Inside a large and thick tree trunk, Elijah and Niko were listening to the beginning of the rainfall creating an assortment of noises across the various pools of water nearby. The large tree was on the very edge of the forest, which looked into the hilly marshlands and mountainous plateaus.
Beyond the hilly marshlands was the backdrop of a towering forest illuminating itself after every lightning strike. The distance was so vast, yet the sheer size of the trees that likely reached just below the clouds allowed them to catch its visible weight.
"Wish me good luck."
Silently, Elijah flew out from the hole of the tree. Near instant movements of dark figures were seen in the jungle behind him, which worried Elijah.
"Are we being chased?"
Elijah flew into the open hilly marshlands to draw their attention. One gorgon had revealed its body from behind a tree, and within a matter of seconds, it shot into the air.
"Ha!"
While quickly swerving to the side, Elijah saw the head of the beast turn in fear. It had just given itself an early death by catapulting itself into a place only god knows where. These savage beasts could be called suicide bombers.
One by one, Elijah saw them whizz by his face. Some even managed to land a scratch after they had watched their comrade fail to kill the target.
Elijah had wanted to have some fun, so in the midst of dodging and weaving, he shuttled mana through every cell in his body with a focus on his right fist.
3…
2…
1…
BAM!
A crude memory had been brought back to his brain as his fist obliterated the small torso of the beast while sending its limbs flying in all different directions.
The pain was minimal, allowing Elijah to shift his position without wincing in pain. Just as a precaution, water was quickly funneled through his fist and arm.
At this point, the rain had become a downpour, blocking the sun that was beginning to set and creating a perfect environment for the stalkers of the night.
"BEHIND YOU!!!" Niko had his head sticking out through the trunk of the tree.
Silently rolling across the hilly and overgrown ground cover was a creature blending in perfectly with its surroundings.
Even when crossing over a puddle, the small reflectance did not seem to flutter even the slightest bit.
From behind, a fist of someone who looked exactly like Niko had transformed its fist into a spike of death.
"That's not Niko!!" Elijah exclaimed as he stared into an emotionless puppet.
Elijah was just barely able to avoid a fatal blow while the spike pierced through even the bone of his arm. However, when Elijah had turned around with the slightly illuminated fist, he saw an exact replica of himself.
There was no such thing as a mirror in the Kingdom of Astraea. The first sensation of seeing himself in what he thought was a dream caused him to hesitate in dealing a killing blow. The just barely glowing radiance coming from his fist lessened while a tear joined the rainwater that dripped down his body.
Even the unknown being had come to a halt.
That was until Elijah shook his head in denial and followed with a devastating punch that began to disintegrate whatever stood in front of him before the punch itself had landed. The fake fibers of the clothes this creature wore dematerialized, and followed with the skin that had begun to transform into the pattern of an unfathomable matrix of blood vessels, muscle fibers, and bone. It was as if this creature had full control of every part of its body allowing it to reconfigure itself at will — to even the lengths of disguising itself within the overgrown ground cover.
Essentially, this beast took the name "chameleon" to an entirely new level.
The rainwater from above glued itself to Elijah's body while he flew towards the safe house. If more of these beasts were around, the only option was to run as one could not know if even the air they were breathing in was of a chameleonic beast.
"GET READY TO FLY!" Elijah grabbed the arms of Niko and swung him through the air in the midst of a few gorgons catapulting themselves into the tree. Glowing fists of pure magical strength extinguished these lives. However, something was off.
Staring into Niko's eyes made him feel like nothing was there. Trusting his instinct, Elijah pulverized the chest to see the unfathomable matrix once again. "DAMMIT! Where did he go!"
"ELIJAH! HELP!"
Running through the towering jungle and slithering in between trees was Niko shooting point-blank beams of fire at any beast that came close to him. Illusions were sliding out of his body like vending machine and even a true clone that took him to the edge of completely running out of mana. However, it was all worth it.
The few seconds of deception Niko was able to buy himself was enough for Elijah to figure out his plan.
The arms of Elijah brushed past the trunks of the trees while using them as support for a more controlled and varied movement pattern.
"I got you!"
While just barely being able to escape with their lives, Elijah and Niko made it into the stormy skies where a flash of lightning illuminated their smiling faces.
Their eyes shifted from each other, to the skies, to later witness a momentary mushroom cloud within the far distance.
In the moments of danger where every single fragment of their life was on the line, both Elijah and Niko had found a sense of not happiness, but excitement within their souls.
'Twas the euphoric nature of novel stimuli.
Yes, the air was cold.
Yes, Niko had wounds that were being healed by Elijah.
Yes, they were currently running for their lives without an inkling of stopping.
However…
The feeling of flying through the air unchained from everything they once knew was the taste of freedom both of them relished in.
Currently, Elijah and Niko were flying far above the ground level, unafraid of potential flying beasts that could knock them into oblivion with a single swipe of their wings.
While Niko was strapped to the Back of Elijah — constantly wiping his eyes within the harshness of the rain and the symphony of lightning strikes that were creating small explosions on the ground level, he pointed to a bright set of lights in the far distance.
A light that seemed to stretch across the horizon, just barely seen with the naked eye, and revealing its tip past the towering forest they must pass.
"I THINK THAT IS GION!" Yelled Elijah with a smile on his face.
Over the course of their flight of freedom, the hilly marshlands had finally passed to open up into a rather weird jungle with even taller trees than the jungle they had created a safe house in. Trunks with a radius of 10 feet and more soared into the skies. However, because of their height, they toppled over each other creating crosses of trees that leaned on each other for life. Also, the same mountainous plateaus were scattered within the jungle, and acted as a pillow for them to lean on.
The journey was straight and serene as they blindly passed through the illy marshlands. What seemed like an entire day was nothing more than 3, and led to Elijah's lack of mana.
Slowly, Elijah descended to the ground, on top of a plateau covered by the trees that gave them a modicum of cover from the downpour.
Elijah plucked several large leafs from their branches and began creating plush beds.
During such events, Niko begins to think about their future.
"So… How are we going to do this?"
Slap. Slap.
Elijah wiped his wet hands across his moist body, visibly shaking from mainly the sparse amounts of clothing he had on his body. No shoes, no coat, just ripped white cotton garments.
At least Niko's had a certain thickness to them, and were black and brown in color.
"I have no idea how we have made it this far. One thing is for certain… If we light a fire, we will be swamped by the beasts."
"We made it this far because of you, Elijah. We can't expect to just walk into Gion. I don't even know anything about it? But you must, right?" Niko moved closer, setting his own large leaves onto the rocky plateau.
"Amaris didn't tell me much, only that they didn't rely on Magitech as much, and that it was more than 10 times larger than Astraea… We saw a small snippet of it while flying, but there will be no way to fully plan our entrance until seeing the defenses they have against the beasts." Elijah grabbed his final leaf, and curled into a ball.
His expression was dim, and tone was similar.
"What about ingraining ourselves into their society, finding a place to live, food, money… We should at least try and figure that out even with the limited information!"
"Niko… Can you please stop? It's pointless… Most likely, we will likely have to sneak inside, steal food, and figure out how they keep track of indentures. Maybe they don't at all, and we can blend in while figuring out a way to make an income."
Niko sighed, disappointed in his attitude, but still motivated to help. It's obvious he has been through a lot, and has lost more than anyone.
"Elijah… Remember when you told me that you could do anything you wanted to do?"
"Hahaha… Niko, sometimes there are just too many cards stacked against you that it seems pointless. We were lucky to survive, and it turns out we may have been thrown into this mess to fix the problems the gods caused… What does this even have to do sneaking inside anyway?"
"What is wrong with you?! Just hours ago I saw you smiling like you used to! And now you have returned to this good for nothing child who doesn't want anything to do with this world. We can do anything we want Elijah!"
Pulling the two leaves tightly to his body, he vented his stirring emotions. "I'm sorry for acting like this, Niko. To tell you the truth, in my past life I was a radiant light of confidence and hope. A beacon that people looked up to for not just their health, but also for peace. I always told myself to accomplish anything notable, I had to become delusional of my own reality. In the end, I suppose I became crazy enough to turn enough heads, which resulted in my success." Elijah paused…. "But now, I'm a completely different person. I don't even remember half of my past life, and I feel like I am forgetting it with every fleeting second. To top it off, All of my friends I made in this new world are going to die. Novius, Alexia, Theon, Raylen, and even Emery. Everything new I am creating is being destroyed for reasons that I cannot stop… So I'm sorry for acting like a depressed bloodshed addict…"