Julius was stopped dead in his tracks; his technique faded in an instant as they all heard the massive sound of an explosion. It raptured through the air, shattering windows in a giant radius. The songs of screams in the thousands only made the situation even more chaotic.
However, instead of having even the slightest hint of shock, Julius only sighed. Boredom was painted across his face instead of any surprise or worry. He took a sigh and held a fist towards Miyuki and Elijah.
“Tch, you’re lucky. I’ll be back for you later.” Julius pulled a face as he ran off.
His speed was unmatched; they stared in disbelief, knowing that it was the unfortunate explosion of the palace that fortunately led to them surviving another day. Miyuki also took a sigh, feeling the weight of her life drop as she relaxed with a deep breath.
“What just happened?” Miyuki questioned, in between a series of breaths.
“That was the same guy from the palace.” Elijah answered as he pieced together the odd blue-haired person from the palace.
“Also sounds like this rebellion started. I don’t even get why to start a rebellion. Surely just beheading all of them would work better!” Miyuki wondered, although she was expecting something back from Elijah. He chose to just ignore the nonsense she was spitting out.
An aura filled the atmosphere that couldn’t be explained. An overwhelming fear of dread, one that could drive a regular person insane. It was suffocating, like someone had a tight clutch on your lungs.
“Do you feel this, Elijah?!” Miyuki stammered out, worried about what was happening.
“Yeah. This is strange.” Elijah replied as he was managing his breaths. Elijah tried to shake this feeling of dread off by taking deep breaths. It was a strategy that everyone knew, but it still worked surprisingly well.
This intense aura was broken with another explosion; this time, not just one, several explosions erupted from the palace with a loud bang, and the sky was lit with an orange blaze as they dissipated into the sky. The both of them knew that something or someone had happened.
“That too. If Itzozu and Asher were here, then he could’ve just left. We just can’t have anything easy, huh? Hell, even if they were here, something else would’ve happened.” Elijah complained.
“If they were here, then that guy would’ve come back as well. Though, Itzozu could probably deal with him.” Miyuki followed with confidence.
Elijah flicked a pistol around his finger. It was clear that Elijah wasn’t catching Miyuki’s confidence; instead, he just watched the handgun spin around in his hand. Miyuki looked at Elijah and realised that he was in deep thought.
He was violently jolted out of his deep thoughts by a loud creak as steam emanated from the car’s engine. They stared at each other in disbelief, realising what had happened in the fight.
Upon reflection, during the Julius fight. He only made attacks towards the car’s direction. It wasn’t just random like they thought, but calculated. His entire intention of fighting both of them was to sabotage their way out.
“Shit.” Elijah panicked; as he ran towards the front, he attempted to lift it, but his hand jolted back. His palm turned a bright red as he burnt his hand on the car. He gulped and quickly attempted to force it open.
In one swift move, the front was opened and revealed only steam; it was enough to know that this car was now beyond saving. On top of that, Elijah leaned forward and noticed sparks flying out. He looked at Miyuki.
“It’s been sabotaged.” Elijah sighed, defeated.
“Goddamn it! We are never leaving this horrible, terrible place! Is this divine revenge!? Have we crossed someone!!” Miyuki shouted, throwing a temper tantrum. She stamped her feet on the ground, creating a dust cloud that could sweep someone away.
“We played straight into him, huh. Maybe we could find Augustus—” Elijah wondered but was abruptly cut off.
“He’s long gone by now! It’s over for us. We’ll die here and never be remembered!!” Miyuki interrupted.
“Huh. Augustus was adamant that we would meet again.” Elijah thought to himself.
Elijah reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He held it high in the air, swinging it from left to right. “What are you doing?” Miyuki asked, confused. “Trying to get a signal. It’s gone.” Elijah frantically replied, still desperately trying to get a phone signal.
“It’s no use...” he exhaled.
As if she had a sixth sense, Miyuki gave a side eye to where the palace used to be (before the explosion.). It was like her ears perked up and focused on the sounds. “The panic has died down... Still sounds like chaos, but… not as much as earlier, Miyuki told Elijah.
Truth be told, he was honestly surprised that Miyuki could even do that. How she could hear from what must’ve been a kilometre or more. “Is that her innate ability?” Elijah thought to himself.
“Should we head over to the explosion? Maybe Itzozu and Asher need my grand help!” Miyuki laughed. “Our.” Elijah corrected Miyuki, not allowing her to take all the credit.
Elijah takes a long sigh while looking towards the palace. He visualised the explosion, imagining all the people screaming and running. He was worried about Asher and Itzozu. He was yet again in deep thought about his actions.
“Probably the safe bet.” Elijah replied, breaking his chain of thoughts.
Quickly, the both of them departed from the alleyway, saying sayonara to the car, as they now needed to think of another plan. They rushed through the streets, dodging and weaving through all obstacles, whether that be people or objects.
Without warning, massive pieces of buildings began to crumble; the stone sounded like it roared as it threatened to crash down onto the streets. Several more explosions were happening all around the city, not that much weaker than the one at the palace. They could hear the sound of glass shattering as a shockwave reached them and swept them off their feet.
They fell and tripped down several flights of stairs; they tumbled and felt their bodies ache as they were slammed down onto each step, and they bore the intense impact. Miyuki had spirals in her eyes, and she was in a complete daze. “Why… what the hell is happening!!” Miyuki shouted, coming back to her senses.
Elijah held his back, struggling to even get up. He was dazed, and his back was shrieking in pain. “I already have back pain…” Elijah cried out; he bit his lip, a slight trail of crimson bleeding out, and then stood up through the searing pain.
“Is this the rebellion everyone was talking about?! And we’re missing out on the action!” Miyuki shouted as she leaned into his ear; the crashes of rubble drowned out most noise, resulting in them shouting.
“This IS the action! We need to get Asher and Itzozu!” Elijah shouted before grabbing Miyuki’s hand and running.
Miyuki slaps Elijah’s hand away and continues running on her own. They both were stopped when they heard something that only spelt out what they were saying.
“WARNING: THE FORTRESS IS UNDER SIEGE. REMAIN INSIDE!” shouted a frantic man; their voice was panicked and raspy, and it sounded like they had just run a marathon. Their voice did nothing but make everyone restless. Accompanying the warning was an alarm that threatened to make everyone deaf.
“Hahaha! These people think we need warnings! , screw that they’re for the weak.” Miyuki triumphantly shouted. “I think they’re for the people living here…” Elijah told her, hopelessly.
Dozens of armed soldiers flooded the streets, armed with guns and armour that was specialised in defusing techniques before they hit the person. More and more soldiers came through, like it was a never-ending wave. “What?! Where is this rebellion?” Miyuki questioned angrily before she was answered.
The palace erupted in a massive explosion; the intense heat from the explosion could be felt from the whole of the city. The smoke that emanated from the palace was akin to a supervolcano erupting. This explosion was the biggest one they had ever seen.
Miyuki got on top of Elijah’s shoulders; he struggled to keep her weight as he was confused on what was going on. “What are you doing?!” He shouted, “Scouting.” Miyuki simply replied. From then, she commanded Elijah to keep running.
She pointed towards the crowd of people gathered from outside of the ruined palace. “Itzozu is there!!” She shouted as she spotted the familiar red locks of hair. Miyuki jumps off Elijah as they both run towards Itzozu.
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They dodged, pushed, and shoved the crowd as they darted towards the people head-on. Eventually, they reached the red-haired man.
“The hell were you guys?” Elijah asked.
“Did you see any of the action?!” Miyuki shouted with sparks in her eyes, grabbing Itzozu’s pale green jacket.
“So much happened. The whole palace was incinerated. We had guards sweep the whole city, and many people were restless.” Itzozu sighed.
“Tell me about it; some prince charming destroyed our getaway.” Elijah replied.
Someone else poked out from the crowd; their twintails were unmistakable, and the way they carried themselves made it obvious who it was.
“We’re just finding parts before the palace blows up! Then some guy ran past us calling himself Julius.” Asher interjected.
“It’s the same damn guy! This guy keeps fucking all our plans up! He’ll meet the end of my blade soon,” Miyuki yelled.
Itzozu walked towards Miyuki and slowly moved his hand towards her. Then like a cat carrying its young. Itzozu grabs Miyuki by the neck of her jacket, lifting her up with ease, much to Miyuki's dismay.
“Ah! Unhand me at once! Damn it, Itzozu, we can’t let this guy leave; he must pay for the sins of crossing us.”
“Sure we can. Just gotta leave before he catches us again.” Itzozu laughed, humorously, at Miyuki’s attempt to resolve this situation, even if it was a much more difficult way.
“Huh!!? Then what happens if he does catch us?” Miyuki snaps back.
“Well … we’ll find out if he does.” Itzozu winks.
“Oh! Right, Me and Asher found an SUV, which looked armoured too. If our getaway is broken, then this could be another way out.” Itzozu told the friends.
“That’s our ticket. Let’s get to it.” Elijah replied.
Miyuki and Elijah followed Asher and Itzozu as they ran towards the location of the SUV. There were massive groups of people crowding all the streets. More strikes smashed into the streets, creating large pockets of smoke that blocked their vision. Raging fire swept the entire city, making it resemble more like hell than a city. People screamed and also ran in a futile attempt to escape the fire.
The garage was right in their views; they desperately attempted to pry the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. Miyuki kicked it as hard as possible, but it seemed like kicking wasn’t working either. There was an electric keypad on the side of the door, which Elijah quickly noticed.
“I’ll get it open,” Elijah decided as he walked to the other side of the garage. The keypad had a black and blue interface, like it was straight out of a 2000s sci-fi movie. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a device that resembled a remote with a port.
He shoved the remote into the lock; after a bunch of strange noises, it was unlocked. Elijah gave a slight laugh.
“Wha? Huh? Elijah, what is that?” Asher questioned.
“Honestly, I'm not sure myself. It’s from an old friend. He said it could bypass electronics?” Elijah replied.
“Oh! It might be because they use a special crystal with a technique.” Asher confidently exclaimed.
“How the hell do you even know that?” Miyuki questioned.
“Ehehe, I had some free time in that apartment. It’s a book called ‘Electronics and Imbuement’ if you're interested!” Asher boasted, “Nah.” Miyuki replied.
“Yeah, I should've expected that.” Asher sighed, defeated.
“No time for a little chat. Let’s get outta here,” rushed Elijah.
He pulled the device out of the keypad and gave the garage door a little knock. The garage opened immediately with a strong force. They all saw a cloud of dust escape; it was obvious that no one had been in here for a while.
It was pitch black inside, the only light coming from Asher as she cast a light technique. They ventured deep within, each step echoing throughout the garage, every surface the light shone on was plastered with dust, a thick trail that left a collection of dust on your finger.
As the orange, warm light slowly revealed small pockets of the room, they noticed several artefacts. Asher picked one up, feeling the ice-cold artefact in her hands. It was a golden book with various languages inscribed into the centre around a circle; the circle seemed to be an ancient interpretation of the world. “Oooh! It’s from the Saint Era…” She exclaimed before whispering. “How on Vesta do you know that?!” Miyuki whispered back. “This one here. It’s El’ Heilige, an ancient language spoken by Elves during the Saint Era.” Asher explained while pointing to the strange text.
Asher had always been heavily into history. Her room was covered with stacks of history books that reached the roof. She had also been a publisher of a book with a new revelation about the Saint, a book called “Alheit. The Saint’s Truth,” which became a hit among the local cities in the northern lands.
“You sure know a lot…” Miyuki sighed, again looking at Asher as if she were a massive nerd. “Hey!! I just read a lot of history, okay?!” Asher snapped back, and they both started shouting at each other, not making any coherent sense and instead devolving into a shouting match of petty insults. They both stopped when Itzozu tapped both of their shoulders.
He pointed towards the ground; all three of them looked down to see a huge trail of wires; they twisted together and piled towards the end of the garage room. From the small light, they could make out that the wires didn't have a discernible colour; each one seemed to be black or grey.
Not so carefully, they approached the end of the room; there was a wooden door at the end with a trail of wires leading underneath and a strange blue glow emanating from under. Miyuki held her ear towards the door; she could make out several beeps and the sound of a fan. The sound resembled an old computer.
With the grip of the handle, Elijah flung the door open, and he slowly peered into the room. It was completely covered in wires, like it was moss and vines growing. The room was tiny, with only enough room for a table and computer; the computer had fallen onto its side, caving into the table. They stepped into the room; each step creaked as they walked on the wires.
Elijah leaned forward, cocking his head. He gave the computer an examination before coming to the conclusion it was from the 2000s. Elijah approached it even closer, carefully grabbing each side, his hands steady as he lifted it the correct way. It left out a loud thud as it slammed back onto the table, now in the correct rotation.
The rest of the friends leaned into the computer; the computer was sending out a message in three languages. It was on repeat… Who could this message be for? The computer made all sorts of noises like an analogue TV with a bad signal as it spewed out the same message. Time and time again.
“KEIKOKU, CNVR KZ HJK KK, “ Was the first part of the message, the start of it was in Soran, and then letters that didn’t add up. The friends stared at each other before Miyuki spoke up. “Keikoku means warning in Soran,” Miyuki educated the group. “WHERE THE PORES OF VESTA LEAK, UPROOT, DRIP, AND WHERE THE MALICE SPREADS ITS VILE TRUTH” The rest of the message followed.
“Where the pores of Vesta leak, and where the malice spreads its vile truth…?” muttered Elijah, rereading the message. Suddenly, something clicked.
“Isn’t that referring to the Zeno Disaster…?” Elijah wondered.
“I’ve heard of that. Sectaris got into hot shit in the 90s. Something happened; whatever it could’ve been, they covered it up, and the entire city was evacuated, and no one could return. I heard about it while I was returning home for a vacation, Miyuki realised, recalling a bit of information from nearly 8 years ago.
“I don’t recall it that well, but 5 years ago, there was an interview with a survivor of the Zeno Disaster. She said, and I quote: ‘In my dreams… In my vision, it’s always there. I see that city, Zeno. It’s where the malice spreads,’ or something like that?” Elijah recalled. They put the small pieces of information together.
“So it was a signal to Zeno, and Keikoku means warning then… Was this a warning before the Zeno Disaster happened?!” concluded Asher.
The Zeno Disaster was a massive event that shocked the entire planet to the core, the evacuation of a city among the top 10 biggest. Millions of people were displaced. Yet there was never an answer as to why. Sure, theories and conspiracies had some standing in Sora, yet nothing was ever proven. It was a massive cover-up. Whatever happened that day, Sectaris knows the answers, and they may know how to reach Orion too.
That long message that kept playing had abruptly stopped, right before the second part of it had been relayed. Instead, a new message took its place. In bright red text with an ominous glow that lit the entire room with a menacing red. “Three cards to enter hell.” The message stated. There was nothing else, no new message; it did not even repeat the message. It was stuck there; it had burnt itself into the screen.
An aura of dread penetrated the garage, as if whatever they decided, all paths would’ve led to “Hell,” whether it was actual hell or just a metaphor for the malice that was about to unfold. An uncontrollable fear set deep into their hearts, one that they could barely notice.
They took a brief moment to piece together their thoughts. This warning was meant for Zeno, but the message now was an eerie, confused mess. This message didn’t make sense like the others; it wasn’t directed at the people like the other message. What good would telling random civilians to enter hell be? It was a message for someone else… It was guiding them.
“It’s Sectaris. An old friend was an Ørsen, the family that owns Sectaris…The major sites required three access cards held by three people to enter to prevent a breach or something. They even made the employees live at the sites.” Elijah confidently stated.
“Zeno was a major site. It could be pointing there.” Itzozu wondered to himself.
“Agh! Do we have to go to Sora? Y’know I’ve had a godawful time there!” Miyuki shouted, stamping one of her feet onto the ground.
“Sorry, Miyu, but if it’s pointing to Zeno… Not only could we uncover the truth, but maybe we could also get answers for Orion!” Asher reassured to no success.
“Yeah, ‘course you’d wanna ‘uncover the truth,’” mocked Miyuki.
“So we need three cards. Great, any idea who has them?” Itzozu asked.
“All I know is Dr. Grayson has one. He’s one of those hotshot millionaires. He invested in Sectaris when they were founded, and, well… Now he has a lot of disposable income and a keycard.” Elijah replied, sharing all the knowledge he could give.
They all walked out of the room, not so carefully stepping on the wires, and they headed to where Itzozu found the SUV; it was fully black, with tinted windows that didn’t dare to let light in. It was also incredibly armoured.
Quickly, they all hopped into the SUV, not wanting to waste any more time as the revolution continued outside. Elijah carefully hotwired the vehicle, revving the engine as they made their high-speed getaway.
As the vehicle picked up speed, it crashed through a gate, also destroying a sign that pointed to the palace. Everyone quickly darted out of the way of the killing machine. They spotted Julius outside.
Miyuki rolled the window down with haste, waving to Julius. “Haha!! We’re out of your terrible place! Have with this revolution!” She shouted at him. She laughed like a maniac as his expression turned to a pure, burning anger. With that, they left Chthonia and joined back onto the road.
Several hours had passed. The time was now three in the morning. All the friends wanted to sleep; Miyuki slouched in the car, her blue hair tangled in all sorts of ways with even heavier eye bags than normal. She gave a long yawn, which set off a chain reaction of yawns.
Outside of the armoured behemoth was a small gas station, and there was Itzozu, who filled the vehicle with gas. There was also Asher, who had just walked out of the gas station holding various assortments of candy, chips, and other snacks. Somehow, Asher was the only one who didn’t look like they were moments away from death.
Nothing else was outside, no trees, no buildings. Just the highway, signs, and a random gas station. The bright, blinding light of the station seared into Miyuki’s eyes. The signs pointed towards Rho’vassa, a settlement in the Central Sanctuary on the border between the Eastern Union.