Red blood spilled out of the severed head as the purple body with orange veins slowly fell toward the ground.
Blood dissipated away from the black blades in the pale blue man's grip as he swam towards the corpse. The green dreads were slightly darker than the last time I had seen the person, but also I had only seen this individual from a distance for the past three years so I was a little unsure of what pigment his hair truly was.
The man either disregarded my presence or did not realize I had been attached to the body of the fish before letting go.
Once the fish landed on the ground and made a large impact sound, the man landed on top of the middle of its torso and began piercing and shredding the flesh of the fish. After a few moments, the man dug out an orange pulsing orb from the center of the corpse. After tapping the inside of his forearm twice, the orange orb quickly vanished from sight.
The neutral expression I had grown used to looking at had remained throughout the entire scene on the man's face. Once the orb vanished, the man then inspected his surroundings and noticed my figure which had various purple shaded burns across the entirety of my body and a smoke trail leaving it as the purple substance continued to eat through my skin.
His mouth opened up into an 'O' and his eyes widened as he scanned my body.
In less than a second, the man reappeared at my side and left an afterimage in the spot he was previous. He quickly opened the nape of his bodysuit and grabbed a similar silver diamond object to the one that had been floating in the cave. The man quickly tapped his forearm again and a clear white glowing vial of liquid appeared with a sharp point at the top.
Soon the sharp end of the vial was plunged into the brachial artery on my right arm and the white substance seeped out of the sharp end into the veins. Pure fire erupted through my arm and eventually throughout every organ of my body as the white substance was carried through my bloodstream.
A silky smooth voice soon entered my eardrums as my body continued to react madly and move in random directions as the strange concoction inside me continued to burn. "Can you hear me?"
My eyes travelled back to the the man with shining blue skin and a modified one-piece tight black suit as I stared at his pure silver eyes with no pupil. The pain had begun to die down and the purple burn marks on my body had begun to clear up to reveal unblemished skin. I nodded my head slightly at the words which came from the silver object in the man's right hand. I was still a little bewildered since I hadn't heard a real voice in so long.
"How are you breathing right now without a rashene and how are you alive? The people from the farm had told us you had died from blood loss from your leg, but apparently that has grown back as well."
I wasn't too surprised at being able to recognize the words which was reverberating through the water because the other people in the cave seemed to understand what the blue man had been saying. Distrust began to mingle in my mind. All humans were the same, this man might be the same as them. He had to know they stuck me in that hole and was only putting up a front.
Anger started to rise in my voice as I realized how the people had lied about my condition. "I never died, they stuck me in a hole for three years at the back of the cave where you had taken that weird green crystal from. What are you anyways, huh?"
The neutral expression came back over the man in front of me as he opened is mouth and a neutral soft tone came out of the silver diamond. "I am an Agronian. My name is Fange and my species is not from this world. Now that I answered your question, answer my original question. How are you able to breath and sustain this water pressure."
A voice in the back of my head similar to my own voice but a darker tone repeated, 'He knew you were in the hole. He left you there. He will leave you again. You will be eaten by the next creature that comes by once he extracts all the information you have about the situation.'
I shook my head to get rid of the dark voice and refocused on the question he asked me. "There was a large earthquake that destroyed the entire cave and the blue veins above my head broke open and the liquid covered my entire body. I don't know how long my body was covered by it because I soon lost consciousness from the pain the liquid caused and I woke up to find myself falling through the water below."
My voice began to quiver as I continued to explain my story. "When I came to, my left leg had regrown and I could hear once again. Do you know what that blue stuff was? Is this the afterlife or have I gone insane? Why did you leave me when you took all the other kids and teenagers with you to god who knows where? Did you kill them and feed on them once you took them away?"
That last question seemed to bring a slight smirk on Fange's face despite the rising fear in my voice. "Whoa, whoa. Relax for a moment, one question at a time. Let us head down to the ground a little further away from this purple fish. The blood will attract more predators up to five or six times larger and more dangerous than what you had just seen."
Without waiting for a response, Fange took the empty vial plunged in my arm and grabbed my by the shoulder of the same arm. My vision blurred for a moment before I found myself in similar area but with less debris on the ground, a blue ethereal flame, and no dead fish on the ground.
Fange took a seat a bit to the side of the blue-white flame and gestured to the other side of the flame for me to take a seat. Once I sat on the mossy dirt floor where no debris could be spotted, Fange once again spoke through his silver object.
"I guess you have many questions. Shit, I would too if the world were to fall apart and I was left alone for four years without a soul to speak to. That's right, it has been four years, not three. At least this is what I have grasped from the little interaction I have had with you."
It has been four years!!! What does that make me, 18 now? Oh, my poor youth has been poured down the drain just like that.
A slightly sympathetic look crossed his face as he continued to speak.
"First of all, this is real. This is the reality. Your planet Earth has dealt with a major catastrophe which killed a large percentage of your race. I would estimate and say less than 8% survived; however, I am only a simple Scavenger and am unsure of the current situation of your race."
"The reason the world went through a major crisis is because of the arrival of my species. We have certain technology which allows us interact with interdimensional travel, but most of this technology is restricted to the upper echelons of our society which is a whole other matter in itself."
The eyes on Fange narrowed a bit before he hesitated to continue speaking. The volume in his voice also began to lower.
"Before I continue, I have a simple question. The rest of the information is classified for me to give out. My position in the Agronian Origin Army could be at stake if the information were to be leaked out beyond you. I could even be executed. But the fact you were able to survive such a large amount of mana surging through you could mean you could achieve more than most."
"I'll be honest, you could have some potential benefit for my status in Everknight and even drive me up a few ranks to a commander in the Army; however, I do need you to know I feel truly sorry from my previous actions of not taking you with us when I took the potential Explorers. But I could also leave you to fend for yourself in the Landfill Section 204 with all the corrupted mana creatures, so think carefully before you answer me."
"Will you let me sponsor you?"
When Fange had asked me this question, my mind had already been stupefied by the various information thrown at me. Agronian National Army? Interdimensional travel? Corruption? Mana? Sponsor?
"Uhhhhh, well you just gave me more questions, but it doesn't seem like a have much of a choice if I want to survive, do I?"
"I will answer your questions if you decide to rip this white slip while repeating 'I accept Fange's sponsorship.'"
I nodded my head when Fange tapped his inner right forearm and an object smaller than my palm appeared in Fange's grasp. The object was what looked like a normal piece of white paper; however, the paper seemed to not be affected by the water environment surrounding it. I also noticed when Fange tapped his inner right forearm how intricate symbols and shapes lined his entire arm from his inner wrist to his armpit.
Fange handed me the object and I stared at the white slip before ripping it with ease and repeating the words Fange had told me to say. A shining white triangle appeared right below the inner side of my right wrist before the shining died down and a cloud white triangle remained. The white slip of material also disintegrated within my grasp. My mom would kill me if she knew I got a tattoo.
Little did I know this action would greatly alter my fate.
Soon Fange began to smile and spoke in a happy tone.
"Honestly, I don't know how you survived the mana destroying your entire genetic makeup."