The graphic things they have seen bares a strong weight in the mind of all the Peacekeepers. None as strong as how Ezel feels. She recounts often in her mind a small child she had seen on her visit to a country in Africa which was plagued by famine and disease.
As the Peacekeepers were helping serve food as a NAE setup relief camp, Ezel has walked into the medical section they were not shown. Inside she sees many, very ill and failing people. She hears the almost inaudible whimper of a little boy from a bed across the room, behind a curtain. Ezel crosses and finds the small, very underweight boy too ill to even cry. He has tubes putting nutrition into his body which is too far gone to even use it. Ezel sits for several minutes with the child, holding his frail little hand and rubbing it and whispering sweet words to the child. The boy looks at her with some recognition, but is unable to speak, he breathlessly whispers to her.
Child- You are a Peacekeeper?
Ezel- Yes
A doctor comes in behind Ezel and whispers to her that the child is too far gone and he will die soon as evident by his inability to cry and his labored breathing.
Ezel then realizing the terminal illness of this child and the others in this tent becomes terrified. She runs out and seeks out Equinox. She runs to him as he is serving a woman and her children food and pulls him away.
Ezel- You must come with me. There are very ill people here, people who will die if you don't help them!
Equinox follows Ezel to the Terminal tent and when they get there they find that the little boy has already passed away.
Doctor- He passed as soon as you left.
Ezel drops to the ground crying for the boy who only reminds her of her sister, Willamina. Equinox comforts her and then he gathers his energy and proceeds to aid the healing of the ill. Unable to totally heal a person, he promotes the road to recovery.
Even with the recovery of some 127 people due to the aid from Equinox before the Peacekeepers are shipped off to the next country and city, Ezel is plagued by the memory of the child she was unable to help save. She is angered that they weren?t informed of the critically ill upon coming there. Equinox shares her disgust for the deception. He and Ezel then make a pact to visit the hospitals of each place they go to and visit and help the ill there.
While this promise seems to ease Ezel's over compensation for her guilt, she soon takes on strange behavior. Ezel draws several sketches of the child?s face and then the faces of the other people who fell to misfortune. She cuts out photos of Willamina and with the drawings, she begins to construct a wall of "Cruelty of Life?
The wall grows over a period and is soon layer upon layer of horrible images. Images from history of murder, disease and other sufferings. This wall soon concerns Tempo and she tells the others about it. When the others view it they are broken to tears.
Fire- It is so sadly...Beautiful.
As Crystal and Anoki look a it they are disgusted by the raw imagery and provoked to sadness upon discovering a image of Willamina amongst the hundreds of images. Epic is so appalled by the horrible images that he becomes sick and dashes to the bathroom. Crystal and Anoki give Ezel a harsh look and sit in a corner silently. Rhythm though a bit curious soon sees too much and joins Epic in the rest room. Union looks at the images with the hate of bad art. Polo reads her face and then focus? on the image that offends the others the most of all.
A drawing of Willamina lying on her bed after she had died.
Polo- Why did you draw her death?
Ezel- Because I wanted to express it. All these years Anoki and Crystal have been the only ones allowed to have emotions over the matter and I have feeling about it too. Willamina was also my sister, even if I wasn't as close to her as the secretive telepaths were. Her death had a strong effect on all of us do not deny that.
Equinox- Don't treat her memory in this way. She may be dead, but we want to remember her short life, not her death!
Polo- It is like you are tearing open old wounds. I don?t understand.
Ezel- (crying) She was my sister! I loved her and she haunts me in my memories.
Equinox- How do you think I feel on the matter... I... I have the power to help heal people, but I couldn't save her when she was sick... How do you think I feel?... Huh?.... Huh!! That child died and I wasn?t able to save him just like I couldn't save Willamina. No one could save Willamina and the same for the little boy, it was just too late. WE CANNOT ALTER THE PAST!
Ezel- Am I so helpless... Remember that I pushed a man to his death!
Anoki- Shut up! It was no ones fault.... You pushed him because he was going to attack one of us. Willamina is dead because she had a poor immune system and NO ONE KNEW! Equinox or even the best medicine couldn't save her, Equinox didn't even have his powers yet, he was a late bloomer. The child at the camp died because his undernourished and sick body just gave out. Think about this... Hundreds of people die in the world every hour due to disease, illness, accidents and violence. We can't save the whole world, no matter what we do, people will die as the law of nature dictates. Equinox may be able to help individuals and groups, but he cannot heal everyone for however much he may want to. Even if all of us had the power to heal, we are only eleven strong and their would still be people who we are unable to help. We are all doing the best we can to help those we can.
I think we should be proud of those we do help and not beat ourselves up over those we are helpless to save. If we breakdown in grief we are useless to those we can help.
Union- Well I hope you will recover from this obsession and come to grips with reality and tear these images down from the wall. As long as those images are in plain view they will continue to haunt you.
Ezel- I put them on the wall because they filled my mind. There was barely room for anything else, but the misery.
Epic and Rhythm reenter the room. Epic had heard the last comment of Ezel.
Epic- I think we all have experienced enough good things in out lives that we can use them as our fuel... I think obsessing on negative things will only destruct you.
Rhythm- We need you to be apart of our team Ezel. Don't let this boy's death be the needle that breaks the camel's back. You can be much stronger that this, I know you can!
Utopia mirrors over the images and is the first to smile above them. Crystal notices his smile and sees his reason and also begins to smile. It soon spreads to Anoki and Union. Ezel becomes insecure about the outburst of the fours laughter, as well do the others. Utopia turns to Ezel seemingly laughing at her.
Utopia- I hope you realize that you have an image of me mislabeled as Rapt (laugh) Where id you get it?
Ezel- The 'Times'
Epic- I guess the NAE supplied it to them?
Utopia- Well (laugh) it isn?t the only wrong image up here.... The Gettysburg Disaster image you have up here (pointing to image) is wrong. Umm, the Gettysburg Disaster never really happened, it was a government cover-up of a new underground complex that was being build... The image was made by computer so that people would stay out of the area, the trees were burnt down and debris spread around, but no one really died, it wasn?t a nuclear accident.
Ezel looks at him with a questioning expression.
Union- Yep! (laugh) It is true!
The others laugh and shake their heads yes.
Ezel- I must have dozed off when we covered that in history class.
Crystal- Well, you'll have to remember to stay awake from now on. Less time running and drawing, more time sleeping at night.
Ezel- You won't let me forget this huh?
Polo- Doubt it!
Ezel chuckles and blushes
Ezel- I guess I have been over thinking the wrong things lately... I?m sorry I had you all so worried about me.
Anoki- If you didn't respond to us, we were going to turn you into the folks for a 'proper punishment'?.
Ezel- Sounds like fun
Equinox- Just because we love ya and want to keep you around... Let me help you take down these pictures, they are creeping me out!
Ezel- Everyone, please help me take down this mess!
The Eleven teens all eagerly tear down the images and crumple them up into balls to be thrown away. Union pockets an image.
