Upon entry, the stone walls revealed a vast city. A wide spread of post-modern brutalism architecture was everywhere. Vegetation sprouted onto the corners of structures, which made them look old but also healthy. Small trees stood tall on the sides of the pavements. A utopia is what it looked like to Ulah. The air was different. It was pure and lively. It was a fresh feeling. Life was so peaceful here. It was an advanced civilization compared to Earth. A perfected society is what it looked like in the eyes of Ulah.
Animal hybrids with the body of a human roamed freely without judgement. Bunnies like Mr. Tumi, birds of various species, and people with facial features of a cat. Snakeskin people, lizards, and creatures that didn't have a specific name but looked unique. There were so many others that were like them who walked around the city. They wore high-fashion tech wear, modern clothes that were similar to Ulah's clothes. Various types of designs and shapes. They looked all like the same brand, but it didn't bother him; it was fascinating.
Regular humans walked the streets without fear of these creatures in this dystopian world. They were equals. Ulah couldn't help but stare for a while and relax his heavy eyes. Something inside him felt like he couldn't trust people deep down, as if he was in a nightmare where everything could go wrong at any moment. But so far everything was civil so he was not too worried. He looked back at Mr. Tumi.
"Those people. They're animals? What are they exactly?" He asked.
"Those? They're Septilians. I'm one of them."
"What do they do?" Asked Ulah politely.
"They do normal things, like breathe, eat and stuff?" Mr. Tumi chuckled nervously. But before Ulah could analyze the bunny rabbit beside him, he got distracted by the townspeople. They were all respectful and talked to each other without hostility. Just like in his old world. His guard slowly dropped, and his eyes gazed around at the streets. It was not any different from the world he was from.
'Hmph.' The two drew near the capital. There was a large prism shape that stood tall above the buildings, indicating the centre. 'Some sort of monolith?' He had a series of questions about this new world that could not be explained in a single day. Mr. Tumi stayed concentrated on the road ahead.
"Anything struck your attention?"
"The people. And other things, I suppose."
Mr. Tumi started to sweat a little bit under the fur. But Ulah didn't notice. As the two traveled into town, the roads started to become emptier. Mr. Tumi noticed something wasn't right. He looked at his rear window and noticed that no one was behind him as well.
"What's happening?" Ulah asked.
"I think it's something to do with the staff." Retorted Mr. Tumi as he looked at Ulah in a face of uncertainty and worry.
"Oh, okay? Can't we turn around?" Ulah, confused and oblivious to what was happening, got out of the car with Mr. Tumi swiftly. He almost tripped over himself, onto the asphalt, but he quickly recovered. Opening the trunk/boot, he grabs the staff and follows Mr. Tumi. Droplets form on the boy's face, and his eyebrows drop with a look of angst.
"We can't the gate is closed, and the knights are probably en route to our location," shouted Mr. Tumi. His bunny ears flared up when he spoke.
He and Mr. Tumi come running through the market, bumping into multiple fruit baskets and vegetables left out. The people and septillians were stunned and also frightened as to what was happening. A siren goes off in a nearby building. Multiple windows closed and doors shut completely, which created waves of sound from metal slamming together. Ulah started getting worried as to where to go. The sirens were very painful to be around, but they couldn't escape it. He felt rejected in the world.
Where did he stand with the people? But also, why did he care? It's not his home. That was gone long ago. Why keep going when death can be an easy way out? All of these ideas came into his head like a chemical reaction from what he was experiencing.
The two ran to the other side of the market street into a road that led them to the centre of the city, the capital. The red prism was no longer to be seen. Ulah started to twitch rapidly under his jacket. His attempt to keep his adrenaline from breaking out and doing something stupid was a battle only he was facing. Eating him up alive and trying to climb the mountain ahead of him was a treacherous one.
"Stand Down!" Suddenly, a loud voice consumed the ears of both Mr. Tumi and his right-hand man across the road and on top of a building opposite to them. A man with a red robe and the hood up, impossible to see his face, did not show any physical threat to the two and stood his ground. Trying to escalate the situation.
"Mr. Tumi? What is going to happen to me?"
"They want the staff, I should've left it back at the treehouse. Well, it's too late." Shouted Mr. Tumi as the sirens wailed on and on.
The two take a run to the left, trying to find any stores or any house that was empty or even open. But most of them were closed. Doors shut immediately as soon as they glanced at one.
"Can you please tell me about the staff Mr. Tumi?" Ulah started to lose his breath while running.
"Huff, huff, okay-. I'll try to if we can stop somewhere. Look, there's a restaurant that's about to close. if we ask the manager to…(cough!)" Mr. Tumi started to struggle under the conditions of running. He paused and tried to grab his breath, placing his paw pads on his chest. He then proceeds to loosen his clothing.
The determined boy took Mr. Tumi's small hand and started carrying him like hand luggage to the near-closing restaurant a few meters from them.
"Wait! Wait! We need help. We need to get away from the outsiders!" Ulah exclaimed loudly. He lied to get on the good side of the restaurant owner near the door.
A man in what looked like his 70s with a grey beard wearing a tattered faded black apron tried to rush inside but then slipped over onto the ground with a major impact. It sounded like he broke a bone or two.
"Oh god." Ulah's eyes widened and dropped Mr. Tumi onto the pavement to rush to the old man's needs. But right before he could aid the man-
A blast that whipped the air of its serene nature was disturbed. A burst of energy directed at them made an impact in the air. Ulah and Mr. Tumi look behind them to look where the sound came from. There was a burning car in the street. The two look up back at the roof and see the red mage from earlier.
'Why not just finish us off here?' But that thought faded away
in less than a few seconds. Mr. Tumi got back to his feet and tried to start hopping, but that was too much energy and caused him to fall over.
"C'mon Tumi!" Requested Ulah. The bunny got back to his feet
"Ula- Ul... I can't breathe." The tired bunny tried to speak, but his air depleted with every small stride he took.
"I need to know about this stuff, Mr. Tumi. Therefore, you can't die."
"Oh no, not death... just sleepy… time." Mr. Tumi started yawning, holding onto the consciousness while on foot.
The sun was low, and blue hour was in motion. The street lamps turned on simultaneously. It became fairly bright again. It was clear where the two stood. It started becoming difficult for these two to hide. Not only holding a staff but also a sleeping bunny.
Ulah was running dodging any sort of parked vehicle in the way as he ran towards the neoclassical architecture, which had a bit more character and a royal look than all the other places around the city. Being in the very center of the city.
'This must be the capital.' He thought to himself.
"Stop right there, drop the weapon!" There was a single red mage chasing him on the rooftop.
Ulah turned around to look at the person across from him on the high ground. He suddenly dropped Mr. Tumi onto the ground and pointed the staff towards the man on the roof. His eyes furrowed angrily and aggressively. His hand was not still at all. Crumbling under all the pressure, he started waving the staff in a circle in hopes it would do something again.
But nothing happened. Ulah was in shock, but also adrenaline. So he started backing up towards the quartz statue that was a man in armor that had a pattern of snakeskin and had a pose striking one arm up as if in victory holding a golden sword. He stood in front of it, holding out the staff, pointing it straight at the magus on top.
But then he disappeared - leaving a trail of red particles in the air that faded out - from the roof and onto the ground. They were both on the same level. The mage didn't have his hands up ready for anything physical. His face was still furrowed focused on Ulah, trying to keep the situation from escalating any further. But the boy behind the staff couldn't see that. A fight that he could not avoid.
"I'll make this easy, hand over the staff, and I won't have to do anything to you!" Spoke the mage as he slowly approached Ulah with a steady walk.
'Please. Please don't do anything drastic, sir.' The mage thought to himself as he slowly moved forward.
"I need this to get home. Step back before I have to use it on you, " replied the boy with a high sense of urgency. It was a bluff. He didn't know how to operate the staff at all. This was his only chance of getting home if he figured it out.
"Sir, I'll help-" The mage was cut off instantly, and his head turned to the roof of one of the buildings. "No." The mage's face dropped, with his mouth slightly open. I was surprised at what was happening.
On top of the buildings that looked like royalty, five... six... seven people came out wearing some sort of blue shining armor. They were different from the knights at the gates. But they looked sinister. They put their hands together and start speaking. It was inaudible what was being said, Ulah was worried that they might be in trouble.
"PLEASE GIVE ME THE STAFF, YOU DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THESE GUYS!" The mage spat out in a final attempt of desperation towards Ulah. But he didn't comply.
"Tell them to stop whatever they're about to do!"
"I can't PLEASE BELIEVE ME!" Shouted the mage, spitting his final words before everything started becoming worse for Ulah. His hands were put together, begging for the boy to drop the staff before hell broke loose.
Ulah kept switching between the seven blue knights at the top of the roofs or the red mage that was desperate.
'He seems desperate, but what if he uses this against me, damn.' Thought Ulah with an annoyed face. His eyes darted between the two back and forth.
Ulah backed up into the statue, waiting for everything to unfold. Nowhere else. He looked back at the people who were on top of the roofs. After a few seconds, something was happening. A light started to brighten up beneath each person. This appears to be a type of ritual that they were performing.
'Some sort of ritual? What the hell?'
In an instant. The sky changed from a dark sea blue to an otherworldly purple. Clouds started forming and created a sinister texture up above. Ulah's eyes flew up back to the seven knights. He continued to stand his ground, ready for what was next.