Years passed.
The world changed—but the ruins remained the same.
Time was like a rusty saw here. It was neither fast nor slow… but it always cut something.
Alkinos grew up.
Among the gray walls, in the cold of the dark streets…
And he continued to live with Lisa, the gruff, cunning, loving woman who had mothered him.
Everyone called this neighborhood, situated on the borders of the Great Holy Empire, "The Ruins."
In this theocratic state, one of the five great empires, its people were called "Those of Dirty Blood." According to them, if your not froma a high lands, wasn't bright enough, your soul wasn't pure enough.
That's how Alkinos grew up.
If he had been accepted into that mansion…
Perhaps today he would be living in high towers, showing off his achievements on giant holographic screens.
But he never thought, "What if?"
Because the past wasn't a curse to him—it was simply a starting point.
When Lisa told him she wasn't his biological mother, nothing broke inside him.
He had already broken enough.
But Lisa's voice, her hands, and the warm soup she gave him on thirsty nights—all of it was enough to make him whole.
Sometimes family wasn't born from blood, but from pain.
Alkinos never went to school.
He was never "equal."
He was one of those children ostracized by society.
But he was happy in this small house, between the stone walls.
Because love was there.
And that was a knowledge the system couldn't teach.
I sat up in my bed.
I wasn't under a warm blanket, but under a thin sheet with the wind occasionally filtering through the holes.
But I was still used to it.
Because waking up to the same sound every morning, being in a routine, was a kind of peace.
—Fresh fruit, warm bread! Come closer!
The grocery cart was passing through the neighborhood again.
There were no stores here.
Opening a shop in the ruins would cost more than building a house underneath.
So the cars, the street vendors, the old-fashioned shouting...
That's how life went.
My eyes fell on Lisa, who was still snoring.
She'd long since given up fortune-telling. Lately, we'd been making and selling idols.
Small images of gods...
How ironic.
I got up slowly. I began to stack the idols she'd made last night into the basket. Just then, a familiar growl came.
"Will you die if you get up a little late, kid?"
Lisa's voice held both affection and weariness.
I smiled.
"Do you want anything when evening comes?"
She listed her requests one by one.
I ignored her and closed the door.
The street...
It smelled musty, but it was familiar.
People had learned to live with what they had here.
The prostitutes winked at me; I knew their names, but I wouldn't sleep with any of them.
Because Lisa always said:
"Be a man with your mind, not your body."
I slowly reached the edge of the market.
I lined up the idols.
I waited.
The street... was filled with people from different cultures, with different faces.
Race groups once facing extinction due to wars now walked the same sidewalk.
Cultures had lost their meaning in the eyes of the government.
But to the public, every look, every outfit, every skin color was still a difference.
And differences always engendered fear.
Hours later, my friends arrived.
Kevin—he arrived with his usual energy.
—Alki, forget about all this and let's just smuggle. The money isn't here!
I smiled. The expression on my face wasn't fake. But what he said... now sounded childish.
—It's been a while, Kevin... Wake up from your dream.
Kevin sat down next to me and ruffled my hair.
"Son, would it be bad to have this kind of money, this kind of life?"
I didn't answer.
Some questions don't expect answers.
You just sigh and move on.
The day went by like this.
When I got home, Lisa was cooking in the kitchen.
I'd gotten what she wanted.
A strange smell... hit my nose. It was familiar, yet somehow foreign. I approached slowly. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was cooking meat.
I walked up to her and kissed her cheek. A trickle of saliva flowed from my mouth. I swallowed.
"Hey, old woman... you didn't rob a market, did you? What's this?"
She replied sullenly.
"I said tonight could be a special night... We need to eat well."
She must have gotten tired of my questions because she kicked me out of the kitchen.
"Don't come here before the table is ready!"
When the table was set…
There was a small candle on the table, perched above the meat. Lisa smiled at me.
"Happy birthday, my little one."
At that moment…
My tears flowed.
Silently.
Because her presence was the most beautiful gift of this life.
We laughed. We ate.
It was a night filled with memories.
And then…
I surrendered to the warm darkness of sleep.