On the Ruth's ship, and within her palace. Inside the dining hall, her guard, Aven is seated beside her table. Alecia sits beside him, with Lumina sitting across them.The large hall surrounding the four, is silent. Only the muffling sound of the rain-storm is heard outside. The scent of freshly cooked food, still filling their nostrils. They all sit still, with Ruth moving her gaze between Aven, and Alecia. "Can someone answer my question?" Ruth asked, with a frownful gaze at them, and looks straight at her sister."What is it?" She asked again, her eyes train to her daughter, only for the young girl to look away and continues eating.Beeds of sweat form on Alecia's forehead, only for one of them to stream down her temple, and moves along her cheek.Her hand trembling above the plate of food, eyes flickering. "R-Raine..." she said, urging Ruth to stare at her with a frown. "The gin... She's free." Aven narrows his gaze. He leans his elbow on the table with his hand near his face
On a beautiful-almost serene-afternoon, with a clear cerulean sky, the sunlit skyscrapers flaunted the city's brilliance."You have been there, haven't you?" a woman's ominous voice said."A world where the inhabitants go against each other for territory. There'd be peace and war once more, a never-ending cycle. They'd continue until the journey to the stars."A rocket launched into the high atmosphere and eventually into space."However," she continued. "All things must end."Appeared from the void of space was an enormous ship; the rocket got crushed by the mothership as it collided into it. The ship shot a projectile into the atmosphere of the planet that left behind a trail of fire.It created a massive collision near the city, and in its wake was an atomic explosion of radiation and superheated clouds of hot gas and ash that engulfed the entire city as it got wiped out in an instant.The ship ignited a few more projectiles, craving to end all of life.Decades later, hot ash still
"I can help you gather supplies if you are in need," said Evie, heading down the ash hill before her.Alecia trailed behind it while keeping eyes on her surroundings. Clouds of dust formed underneath her white boots with each step she took, making it dirty.A soft, ricocheting sound rippled through a narrow alleyway. She walked close enough to examine where it came from and found a plastic sheet manipulated by a gentle breeze."Alecia," Evie called from behind her. She turned her attention to her companion. "These supplies will put your strength back to normal."-Alecia and Evie were on the first floor of a dilapidated building. Sitting cross-legged on a wooden floor, she stared through the crack on the wall and viewed the city down below, a gust of contaminated air blowing on her silver hair."I didn't realize I was so hungry," Alecia said with a chuckle. Her smile quickly faded as her eyes narrowed at the two men walking side-by-side in the distance, pulse quickening at the sight o
Alecia pushed herself off the ground and staggered towards the doorway. Rubbing the sleep off of one eye, she found Evie near the entrance as she stepped out of the building."Hello again," Alecia greeted.Evie remained strangely silent, and she, with her eyes locked on Evie, moved next to it."What are you doing?" she asked, waving her hand over Evie's eyes.Its hand materialized a sharp-edged weapon. Alarmed, Alecia backed away, never leaving her eyes at the metal."Stay back," said Evie, an unusual, ominous tone to its robotic voice, which made Alecia's eyes widen a fraction."We're in danger."Her pulse quickened at the mention of danger, gaze frantically grazing around the area, adamant to find the imperilment her companion spoke of."We're surrounded," warned Evie.Alecia stepped back, her arms stiff, and intertwined her sweating fingers."What do we do?" she asked, looking around and searching for an escape route, but all she saw were debris, wreckage, and destruction."Get bac
Falling into a never-ending abyss, Alecia's breathing increased rapidly as she watched the light dimmed out. As soon as she closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable end, rough voices growled and dominated her head."She's one of them!""This is for all the people who have died because of you.""I'm different.""I thought you'd understand."In a snap, she became weightless, along with the calm breeze guiding around her entire body. Alecia pried open her eyes to find herself no longer slipping endlessly, but hovering above the ground, transparent blue flames keeping her in a fixed position. It delicately descended her to the ground and disintegrated away into nothing.She struggled to keep herself up-just standing upright was a difficult task for her-and roamed her eyes around the unfamiliar area."Oh, Evie," she murmured with a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry."She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh, and when she opened them, a thick fog surrounded her. Slow and steady, she stumbled to th
Alecia and Wallace entered the house and headed into a room; its dark-brown walls gave off a natural vibe. The bookshelf packed with books of all sorts stood against the wall that faced the doorway. Alecia thought it odd for the other bookshelf to contain fewer books."Just take a seat there," Wallace said, pointing to a chair. She strode towards it and watched Wallace limp towards the desk and lean his back against it."This is my office." The man looked around the room with pride as he leaned on his cain."I do all of my research here." He twisted into a smile. "Of course it's pretty pointless now."Alecia fiddled through her hair, which didn't escape the old man's notice."If I remember correctly, your hair used to have a dark shade of black to it, and I see it's no longer that way. It might be due to the tank.""Wasn't it something called radiation?" Alecia asked, deliberately."No, radiation couldn't enter that tank," he said, confidence etched on his face. "You're pretty clever
The curious individuals strode near the ruins of a large built-in fountain."Isn't that weird, how it has an infant with wings?" she said, standing in front of it, scrutinizing the statue, her arms crossed. "It looks like it's blowing the palm of its own hand.""Seems that way," he said, moving beside her, and typed something on the device on his wrist, light reflecting his face."What a weird idol," she said, stroking her chin with a tilt of her head. "No, it's too basic to be an idol.""It might only be an art form," he said with a reasonable tone while he continued typing."Is that so?" She frowned and roamed around the fountain, meeting his gaze. "What are you doing?""Just logging our time spent here." He took a look at her and back on the screen."Do we have to do it?" She perched on the fountain wall."Yes," he glowered at her, "we do."Scowling, he rolled his eyes. "We need to keep record where we are and how we got here."He stopped typing and lowered his arms. "We are very f
"Where did you come from?" The settler led them up the hill entrapped by buildings built from various scraps."Well," Aven hesitated, "we've journeyed from the East, I guess.""Oh, yes." The settler nodded. "I heard stories about the ruins of that city Eleanorah.""Interesting," said Leah sarcastically. Aven turned to her; she ignored his stare as they followed the settler into the path headed in a large yard, surrounded by multitudinous buildings. In the middle, a group of settlers swarmed around a campfire, the flame flickering on."Here're some travelers!" announced the settler. When they reached the gathered group, some of the settlers turned to look at them, unreadable expressions on their faces; some appeared to be suspicious."Ah, yes, travelers," said a man among the group. "You know we don't let anyone in here, right?" The man stood and faced the settler.Leah chuckled and mumbled to Aven, "He's bald."Aven hissed at her. "I'm trying to listen.""What's this?" inquired the