New Trier, Intis. March 31, 428, 13:00 P.M. In a hotel in the Arianna Quartier.
"The Sienna Quartier is the economic and cultural heart of Trier, with over 50 thousand people passing through it daily. Unlike the Walker Quartier on the south of Trier, which is less developed and primarily residential for the poor, or the Mahose Quartier, where nobles reside in grand mansions and castles, the Sienna Quartier have a unique architectural style. Its buildings, some nearly 20 meters tall with five floors, are true marvels of design.
Although the Sienna Quartier is located in Intis, it feels worlds apart from any other place in the country. People from all over the world come here, hoping to try their luck in the Dream Land.
While exploring the Sienna Quartier, you won't miss Balam for even a moment. There's so much happening that you won't have time to wonder what to do next.
Blimps fly through the sky, high-speed trains streak across the landscape, and people of all backgrounds mingle. Those are just a few of the sights you'll encounter in the Sienna Quartier. The aromas of delicious foods from around the world and the fragrances from the stores make the Sienna Quartier a feast for all five senses.
(P.S. Given the crowd, keep a close watch on your belongings. You may find your precious items missing before you even notice, such a shame.) - By Lana Walker
"I guess that's enough material for now. It'll need a few revisions before I send it to the journal..."
"I think I'll remove the part about the Walker and Mahose Quartiers. As a traveling journalist, it's not really my business to comment on poverty..."
Lana scribbled a note at the end of her paper: Take out: Mahose, Walker.
She stretched her legs and arms, sighing with satisfaction. "Trier usually has a nice, chilly climate this time of year, but today is so hot... Is this what those apocalypse novels call 'global warming'? Heh, the world getting warmer because of machinery, those authors sure have an imagination..."
Lana often spoke to herself, sometimes quite loudly, but after an incident on the East Coast of Loen, she'd started being more discreet about it.
"Hmm, I have interviews to do for my piece on the Sienna Quartier… I should shower first."
She opened the closet, taking out a white towel, a light brown vest, a dark brown beret, black shoes, and a white shirt. She laid them on the bed and entered the bathroom with the towel in hand.
She turned on the shower. "There are many things to criticize about Intis, but not their technology. These gas showers are brilliant, they heat water so much faster than firewood. I hope Balam imports this soon."
....
New Trier, Intis. March 31, 428, 16:00 P.M. Sienna Quartier.
Lana left her hotel at 15:00 P.M., fully prepared for her interviews. She usually wore her shoulder-length brown hair loose, but given the heat, she'd tied it up in a bun.
"Ugh, I interviewed almost fifteen people, but I can only use four. The rest were just random stories."
As she wandered through the crowded streets of the Sienna Quartier near the Church of the War Angel, she searched for material for her column.
Suddenly, a young man in a dark purple suit rushed past her into a nearby alley, bumping into her so hard she nearly fell. "Hey, watch it, you moron!" she shouted, flipping him off.
The man didn't stop and kept running.
"Tsk... I know people in Trier have some weird habits, but this is ridiculous. Do they have no manners?" she muttered, loud enough for passersby to stare at her in shock. Embarrassed, she quickly crossed the street to avoid their gazes.
....
Shit, shit, shit!
Michael sprinted, his eyes stared to swirl once again, trying desperately to avoid the lights, he closed his eyes and ran on instinct toward an alley. He briefly opened his eyes after bumping into a woman, seeing a flash of brilliant silver light. In an instant, fragments of an unknown language surged into his mind, painfully embedding themselves in his memory.
He closed his eyes again, barely registering the woman's shouting. The flood of information left him struggling to focus as he stumbled into the alley, running until he reached its end and collapsed into a pile of garbage, gasping for air.
"GWAAAH!" he shouted, clawing at his face as he fought to stop the painful merging of memories.
His brain was throbbing, and his hands were shaking. Part of the information he had gotten from the angry woman merged with his brain, and he finally regained some of his consciousness. He entered a battle against himself to stop the rest of the information.
"T-There's no other way..."
He opened his eyes, which kept swirling as his whole vision became a big wave. He used part of the unknown language information that had merged into his brain to formulate a phrase, but since he had only acquired a small part of the language, he didn't knew the correct words so he decided to use words similar to the original ones.
"The Clown from another time;
Dominator of the fog;
King of yellow and black who brings fortune;"
The moment the words left his lips, he felt himself floating as an endless fog enveloped him. His heart rate steadied, and the merging of memories ceased. His mind cleared, and his vision settled.
He looked around the endless fog, surrounded by the fog was what seemed like the ruins of a giant's castle. Below the ruins of the castle was a long table with 22 chairs: ten on the left, ten on the right, one at the head, and one at the foot.
All the chairs were empty except for the one at the head, where a figure sat, their eyes obscured by dense fog.
The figure at the head of the table chuckled and spoke at last: "Please, have a seat, Mr. Michael Burey."