The colour green was the first thing Dorothy noticed as she and Batter stepped into their first Zone, the door that had led them here from Zone 0 shutting softly behind them. So far from her first glance, it reminded Dorothy a lot of Zone 0, except the lemon yellow was replaced with a lime green. The water looked the same, and probably would have tasted the same if Dorothy had decided to drink some.
"So, this is Zone 1?" Dorothy asked Batter. She was starting to notice the light rain falling on them, but it was barely noticeable.
"Yes. We're in Elsen."
"Doesn't look like there's too much around," Dorothy commented as she looked around. The strip of green land led towards a single building, which had some kind of train in front of it.
"I think the train only stops here to do deliveries usually. Or to bring anyone that comes to this Zone to their destination here," explained the Batter.
"Then I guess the train is where we'll be going then," Dorothy said as she began to walk, Batter immediately following. "We… Don't have to pay. Do we? Because I have no money with me, and I don't know the currency here."
"As far as I know, they're free. And the currency in this world is credits."
"Credits?" Dorothy was a little amused by this. She could recall currency with that name used in works of the Sci-Fi and Dystopian genre as a bit of an unoriginal type of currency. So for that type of money to be used in a place that was certainly not in any way scientifically futurific from what she could see. Dystopian? She would just have to wait and see.
Dorothy observed the train as she and Batter walked up the steps of the platform. The first noticeable thing about it was that it was white and grey. The second was that it looked more like an old streetcar than a train. But it didn't really make any difference. Transport was transport. As long as they got from A to B, that was all that mattered.
"This train heads to Damien." Dorothy looked to her side where the Batter was looking at a bulletin board with the timetable printed on it. He looked down to her. "It leaves in two minutes."
"Does it say how long the trip lasts?" asked Dorothy as they began to board the train.
"Fifteen to twenty minutes about," Batter answered as he sat down. The train seats were against the wall, and there were handles hanging down for any standing passengers. Though with the time remaining until they left, there was little chance of that seeing how only Dorothy and Batter occupied the train.
"Batter?" Dorothy began as she sat next to him. The seats weren't too comfy, but bearable. "I was hoping that maybe you could tell me now how you ended up in Zone 0, asleep?"
"Does it really matter how it happened?" he asked. He looked Dorothy in the face, raising a questioning eyebrow. "We have a mission to complete. That is all that matters."
"But you couldn't have been asleep there with no reason," Dorothy quickly pointed out, just as the train started to move along the tracks. "If anything, it would imply someone knew of this mission and wanted to stop it. Yes?" The Batter didn't answer immediately, but he did appear to think over Dorothy's words. Said girl assumed he was trying to get his thoughts straight to answer properly.
"That would be true," the Batter finally admitted, looking away again and tugging the peak of his hat down a little. "My sleep was against my free will."
"Good. We're making progress," Dorothy muttered to herself under her breath. "But who caused it then? Someone you knew?"
"The Queen. She and I had a difference of opinion regarding purifying the world." Dorothy heard some hard bitterness on 'Queen'. A bit surprising since up to know, Batter had just sounded monotone and maybe a little bored. "It's not a surprise. She'll have to be purified as well in the end. Until then, some of our main targets will be the Spectres."
"Spectres? As in, ghosts? Spirits?"
"You could use those terms. They're nothing more but the echoes of suffering and sin, that want make this land impure and contaminate the people. We're also going to have to take out the one in charge of the Spectres in the Zones."
"Echoes of suffering and sin…?" Dorothy repeated to herself. "And I'll be giving you orders how to fight them?"
"Just give me an order to attack, and purification will be in progress until completed."
"And, what if I felt there was too much risk to your health? Could I order you to flee?" Dorothy asked. The Batter's hands clenched for a moment.
"I'd rather die in this mission than flee like a coward," he said, almost coldly.
"Some would call it smart." The Batter just tched in response. Dorothy glanced out the window to look at the view. Even in this Zone, the water had this strange white colour Zone 0 did. "Why exactly did this Queen do to you what she did?"
"Like I said, difference of opinion. I saw the world needed to be purified, and the Queen was in denial about it all."
"And when did you start noticing this… lack of purity?"
"… I just saw it. I heard it. Those voices…" the Batter trailed off. It was a moment before he started again. "Those voices told me and confirmed my beliefs. I know you heard them. When I was made unable to move, they assured me they would find me a puppeteer to guide me so I could finally begin this journey."
"I… I see." Dorothy cleared her throat. "And, why a puppet? Why did this Queen make you a living puppet?"
"I suppose she thought it would hinder me. And if I was unable to explain myself to a person nearby, how could I ask for someone to guide me? Leaving me in that empty Zone was just a precaution I suppose. If what the Judge said was true, no one else lives there."
"I can sort of see the sense in that," Dorothy said. The Batter looked at her, and seeing the faint traces of annoyance on his face, she was quick to add, "I'm just agreeing with you that the idea does seem fool proof for the most part. Although, she does seem arrogant if she thought that would be forever. If she was smarter, she would have done away with you completely."
"True. I suppose she was just too weak to kill me." The Batter looked away again. There was a small silence for several minutes. The only source of sound being rattling as the train moved along the tracks.
"How did the voices comes to you?" Dorothy was a little surprised by the Batter's question.
"The voices? Why are you asking?"
"I'm just… curious." Dorothy looked at the Batter. He was still staring straight ahead, and Dorothy was wondering if he was actually genuinely curious. But she replied,
"I was in darkness. I can't remember how I got there, but there was a pain in my head so I may have suffered some sort of head trauma beforehand. But I heard a voice. It made an offer and a fairly good argument to come here to help you."
"And what was that argument?"
"Frankly, there are two case scenarios for what's happened to me in my home world." Dorothy held a hand to her chin. "Whatever head injury I've received, it's either sent me into some sort of coma, or I'm dead. I didn't really have anything to loose coming here, and if I can do some good helping you in purifying the world then it will be well spent time. Besides, I don't exactly have my memories of home at the moment. I can't be missing much."
"No memories at all."
"No. But I was able to remember my name obviously. It could just be a temporary thing anyway. I'm sure my memories will come back with time." Dorothy paused for a moment as another thought came to mind. "Of course, chances are that this is in fact all a hallucinated dream and that none of it is real-OW!"
"You talk too much, sometimes," the Batter commented as he took his hand back. Dorothy grasped her hand immediately and she looked back to her companion, her mouth slightly agape.
"Did… Did you just pinch me?"
"That's how you prove you're awake, isn't it?" he asked bluntly.
"I think it's when you pinch yourself."
"Then do it and prove this is real."
"Fine," Dorothy muttered as she held some skin on her hand between her thumb and index finger. "I just won't try to purposely make it hurt like you did." Giving a small pinch just enough to feel a slight discomfort from it, Dorothy let her hand go. "Alright, I believe that is enough proof that this is no dream."
"Good. It will make you more attentive to our surroundings," the Batter nodded.
"One way of looking at it I suppose." Dorothy looked back outside. She saw some buildings coming closer to them. "Looks like we're nearly there, to Damien."
"Good to know."
Dorothy gave a small nod. It was good. Even if Dorothy didn't completely understand everything, she would eventually. She would ask and learn.
"Do… Do you have fate in me? In being your puppeteer?" It was something Dorothy had to ask before the train would stop and let them off. She needed to have an idea if the Batter had any kind of expectations or not about her, and if he felt she would live up to them. The Batter stood as they neared their stop. It seemed like he wasn't going to answer, but Dorothy was surprised when she stood herself and grabbed onto a train handle.
"You were chosen by them. I trust them, and their decisions. If they feel you were best suited to be my puppeteer and guide, then I don't think there is any reason to doubt you. So, yes. I believe I do have fate in you."
"… Thank you." Dorothy wasn't entirely sure what to say. She supposed the Batter may have meant it as a compliment. True, some doubt made her think his belief was only because of those voices. But Dorothy reasoned that they had not yet started purifying the world. She would have plenty of chances to get strong. That she assured herself as the train slowly came to its stop in Damien and the doors opened.
"I think then Batter, I should say then that… I promise to do my role as well as I can then."
Looking back over my previous chapters, I've only noticed now that I made a small mistake when describing the ground in chapter two. I got mixed up in what of the four elements was used to make the ground. But I've fixed it now XD
Hoping you readers are still into this story :)