Arturon Kingdom — Border City of Drelmar.
Rain lightly pours as the figure of a soldier is walking silently on the battlefield. Swaying along the weight of his sheathed sword by his hip. He is young. His bright orange eyes flicker, unreadable, as he passes through a valley of shadow and death.
Faint crackling of fire...
Thick, black smoke surrounds the battlefield...
Faint sobbing. retching. Distant screams...
Every step he takes sinks into a mire of blood and rain.
The young soldier seems to stop walking, as he drops to his knees next to a body. It is unknown whether it is out of fatigue or grief. He wipes the blood, mud, and rain from the fallen soldier's silver armored chest. His pensive gaze lingers on the small name etched above the heart. He speaks softly; voice lost against the falling rain.
"I'm sorry "______"
…
…
…
[Earth, Universe One]
'Fuck!'
'It's cold as hell in here!'
Jason thought as he scribbled four tally marks with a line through it on the dark gray metal wall he was leaned up against. In Fact, there were four of these walls surrounding him and his family in a cell with a black metal gated door.
He had used an old metal shard from the city's rubble he found outside to etch in the tally marks. This new inscription joined the other past thirty-five sets, making this one the thirty-sixth. Jason and his family have been stuck here for six months.
"How come they haven't taken that already?"
A boy younger than Jason said while pointing at the shard.
"Leo, why would they ever care about some weak old shard?"
He said while shaking his head, handing the shard to Leo. Who, as it turns out, is Jason's younger brother. The two boys were similar in appearance, they both had white hair, although Jason's hair was only white at the ends, whereas Leo's hair was fully white. There was no real explanation for this other than their parents had equally pristine white hair.
Jason had always come to the conclusion that, whatever his parents' condition was, Marie Antoinette Syndrome or not, it had just been inherited from birth. And that maybe the "hair genes" for lack of a better word were stronger in Leo, than in him.
And in the parts that weren't white on Jason's head, was dark brown hair. Along with a pair of beautiful celeste-colored eyes. Jason, Leo, and his mom shared these same colored eyes. However his father had light, golden-colored eyes. Only adding to the family's unnatural appearance as a whole.
Suddenly, long slender arms wrapped around Jason from behind, pulling him into a secure warmth.
"Happy Birthday…"
An ethereally soft women's voice said from behind.
Jason's body suddenly jolted in fear out of instinct, before immediately calming down upon realizing who it was.
"Damn, you scared me."
The woman giggled,
"I'm your mother, what could you be scared about."
She said with a soft dismissing tone as she left the embrace, ruffling Jason's hair in the process.
This was Jason's mom, Everyn, and right after hugging her son, she walked back to her husband, Ethel. Who was standing at the end of the cell near its gated door. A calm and observant look on his face.
"Seventeen already? It's only been that long…"
Ethel muttered to himself in thought, his gaze wandered outside the cell, past the large unnaturally made warehouse "prison" they were in, and seemingly even past that. It was as if his mind was always in another universe.
"It's not like it matters at this point. We'll probably all be dead before-"
"Jason!"
His mother interrupted him with a disapproving look, nodding her head towards little Leo who was sitting in the corner of the cell, a pensive expression took hold of Leo as he heard his brother's words.
"He can handle it, he's a strong guy, aren't ya?"
Jason said towards Leo with a sigh, his fist outstretched for a fist bump. To which little Leo shrugged and fist bumped back.
"And it does matter, it matters to me, and Leo and your father-"
Suddenly Jason scoffed,
"I doubt he even cares what day it is."
Ethel suddenly side eyed Jason from across the small cell, his deep, celeste eyes holding a calm and slightly amused look in them.
"I helped make the day, boy, it should care how I feel, not the other way around."
Jason, who had obviously been in a mood today, was now trying desperately to hold in a smirk after hearing another one of his father's usually ridiculous statements and weird ancient-like way of speaking. Eventually he just gave in with an annoyed huff, and chuckled while shaking his head.
His father smiled calmly.
"What's this all about Jason? You're not usually like this. And besides today is you and your brothers-"
"My birthday, yeah yeah, you know, mom knows, Leo, everyone knows."
He said dismissively with a sigh, his previous smile gradually fading.
"Thanks… and yeah, my bad. It's just… well, not really in the mood, you know? Especially considering our circumstances."
Jason said with huff, his back pressed against the cold dark gray metal wall, sliding down into a seat on the equally cold gray metal floor. There was no bed, or really anything in the cell. Just this family of four. Their captors did not care in the slightest for their and all the other humans' well being in this place. Bathroom situations were all shared in one other big warehouse, where everyone in the human prison camp went, and there was no privacy.
"I know… I know. But it does mean something, and that is a fact, is it not?"
Jason slowly nodded to his father with a shrug.
His mother then chimed in with a smile.
"So, then it does matter."
They all gathered at the end of the cell with Jason, Leo too. This place had no warmth except for the humans inside. It was just a crudely large black metal warehouse that stored humans inside it. So naturally they had to get close for any heat.
"And that's a happy birthday to you too, don't think I forgot."
Everyn said while pinching little Leo's cheek.
A small smile appeared on his face, touched by his mothers warmth.
"Yeah, thanks, and I know none of you would forget anyways."
Leo said, resting the side of his head against his brother's shoulder.
Jason, despite his bad mood, couldn't bring himself to dismiss his younger brother, besides, it was their jailers and what had become of the world around them that caused the despair that lingered heavily in the few human prison camps like this one. Leo wasn't at fault.
"How's it feel? Five is a big age."
Jason teased with a tired chuckle.
"I am ten! Come on…"
"I'm just messing with ya buddy."
With that the family huddled together, their clothes were old and worn out, they were the same clothes worn on the day that they were brought to this god forsaken place. The monsters keeping them and the other humans here did not care about their hygiene or general well being, with the prisoners being allowed to wash only once a week. And that was not done out of any sense of morality, it was just to keep any heavy or bad odor at bay.
After some long hours had passed, suddenly, the gated door to their cell, and everyone else's in the warehouse opened up with a large strong gust of wind. Sending the snow that was on the ground inside the warehouse blowing everywhere, adding a harsh cold chill.
Startled, Jason opened his eyes from his nap, Leo was already huddled closely into his side in fear of whatever was happening or going to happen. Then suddenly a loud booming voice rang out.
"Into the cages, now!"
This loud, thunderous voice echoed in all the prisoners' ears.
'Shit, shit shit! It's happening again…'
Jason thought as he and the rest of the prisoners stood up and walked out the cell. Everyone had expressions of doubt, fear, despair and just about any other expression a person would have in an apocalypse like this.
Soon, they all were standing on the cold snowy ground inside the warehouse, there was no orderly line or anything, their captors didn't care, since the humans only served one purpose anyways.
Now, facing the large entrance of the warehouse, which had no door, all the prisoners were once again reminded of their horrible reality. Outside the large jail-like warehouse, what could be seen for endless kilometers was nothing but the rubble of the once great New York City. All of it had been basically leveled, with whatever once tall building, giving hints of its existence sticking out of the ground, rubble, and snow.
The only structures left in this flat icy hell were the ones that the monsters had built. This included numerous enormous black metal cages situated orderly for kilometers on end, and a large high stone altar looming over said cages.
The cages themselves already surpassed a large building in size, so one could imagine that the high altar that the monsters revered was only that much bigger. So basically, multiple large crudely made metal warehouses with numerous cells in them, and then even larger black metal cages outside, and then finally the even bigger altar. Some of the warehouses did not contain cells, and instead bathrooms.
All together, was New York City's population, or what was left of it, imprisoned.
The cages indeed served a different purpose than the warehouses, because in the warehouses, the humans were simply prisoners, but in the cages, they became cattle waiting in line to be hand picked for death.
And now, sitting alone at the entrance of the warehouse, was a large, red, scaly, devilish dragon with horns, wings, and all its evil glory.
The loud voice from earlier belonged to this dragon. Its body was mainly red and armored with scales. However, at the ends of its limbs, the color black faded in. Its horns were also black, with red fading in at the tip of said horns. Then finally, the ends of its red scaly wings were black.
Its eyes were bottomless pools of shadow, the sclera and iris swallowed in black, with only a single glowing red light cutting through the center. a narrow, red vertical pupil in the darkness that glowed silently, only adding to the monster's devilish appearance. These monsters were not mindless beasts either, no, they possessed even greater intelligence than any of the humans here.
This dragon, along with a few others, were this city's captors, they leveled it, created these structures, and now preside over all these pitiful humans like some evil shepherds.
'What a joke, what a fucking joke. Straight out of some shitty fantasy! Why is "it" here… these evil fucks don't usually come to the entrance, they just wait for us at the cages…'
Jasons thoughts were cut short with a horrifying realization.
'No, please… does that mean… oh god! No, no, no!'
He gritted his teeth while his mind panicked.
His worst fear in this place had come true. A dragon would only ever personally come to the entrance of one of the warehouses to lead the humans out for one reason, and one reason only.
They had been chosen.
The dragon then went proudly on all its four legs out the warehouse, its tail and wings lifting little by little until unwinding fully after it finally stepped back outside. With a large gust of wind and shake of the ground, it lifted off in the air, and hovered above the warehouse.
Behind this warehouse that the dragon was hovering over, were numerous warehouses just like it then went on in neat rows like some apocalyptic prison neighborhood. This "neighborhood" all faced towards the even larger black metal cages, which were also in somewhat similar rows. Every week, at some point in time the humans would be brought out of their cells, out of their warehouses, and migrate into these rows of larger black metal cages.
Waves of people would be chosen from these cages to head towards the overly enormous altar.
"What do we do?! We should run… Should we run? Or… "
Leo's panicked whispers to his family were interrupted by his mothers hand rubbing his back warmly. His father turned his head towards seriously. His long ethereal white hair is almost indistinguishable from the snow.
"My son, be calm. If you panic now, it will add to the growing despair. Just have some faith."
Everyn nodded solemnly before also speaking.
"No matter what, we'll protect you. Alright?"
Jason knew that when it came down to it, his parents could not protect him or his brother against these superior beings. But for Leo's sake he would not interrupt their consoling words towards his younger brother.
As the large group of humans in the warehouses began to filter out, some of them would panic and just make a run for it, but whenever that would happen all the dragon had to do was open its mouth, and breathe its white fiery breath that would smite down any ant of a human with inhuman speed.
'Where could we even go?'
Jason muttered to himself in thought.
'It's nothing but icy rubble hell as far as the eye can see. If this bastard didn't kill you, then the cold and lack of civilization will…'
As he and his family migrated with the herd into the first large black metal cage a few kilometers ahead of them. Some ran, they got burned, others tried hiding in their cells, if they did that, the dragon would burn the entire warehouse and anything in it down. Before using its "powers" to restore its walls. It was anyone's best guess as to what sort of power these monsters possessed, because at the end of the day, they were talking dragons. That fact alone contained enough shock and panic for most people to not be surprised when a dragon used its power or magic.
'Its suicide to run, its suicide to panic, is it suicide to live!?'
Jason cursed in despair as he, his family, and the rest of the prisoners eventually reached the large entrance to the even larger black metal cage.
However, suddenly, as they were all just beginning to all filter inside the cage, a thunderous boom resounded somewhere in the sky, and a large, even more domineering, all black dragon landed on the ground behind the other red dragon that had led them there. The ground shook like a miniature earthquake.
This one did not have red pupils, no, instead they were bright yellow.
"Riken, wait."