The boy felt the sudden drop and began to yell. He did not know what was happening. He could feel himself accelerating faster and faster. He was beyond scared. Is it another machine? he thought, am I going to die again? Thoughts like these flooded his mind, not letting him think clearly. He began to feel the room get warmer. He panicked, thinking he would burn alive.
After a while, a sudden change in speed. It had shaken the whole box. Now, it felt like it wasn't moving at all. Instead, the boy could barely tell it was moving besides the occasional swinging the box would do. The boy felt calmer but not completely. He still feared what was happening outside of his little coffin. For the last time, the box came to another sudden stop. The impact had severely hurt the boy, but he was alright.
The box made a hissing sound as a gas was released into the box. The boy panicked once again. Nothing happened. Until the box came apart directly in the middle. It had split open to reveal massive pillars of concrete covered in glass.
These monoliths had covered a blue so large the boy could not comprehend it. It was clear the boy was in shock. He looked around slowly, absorbing this overwhelming information like a sponge. Crowds of people walking by each other. Above them flew what the boy could only assume to be the Flighterns, which the boy had learnt about.
They were a means of transportation that relied on a mysterious power to run. The boy had never learnt what it was, and any attempt to reveal more about it was quickly met with torture. These Flighterns could hold around 20 people, making them ideal for public transportation. However, these looked different from the ones the boy knew. The Flighterns the boy was familiar with were shaped like a long rectangle. These were shaped like aquatic animals seemingly swimming through the air.
The boy noticed that the people all looked quite peculiar. Not the people specifically, but their clothing. Everyone besides Lord Desmund had worn a lab coat or protective gear, but here, they had a bizarre amount of colourful clothing in a variety of shapes and patterns. The boy looked at his own clothing, which consisted of a ragged straightjacket, and began to compare himself to the others around him.
He was taught about many things regarding the sciences and other subjects, but he did not know the things ordinary people do.
A girl with short black hair seems to stare at the boy from a distance. She does not seem to want to hide the fact that she is staring. The boy cannot see her clearly from this distance. He is more curious than anything at the moment. It is as if he is high on curiosity. He begins to approach the girl, and she, in turn, does the same. They both walk towards each other, and as they get closer, the boy can make out more details about her.
He can see that she is rather skinny; no particular feature other than her hair and clothing stands out. Her hair is not shorter than the boy's, but it is still too short to reach her shoulder. She wears a peculiar-looking top that shows a large amount of skin. The boy was not accustomed to this clothing, so he stared at her. As they are now almost beside each other. The girl notices his staring, gives him a disgusted look and slaps him across the face. She winces in pain, holding her hand and jumping, while the boy's face turns red slightly, and he holds his cheek. It was not particularly painful for the boy; however, the same could not be said about the girl.
"UGHH! YOU BASTARDD!!" she shouts, "THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT MY CHEST FOR?!"
The boy, confused, points at her chest and says, "Strange".
This infuriates as well as embarrasses the girl, so she places her hands over her chest and screams at the boy, "FUCK YOU PERVERT!".
The boy doesn't know what is happening. The fact that he is unfazed by the girl's insults infuriates her even more.
"Your clothing is strange", he says shyly.
The girl appears to understand now.
"Oh, I'm sorry for overreacting," she says sincerely, "I'm Rane, and you?"
The boy is stunned; nobody had asked him for his name before. He doesn't even have a proper name.
"Subject - 29 Codename: Illogic", the boy says emotionless, as if programmed into him.
The girl is surprised, "I know that, but what's your real name?".
The boy doesn't say anything; he doesn't know what he should say. After all, that is the only name he ever knew. She seemed to understand.
The boy was still in awe of this new world around him, but they had no time for that now. Rane grabbed his arm and began to quickly walk. The boy struggled to keep up whilst avoiding the flood of people. He tailed behind Rane as she led him around many corners and past many huge buildings. In the distance, he saw a massive golden dove. It looked to be made entirely of metal. It stood outside the largest building in the area. It was white as snow with gold accompanying many of the buildings' features.
The boy knew this building; it was the Royal Palace. It used to house members of the Royal Family, but now it is a meeting place for all the Lords of the country. The Royal Family had been dead for quite some time, so the building was repurposed.
As they approached this spectacle, Rane had told him that they would use that dove to get to Ind. Is that a Flightern as well? he thought.
As they got closer to the dove, the boy could make out the words, "Lord Desmund" on the side. He knew now for certain that it was the personal transport of Lord Desmund.
As if from nowhere, the side of the dove began to disappear so that they could enter. This dove was very large; it had seats for 30 people. Still held firmly by Rane, they sat down inside the dove. Once they were inside, the door had closed, and Rane let go of the boy.
"How about I give you a name then?" she asks.
The boy nods.
"You'll be called Dante then, it means everlasting in the ancient tongues", she says, excitedly.
"O-okay!" the boy replied, happy to have received a name.
The boy begins to grow fond of Rane. He begins to trust her. Dante, surprisingly, asks her a question.
"H-how old are you?" he asks carefully, trying not to annoy her.
"I'm 16, same as you," she says, smiling at him.
This makes the boy happy as he has never interacted with somebody his age before. However, it's not like he knew he wanted to interact with someone his age after all, he didn't really have many things he wanted. Until now, all he wanted was solid food and to stop being hurt. Truly, the simplest of desires.
Seemingly, they take off from the ground. The luxurious interior leaves Dante speechless. he thought it looked remarkably pretty.
"My room looks nothing like this", he said, completely unaware that he had spoken out loud.
The girl simply looks at him with pity.
Once they are high enough above the ground, they begin to accelerate. It is a steady acceleration. The boy feels the increase in speed, but it does not make him uncomfortable.
They are now soaring through the sky, and the floor becomes transparent. They can both see the ground below their feet. At first, this scared the boy, and he clings to his seat, but he looks at Rane and understands there is nothing to panic about. So he calms himself.
A voice calls out to them.
"Arriving in one minute", it says.
The boy is startled by this unfamiliar voice. Rane holds his hand to reassure him.
Suddenly, the world around them had changed for a moment. They witnessed a completely different landscape. The sky was a crimson shade, and the clouds were a dark grey. They saw what looked to be a battle, but it was not like any battle they knew of. The soldiers wore plate armour and had shields and swords. Outdated means of combat, means that were only in textbooks. This change was so sudden that they could not get a clear look at what was going on before all returned to normal. Rane and the boy both looked at each other, both of them scared. They looked at each other as if to confirm that they had both seen the same thing, which indeed they did. They gripped each other's hands more tightly than before to reassure each other.
It happened again, the scene had changed once again around 10 times in the span of a single second. They begin to descend. Both Rane and Dante are panicking, unsure of what is happening. Rane looks at Dante skeptically as if she suspects him. But the look of fear on Dante's face assures her he cannot be responsible. They land smoothly, and the dove opens, revealing lush green fields with a beautiful blue sky and the fluffiest of clouds. They get up from their seats slowly, still holding each other's hands, and walk slowly to the exit. Dante takes the first step out of the dove. The instant that his foot touches the soil, the world transforms instantly 9 times in the span of no time at all. They both flinch. They take another step, 8 times the world's switch. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and with another final step, they do not switch back to the landscape they had known moments ago. Dante slowly turns to look at Rane, who is slightly behind him.
"Did the golden dove fly away?" he mumbles to himself.
Rane hears him and turns instantly. Her eyes open wide, and her mouth hangs open in shock. It had completely vanished. There was no trace of the golden dove anywhere. The lush green fields they saw moments ago were replaced by a desolate wasteland. There was no grass beneath their feet, nor was there any sign of life besides a few birds in the sky. A crimson sun beamed down on them, but it was not warm. Quite the opposite, it was cold. They stood there confused before Rane had collected her thoughts and began to look for something. She let go of Dantes's hand, which scared him slightly, and began to rummage through the ash. She found a few small sticks.
"Help me look for these, please", she says calmly.
Her levelheadedness unnerves the boy slightly. But he agrees and begins to rummage through the ashes well. Although it seemed like a wasteland, it was not empty; occasionally, you would find scrap metal, worn armour and weapons. Rane had picked up a small hunting knife she had found along with its sheath and kept it in her top between her breasts. The boy found this unusual, very unusual. After a while of searching the ground, they had collected a large pile of sticks and other things they could burn. Of course, the boy had asked nonstop if you could burn certain things because he was unfamiliar with many of them. He had never actually touched sticks or dirt; he only learned about them.
In addition to the many sticks they had found, they found a few canisters of water. Some of them were broken and had only a small amount of water in them, but they would do. They were extremely cold. Dante had had an idea: if they could find a way to light the sticks, they needed to also build a form of shelter. He recommended that they pile up some of the ash and dirt in a circle and leave a space to get in. They could build this pile high enough not to be blown over by the wind when sitting down. They could pour some water on the ash and dirt, and he mud could harden. Then, in the middle, they could create a small fire.
"What about drinking water then?" she asks.
Dante says they should be close to Ind, so they should head there tomorrow, as it was nearly nightfall.
The two had built the peculiar shelter that Dante described, and it worked to an extent.
"What about the fire?" Dante asks.
"I've got it covered," Rane replied confidently.
She held out her right arm close to the small pile of sticks they had placed in the middle and whispered something under her breath. Dante couldn't make the words out, so he just watched. A small glowing ball had appeared above her palm. She rolled it off her palm and into the pile of sticks. Flames erupted from the pile and grew immensely large before almost instantly settling down. They now had a calm flame to keep them warm.
Dante was in disbelief, "How did you do that?" It defied all the reasoning and logic Dante tried to apply.
Rane had deflected the question, "We should move closer to each other to preserve body heat.".
Dante agreed and shuffled towards her. It was dark now. The moon was blue and large, but it looked similar to the one they knew; in fact, the only difference they could make out was the size. It was a clear night, one where you could see all the stars clearly.
"I've never seen the stars before," Rane said to Dante quietly, as if she didn't want to disturb the peace they had found in this time of crisis and panic.
Dante slowly turns his head towards her and looks at her, admiring the view above. He remembers he had the same look when he looked down on the planet and the stars. He feels captivated by that look. Dante feels a level of safety he has never known before, even though they are in an unfamiliar place. He stares at the reflections of the stars in her dark eyes; he can feel himself floating away into them. He doesn't mind, however, which he finds strange.
"So pretty", he says, not with lust but with affection.
"I know, the moon and the stars are like nothing I've ever seen before", she replied, completely dazzled by the sky, unaware that the words were directed at her.
She smiles.
Although he can only see half of her face sitting beside her, he can feel its beauty.
What is this feeling? He thinks, puzzled by his own heart.
He wants to touch her face, but past trauma resurfaces. The trauma of him being beaten and degraded for the smallest mistakes. He decides not to for fear of it happening again.
So they both stare at their respective beauties.
Today was truly strange; it was his last thought before falling asleep on the shoulder of Rane, who in turn fell asleep on the head of Dante.