The gray sky, the smell of thick dust and debris, humid wind. Ruins of the last era of humanity where they prosper in this land which once was a blessed land, -or so they said.
"I wonder what those people were thinking before starting the war back then..." A young man with a black messy hair muttered as he looked around him.
The remnants of building which once was tall and proud, now are just a pile of debris. Those ruins then became the source of money for youngster like him to scrap over whatever things could be use to sell then become today's dinner.
The young man let out a sigh. His amber eyes scanned around somewhat somber. If only those people didn't started a war, maybe things won't became this hard and maybe he won't be worried to think about whether he had food today and sleep peacefully with his parents.
Sadly, people are too blinded by greed and pride.
His amber eyes moved far away towards a silhouette of an unusual island. No matter how many times he saw it, he will never get used to it.
After the world war III ended, leaving the world with nothing but hell, suddenly something that could be considered magic happened. Islands that never-ever a part of this world emerges like illusion. They appeared at the certain part of this world.
One in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, one in the South Pasific Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and last is where the one and only flying island he is seeing now. In the pasific Ocean.
Along with the appearance of those mysterious islands, monsters begin to show up there and there. Attacking people in such cruel ways, wreaking havoc their home and wiping whats left for humanity. Making the already hard life of the post-war a hellish one.
Some people believed it's God's punishment. Because how bad humanity treated the world. But, some people believed this world regressed into some unknown realm like what people once read in the novel back that era. Either way, no one really sure about what happened.
People from those mysterious islands are the one who purge the monster occasionally. They called themselves 'Paganin' and some of the Paganin seemed to hate the people outside their islands and called us the 'Descendant of Sinner'.
"Nora!"
The young man, Nora, turned his head to the familiar voice and see his friends walking towards him.
"Jayden, Chrystal, did you both find something in the ruins?"
Jayden and Chrystal shook their head.
"Unfortunately, we don't find anything useful before it's getting dark."
Jayden pointed up to the sky. Nora's head followed, only to see it's getting darker than before. He didn't notice.
Nora let out a sigh. They had to go back to the town or they will be in a big trouble.
"Alright then... let's go back."
"You seemed to be deep in thought earlier." Chrystal said to Nora while following the two walking side by side.
Flustered, Nora scratched his head. "Ah... that,"
"I just thought why the Paganin said we're the Descendant of Sinner."
Jayden and Chrystal exchanged looks.
"Well, don't think too much about it. I guess they just feel they're special."
"Right."
Nora smiled at them and look at the front as they walked. He could already see the wooden fence of the town.
The town is quite shabby. It's a very small town with 50 people live on it. The building they used are remnants of destroyed buildings. Which they work together to fix what could be fixed, little by little until it became a small town of today. It's been 15 years since then.
Although its shabby, its the only area where water aren't contaminated from the bio-chemical weapon of the past war and its quite peacefull. Monsters rarely come to this area too.
"Oh, you guys finally back."
A man with a beard, wearing a shabby uniform greated them near the fence.
"Yes, uncle Bud. Is it your turn to be on watch tonight?" Nora asked, stopping in front of the older man.
"Yeah, Jimmy and me. So, did you guys find something outside?"
"No." The three of them answered at the same time.
Uncle Bud laughed and patted Nora's head.
"Its alright! Its alright! You guys can do that again tomorrow,"
"Now, go back to your home and rest. Its almost night."
Nora, Jayden and Chrystal bid their farewell to Uncle Bud and walked into the town.
"Let's go a bit early and search a little far tomorrow." Chrystal suggested to the two.
"Guess the ruins in that area has been scraped to the ground."
"Well, it's closer to the town."
The three of them said their goodbyes and walk separatedly to their home. Nora looked up at the darken sky, his hands inside the pockets of his patched trousers.
"When will the world be good again?"
...
After taking a quick shower, Nora laid down on his bed. It's not really comfortable but when a man is tired, even the crocked chair feels like heaven.
He didn't eat dinner because he couldn't sell anything to exchange for food. So, he will just going to sleep and forget about the hunger.
Actually, he can get food if he just asked the adults but he didn't want to. He can't keep asking without earning it. It could become a bad habit. He is kind of upright man after all, thanks to his deceased parents.
Nora took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. The light from a single candle besides his bed can't do much but its alright. He is about to drift away soon.
He raised up to blew out the candle, leaving the room completely dark and laid back on his bed. He is tired so sleep come faster as soon as he close his eyes.
...
The sky is dark as night, the air smell of thick copper and the ground—
Splash.
Nora look down on his feet only to see the pool of blood. He could feel his heart skip a beat and quickly raise his head to look around.
'A monsters ambush?'
He thought as a bead of sweat dripping from his forehead.
'Jay! Chrys!'
He screamed his friends name in panic even when his voice couldn't come out and run to look for them, and the adults. But, all he can see is blood. He wanted to puke because of the smell.
He keep running and running on the pool of blood. His amber eyes begin to picked up corpses after corpses but none of them are familiar to him.
Nora halted his step when he finally saw someone standing alone in the midst of chaos. Breathing heavily, he took a small step after step towards that person.
That person is wearing a dark long veil, so dark that he couldn't see their eyes but their lips. Looking at that person is like looking at the darkness itself. He shuddered.
Nora felt he is breathing through his mouth, his palms wet and his feet grounded on the pool of blood. Like there is something that held him back from getting closer.
Nora opened his mouth. He wanted to ask that person about where he is and who they are but, nothing came out not even a single whimper.
Nora just stared at that person who seemed to be on deep thought.
Then he noticed a slight movement of that person's head. It's very languid that if one didn't look carefully, they won't notice at all.
That person looked at Nora properly and tilted their head. Nora held his breath. He could see their lips moving languidly like they're saying something to him but he heard nothing. He just suddenly feel his hair stood up all over him as the night begin to stirred.
Dangerous!
"NO!!!"
Nora panted heavily with buds of sweats covering his face and quickly scanned all around him.
His home... he still in his home.
'Thank God.'
He buried his face on his knees with a long sigh.
A dream...
"What the hell was that?"
Nora cursed under his breath and raised his head.
Huh?
Nora looked at his hand and he could see a faint bluish energy flowing inside his body. His sight seemed to enhance as well because he can see clearly in his dark room.
"What.. what the hell?"
'What's happening?!'