Chapter 32: Unfamiliar Sky

The last thing Alain remembered was him and Naomi breaking off from Cypher the second he'd seen the Hysterica readying its Discord Phasers. They and Villkiss had rushed towards Tusk's Air Runner before a flash of white consumed the world and everything went black.

'What the hell was that?' Alain wondered as he put a hand to his throbbing head. Peeling his eyes open, he found himself still in Wyvern's cockpit though the view screens shut down. But what really puzzled him was the breeze coming in through the tear in the armor. It wasn't the salty sea air he was used to, but was more earthy, like a forest. And when he peered out through the gash, he didn't see open waters or even a hangar bay. What Alain saw instead was a city, covered in almost every manner by foliage from what could only be decades if not centuries of decay.

"What in the…?" Amidst his confusion, Alain pulled Wyvern's terminal out from the console and pulled the emergency release for the cockpit so he could climb out. A quick breeze hit him the moment he lifted out into the open air, looking around to find the ruined city went on all around him for as far as the eye could see. It looked as if Wyvern had crashed into what had once been a crossroads, now long overgrown by trees and shrubbery, the rusting remains of vehicles just as overgrown as the buildings carpeting the cracked and splintered roads. "Where the hell… where am I?! And where're the others?!" To his relief, nearby both the Villkiss and Halberd had landed a few meters away, both their cockpits hissing open and Ange and Naomi climbing out, looking just as confused as him. From where he was crouched by his Air runner, Tusk turned as he heard the machines working, just before a large reptilian head barreled into Alain.

"Big Bro! Took you long enough!" That same sensation from before as Alain had to fight down the urge to respond to a Schooner running into him with gunfire confirmed it to be Vivian.

"You changed again huh?" Alain asked, patting Vivian on the snout. "Glad you're okay. What about the rest of you? All good!"

"Fine over here!" Naomi groaned as she looked the Para-mails over. "Though can't say the same about our machines. Halberd's the best looking one right now. And we almost crashed through a building!"

"No issues with me." Tusk said, helping Ange down from Villkiss. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Ange nodded, then taking a look at their surroundings. "But where are we? Weren't we over the water earlier?"

"Is this that Farbanti place?" Naomi asked, Tusk shaking his head.

"It's too overgrown." Tusk said. "It'd take more than a decade for a city to end up like this. But the city doesn't look like it'd be out of place in Galia, architecture wise. Also no way an Ancient Human city would be left this undisturbed. Pretty much all of them were wiped from the map."

"So then where are we?" Ange asked.

"We might not even be anywhere near Arzenal, much less the Mana Nations." Alain said. "Ange, when you went diving for Tusk, what went through your head in that moment?"

"I guess… desperation, panic?" Ange muttered. "All I knew that I had to save Tusk. To… get us away from… that." Ange's eyes widened as realization began to set in. "And then my ring glowed… just like when Villkiss activated those powers before."

"Thought so." Alain said, rolling an arm as he felt some dull pain set in. "It's likely you activated another of Villkiss's subsystems, and it wound up catching me and Naomi along with it."

"At least in terms of positioning, we are certainly not near Arzenal's location." Wyvern spoke up. "However, I do not have the data necessary to give us an exact global position. If you give me some time to gather environmental data, I can pinpoint where we are. I also would not advise attempting radio contact. Aside from drawing enemy attention, it is unlikely you will be able to get a working signal."

"It's at least worth trying!" Ange moved back into Villkiss and kicked on its radio, only getting static in return. "Oh come on! Momoka. Hilda! Someone! Come on, answer!"

"I'm not getting anything either." Tusk flipped a few switches on his Air Runner, shaking his head as he shifted between the radar and other sensors. "No signals on any channel, nothing detected within five klicks. Position sensors are down too. Wyvern, how long is it going to take you to gather the data you need?"

"In a rough estimate, due to the seeming lack of local systems, gathering raw data to get our global position will take me around five hours to accomplish."

"Seriously?!" Alain yelped. "You're normally lightning fast at figuring stuff like this out."

"Will it speed up if we can find some kind of network?" Naomi asked. "I mean, there are power lines running along some of these buildings… barely."

"If there is a local system operating then it would certainly speed up my data acquisition." Wyvern confirmed. "But I would have no idea where to begin looking." Eyes turned when a slight crash carried over, Vivian looking back to the group sheepishly after just bumping into a long rusted out vending machine, cans having been sent rolling all over the place.

"Wait wait, slow down a bit!" Ange said. "If there isn't some system or anything, and this isn't some ancient ruin from our history then where are we? How did we even get here?"

"Villkiss." Alain said. "I guess teleportation is the best word for it. For all we know we got hurled to a side of the planet that hasn't been settled. Let's let Wyvern gather the data he needs before we assume anything else."

"Though being fair there isn't much Villkiss could do that would surprise me." Tusk added. "It's got pretty unique powers after all. It may've been trying to protect Ange from Embryo. We probably just got unlucky and got thrown to some random place since it happened in the heat of the moment."

"Well then we should start gathering things to last us a while." Naomi said, picking up a can that had rolled near her. "If we can't get in touch with any of our friends then we have too just rough it. And it's not like our Para-mails are stocked with field rations and the like."

"I'd have that covered if I was out on a scouting mission." Alain mumbled. "Tusk?"

"I was loaded up for a combat situation, so I've got the bare minimum for survival supplies. We'll definitely need to look around for food. Shelter should be easy enough at least."

"And what about our machines?" Ange asked, clambering down from Villkiss. "Obviously Villkiss and Wyvern aren't in good shape. Can you fix them up?"

"I can probably get them flying again at the least." Tusk said.

"Let me help out with that." Naomi said. "I've done my fair share of work on both these babies before. If it's basic field repairs, I can help them get done a lot faster."

"Two heads are better than one. Thanks." Tusk nodded, then turning to Ange. "And what about you?"

"I'll do some scouting." Ange said. "There still might be enemies around for all we know."

"Didn't Tusk say there's nothing within five klicks?" Alain mumbled. "Better idea. Vivian!" Vivian whistled as Alain called to her. "Do you think you'll be able to fly like that? If you can, then you can help us get a better idea of what's around us."

"No problem!" Vivian shifted some of her claws in an attempt at a thumbs up, Alain returning the gesture as Vivian walked over to Villkiss and turned her back to Ange. "Just hop on me Ange!"

"Thanks. Not a bad idea." Ange took a rifle from Tusk and slowly mounted Vivian's back.

"To think she was a DRAGON." Tusk mused.

"It's a secret!" Vivian hushed. With a strong flap of her wings, Vivian lifted off with Ange and vanished into the ruins.

"I'll get about looking for any food." Alain said. "Gotta be some edible plants around here… or small animals."

"Sounds good." Tusk agreed. " Naomi, right? Does your Para-mail still have power in it? It could help us move Villkiss and Wyvern so they'll be easier to work on."

"Yeah, getting them into flight mode is out of the question." Naomi nodded. "I've got about a third of a charge left. That should be good enough to get them moving."

"Good. By the way, I'm Tusk." Tusk held out a hand, which Naomi accepted.

"So just to break the question, you another one of us kids from back then?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah… long story."

"Well we've got plenty of time for you to catch me up on your side of the story."

As Vivian brought her up above the buildings, Ange only felt her confusion grow. The buildings went on for miles in various states of decay. It felt like she was looking across a geometric forest as Vivian coasted across the air. And as they moved higher, a mountain that towered even higher than the tallest of the buildings came into clear view not far from the city.

"What the… just where are we?!" Ange gasped. As Vivian banked, Ange caught a sudden barren zone in the corner of her eye. "Vivian, keep going that way!"

Vivian keened in reply and kept her course straight. It was an odd sight, a place where the city just simply cut off entirely. Or rather, where part of it looked like it had been blasted out, leaving nothing but scorched earth before the land stretched into a shoreline. In the center of that blasted land was a small, perfectly circular lake. And right in the center of that was a structure that had splintered and fallen. Ange recognized it as soon as Vivian pulled close enough for it to be clear. The Dawn Pillar of Misurugi.

"But how?" Ange murmured.

"There… that should do it."

Tusk wiped his brow off and looked over the past bit of work. Thanks to Naomi, the Villkiss and Wyvern had been moved under the nearby overpass, propped on the broken slope underneath. Nearby, the Halberd sat cabled to Tusk's Air Runner to recharge its battery. It was a bit tight but there was enough room left over under the broken highway for them to bed down in relative comfort.

"Is it really okay to plug in your ride like that?" Naomi asked, peering out from her cockpit as she rifled through its storage compartments. "Won't that just drain it down instead?"

"It'll be fine. The generator is good for about a year of continued use. Besides, we'll need everything we've got to get out of here." It was especially true with the Villkiss. Aside from burnt out circuitry its left arm had been lost below the elbow, likely caught in the edge of Embryo's blast before they teleported. Wyvern was in a state neither could call much better. In addition to the gash near the cockpit, the armor was scorched in several places, primarily the right shoulder and upper torso, and like Villkiss it was also suffering from circuit burnout. "Hopefully we can at least get them running. Can't do anything about the battle damage."

"If it's getting them to start, that should be easy enough… ah ha! Knew I left some gear packed in here!" From out of the Halberd, Naomi pulled out a pair of coveralls and a toolbox. "There were never rules about field repairs, and no way I'm fixing a machine up in my Rider suit alone."

"Hey guys!" Alain's voice coming from another direction brought their attention. He came around the bend a moment later, toting a handful of rabbits tied together over his shoulder. "Its not much but I found something! Tusk, you got any clue how to cook wild rabbit of all things?"

"I've had them a few times." Tusk admitted, taking the bundle when Alain handed it over. "Though my specialty is mostly sea snake soup."

"Sounds… interesting." Alain murmured.

"It's better when I have spices."

"Riiight." Alain turned to the propped-up machines as she gave Tusk a raised brow. "Anyway, how're these two looking in terms of damage?"

"Well aside from the obvious, we're dealing with some shot electronics." Naomi said, pulling the coveralls over his Rider suit and tying the sleeves around her waist. "Can't do anything about the serious damage but we should be able to get them running with the field repair kit Tusk had. He's surprisingly learned about Para-mails for a guy who's spent ten years on an island by himself."

"Not the entire time." Tusk said. "Just… a lot of the time. And you learn a thing or two when parts keep washing up where you live."

"So you're caught up on his story then? Good. Saves me the trouble." Alain mused, tapping Tusk with an elbow. "And clearly Ange isn't back yet."

"Everyone! Where are you?" Ange's suddenly called from outside.

"Over here! We got things moved!" Tusk shouted. A moment later, Vivian descended, and Ange jumped off her back, looking more than a little frazzled. The day was cool, but Ange had broken out in a sweat and her eyes were wide in shock. Vivian lumbered to a spot under the highway and laid down, exhausted from carrying Ange around on top of everything else. "What's wrong? Did you see something."

"We're… we're in Misurugi." Ange said, the others gasping. "It has to be! When we were up there, I saw the Dawn Pillar."

"Then explain why the hell we're surrounded by ruins!" Alain said. "This place looks like it collapsed ages ago. There's no way we're in Misurugi!"

"I know what I saw!" Ange snapped. "I spent my whole life growing up looking at it outside of my window. Even if it was collapsed, I could never mistake it."

"We were in Misurugi a week ago!" Alain countered. "There's no way it could be the same one."

"Maybe a few hundred years passed while we were out cold?" Tusk joked.

"Not funny dude." Alain deadpanned.

"Don't joke about it! This is serious!" Ange yelled, getting into Tusk's face.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Not to kill the mood but, does anyone else hear music?" Naomi said. It sounded like a chime, like from a food truck. The four were quick to duck behind Villkiss's leg with weapons drawn as the chime got closer. But then it was followed by an electronic voice.

"This is Capital City Defense." The voice said. Rolling into view was a small red robot. It was dented and rusty from age, but still broadcasting even as it rumbled along the broken roads on quadrupedal legs. "Are there any survivors? Are there any survivors? Capital City Shelter #3 is still operational. We are taking refugees. Survivors, please meet at the central park."

"Survivors?" Ange said.

"That sounds interesting." Alain said. "Let's check it out."

"I agree." Tusk nodded. "Maybe we'll find somebody if we go to that shelter it mentioned."

"Better than nothing I suppose." Naomi said. "Vivian, we're heading out for a moment, will you be alright?" Vivian raised a wing up with a claw raised in an approximate thumbs up before flopping the wing back down. "Though I don't think we have much to worry about anyway."

What the robot eventually led them too was a large, domed building taking up a sizable portion of another square. Like the rest of the city it was covered almost entirely in foliage, and the road leading up to it had been littered in derelict vehicles both civilian and military from their best guesses. At least compared to everything else it seemed to be in a better condition and wouldn't collapse on top of them.

"Is this the place?" Tusk asked.

"There's supposed to be survivors here?" Ange wondered.

"This does seem to be it." Wyvern said, drawing their attention. "There's even a data connection present here. It is as the guide robot said. This location is designated as Capital City Shelter #3. I would need internal access to gather more data."

"We might just kill two birds with one stone." Alain mused.

"Then let's hope there's actually people inside." Naomi said. The only entrance they saw as they approached was a giant steel door. And no access panel to speak of. "Hey Wyvern, think you can apply some of that fancy hacking Alain says you can do?"

As Naomi spoke, a light glinted from the top of the door, forming an area around the four as it seemed to scan them.

"Life signs detected. Beginning reception." A synthesized female voice spoke as the door then hissed open, its screeching with age as the door revealed a dark passage leading deeper into the structure. "Welcome to Capital City Shelter #3. Capital City Defense welcomes you."

Alain looked to the other three, and they nodded as he took point, all of them moving with weapons raised. Expecting a possibly hostile response was the best course they could take. As they moved further in, another door opened at the end of the passage, moving into a larger, well-lit atrium. At the top of one of the support pillars was an active screen, showing an image of a brown-haired woman backed by a logo.

"We currently have 1.7% capacity available. Please choose an area. Enjoy your stay."

Alain looked to the side as more doors along each end of the atrium opened. 'I've got a bad feeling for some reason.' He thought. Carefully moving to one of the doors, he covered his mouth as a musty air lifted out from the room. And what he saw as they drew close made him sick to his stomach. The floor was lined in bodies, mummified by both age and the lack of exposure, leaving corpses with dark, drying bits of flesh stuck to them and still wearing whatever clothing they'd died in. Every one of them ranging from the old to the young.

"My god…" Naomi gasped. Ange covered her mouth as she felt like she was about to puke again.

"What the fuck is this?" Alain murmured.

"You from before! What's going on!" Ange turned around and ran back to the main pillar, looking up at the woman on the screen. "Answer me dammit!"

"She is not real." Wyvern said, Ange looking to the terminal as Alain pulled it out. "You are not speaking to a real person. That is a virtual intelligence. Its purpose is meant purely to run this shelter's systems and answer questions the occupants may have for it."

"Correct." The woman said. "I am management computer Himawari. Please state your query."

"Tell us what's going on." Alain said. "Why is everyone in the shelter dead? And why is city in the state it is?"

"Query received. Beginning response sequence." The space around them darkened and was then taken up by a video feed of a much more pristine cityscape. One that quickly came under fire from a missile barrage. Planes none of them could recognize darted across the sky before the feed changed to one of a team of tanks rushing along the ground.

"What the… a movie?" Ange muttered.

"These are visual records." Himawari responded as the image shifted to a naval battle. "This was a large-scale international war waged by the Unified Economic Federation against the Pancontinental Alliance. It was known as World War Seven, Ragnarok, or the D War. It reduced the world's population to around 11% of its pre-war levels." The feed continued into nothing but outright warfare on a level past even what they'd just been through not a day before. Nothing but carnage and destruction without a seeming end to it. "In order to end the stalemate, the Federation deployed the ultimate weapon, the Ragna-mail."

Alain and Tusk gasped as the feed changed to show the Hysterica. And rising around it were five other black machines marked in different colors, including one marked in red and bearing the same familiar headpiece as the Villkiss.

"A black Villkiss?" Ange murmured.

"Bilkis… the original version of it." Alain said, one hand tightening into a fist. The battle only got fiercer as the Ragna-mail entered the fray, with the Hysterica headed towards the Dawn Pillar. Yet, the city around the pillar was totally unrecognizable to Ange. And then, the Ragna-mail fired the weapons in its shoulders, the blasts obliterating everything in their path. Cities and fleets utterly devasted by a series of blinding blasts in mere instants, orbs of fire dotting every zone of impact.

"And so the conflict ended." Himawari continued in her chipper tone. "But the Ragna-mail's dimensional resonator weapons caused the sympathetic detonation of all of Earth's Dracunium Reactors." What came next were several Dawn Pillars, each one falling as they sparked before exploding in balls of flame even larger than those made by the Ragna-mails, filling the sky with fire. "The surface of the planet became contaminated and inhospitable to human life, destroying civilization. Humanity was forced to seek asylum in shelters such as this one. However, without a consistent source of supplies, starvation and social unrest led to a mass amount of residential casualties. That is all. Do you have any other questions?"

"The world… ended?" Tusk gasped.

"What is all this?" Ange murmured. "What kind of joke is this?"

"How long ago was this?" Naomi asked.

"Exactly five hundred and thirty-eight years, one hundred and ninety-three days ago." The answer from the computer was so quick Naomi visibly double took at it. "No heat, motion, or life signs are currently detected in any of the 20,976 shelters throughout the world. You four are the only living humans that remain on Earth."

Once the shock of what they had heard faded, the four had returned to their makeshift camp. Ange was stewing in frustration, Naomi looked like she was trying to solve some kind of equation in her head, while Tusk and Alain both had an eerie if unnerved calm about them. Gathered around a small fire and under a tarp, the group were quiet while Tusk roasted the rabbits Alain had caught them earlier that day. Further questioning from the computer helped them gather what few supplies the shelter had they could, mainly food, water, and some medical supplies.

"Five hundred years, huh?" Tusk spoke up, rolling a can from the vending machine Vivian had hit earlier, the scripting adorning its metal surface completely incomprehensible to him. One of the marks reminded him of a face and the other a hashtag. "Guess that's more than enough time for the writing to change."

"You really believe that load of bull?" Ange muttered as she cleaned the rifle in her lap.

"We all saw those bodies." Tusk reminded her.

"It could be a lie." Ange said.

"Why would anyone make something like that up?" Tusk responded, Ange's hand tightening on the cloth she was using.

"How would I know?!" Ange snapped as she shot to her feet. "I only believe what I see with my own eyes!"

"Then why are you acting like you didn't?" Alain countered, poking at the fire with a stick. "Mummified bodies, video evidence, a city that looks like it's been abandoned for five hundred years… the evidence is all there in front of you."

"It's not something we can just deny. The dead bodies and ruins say plenty." Naomi said. "But… something about it doesn't feel right either."

"So you two are just going to accept we've somehow gone five hundred years into the future?!" Ange snapped. "I've been tricked way too many times to just accept some crap like that!"

"I'm not saying we did." Alain said. "Sit down and cool your ass for a bit. I'm with Naomi. It doesn't feel right."

"What doesn't?!" Ange demanded.

"That we traveled through time." Alain said. "Come on, think about it! Villkiss can do a lot, but time travel? I'm sure even that is out of its league. But, it got us here so it can get us back… to the world we actually came from."

"What the hell are you getting at?" Ange bit.

"I… Wyvern, you're better at explaining things than me." Alain prepped the terminal up on another seat, the screen gleaming on.

"What Alain is referring to is multi-verse theory." The AI said. "To put it simply, we have not traveled through time, but rather, to another world. Villkiss's quantum jump somehow pulled us from our world to another that exists parallel to our own. Those video records we saw therefore were not a record of a history in our world, but the history of this world. Since visiting that shelter, I have also been able to tap into the still active satellite network orbiting this planet. It is broken in places but still intact enough to function and maintain data integrity."

"And what did you find out?" Naomi asked.

"I performed a search through historical records to compare my data to what I found. Tracing even further back than the war Himawari told us of, I was unable to find any records of the Mana Nations up until the founding of the Unified Economic Federation or the Pancontinental Alliance. No mention of the Empire of Misurugi, Empire of Galia, and other nations exist at any point in this world's historical records."

"You said it was broken, didn't you?" Ange countered. "What if that data is missing? I saw the Dawn Pillar! What better explanation do we need?!"

"You saw A Dawn Pillar." Wyvern corrected. "To be precise, in this world such a structure was a Dracunium Reactor, a central pillar, almost literally, of the global energy grid. You saw as much in the recordings. That multiple reactors existed and were destroyed due to the Space Time rupture caused by the Ragna-mails. As I said, what we saw was the history of this world, not our own history. We have not moved through time. Simply dimensions."

"Will you just slow down?!" Ange growled. "Multi-verse theory? A different world? None of that makes sense!"

"It's actually a pretty simple concept." Alain said, then snapping the stick in his hand in two. "Think of it this way. Everything moves on a single path up to one point, like a crossroad. Time then splits onto either path based on which way you go. The theory says, simply enough, that in the instant you make a choice, two worlds are made. One where you go one direction, another where you go the other."

"Or… maybe a world where you lived, and one where you died." Naomi said, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"That's all fascinating, but does that seriously explain anything?" Ange said.

"It's the only explanation that makes sense aside from time travel." Tusk said. "And I mean, they're right. Think about it. None of those vehicles ran on mana. I checked a few out. They all run on combustion engines. That's pre-Mana tech. Plus that Dracunium or whatever. Maybe some time in the past there was a splinter in the timeline, and this is the world that could have happened without Mana. Plus, what about the Ragna-mails? Unless this world has their own versions of them, I know for a fact there's only one of each. Why would there be another Villkiss?"

"Plus, five hundred and thirty-eight years is roughly the same amount of time the Age of Mana has been going for." Alain added. "If the multi-verse theory is true, maybe this is a world where Embryo's wiping out of the Ancient Humans went south and he axed himself at the same time. That or he's some kind of… frickin… what's the word…"

"Para-causal." Wyvern said. "An entity that can exist outside of causality. Also, most of the world's history pre-Mana was erased. There's no way to know just what the World of Mana was like before the Age of Mana began."

"Right, that." Alain said. "Also, the geography is pretty different. Misurugi didn't have a mountain next to it last I checked."

"Oh enough!" Ange snapped. "Where did you even get the idea for this crap?!"

"Because it's the idea that means our friends are alive." Alain bit. "Do you really want to accept the idea that means Momoka is dead?" Ange flinched. "I sure as hell don't. Ersha, Salia, Hilda, Rosalie, Chris… Jill, Maggy, Jasmine… everyone in CROSS. There's no way in hell I'm accepting the result that ends in them dead. I told them I'd come home. Even if I have to find my way across worlds, I'll stick to that."

"I… how can you be so sure of it?! If you want to sit around and do nothing, then fine by me!" Ange stood back up and picked up the rifle she'd put down. "I'm going to find out what's really going on! Vivian, let me on!"

"Ange, come on." Naomi said. "I get it, it's stressful and we're all worn out. But getting angry and snapping at each other won't help any of us. I'd rather go with the idea that means our friends aren't dead too. Just rest for now. We can scope out more of the city in the morning."

"I'm not wasting any more time." Before she could be stopped, Ange hopped back onto Vivian and coaxed her up into flight. As they vanished into the night sky, Naomi gave a sigh.

"Well I tried… way to go, Garm Squadron camaraderie." Naomi leaned her head back, staring up at the star filled sky.

"Just let her go for now." Tusk advised. "She just needs to cool her head. Let's eat and then sleep. We'll need it since we'll be working on the Para-mails."

"Yeah. I'll roll out the sleeping bags we found." Naomi stood and started going through the supplies. As the others started going about their business Alain looked skywards, his eyes tracing along the stars.

"The stars are different." he said aloud. "The way they line up, it's not the same. It's a different season… but it's not the same sky either."

That alone was all the assurance Alain needed to confirm, at least to himself, this was another world. 'Skies unknown… no… this isn't what that meant. Not literal… but an ideal.' He kept that one to himself.