The surroundings were cold and free. I open my eyes to see only dark blue with no ground underneath. I was floating. I looked down to see darkness and then looked up to see light. Though I was curious of what lies in the dark my instincts told me to head toward the light. It took a few minutes to finally get out of the deep ocean and find land. I looked up to see the night sky filled with stars and the larger moon shining down only to feel a strange belonging.
My clothes who seemed to be meant for a freezing weather were soaked. I decided that it would be best to take them off and let them dry out in the morning before moving.
With only my pants on, I climb a hill nearby to get an understanding of my location. The view was astonishing to say the least. The sky was sparkling with stars and the moon and mountains reflected on the vast sea that endlessly streached to oblivion. I turn away from the sea and squint my eyes only to spot a far off sign.
"Златомир-город."
Golden peace city.
"Great, I have a destination now."
___________________
I woke up the next morning or more of an afternoon in my makeshift camp of a bed of sand and a small fire I lit up with small branches that I found in a nearby forest, my clothes hanged up on nearby rocks to dry up. I stood up and bathed in the water to clean up the sand. Then, I wore my dried clothes and made my way to the golden city.
It took two nights to finally reach the city. The weather was brutally freezing with white snow wherever may your eyes land and a few blizzards from time to time. As I stood on a hill and spied quietly, I saw a line of people in the entrance going one at a time to hand something to two guys wearing the same outfit, a blue shirt with a white 'X' and matching blue pants with what looked like a spear in hand. "A checkpoint.", that was the first thought that glimmered in my mind. Which was a problem, since I possess no ID or anything of sort. It was an obvious decision to sneak in and that was just what I did. It was quite easier than I thought it would be. I strolled around in the city and ignored the various curious stares surrounding me. I spot a place called 'Jean's library' and wasted no time in entering. I needed information, desperately.
The exterior of the library was damp, cold and ancient looking, the aroma of books and paper filled the air. A young girl that looked like a teenager, with pale skin, short red hair, brown eyes and an outfit of a simple white dress and a brown vest with a name tag, "Ania" was sitting behind the counter. She gave me a polite smile and opened her mouth to speak.
"Can I help you find what you're looking for, gentleman?"
I didn't smile back, what use would it be to act polite?
"No, I will browse on my own."
I browsed around right and left picking up various books that explained general things like the book titled 'how we got here' and 'the world of today'. I quickly went thought the content of both books. The summarized content stated this:
'Earth' is what this planet was called 6000 years ago, and it is now called 'Crescentia'. In year 2■■■, a world wide catastrophe occurred, it was called 'the outbreak'. In that time scientists discovered 'Noctis'. Noctis was the world's greatest discovery, it answer every scientific dilemma to ever exist, but it was also a disaster. The sudden high exposure to Noctis caused the animals with lesser intelligence to become monsters that attack and shred everything in sight. That caused a catastrophe that erased many countries for only thirteen to remain: USA, England, Germany, Russia, France, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China, Italy, Brazil, Spain and India.
I stand up and start my journey of haunting books again this time with topics about what they call 'Noctis' and 'the outbreak'. More information was unlocked in each book I read.
'Noctis' was what humanity called the moon energy after it was discovered that it can influence them as well, but more positively than negatively because of their higher intelligence. Humans have enough intelligence to control Noctis giving them a unique power individually, but animals who possess lesser intelligence couldn't. That created 'Xenos', trained individuals that deal with monsters and people that use their powers for crimes, such people were called 'Menos'.
"That should cover the important topics."
I said before returning each book to its original placement and made my way to the entrance, stopping to turn to Ania.
"What country is this? And what is today's date?"
Ania looked at me with a confused expression but answered nevertheless.
"Russia. March 1st, 8421."