"

All three of them came running: She dispatched each of them quite handily with her weapon. She shoved the pistol under her dress and darted down the street, head bent. Tonight, she would have to find a new abandoned apartment to spend the night in.