Chapter Text
There was once a boy and a girl traveling endless wildness of a world plagued by so many disasters and misery that one surely might drown in it as well as in a sea. Though neither of them would call such world uniquely awful. In fact, Lumine once said, it would be weird to dismiss a given world as uniquely miserable because clearly there was gradation, a spectrum of both happy and sorrowful experiences mish-mashed into kaleidoscope, overlaid by a heavy dose of mundanity.
Even now as they plowed through a withered wasteland left in wake of the last catastrophe, Aether could see that even destroyed husks of trees and wildlife ravaged by crystalline substance claiming more and more of their flesh still held some, if not hope, then grim determination to carry onwards, till the bitter end, till the very lands could no longer hold anything resembling such existences as them. And just beyond the horizon line there was lush green and beautiful meadows and a couple of villages, that move every once in a while, until they too would be pushed out. Perhaps swallowed by need to change until they are no longer recognizable. Aether dully noted to himself, he too, it seemed, no longer was like himself. Neither was his eternal companion and the other half.
Carefully they treaded between upturned rocks and formations, carefully avoiding originium, ominously as if breathing, standing against the horizon. There, the air was in motion, with wind blowing mercilessly. Several times Aether almost fell, or got burned or frostbitten. This catastrophe seemed bit unusual, to him, at least. A juxtaposition of different temperatures so close, creating a wretched labyrinth of air current. Static electricity. Strange noise. Actually not that exciting once you spend enough time wandering around in such places. It wasn’t particularly stable and soon will probably dissipate but, probably, would have piqued interest of some scholars, if they were there to see it. Yes, actually if Aether had equipment, he could have gather some samples and try to sell them to someone. Maybe even get a job accompanying some of excited researchers into wild. Maybe. He continued following behind his sister, watching her back while she was mapping a path for both of them. Her back and maybe if there was anything they could catch and cook.
He moved right in time to pull Lumine out of the way of a collapsing rock, its foundation looked weak to him. “Hey, stay focused. I am not paying for your funeral.” Lumine huffed in indignation, slapping his hand away and turned back to what seemed to consume that much of her attention. He expected her to maybe snark back. “Shut up, I am trying to listen.” It wasn’t what he expected. Still, he went as quiet as it was humanly and maybe inhumanly possible. Aside from their own breath, same grating static, garbled screech of some metallic construction beaten by wind and, oh, that very same wind that would not calm itself down, wails and snuffling of some poor beasts, there was a new sound. A new and exciting noise that finally bothered to breach pretty boring, outside of whatever value it could have for researchers, scenery.
Echo of quiet sobs, carried by winds, refracted and broken. It was, in all frankness, something that roused both instinct to reach out and to stay on guard. Aether felt his sword hand twitch, as if in anticipation of some danger, perhaps even readiness for someone’s misery being naught but a trap. “Let’s check it out. I don’t think it will hurt,” said Lumine, giving Aether only a moment to follow as she began sliding down the slope, leaving clouds of dust in her wake.
It left him with no choice but to grumble in annoyance before following, rapidly gaining speed in attempt to catch up. He- they both alert in search for the source of wretched sobs. The twins coursed between rocks and broken shrapnel – remnants of destroyed infrastructure, carried there by relentless force of nature – taking advantage of air current, leaping over crevices and ducking to avoid searing hot wind. A dash, a jump, a hand caught in another as Lumine helped him up. For a moment he worried, they had lost it, whoever was weeping never to be found, or maybe it was just a mirage, an illusion, when they came upon a river. It was polluted now, with pieces of rock and ice and shimmering in daylight black that tore into fish floating on their sides as the current tried to carry them away. Aether could see, how the water was not up to its true level, something probably fell and obstructed the flow almost entirely.
And up the stream, situated near blackened forest there lay faint outlines of damaged rooftops. Some small village, clearly not designed to migrate. A region known for its peace, safe haven for those refusing to constantly run, run for their lives, fleeing accursed, blessed originium.
Aether’s breath hitched as both jumped across the river and followed a broken road up towards the center. There he could hear neither whines of infected animals, nor cries of wind. Within his heard he still could feel some hope. His legs carried him towards one of more or less whole houses, hand reaching to open the door. It did not bulge at first, but only a slight push was enough for it to start falling apart, dust and ash flying around and making it hard to breathe.
It was a small house, just one room. Blackened walls, floor dark and dusted as well. A stove still had some kindling inside. A cracked pot was upturned, what was inside spilled. A bed with cots, benches, all ready to be occupied. Rags and dirty cloth thrown around here and there. Small barrels, jars and sacks. Many torn or broken or lying on their sides, with contents adding to the mess. A table, with several chairs, some knocked off. And old and likely broken radio trying to speak, but only producing static. Despite knowing better, Aether still walked towards a man sitting slouched over the table, putting his hand on a broad shoulder. Only silence greeted him. The man’s hand still gripped an old cup made of clay, with remains of alcohol inside. Aether did not want to stay there for too long, soon walking out of the house. Walking past crooked fences and bits of pots and jugs, past damaged walls and torn apart wagons. The catastrophe passed several days ago. Aether inhaled and then exhaled. Theoretically there still was chance of finding someone, anyone.
Lumine looked at him with concern but said nothing.
The sun was setting down by the time they finished searching the village, it was not particularly big. Aether was sure, or at least wanted to be sure, only a little more and they might find a survivor. Though experience whispered, the village was never ready, it had no chance to be ready.
The sun went down, air, poisoned with originium, now almost unbearable. Slowly they ceased their search, making their camp inside one of empty homes, this one had attic and nicer furniture, finely crafted and then painted. He tried not to think why the house was actually empty. After ensuring relative safety and setting up a portable heating station with other equipment, they sat in silence for some time. Lumine slept first, he stayed awake, fiddling with small speaker. He was yet to pick up anything worthwhile, aside from garbled voice cheerfully informing the audience of an upcoming festival within the big city.
“The most important event in our city! Renowned across all of Columbia-“
The sound cut off, replaced by screech, as radio struggled to receive the transmission, distorted many times by leftover disturbances of a catastrophe. Aether gave up, it’s not like there was a good chance of catching anything else and he was not sure he cared enough about a fest he had never heard about to fight for a chance to hear more. The food in this region was not even that good. Quietly he watched the skies covered by murky clouds, mapping in his mind the path of stars that could no longer be seen from the ground across the firmament. When the constellation that his sister liked the most should have shifted closer to the horizon, he felt Lumine stir beside him.
“Your turn, sis,” he muttered, as she sleepily grumbled something in response, struggling to stand up. Soon he was taking advantage of how the bedroll was warmed up by now, cozy.
He dreamt of a family inside a small house with only one room.