Eternity's Eclipse

Chapter 3

    I don't remember waking up, or getting dressed, or walking all the way to the Commission Board, but apparently I must've done all of that, because I'm currently standing among the excessively large crowd of people. Some who'd put their name in the box yesterday, and are now eagerly waiting to see if their applications were chosen to go on the quest, and some who'd simply shown up out of a lack of better entertainment. I'm certainly not judging the latter. There's nothing to do in this city anymore, especially not when so many places have temporarily shut down to the unnatural and never before seen phenomenon of the daylight complete disappearing for...what was it, 8 days now? 9? Something like that. The former however...they look far too excited. Some seem nervous, others thrilled. I don't understand either. It's not that big of a deal to me. Either I'm chosen, or I'm not. No sense worrying about it if it probably won't happen...there's even more people than I remember here. I'm one person out of several thousand. There's no way I get chosen....right?

I glance over at Sachie, who's standing next to me and clinging to my hand with her own, as one of the 7 members of the Council steps up onto the pedestal by the Commission Board. I actually don't recognize this person. I don't recognize any of the Council members, to be honest. I don't particularly like them. They all wear the same basic, black, 3 piece suits. They all talk in the exact same way, do their makeup in the same way, and pretty much think in the same way too. I find them infuriating. Whoever this person is, they clear their throat and begin reading off an obviously scripted speech that I'm sure they've barely memorized before this. I roll my eyes and just glance around the crowd, trying to tune them out. I only zone back into the conversation when they start listing off the members the Council has selected for the quest.

"And with that...we will now begin the selection! First..." They say, "Verity Ember." A young girl, probably a few years older than myself, runs onto the platform and stands facing the crowd. She has deep, black hair in two low pigtails that looks neatly brushed. Her outfit isn't anything interesting, just a simple loose, black dress with dull pink ribbons. The only notable thing about her appearance is the two, light-brown mushrooms with plain red caps growing from her head. I'm not exactly sure what species she is, probably some form of mushroom or plant manifestation, if I had to guess. She's a fairly well-known member of the Alliance. I've heard her name in passing conversation around the city before. She's not particularity talented in combat, from what I've heard. She's known for her skills in healing, medicines, and working with plants, as well as her general knowledge of this world. I guess that would make sense for a quest like this, though. I doubt this whole quest would be as easy as just killing something and coming back to collect our money. That'd be too easy.

"Next," The Council's announcer continues, "Ayako Kasumi." Another girl about our age walks onto the stage. She stands at a few inches above Verity, as they stand next to each other. She has loose, wavy, platinum blonde hair hanging at waist level. She's wearing a somewhat modified version of our city's law enforcement uniform, with thigh-high black socks and black shorts held together with some kind of metal laces pinning her socks up. She has a white tie that contrasts the dark colors of the rest of her clothes that hangs freely around her neck, instead of being nearly folded and pinned to her shirt. She wears a large black hat with some form of logo on it that I don't recognize, printed in white. I've never seen her face nor heard her name before, but she just looks qualified. Her body is visibly toned, perfectly suited to the hard physical work I'd imagine being involved with one of these quests. She also seems to simply exude an aura of confidence that says she knows what she's doing, despite having done nothing to prove this.

"Sachie Mari." The announcer says, adding another name to the list. Sachie reluctantly releases her grip on my hand and walks onto the pedestal. She looks amazing up there, her soft, light blue hair reflecting the light like the undisturbed surface of a lake hidden in a clearing. She takes her place in the line, to the left of Ayako. She looks perfectly at home there, perfectly falling into sync with the other two on the pedestal, as if she had always been there, always belonged among them. She smiles down at me from the pedestal, flashing her sharply pointed, white teeth at me. I awkwardly wave at her, my hands visibly shaking. I can see a lot of people muttering under their breath, quietly praying for their names to be called next. I'm not sure whether to join them or instead pray my name did not make the list.

"Kaori Serenity." The announcer states. Another girl, again seemingly close to the age of the rest, takes her place on the stage. She stands next to Sachie, uncomfortably fidgeting with one of the vines growing out of her head amongst her neatly brushed black hair. She has two lopsided, spiky hair buns, that look messy in an intentional way. She wears a semi-tight dress that clings to her body in some places but nearly looks like it's falling off in others. She has translucent, black-tinted tights on her legs, and matching translucent arm warmers of some kind, all torn in a few places where little off-white flowers are growing from her skin in a few places. She looks elegant and well-put together, but not particularly strong. She glances around the crowd. For a second, we make eye contact, and I try to figure out what thoughts are behind those pretty, deep black eyes of hers. I can't seem to get any hint of emotion off of her, though. She seems eerily calm.

"Kazue Etsuko." The announcer says. I awkwardly glance around, waiting for the next person to go onto the platform. Nobody moves. For a moment, the entire city is silent, frozen still in anticipation. A couple people start looking around, seemingly looking for whoever the announcer called.

"ahem!" The announcer continues, "Kazue Etsuko." I suddenly freeze, just staring at them in shock. That's...my name. I must've missed it the first time, because I was too absorbed in my staring at the other people on the stage. I quickly run up the stairs, onto the platform, feeling my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. I feel my face heating up in shame as I silently take my place next to Kaori, trying to stare down into the crowd with the kind of confidence I'm expected to have.

The announcer rolls their eyes and continues speaking, "And with that...we have every member of our quest here!" The announcer turns to face us, "The five of you will be leaving as soon as possible. We sincerely hope you're ready..." The announcer then proceeds to give us a detailed explanation of how the quest will begin, what we'll most likely be doing, and what compensation we'll be receiving should we succeed. They excuse us to go to the harbor and find the ship numbered 667 that will take us down to the mainland.

Everyone else begins walking off the stage in a single-file line, down the other set of stairs. We all walk down to the harbor, looking for the ship. Everyone is anxiously fidgeting with a piece of their clothing, or their hair, or their bags. Nobody can really stand still right now. We all walk in an uncomfortable silence until we reach the harbor. Nobody really knows what to say.

Ayako is the first to speak up. "So...I guess we'll be stuck together for the next couple months, at least, huh?" She starts, "Guess that means we'll have to get along, right?" Her platinum-blonde hair flows beautifully in the wind by the harbor. I stare at her, almost in a trance.

"um...y-yeah, I guess we will." Verity says, almost talking under her breath. Nobody else knows where to continue the conversation from there, so we all just remain silent. We continue to walk in this awkward silence, only occasionally broken by one of us asking whether we have the right ship number or trying to politely make the vendors offering us their products at a price that should be considered a scam go away.

"