Prologue - The Boom
>โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโโ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ
(602)
It was a ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ to sleep.
There was a special joy in the slumbers and dreams that one could not resist, yet a peculiar girl was far away from it, the Seer we call her used to be. I did not dare to write for many months, as that may lead to the exposure of my identity, but this story will be largely about *HER*, her encounters both in and outside my home city, and many great things that need much time to explain and extract from her handwritten notes.
I wrote on behalf of many individuals, so there may be a slight inaccuracy.
Every now and then, the Seer recalled the Chaos. It was a steaming hot day, but there was no light, no way out. Nothing. A moment that she lost if not all: Her friend, her way back home, freedomโฆ
โNo one could wield ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ with dreams.โ She once shook her head to her companion.
โYou simply havenโt unleashed them all.โ The boy with denim blue hair smirked. They were sitting by the seaside, with the candlelight flicking above a tiny cake.
โHappy birthday.โ The boy congratulated her. They sat side by side for a couple hours, until the twilight peeked over the sea line. It was once a soothing memory, but the girl had buried it deep, for it became distant and brutal afterwards.
In a similar cold, starless night, the west wind sighed and the moon spilled its milky shimmer to an engine-whirled, hazy metropolis. Hazed by steam of factories, it was wrapped by a 100 km long, 50 meter tall obsidian-made wall. Its face gleamed an inky glow, radiating a terror of velvety, impenetrable darkness. Flashlights from lawmen stations threw endless rounds of light beams in mid-air, and one of those strands eventually climbed up the giant rampart, where on top of it stood two intruders. One of them is Sun of Southern City, which is a name to remember. Youโre probably wondering who she was and why she ended up here, thatโd be a long story, one that I would explain from the day of Chaos.
But for now, they had survived.
Wearing a safety belt, both of them were in glider suits and thick masks, with a Reaper in hand. The girl, with one knee kneeling down, observed the neon lights and crowded streets with her silver eyes.
โStill got 14 seconds.โ The boy checked his wristwatch, and his voice turned blurry behind the air filters.
The girl said nothing but dropped her mask and revealed an elven face. Her sandy skin looked almost golden under the flying lights, dark rings under her eyes inked her rosy cheeks and her grey eyes glowed like polished iron. There was a breeze, and clouds were scudding across the sky, obscuring from time to time the half-moon. Inhaling, she tasted the sourness and pungent smell of tear gas with the west wind, which reminded her of another ghastly night they endured 3 years ago. Tonight, they had to do it again. But her fear had bloomed to wrath for a long while, and wilted to a solemn calmness.
The boy beside her wiped the sweat off his face.
At last, she asked.
โThe Architect and Dreamcatcher shall be ready?โ
He tucked a lock of beige hair behind his left ear, compressing the little plug slightly inside.
โYes, itโs done.โ
The girl attached her belt to a thin, hooked wire, and dug it on the cold, hard Obsidian. The boy did the same.
โCheck your Reaper.โ
He checked.
Long sighs of the wind swifted past them. The girl swiped the fair strands away from her forehead, then pulled up her mask and gazed at the far end of the city.
โReady?โ
โReady.โ
The Soundsleepers jumped off the cliff and opened their gilder, and embraced the dark mists of Southern City.
