Rolling dark clouds rapidly spread to blanket the entire night sky above.
This unnaturally ashy ocean infected its way to every edge of the horizon and stood in stark contrast to the sprawling, glowing hive of modern cityscape below.
Vibrant lights and blinding neon signs cover the few towering steel skyscrapers that stand high from amongst the many corporate buildings–most of which still thrum with activity despite midnight fast approaching. Millions of simple humans, live their millions of simple lives. So entrapped in the machinations of human civilisation that greater majority dare not strive to be anything above the limits the rest of society places upon them.
The obsidian sky shed its first tear for these people, the first of countless mourning splatters that would fall heavily tonight. Humans, in their infinite greed, made laws and rules to separate these skies that encapsulate their planet, enforcing absurd borders or boundaries much like they do with the lands and territories they claim to rule. These were absurd constructs of such a weak species, a species that thinks itself capable of controlling the very air they need to survive, eternally ignorant to the fake concept of power they fought each other over. For unbeknownst to these mortals, there existed only one heaven above them all, and tonight despite all their arrogance, the world wept fiercely for their fate.
Precipitous lamentations fell on every land in unison for the first and last time in this planets's relatively brief existence. She, who cried so fiercely, felt the billions of children that her very lifeblood birthed and provided sustenance for over millions of years. The children who eventually grew stronger one day began to mercilessly carve at her veins and her body in order to raise themselves to greater feats of power.
Her tears became floods, wailing cries, thunder and lightning.
Such a cruel fate she endured, to be bound to a once lifeless rock by the highest and mightiest of the Gods, only to watch those mortal children she raised suffer and die, over and over. Tonight, however, this world would be reduced to nothing but parts for something greater, and her along with it.
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The storm exuded a welcome presence to him, a powerful reminder that beauty existed everywhere on Earth. He basked in the sense of Nature's raw power in the sky, something so far outside of his mundane routine of work, game, sleep, and repeat. A powerful reminder that there was something grander and far more important than the petty problems and worries of daily life. And so Kieran stood there, smiling up at the sky as the first drops of rain began to fall around him.
Eyes and head tilted back, he let the rain wash over his face. A sense of peace settled into his aching chest with each soft droplet that cascaded down his skin. The noisy chatter of the city around him faded away, replaced by the ever-so-quiet sound of raindrops pattering against the pavement, the distant rumble of thunder, and the rush of wind through the leaves of small, sparsely-planted trees that lined the bustling city streets of London.
For a moment, Kieran felt like he was the only person in the world. It was a feeling he cherished, something he only ever experienced when he was alone in the rain, and whilst the storm grew in intensity, Kieran savored the feeling of being small and insignificant in the face of the unstoppable power of nature.
Letting the rain blanket him in a thin layer of moisture, Kieran knew he would always find solace in the orchestral beauty of the storm. And no matter how dark and uncertain the world around him grew, he could happily bathe in the gentle touch of those tiny beads whipping against his skin. He did his best to remain pleasantly distracted, whilst his listless dark brown eyes took in the crowded sky above.
Suave bastard owes me another drink now. I told him the rain would be here before he was done flirting.
There he waited for his best friend to finish saying goodbye to a group of very beautiful ladies back inside, they’d insisted he stay another minute to exchange numbers.
All three of them? seriously Nathan…
Keiran took a soothingly long breath through his nose. Closing his eyes to shield from passing headlights, he kept them there, trying to stay calm. To him, the scent of stormy air seemed akin to a fresh bouquet of flowers, kind of like the ones he'd found–
No, not tonight, for god's sake Keep it together Kieran! He internally berated himself and tried to repress the bubbling negative emotion.
The whole reason they were out drinking tonight was to get slightly inebriated and distract him enough that he didn't risk spiraling back into "hermit mode" as Nathan would call it. Being his closest friend and roommate, he would often summon Kieran from his room with a sarcastic "Oh, Hermit of the many screens! Be you present?" when he came knocking from his bedroom across the hall. The mocking ritual formed after the umpteenth time Nathan returned from a work trip and found his roommate once more stowed away silently in his room; intent on devouring another manga or light novel story for the whole weekend, or perhaps hours deep into an intense gaming session–never anything ‘productive’.
But for Kieran, the escapism was necessary. It was a way for him to forget about the pain of his past and the struggles he faced in his present. It was a coping mechanism that allowed him to feel something other than existential dread and disappointment. As he stood there idly, he couldn't help but think about how much he wished he could somehow escape his life permanently. It wasn't that he wanted to die, he just wanted to live a different life. One where he wasn't burdened by the weight of his awful childhood, one where he had a true sense of purpose and direction.
But deep down he knew that was just wishful thinking. He couldn't change his past and he couldn't magically fabricate a new life for himself. All he could do was keep pushing forward and hope that things would get better in time, just like he always had.
The dull aching beat thudded in his chest almost perfectly in time with the heavy bass playing from the club's speakers inside as he battled back and forth against his creeping anxiety.
"it's fine, baby steps" he lied to himself quietly, doing his best to remain pleasantly distracted whilst he gazed at the crowded sky above.
He forced out another relaxing breath, slower and deeper than before, inaudible under the chatter of passing club-goers. Each of his slow long breaths filled his body with life. Every inhale and exhale always lasting at least four seconds long–just as his yoga-teaching counselor had shown him at University, years ago–before he dropped out from the stress that is.
Much like he found higher education, Kieran’s work life consisted of mostly just dull repetitiveness, but it paid well enough to live okay for now and wasn't too strenuous. Lately, his mind focused more on getting over his recent ex-girlfriend Maddie's sudden and unexpected exit from their apartment, the city, and his life. Her vanishing act dredged up old traumatic feelings of abandonment that he needed to try to forget once again, the pain sent him back into a sea of fiction and pixels once more to cope. This is how he ended up here this night, outside a messy club, stomach tingling from the alcoholic contents, and a heart rate running intervals of sprints and crawls with the random adrenaline spikes.
In…and out
Each simple repetition pulled and pushed his diaphragm, and the air flowed in through his nose and back across his tongue, carrying with it the familiar tastes of the breaking storm. The comfort meditatively forged through lungfuls of air coaxed the anxiety to flee his body until the soothing taste of the rainy breeze faded, all he tasted now was secondhand cigarette smoke and sooty car fumes. The ever-present waves of polluted air spewed from thrumming exhausts, iconic black London cabs lined up along the edge of a wide pavement beside him.
Sometimes i dont mind the hybrids so much, i wont tell Nathan that though. He smiled to himself thinking of his friend’s response.
Tonight, the beautiful city he called home was more alive than usual for a Friday night, especially this late into the evening. The whole city buzzed with unfamiliar energy that set his nerves on edge, but he didn't mind it for now.
More people just meant more distractions.
His stomach still burned warmly from the "just a few" drinks he'd all but downed to appease his insistent friend and the attractive but obnoxiously loud girls that had invited themselves to sit with the pair of men, only to be closer to Nathan, of course. Admittedly, he did enjoy getting pretty drunk with good company when he was feeling low like this, but If he knew how his night would end he definitely wouldn't have touched a drop.
The sound of footsteps approaching from his left drew his attention. He turned around to see Nathan walking towards him with a prideful grin on his chiseled face.
“Hey man, sorry about that. You were right, the rain really is starting to come down” Nathan said in a sincere apology whilst he not-so-discreetly folded a small white business card mottled with what Kieran assumed to be multiple phone numbers inside of his raincoat pocket.
“No worries. I figured it would, and you owe me another one...if I don't just go home soon” Kieran replied with a small sigh, eyes flicking back from the sneaky attempt Nathan made to hide the card.
It's not like him to hold back from bragging, must be because of me...
"You're gonna be okay bro, I promise" Nathan's deep voice asserted from his looming height above him, the Vulcan death grip squeeze on his shoulder that followed was also a poor attempt to comfort him, but as they drifted along the watery pavements toward the train station nearby, Kieran felt a sense of calm come over him again. He knew that he definitely had a long way to go to find contentment in his life again, but for now, he was grateful for the small moments of happiness and distraction that his friends provided him. They both strolled up the road through the heavy rain, and he couldn't help but feel a small glimmer of hope that someday, things would get better.
Maybe he’d go back to martial arts classes soon, or even continue the HEMA lessons their friend Jimmy had avidly begged for him and Nathan to carry on with. Kieran loved medieval weaponry as much as the next high fantasy fan, but being repeatedly bludgeoned hard enough to bruise through thick padding was not an exciting prospect when you were already having a bad go of things.
"I know it's soon mate, but in a few weeks, you won't even remember that shitty feeling eating at your insides" his soft green eyes peered down at Kieran as if he could read the thoughts on his face.
"Come on broski, let the night continue!" That commanding voice did little to help Kieran forget, but at least slightly numbed the needles he felt poking at his heart.
Though Kieran would argue his and Nathan's friendship consisted of just him being dragged away from his desk and comfy gaming chair out into the boring world outside. Nathan had started to take a strong big brother role with him the past year, coercing him to the gym at least once or twice a week to "make some gains" as Nathan always said to hype him up.
The year before that they took mixed martial arts classes together; which Kieran had really taken to for several months, but couldn't stay consistent with once his chronic anxiety and the stresses of life got the best of him.
Nathan encouraged him to be more outgoing, regardless of his avid protests and more recent emotional distress. He would drag him into going out and enjoying life to its 'fullest'.
They both still played video games together quite often, usually on the weekends, but admittedly to even Kieran, he spent way too much time in his room staring into another screen, as if the fictional realities inside it could deliver him another morsel of hope for this one that had constantly let him down.
A soft impact against his shoulder that knocked him off balance slightly brought Keiran back from his meandering thoughts. He looked over to see the dripping wet figure that just pushed rudely past his shoulder with no more than a short, barely audible grumble. The sounds of the big man's steps were completely obscured by the chorus of rain now falling harder all around.
British manners were sometimes as consistently bleak as the relentless rain that he only just noticed was whipping harder into his skin. He hated the heat of summer, but these random summer showers typically brought him a strange sense of relief from the sweltering humid temperatures and sweaty nights of poor rest.
"Easy there Shrek, this ain't your bloody swamp, fella" Nathan called out in annoyance to the wobbly silhouette as it haphazardly turned a corner away from the duo and disappeared into the crowd. The rain beat down even harder on their sleek and fashionable dark raincoats.
Kieran stopped his musings and turned to look at Nathan's now serious expression, watching as it split back into a cheesy yet still handsome grin. It took a bare moment of eye contact before they both ended up mirroring the others' smiles, goofy chuckles sounded between them in a joint effort to lighten the mood. Within moments the ramping rain truly began to mask the footsteps and chatter around them as more people sought shelter under umbrellas, overhanging roofs from the tall buildings, and even the crowded bus stops on either side of the road.
"Alright Nate, let's just go man! it's absolutely pissing it down now, and as much as I'm sure you love a good hose-down I'd rather not-"
"Oooh quit crying, brother! it's just some beautiful July weather, what's not to love? You even made us wear raincoats for fuck sake! How you knew it would rain is beyond me mate. Seriously, when are you gonna make some money betting on the weather?" The playful mockery of his voice made Kieran screw up his face.
Nathan cut him off with a wet club of a slap on his back before firmly wrapping his arm over Keiran's shoulder and guiding him closer to the nearby underground station.
"Luckily for us both, I actually look extra dapper in this coat". He pulled up his collar with zest.
"Wait, you're not afraid to get wet still, are you?" He jabbed with feigned seriousness whilst they both made their way across the road, they both expertly weaved between the barely rolling cars at the red light, waving thanks to the cars they cut off.
As they reached the other side, without missing a beat, Nathan stopped moving then flawlessly bent backward to dodge a moist rebuttal of a backhand Kieran sent his way.
Another quick sidestep immediately slid him a hair's bredth out of reach of the friendly follow-up swipe that sailed by.
Kieran spun around from the momentum but still heard a cheeky "whoopsy, you swatting flies even in this weather mate?"
This asshole
He could never move fast enough to catch Nathan unawares, not in kickboxing, nor in sword-fighting. Nathan would humbly jest that he was just “built different''.
"Piss off man!" Kieran croaked with a smile. lines of rain streaked down his face as the deluge further increased in ferocity. Kieran felt abnormally energetic under its constant rhythm, or maybe that was just the vodka.
"Come on! You little fish! let's just get the tube” Nathan waved him on.
“we can go grab a last call at Jimmy's then head home, maybe with a plus one each if you stop sulking" he barked over the loud engines and heavy rainfall whilst shooting over a shameless wink from ahead.
"Fine–but just one more drink at Jimmy's, bro.” Kieran quickly hurried to catch up beside him.
“This rainstorm doesn't feel right, and I don't want to get stuck outside in it later if trains go to shit. Deal?" Kieran firmly decreed to himself as much as to his friend, eyes glancing up to the daunting clouds above to make his point more clear.
Those sure are some dark fuckers coming in, practically biblical...
“Doneski broski” Nathan chuckled with a nod and a quick fist bump that Kieran wouldn’t dare to leave hanging, then the taller man turned and led the way to the nearby underground train station. This station's entrance looked more akin to a grimy old stone pillbox than the typical beauty of modern architecture the taxpayers inadvertently funded. The atmosphere outside of the underground station was surprisingly calm though, especially considering midnight was so close. Kieran still buzzed slightly from the alcohol and the storm, but he gratefully welcomed the lack of a drunken noisy crowd to push his anxiety back into his throat.
It took barely two minutes to navigate to the bottom of the barely lit and destitute stairwells, careful steps on the wet tiles just to be safe. They both looked around for a seat once they reached the platform, neither bothering to check the half-broken announcement board for the next train's arrival time. Keiran, in a rare move of forethought, already looked up the train times from his travel app twice on the way down–before the phone signal cut out completely in the deep old station.
They wandered past a few wet stranger's all the way to the far end of the old tiled platform and settled into one of several ancient wooden benches that lined the back wall, running parallel to the single track. The rotten wood appeared recently bolted down despite a good portion of the soft brown timber apparently being bitten away by rats long ago.
Nathan casually examined it and smirked "They honestly think someone would steal this old shit, then carry it all the way up the even shittier stairwell? What a joke"
The rain from their jackets soaked into the flaky soft wood as Kieran mentally praised his godlike clairvoyance for urging them both to dress for the rain, despite every single weather app and forecast throughout the day promising only 'minor clouds' and even, god forbid, 'clear skies'.
"I still reckon this station hasn't been refurbished once since it opened in the 1800s" Nathan joked to him as he peeled off his thick wet coat and shook the excess water off to the side.
"No basic heating for fuck sake…not even a nice firepit to rest beside like our knuckle-dragging ancestors could whip up"
"Wouldn't want it being warm and comfortable, might give the homeless the impression that they are welcome here" Kieran sarcastically replied in a snobbish voice as he copied Nathan and shook out his dripping wet jacket too.
"No, no, we wouldn't want that!" he proclaimed in his most elitist upper-class impersonation.
"Indeeeed, more hoodlums, bums, and illegal riff-raff making our magnificent city look run down? God save us all" He slammed his fist down on his knee dramatically.
Both men nodded in agreement with serious faces, until Nathan turned away briefly, choked a little, then looked back to Kieran with a crooked attempt at a poker face that quickly split further into a wide grin. Unable to hold back any longer they began to cackle in unified derision, able to find some comedic relief even at such disgusting people’s absurdity. The laughter continued for a few moments, drawing the eyes of several commuters until their noise faded with the barely present breeze.
Kieran went back to his phone, trying to catch up on the latest chapter of a new light novel he’d discovered a few weeks back and had already binged his way up to date on. It didn't take him long before he quickly scanned the whole chapter, the story consisted of some random braggart attacking the main character’s best friends, then flaunting his family name and pride as justification.
Honestly, some of these face-slapping noble people are so ridiculous, but they’d fit in pretty well with the snobs around here I swear.
Kieran’s eyes wandered across his phone screen as he went to another story and silently passed the time.
Before they knew it the distant screeching of old metal wheels grinding against rails yanked the boys back to the journey at hand. A relatively dry subterranean breeze brought with it sporadic vibrations that escaped the rusted steel tracks and made the world around Keiran come alive with humming and piercing yells that quickly grew in ferocity, alerting him that the one minute left on the smashed-up countdown board had been surprisingly accurate for once.
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As the short four-carriage and allegedly 'express' tube rolled into the platform They noticed they were the only passengers standing to board as they begun the awkward slow shuffle up to the yellow safety line. "Perfect, it's just us" Keiran mused, he hated the awkward battle for seat positioning dominance and he was eager to leave as soon as possible, if only to get to Jimmy's bar faster. He craved the wonderful heated outdoor smoking area to warm his bones and more importantly to dry off his damp clothes.
The first carriage’s doors appeared directly before them as the transport ground to a hissing halt. The habitual desire to sit at the very back was disregarded only due to the fact everybody would watch them awkwardly shuffle down another set for no apparent reason. They both climbed on as soon as the doors parted to allow them entry; minding the gap of course. Nathan began to say something about him always reading in public and having no awareness, but Kieran's attention was drawn to the only other occupant of the carriage.
A greasy lump of a man in a grey hooded tracksuit was audibly slurring insults and barely coherent noises into his phone as he lounged across several seats. His grimy and tattered footwear draped over the armrest at the end of the row to paint mud and grit all over the cheap upholstery public transport so graciously provided.
What a classy guy…
From the man's tone of voice and the abuse he was repeatedly hurling at his mobile in the form of "you faacking cuunt" it could be assumed he wasn't the most educated nor caring of people, let alone random-drunk-passenger-friend material for the boys. Kieran met eyes with Nathan before subtly nodding towards the opposite end of the train, which for him was clearly suggesting that they both move down to the back end of the carriage to keep some distance from this new contender for 'Britain's got Trash'.
Kieran didn't even want to look at the mess of a man in case he accidentally drew his attention, though not out of a sense of worry about the guy trying to hurt either of them. The past few years of Nathan and himself taking semi-regular mixed martial arts lessons together had done well to boost Keiran's confidence around the aggressive oafs that were prone to violence on the streets, and only the biggest of them wouldn't be intimidated by Nathan’s stoic towering presence. He'd grown rather keen to continue this lucky streak of ‘violence avoidance’ on their nights out in the city, especially against unknown and already irate drunken randoms that could explode at the smallest of provocations.
They plopped themselves down on a couple of surprisingly clean seats, the train doors began to close whilst a familiar automated robotic warning of "watch out, doors closing" played redundantly over the loud beeping the doors also summoned as they closed off the outside world further.
Kieran jostled in his seat slightly as the carriage slowly wobbled along the track. rapidly gaining speed, he knew It wouldn't be too long until they got to 'Jimmy's bar and grill', a local favorite for them both to hang out due to the owner Jimmy always being a good friend to them both for years. Jimmy was the somewhat third wheel of Keiran and Nathan's brotherhood through University but had always been a good mate to have around, bringing up the mood with little effort and his endless sarcastic jokes.
Jimmy and his girlfriend Sarah ran a pretty decent bar, with decent booze and far better than average grub-mostly due to his girlfriend carrying him in nearly all areas of the business.
Keiran always felt comfortable there, especially at night time. The area surrounding the establishment was reliably calm and it tended to attract more peaceful and reserved clientele. Close placement to the train lines meant they remained relatively regular patrons too, and the hired security guard never gave them any problems, so long as they didn't create any that needed physically solving that is.
Kieran and Nathan returned to chatting quietly amongst themselves in a mutual tacit agreement to avoid attracting the trumpeting grey elephant in the room's attention. Inevitably though, he still found himself stealing sneaky glances across the carriage whenever he heard the drunken stranger raise that awful and aggressive voice into his smartphone again and again.
"ew, what a piece of shit"
his words almost lost in the roaring and screaming of the train's rattles and turns.
"Nobody deserves to be spoken to like that" he muttered to Nathan as they both couldn't stop themselves listening and glancing over due to how loud the man's shouting had grown. Keiran's blood was pulsing firmly in his clenched hands, he relaxed them as they started shaking slightly. Nathan turned back to him and gently tapped his shoe against Kieran's leg to get his attention.
"I think he heard you, bro"
"What, no way he heard that" Kieran half whispered.
"it's noisy as hell and he's barking even louder than this train" Kieran risked another look, and found the man staring directly at them. The messy stubble of a beard now visible under a discoloured hoody pulled far over the man's head, both served to give him an even more grizzly and undesirable appearance.
"Fuck sake!"
The belligerent man exploded to his feet, his phone simultaneously scattering into countless pieces with a loud crack as it collided with the thick foggy glass opposite him.
"Holy shit, he's on one" Keiran started, staring blatantly at the shards of an iPhone that now littered and slid around one side of the compartment, he unknowingly thought the exact same thing as his hulking companion beside him.
This train better hurry the hell up…
Keiran froze as a large cluster of cracked glass and debris flew down the carriage towards Nathan and him, rattling across the hard floor and clanging off the hollow yellow poles used for supporting passengers.
Looking up as the sound of stomping steps got closer, he felt Nathan quickly rise beside him in alarm. Keiran's body was moving slower than his mind now, the plastic, metal, and glass scraping to a halt in front of his now shocked gaze at the unexpected violence. There wasn't even time for him to process before he heard an old familiar voice bellow from his intimidatingly tall guardian of a friend, words heavy with a threatening tone he'd not witnessed in some time as Nathan didn't hesitate to stand his ground.
"Mate you better back the fuck up, now! we've got no problem with you, so stay down your end or find a problem too big for you to handle on your own!"
His booming call was a sudden confidence booster for Keirans adrenaline filling veins, his nervous heart racing as he swallowed down saliva he didn't notice was filling his mouth in anticipation.
The earlier anger he'd felt now multiplying as he forced himself to move, gradually at first, until he reclaimed his limbs once more and started to rise too.
He stumbled slightly as the carriage rocked around another sharp bend in the tunnel system, losing his balance until he reflexively clawed out with a hand and clung to the nearby pole for support. His world regained stability before he looked back up and saw the raging man trudging ever closer towards them, now much further than Keiran had thought he would dare to in the face of Nathan's defensive threats.
Was he really that drunk? Kieran couldnt understand why the idiot didnt just stop, he’d already broken his phone and now he’d get his nose or jaw broken too.
There's no way this drunk bastard thinks he can take both of us, surely right?
"Keir, be careful and stay behind me, don't let him get too close, move further down if we have to, okay?" He fixed his eyes on me with a serious look that couldn't hide his grim determination, it was the kind of expression he always had when shit hit the fan and he had to take control of the situation for us both. Kieran was always the smaller, hesitant sidekick following behind a zero-bullshit practical Superman in these situations.
"Mate, last time I'm warning you now! go sit the fuck back down, then we finish our ride and go our separate ways! I'm not telling you again" Nathan pointed at the man for emphasis.
This asshole isnt even listening to him, how stupid and drunk can you be?
Still shuffling down towards Nathan the man occasionally stumbled as the soon to be fighting arena still wildly flew along the train tracks.
A wild sneer glowered at the pair of them in turn as they faced off across the shortening distance within carriage.
"smug pricks!….i’ll kill ya…just you fuckin’ wait!"
Keiran could just about make out a handful of threats amongst the barely audible words the man was spewing whilst he continued to stagger closer.
Each heavy beleaguered step raised the tension in the air, It was almost tangible to Kieran and practically solidified the moment Nathan raised his hands in a loose boxing stance. The strong smell of alcohol flooded their nostrils once the man stepped within roughly ten feet from them both.
The crazed man's obvious indulgence of liquid courage was made more apparent by the odour bore in the saliva he spat with each word he screamed at them both. The drunk finally stopped at a close enough distance now that a long jagged scar on his cheek was visible amongst his already unattractive features, making him look pretty damn intimidating to Kieran.
"LETS AVE IT THEN YA CUNTS!"
He roared at them both, and with his senseless attempt at a warcry the reckless madman made directly for the two of them. As he took another big step he reached under his hooded jacket and pulled out something mostly hidden by his hand. a small light seemed to flash in his grip as the now visible knife glinted in the artificial lights from above. It wasn't big but Kieran was well aware that it only took a small jab in the right place to make you lose a fatal amount of blood in no time.
Keiran was overwhelmed by the live wire of adrenaline coursing through his veins, he took a careful step back to give Nathan room to maneuver and work, but also mentally preparing himself to try to help if needed.
"Careful Nathan, knife!" he warned, but as he watched Nathan's posture he became riddled with confusion.
Why wasn't he moving?
His friend had tilted his head slightly to the side, then almost absent-mindedly stared out into open air. Nathan’s jab-ready left hand slowly came back down to rest at his side and his right arm reached out a couple of feet in front of his face. Carefully he poked at the air for some bizarre reason as the crazy drunk bastard rushed towards them and almost got within range of the sudden statue Nathan had turned into.
Nathan seemed to push the air with an extended index finger, then immediately pulled back his hand, his eyes not moving from the space directly before him.
Then, as if he realised something, he took a short step back and spun around to lock eyes with Keiran.
It was his eyes that scared Kieran the most; they looked unnaturally wild with shock and was that…fear?
Keiran was unnerved, witnessing terror in his friends expression for the first time in many many years.
"Nathan what are you doing? get the fuck back now! He's coming!"
Nathan looked relaxed and confident again just like that, the fear gone from his face, almost even smiling as he whispered "See you on the other side, brother"
The panicked thought to protect his friend vanished as Kieran saw by some bizarre act of defying reality, the outline of Nathan's entire figure erupted into a growing beacon of sky-blue light that rapidly engulfed his friend’s whole body.
Keiran was awestruck by what he saw. A bizarre pressure exuded from where Nathan was still standing. He couldn't explain what he was feeling. Nathan felt like a burning sun before his very eyes, burning the very air around them. Each moment the marine light seared brighter into his eyes, but he still couldn't bare to turn them away from whatever this was.
Tremors overtook his heart whilst he watched as his best friend, his brother, his only real family In this world; Nathan, shone once more with an eruption of burning blue light that exploded outwards and washed all the colour from the world.
Kieran immediately felt his body burn as air that was somehow icy cold yet still volcanic seared down his throat and engulfed his lungs, before he could even shout back out in agony, the overwhelming pain and brightness faded as suddenly as it arrived. He was left choking violently for a few seconds.
His teary eyes quickly adjusted back to the darkness of the tunnel, but they fell upon only empty air. He knelt there, lost in the aftermath of senseless chaos.
Nathan?
The Carriage lights were all lifeless, leaving the carriage completely dark, and his friend–his brother–was nowhere to be seen.
The rumbling of the train stilled briefly and Kieran’s mind raced in slow motion, unable to conjure a single coherent thought in the moment. Tingling all over, fear shook him suddenly when a roaring trumpet-like cacophony boomed to fill the world.
All other sound was unmade before its majesty.
The train's deceleration made him tilt forward onto his hands, yet still, Kieran could not clearly define what the sound was, nor could he hear the ear-piercing screech of the train's emergency brakes locking up. The trumpet horn continued bellowing through the fabric of reality over and over again until the world stilled once more, the proclamation complete.
Sound returned in the form of the bewildered, angry drunk knelt down a few meters away from him, weeping loudly and staring emptily into space in despair and confusion.
All of this went unnoticed by Keiran, his eyes transfixed on the only new sight within his view.
Directly fixed in the air before him hovered a tall blue rectangle, almost the same deep blue that had blinded him seconds earlier.
And upon that blue rectangle were unreadable and unfamiliar characters Kieran would place somewhere between Old Nordic runes and complex Chinese Symbols. Trying to read on instinct, he focused intently on each character in sequence in an attempt to derive some meaning from them. They warped suddenly under his gaze, each character twisting and transforming into English?
Children of Gaia
Rejoice!
The Divine System reclaims this world in order to save you all from your impending fate. We shall collectively unshackle humanity from its inherent mortal weaknesses.
Those of you deemed worthy are Chosen to participate in The System Tutorials.
After 30 of your Solar days, you Chosen shall return to lead New Gaia into a golden age of prosperity and power.
Keiran's veins were icy stone, rpg-addicted eyes gladly welcomed the familiar view of a clear and concise information box but his twitching lizard brain fiercely denied the wild reality of what he was looking at. Then the familiarity triggered a curious thought.
Divine?...System?
Is that…a fucking system window? Kieran all but accused mentally.
He scanned the glowing text again and again, still in disbelief at what he was looking at.
"Oh shit, it's actually a bloodydamn system window!"
If he hand’t just seen his best friend disappear in a strange blue explosion of light that he was sure was gonna kill him too, he would assume he was losing his mind, dreaming, or maybe just spiked with some intense hallucinogenic?
No, this is fucking happening!
All doubt lost cohesion immediately, overridden by the warm comfort that washed over his quivering limbs. The eerily deep royal blue that shone upon his face caressed him with a maternal sense of love he wasn’t really capable of understanding.
It’s not trying to kill me at least, but what actually is this window though? holograms? Or maybe some alien technology like in those system apocalyp–
“oh fuck, what's going on outside right now?!”
He noticed the flashes of bulbs in the tunnel passing by long since vanished as well as the lights of the train, the only source of colour he could see being the bright blue window before him.
"Shit, shit, shit all the powers out?" He forced through his clenched teeth.
"Where's Nathan? What the fuck’s going on?" Voice cracking from the strain, he begged the text window or System announcement as he realised what it really was.
Kieran's brain became awash with jumbled thoughts, in utter chaos yet still trying to summon some sense of direction. Reviewing the message and really trying to take in its meaning he began to consider something.
Is that what happened to him then?
He's been 'chosen' or something.
Desperately trying to compartmentalise everything to maintain some composure, he quickly jumped to conclusions, which felt fine as long as he landed somewhere closer to the truth.
Sooo…Nathan is a "Chosen" Kieran guessed out loud, trusting his conclusion.
“And I'm–I’m not…” he sighed with sad acceptance, but he also understood why he wouldn't be deemed a top tier exemplary human in some objective system's eyes.
Anger simmered in his chest at being called unworthy though, it wasn't even close to the first time in his life he had been dismissed as such for one thing or another. But this time he’d been denied his best friend, and told he would just be a servant.
Kieran aggressively swung his arm in front of him to erase the screen, the action did nothing to disturb the blue window full of text he felt was mocking him. itt just simply floated there in a silent confirmation of his lack of worth. The information shown still lightly rested upon his mind as if it was always there, but he couldn't fully understand its meaning.
The realisation hit, and he swiped down on the blue box with his index finger just like a phone screen. Nothing?
Driven by frustration and the buzz of confusion, he kept swiping at the window with more and more panicked movements.
Nothing? still? come on! There has to be more!
He swiped once more as he mentally shouted at it to just work already and amazingly, the blue screen that claimed his focus finally responded to his touch, or maybe his will?
I need to think it too? He guessed thoughtfully. New text and light flashed before his eyes, another blue box completely replaced the last.
We deem those of you remaining unworthy and now you must prepare New Gaia for its rightful pioneers: The Chosen
But do not fear mortals, for The Divine System’s blessings of Mana and Classes shall guide you in your servitude.
Strive to become worthy of The 13th Heaven you shall henceforth reside within.
The words 'Mana' and 'Classes' caught Kieran's attention. He felt a spark of interest stir within him, a curiosity he couldn't explain. He was so familiar with these concepts already from modern day games and fiction, but if they were no longer just imaginative fabrications, he needed to know more.
What the hell are they? And what was this talk of becoming worthy of the 13th Heaven?
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. This was all too much to process at once. He needed to find Nathan, find out what was going on, and get some damn answers about this weird system.
As if on cue, a new message appeared with another blue screen, despite him not touching anything.
The System has provided each of you with a map leading to your respective Class Quest Location.
You have 24 hours to report to your designated area.
Failure to comply shall result in immediate termination.
Kieran's heart skipped a beat.
Termination? What did that mean? Was this some kind of twisted bloody game giving out class quests of all things under threat of death?
He looked around again, but still saw no sign of Nathan. He clenched his fists, feeling helpless and frustrated as the train finally scraped to a complete stop.
The rational part of his brain chimed in there, supposing that If the system chose Nathan and others for a tutorial, then surely it must have taken them somewhere. And if there was a map showing the way to their Class Quest Locations, then maybe they could find each other there? Or at least find someone who knew where the tutorial would be. It was a long shot, but it was the only lead he had.
Mind made up, Kieran took a deep breath and pawed desperately at the screen in an attempt to summon a new window.
"Show me the fucking map!" No response.
I said show me the map! Please! The thought clear and concise in his mind as he swiped again with his hand. The box disappeared, leaving a smaller screen behind that halted his endless questions.
Only, this message was much, much shorter and significantly more ominous…
Wait…This isn’t a map?
Commencing Planetary Spatial Assimilation in
3…
2…
1…
The sudden countdown tore him back from the jumbled thoughts inside his mind. His trance of fascination and curiosity suddenly dissolved in tandem with the box that vanished into the ether, leaving him on his knees in the dark carriage once again.
"Oh shit, It's gone?” what the hell is planetary assimilation? A merge of some kind?
“And better yet, where is my fucking class quest map–aaaagh" The air ripped from his lungs, and his stomach lurched from motion. The carriage floor exploded up from below and catapulted him toward the ceiling. His world spun and another weary shout barely escaped, prematurely silenced by a solid force from above.
Darkness claimed his mind.