The Ascendants

Chapter 7

A door burst open, and the pod was filled with a pink neon light. Seraphina covered her eyes, then lowered her hand so they could adjust. She had landed in an empty alley way, with no idea where or who she was. It was dark, except for the brightly colored shops across the street. Seraphina unbuckled herself from her chair and stood up . She stumbled into the alley, and jumped when she heard a loud BANG. It was just a small creature that had climbed atop a garbage can. Its yellow eyes glowed in the dark, and it wagged its tail, it then licked its chops and started to eat some of the garbage.

Seraphina looked away and walked to the edge of the street. A few cars bustled past, making some trash on the street fly through the air. She picked up a page of an article and read the it. She could read the language fluently, "Colonra Fastiviali" Color Festival, seeing how everything was lit up this planet cherished colors. Seraphina was lost in the middle of the city with no clue of where she needed to go, or what she needed to do. She glanced back at the pod in the alley, which stood cold and vacant, like a solemn reminder of where she could have come from. She started to walk down the sidewalk, no one was outside, no one was there to help. A few minutes later she heard a door creak open, and a loud thud of metal.

She peaked her head around a corner. Someone was facing away from her, taking out the trash. Seraphina sneaked over to the shop's window and read it. The store sold some kind of humanoid-looking machines. Seraphina looked back in the alley, but the person was gone. Somebody behind her cleared their throat, which made Seraphina jump. She swiveled around to look at the person. A tall girl stood there, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Her shirt was filthy, covered in splotches of grease and oil, and her work boots were ripped. Her dark hair was pulled up out of her face, and her dark eyes never once blinked.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her tone was cold, she was very intimidating.

"Do you know where I am?" Seraphina answered with a question, crossing her arms and staring right back.

"Is that a joke?" The girl stepped closer and looked Seraphina up and down. She examined Seraphina's blue skin, the way her head peaked in the back and the divots it had. "Never seen one of you before, so I guess you're a little lost. Where'd you come from?"

"A pod down the street." Seraphina replied.

"Funny." The girl still stared at her, Seraphina kept a straight face."If that's true then show me."

"With pleasure." Seraphina headed back the way she came. They quickly made it back to the alley, and she motioned to the small capsule that she had arrived in. The girl cursed, and stepped towards the pod. She placed her hand on it and glanced back at Seraphina.

"Yeah, you're definitely not from here, girl. But I know where you need to go."