Hello readers!

So, um, yeah....It's been a while since I've published something since my last fanfic, I'd say a good two years or more. My apologies.

Anyways, I present to you a little narative that I created back in sophomore year, again, about 2 to 3 years ago...

As you read this story, really apply the message upon yourself.

Because I believe we all need to be reminded of this message.

Thank you for taking the time into reading this! Please feel free to express your opinion through commenting or voting! Much appreciated!

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"You ready Wilson?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Ready to prove my family wrong.

I clenched the handle of my sword tighter, anxiously waiting for the call to infiltrate the area of our soon to be surrounded enemy. For now, we wait in our stationed posts around the big, green, and secluded forest of Terane. My ears listened intentively, waiting impatiently for my partner's, Commander Steve Erik's, walke talke to spew out the muffled and scratchy sound of a voice that will command us to move forward, where Ironhaven Empire's army will be fully surrounded when we attack them all at once. My eyes scanned the forest, taking in the scenery of the vibrant green colors of the newly-sprouted spring-time leaves from the skyscraper tall trees. The rays of the afternoon sun made the outline of the forest glisten.

This...this battleground right here, is where I, Special Operative Sage Wilson of the Weldon Empire's army, will finally become the chivalrous man I've always wanted to be for so long. The man who finally takes a stand at making his family proud of him for once in his life. The man who makes it out of this wretched war alive. The man who will stand as a reminder to our enemy, the Ironhaven Empire, that no matter how strong both of the empires really are, only one will remain prosperous and will be titled as the most powerful empire the world has ever known!

That triumphant empire will be Weldon and will stay that way till the end of time, because Ironhaven is going down.

"Still have the same mindset, Special Operative?"

The broad voice of my partner snapped my attention away from my hopeful thoughts and paused a little before I could give my answer to his question. I remember him asking me what my goal was for joining the Weldon Empire's army a long time ago, a time when I first enlisted in the small percentage of special operatives out of the whole Weldon Empire army. His only response during that time when I had given my answer was a short nod, as if he expected something more reasonable.

Nonetheless, I turned my head to meet the always-so-serious expression of my partner's face and admitted, "Yes Sir."

Commander Erik sighed and shook his head disappointedly and looked away, looking ahead at the stretch of land where our feet will soon run on once we receive the call to action.

"Listen, Wilson, even though you're 18 I don't want you acting like one of those foolish teenagers who thinks their parents hate them all the time. In reality they are just doing what parents do, discipline and making rules, whether you like it or not. Kids these days just can't seem to own up to those rules and accept them, ya know?"

"But sir...it's true! They really do hate me!" My jaw clenched with tension at just the mere thought of my family. "They've always put me down, scolded me! A disgrace to the family is all I am to them!" I didn't realize my hands were formed into fists. I relaxed and looked down, "Never once have I ever heard them say to me 'I love you'..."

"Huh," Commander Erik kept his voice stern and expressionless, "So your mindset really IS still the same. When I asked you this question before, you said the ONLY reason you've joined Weldon's army is to prove to your family that you are much greater than the words they say about you."

I pondered the thought, "Well, not entirely sir," I straightened my posture, sitting on this hard-rock ground for over an hour was now becoming painful. "Yes, it's true that most of the reason is because of my God-forsaken family, but also because I want to contribute to the strength of our army and our empire. When we win victory over this war, we will finally show that the Weldon Empire, one of the two biggest empires alongside Ironhaven, is now the most powerful and the most prosperous empire in all of the world!"

Amused, Commander Erik let out a small laugh, "Good, glad to know that I was assigned the job to partner up with a special operative who shares that common dream with the rest of his comrades." The daring commander took out his walke talie and held it out in front of him with a firm grip, "'cus no soldier likes to fight alongside a guy who mopes about his family problems. So if I were you, I'd stick with the dream that we're all riding on."

"Y-yes Sir."

There was a short pause until the commander said, "Should be any minute now."

As if his words were an answered prayer, the sound of another commander was heard through the raspy audio of the communication device: "Commander Steve Erik! There has been a new change of plan! No time for explanation! Just send Special Operative Sage Wilson northeast where the enemy has escaped the center of the forest while you yourself head towards the center. NOW!"

And with that, I jumped off the ground and sprinted northeast. The commander on the other line of the walke talke was right; this was a change in the plan, a HUGE change of our strategic tactic. But no worries, it's no wonder why they sent me into the unplanned change. I'm a special operative after all, one who doesn't stay within a group and can take down anybody who stands in his way single-handedly.

I kept running, running, and running. It wasn't until I stopped far enough in a spot where some of the Ironhaven army should have been here by now like that other commander had said, when I took the time to take in a few breaths. The uncertainty of the enemy area that surrounded me brought unwelcoming thoughts that started to cloud my mind: What if I mess up? What if I brought myself into the wrong area? I'm positive I headed northeast like I was instructed to do, but is it possible that I headed into the wrong direction without my knowledge?

My family is right, I am a failure. I can't do anything right no matter how hard I try. I slapped the palm of my hand to my forehead. Damn, I thought, I hate my family so much.

I snapped back to reality as I heard the sound of bracken being crunched by footsteps not too far away. I pulled out my sword from its sheath steadily and moved into a battle stance, an act that I have mastered quite efficiently.

The sound of the footsteps began to quicken and in the blink of an eye, the dark uniform colors of an Ironhaven soldier appeared before me with his blade drawn and hurtling himself towards me, ready to slice me in half. Of course, I was already prepared. I blocked his attack. After a few slashes, I finally managed to puncture my sword right through his abdomen. The enemy soldier shrieked in pain, causing him to drop his own sword and falling to his knees in the process.

But he didn't stray here alone.

I had no idea, but there was another Ironhaven soldier coming up right behind me and as I turned away from the defeated soldier that fell to the ground, the other soldier lunged himself at me, catching me off-guard. It all happened very slowly as I felt the splitting of my insides tear away from each other within the area of my abdomen. It was the same inflicting pain that I have brought against this enemy soldier's comrade.

I screamed in agony and fell to the ground, facing the other hopeless soldier that had fallen to the ground earlier by my own hands, the soldier that now shared the same physical condition that I was in. The dying soldier met my gaze intensly, not blinking.

No matter how paralyzed my whole body was right now, there was still a fuse inside me that didn't go out, a fuse that gave me the strong desire to fight back against the soldier who has cursed this pain upon me.

But he was already gone.

An unexpected and painful memory from the past flashed before my very eyes. One of the various hurtful moments from my childhood that I wished to never live through ever again. It was a time in which I had just came home from middle school one day. I walked up to my father who was laying down comfortably on the couch watching T.V.. With shaking hands, I nervously showed him my report card.

"What the hell do you want Sage?" His eyes were kept focused on the T.V. screen in front of him, "Don't you have homework or something else better to do than bother me and be a waste of space in this house?"

I held in my tears as my voice quietly said, "Dad, this is my report card."

He looked at me with his eyebrow raised and yanked the transcript right out of my small hands. His eyes squinted at the fine print before looking back at me with a look of disgust on his face. "B's and C's? What's wrong with you? How could you be so stupid?!"

I looked down, already knowing that my dad only accepts A's and of what was yet to come of me from those hateful words, "But...but dad..."

"YOU SHOULD'VE STUDIED HARDER!"

He slapped me across my face. I could feel the side of my face where he hit me burn a bright red.

"Everytime I look at your pathetic face I get reminded about the death of your mother! It's your fault she's dead!"

I sighed, hearing this accusation so many times before. "Dad, you can't keep doing this to me! She died while giving birth to me! What was I supposed to do?!"

I hadn't noticed, but my older brother walked in during the commotion, "Dad, what's all the yelling about? Is the useless runt acting up again?"

I slowly started to wake up from the flashback, away from the next part of the memory which included merciless beatings from my dad and brother that during that time, felt like would never end.

"Why...why do we fight...?"

I had to strain my eyelids to stay open as I looked at the soldier lying beside me. I repeated in my head the struggled words that the soldier had just spoken: Why, why do we fight?

I looked at him and I searched his eyes. I saw something that I thought I could never discover in another human being, especially an enemy.

I saw myself.

I saw the scared, anxious, and anxiety-filled eyes that I myself have worn all my life. The longing for hope, peace, and comfort...

I realized that I have been blind for far too long...no...scratch that...we have ALL been blind for far too long!

I realized, through this man's eyes, that no matter what family or empire you come from...

We are all the same.

We are all human beings, longing for peace. So why should we fight at all? That includes this war as well. The only reason this war between the world's most powerful empires is to see who is strongest. A spasm occurred throughout my whole body. The wound in my abdomen still seeping out blood at a fast rate. No matter how much I yearned to shut my eyes tight from the pain, I still kept them locked on the lifeless gaze of the enemy soldier beside me.

If this war is all about greed and a test of strength, then why should we shed precious blood of thousands of men for selfish power and competition? Shouldn't we agree to a compact and get along with each other? Shouldn't we all accept one another? Shouldn't we treat others the way we ourselves would like to be treated? Why couldn't my family do just that? Why can't these empires do just that?

A tear rolled down my cheek as blackness appeared over my vision and my body becoming numb. I pray that others will soon realize how a little thing like love can be the most powerful thing to save everyone.

Before it's too late.