Chapter two. If anyone is even reading this… Well, here you go!
Arriving in Alcamoth chapter 2
Dickson woke up feeling refreshed. The first thing he did was check the clock to see how long he had been asleep. 7.30 pm. A few hours then. Second thing he did was notice he really needed a smoke. Well, he had been told he could walk around freely. He got up to put on his boots and grab his gunblade. He made his way to the door before remembering he had to grab the key to the room as well. After grabbing that, he headed out.
After navigating through some halls, he finally made his way to the great main hall. It was darker than it was earlier, and there were different guards than before. He also managed to spot the prince, Kallian, standing before the fountain with the mural describing the battle between the Bionis and the Mechonis. He decided to walk up to the prince, in case he had something interesting on his mind. The prince didn't even notice him when he walked up.
"Hey" Dickson said, noticing with humor that Kallian jumped slightly at his voice. "What're you doing out here?" Kallian turned slightly to face him before answering.
"Just thinking" He hesitated a moment before continuing. "About my sister. I worry about her." At Dickson's confused look, he clarified. "Melia. She went with Shulk and the others. I hope they are all right. They are heading to the Mechon's base, after all."
"Well…" Dickson paused slightly, thinking about it. "She seemed just fine when we saw them off. Don't know what she's like, but I know Dunban and Shulk don't let people get hurt on their watch. She should be just fine, Mechon base or not."
Kallian looked thoughtful and slightly relieved. "Yes, I suppose you are right." They stood there in silence a few minutes before Dickson commented out of nowhere.
"Crown princess, huh. Didn't think you would just let her run off into danger." He turned to Kallian to see his reaction. There wasn't much noticeable, just a slight tightening in his shoulders.
"I couldn't stop her from going. If she had stayed, she would have been Unhappy and worried about them. To let her go was the better choice." He turned to fully face Dickson with a small smile on his face. "Thank you." He then turned around to walk away, but Dickson interrupted him.
"You know when the folks from Colony 6 and Colony 9 are supposed to arrive?" Kallian took a few moments to think before answering.
"They should be arriving at noon tomorrow. Would you like to be informed once they arrive?" Dickson didn't even need to think about the answer. He already knew he did.
"Yeah, that'd be great. I'd like to have a few words with Otharon before the meeting." And tell him to at least hear what it was about before chewing out the prince and the High Entia in general. Kallian seemed to get what he wasn't saying.
"Well, I will ask Donnis to tell you once they are arriving. If that's all, I will take my leave. Good night." He turned around and walked away before Dickson had the chance to say anything.
Oh well, he just shrugged. It's not like he had anything to say, anyway.
People needed reassurance of their loved one's safety, and being a prince didn't change that. Whatever, he still needed a smoke. He turned his back to the fountain and headed down the long hall to get out of the palace. He walked out the massive door, and headed to the railing where he could look down over the lower level.
There he picked out his pack of cigars, picked out one from the pack, held it between his teeth while he put the pack away and finally lit it up. He took a long drag from the cigar, feeling the smoke making its way down to his lungs, before exhaling, blowing out all the smoke. He was feeling better already. More relaxed.
He stared out at Eryth Sea beyond the capital, and beyond that, the Mechonis. It's eerily glowing red eyes were clearly visible from here. He looked around and had to admit, the capital was a nice place. The dome was keeping the rain away, and the whole place looked clean and peaceful. A perfect place to live, never having to worry about anything.
He snorted, shaking his head. Yeah, right. More like a bubble, separating them from the rest of the world. Keeping away from the Homs, keeping away from the Mechon. Letting their 'amazing' technology and defenses handle any Mechon attacks. While at the same time keeping the people completely ignorant to anything outside their perfect little world. No one even knew they existed, aside from the Noppon, who found their way pretty much everywhere.
At least they had started to come out of their bubble, making contact with the Homs once again. Too bad it took them being attacked by the Mechon to figure out they weren't as perfect as they thought. Oh, well. Bygones be bygones. At least for him. He had a feeling Otharon wasn't going to just leave it at that. But he'd tackle that problem when they got to it.
He looked out again, taking not of the meteor shower. It was rather beautiful, not something you could see from the lower parts of the Bionis.
After a few minutes he noticed his cigar was done, so he dropped it on the ground and grounded it with the heel of his boot. There was some burn marks left on the floor and he could feel some High Entia glaring at the back of his head. They apparently didn't approve of what he did. Whether it was his smoking or his way of putting out his cigar, he didn't know. Probably both. He swiftly turned around and glared at them in turn, making them scatter like bugs. Within a few seconds they were all gone. What a bunch of sissies. He shook his head and turned back to the railing, resting his arms on it.
After another few minutes he heard some footsteps heading his way. 'What is it now?' he wondered, turning around to see what was up. An apparently panicking High Entia man was hurrying in his direction. The man stopped right in front of him. He took a few seconds to catch his breath and compose himself.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you" the man started. "My name is Vol'aren. I'm looking for my children, Atael and Cian. Have you seen them anywhere? " Dickson took a few moments to think about it. He didn't think he had seen any stray High Entia children.
"Sorry, no. Haven't seen 'em." Vol'aren was just about to start panicking.
"Where could they have gone? They should have been back home more than an hour ago! I've been looking for them everywhere" The man looked like he was about to either pass out or start hyperventilating. Dickson almost felt like grabbing the man by his shoulders and shake him out of it. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried another approach.
"So you have checked everywhere in the city?" He asked just to make sure.
"Yes! And I can't find them anywhere!" Great, the guy was panicking even more than before.
"Well, is there any chance they went to Eryth Sea?" The guy paused slightly to think over it before violently shaking his head.
"No, they wouldn't go there. I have told them many times it's too dangerous. They wouldn't go there." All right then. Dickson thought about it a few seconds before coming up with a plan.
"All right then. How about you keep looking for them here in the city, and I go check Eryth Sea just in case." The guy looked relieved and slightly worried at the same time. At least he stopped panicking.
"Are you sure? It won't be too much trouble?" Dickson shook his head.
"No, no problem. I was going to check out Eryth Sea anyway. Besides, I got a kid of my own. I know what it's like when you don't know where they are." This seemed to finally calm down the guy somewhat. He nodded enthusiastically.
"All right. Thank you for your help." Dickson just waved the guy off, already wandering toward the transporter that would take him to Eryth Sea. Good thing he brought his gunblade along. He was probably going to have to fight something whether or not he found the kids.
Soon he reached the transporter and stepped through it to get to Eryth Sea. Finally some fresh air! The air in Alcamoth wasn't bad or anything, but nothing could beat fresh night-air. All right, where should he start? He was currently standing at the central gate, right below the capital. There was a transporter that seemed to go to the hovering reefs, so he stepped through that one.
He ended up on one of the hovering reefs. While walking on he couldn't help noticing the nice atmosphere the place had. Most creatures just ignored him, just letting him walk right past them. When he looked to the left he could see a lighthouse a couple of reefs away. Would that be a place where a couple of children would go? Possibly.
Soon he noticed the path split in two different directions. He stopped there to ponder which way he should go. Both roads had a transporter at the end. The one to the left seemed to be leading to the lighthouse. The one to the right seemed to be leading to…nowhere. At least not that he could see. So the lighthouse seemed like the better option. He was just about to turn left, when the transporter to the right flashed.
When he turned toward it he saw a little girl running out of it. She seemed to be in panic, and running away from something. Must be one of Vol'aren's kids. She hadn't noticed him yet.
"Hey, kid!" He yelled at her, stopping her for a moment, before she rushed straight to him, grabbing his arm. She looked to be about 7 years old. Of course, being a High Entia, that was not her actual age. She had small wings, showing she was half Homs. Must be her mother since Vol'aren had large wings, making him a full-blooded High Entia. But, whatever. She was looking up at him with big, teary eyes.
"Mister, please help my brother! He got attacked by some monsters!" She tugged at his arm while talking, like she was trying to drag him along. "Please, Mister, hurry!" He let her lead him through the transporter she came from, leading to yet another hovering reef.
There he saw two Kromars snapping at each other. Near them, curled up and backed into a corner, was a little High Entia boy. He looked to be a bit older than the girl clinging to his arm and like her, he had small wings. The Kromars seemed to be arguing, maybe about who would get to eat the boy. Dickson gently shook the girl of his arm and quietly told her to stay put and not to move while reaching for his gunblade.
The Kromars didn't even know he was there, giving him the advantage. Normally, he would just have shot both creatures and gotten over with it, but he figured these kids had been traumatized enough for one day. So instead, he charged at them, managing to push one of them right off the edge of the reef, making it fall down into the sea far below.
The other one recovered from its surprise fairly quickly, and jumped at his back. It's claws dug painfully into his shoulders, as it tried to reach his neck with its jaws. Dickson shifted his grip on the gunblade slightly, before slamming it back into the creature. The blow connected with its head with a loud 'crack'. Its grip loosened, and it fell down, dead.
The threat taken care of, Dickson put away his weapon, and focused his attention on the kid in front of him. He didn't look injured at least.
"Hey, kid" He tried to calm down the boy, since he still seemed quite scared. "It's okay now. Let's get you two back to the city." The girl had now walked up to them, and the boy seemed a bit calmer. Then he pointed to his right ankle and said quietly.
"It hurts. That's why the monsters caught me. I fell and hurt my ankle and then I couldn't run away from them." All right then, apparently it wouldn't be so easy as to just get the kids back. Dickson sighed internally, before motioning to the boy's ankle.
"Well, better take a look then, to make sure it's not broken." He sat down in front of the boy and started checking his ankle. It didn't take him long to figure out what was wrong with it. He stood up again and picked up the boy at the same time.
"It's just sprained. It'll be fine in a few days if you stay off it." He looked at both of the kids, who seemed relieved at the news. "Now let's get back before something else tries to make an evening meal out of you two."
They started walking back to the capital, Dickson carrying the boy and the girl walking next to him. After a few minutes the boy asked him, curiously and slightly guiltily,
"Aren't you going to ask why we were out here at night? Or something like that?" Dickson didn't even have to think about the answer.
"No" At their confused glances, he explained. "It's not really any of my business. And I think your father is going to ask that, and some more." At that, the kids shut up and didn't say anything the rest of the way.
It didn't take long before they reached the central gate and with that, Alcamoth. It did take a bit longer to find the kids father. He was running around the place like crazy, looking for his kids. As soon as he noticed Dickson with his children, he immediately rushed over.
The girl who was walking next to Dickson, rushed to meet her father. She threw herself at him and started sobbing against his shoulder when he picked her up and hugged her tightly.
Once Vol'aren had calmed down his daughter he turned his attention to his son, who Dickson was still holding. He had fallen asleep during the walk.
"Is he alright?" He anxiously asked, looking worried.
"He's all right, got a sprained ankle. He'll be fine in a couple of days if he stays of it." This seemed to reassure Vol'aren, who reached over to take the kid of Dickson. He looked at Dickson with great gratitude.
"Thank you for finding them" Then he looked at his daughter. "But what were you doing at Eryth Sea alone, and this late?" She shifted a bit where she was standing, keeping her eyes on the ground, looking like she was going to start crying again. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out an electric type ether crystal.
"We got this for you, daddy" At his confused expression, she continued quietly. "It's your birthday, and we wanted to get you something special. I heard Miss Ricoth tell her friend how ether crystals are more beautiful if you get them during a night of shooting stars. So we wanted to get one for you."
Dickson decided to leave the family to themselves. He turned around and walked back toward the palace with a wave of his hand. They didn't even seem to notice him leaving, until the girl carefully waved back at him.
He decided this was a good time to go back to bed, before he got roped into more family problems. Even though saving those kids gave him a nice feeling, something he would never admit it to anyone. Couldn't let people think he was going soft. Because he wasn't. Right?