Zene Oneshots

Sky Fall

The world was always colorless.

White clouds against a black sky, dull landscapes and villages. There was never any smell, never any music or sound. No warmth or cold, no weather. None of that. No special events or occasions, no family reunions or birthdays. There was hardly even any memory that those things existed in the world they were cut off from.

Gene sat down on the dull, white grass as he stared at the black pond before him. As usual, he couldn't see anything of a reflection staring back at him. He always tried, hoping that someday things would change. But he was losing hope, just like all his friends and family members had.

A small buzz went off in his ear. Gene ignored it at first, thinking that it was just another one of the sounds that the "Guardians" sent out. The wave that went through their ears cut off any trail of current thoughts, and made it so they couldn't pick up anything other than the words being spoken from other people. But then it got louder, and louder, until it became a repeated and tormenting ringing. It actually reminded Gene of what he had been told was an alarm clock, or something like that.

Looking up, Gene saw something that made him question the world.

The sky was breaking.

White cracks appeared along the black coat of the sky, before it exploded into a shower of black glass shards. Blinding light poured through the now open patch of the sky, and Gene could have sworn for a moment he saw the sky a different color. A large rock was falling through the open patch of the sky, a trail of fire behind it.

"What the...!?" Gene gasped in an exhale of breath, his eyes widening as the rock made impact with the ground.

The speakers that were pinned up in just about every corner of the town turned on, the loud crackling sound hurting his ears a bit, followed by the feminine voice of an audio recording.

ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS. GET INSIDE THE NEAREST BUILDING. LEAVE YOUR BICYCLES IN THE STREET AND DO NOT LEAVE THE BUILDING UNTIL INSTRUCTED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

Gene stayed still as he heard the speakers turn off, that annoying crackling sound returning. He heard the bicycles hitting the street as people hurried to get inside, just as they were instructed to. Gene had always been a law-abiding citizen, following the example of his mother, and setting one for his younger brother. He should have been running with the others to get inside. He should have been looking for his brother in the crowd.

But he wasn't.

He couldn't.

Something about that rock... made him feel a spark inside. He would have to remember to share it with his mother and younger brother at dinnertime.

He looked down at his feet to make sure the laces on his outdoor shoes were tied, before he ran towards the agricultural fields. That was where the rock had landed. He heard someone yell out his name behind him-- maybe Dante, maybe Zenix or Sasha-- but he didn't look back.

It was when he stepped onto the fertile soil of the agricultural fields that he knew, once the Guardians found him, there would be no sharing anything with his friends or family.

Ever again.

~~~~

When he got to the smoking pit in the fields, he realized it wasn't a rock he had seen.

A body layed on the ground, pale and unmoving. Gene couldn't even tell if he was breathing. His face was covered by dirt and smeared over one cheek by mud. Gene had to reach down and scrap off a chunk of it with his hand just to see the freckles that dotted his face. Black hair was on top of his head, covering one of his eyes. Gene carefully reached over and moved some of the hair out of the way, only to gasp at what he saw. Seams were woven in and out of the eyelids, keeping them closed together so the eye would never open. His lips were a bit bloody and chapped, some of the skin having peeled off. He looked a lot skinnier than anyone Gene had ever seen, which was... troubling.

"Gene Alejandro Charleston." A strict, cold voice said from somewhere behind him. "You were told to get inside."

Gene looked behind him, and saw the commander of the defenses standing there. A handful of his best soldiers were with him, all dressed in their shiny black outfits and holding those long things with triggers.

"I apologize for not being indoors." Gene said the correct apology, not getting up from the ground.

"I accept your apology." The commander responded, not sounding to sincere with his acceptance.

"Where did he come from?" Gene asked, looking back at the boy who had, literally, fallen from the sky. "Why did the sky break open like that?"

"I guess it's too late to make you forget." The commander sighed with a groan. "There is someone who wants to destroy our world. They send people who have the exact opposite of what we do in here, trying to make us remember everything we are safe from."

"Does he have a name?" He asked, before realizing what a stupid question that must have been.

"Zane." The commander responded.

"Zane..." Gene repeated, his voice soft as he looked down at Zane's face.

He reached over with one hand and moved some of his black hair behind his ear, smiling a bit as he saw more of the freckles. He froze, however, when he saw movement.

Zane's eye had opened.