This won't happen again, but as of ten seconds ago, basically, I've finished chapter 2 of Ashes. I figured I might as well post it now.
Same thing as last time, if anything strikes you, don't hesitate to let me know. Feedback is always welcome. :D. (Also I haven't really read it over in its entirety so there might be mistakes and typos and such).
SHARD #2
12/18/2013
Bleary eyes opened to the grating sound of an
alarm going off. Casper groaned, wiping sleep from his eyes. If he hurried,
he'd have just enough time for a too-quick shower and a shoveled breakfast
before having to be on his way to class. For just a second, he paused at the
edge of his bed. While not incredibly unusual, the dream had gone on longer
than Casper had expected it to. It would seem Callie had pulled an all-nighter.
This didn't happen often, as she was generally the type to hit the hay at a
very reasonable time, believing that a person couldn't function correctly
without at least 8 hours of sleep every night. The fact that she would be
missing at least half a night's sleep was odd, but Cass put it out of his head.
Really, it wasn't as if there was no conceivable reason for a teenage girl to
stay up late every once in a while. Maybe one of her friends had thrown a party
and she'd decided to attend. Either way, it was none of his business.
When he walked out the door, he was unsurprised
to see Jack already waiting for him in front of his house. He looked supremely
bored and frankly rather annoyed at being kept waiting, but that was just
something Jack did. Looking closer, it was obvious from his flushed face and
slight panting breath that he'd only stopped running maybe a minute ago.
Cass raised his eyebrow at his friend.
"You do realize I'm aware you would have been later than I am had you not
sprinted your way here?" he grinned, while Jack had the gall to look even
more superior.
"That, my friend, is exactly what I wanted
you to think. Allow me to describe to you the precise art of deceiving people
with details."
"Yeah, no thanks. Come on, moron, we're
gonna be late."
The two of them had a sort of tradition of
walking together whenever they had morning classes in common. This happened
every Wednesday, as well as on Fridays. It wasn't a particularly long or
exciting walk, and they mostly filled it with idle chatter. It also served as
an excellent opportunity to tell Jack anything interesting that came up in the
dreams without fear of anyone overhearing more than half a sentence.
"So let me get this straight. You were a
cat, again? Dude. Can't you dream
yourself as something more awesome? What's wrong with dragons?"
"Well yeah. I happen to like cats, sue me.
But as I was saying... I ended up in some kind of weird city. It was like nothing
I've ever seen." From the corner of his eye, Casper saw a middle-aged man
jogging along the sidewalk across the road, heading towards an intersection.
Turning back to his friend, he continued, "I can't really say what was so
strange about it though. I mean, the colors were still abnormal, but it was
more than that. It was in the atmosphere of the place. Kind of like... it felt
as if the buildings were all at an angle, even though they appeared straight.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there was nobody around, I
don't know..." He trailed off. He'd been looking to his right again, and
he could have sworn he saw the same man as before, jogging along... from the
same place he'd started. It was as if he'd gone about ten meters back while
Cass' head was turned, only to walk the same path again. Casper reached to stop
his friend in his tracks.
"Jack, um... Did you just see that?"
Jack frowned in reply. "See what? Dude,
you okay? Look like you saw a ghost or something."
"I... yeah, no, I'm fine. Must have been
seeing things."
"Right... Thinking about precious Callie
again, huh? Focus, lover boy, we've got a long day ahead of us."
Casper took the dig in stride and simply
resumed walking, too intent on telling his story to give a rise to the comment
he knew was meant in jest. Jack was content to let him talk, and it was in this
way that they continued the rest of the walk.
***
As
confused as she’d been when she first became conscious of her surroundings,
they got boring awfully fast. There was only so much dimly-colored scenery a
recently dead girl could take, she supposed. If that was even what had happened.
All she could really be sure about was that she’d been hit by a car, and hit hard, and the next thing she knew she
was lying in a field of black-and-white flowers, next to a lake that looked a
little more pink than it had any right to. Seriously.
The only places I’ve ever seen a pink lake are idyllic paintings of sunsets and
the like. Or perhaps in a little girl’s dreamland, where everything is
pastel-perfect. But it wouldn’t do to dwell on a lake that realistically
had no business being the color it was. There were more important issues to
solve, starting with where she was, and how the hell she’d ended up there in
the first place.
She was
shocked out of her reverie by a noise that appeared to come from behind her.
She turned around, the air seeming to shimmer in front of her. Dizzy, she
closed her eyes for a second. Instead of the empty landscape she had expected,
Callie was faced with a man that most certainly had not been there before. It
was indicative of her befuddlement that the sudden appearance of a stranger
incited not questions but stunned silence. It might also have had something to
do with the fact that the man fixed her with a look of something resembling
satisfaction and recognition, as if she was the very person he'd been looking
to find. He seemed to be a man who took care of his appearance, dressed
sharply, with neatly combed hair. He looked very put-together but there was
absolutely nothing striking about him, nothing to catch the eye. His visage was
strangely unassuming, neither handsome nor ugly. Perhaps, had the stranger not
started speaking, Callie would have become rather alarmed at the quiet purpose
in his gaze. As it was, however, this strangely out-of-place
person had a rather calming voice.
"Hello there,” he said, “I'm Finch
Starling. What can I call you?"
For all she tried, Callie couldn't seem to find
her voice. As the silence stretched on, Finch seemed to realize the answer he
was waiting for would probably not be forthcoming.
"Perhaps you don't remember? It's nothing
to be ashamed of, that happens all the time. Really it's no surprise,
considering..." He trailed off, maybe because Callie's blank face made him
realize she was waiting for some sort of explanation. He seemed to catch
himself, taking a beat of silence before he continued.
"I’m sorry, it’s been a while since anyone
promising has entered the stage. I suppose you might say I’ve been getting a
little rusty. Either way, I should probably explain some of the basics to you.”
“You could start with where the
hell we are right now?”
The stranger looked decidedly
pleased. “Oh excellent, you can talk. Yes, I do believe that might be prudent. To
be honest, not a lot is known about this place, as it is only accessible to
those of us who end up here like you have. It appears to be a dimension in
between – a gray area, if you will. Where exactly it exists in regular
space-time is unknown, although there are certain places where passing over
into Life appears to be easier than usual. Whatever its official name is – if it
even has one – the inhabitants have come to know this place as Nier. As for why
the scenery looks off, well, my best guess has always been that the Aurea
prefer it; though the reasons for that are unknown to me." At this,
Finch's eyes gained an excited gleam. Somehow
I don't get the feeling this guy gets to talk about this stuff half as often as
he'd like to.
“Okay. Right. Obviously.”
Something in her tone of voice
must have alerted the man that the information he’d volunteered was mildly
intriguing at best, horribly confusing, and did almost nothing to better
Callie’s understanding of anything.
“It seems I’m getting quite
ahead of myself. I apologize once again. I do so love to philosophize about
this place. Let me start over. I am Finch Starling and I am what is known as an
Agent, part of an organization here in Nier, called the Rift. It is my task to
seek out promising new arrivals and lead them to the Rift. Do you remember what
happened in your life that resulted in your coming here?” The look Finch fixed
on her was somehow compassionate and uplifting without being pitying. It must
be a talent.
For her part, Callie didn’t
particularly want to talk about the momentary shock and pain that came from
being hit by a car, but there was obviously something going on. Something strange.
“I got hit by a car. I was
cycling to school and I wasn’t looking and it was driving really fast. It hurt
pretty bad and I opened my eyes here and everything is strange and the lake is
freaking pink.” Callie hadn’t
realized how much the situation had been bothering her, perhaps from residual
shock creating a numb calm. Now that Finch was asking about it, the words flew
from her mouth and left her shaking in their wake.
Realizing she still didn’t have
an answer to the most important question, she quietly spoke again.
“Am I dead?”
“Yes, and no. It all depends on
the perspective.”
“What is that even supposed to
mean?”
“You are no longer alive.
However, the accident that should’ve caused you to cross over into Death
instead brought you here. Essentially, you’re not properly dead either.”
Callie made a face. “Are you
telling I’m a zombie? Because that’s just sucky.”
The man across from her merely
raised his eyebrow. “No, you’re not a zombie. The proper term for what you have
become would be revenant. All creatures of Nier are revenants. It is only the
strongest of those that become part of the Rift. You might’ve noticed there is
no real wildlife here. This is presumably because the conditions that trigger
the transformation of a living soul into a revenant only occur in highly
sentient beings.”
And indeed, now that attention
had been brought to the matter, California couldn’t remember seeing a single
animal since she woke up on the shores of the lake.
“Humans with exceptional
qualities of any kind tend to become strong revenants, like you. It doesn’t
have anything to do with physical strength so much as spiritual strength, and
therefore the Rift cares little what particular quality caused the soul to become
a revenant.”
Finch gave her a quick smile and
took a step in her direction. “Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way,
let’s get this over with.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. Callie closed
her eyes to blink and when she opened them, they were in a large room with a
domed ceiling. The walls shone a muted gold, like the afternoon sun. It was a
strange room, but not an unpleasant atmosphere. In fact it was remarkably
relaxing.
She was shocked out of her
reverie when she looked at the mirror-smooth floor and caught a glimpse of what
must be her reflection. Her face a familiar shape, the eyes that stared out of
it shocked her. Where she had always had blue eyes, the irises had turned a
light gray, like silver or steel. Her long brown hair, worn in a ponytail and
given not a moment’s thought, was now the sort of white that couldn’t decide
whether it looked more blue or gray. Her skin, having always had a healthy sort
of slight flush, was ashen. How she had not noticed the difference in the color
of her own skin was beyond her,
although perhaps the situation at hand was a viable excuse for her
thoughtlessness.
If her companion noticed her
moment of shock, he did not let on. Instead his eyes were fixed on the far side
of the room, where there appeared to be something interesting going on, if the look
on his face was any indication.
Turning around, she noticed what
he was looking at and stopped in her tracks. What exactly the figure at the end
of the room looked like was hard to tell, as it was shrouded in a warm, pinkish
light. It appeared to originate from within the figure, and like a lamp shining
into the eyes, it was hard to look at directly.
After a moment, a sweet voice
filled the room. It was a girl’s voice, a sound like chiming bells. It spoke of
things Finch had told her, things she’d come to understand. Then,
heartbreakingly pure and gentle, it talked of the future. It told of the pure purposes,
the balance the Rift endeavored to uphold, the things the organization did to
protect and serve mankind. It offered her a part in this, something that could
be nothing but a glorious cause, and Callie didn’t doubt, didn't have to think for more than
a second before she agreed.
“Very well. From now on, you shall be formally known as the Lady of
Ashes. Welcome to your new home.”
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