"Shit, I'm gonna be late! Man, why the hell didn't my alarm wake me up?!"
**RUMBLE RUMBLE**
**CRACKLE**
"Hm? What the hell is that… noise…?"
"...Why…Is the sky…?"
After everything goes pitch black, Kazuya wakes up from his dream, breathing heavily. He grabs his head with his right hand, and lets out a slight grunt.
"What the hell was that? A nightmare?" He said in a sluggish tone.
He decided to get up from the wooden floor he was sleeping on in the cheap inn's room that Came had gotten them to sleep in. All he had was the floor, a blanket, and a pillow barely lifting his head off the ground to sleep. The place was a complete wreck, but was far away from many of the popular areas in the Green Hole, protecting them from the guards.
Kazuya walks outside of the inn, to notice the café that had served them water before was still open. He approaches it, and the same waitress appears.
"Would you like anything to drink?"
"Uhm... sure."
"Alright, just sit here."
"Thank you..."
Kazuya sits down, with his head throbbing in pain. What he had seen in that dream was too vivid to simply be a normal nightmare. What he had seen was him running in an area familiar to him, but one he cannot remember. And then shortly after, the sky above him began to crumble. He had come to the conclusion that it was one of his memories, but it was the only one he could remember. No matter how hard he tried, he could recall nothing more.
"God my head hurts... but this dream- no, this memory. It's an indicator that my brain is trying to remember. Hopefully I can recall more before reaching 'The Clouded Mirrors' Came was talking about." Kazuya thought to himself.
As he sat there, he started to feel drowsy again. He started to fall back asleep, but was woken up by the waitress putting down his glass of water.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No no, it's fine. I'm just feeling tired is all." Kazuya said while chuckling.
"Well, that's to be expected given how late it is, huh?" the waitress said smilingly.
"...Hey, you're not from around here, are you?" She asked hesitantly.
In a panic, Kazuya replied, "Hm? What? Huh? Uh? W-what do you mean by t-that?"
Kazuya held his breath, fearing that he had been found out as a human.
"Damn it, I hoped that the people around might think I'm some 'solid' ghost, but it seems that they're not that dum-"
"You're from... the lower levels... right?"
"Hm? What makes you say that?" Kazuya said relieved.
"Well... It's just that I've never seen anyone like you before. And since I've never been to the lower levels of the sky, I don't really know who resides there. You seem similar to me, but you have smaller ears and different eyes." She said
"Well, yes that's right! I'm from the lower levels, haha..." Kazuya said nervously.
"Is that so? Then why are you here in the higher levels with a ghost and ghoul?"
"Well... I'm just doing some... research! Yes, I'm uh, writing a novel about the high sky! And to do that, I felt that I should experience it, y'know?"
"Oooh, I see! Wow, that's quite admirable."
"Haha, yeah..." Kazuya said with a slight blush.
"Wait, you realized that Mono was a ghoul?" Kazuya asked, believing that the ghouls were essentially wiped from history.
"Hm? Why yes, of course. While many may not know of them, It's mostly within the newer generations. However, we are of the older generation, and know that ghouls have in fact existed."
"But, I thought ghouls didn't have any respect? Why is it that you just let him come in here."
"Well, actually, this café in particular has quite a history with ghouls. It was run entirely by ghouls for generations, hence it's location away from everything else. This inn was also created around the same time by ghouls as well. Every person that's worked here, including myself, was either a ghoul or supported the ghouls in some way. Seeing your friend here made me happy knowing that at least one of them is still around."
Kazuya looked at her, and smiled. He grabbed his water and stared it.
"I see. Thank you for telling me... um..."
"Terra. My name is Terra."
"Terra, huh. That name sounds familiar for some reason." Kazuya said, with slight confusion in his voice.
Kazuya felt his start to hurt once again, but this time as though it was about to rupture and split into two. He was grasping his head with his two hands, with his head on the table, and his eyes closed. He started to grunt because of the excruciating pain he was feeling.
"Are you okay?!" Shouted Terra.
Kazuya was trying to speak, but the pain kept him from being able to. Quickly, Terra went behind a desk that was at the corner of the café, and grabbed a small pill. She gave it to Kazuya and told him to take it. After taking it, Kazuya's headache began to calm down, and he returned to his senses.
"Ugh, my head...."
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"You should go back inside and get some rest. I'm sure you're going to have an early start to wherever you plan to go next." Terra said with slight nervousness in her voice.
"You're right. I should head back inside. Thanks again for the water and treating my headache."
The two said goodnight to each other, and Kazuya went back into the inn, covered himself in the blanked, and fell asleep after around 30 minutes of constant fussing on the hardwood floor.
Eventually, only 2 hours later, Kazuya is woken up by Mono. "5 more minutes" Kazuya says, but is woken up completely after Mono slapped him right across the face, sending him flying into a wall."
"That's payback for knockin' me out. Now we're even." Mono said proudly.
"Will these two ever get along...?" Came thought to himself nervously.
The three of them started to begin for their depart, gathering supplies for their journey to the lower levels. They prepare their bags with water, food, and changes of clothes (which were ragged, but better than nothing.) They then waved goodbye to Terra, who had given Kazuya a pack of the same medicine she had made Kazuya take the night before.
"Alright. Time to set out. First, we need to get to a level gate." Said Came.
"A level gate?" Asked Kazuya.
"Yes. It's like the gates me and Mono have opened to reach other levels. It allows us to move between levels easily by just channeling the energy around us into the platform itself."
"Couldn't you just open one right here like you did before?"
"Nope, no can do. The gates me and Came opened were 'bond gates'. They're special gates that are tied strictly to our level. They allow us to transport to our level from other levels, or one level below ours." Explained Mono.
"Precisely." Said Came.
"I see. So we need to go and find this gate, but where is it?"
"Well, that's quite simple. It's in the middle of the shopping district. However, what poses a threat are the Horizon Guards. If they spot us, then we're done for."
"Yep. We basically only got one shot at this, otherwise we're toast." Said Mono.
"Hmm. Well, is there anything we can do about them?"
"Yes. I've devised a plan for us to make it past the guards which is quite simple."
Came then proceeded to explain the plan to Mono and Kazuya, and they began their journey to the bottom of the sky!