Ever since Asahi and Aletha awakened in that densely packed forest, one simple question stuck in their minds.
"What do we do now?"
That question swirled with curiosity and a hint of panic.
It showed just how lost Asahi and Aletha were in this uncertain world.
The wanderers had never imagined getting this far. Ruins and a quick escape were the plan, not this unknown path ahead.
Now that Asahi and Aletha had returned, they realized just how much their thoughts had changed.
After escaping, thanks to the masked girl who saved the wanderers from their demise, Asahi and Aletha raced across the stone road toward the city's entrance. But before they could even reach the outskirts, Aletha stepped forward and blocked Asahi.
"Asahi, stop!"
Asahi raised an eyebrow, clueless about what she meant.
"Why?"
She pointed to the lines of carriages passing through the narrow archway. Their colors stood out from ordinary carriages.
"Traffic," Aletha stated. "I… I don't think we can get inside the city without getting caught by the guards."
Asahi deeply exhaled and nodded.
"Yes, Brich mentioned a ceremony. No surprise that carriages are here."
As they watched the carriages carefully slip through the gate, Aletha nodded her head in agreement and mentioned.
"Yeah, and Brich mentioned our mother's scarf falling from the sky and being stolen. I know we have money for it, but... do you know where that person is?"
A flicker of irritation crept across Asahi's features, sharp as a sudden chill.
"Aletha, you can't depend on me ALL the time," Asahi said as he looked at his hands. "There will be a time when you will have to depend on yourself, you know."
Aletha's face turned red in impatience as she heard the silence.
"Ugh. Just think of something already!"
"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Asahi replied as he crossed his arms. "But, okay, I can give it a try."
As Asahi thought of entering the city, his eyes caught Aletha's distraught face.
Behind them, the faint clink of metal echoed, chased by eerie, bone-chilling screeches.
He felt just from the pattern of wind behind him that a presence was lurking behind. Before he could turn around, he noticed Aletha's face turning pale in terror.
"Asahi…" She quivered as she pointed her finger. "Behind you."
With an unsure feeling, Asahi glanced sideways over his shoulder.
A tall figure clad in dark metallic armor stood before him, with only one moving eye attached to its helmet.
It whispered, its dark, sinuous, scaly tail curling and twisting behind it like a living shadow.
"Surrender now or face total annihilation."
At that moment, Asahi reached for his blade, but was immediately taken away by Aletha.
"RUN!"
Just as the blade shredded a piece of their attire, they fled from the knight and ran down the hill, having no choice but to go inside the city.
Far beyond a small mountain, towers, walls, and a castle rose against the sky. Aletha squinted, the sunlight's fierce glare blurring the city's true size into a shimmering mirage.
But then, as they approached closer from the dirt pathway, the sight gradually grew clearer.
Beyond the hill, a colossal wall wrapped around the sprawling city, while the distant sea shimmered beneath the stars and the gentle glow of the rising moon.
As night unfurled, a thick, shadowy mist crept in, swallowing the landscape and quietly pulling Asahi and Aletha apart.
. . .
Without notice, Aletha found herself on a completely different side of the wall, with no sight of her brother. Although she was behind the wall, with just a little silence, she could hear loud chatter and bells ringing from the other side.
Her gaze landed on a wide, pristine expanse of stone stretching endlessly to either side, empty and silent as far as she could see.
As she carefully observed the wall, Aletha thought.
"Not an entrance to be seen," Aletha mumbled as she deeply sighed. "How can an entire city…"
"Hey!" Suddenly, a loud voice hollered at her from a distance.
Abruptly, Aletha's face paled, hearing metal and weaponry clang around her.
She immediately ditched that side and sprinted away from the voices, looking for an area to hide.
Fortune favored her: to her right, a deep, earthy pit yawned beside the path, offering a sudden chance to hide.
"You there!"
The voices echoed loudly again, coming from behind her. Aletha stopped and glanced back to find two figures walking up to her.
One had a scarlet cloak covering its head.
The other wore a white mask with black stripes on each corner of the mouth.
Both were holding long swords in their hands, sprinting toward Aletha.
She hunched down and closed her eyes, hoping for the guards to pass away. As the tension of her heart sprang up, Aletha eavesdropped on the conversation.
"Are you kidding me?" The scarlet-cloaked one mentioned. "We lost them. An illusion, most likely. Dan, I thought you said there was someone here."
As an awkward silence approached, he lowered his blade and resumed with a boresome tone. "I told you there was no one. When was the last time you slept?"
The white-masked knight, who could be presumed to be Dan, took a step back and shook his head.
"T-Three days."
"Three days?!" The general said as he alerted all others. "That's it. Guards, return to base! It was a false alarm. For once, I thought DAN would acquire general status today, but to my surprise, I guess I have been GRAVELY mistaken. Shame on you… Better luck next year."
As all four guards passed by the ditch, disregarding the false alarm, Aletha poked her head out, ensuring herself that she was safe.
She exhaled and tried to emerge from the pit, but suddenly, she heard the sound of boots stomping next to her. Without hesitation, Aletha jumped into the pit once more and hid under it.
Her breath came in quick bursts as she peered through the grass at a man standing motionless, clutching a peculiar device studded with white buttons.
His long, unruly black hair fell in wild tangles, shadows dancing across his face as he gazed dreamily at the stars.
Gentle moonlight caressed his skin, illuminating every feature, especially his eyes that gleamed like polished amethysts. The longer she watched, the stronger the sense of familiarity grew.
"Do I... know him?" Aletha mumbled. "There's something about him that seems familiar to me. I can't put my finger on it."
The influence of The Ruler of The Forgotten got to her.
Then, suddenly, without warning, the man spoke.
"I sense a presence lurking by." He said with a deep tone as he turned away from the pit. "One that feels indefinitely familiar."
A restless wind swept through the grass, and the dark-haired man simply shrugged before melting into the mist along the winding path.
Aletha quickly got out of the pit and stood tall against the ground, staring at the empty space where he had once stood.
Then, as if to test herself, Aletha ran in the direction the man had disappeared.
Excitement hammered in her chest as she crept to the hill's edge and stole a glimpse of the city below.
"Yes, an entrance."
He had gone off somewhere.
But knowing that Asahi was still wandering about, Aletha decided to meet back in the area to hopefully enter the city without anyone noticing.
. . .
"Well then..." Asahi began. "Where do we begin?"
In front of them was a vast plain of green grass.
At the very top, a giant stone archway rested above them, with the words 'Pladtioa City' etched on the surface.
A gentle breeze drifted by, laced with the sweet perfume of blooming flowers and fresh leaves.
The scene was breathtaking, its beauty undimmed even beneath the silver wash of moonlight.
But before they entered, Asahi had a few things she needed to say.
"Do not tread off yet," Asahi said with a serious expression. "This is a big city. And the chances are high that people will undoubtedly have suspicions about us. Remember, our world has changed, not destroyed."
"Okay, bro." She said, waving her ponytail back.
With that being said, Asahi and Aletha walked forward slowly, approaching the gates.
Suddenly, Asahi and Aletha dashed into the maze of dark alleyways, weaving through the crowd and slipping into the shadows, desperate to avoid notice.
. . .
(Okay, so what would be the first place we would go if we were being chased?)
The two-story building had a desk at the side with a small window on the left wall. The giant sliding ladder allowed anyone to collect books, and the place was relatively quiet.
But soon, the quiet was shattered as voices from outside spilled in with the opening door. The bell above rang out sharply, drawing the attention of the woman at the desk.
"Huh?"
Then, two white-haired figures walked in the door.
"Really, Asahi?" Aletha complained as she entered the building. "Out of all the buildings we could go to, you chose the library…? I knew you were a dork. No one in their right mind would choose a place such as…
Suddenly, she was interrupted by the sound of a honeyed voice.
"Can I help you?"
After they heard the voice, Asahi and Aletha's eyes retraced their path to a desk, noticing a tall woman with long magenta hair stamping books. Aletha, being so stubborn as she was, continued her rant without care.
"We could have gone to a restaurant, a tavern, or maybe the church. And what you chose was the most BORING place imaginable. A library."
Pride surged through Asahi. He was certain the library was the smartest refuge they could have chosen.
Little did that pretty, if oblivious, girl realize that this place was a treasure trove of secrets.
Asahi expressed with a certain implication of confidence and wit.
"Unlike you, I made a better choice," He said. "A library contains vast knowledge from fiction, history, and non-fiction."
Aletha fell silent, nervously biting her lip in anxiousness.
"..."
While the silence of the library continued, Asahi stepped forward and added.
"Have you ever thought about that?" He asked. "Right here, we can harbor all the knowledge and information of our world's expansive history. Everything that happened throughout those years can be given just by reading."
Aletha sighed and gave a laugh of jovial significance. She wasn't invested in or paying attention at all to what her brother was explaining.
"Blah, blah, blah… words are BORING!" She said as she turned around to the librarian. "Miss, are there any books with drawings? I understand them more than those lengthy, chunky, sloppy, fat, blocky walls of blah blah, gassy text."
Asahi raised an eyebrow.
(That's an…. Interesting insult.)
He hastily shook his head and sighed, unable to put up with this pointless argument any longer. Even the Librarian was half-amused.
"They're not walls of text if you put your mind into it," Asahi said as he pointed to his head. " I KNOW that you have a creative mind, you draw stuff for literally half of your life." He pointed to Aletha's pocket on her dress.
"I bet you still have that drawing notebook. Now do the same thing." He said. "Just read a novel and use your mind, imagine. Paint a picture in your head. That's what books are. Education is the most powerful weapon you can use!"
Aletha's face grew red with frustration. Though she tried to be nice, hearing her brother ramble made her lose patience.
"Shut up, bro! I get it, blah blah blah! Get on with it! Read those walls of text. I'm leaving."
But then, as she noticed eyes watching her, Aletha quickly shuddered and face-palmed.
"What… has gotten into me?" Aletha said as she looked at Asahi's stunned face. "I… never acted like that around people. Is something controlling me?"
Asahi stared back at Aletha with a puzzled look.
"Are you serious?! You think that someone or some entity is controlling you?!" His tone lowered as he realized. "Well… now that I think of it... I can recall something similar happening before."
Memories of the carriage ride flashed into his mind.
("Something is tampering with my memories. I don't recall acting like this at all.") A face of genuine age, and goopy tendrils came to his mind as he stared into space. (Could it be that his suspicions were true? Does the Ruler of The Forgotten have the power to control emotions as much as memories?)
"Oh… well…"
Asahi didn't really want to admit this, but there was no other explanation for Aletha's sudden behavior. And the more he found out signs of this enemy, the more he felt his emotions being contorted and distorted.
Just before he could run out the door, Aletha's attitude changed abruptly.
"Never mind." She said with a still face. "I guess I could stay here and read a book or two."
Asahi's jaw dropped in shock.
"What?" He asked in disbelief. "But I thought you just said you were about to leave."
"No need to worry," Aletha said. "I can stay."