Two days have passed, I think I've gotten the hang of some basic movement techniques— yeah, exciting, I know. What did you expect?
I head inside the Shed, visibily drenched in sweat, and walk over to the right of the living room: towards the table surrounded by bookshelves. Zax is sitting there, his face buried in a book. He doesn't notice me.
'Hey,' I call out, my exhaustion pretty apparent in my voice.
He looks at me, bookmarking the page, 'Hello Euge.'
'Euge-ene, you kinda cut me off at the Alspher Grove.' I say.
'Eugene it is then.' he says, turning back to his book, looking to be done with the conversation.
'So,' I say, 'we haven't really gotten along yet, right?'
He holds his stare, slowly opening his book.
'Fine,' I say, sighing, 'where are the others?'
'Quin and Row are sparring upstairs, you can hear the noise from anywhere in the corridor upstairs.
'And AJ?'
'She's outside getting supplies.'
'Okay,' I say, turning towards the staircase, 'Wait, I have a question.'
Zax looks reluctant, but replies, 'Sure, what is it?'
'Be honest when you answer this, and I know it's a little out of place, but-'
He raises his eyebrow, a little annoyed.
'Okay, how much of a chance do you think we have? You know, overthrowing the government and all?'
He smiles, his eyes softening up a little, 'Next to none, obviously.'
. . .
Zax and I finish setting the table for dinner just as the others arrive.
AJ looks at me, 'Progress?'
'I can zoom forward now'
'Oh.'
'-and backward.'
An expression of disappointment quickly flashes across her face, disappearing just as quickly, she smiles.
'That'll help you get by, you won't have to do any of the heavy lifting just yet.'
Row hands the blueprint back to AJ.
'So, we're raiding the Rebels tomorrow. You guys already went through the plans right?'
They nod.
'We enter through here,' she says, bringing her finger all the way over from the middle entrance to a small back-door area over on the right on the blueprint. It looks to be situated next to a hole that led to a waste processing area.
'Row and Zax hijack aerial patrol vehicle no. 0032 through the west wing, and Quin-'
'Yeah, yeah, you told me already.' he says, rolling his eyes.
'Okay then,' she says after a pausing for a few seconds, and then rolling up the blueprint, 'Medkits, ammunition, batteries are our first priority. Eugene's with me.'
'Just follow Ajay's lead on this one,' says Quin, 'You won't have to fight.'
'Okay,' I say, admittedly relieved. I didn't want to admit out loud that I have no idea how to fight; I know they know, but admitting it is a little more embarrassing. I think.
. . .
'Wait up!' I call out to AJ, running over to her from the other side of the corridor. She looks up, her hand still on the handle to her room.
'What's up?'
'The Rebels,' I say, catching my breath a little, 'Who are they?'
'You really wanna know?' she asks.
'Wh-yes of course I wanna know, that's why I cal-'
She opens her room, heading inside.
'Wait, wait, yes, sorry, I really wanna know.'
'Okay,' she says, a little confused, 'come inside then?'
'Oh, I thought you were g- nevermind.' I reply sheepishly, following her in.
Her room's built exactly the same as the one I stay in here, except her it's a little disorganised— scratch that —very disorganised.
Her desk's messy, with its drawers overflowing with stationery and papers; there are books on the table, ranging from the history of Alsia's divided lands, to the biography of someone called Ryota Kirisawa.
The floor is littered with markers, pens, clothes, even what looked like a blanket. The bed is a little bigger in size, making the space left that isn't covered with things a little narrow.
'So, the Rebels, they work against the shogunate.' she says, sitting down on the swivel chair next to her desk. I try sitting on the couch, but give up.
She raises her hand, pulling the boxes of wires and plugs and redirecting it the floor next to her. The momentum causes them to slide and hit the wall.
'Wait, what? Don't we need all the help we can get?' I ask, a little surprised, sitting down on the couch now.
'Yeah we do, and they would have been a massive help if they had stayed true to their purpose,' she continues, looking down at the blueprint, 'The shogunate's chief strategist, Holst, saw them as more of an asset rather than a threat, and bought them out. As soon as they got a taste of the upper class themselves, their resolve disappeared. Most of their soldiers at the frontlines still blindly believe they're working for a purpose.'
'Some of them know they're being exploited of course: in exchange for busting them out and keeping them out of reach of the shogunate for a while, they agreed to give us enough info to raid the Rebels for supplies.'
'Oh, wow.' I reply, 'But this isn't wrong, right? We'll get justice for them once Holst is arrested?'
'Yeah,' she says, looking up, 'We will.'
. . .
I freshen up in the morning, and walk out into the corridor, before heading to the living room.
I see AJ pacing around next to Quin, with a waffle in her hand. Quin's lying down on the couch next to her, completely focused on his video game.
I reach the end of the staircase, noticing Row sitting on the sofa to the right, with the television switched on and playing a show with some obvious government propaganda plastered in the corner of the screen. He has a bottle in his hand, with a bored expression on his face.
I walk into the kitchen, to the left of the staircase, in the part of the living room that stretches out as a hallway. Zax has his hands flying across a machine that looks like a stove but without the grills. There are small knobs that he pulls quickly to light the burners, with his other hand holding a pan with some batter flat on top of it.
He handles the cooking with ease, stacking the pancakes on a plate nearby every twenty seconds or so. I grab a plate and take some of them, pouring over some of the green syrup on the table.
'AJ's pretty skilled you know,' Quin says, leaning on the doorframe.
'Yeah, I'd guess she is.'
'For all the overthinking she does, she's insanely efficient in battle.'
'I really don-'
'But for the most part, she usually works alone. I wonder why she made an exception with you.'
'Oh,' I reply, 'didn't expect her to sense my extraordinary fighting potential this quickly.'
'Yeah, that's definitely it.' he replies, grinning a little for the first time.
'Guys!' I hear AJ calling out from outside, 'We're leaving!'
We leave the kitchen, Zax behind us hanging up his apron. Heading into the living room again, I see AJ and Row standing in front of the bookshelves on the wall behind the table.
He's holding a book, the title of which I barely make out— BAEL FOR BEGINNERS! (3-year-olds and above!) —as he rips off the spine.
The book doesn't fall apart, the hardcover tearing right off. He folds it in half, with one end protruding out in a strange pattern, before entering into a small slot below the lock to the bookshelf.
Twisting it, he pulls the doors open.
But instead of just the doors, the entire shelf opens: revealing a sleek metal wall, with multiple different types of weapons pinned to it.
A real life heist movie cliché, didn't think it would ever actually happen.
Axes, swords, daggers— even needles. Small rusty handguns are hung up in one corner, but they don't even notice it.
AJ picks up a sleek, curved dagger and picks up a long metal staff that she passes Zax.
'Take this,' she says, passing me a vest, 'Put it on underneath your shirt.'
I follow her advice, lifting up my shirt and strapping it on.
'What're you gonna use?' she says, stocking a small bag on her belt with needles.
I stare at the wall, looking for remotely anything that I can use without cutting off my arm. There's a bunch of club-like weapons that look way too heavy for me to handle; a weapon that looks like a scimitar, but more curved. There's a dagger (maybe?), a staff (a little inconvenient), several types of axes (I'm good, thank you!), and a bow (would be sick if I had any experience using one).
I reluctantly bend down to pick up a dagger when I notice a dark black baton, right underneath the quarterstaff. It seems the least dangerous, and best weapon defense-wise; I drop the dagger and pick it up instead.
'A baton,' AJlooks at me, 'You sure you wanna go with that?'
'Yeah,' I reply, 'It seems like a solid bet.'
'Okay then,' she says, heading outside the Shed. I follow her.
I walk outside as Row throws a dagger in the air, with almost superhuman-like strength, almost like he's aiming for something. He raises his arm, turning around for a brief second, before shooting up in the air.
What?!
Quin pulls back his hoodie, before raising his hand and shooting up behind him.
'Hey, AJ, d-do you guys seriously expect me to do that?'
'Just hold on to Zax.' she says, smiling distractedly, before shooting up in the air too.
'Me?' Zax says, regretting not paying attention, and finding everyone else gone already, 'God- okay hold on.'
I jump up, managing to get my hand over his shoulder, and lift my legs.
He's giving me a piggyback ride. I clear my thoughts, not because I was trying to stay on, but because this is way too embarrassing.
He raises his arm, and we immediately accelerate upwards.
'Are you alright?' I hear Zax shout out, the high speed of the winds almost drowning out his voice.
'I'm fine!' I shout back, 'Don't lose focus!'
He doesn't respond, maintaining the speed with ease.
. . .
'We're almost there!' I hear Quin call out from the front, 'Go through to the right!'
'Okay!' I hear AJ's faint voice somewhere from the left.
I start to lose grip, slipping a little. Zax holds my arms, and pulls them apart,
'AY WHA-' I lose my hold complete, and begin free-falling for a second before plummeting down, gaining speed by the second. My heart starts to beat out of my chest, and I feel my shirt almost rip open from the wind pressure.
I desperately close my eyes and visualise myself falling with the weight of a feather. You're falling but the direction and mass are under your control.
A feather, a feather in the wind.
I feel myself lose consciousness, getting closer and closer to the ground. I don't feel any speed decreasing.
I look down and notice the vast expanse of the desert below me. This is it, then. So much for being the child of prophecy.
I close my eyes, bracing myself, as I feel an arm grab me from the back. I feel myself slowing down, with the sound of the wind decreasing until it's almost silent; I feel myself floating.
'Did I already land in heave-'
The arm lets go of me as I hit the floor back-first, barrel rolling twice before I open my eyes. It hurts a little, but more like how it hurts when you fall off your bed.
I see AJ standing on my right, looking down. I control my breathing, trying to slow down how fast my heart was racing.
'You were really saying your prayers, huh?' AJ says, holding back her laugh.
'That was your plan? I thought I was going to meet God.'
She bursts out laughing, offering me a hand up the same way she did at the Alspher Grove.
'Okay, okay, I shouldn't be laughing, I'm sorry,' she says, trying to get herself to be serious again, 'You see that?'
She points towards the massive, and I mean absolutely enormous colosseum in front of us. The sun had already set, the sky was getting dark, and the only light coming was from the direction of the structure in front of us.
The colosseum's top is lined with glass panels and the arches covered with white drapes. The walls outside looked almost golden brown with all the light being emitted from inside, like a relic that underwent renovation. It stands out in the desert around it, with the only other structure being a building that resembled a huge garage, about one-fifth of its size and containing multiple runways stretching out in front of it.
'We have once chance,' she whispers, now running a few feet ahead of me, 'Look out for anyone with a black ring on their uniform, other badges are fine— as long as you're with me, but the Warpers are on a whole different level.'
'Okay.' I reply, sheepishly.
AJ throws her needles forward, it lands on the calves of two unsuspecting guards at the front gate who promptly collapse. She covers their mouths as we drag them to a corner in the shade, change into their uniforms, and go through the entrance to our right.
We encounter more guards, but they don't stop us because of the masks in the uniform. This feels a little wrong.
Crossing the staff lounge, we get all the way to the elevator: with a fitted passcode scanner on the right.
'You guys are done with your shift already?' We hear a voice behind us call out.
I look at AJ, who turns around slowly cursing under her breath; I follow her lead.
He looks at us, slowly realising we're not guards and picking up the receiver on his uniform.