My father had a quote he loved to say every chance we met.
"Heaven is a pit filled with sycophants and spineless wretches. That is why I shall shoot it down and replace its master."
I never understood what exactly he was trying to tell me by that. It always felt like some sort of threat and if it was, he never acted on it. Besides, he was always a man of indecipherable, cringey quotes such as: "To get what you want, you have to lose something in return", "Only a fool makes no use of the tools at his grasp.", "Break free from the herd. Become a wolf", among other things.
However, even with his strange personality, he was the most revered human to grace this planet at one point. A transcendent warrior of peerless skill and unshakeable resolve. All I ever heard were tales of the man.
They say when he was born, he strangled a sea serpent right out of the womb, then feasted on it, granting him authority over all sea life. At the age of four, his home was the point zero of a Grade 5 Story dome. When help arrived, they claimed he was the only sign of life in there. By the age of twelve, he ran into the most destructive hurricane to ever emerge, and tamed the storm, earning him the title, Peerless Storm Rider. There's actually a video of him doing that, even if it isn't a hundred percent clear.
Now, I bet you're wondering what such a person would have been doing once he reached maturity. That's… let's just say, he blew away humanity with his fearsome power!
In the end, even such a fearsome being perished. I remember the sight of the dagger going through his neck. How he drowned in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by a group the very sycophants he warned me about. They cackled as he clawed pathetically on the ground. The expression of pure horror and desperation that graced his face left quite the impression.
Suddenly, he wasn't the overwhelming supernatural force I'd heard about.
It was funny. He did achieve his goal of shooting down heaven. He changed everything for humanity. He showed us a new path. But in the pursuit of his goal, he created his own version of heaven. He surrounded himself with masked cowards and paid the price for it.
All I remember feeling then was hopelessness. Not sadness, not pity, not anguish, but pure terror. If even such a being could be put down in such a pathetic way, what hope did the rest of us have?
***
My mind was blank as I stared at the disgusting mix of mucus and blood on my hand. For some strange reason, I thought back to a time where such a sight would have caused a visceral reaction in me, but now, I simply wiped my hand on my tattered cloak. Hopefully the rain would wash it off.
Feeling the cold rain finally freezing my bones, I decided to hurry it up. I stepped out of the alley way that served as my one-day home, and onto the empty street. It would seem, I was the only one moronic enough to walk out during a rain storm. Fortunately, my destination was a few steps away. I specifically camped this close so I could make it as early as possible.
'I'm lucky it didn't rain last night.'
It didn't take long for me to come up on an electric signboard, glowing red with the words "The Tall Tale".
Quite a distasteful and unfitting name, really. It quite matched its owner's personality, honestly. It was a shoddy, decrepit building. Even amongst the slums, it stood out with how worn down it was. Faded painting, missing pieces of the wall, broken glass, and trash littering its gates. Perhaps, it would have looked much better were it not for the unconscious drunkards sprawled at the entrance.
As I walked by one of the drunkards, I noticed his pale, bluish skin and shallow breath. I immediately recognised him by the absence of his left leg. His name was Billy. I wouldn't say we were anything more than acquaintances, but we did have a strange bond over our shared… addictions.
He wouldn't last long in the rain. The rain's poison had already started to work its magic on him.
I pass by him and enter through the open door to the Tall Tale. Inside, I'm met by a familiar snarl and body odour. Paul, the bouncer, blocked my path and looked down on me from his rather impressive height.
"What are you doing here? I told ya we wouldn't give you any freebies."
I backed away from his toxic breath.
"Paul. Paulie. Paul man. A freebie? Me? I'm offended", I said, selling my pain.
He snapped his crooked jaw at me, causing me to drop my play and quickly procure some credits. He rudely snatched them, then reluctantly gave way to me.
I excitedly walked past the mean grunt and into the bar. And I was immediately surprised by the sight of twenty-four men… no, twenty-six men, in the bar's comely room, just minding their business. A few spared me a glance and went about their business.
Quickly, I turned to Paul.
"Hey, Paulie, why are there so many people here? I thought you weren't going to open till late."
Paul stared at me for a moment, seemingly confused by my question. Then he laughed, shook his head and pointed at me.
"We don't open for wretches like you till 11 anymore.", He explained, struggling through his laughter. "The government is finally enacting its renovation act in this sector, and for that, they've sent a few higher-class workers here. We wouldn't want them seeing scum like you in the bar."
"The renovation act? Here? Why now? It's been years since they said they'd do it."
"How the hell am I supposed to know that?"
I thought back to Billy. How long had he been waiting out there in the rain to end up like that? An hour? Two?
"Oh well, that's what a fool like him deserves, I guess. None of my business.", I muttered, then turned around.
"What was that?"
"I said you should consider cleaning up the front of the bar if you want more "higher class" workers visiting your bar."
Before Paul had the chance to bark at me, I ran straight for the bar and slammed down credits on the counter.
"Give me a bottle of your finest wine, my good sir!", I declared.
The bar tender, without even looking in my direction, said, "That's not enough for a bottle"
"What?! You didn't even look!", I cried.
"It's not enough.", He said once again.
"At least look at what I'm offering before dismissing me. I had to sell my balls for this."
"It's not enough."
I grit my teeth and slammed my fist down on the counter. But my frail weak arms couldn't even make a loud enough sound for the others to hear. All I managed to do was hurt myself and try to stifle a tear.
The bartender sighed, and turned around. He looked down at the credits on the counter, then glared at me with his mismatched eyes. With a low hiss, he once again declared, "It's. Not. Enough." This time, there was a hint of exasperation and murderous intent.
I tsked, then finally gave up.
"Fine, a glass of your finest wine."
Finally, he took my credits and walked away, disappearing into a room behind the counter. My bony fingers tapped restlessly about the bar's cold surface as I patiently awaited my prize.
"You sold your balls for only that much? That's absurd.", A strangely muffled voice said.
I turned my head, only to be met by a cloaked figure sitting next to me. For some reason, even though they were right before me, I couldn't make out any details about them.
"I know right? But that's only a joke, haha. There's no way it's legal to do that.", I forced out a laugh, but they didn't find it funny, so I turned away.
"Have you heard of the Blacklisted?", they asked, prompting me to furrow my brows. I shook my head.
"You see, they're people who refused to get the new government issued I.D after the storm. They're not allowed to work any jobs regardless of the importance of that job. Not even the worst of the worst in the black market accept them for any jobs."
I frowned.
"Oh, so people who can't afford to get the I.D. I didn't know they were called the Blacklisted."
They showed no obvious reaction to what I said.
"You see, the Blacklisted usually only have three paths afterwards. They can either die pitiful deaths, free load off of actual workers and citizens or sell useful body parts on the black market to make a living."
"Well, that's unfortunate."
My eyes darted around the room, scanning for any changes or oddities. But everyone was simply having their drink and talking like usual.
"There's been rumours of a Blacklisted, going from country to country, selling off their organs to avoid getting caught."
"Well, that doesn't seem very cost efficient or sane.", I joked.
"Right? But I lied about something. You see, there's also a fourth option."
I smiled coyly, resting my head on my knuckle as I stared at this stranger, looking for any identifiers.
"Oh? And what's that?"
They stared at me for a while, making absolutely no motion whatsoever, forcing me to drop my smile. Once I did, they finally felt satisfied enough to continue speaking.
"Oh you know. Find a tome, enter a story. Become a Story walker. At that point, you don't need the world's aid anymore. You could definitely survive on your own till you die in a tome or something."
"I see."
I looked over the counter, and stared hard at the shelves of drink, as if I could peer behind them to see what was taking the bar tender so long.
"Anyway, what I was trying to say is. This blacklisted, was actually using a majority of the money they got from selling organs to buy Tomes. They got scammed a few times, for sure, but they've definitely still bought quite a few authentic Tomes. Yet, they keep going around, selling organs. I even recently heard they sold their nuts. Probably on their way to buy another Tome at this very moment."
I felt a cold chill run down my spine. However, I cooly sighed and just looked forward.
"They're definitely insane.", I spat out. My fingers rattled the strangely pristine wood of the counter.
"That's an interesting tune you're playing.", They said.
"It's not a tune. I'm just impatient.", I clarified.
However, they simply shook their head and spread out their fingers, tapping them on the bar in a scarily accurate match to my rhythm.
"See? It's like playing on piano keys. I'm guessing you used to be a pianist then?"
I immediately stopped.
"No. I've never played before. Even before the Storm, I never got the chance to see any musical instruments in person."
Finally, the bar tender returned with my glass of fine wine. My ears perked up excitedly the moment the sound of glass touching the counter sounded. I quickly swiped the half-full glass, taking in the sweet aroma of its content.
"That's strange.", The stranger said. Before I even realised, their head was barely inches away from mine. Then, in a quiet voice, they said "I was certain all the children of the Peerless Storm Rider had been trained in all manner of instruments."
It happened quickly. Although my brain argued against it, 'Feign ignorance!', 'Good for them, I guess?', my body didn't listen. Cold terror filled my bones as I erupted out of my seat, dropping my wine glass. I tried one more time to glance at the stranger. I wanted to find anything that would clue me as to who they were. But size, hair, eyes, scars, they all eluded me somehow.
I quickly ran out the bar, ignoring the eyes on me. Even Paul was too slow to react to me bolting out of the bar. Ignoring the ice-cold rain beating down on me, I sprinted down the road.
'They found me! Damn it! Damn it! No, I can't die here. Not to them!'
Unfortunately, my body was not in the best of shape at the moment, added to that was the darkness of nighttime, toxic rain beating down on my bare, scarred skin and a singular eyeball to guide me through it all. Pain shot through my foot as I stumbled upon a crack in the paved walkway, falling flat down on my face into a puddle of piss and rain.
Ignoring all of that, I strained my arms to pick myself up, but even then, instead of the heat from struggling muscles, all I felt was cold chill as I heard the stranger's muffled voice say, "You're going to get yourself killed by poisoning at this rate."
They effortlessly caught up to me even though my lungs were on fire already.
They strut past me, coming to a stop right before me and going down into a squat. They then stretched out their hand towards me, prompting my body to jump back immediately.
Their hand remained frozen there for a moment. Amusement, disgust, disappointment. Whatever expression they showed was hidden by a veil of imperceptible darkness. However, that didn't last long, as they groaned in an annoyance. No, it was more so belated realisation.
"Sorry, I was too into character.", They pried off the hood of their cloak, revealing ebony skin and hair as dark as midnight. Sharp, golden eyes pierced my very essence, like a hungry predator staring down their prey. "I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Ami, I'm an ally."
She had a face only a mother could love. The right side was scarred gruesomely by what seemed like a bear attack, making it hard to appreciate the beauty on the left.
"An ally?"
"I've been tracking you down for quite some time, Atlas."
My heart simultaneously fluttered and sunk at the utterance of my name. How long had it been since I'd heard it? Five? Maybe six years?
"How did you find me?"
"That's, a bit hard to explain.", She held out her hand once more. "I want to help you, but just so you know, I want you to help me as well."
"Help you? How?"
"Well, in about a week, a Story Dome's going to erupt here, and we have reason to believe, no one will survive it."
"What does that have to do with me?"
She flashed a menacing smile at me. The daunting look in her eyes resembled something akin to hatred and pity.
"Why, it has everything to do with you, Atlas. Your crazy father did something strange to this Tome. And because of that, only you can enter it. Only you, can prevent the Story Dome."
"What?"
"Isn't this what you've been looking for? A chance to enter a Tome and to become a story walker? Well, it's right here Atlas."