Entertaining a Small Thought

Prologue Arc Part 4: Caught Within a Cage of Cruelty

Rantaro was right. It was bad.

"What the hell...?" I couldn't help but let out that disbelief as Tsumugi and I stared up at what should be the sky.

But it wasn't just the sky. It was particularly blocked by a massive dome that we were caught under. We were in a giant cage. It was a massive, thick wall that led upwards before turning into a metal cage that blocked even the sky from us.

I was prepared for the worst, but this was something else. I couldn't predict that we'd be so helplessly trapped here like this.

"Is this...real?" Tsumugi muttered, pained disbelief and despair in her eyes as she stared hopelessly at the wall keeping us here. "We really are stuck here, then?"

What could I even say to that? All I could say was either an obvious lie to make her feel better or the cruel, obvious truth, which she didn't need a reminder on when she was staring at it right now. So I stayed silent as I tried to piece together this strange truth facing us now.

The first and most pressing question on my mind was 'How the hell did anyone build this?' For someone to make something on such a grand scale, such as this, without drawing any attention to themselves...where the heck are we then? Is this one massive dome in the middle of nowhere? It's clear that we are outside, considering we can see the bright blue sky just past the bars of the cage we were in; although, that might just be a red herring. What if that's what our captors want us to think? What if that sky is fake, and we're actually deep underground in a dome or something?

A dome, huh? Not sure why, but it fits.

"Rise and shine, Ursine!" The Monokubs cried out as they magically appeared from nowhere again, though thankfully, I didn't jump in surprise this time, too engrossed by the cage to pay much attention to the useless, annoying bears.

"Surprised about the cage, huh? I totally understand how you feel. The first time I saw it, my teeth and fingernails fell out." Monotaro said.

"That's not a healthy way to react to a surprise!" Monophanie cried out.

"Byeow! But it's so awesomely huge! I can see why it's called the End Wall!" Monokid added.

"The End Wall, is it?" I asked. "Why's it called that?"

"Well, normally, walls are erected to separate two places, right? But this wall is different. It represents... the end of the world." Monosuke explained.

"The end of the world? Figuratively or literally?" Tsumugi asked cautiously.

"Figuratively, obviously," I muttered. The world can't end if we're still around. We're part of the world, after all.

Although...that doesn't mean it can't be terrible outside, but I mean...how bad could it be out there? I might not remember much, but I remember liking the world, so it can't be that bad. Right?

"That's for us to know and for you to find out!" Monosuke yelled, not answering Tsumugi's question at all. That was a heavy dodge, if I've ever seen one.

"Exactly. There's nothing to explain. This is simply how it is, so please don't bother. You can't get out of here." Monophanie explained. "That wall has no entrances or exits, and it cannot be climbed or demolished."

"An Ultimate could probably climb it partway, but most of the time it's impossible!" Monokid claimed.

"...But they can still sort of climb it, huh," Monosuke remarked.

"So an Ultimate could climb that? If that's the case, then I doubt you would trap an Ultimate with a climbing talent in here. You would have to be stupid to put someone like...I don't know, the Ultimate Rock Climber in here with something like that. So much for that possibility."