Welcome to Panceia

Chapter word count: 2359

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Stagnant.

A lifeless body laid before him. It laid before the steps leading up to the station he was told to ride.

It was meant to bring him to his fate, whatever that was.

Walking past the corpse he sees a few more, some looking as if they tried running away. But he knew better.

Escape was impossible.

Reaching the top of the steps he stood on the platform of this elevated transport station.

Right on cue, a modernized train entered into view on the tracks. It slowly rolled until its doors were adjacent to the only living being in view, the man who had just reached the platform.

The train, almost like a futuristic subway, opened its doors and a neon sign on the windows lit up.

“Enter.” 

The man hesitated, he knew that his fate was already sealed but he couldn’t accept it readily.

There was no other option that he could get away with. He looked down the rails and saw no end in sight, even though it was a skytrain that was built far above the ground level.

It’s either dying here or entering the skytrain. So enter, he did.

The doors closed behind, trapping him inside.

Even though he couldn’t have made any other decision, being physically trapped made him far more anxious.

As the train departs it instantly picks up speed.

It begins traversing the empty, ruined land beneath.

There were no rail guards or other safety measures, it’s just the skytrain and the thin tracks it runs on.

It ran at a pace that makes it feel like it could break off the tracks and fall, yet it never does.

From this vantage point the man could see all that remains of Earth. Not an instance of life could be seen, no creatures, no animals, not even any bugs.

And definitely no humans.

What could be seen are human remains, just the human ones. They look as fresh as the moment they perished. No decay, no aging, that’s how it worked in this world.

A world that exacted vengeance against its foolish inhabitants that overstepped their boundaries.

A world that took control back.

A world that punished the sinners that dwelled upon it.

This world is the judge and executioner, and humanity is the condemned.

Had it been hours?

The man couldn’t tell, the brightness of mid-day was unceasing ever since humanity was hunted down.

All that he knew was that his original location was so far behind him that measuring distances didn’t matter. Kilometers? Miles? None of that matters anymore, not in the era.

Eventually, the destination was in sight.

Massively tall, imposing walls that rose beyond the height of the sky train. They seemed to circle around an area, though the man couldn’t tell what was inside. He had never been inside before, after all.

The skytrain approached the walls and began to enter a protruding platform from the walls. Reaching the platform, the train stopped. There were no exits apart from the tracks the train traveled on to get here.

The skytrain’s doors opened and its neon signs glowed red.

“Get off.”

With obviously nothing else that could be done, the man exited the train.

The doors shut behind him and the train began to depart back the way it came.

Looking around there truly was nothing on this platform apart from the floor he was standing on and some lackluster railing. Even though it was connected to the evervast walls there was no entrance to them, no doors, no holes, just nothing.

Just then, a large crash and crumble came from the tracks he had arrived on.

The skytrain’s tracks were crushed and destroyed. The skytrain itself could be viewed falling down and being reduced to rubble. There truly was no escape now.

Somehow, the platform stood still. 

‘No pillars, no tethers. Nothing kept this platform stable at all yet there wasn’t a single shake… I get it now.’

The man turned to look at the wall. “Well,” he nervously started, “get on with it.”

The wall itself rumbled and opened up. It created a tunnel inwards.

Taking a quick look around once more in hopes there was another option, the man walked into the dark tunnel when reconfirming that he has no free will.

After a few steps in he heard the same crashing as he did before, the platform he was on just collapsed. He turns around to see the vast, barren world. It was like staring over the end of a cliff.

Spending a little longer to take in the view, he finally turns back around to walk deeper into the tunnel.

Walking so far deep into the tunnel that light can’t follow him, he reaches a dead end.

Searching around in the dark for a bit, he stumbles on a little pillar extending from the ground.

Feeling it he realized that it was shaped like a chair. Sitting down, he waits there for a moment.

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After a moment, a quick rumbling arrived as he realized that the tunnel was caving in.

He attempts to get up in response to his survival instincts but he was locked in place, the chair morphed to cuff his arms and legs. Struggling yielded no use.

The cave-in of the tunnel stopped right before him, but before he could have a sigh of relief his chair began falling.

The fear of death never escaped him, but now it was amplified and mixed with the fear of the unknown, for even if he were to survive this fall what awaited him next? What laid inside these walls? What fate did the world have for him? All these questions ended when his fall stopped.

He was still alive, and practically unharmed.

The restraints that bound him to the chair were lifted.

Despite being shaken and scared he still got up, for he was more frightened by making the world wait.

The now-familiar rumbling continued as a new path opened up just for him.

With the creation of the path, an exit was created right in front of him. Light began to seep in and blind the man.

Even though he wasn’t away from the light for long he was shrouded by total, absolute darkness. Light could not enter the tunnel.

While blinded by the sudden brightness he trudges towards the light.

Exiting the tunnel and adjusting to the light, he finally sees what the impenetrable walls encircled.

It was a vast city. One that looked a little medieval-esque. It seemed that they did not have the modern technology that humanity had prior to the world’s awakening.

‘A human city? Within these walls? What is this place?’

Welcome to Panceia.

Startled, the man jumped back. A powerful, echoing voice boomed around him. It felt almost like it was coming from inside his mind, almost psychic, almost mental.

But he knew better.

“And what is ‘Panceia’ exactly?”

Your new home.

“You want me to live here peacefully until I die?”

Not at all.

“Then what?”

You’re the last one.

“The last one?”

Don’t ask senseless questions.

“Right…”

Even though it wasn’t stated, the man could infer what was meant.

Don’t think you lasted this long because of yourself.

“...” The man couldn’t respond as his face was colored in fear.

You are the one who shall fulfill my desire.

“...You want me to do some task for you?”

So many questions that’ll be answered another day. For now, explore Panceia.

“Y-You’re giving me time to rest?”

Believe whatever you wish.

Nothing changed, nothing moved. But the man knew that it had left.

The air had grown calmer. The tension died down.

Without being preoccupied with the voice, the man realized he felt a little different now inside the walls.

He felt a strange sense of hunger, not the same hunger he felt eternally outside the walls but one with a slightly different feeling to it.

Ignoring it as he usually did, he could now take in the view of the last remaining human city.

He was standing on a slight hill that rose up and merged into the walls.

This gave him a vantage point where he could view the entirety of the city.

It was quite large, larger than what one would think of for the last human city on Earth. It wasn’t a megalopolis, though.

The end of the city could be seen from this point, spanning from this end of the wall to the other end. But it was still larger than any simple town.

The city was completely encircled by these gigantic walls.

And while the man couldn’t exactly see every detail of the walls, there were no obvious entrances or exits. However, the view of the city itself was still fascinating.

The buildings were a mix of different styles. There were buildings that seemed to have been built before humanity’s downfall.

There were some that were rudimentary built and looked as if they would soon fall apart.

There were buildings that looked like they were made of the same material as the walls surrounding this place, those ones also lacked refinement.

And there were a select few structures that didn’t follow the surrounding architecture at all.

The vast majority of them looked as if they were run down and on the verge of breaking.

The whole city seems as though it was in a medieval era. Torches were being used as light sources, making it seem like the wider city didn’t have electricity.

There were a few exceptions, though. The most notable one was one specific district, that district was brightly lit up.

But despite the overall atmosphere, a handful of structures looked stable and maintained.

Those select few buildings all looked notable and even important.

It might not be prospering but humanity seems to be surviving well enough in here. 

‘Enough dilly dallying. I should enter this ‘Panceia’ now.’

The man began to walk down the dirt path before him down the hill.

Before long he entered the city and began walking upon its paved roads.

There weren’t any notable vehicles in view, it seemed like the populace just walked around.

Rubble littered the outer roads, it's as if a war took place here.

Now at ground level and deep enough past the city’s borders the man could confirm what he saw on the hill.

Torches were indeed being used regularly, especially indoors. There was no sight of any electrical device in use, or even any form of the technology humanity used to utilize. But there was a sizable tower in the distance that was glowing brightly, dazzling lights came off it and more could be seen below. It even had neon signs.

It seemed that was the only district that had access to light, somehow.

There was another notable building, instead of a whole district it was just the building itself that was noteworthy. It was a huge monumental tower, different in shape and far larger and taller than the one in the lit up district. It was stationed in the middle of the city, so it was also a ways away from where the man currently stood. 

*Crash*

While the man was gazing around, a commotion was taking place not that far from him.

Interrupting him, he decides to check it out.

A small crowd surrounded the source.

It was a fight. However, the man was late.

The battle had just ended.

There were knives stuck to a wall and some small rubble around. The wall undoubtedly had a new dent in it, and some pink thing was stuck to some parts of it.

Surveying the area some more, there was a nearby building which had its front door destroyed, leaving an opening in the wall. It appears the fight took place inside there as the door’s crumbling frame had the same pink goo around it. Further down the street another building had a glaring hole in its second floor wall, which was no doubt a recent addition.

Back to what the crowd was circling, a man’s body was on the ground severely bleeding, but not dead.

Above him stood a different man, with his arm covered in a pink, sticky substance. It appears to be bubblegum. He had one eye closed and was just as injured and bloodied.

The fallen man had multiple pockets on his clothing, some of them were ripped open, none of them seemed to have anything in them. The one standing began to announce to the fallen one.

“And stay down!”

The man who was already bleeding out on the ground was seemingly crushed downwards even more. There was nothing to crush the one on the ground, yet they were obviously pushed down more, somehow.

“Never approach me again! I never wanted anything to do with you.”

The one with a closed eye and bubblegum stuck to them began to walk away, victorious. Albeit holding their bubblegum-stuck arm and limping heavily.

The one on the ground struggled to move.

It seemed like both of them were devastatingly close to death, yet the crowd began to disperse.

Confused at what had occurred here, the man who just joined the spectators approached the one lying on the ground. He looked as if he’d faint any moment.

“Bleeding everywhere and left for dead? What kind of town is this…”

The one bleeding out looks up with a pained, forceful smile.

“You new here?” He had to spit out blood in order to get his words out.

“Yeah, I am,” he reaches his hand out to the dying man.

“Condolulations.”

“Huh?”

The man helps the other man up. Supporting him as much as he can to the point of almost completely carrying him.

“It’s a saying we have for newcomers, it’s a combination of ‘congratulations’ and ‘condolences’.” His voice was faint and weakening.

“Tell me about your traditions later, where’s the hospital in this place? You do have one, right?”

The one bleeding out looked towards a direction further in the city.

“Say,” the man bleeding began to ask. “What’s your name?”

“...Airot.”

“Simon.”

They headed towards whatever ‘hospital’ this city had to save Simon.