Zhejiang and Enterprise (Book One)

Time Fracture: Open Your Eyes

I'm hovering above the burning capital of the Sakura Empire. Alpha is beside me and alongside her a few other SIRENS. Below us, the fleet continues the bombardment of all land infrastructure as civilians and military alike flee inland in terror. As I watch their bodies burn my conscience screams at me to feel something, anything, but there are no emotions. I feel nothing for these people. They attacked me and as a result, they will all pay!

????: [Zhejiang!]

What's that voice? Who's calling me?

Enterprise: [Zhejiang! Can you hear me? Please...]

Spinning around, I search for the source of the voice but there's nothing there. Turning around, however, the world vanishes before my very eyes and I suddenly find myself falling into an abyss. WHat's going on?

Jiangsu: [Sis! What happened to her?]

Enterprise: [I don't know! She just fell...]

Their voices fade away into the darkness that now surrounds me but still, I keep falling. I flail aimlessly, trying to grab ahold of something, anything, but there's nothing there. I'm truly all alone. 

????: You've never been alone.

Me: Who's there?

Rather than receive an answer, a bright light engulfs me and when it clears I find myself standing in Dragon Empery. Before me, the city we had built lies in ruins. Dead bodies litter the ground everywhere. As I walk through the rubble, tears in my eyes, a hand grabs on to my ankle. Looking down reveals a small human, half-burnt to a crip. I can't tell whether the person's a boy or a girl or even if they are an adult or a child. So badly disfigured are they that it takes my imagination just to accept that they were in fact human, to begin with.

????: Help us...

The hand crumbles into ash that gets quickly blown away by the wind. Tracing it through the air I soon find myself face to face with Enterprise but her eyes are different and her hand's glowing. Still, I can't help myself and break into a run towards her but her eyes show no hint of recognition as she raises her hand towards me.

Enterprise: Die!

A bolt of light leaves her hand and pierces my heart. My body alights with pain as I fall to my knees clutching my chest. It feels as though she's ripped my heart in two and yet, I'm not dying. As I collapse onto my side, there's no blood, only pain. So much pain...

Me: Why?

I find myself surrounded by darkness once more. This time, I am on a solid surface and the pain has subsided but tears pour forth from my eyes. I try stopping them but nothing I try works. On my fourth attempt, however, a spot a few meters away from me is suddenly lit. There in the spotlight lies a body and a cap marked Jiangsu.

Me: No...

Running towards the body, I feel the tears come down even faster but don't pay them any mind. Despite moving forward, however, it's as though the harder I try to reach the body, the further it gets. 

Collapsing to the floor, I plant my face in my palms and let out all my sorrow. Tears, already running freely, now come gushing forwards like a river. So much comes that I soon find myself floating in my own tears. Realising that there's no hope, I stop struggling against my fate and slowly begin sinking beneath the water but the drowning sensation never comes. Instead, I am able to breathe as though the water was never there.

????: Do you love her?

Looking up, I see Enterprise's face displayed on a hologram before me. Reaching forward, I try touching her cheeks but my hand merely slips through. 

????: Well? Do you?

Me: Yes...

????: Then go to her.

I'm surrounded by darkness once more. This time, I'm floating in what seems like a vacuum as there's nothing. I'm not falling, I don't feel the wind rushing by me or water against my skin. I'm not on solid ground or even floating amongst the clouds. Wherever I am, there's nothing else here with me. 

Enterprise: Vestal! Hurry! She's not responding!

Vestal: What happened?

All: We don't know!

Reaching towards the voices, they grow louder and louder and it's not long before I feel a tug on my body. It starts off light but grows stronger as the voices grow louder. Feeling some level of hope, I shout, trying to communicate with them but they don't seem to be able to hear me. I can't see them but it sounds like they can...

????: System Upgrades Complete. Simulations Complete. Diagnostic Examination Complete. All Systems Fully Operational. Standby...

Before I can fully process what's said, my body lurches forward towards a light that appears out of the blue close by and before I can tell what's happening, my vision goes white before being slowly replaced with moving clouds and the sky.

Pain rips through my body causing me to lurch but it leaves almost as quickly as it came. Still, the sharpness of it causes my body to lurch to the side and that's all it takes for me to find myself falling towards the ground.

Reflexively, my hands go forward just in time to prevent my face from hitting the ground but they do nothing for my knees and feet that slam into the pavement at what feels like terminal velocity. They instantly go numb with pain as I clench my fists and bite my lips to muffle the scream trying to force its way out. 

Enterprise: You're awake!

I barely manage to turn and notice that Enterprise is indeed beside me before her hands are wrapped around me, pulling me close. As I look over her shoulder, I notice that I fell off some sort of stretcher and that there's a large crowd gathered but I have no idea what happened. 

George: You gave us all quite a scare. It's good to have you back with us.

What's going on? Why is everyone being nice? How's George even...

My thoughts get interrupted as Jiangsu forces her ay between us, clutching onto my still limp form as a lifeline, tears spilling down her cheeks. She's mentioning something about me never leaving her like that again but I'm so confused I barely register the words she's saying let alone interpret them in any meaningful way.

Me: W-what's going on?