I took a long drag of the cigarette clamped between my lips, savoring the sweet nicotine traveling to my lungs. The night was quiet, no violent activity to be heard or seen, which was good for me; the battle from yesterday was still creaking in my bones, still healing and new gauze was just put onto my arms.
I leaned my whole body against the roof's cold steel railing, my elbows protesting to the motion. I was trying to listen for anything that might be significant, anything at all. The night's silence would be interrupted by the loud engines of patrol cycles, or maybe guards cursing for their lack of luck on a mid-night poker game. They were all more relaxed tonight, they were giving themselves a well earned break from everything.
It was on quiet nights like these, though, I found myself on an even higher alert than usual. I knew the world was always silent before an oncoming storm, so my hand never left my guns as I smoked a well deserved cancer stick.
I found myself, for a moment, wishing I could join in on the poker games with the boys, win a buck or two for the raid markets.
But the world just won't have any of it.
I heard frantic footsteps running up the staircase behind me, and in crashed one of our newer, slightly clumsier, captains. She had replaced a brave man, someone I had been quite close too. I didn't have high hopes for...whatever her name was, as harsh as it was to say. She was a lanky, tall gal, very by the books. Her hair was stringy and blonde, and her skin was whiter than snow, and she was absolutely terrified of me.
"Boss!" She called from behind me. I sighed, internally cursing that epithet. I hated that title. I was only 21 for Pete's sake, Boss made me sound like an old hag.
"What is it captain?" I asked. My voice was hoarse still from yesterday. Screaming commands does that to me, and the smoking doesn't help.
"Boss Dyon requires your assistance, Ma'am!" She said, going into a stiff, nervous salute.
"As you were." I said as I made my way into the building and down the stairs. The captain followed close behind, stumbling to keep up with my long strides. Making it to the bottom floor, I Pushed the double doors of the building open to reveal my bike on the broken side street.
"So, has Dyon woken up?" I asked, mounting the old bike and turning it on and revving the engine before sliding my goggles over my eyes and pushing my jacket sleeves up, revealing slightly bloodied bandaged arms. The captain paled considerably, if that were possible, and she twiddled her thumbs nervously.
"Yes, and he's meeting with Priest Magdalen now." She whimpered, her voice barely above a decipherable mumble.
I nodded, pretending to be satisfied with this. Dyon might as well be meeting with a pumpkin with how much help that idiot priest would be giving him.
"Um, ma'am?" The girl said, and I looked over at her, my eyebrows arched.
"Yes captain?"
"Does...does Boss Dyon know how bad your injuries were yesterday?"
I looked the girl over, my face not holding emotion.
"What my brother doesn't knows won't hurt him. Besides, he's got enough on his plate right now, and a few scratches on his sister's arms aren't something he needs to add to his list" I said simply, kicking the kick stand up.
"But ma'am, what if they get infec-"
"Look captain, I'm touched at the concern, but I'm fine. Stop worrying about me and start acting like a proper captain."
I knew my tone was harsh. It always was, but I get really agitated with people's concern over my well being. I sped off towards the Western territory where my brother's land laid, leaving the frail captain back on the sidewalk.
My dark brown hair whipped behind me as I bolted northward. The sleeping city of Eastern Creed was in ruins around me, only a few well built buildings, like the one I had been keeping watch on, were still completely standing. My father said that this city had once had a different name, New something...I think it was Yolk, or Fork, or the combination of the two. I knew Dyon knew, he had read the documents and studied. I was the one who had a knack for fighting.
Some of the brick, concrete and wood from the various collapsed buildings were too big to run over, so I'd use them as a sort of ramp to bullet myself skyward and have a little bit of fun and let out some of my bad mood on the destroyed buildings. The adrenaline, my brother would say, would get me killed one day.
Of course he was nothing but a worry wart. I was flawless when I was on my bike.
It took me 20 minutes to ride into my brother's territory and cross through the chained link fence border on the other side of West-East bridge. I drove another 10 minutes into my brother's territory to my brother's base. It was a huge, dome shaped building with a saftey glass roof and all kinds of nasty traps around the perimeter for all the nightmares that lurked around. I rode up to it and then inside to see injured men and women being treated by the child medics and woman nurses. They were all still resting up from yesterday, still trying to do their part. There were hundreds of tents set up here, women who decided to have kids taking care of their own.
I parked my bike off to the side of the side in a more secluded part where not so many people and tents were, and slung my messenger bag onto my shoulder before venturing into the basement, the place my great grandfather had set up under here.
I made my way through Dyon's base basement. It was built somewhat like a maze, its corridors made for confusing and tricking people who didn't know the building well into getting lost or distracted. It had been built for the weak and young to hide in when a big fight was happening, or if the weather got too bad.
I made my way to the meeting room, knowing all of the twists and turns to get me there. I barged into the room, not bothering to knock. I had come into this room enough times to know everything that went on in here, I had a right to know about.
"Late as always, dear sister" Dyon said, his voice holding no teasing tone. He looked so tired, which made me wonder whether or not he had gotten enough sleep.
Dyon was my twin brother. He's a tall man, with dark brown wavy hair, much like mine, and it was cut short to keep from his face, unlike mine that flowed to my mid back. He had our mother's bright blue eyes, while I had Father's dull green. He had a lean build, and his wardrobe was an identical set to mine, being a black muscle shirt, black cargo pants, gloves, tan traveling coat, goggles and a utility belt for guns, explosives and the like.
The only thing that made him really stand out was a single, white streak of hair on his right side, while mine was on the left.
The marks of the Leaders.
"What did you call me in for?"
"We found it." Dyon said, a cross between the look of relief and worry crossing his face, before he quickly looked back down at the table, where an object lay.
It was small, quite weird looking. It was a pitch black crystal, about the size of half my palm, that glowed an eerie purple and cast a small fog around itself. It seemed to radiate power in waves, almost overwhelming when you get close enough to it.
"That's the-"
"Dimensional crystal, yes." A deep, baritone voice said behind him.
I turned around to see Mag, the priest.
Priest was just an honorary name. He wasn't holy, not even in the slightest; his father had been, though, so he wears the title too keep his memory. Mag, despite his voice being so deep, was a good head shorter than Dyon and myself and had bright orange hair and freckles in splotches all across his face. He was wearing his black traveling cloak, his goggles lop-sided on his face.
"IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME YOU GOT HERE!" Mag roared, suddenly front and center to my face.
"I got side tracked, ya munchkin"
"Who you calling munchkin, whore!"
"Suck my dick, jackass!"
"Not before you suck mi-"
"GIRLS!" Dyon exclaimed "You're both pretty, now get over here, we have business to attend too."
Mag and I gave each other one last glare before walking over to my brother. I elbowed Mag in the rib cage right before Dyon started talking.
"There's a problem with the crystal." Dyon said, his voice solemn.
"What's wrong with it?" I asked
"It only has enough to transport one of you." Mag replied. Dyon looked at me then, and I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what he was thinking.
"Well, good luck then brother dear!" I said quickly, patting him on the back. He gave me a look then, one that was scarily similar to our mother's scolding glare.
"You know which of us is better suited for something like this. I need to stay here and guard our cities."
"I'm the better fighter, I should stay here. I need to be here fo-"
"Ellienna!" Dyon exclaimed, forcing me to stop mid-rant at the use of my full name. "I'm needed here because you and I both know I'm better at leading, and you're better at fighting. Besides, you're the weapons expert, I wouldn't know what to do with the thing once I got it."
My face was down cast as I thought through his words. I didn't want to admit it to him, but he was right. I was the better fighter, and we needed this wish from the dimensional witch, if she really existed, and we didn't know what we would have to do to get it.
"What do I have to do?" I said and looked at the two men. Mag picked the small crystal up and placed it into the palm of my hand before patting my shoulder.
"If the book's right, just throw it on the ground hard enough to smash it." I nodded, looking at the thing. I could feel how freezing it was through my gloves.
"Don't fuck this up Ellie" Mag warned. He looked over at Dyon for a split second, and then back at me before rolling his eyes and giving me an awkward hug.
"Don't get eaten by something...or something." He mumbled as we broke the hug.
"Aw, you'll miss me, won't you Mag?" I teased, bringing him in for a cheek to cheek embrace.
"Get off'a me!" He exclaimed, shoving me away before leaving the room, grumbling profanities the whole way. He may have been a little shit, but I knew he cared deep down.
With Mag gone, that left Dyon and I there alone, and I didn't know what to say.
Dyon was the first to move when he stepped up and hugged me. I could feel him trembling, trying his hardest to stay strong. I knew how he felt. We were all the family we had left, and I didn't know when I would be back, or if I'd see him again.
"Take care of yourself little brother" I mumbled, tightening my arms around his neck slightly.
"You're only older by five minutes." He said, his voice cracking. I pulled away from his embrace and wiped away a tear from his face.
"Why am I the one always crying" He questioned playfully, pulling away from me completely and rubbing his eyes.
"Cause you're a pansy" I joked weakly.
I opened my hand and stared at the small crystal. This world really didn't run off magic, and usually it's just something of myth and legend. Never in my wildest dreams could I have thought that there could be different worlds until now, since all our hopes were on this working.
It was now or never; worse case senerio, this thing's a dud and we'll just have to find a different way to defeat these things, which really wasn't likely. Our father's father was what started this, and if two generations couldn't do it themselves, I don't see how we could. Humans were a dying race because of our family's mistakes, and I'll make sure the world's put right, or I'll die trying.
"Take care of the East side while I'm gone."
"I already have extra patrols going through it."
I nodded, satisfied. I took one last look at the crystal before I slammed the thing down on the hard concrete before I lost my nerve. It smashed into a million pieces, but nothing else seemed to be happening. I looked up at Dyon after a moment, and he just shrugged.
"Well, guess on to plan B-" Suddenly, I was sinking into the floor, a rainbow substance exploding underneath me and engulfing first my legs, then my body, and finally I was completely submerged in the substance, and it all happened instantaneously, if that makes sense.
For a moment, I was suspended in a liquified, glowing goo. There was no up, there was no down, just weird, colorful, magical, mush everywhere.
And, just as quickly as it had happened, I was spit out from the sky onto a grassy, wet ground, rain pelting at my skin.
My hand shot to my gun at my side, grasping my weapon firmly and turning in circles frantically, looking at my surroundings and becoming quite bewildered.
This place was most definitely not Creed...
Hello all! Just wanted to stop by and drop this little story off to ya! It's just something I wrote on a whim, but I kinda like where it's going right now, so here's hoping you guys like it! It's slow going KuroganeXOC, cause let's all be honest, love relationships take time, effort, and a lot of patience, especially seeing how it's Kurogane, the handsome, big dark cloud of moody, aggressive, anger issues.
As always, ReviewReviweReview!