Of no significance

I like to daydream. I like to think that I am special. That i have tons of choices. Like I could learn to be a Fighter. Or that I could learn to be a Scholar and study alchemy. Or that I could learn to be an Explorer and find some sacred artifact. Or, dare I think it, become a She, become one of Them. Or that i had special powers. That my special powers or my pure soul were the reason I was being sacrificed. But no, I had no choices. And i had no powers. I was not special or useful. I just had a name. That was the reason I was being sacrificed. I had a name. I was alive. Maybe i should become a She. My name hasn't really done much good, so why not get rid of it? I could go against the Authority and it's oh-so-important Gap. I could become a warrior for Them and live a happy life away from the City and the Authority. Be forever nameless here, with all the freedom there. The idea sounded wonderful. Granted, I was gonna die, so really anything sounded better than this. But that wasn't gonna happen. I'm stuck here. Completely and utterly stuck. I wasn't allowed to leave. Or else the next sacrifice might be someone important. That was what the Authority feared. That's why everybody calmed down when my name was chosen. Nobody knew me. Nobody cared. Someone unimportant was chosen.

Suddenly, four harsh knocks landed on the door. The sound made me jump and rush to the door. If it wasn't opened in two seconds after the first knock, Mam would knock down the door. I threw opened the door and took ten quick steps back. In through the doorway flew two towels, a pillow, a bed sheet, a toothbrush, said toothbrush's complimentary toothpaste, a nightgown and last, a futon. Then she placed down a plate and tableware, all without me getting a single glance at her. For all I know, nobody had ever seen her. Though of course, I couldn't really ask anyone. I wasn't allowed to talk to the other girls in the Academy. Nobody really wanted to talk to me anyways. It was bad luck to talk to a sacrifice. It meant that next time was your turn. I knew that. I had been thoroughly reminded of that. The most harshly blatant of all was the anklet on my right foot. It signified a 2 kilometre area from my bed, a metre away. It was impossible to go any further than that. This area was my whole world.

Again, my thoughts were interrupted by a harsh sound. Though this time, it was the sound of glass breaking. More specifically, my window. Before I even realized it, I had thrown the plate through the window. I was crying. But it didn't feel like it was me who was crying. It felt like I was simply watching. My point of view jolted upwards. I watched as I was taken forwards. The steps were rigid and shaky. But it wasn't me who was walking. How could it be, when I couldn't even find my legs?

I stopped at the door. My vision was blurry, but I could make out a handle.
An arm came from nowhere and shook the door handle. It was locked. The arm was lowered out of view. I tried using it, but it had disappeared. I felt a small, surprisingly comfortable sensation as a leg appeared and landed a kick at the door. Both the door and the leg quickly disappeared and I was left appendage-less. I tried looking where the door went, but my vision was locked in place. The door just no longer existed.
Suddenly, the shaky steps quickened and the legs broke into a run.
My vision became blurrier. That says a lot, when you take into consideration that I was crying frantically. I was taken forwards, through corridors, down stairs. I frequently caught glimpses of my legs and arms, gaining and losing appendages frequently. I came to the Main Doors and stopped abruptly. My view panned upwards and cleared slightly. But just as I noticed that, my vision blurred again.

The Main Doors had always fascinated me. They were overly decorated, dark and old. But most prominent of all, they were massive. Enormous. Incredibly heavy. And locked. They were always locked. I didn't even have to check. Still, I shoved at it in vain. The doors flew up with a tremendous force, allowing the wind to blow in with an eerie wail. I staggered backwards, but was taken forward once more.

It was unusually quiet, but I didn't pay much attention to that. I could make out a slight presence of my body parts, and that revelation took up most of my attention. Though I still didn't have much say in my destination.
But I knew where I was going. I was going to my spot.

Exactly 1,99 km from my bed, I regained full control over my body. And this time, I noticed the tears.

Full force.

I threw myself at the ground. Why now? All these tears, had I bottled them up? Was it because it was not much time left? I had not thought about that, actually. The execution date was due tomorrow. I looked down at the anklet. It was buzzing and whirring loudly. I was too close to the limit.
I grabbed the anklet, and tugged at it. I shook it, pulled at it. It bended, twisted and snapped back into place. Indestructible. I gave up and started pulling my hair. My throat was hoarse. Had I been screaming? I pulled at my hair and examined my surroundings. Bricks, stones, twigs, trees, plate pieces, bottles, dirt, grass, an oilcan, cloth, a broken chair, matches, puddles-
I tasted iron. I tasted my cheek and spat at the ground. Blood. I spat a few times more, and tried to stand up. I heaved myself up with my arm, but fell to the ground after a few shaky steps. I tried again, and succeeded. But my legs were weak, and I was exhausted. Despite that, somehow, I made it back home. The tower clock chimed once, twice, thrice, indicating a lack of sleep for me. I sneaked back into my bed, and fell asleep.
After what felt like, and probably was, ten minutes, I was shaken awake by two thin arms. I opened my eyes, and replaced both a yawn and a frown with a "good morning". Tricia was a horrible person. She was absolutely gorgeous, but always laughed at and criticized the sacrifices. After they were dead of course.
She was in charge of preparing the female sacrifices, making rude comments about their appearances, masking it with pity and ending it all with a bloodcurdlingly cold hug. And I wasn't an exception.
Tricia picked up a white dress and handed it to me. It was beautiful, but I couldn't help but despise it.
"Lucky they made it sleeveless" Tricia said, nodding at the spot where my left arm should have been and laughed. "Yeah" I muttered, not in the mood for an exchange of thinly veiled insults. Tricia then continued to wash me, dress me and arranging my hair, all whilst making comments on the state of my hair, my skin, my nails and how the dress didn't really suit me. It didn't, actually, but I'm not giving her the satisfaction of being correct.
I stood in front of the mirror, satisfied with my reflection. "I'm quite pretty, actually" I thought, ignoring Tricia's snide remarks.

I went slowly down the corridors. I felt eyes watching me, and caught a glimpse or two of hair or bows. As I stepped out and walked to the Town centre, people followed me. At a safe distance, of course. It wasn't too late to be cursed.
I glanced sideways at the people watching me. Everyone was dressed in their finest. Watching the sacrificing was obligatory. Not going was sacrilegious.

At the Town centre, there was a rounded pyramid, with stairs leading all the way up. Stairs that I was soon going to walk on.
Far sooner than I would've liked, I was at the bottom of the stairs. Tricia gave me her trademark cold hug, and I walked up the stairs.
For some reason, I wasn't crying. I really couldn't cry. A harsh lump sat firmly in my throat, tearing away at my flesh. Or at least, it felt like it. That would explain the unbearable pain. A tenfold or so steps left, a guard stopped me. He removed the anklet, and placed the crown on my head. The crown was made of silver, arranged to look like a tightly knitted flowers. I continued walking. As soon as the crown was placed on my head, the steps grew and my legs weight were multiplied a thousandfold. It was almost impossible to walk. Every breath I took was absolutely deafening, and the stairs were bent and twisted into unnatural shapes. And the pain. Oh the pain. But still, i did not cry. And still, i walked. And, after a year or so, i was at the top of the stairs.

I had always wondered why it was called the Gap. It should have been obvious, but i really didn't know. If you ever saw it, you were soon dead afterwards anyway, so nobody outside of the authority really knew. Now i knew. Right in front of me, was a hole. A humongous hole, 10 metres or so in diametre. Absolutely pitch black. An eerie, icecold wind blew up in my face, sending shivers down my spine.

No.

No i can't.
v
I can't do it!

I was panicking. I wanted to scream, cry, run, flee, fight my way through the crowd. Just do anything but this. Be anywhere but here. But i couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but stand here. I was paralyzed, looking down at the pitch black hole in front of me. I tried to turn around, but i couldn't. I tried to run, but i couldn't. I tried to say something, but i couldn't. I tried to think, but I couldn't. I just didn't know what to do. I just, i just-

"ATTACK!"

I whipped around and watched as tens, hundreds, thousands of flaming arrows came raining down on the audience beneath, who were scattering like scared cattle. I watched as thousands of armed warriors attacked the civilians. I watched  as hundreds of houses caught flame. I watched as the Fighters came rushing in, quickly outnumbered by the attackers. I watched as Scholars ran around, desperately trying to save their precious books and scrolls.

I watched as They demolished my town.

Suddenly, i ran. I ran down the stairs. I ran through the panicking mob. I ran, shoving the frantically screaming priest out of the way. I ran the whole town center. I ran, dodging sword and falling warriors alike. I ran my 2 kilometres. I ran more than that. I ran, and i ran. And then i stopped.

I had run all the way to the woods, where the lumberjacks waked every morning. I had run all the way up the hill, where the miners passed every morning. I had run all the way to the very borders of the town, and stopped.

I turned around, slowly.

The whole town was on fire.

The highest towers, out of reach for the flames, crumbled and fell, turning into fuel for the fire.

The most distant farms, out of reach for the flames, caught on fire, scattering cattle in it's wake.

I waited. I waited for the citizens to run up the hill, panicking. I waited for the citizens to scatter from the town, seeking refuge. I waited for the citizens to flee, escape. I waited for the citizens to survive. I waited. And I waited.

I suddenly felt very lightheaded, and my knees gave up.

Dozens of helicopters flew up into the air, passing my head as they left the demolished town, with a deafening sound, signaling:

Mission accomplished.