1 "Let's go!!" Alice raised of her hands in the air, happy that the long wait was finally over.
"Where did that enthusiasm come from?" Orange, resting his head on his hand.
She was the one who seems pretty down because of the long wait, he was surprised at the fact that Alice's energetic self could easily kick right back like nothing ever happened.
The carriage began to move again, its wheels creaking in rhythm with the steps of the large fish.
The carriage eventually pass through the gates, the gates closes slowly, causing the earth to tremble again, the noises were drowned out by the sound of the gate's iron grinding against the road.
"Geez the sound is really irritating.. I can't believe people here could live without complaining about the noises.. Alice, what do you think?" Orange turned to Alice, checking to see if she's acting differently or just being her usual self. He tilted his head slightly after seeing she was rather quiet than before "Alice?-"
Alice gripped the edge of her seat and stuck her head out of the carriage, her blonde hair dancing as a gentle breeze brushes over her.
"We're here!!!"
Orange facepalmed himself and sighed deeply. His tiredness was soon replaced by a soft chuckle. "For The Dragon's sake... could you behave yourself once?"
2 "So where are we going?" Orange asked, he had his hands on the back of his head, he doesn't really know why he was at the capital, all he knew was he was dragged along with Alice for something 'fun'.
"You'll see" Alice just smiled at him, she skipped down her path, her boots tapping the pavements, her hair bouncing with each steps.
Skipping? Isn't she too old for that? Orange thought to himself but just shrugged it off in the end. "Fine"
Orange looked around, seeing different kind of specimen, he was fascinated. Some passerby were stealing glances at him mostly because of his hair and eyes. He noticed that he's the one that stoods out the most in the streets with his black hair. Others were seen having different color hairs.
They've walked for at least 20 minutes, Orange was slightly fatigued but that doesn't look like the case for Alice.
"Hey Alice, how long ar-"
"Now we just have to go in there!" Alice turned around to give a soft smile while gesturing him to follow.
Orange, who was cut off mid-sentence, raised his eyebrow, he turned to the side to look at the alleyway she was entering.
He stopped at the entrance of the dark alleyway, hesitant to enter, his instincts were going off, telling him this place was bad news. But, at the same time Orange doesn't want to disappoint Alice. He stared, watching her vanished into the abyss. He sighed deeply then shrugged. "Fine"
The atmosphere changed as soon as he stepped foot into the alley, the liveliness and the sound of chatter were swallowed by the void. Not even the light could enter. As if they had been transported into a different realm.
There were junk lying around, spilling out from the fallen trash cans. The reek of waste grew stronger as they got deeper. The faint squeaks and the buzzes of foul creatures settled into Orange's ears, filling the silence for him.
"Eeeak!" It makes his skin crawl.
He could hear his heart beating against his ribs, and his thoughts as clear as day. The sound of boots tapping the concrete and humming of Alice echoes through the path.
It suddenly stopped, Alice's figure became more visible as Orange closed up the gap between them. She turned toward him. He stopped in his tracks then tilted his head a bit. "?"
Alice shopk her head then sighed. "You're such a slow walker Orange, c'mon hurry up!" Alice pouted, she walked toward him quickly, grabbing his wrist then dragging him like before.
"Alright" Orange noticed something falling from above, It was glowing with white light particles dancing around it. It was small yet long. Is it a string? If so, why is it glowing?
He looked up. it was fast. before he knew it, it had gotten into his left eye. The string began to move on its own, spiraling around his eyeball before completely burrowing itself into his eyeball like a parasite.
"Argh! It hurts! G-get out of my head!" Orange hold his face, gritting his teeth as he tried his best to endure it. He can feel it moving inside him, roaming freely in his head.
"Orange?.." Alice, seeing this, panicked. She dropped down beside him. She wanted to help him but unsure of where to touch. "Are you okay? What happened?!"
Orange didn't answer. He could feel it moving, traveling higher. It reached his brain.
He feel weird.
The pain just stopped— suddenly it felt wrong.
Slowly, Orange let go of his head.
He was confused, but thankful.
"I'm.. fine. I think it was just a headache" He lied.
Orange rubbed his eyes. He tried to process what just happened. Then, he remember Alice. Who probably might be worried.
He turned toward Alice, wearing a faint smile— the kind that said I'm fine.
"Sorry for making you worry-"
Alice, who was supposed to be there was gone. Completely.
The surroundings were different. They were supposed to be in an alleyway but now that doesn't seems like the case.
The silence was replaced by the crackle of fire and distance rumble of what seems like a giant white dragon fall apart.
The heavens were crimson. No. It was completely swallowed by the raging flames.
Orange coughed out blood.
Something fast and sharp tore through his chest. It wasn't cold or anything. Instead it was bright and warm?
He looked down.
Light flickering around his wound, it wasn't anything fancy or elegant you'd see in any generic fantasy stories.
It was long. Uneven. A chunk of light. Just barely holding together. Trying it absolute best to keep a shape.
Blood poured out from the wound, like an angry current. His clothes staining in bloody crimson.
"Please..." A heavy panting can be heard from behind. Their voice sound weak and tired.
Orange turned around. A boy, who seems to be in their mid teen years, was standing there, his arms were stretched forward, palms opened.
Orange guessed he was the one who fired the light at him.
He looks really beat up, one of his eyes swollen, lips busted, there were dirt and bruises all over his body. You can guess more by yourself.
He has a pretty noticable blue hair and red pupils with star shape in the middle.
"Please... Just die"
"Huh?"