Darkness.
Everything
Everywhere
Just darkness. For what felt like an eternity and yet passed like mere seconds, Oliver experienced darkness. They say that when you die your life flashes before your eyes...They were wrong. No magic mirror was showing Oliver his loved ones, his mistakes, or his successes. nothing reminding him of all the things he did or could have done. no loved ones were waiting for him, and no light at the end of the tunnel. Just himself and the darkness.
Olivers' body lay unmoving on the wooden planks of the roof, and Blood formed a pool slowly spreading as more and more blood drained from his body. Silver streaks ran through his blood from the mysterious liquid from the vial he had shattered mingling in his wound. Suddenly the silver liquid begins to glow with an ethereal blue light and ghostly sparks form around the edges of his wound and it begins to seal itself shut.
The blue energy begins to streak around him, wrapping him in layer upon layer of energy like numerous planets orbiting a star at high speed and leaving streaky afterimages in their wake. The light seemed to shine brighter than the sun, As though dawn had come sooner than expected. Oliver's body emitted enormous amounts of light and yet it wasn't noticed, not by the Guards, nor the people sleeping below. None of them noticed the ethereal light or the corpse that now levitated above the city in a display that was incredibly rare in these parts.
Finally, the corpse sucked in a desperate breath and his eyes snapped open, each of them shining with that same light which seemed to sink into his skin and become internalized. Oliver glowed from within as he floated in the air and his brow furrowed in confusion, unsure what was happening. Finally, the glow condensed in his head, fading from the rest of his body. If anyone were looking, they could see his skull beneath his skin, and even specific neurons firing within his brain as the light condensed there.
Eventually, the light flashed in his eyes and then faded completely, as something new took shape in the air before him. It was a book. although thin with only a few pages within it.
The book was an ethereal glowing blue tome, which was transparent as though it belonged to a ghost. Layers of ornate magical runes and symbols covered the surface of the book that wasn't even tangible.
Oliver couldn't believe it, his body was no longer struggling to cling to life and now returned to an upright position with both feet on the floor, fully healed. he patted his stomach carefully, lifting his shirt and exploring his scrawny torso for the wound that had nearly killed him... it was gone, not even a scar.
The book had disappeared but he knew what it was... it was a dream come true. The one thing that unified all of mankind, and yet divided them so heartlessly. A Soul Tome, the physical manifestation of a soul which can be used to unleash devastating power, or if you aren't lucky enough to have a powerful and unique Tome, at the minimum it is enough to make a modest living and live an admirable life for yourself inside the city walls.
Every single human being on the planet desires the ability to awaken, unifying us in this pursuit. On the other hand, it divided us between those who have awakened and those who haven't as well as those who have powerful Tomes, and those with average or pathetic Tomes.
Oliver looked around cautiously and reminded himself that he was in danger. "escape first, celebrate later" he mutters to himself.
The boys' eyes dart around, piercing into the night as he decides which direction to run. he could still hear the faintest of echoes from the sonic dogs howl as it continued to raise the alarm and Oliver could see the lights in that part of the city begin to come on as the sound woke people and the guards turned on the streetlights to have a better chance of finding him.
Oliver continued south in the opposite direction as the shop and the guards that infested that area. Thinking on his feet, Oliver went over his options.
Law-abiding citizens might go for the guard stations for safety, but he couldn't do that since the guards were currently trying to find him.
'They don't know it's me that they are looking for though' Oliver thought to himself, more to remind himself of the silver lining than anything.
People who needed to escape the guards typically go to gang territory, deep enough that the guards won't enter. and perhaps pay a gang to hide them. Unfortunately for Oliver, this isn't an option for him. RawDawg is from the local gang and that's where he would have gone, going there would only endanger Oliver.
A kid would go back to the orphanage that raised- *ahem* neglected him all these years, while they don't care for the kids they have custody of, they have places he could have hidden and at the very least he would have felt safer in a familiar place. Once again, however, Oliver could not go this route. he was no longer a child and was not allowed back at the orphanage.
The guards were notoriously cruel in the Outter Realm of the city. They would surely kill him..or worse, if they found him. With no good options coming to mind, Oliver decided to find a place he could hole up for a few minutes. He wanted to see what his Tome had in store for him. Perhaps something in its pages would help him out of this situation.
Even if nothing in his book was able to help him, running for miles had Worn him out. Roof running had been a pretty big part of his life till this point, he was fast and agile and perfectly capable of running long distances, but he was panting hard and had a stitch in his side. Pushing through the pain is possible, but he shouldn't neglect his condition in case he has to run more tonight.
His eyes peer into the night once more until they catch on to the tallest building in the Realm. It is a dilapidated bell tower built long ago and abandoned. The guards would certainly search there eventually, but he knew that they would take hours to get there. Already they will be searching a grid-like pattern within a perimeter. When they don't find anything they will expand the perimeter and continue the search, Using it as an excuse to abuse citizens, invade homes, arrest people for minor infractions, and generally make lives miserable.
so he knew that this bell tower wouldn't be searched until the 3rd perimeter at least.
Oliver braces himself and continues running the rest of the way towards the Belltower, Another 10 minutes of running and he Stood before it, staring up at it. it wasn't a massive tower, but it did stand head and shoulder over every other building in the Outter Realm. Oliver had been up there before and it would give him a view of the city, and let him be able to see when the guards get too close.
He climbed the winding stairs up into the tower, his legs burning as he does, until finally, he allows himself to collapse into the relative safety of the belltower and catch his breath... this time with a smile on his face instead of a stab wound in his gut.
'I guess I was right the first time, Realm Rats really don't die that easily...we survive.'