It felt like hours of winding around corners and dangerous neighborhoods before the lady stopped at an unmarked building, motioning for him to follow. Inside, Enki was met with a large recreational area, with young kids running around, fake weapons in hand as they play-fought each other. Looking around, it seemed to be well-funded, despite being in such a suspicious location.

“What is this place?”

“Well, with the failure of the foster care system, CSF created a sub-organization to help give kids without able parents the resources and education needed to become future workers. Some of them even have a straight pipeline into CSF. If I didn’t know what these kids went through, I sure would be jealous! It looks good for consumers... as well as a fat tax break, you know the drill, but what matters is that kids like these,” She pats the head of a kid passing by, and he follows her into an industrial kitchen.

“Hey kid, you got the egg carton, right?”

“Uh, yeah. You gave me a really dirty look and it made me feel bad-”

“Yeah, yeah. Mason, can you come help out with these?” Enki looked around, not seeing anyone come to her call. Then, after a solid minute of taking stuff out of the grocery bags awkwardly, Enki sees an old man, hobbled over a cane, slowly making his way towards the steel island.

“Now now Trina, what did I say about picking up random boys-”

“Mason! Not in front of a child!” Trina, who could be no more than a few years older than Enki, puts her hands over his ears while the old man laughs.

“I’m sixteen!” The two adults ignore the teen, with Mason mussing up his hair even more as he pats the young boy’s head.

“Now, now, it’s all just jokes. Now, let me see these eggs.” He opened up the egg carton, squinting at the mess of egg shells and yolk. Then, waving his free hand over the carton of broken eggs, the carton glowed with a white aura, and Enki watched as the eggs floated and reversed themselves, ending finally with a dozen eggs being perfectly intact. Object restoration? Or even more powerful, time reversal?

“You’re S.O.L. awakened?” It was the first time he had seen S.O.L. in real life. Standing for Supernal Omnipresent Legacy, it’s the acronym coined for the special powers that are awakened after the first expedition into [Dungeon]. There was also a whole ‘nother thing with S.O.L. Mates and S.O.L. Eaters, but that was far removed from a student Seeker’s life.

“Ohoho. I was quite the Seeker back in the day. ” The old man chuckled, rocking back into his wooden chair. Where did he get that chair? And when did he sit down?

‘Wait…so what was the big deal about me breaking the eggs?!’ Enki thought, but didn’t say anything because he wasn’t petty. Well-funded they may be, Enki noticed they were quite understaffed, and he didn’t mind helping out, which was good, because he did get entrapped into helping out, tutoring some kids while talking to Mason about his S.O.L. Seeker adventures. Man, he couldn’t wait until he went into [Dungeon] for the first time and got his S.O.L.

Wait. Wasn’t he supposed to be somewhere? Something that would help him do the thing he was just thinking about. He felt a piece of paper moving in his breast pocket as he stretched from his seat, worn out by the sheer energy of young children.

Ah. He completely forgot about the hovercraft. Enki looked at the clock. 17:30. About two-and-a-half hours late.

Shit.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Navy blue eyes searched frantically around the hovercraft pad, as if the ship was hidden behind one of the many people walking around the port, giving the boy a weird stare as he stumbled over, landing on his knees over the large CSF logo on the ground.

The once-in-a-lifetime chance, did he really throw it away so easily? There had to be another way to get to Astral Metropolis. It didn’t have to be today, but surely there were other means of transport. Enki tried not to let stress overtake him as he opened up a holo-screen and looked at potential public transport.

‘Flights towards the AM! Yes! Oh wait, it’s a scam ad. But this one is from an official government site, hold on… Booked for…two years in advance?!’

He managed to sink lower into the ground, if that was possible. Head hanging low, Enki almost missed the movement in his peripherals of several men in suits, attempting to be discreet as they entered a port warehouse, but Enki couldn’t miss the distinct golden pin on their ties: SA. Seeker Admins. It was risky, but it was his last shot. He slinked towards the warehouse and with a quick look to see if anyone was watching, he opened the door and went in.

And met the wrong end of several gun barrels. Instantly, he put his hands up. Men in sleek suits surrounded him in a semicircle, and Enki noticed a hint of white hidden behind some of their bodies. Are they transporting something? Or someone?

“Uh, oops?”

“On your knees, now! Red, search him.” Enki obeyed the orders while a man, who was definitely not red in any way, made a few strange gestures and revealed all of the belongings on his body.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

‘Another S.O.L…Wow…”

Red unveiled Enki’s letter from the Institute and his Astral Net device, while the boy sat there, entraced by the usage of S.O.L.

“A straggler huh? Tough luck. Nothing important boss, just some kid.” The man said, tossing Enki’s things back to him on the floor.

“Alright, well kid, get out.” The one who seemed to be in charge made a slight motion with his gun, still trained on the red-haired boy. When Enki refused to move, the man’s glare sharpened and he pushed the nuzzle of the gun onto Enki’s forehead. Talk about worst-case scenarios.

“What are you waiting for? Get lost or else.”

“I was just hoping, would you let me hitch a ride? You could put me in the cargo hold, I wouldn’t mind! I just, I got into the Astral Metropolis, and-”

“Do you have any idea just how important the person we are protecting is? Why would we let you onto our private government flight? If I weren’t protecting the Prophet right now, I would kill you right now.”

‘Well, now I know? Thanks?’ Enki, didn’t say anything out loud though, just pressed his lips into a thin line and tried not to laugh. It would be rude. It was also pretty easy to try not to laugh, since he had a loaded gun pointed at him.

“Well, now he knows, doesn’t he?” A voice from behind the tall, broad-shouldered men spoke, and immediately they stiffened up.

“Prophet! We’re sorry. We’ll deal with this right away. Teal, take the Prophet somewhere safe while I take this kid out.”

Teal? Why is this guy’s codename Teal? No one is wearing any colors?

“Wait, let me see him for a second.”

“But Prophet…You’re blind.”

“...Thanks for reminding me. I know. Let me touch him.” The guards parted, and Enki was met with the prettiest-looking boy he had ever seen, and he got bullied often for being a pretty boy. Delicate features, and snow-white eyelashes that seemed like they were about to break with every blink of an eye. His silver hair fell in layers around his face, and over his pale blue, almost translucent, eyes. He looked younger than Enki, and his childlike features were probably accentuated by his thin frame in comparison to the wheelchair he sat on. A guard grabbed Enki to get him up on his feet, and the boy pushed his wheelchair forward to touch Enki’s face. He stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. The so-called prophet was clearly blind, his eyes unfocused, yet Enki felt as if the boy could see him. After a few seconds, the boy dropped his hand, and smiled widely.

“Yes! Great! He can join us.” He said cheerfully, a voice that was strong and resolute despite a physical appearance suggesting otherwise.

“But-”

“Who said you could question me?” The boy’s voice dropped, becoming steely, and cold. Now that was a voice that was opposite to his appearance. Enki could almost feel the temperature drop with the resonant sound of the pale boy’s command.

“Of course, I apologize. I’ll get your guest welcomed in no time.” The men who had been hostile to Enki now warmly patted his back and let him stand next to the V.I.P. The Prophet looked at Enki as if he could sense his amazement from what just happened, and smiled.

“I learned how to do that from my sister. Isn’t it great? Sometimes, you just have to change your voice slightly, and boom! People listen to you.” Enki followed the boy in the wheelchair up the ramp into the carrier, and in just a few minutes, the craft took off westward into the open sea.

Unlike public hovercraft, the Administration’s aircraft went lightning fast and was state-of-the-art, perhaps even more advanced than what the public was allowed to have. The normal five hours that it would take from New Angeles to the Astral Metropolis was shortened to a quick one hour, the carrier traveling so fast across the ocean that the air coming from the acceleration of the craft made ripples in the ever-moving ocean.

“Thank you so much for letting me join your craft. But if I may ask, why did you let me come?” Enki questioned the Prophet, who turned his head towards the sound of his voice and gave a bright smile.

“I could feel that you were a good person. Besides, it must be fate for us to meet so conveniently, is it not?”

How could he tell that just from a conversation and touching Enki’s face? Maybe he was the real deal. Enki had never heard of anyone important called a prophet, but he was pretty enclosed in a small town, and only really focused on Seeker-related stuff, which this kid certainly was not.

“You believe in fate? Even if fate made you blind?” Almost as soon as he said that, several guards stood up, some appearing from places Enki didn’t realize he could be heard. Did that person come out of the bathroom? Meanwhile, the Prophet laughed, a bubbly cheerful sound that almost made Enki less stressed about the men who had their hands on their gun holsters.

“Don’t speak that way to the Prophet!”

“Relax, everyone. He’s not hurting anyone,” The white-haired boy waved his hand and the guards slowly sat back down, eyes trained on Enki. As stupid as they seemed to be, the bodyguards seemed to be pretty attentive to their job. “To answer your question: Yes, I do think fate exists. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to change, or that it takes control of every part of our lives. I feel that some things must happen, no matter what, but the effects of it are up to us. Just like [Dungeon].”

“You think that the dungeon system was inevitable? Why?”

“Well, that’s-”

“Prophet, we’re about to reach the AM!” At that, Enki forgot about the conversation, looking through the windows to catch sight of the tall spiraling skyscrapers of the floating city. Astral Metropolis. The crown jewel of the world, and the greatest achievement of mankind, floating one thousand feet (~200 meters) above the sea. Filled with both the most powerful people in the world and the upcoming most powerful Seekers, it was a free city of magic and science.

“Stop at the dock first, we can’t drag a civilian into the Administration building.” As they got closer and closer to the gleaming city, the boy in the wheelchair commanded the transport to land at a public port to drop off Enki. As the hovercraft lowered onto the port, Enki turned to the boy one last time.

“If there’s any way I could repay you, let me know. I know I probably don’t have much to offer but-”

“Don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll be able to help me out someday! Now go see your school Enki! We’ll see each other soon, I’m sure of it!” Enki waved back at him as the hovercraft’s doors closed and took off once more. He didn’t remember mentioning his name, but that must be one of the boy’s abilities as a prophet. He looked at the shining white tower standing out even among other prestigious schools in the large academic district. The Institute of Luminaries.

It was time to finally see the school with his own eyes.