“Do you want to leave?” Pepper asked.

  “No… I just… I just need a minute.”

  Pepper guided her over to a bench and the two sat down for a minute. His ears started to pick up on the multiple sorrowful cries that were occurring throughout the area. The more he looked however, the more he realized it wasn’t just American’s who were visiting the memorial. He narrowed in on a few different languages and could easily tell that people from around the world were either paying their respects or were mourning their own loved ones who were now gone.

  Andrea finally gave his arm a squeeze and she finished it with a nod to continue. They stood up and made their way out of the garden and towards a large building. Two volunteers stood outside and happily opened the doors for them as they approached. To Pepper’s surprise, the room was radiant with bright daylight. He looked up to discover an intricate design of glass windows which let in the sunlight. The part that was captivating to him, was seeing how their placement within the buildings design left rays of sunlight projected against the ceiling. Individually the slivers of light were small shapes and jagged light, but together they formed into the distinct shape of a shattered heart.

  He was so taken back by the design that he came to a dead stop and directed Andrea’s gaze upwards so she could appreciate it as well. Pepper eventually lowered his gaze, and his eyes narrowed in on a wall on the far-left side of the structure. The wall started a few feet away but continued to stretch as far as he could see.

  It wasn’t the wall particularly impressive, or even captivating, but rather what it held on it. There at the end closest to him were perfectly shaped squares. The first column had five squares vertically, but then they continued on into the distance and out of sight. His feet slowly guided him closer and he could see that each square was a distinct different shade of color.

  The first color started out was black, dark grey, grey, charcoal, gun metal, but eventually faded and transitioned into purples, magentas, pinks. They were at the first initial point of what he assumed was a rainbow. He then noticed a small placard placed off to the side of the wall which read.

  The Colors of Lives, by Jeris Omana. Before you are 721,415 squares, consisting of 144,283 columns with each square a different shade of color. Each square represents a citizen of the great state of Wyoming. The purge of Wyoming is considered one of the greatest tragedies of the Rift Wars. May this memorial forever be a reminder of the beautiful color each life brings into existence, and may we never forget those we lost.

  “Holy shit.” Pepper muttered. He slowly looked up and let his eyes travel down the long wall until he saw it wrap around a corner and continue on out of view.

  Andrea finally pulled him away and they continued through the large, guided corridors. Scattered throughout the area were paintings from artists, photographs recovered from ruble, giant pieces of debris that had been found. Each item there to represent something that was lost during the wars.

  The one item that stood out to him was a metal statue depicting a battle between demons and the first mechanized powered military units. On one end of the metal art piece were a small collection of five demons. Their jagged teeth and claws looked razor sharp. The artist had set their poses as if they were surging ahead. On the opposing end of the statue was three mechanized military units.

  Pepper immediately recognized the rigid designs of the mech warriors. Those are Gargoyle 5’s. He thought to himself. The mechanized units were rapidly designed, and mass produced to take the fight to the enemy. Their edges were rigid and there was little detail to them. The focal point of the statue had placed a Gargoyle 5 at the center. Its right-hand clasping around the neck of a demon. The artist extended the demon’s tongue out and gave it a face that looked like it was being choked to death. In the left hand of the Gargoyle 5 was a large medieval shaped sword. The placard at the base of the statue simply stated. The First Ray of Sunlight.

  “Okay… that’s kinda cool” Andrea muttered to him while her head rested on his shoulder.

  “Kinda cool? It’s bad ass.” He replied with a playful huff.

  “Watch your mouth.”

  “What?”

  “There are kids around.”

  “Really? Where?” Pepper turned his head around to scan the area. It didn’t take him long to see there was a large gathering of children who looked like they were on a school retreat. “Crap…”

  “Told you!” She sharply whispered.

  “Whatever…”

  She lightly nudged him and the two continued on and noticed a short line of people waiting to enter the next area. They grab the next spot in the line and Pepper tried his best to estimate how long the wait was per group that entered and then exited. He eventually abandoned the effort when he realized that each group seemed to take as much time as they needed or desired.

  They eventually made it to being next in line and he saw the placard fixed on the wall. The Only Thing Left Behind. His mind was now curious as to what exactly awaited them. The couple that was in front of them finally departed and Pepper couldn’t help but notice the fresh tears on their faces.

  It was then that Andrea gaze a firm squeeze on his hand and the two entered the darkened doorway. He noticed the small, illuminated footprints on the floor which guided them to a final platform. The room was completely dark and he felt a slight chill coming over his skin.

  His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and he could sense a great depth to the room they were standing in. The faintest glow then began overhead, and their eyes adjusted to quickly realize the room was designed like an amphitheater. They were standing on the central stage portion, with the remainder of the room gradually rising the further it went.

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  The light continued to grow and expose the fact that they were completely surrounded by a mound of shoes. There was no point in even trying to count, for the discarded footwear didn’t appear to have an ending point. They both gasped in unison for the sight was almost too great to behold.

  It was then that a soft and gentle voice spoke. “Before you lie 215,786,911 pairs of shoes. Each pair represents an American life that was taken in the Rift Wars.”

  “Oh my God…” Andrea whispered.

  Pepper did his best to scan over the room and take in the grand scale of the display. His eyes then stopped on three pairs of shoes, all perfectly placed next to one another. A black pair of Thunder Mountain Hiking boots, a dirt pair of red Chuck Taylors, and a small set of pink Velcro sneakers.

  He immediately knew those exact items of footwear. They were the same shoes that Travis, Ava, and Megan wore. An eerie sensation grabbed hold of him and he couldn’t help but feel there was some dark force or entity which purposefully placed the items there to mess with him. His eyes were then locked onto them and he couldn’t pull away. The longer he stared at them though, the more his heart and mind filled with thoughts of Megan. He couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken to her and he immediately felt fear take hold of him.

  Pepper didn’t say anything to Andrea but turned and started to walk out of the room. His vision blurred as soon as he arrived in the main room of the museum and he struggled to find a bench to sit down on. He finally found one near a large window and immediately opened up his holodex and called his mom.

  “Well look who decided to finally-”

  He cut his mom off and couldn’t help the fact there was a slight panic on his voice. “Put Meg on!”

  “Excuse me, but who do you-”

  “Look, I don’t have time to explain, I just need to see Meg. So can you please go get her and put her on!”

  The video feed on his moms end started to shift and adjust and Pepper could tell that she was removing her holodex from her wrist. He could see enough of the house to notice that it looked messy and in slight disarray. But he wasn’t going to broach that subject at all.

  His heart pounded when the camera arrived at Meg’s bedroom door. It slowly opened to showcase his little sister playing in her room. Her head looked up at the camera and he felt a wave of peace come over him.

  “Amprage!” She screamed. Her hands shot up at the camera and excitedly reached for the holodex.

  Pepper looked to his side and realized that Amp had followed him out of the room and was calmly sitting next to him. He chuckled and titled the camera to showcase his familiar. “Well hey there lil bug!” Pepper called out.

  “Amp when you are coming home to me!” Meg practically yelled

  Amprage wined, “Please don’t make me go back.” His familiar muttered quietly. Pepper gave him a nudge and his bonded gave him a side glance before he cleared his throat. “I’m sure it won’t be much longer until we come visit.”

  “Well come now!” She demanded.

  Pepper let out a laugh. “I miss you too you know.”

  She rolled her eyes and let her head tilt to one side. “I know.”

  Will you stop growing up so fast there kid. He thought. He couldn’t help but miss the daily moments spent with her. His heart strained all we wanted was to be home at that moment. “Are you being good for mom and dad?”

  “Better than you were. At least, that’s what mom says.”

  I guess I can’t argue with you there. “Well, that’s good.” His eyes caught sight of the Mala statue he had made for her. It was placed next to her pillow. “I see you’re taking good care of your Mala statue.”

  Her head sarcastically tilted to the side, and she made a playful expression. “It’s my favorite.”

  “Haha, I know lil bug. I know.”

  “Pepper are you coming home now?”

  His heart tugged again. “No, not for a little bit longer.”

  “Well, I’m gonna go play then.” Meg dropped the holodex and the camera titled at an awkward angle on the floor.

  The tugging on his heart quickly dissipated and once she discarded him. “Well okay then.” He said.

  His mom picked up the holodex and reattached it to her wrist. “Well, maybe if someone was more involved with their family she wouldn’t just-”

  “Yeah, well one day she will understand.”

  He could hear his mom’s tone change. The slight rise in her voice was his warning that the conversation was starting to heat up to a point which he wasn’t about to suffer through. “It’s not about her understanding Pepper! It’s about you abandoning this family for a-”

  “Got to go! Thanks for the reminder as to why I left!”

  His mom’s voice reached a boiling point, but he ended the call before he could interpret what she was about to counter him with. He looked up and saw Andrea looking at him with empathetic eyes. She sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around his.

  “There is a part of me that wishes dad was here with us. But, at the same point I don’t think he’d want to go through this all over again.”

  “Yeah… It’s… it’s a lot to take in.”

  “One last thing before we go?”

  “Sure babe. What is it?”

  She started to stand up and tugged on his arm for him to follow. “This way.” She led him down a side hallway and through another exhibit area. “I asked one of the volunteers where the wall was.”

  “The color panel wall of Wyoming? We already saw-”

  “No… not that wall.” She paused and turned another corner. There was an archway which led to a giant square shaped room. Grey textured concrete walls, and a concrete floor greeted them. It wasn’t until they were fully inside the new room that he realized the far-left wall was the actual focal point for that specific memorial.

  They walked towards the front and sat down on a few stone benches that were placed nearest the display. The wall was constructed of metal plating. By Pepper’s guess, he thought each metal plate was roughly two feet wide by ten feet long. Each metal plate had a main title which ran along the top edge but was then split down the center. On the left side was a white star and the last name of an individual directly after it. On the right side was the same format, only the stars and names were in a gold metallic color. The wall was also slowly moving downward in a constant but slow pace.

  He was about to make an assumption, but Andrea whispered into his ear. “The wall continually rotates over and over again. Twenty-four, seven, three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year. They never turn it off and actually have a camera which live streams the wall online. The top portion is every military unit that fought in the Rift Wars. The left side of white names are those still alive, the other side are all those who were lost.”

  It was just then that a new set of metal tiles began to slowly scroll down into view. One of them didn’t have any names in white or gold, rather, all were in solid black. Pepper tilted his head closer to Andrea and asked. “What of those then?”

  She let out a long breath. “Black represents those still missing and unaccounted for.”

  Pepper couldn’t help it as his eyes widened. His eyes taking in the scene of tile after tile filled with only names written in black. “There’s… just… so many names.”

  They sat there in silence. Neither one keeping track of the time. There was then a slight gasp from Andrea and she pointed out towards the wall. “Oh my god. There he is!”

  Pepper’s eyes immediately narrowed in on the metal tile. The left side of the plating had only three names written in white. ‘Brewer, Johnson, Chesterfield.’ The right side however, had a long list of names painted in gold, with even a few towards the bottom painted in black.

  Andrea quickly loaded up her holodex and took multiple snapshots of the wall. Once she was done, she reached her hand up and brushed away the fresh tears that started to fall down her cheek. “He never talks about them. He can’t bear to speak their names, and yet I know that all he does is think about these people daily. I never knew how many there were until now.” She finished with a sniffle. She leaned her head down and rested it on his shoulder. “Can we stay here for a little bit longer?”

  “We can stay as long as you want babe.”