Knock,
Knock,
Knock,
"C-coming!" Athelei called out as three more knocks sounded out. He walked briskly through the short halls of his house to grab at the door handle.
His soft hands took hold of the chain locks that barred any intruder when he suddenly felt another surge of electricity course through him.
Athelei winced and thought, 'There it is again. Why do I feel this way?'
He weighed this question in his mind once more as the wooden door creaked open.
"Welcome... back?" Athelei's supposedly excited greeting was snuffed out when the little boy caught sight of unfamiliar clothes.
Three silhouettes stood, half in the soft darkness of the night and a half in the warm light of torches. Athelei noted their dirty, brown robes and shrouded faces. 'Weird,' he thought to himself.
'I don't feel... safe.' Athelei experienced a sense of looming fear—an emotion he rarely felt when in the confines of his home.
As the little boy unfroze from his short shock, he opened his lips. He wished to ask who the three people were, but even before he could speak, he heard the person to his right speak.
It was the hoarse voice of a man. It was laced with a bit of fatigue as if he had just finished a short yet desperate sprint.
"Analysis?" The man asked.
"Running Analysis Skill, Judgement." One of the man's companion's replied.
b z z z z t
Another stinging electrocution ran through Athelei's spine at this moment. His eyes swiftly moved towards the last person who spoke. 'Analysis Skill? Judgement?' his thoughts echoed out what he just heard just as an orange light appeared.
The light looked like liquid as it swiftly coalesced into what looked to be a paper-thin screen that floated in the air.
"The Cosmic Interface tells me the child has been baptised," said the same person who cast the skill. "Oh, and my Judgement has levelled up to five."
"That's unfortunate." The first man replied, "The kid being baptised that is. Let's not bother him any longer and leave quickly."
"Alright,"
"Ok, sir."
Athelei was still confused. He stood at the doorway as the three shadows hurriedly turned to leave. It looked like something was pressuring them into moving as fast as they could.
'Cosmic Interface... Interface...' But Athelei's main issue was not the behaviour of the strangers. He felt a bout of adrenaline course through him as he recalled the sight of the bright orange screen. 'How did they do it? And why is it causing me these stings?'
Athelei wanted answers and his excitement compelled him to chase after those strangers.
But before he could even take that first, expectant step. A shockwave threw him off his feet as he was sent flying into the deeper parts of his house.
B O O M !
A bright light lit up the early-evening sky and a fierce wave of heat followed quickly after. Athelei felt dazed as he groggily tried to stand up.
"What's... happening..?" Athelei mumbled. His mouth tasted like iron as tears welled up in his eyes.
The air in his lungs had been sucked out and his vision shook. The temperatures around him felt as if they were on a bungee jumping trip. One moment it was scorching, and the next it was freezing. It was a wretched experience for the young human boy.
After a while, the temperatures stopped dropping into the cold. Heat began to govern the air around Athelei as his conscious struggled back into control.
Faintly, he could hear his name being called.
"Orien!" the voice of his sister, Alice, rang in his bleeding ears.
"Orien, where are you?!" it was followed by the voice of his mother, Winter.
"Orien! My boy! Shout!" then Trien's strong yet close-to-despairing voice came last.
"Alice... Mom... Dad!" Athelei called out but his throat was dry. It felt as if his vocal cords were made out of sandpaper and glass.
Athelei looked around him and saw blazing flames and choking black smoke.
"...Help!" This time, Athelei was able to shout as drops of blood erupted from his throat with his spit.
"Orien!" All three of his family's voices melded into one as they called out. Relief laced in their desperate tones. "We're coming!"
Athelei crawled his way through the smoke as his mind absorbed information... but it was all fire, fire, fire, and smoke.
Not even a few seconds had passed as Athelei heard the breaking of wood sounded out somewhere near him. A voice called out once more, "Orien, are you still there?!"
"I'm here, Mom! I'm... safe!" Athelei found it in himself to shout once more but it led to a fit of coughs.
'The air... it's becoming something humans cannot breathe in...' thought Athelei. 'I'm suffocating.'
Crack!
A sturdy hand had suddenly grabbed at Athelei through the blazing flames.
"I got him! Run out, quick!" Trien roared as his skin sizzled and blazed. Around his face were thin blue lights that bore numbers and letters.
'Another... Cosmic... Interface...' Athelei's oxygen-deprived brain slowly registered what he saw. 'But... is it... weaker? Lesser information...? Why?'
The flames continued to rage as Trien blasted his way out of the burning house with the force of an angry bull.
"GO!" He yelled out and wisps of energy flowed out from around him. Winter and Alice were there too, allowing themselves to be blessed by the colourless energy that flowed out of Trien.
Athelei looked around to see the entire town wreathed in flames. Screams and wails filled the air while pillars of black smoke were holding up the heavy night sky.
In this hell of a night, the family of four ran for their lives. Athelei's deep, black eyes flickered as he gazed hungrily at everything around him.
In the fires that raged, people were dying.
In the shockwaves of the battlefield, buildings were cracked and crumbling.
Amidst the smoke and screams, deplorable shadows were fleeing. The gleam of their toothy smiles shone orange in the firelight.
Despite all these, Athelei's eyes found what he was looking for:
Amongst the corpses were rare gems that lay motionless on their bodies. Three different colours glowed despite the flames. Cyan, Purple, and Orange stars shone in the sea of havoc. They were lonely given their rarity.
'I see...' thought Athelei. 'Cosmic Interfaces...' his hands drifted to the folded, animal-skin diary in his pocket.
'Those things aren't supposed to exist in the common Universe.'
Another bout of satisfaction dulled the pain of Athelei's body. But before he could even stifle a smile, a shockwave as strong as the very first that caused all the flames boomed once more.
But it sounded like a musical note this time—and it ran chills down Athelei's spine.
His parents' already worried faces lost all their colour at that moment. Alice looked confused, but the fear that bubbled inside her was evident. Her lips were pale as burn wounds could be seen across her exposed skin.
Athelei realised that one of Trien's arms were broken and Winter's hair was cut incredibly short.
G O N G !
"Keep yourself alive, little Orien. I don't think I will make it out of this." A laboured whisper tickled Athelei's ears.
"...Dad...?"
In the next moment, Athelei found himself alone. The world had spun for a brief moment, but a gold light luckily caught him.
"...Mom? Alice?" Athelei coughed as he felt around him.
They were gone.
In the distance was a sprawling town coloured in ashes and soot.
'How did I... arrive here?' he thought to himself. 'Humans live in four dimensions—the three coordinate dimensions and the first, most basic dimension of Point Time.'
Athelei analysed as his human emotions muddled his thoughts.
'They cannot traverse timelines nor can they choose their locations of probability collapse... Whatever brought me here should be the result of the abnormal infinite universe.'
Those thoughts were beyond what human minds could process, causing Athelei's still-growing brain to be weighed on by constant pain. Yet the boy paid no heed to this as he continued to look at what just happened from a higher dimensional being's perspective.
His body and physical mind separated subtly from his consciousness.
One continued its desperate analysis.
The other grasped at the damp soil all around, searching for the familiar warmth of his family.
"The child is here!" A voice sounded out as Athelei heard rapid footsteps of at least a dozen people rushed towards him.
He was shaken out of his reverie as he looked around.
More strangers appeared in his sight, making Trien, Winter, and Alice's absence all the more apparent.
Athelei glanced back at the town he used to live in as he saw the remaining fires continue to ravage the place. Most of the buildings no longer stood, and all that had been left behind was rubble and ruins.
The strangers were worriedly surveying Athelei's state.
"The Cosmic Interface tells me he's lightly wounded, with the majority of the damage being internal." a voice right beside Athelei spoke out with a stern voice.
"Results are similar." another voice confirmed.
"Similar." and another.
"Similar." and another.
"Is he one of us?" A grim, feminine voice asked.
"He was baptised. He is one of us." the first speaker quickly answered.
"That's good to know. Bring him with us for healing, Knight Harley." the feminine voice commanded, "As for the rest, we search for the other survivors. And don't let any of those blasphemous bastards worm their way into the camp! Move out!"
Athelei heard a horse's neigh followed by its swift galloping hooves. The heavy sounds of iron greaves sounded across the earth as knights in armour rushed about.
"What's your name, kid?" Knight Harley gently asked as he sat beside the young boy who looked lost.
"Huh?" Athelei was jolted but he answered nonetheless... "Athelei..."
When he muttered his true name, all Harley heard was gibberish and garbled letters. "What?" He asked, thinking that the kid might be too frightened to talk.
Athelei realised this. No one really asked what his name was before and he never answered. His name, 'Athelei' works in his head because he knew the language. To anyone else, if they tried to comprehend such things, perhaps a headache would instantly descend upon them.
Madness and insanity might be possible, but unlikely. They would explode before they reached such a stage.
"My name... is Orien." Athelei successfully replied. "Do you know what happened to Mom, Dad, and Alice?"
Harley's initial confusion was washed away by pity. "I don't know, Orien."
"You don't know?" Athelei echoed.
"I don't." Harley replied, scratching the back of his neck.
"Can we... look for them?"
"Why?"
"I... I need answers." Athelei blinked away a few tears and rubbed his face. His consciousness had analysed the possibilities. From the shockwave to the flames, to the bone-chilling death note... He measured the normal human fitness and strength of soul and knew that... perhaps those three were no more.
Perhaps...
Their lives had ended.