Air whizzed past Kane's ears as gravity's cruel grasp pulled him down to the water below. Beside him was Luna, grasping his hand tightly. Her grip was unyielding, not from fear of the fall, but fear of her master suddenly disappearing on her.
Their minds raced as they plummeted, each second stretching out as they wondered what awaited them below. The rush of wind, the feeling of weightlessness, and the cold bite of the air against their skin were overwhelming.
In the chaos, Kane's thoughts flickered to the unknown they were hurtling towards.
As they fell feet first to the water below, Kane and Luna's eyes were squarely pointed in the same direction, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
For the first ten meters, they saw nothing, but then it happened.
Air shimmered. Space rippled. A sight they had only seen in pictures appeared before them. It was a rift.
In less than a second, space was ripped open, and a tear appeared. Kane and Luna's eyes flew wide open, but before they had any time to react, they were gone. And so was the rift.
From one moment to the next, the air below the bridge was entirely empty again. On top of it, the fight between Cybers and Mystics raged on, but the reasons for it had already been whisked away to an unknown destination.
A destination not on this Earth.
* * *
Somewhere in an empty clearing surrounded by tall trees, bright sunlight burst through the canopy above. The ground was a lush carpet of grass and wildflowers, swaying gently in the breeze. Birdsong echoed in the surroundings, breaking the silence, and the scent of pine and fresh earth filled the air.
It was the definition of a tranquil setting.
But, like with any peaceful place, it was bound to be disturbed sooner or later.
Just above the clearing, by the canopy, air shimmered and space rippled. Suddenly, like an angry god spitting out his food, two humanoid forms were launched out of a rift.
The two forms were screaming in confusion. Behind them, the rift instantly winked out of existence again, as if it was all a lie.
"Brace!" Kane yelled when he noticed the hard ground coming up to greet them. His voice urgent.
Instantly, Luna let go of his hand. Hands moving as fast as possible, they unstrapped their sheathed weapons and tossed them away.
With a surprisingly soft crash, the two landed on the grass and expertly rolled to reduce the impact as they landed. Grass and dirt flew into the air across their trajectory.
After tumbling across half the clearing, they finally came to a stop. Fortunately, while Core Awakening stage Mystics were still only marginally above dregs, it was enough of a difference to get through a fall like this without any serious injuries.
Now, Kane and Luna lay next to each on the dew covered grass, panting, gazing at the sky, air knocked out of their lungs.
"What… the hell… just happened…" Luna gasped, eyes wide open.
"We… fell through… a rift…" Kane muttered, equally out of breath. His voice was strangely calm.
"You don't sound… surprised about that…" Luna panted, her breath already returning to her.
"It was… one of three possibilities…" Kane responded, before taking in a large gulp of air. "Option one was a boat or submarine. Option two was a rift. Option three was a safety option, just in case there was something waiting for us that I simply never knew about."
"I see," Luna frowned, having regained her breath completely. "I had no idea such short-term rifts existed… or that they could be predicted to this much accuracy."
They remained on the ground, staring up at the sky with fascination. Meanwhile, Kane used his CyberStrap to scan the immediate surroundings for any danger, and came up empty.
"They don't and can't," Kane mumbled, deep in thought. "At least, so I thought. But the way that Archy talked about it… However unlikely, my instincts were screaming rift at me."
Taking another deep breath, he sighed, "Anyway, I guess there's no denying we're probably not on Earth anymore…"
"Well, yeah," Luna grinned, still looking up at the sky, curiosity twinkling in her eyes. "I kinda figured, because of the orange sky and all."
Winking through the green canopy above them, was a bright orange sky. White clouds, tinted with red and orange were drifting across, and a large red sun shone its light down on them.
The duo marvelled at the sight for a moment longer.
Suddenly, Kane's face split into a wide, victorious grin, "I guess that means we finally got away from Father, huh… I mean, I would have preferred do it on my own terms, but I'll take it."
"Me too, Master," Luna giggled happily.
And she didn't stop. Her happy giggles soon turned into full blown laughter. Next to her, Kane soon started chuckling as well, before loudly laughing together with her.
For a full five minutes, their laughter filled with relief and joy echoed through the clearing.
Finally Kane stopped, tore his gaze away from the sky, and rolled over on top of Luna. "We're free," he grinned, before leaning in and passionately kissing his Valkyrie.
With their arms wrapped around each other, they kissed for a few minutes. But before it could turn into anything more, Kane tore his face away from hers. They both panted, their faces flushed with desire.
"A real celebration will have to wait," he smirked at the woman under him. He knew they had to wait, despite how much it hurt. "We don't know how safe this location is."
Luna sighed in disappointment, "I know, I know. Always the rational one."
"Would you rather be dead?" Kane grinned, his eye brow raised in amusement.
"No…" Luna grumbled, sticking out her tongue at him playfully.
They stared at each other for a moment longer when, slowly, a melancholy aura took a hold of the catling.
"What's wrong?" Kane asked, a little worried.
"I just realized Mom and my fathers are all still back on Earth…" she muttered sadly.
Kane's expression turned into a wry smile. "Right," he nodded. Suddenly, the faces of Alexa and little Nina flashed before his eyes, but he shook his head as something else pushed those faces away. Anger flashed in front of his eyes as he growled, "We also can't actually take revenge on Father without being there."
Still on the ground with Kane hanging over Luna, they looked in to each others eyes as they slowly started coming to terms with the fact they truly weren't on Earth anymore. Luna's eyes were misty with the thought she would never again see her parents.
Finally, Kane sighed, and stood up before offering Luna his hand. "Well, whatever. That Archibald said I would return there eventually. Until we actually know more about why he sent us here, let's just assume that what he said was true."
"Right!" Luna smiled, finding comfort in his words while she grabbed his hand and stood up. But then she stumbled and groaned with pain.
Frowning, Kane grabbed her shoulder to help steady her. "Luna? Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly.
Luna frowned as well, but then nodded, smiling confidently. "Yeah! My body just aches a little. I must have landed wrong, or maybe it was travelling through that rift."
As if not wanting to dwell on this, she quickly continued, "Anyway! When we return, we'll have the power to not only free my mother, but my fathers as well!"
Kane looked at her carefully for a moment, but then nodded, "I'll make sure of it." Determination shone in his eyes. 'When we get back, everything will be different…' he promised himself. 'We will be free… Father will die… and Luna will be reunited with her family.'
They quickly grabbed their weapons from the ground and strapped them back on.
"Woah!" Luna suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a point on the horizon. "What the fuck is that?!"
When he saw what Luna was pointing at, Kane's blinked in surprise.
A massive number of tall white spires dotted the northern horizon. Flying vehicles appeared to shuttle between them, filling the sky with bright dots.
"It's… a city," Kane muttered in astonishment. "And far more advanced than Riftshade, it seems. At least, based on what little we can see through the trees."
Luna opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Her eyes widened. Suddenly, she started gurgling.
Surprised, Kane looked at his partner and felt his heart skip a beat. "Luna!" he exclaimed, grabbing the catling just in time before she started sagging to the ground.
Blood was streaming from her face.