Hesta's Eagle

"Where do we go next?" Hesta asked.

"The next step is the final one, and it might hurt a little," Chiba said, raising her right hand and gently wiping the inside of her wrist. "We'll be implanting a chip with coded information right here. But don't worry about the procedure itself, because there's local anesthetic, so you won't feel anything—"

"No anesthetic."

"Huh?"

"No anesthetic," Hesta repeated.

Chiba looked at Hesta. "...Are you sure?"

"Yes."

On the semi-open operating table, Hesta sat upright on a cushioned seat. She extended her right hand behind the window, where a mechanical arm was precisely cutting into her thin flesh.

Chiba, also in sterile clothing, stood several meters away from Hesta, watching her thoughtfully. The girl's forehead was beaded with fine sweat, and her face had gradually turned pale—clear signs of the pain.

After the surgery, the two sat in another sterile room for observation.

"Why didn't you want the anesthetic?" Chiba asked.

"...I just didn't want it."

Chiba looked at Hesta's current tired and drawn face, pausing her question. After a moment, she suddenly said, "Have you heard the story of 'Hesta's Eagle'?"

Hesta stared at her wrist. "...I've heard a little."

"How much is 'a little'?"

"The Hesta people... live in the northern part of District 14," Hesta said in a low voice. "They... take eagles as their totem—"

"Hahaha, I knew it," Chiba interrupted with a laugh. "That's a very common misunderstanding outsiders have about the Hesta people. Eagles are guardian spirits, not totems. Their totem is the horse."

"Is that so?" Hesta's voice was almost a whisper. "This is... the first time I've known."

Chiba continued, "The Hesta people have a custom: whenever their children reach twelve years old, they tattoo an eagle on the child's wrist to signify their coming of age... How old are you this year?"

"Eleven," Hesta replied.

"Then you're a year early," Chiba said with a smile. "When I saw you didn't want the anesthetic, I thought it was because of that custom."

Hesta said in a low voice, "Sister Gurdin once warned us that these drugs, which enter the bloodstream directly, can dull one's reactions..."

"Hurry up and forget everything those old nuns taught you," Chiba said, crossing her arms. "Trust modern science, Jane."

Hesta adjusted her breathing slightly and looked at Chiba. "Would you be willing to tell me the story of 'Hesta's Eagle' just now?"

Chiba didn't answer immediately. Telling the story itself wasn't difficult, but in this situation, telling it to Hesta created a rather maternal or sisterly atmosphere.

"Is it inconvenient?" Hesta asked again.

The observation room was empty. Chiba looked up at the clock on the wall directly in front of her—twenty minutes remained until the observation period ended.

"Alright," she said, steeling herself. "It's not like there's anything else to do anyway."

"'Hesta's Eagle' is a widely circulated story in the northern snowfields of District 14," Chiba said softly. "It says that a very long time ago, in the snowfields of the northern territories, there was a giant eagle. Its beak was as large as a mountain peak and thousands of miles long. When the entire bird flew, its shadow filled the heavens and the earth.

"This eagle's name was 'Hesta.' Its shadow possessed a certain magic. All living beings in the world, as long as they stopped beneath its shadow, could attain the highest happiness in the mortal realm.

"Hesta's Eagle would take flight at sunrise, rising with the first rays of dawn, flying from the extreme south to the extreme north of the land. Thus, every day, newly born creatures on earth were bathed in the eagle's shadow once.

"As a result, there was no conflict in the world at that time. Whether it was birds and beasts, or grasses and vines, all things were immersed in peace and contentment.

"However, Hesta's Eagle gradually wore itself out in this process. Gradually, its beak shrank from the size of mountain ranges to the size of solitary peaks, and later to the size of lakes... During this time, its wings also gradually became smaller, until it could no longer shelter everything in the human world beneath its wings.

"But even so, Hesta's Eagle would still take flight at every sunrise.

"Until the last time, it had become so old that it could no longer lift its wings. So, it fell in the snowfields of the northern territories. Its wings transformed into arms, and its sharp talons into feet, becoming a human infant. Then, the herds of sheep and horses on the plains, along with the other creatures that had previously been cared for, all came to nurture this child together.

"In the mythology of the Hesta people, their ancestors came to be this way. Although it's a bit absurd, most myths are like this... Do you like this story?"

"It's very interesting," Hesta murmured, leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed. "Thank you."

Around three in the afternoon, Chiba left the reserve training base.

Before leaving, Hesta looked up at the woman who had rescued her from the convent and was now her guardian, unsure of what to say.

Chiba crouched down, her strong hands gripping Hesta's shoulders.

"This is it for now."

Hesta gazed into Chiba's gray irises. At certain moments, like now, when her eyes reflected bright light, they seemed to possess an almost silver sheen.

"...Do you have any advice for me?" Hesta asked softly.

Chiba frowned, clearly thinking very seriously about the question. After a moment, she stood up and patted Hesta's little head.

"Nothing much. If I had to say something..." Chiba reached out and pinched Hesta's nose, suddenly laughing. "Don't start dating early? Train hard. I'll keep an eye on your progress, and we might see each other again soon. Goodbye, Jane."

Hesta pondered Chiba's parting advice and nodded solemnly.

"Goodbye, Miss Chiba."

After Chiba left, Hesta stood alone behind the transparent glass wall on the fourth floor, looking down. Her gaze remained fixed on the corridor's exit until Chiba's figure appeared there. She watched Chiba walk all the way to the parking lot, saw her open the car door, get in, and drive away.

Valenti, who was shuttling back and forth delivering documents, quickly spotted the young girl on this side.

"Miss Hesta?" she approached. "You should have taken your profile card to the dormitory to report in."

"I know."

Valenti followed Hesta's gaze outward, but only saw a few spots on the ground and the rather empty road in the distance. She squatted down, looking up at Hesta from a slightly lower height. "What are you looking at?"

"...Miss Chiba's car."

Hesta pointed to the folding car that had brought her here, which had just disappeared at the end of the road.

The girl stared at the place where the vehicle had vanished, and an indescribable loneliness suddenly welled up in her heart.