"Ughhhhh are we there yet?"
Jenna said with a groan.
"Stop complaining, we'll get there soon."
"Aughhh shut up Kiran I'm trying to sleep."
The bus was currently going through a rocky and somewhat tough terrain.
I stopped taking a nap due to the constant banging against my head. The rough bumping around couldn't be helped.
We were going through gravitational fields the closer we got to the city. The buses were designed to handle rough things like this.
But they weren't designed to go through gravitational pulses like this.
"We're about 20 minutes until we get to the sky shuttle platform."
I said whilst looking at my phone.
Hearing my answer, Jenna sat up and rubbed her eyes. She stretched and yawned until her eyes watered.
"Thanks Keir."
"No problem, your hair is pretty messed up though."
"Huh-"
Seemingly surprised by my sudden response, Jenna took out her phone and opened up the camera.
"Ah shit-"
Her expression transformed into one akin to cringe. She lifted her hand and fiddled with her to try and fix it.
"Hey uh- Fukuyo do you have a brush? I forgot mine."
"Hm?"
Sitting down in a seat in front of Jenna was Fukuyo.
She had her wireless earbuds in and was listening to some music. Her eyes were shut, but she was bobbing her head to the music signifying that she was awake.
She took out her earbuds and faced to see Jenna. As she swiftly turned her head, her long white hair flipped in the air.
"Yes Jenna?"
She asked in a soft voice.
"Do you have a brush I can borrow?"
"Yeah- here you go."
Fukuyo reached out and suddenly a rift had appeared. It was small, contained, and created with the power of her ring.
'Does everybody have one of these things?'
I thought to myself before remembering a key factor in their ownership of rift rings.
'Oh that's right…'
They're all rich Scions.
"Haaa- wish I was rich…"
I whispered underneath my breath.
I took the armrest of my chair and planted my elbow upon it- resting my head atop of my wrist.
Redirecting my gaze from the girls, I looked out towards the dark scenery. We were going along a freeway that spanned the entirety of the human domain.
The crossroads that started at Haneul and ended at Aegir. It connected every city besides Ataraxia.
That place was on the edge of humanity and the rifts.
The scene outside showed itself to be peaceful, serene, although it was nighttime. I found the night to be beautiful, ever since I was a child looking at the moon with my mother.
****
15 minutes later, Soradeus Shuttle Bay #2
"We're here, everybody gather your things and head out to the boarding bay!"
The professor announced to the students.
All of the students in the bus got out of their seats and made their way towards the exit.
"Alright let's go guys."
Jenna said excitedly whilst grabbing Kiran and Fukuyo.
Seeing everybody else leave, I picked myself up and put on my black hoodie. All of my luggage was inside of the ring given to me by Charles.
It had about 50 squared feet of storage space in it. I could store plenty of things in here whether that be healing stims or valuables.
Zzzzzzz-
'Oh he's still here.'
I looked behind me before leaving the bus and spotted a sleeping Samael in his natural habitat.
I went over and nudged him a few times on the shoulder before he slowly got himself together.
"Ughhhhh where am I?"
He groaned.
"You're on the bus to Soradeus. Get up we have to go meet with the others."
"Uh fine yeah…"
He slowly got himself up and carried himself to the doorway alongside me. He rubbed his eyes a few times before opening them up- revealing an emerald green iris.
We stepped out onto the platform and found ourselves in a crowd of tired students. The sky was dark and it had started to rain on the platform.
"The shuttles will be arriving in a few minutes!"
Standing at the front of the crowd was Naomi wearing a nice white coat. She was currently on her tablet checking the schedules of our trip.
The rain had started to get a bit more intense but nothing to the point of needing umbrellas. The barrage of water droplets hitting the paved floor rang out a sizzling-like noise.
All of the students with hoodies put their hoods up - including myself.
VWOOM—!
Suddenly a few bright lights could be seen descending from the sky above.
It didn't take long for our shuttles to arrive at the station. We were separated into the same groups we had for our bus trip and assigned our respective shuttles.
The shuttles were sleek, modern, and the interiors were a dark grey lit up with striped lights going across the floor and windows. A sense of luxury was evident in the vehicles.
"Attention Passengers: Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle at all times."
As we walked in the shuttle had an AI speak to us.
Not long after getting settled into the vehicle and admiring it, we set off to the city of Soradeus.
"This is a nice ass ride…"
Kiran said with a grin.
His excitement was clearly shown by his bright expression.
The rest of the group was excited too. Although Lilith barely showed any expressions at all, I could see she was somewhat looking forward to seeing the city.
Asa on the other hand had a bright smile throughout this entire trip. He was probably happy visiting home.
"Lift off starting in five seconds."
Hearing the announcement, we strapped ourselves into the seats and waited for lift off to begin.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
"Lift off."
VWOOM—!
"Holyyyy shit!"
Kiran yelped.
The grin on his face got even wider.
The shuttle itself let out a loud noise that was likely from it clashing with the gravitational pull. There was some initial turbulence as the shuttle fought against physics.
This continued on for a minute or so before smoothing out. After that brief experience of lift off, the AI spoke once more.
"Arrival in 5 minutes."
Most of us took off our seatbelts and were free to explore the shuttle. It was big enough to house 50 people and it was good for simple quick commutes.
Whether that be for tourists or locals.
"Wow what a view…"
Grabbing my attention, Samael was peering out of the large front window. We were above the clouds and lightning could be observed flashing through the sea of clouds.
It was breathtaking.
I couldn't find the words to describe it other than ethereal. The clouds were shone upon by the bright moonlight.
Soon enough, lights in the dark could be seen coming into view. The lights grew larger and larger until they were revealed to be the lights of skyscrapers.
Skyscrapers in the sky.
Coming into view was the large floating metropolis known all around the human domain.
The floating kingdom of Soradeus.
Neon lights pierced the dark night, the city was surrounded by a barrier of sorts as well.
"Entering gravity bubble."
Said the AI voice.
The barrier was likely put up to create the city easier to live on.
"The city was originally on the surface, until the rifts broke out. People could barely survive this high up and so my family, alongside the Caelus royal family - created the barrier to house life."
Asa said.
He had walked up and started observing the city alongside Samael and I.
We got closer to the city before the shuttle made its way to the designated station. The city was full of flying shuttles commuting to different locations.
It was lively 24/7.
The shuttle made its way to a station along with the other shuttles transporting the other students.
"We're here guys."
Asa said to the group with a smile.
We soon disembarked from the shuttle and made our way down to the platform to meet with the other shuttles.
After doing a very brief attendance check, the professors guided us down to the main station.
This is where we were greeted by a large open courtyard with people waiting for us.
Professor Naomi stepped up and was soon approached by a man wearing a sharp formal suit.
They speaker for a brief moment before he announced their intentions.
"Hello students of Aethra, my name is Kiyoshi and I'd like to welcome you all to this wonderful city."
His voice was loud and clear, the students listened closely despite their own sleepiness.
"I'd like to welcome you all to Soradeus!"
**OUTLINE WILL DELETE**
- FIVE-HOUR RIDE FROM KEIR POV
- CONTINUES INTO THE SKY SHUTTLE TRIP
- INTRODUCTION TO SORADEUS
- TRIP TO THE HOTEL
- GETTING SETTLED INTO THE HOTEL