The city before me was a towering ruin of destroyed sky-scraping behemoths intertwined with vines. We stood before a makeshift wall of cars and sheet metal wired together to form a decently unwelcoming barrier.

"Elliott!" Theo yelled, resting his free arm on his bent knees. The walk had taken a toll on both of us.

A blond head appeared over the edge of the wall, slightly mussed from afar. Theo assumed a ramrod straight stance, his chin held high and eyes sharp.

"Commander Grace?" the boy called down, squinting in the sun.

"Yes, will you let us in?" Theo yelled back, making me wonder more and more who he really was. He had the posture of Redfield, but he seemed to be missing the malice.

"Of course, sir. It's been a tense day, sorry." He disappeared from sight, and I stood still, unsure of how this city would treat me.

"I forgot to tell you," Theo said, turning to me as he relaxed. "I command the Guardians of the settlement. We protect the city from the Between."

I nodded, gulping down my fear. I wasn't a Severed and he was the law. He could never know.

With a sharp creak, a rough metal plate swung towards us, pushed strenuously by the boy from before. Clad in a wrinkled black t-shirt with a faded triangle on it and dirty blue jeans, he looked as strange as Theo and Gemma did.

"Elliott is one of the Guardians," Theo said as we began moving toward the boy. I remained mute, nervous of the Guardian. It was too similar to Guardsman.

"Welcome to the City of Severed Souls," Elliott said, watching me closely from a sharply angled face. He made me shudder, the resemblance to Ian was there in everything but the harshly cold voice.

"Thank you," I said, focusing on his gently worn shoes.

"I have to take her to the Conclave, Elliott, but I'll be back to discuss today's events," Theo said as we passed him and entered the City of Severed Souls. I mean, the Severed Settlement.

I felt watched, as though Elliott were marking me with his eyes. I had better be overreacting. The last thing I needed was a Guardsman of the Between watching me.

Inside the wall, the buildings seemed even taller, stretching above us to cast deep shadows in the dimming evening light. We stood on a long road that split the city, a cracked black path like the remnants of the Between.

My eyes were wide with awe, the scale of the city was unlike any I had seen before.

"Isn't it wonderful?"

I turned to look at Theo as he lead me down the wide path. Torches lit the way, burning brightly to cast out the darkness.

"Yes, but where did this all come from?" The stories had left no descriptions of the despised Dark Days.

"The Between used to be filled with places like this, and some were even larger than this city. We don't know what, but something happened to bring these giants to their knees."

The street was mostly empty of people, but in front of a tall building near the center of the city, a woman and young boy played, dancing and jumping to some unheard music.

The tumbling child couldn't have been more than three, a tragically young age to have lost his Soulmate.

Before the Counseling began, infant deaths were high. Many infants were severed. They were the Lost Generation.

"I remember when I first came here. This place, it was almost too strange," he said, gently guiding me onwards.

How could such a young child have lost his Soulmate? Would Theo know? I blinked, wiping away my thoughts.

"Here's the market."

It looked like a run-down Shopping Block, but less boxy and still filled with glowing light and sound. The world had dimmed more, and my mud-plastered back began to feel the chill of the wind. High glass windows made a wall in front, looking more like the Meeting Hall if the Gathering was ever struck by disaster.

Grimy and broken, the panes showed dark figures dashing before roaring fires and opened to spill people onto the street. As we got closer, I smelled the warm heat of smoke and stomach rumbling meat cooking. What could only be sugar mingled with the smoke, making my mouth water over the treats I had left behind in the Gathering.

You haven't lived until you've tasted the Cooks' cream-filled apples or tiny tarts of sugared pecans.

"This was once called a 'mall' but now it serves as a shopping place for food, clothing, and even as housing for some families."

Families? How could Severeds have families?

"Are you ready to change into some new clothes?" He looked at me expectantly, a reminder of reason I had come here; safety and security.

"Yes, please."

He nodded and lead me to the doors, darkened glass that hid the people beyond it. From the sound of it, there had to be at least a hundred people, so many tragic losses.

With the push of his left arm, the door opened, covering me in warm light. Inside was a bustling two story space with hundreds of Souls. I gasped, how were there this many Severeds?

"It's a lot to take in, I know. Let's sit you down and I'll get some food and clothes," Theo said, laughing at the shock on my face.

I wasn't surprised by the space, I was surprised by the sheer number of people. No one had realized how bad the Severed issue was, and if they did, they didn't tell anyone in the Cities.

"Thank you," I said as he lead me to the left of the makeshift stalls, where comfortable couches sprawled beside a massive metal staircase.

Leaving me, he walked along the many tables covered in everything from shirts to toys, finally stopping to talk with a woman.

This place was strange; in the Gathered Cities, there was no such thing as vendors. There was no point as the only requirement to acquisition something was a good performance review or grades.

From Theo's pocket, he pulled out a few shiny pieces and dropped them into the woman's outstretched hand. In exchange, she handed him a pile of clothes and waved him off with a smile.

"Here," he said, helping me to my feet. In his arms were a few shirts of strange patterns and blue pants made of a strange material.

"Thank you," I said, perplexed by the bright, busy place. We started moving past the staircase and to a quieter area.

"We have the original bathrooms restored and some of our former Creators managed to put together some showers for the families that live here. I'll let you shower and change than come back with some food if that's alright," Theo said, steering me slightly to a tiled wall.

When I returned, showered and dressed now in a grey shirt with a teal symbol on it. The buzz of the mall remained, driving me to walk quickly to where Gemma and Theo sat at a table.

"Melanie, welcome," Gemma said as I moved towards her and Theo. I smiled back; so far they seemed more sane than my mother.

I had nearly reached them when a black blur darted past me and threw herself at Theo. Was I having another vision?

"Skylark!" he cried, scooping the girl up and flying her around. I frowned, feeling my stomach fill with tenseness. Had I wanted to see my father again after what happened with the bird?

"How's your ankle?" Gemma asked.I stepped forward, ready to show the perfect face to these people.

"Fine, it's my stomach that's the issue." Standing before the three people, I smiled at the little girl, curious about her story.

"Well, we've got food for you!" Theo said, gesturing to a steaming bowl of rice and chicken. I smiled at him, accepting the food gladly.

"Thank you." I sat down and dug into the food. Though it was late, the activity in the huge structure hadn't diminished, and if anything, there were more people than before.

All the goods being sold looked Level Two and above, something I had never been able to acquisition. Lily was generous often but it wasn't the same as earning your possessions.

"So, Melanie," Theo said as he sat down," this is Skylark." He ruffled the head of the little girl affectionately, earning a bright smile from the child. She had the same eye shape as Gemma, a strange coincidence since everyone here was Severed and incapable of love.

"Hi, Skylark," I said, placing down my fork to wave gently at the girl. Her wide, grey eyes regarded me with caution, a stony glare that shocked me. How could such hardness come from a child?

"Don't mind her glare, she's a little nervous about strangers," Gemma said calmly, placing a hand on Skylark's shoulder.

"Hi," she squeaked, then buried her face in her father's arm.

"Skylark is our daughter and she just turned five last week, right honeybee?" Theo's warm grin never left his face as he looked down at the tiny girl. She giggled and nodded, burying her head back into his arms.

"She did, and now that she's a big girl she needs to be more polite," Gemma said sternly. I shoveled more rice into my mouth, hoping to avoid the tension between Gemma and Theo.

"Sorry, Mama," Skylark said softly, sitting back up in her chair. Her chin pointed to her lap penitently, the perfect image of a berated child.

"Come with me, we'll go get some food of our own," Gemma said, extending a hand and soft smile to the girl. The pair walked off to some stall, having settled their little fight. I turned back to Theo, confused by who Skylark was to them.

"Everyone here is Severed, right?" They couldn't have a child. Children came from Soulmate love when the couple truly deserved their child. Maybe they were just caring for Skylark and that's why she's nervous of strangers!

"Well, everyone in the Cities tell you that there is only love within Soul bonds, but this isn't necessarily true," Theo said, mouth twisted as he concentrated.

"The bond between Soulmates is incredibly strong, but so is love," he sighed, looking off past me as he spoke. "Before I came here and fell in love with Gemma, I had a Soulmate. We were Creators, doing hard labor in the goods factory just past the City's walls."

"What was her name?" I didn't know why I had dug that knife into him. It was obvious he wasn't able to think of her without terrible pain.

"Clara." He blinked tears, coming back to the reality of the mall. His eyes focused on me, watery pools of pain pulling at my heart. "I-I'm sorry, our bond still exists even if she doesn't," he said, pausing to push his food around his plate. "I used to be constantly miserable after the accident. They sent me here, and I wandered this settlement in a daze, wanting to die myself."

I leaned in, enraptured by this tale that I had never heard and never wanted to experience for myself.

"That all changed when I met Gemma," Theo said, smiling softly. "As we fell in love, part of me became whole again. Look." he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a shifting night sky, emblazoned with a silver planet and the smashed sapphire remains of what was once another planet.

Strangely, there was another image, a towering cloud encircling the silver planet, protecting it from the flying debris.

"Is Gemma the cloud?" I asked in hushed tones. The idea of Severed love went against the very meaning of love; strong feeling through the bonds of a Soulmate. I felt sick to my stomach. Whatever they felt couldn't be love.

"Yes," he said, leaning in close. "And that's what makes this place so beautiful; there's someone here for those who believe they have no one."

I nodded, my mind scrambling for justification of the impossible that was displayed on Theo's arm.

"You see, some people choose to leave the settlement and not look for love here, but those of us who stay live better lives than we did in the Cities," he said, ducking his head awkwardly as he continued. "I don't mean anything by this, but you could find someone here too, when you're ready of course." He had no idea i wasn't Severed, but even if I was, how could this even compare to the unity based Cities with their true love? Regardless, I still had a Soulmate out there.

"But, isn't Soulmate love the only true love? Isn't your love for Gemma just sympathy for your individual losses?" I twisted my thumb nervously, how would he accept my words?

"That's what they tell you," he said, arms crossing guardedly. "That's what they need you to believe."