Silver Lines (Sky Forever Volume 2)

Chapter 1: One Year Later

I walked up the road, the bag of potatoes thumping against my leg with each step. When I reached the house, the door was open and the smell of gravy collided with my nose.

"Smells good!" I called, as I stepped inside.

Amber poked her head around the kitchen door.

"Have you got the potatoes?" She asked.

I held up the bag. She took it and carried it into the kitchen.

"It's about time!" Amber said, as I hung up my jacket and slipped off my boots.

"I got caught up with Old Mrs Penny again." I told her, "She never stops talking, that woman."

I walked through to the living room and lit the fire. Summer was ending and it was starting to get cold.

A year had passed since the battle at the City of Ashes and Gold and Amber and I were now living in Archery City, happily engaged. I had proposed to her a few months after the battle. However, we hadn't set a date for the wedding yet.

"Good outing?" Came a voice from the corner of the room.

I jumped, startled, and looked up from the fire to see Lonely Soul standing there.

"Yeah, it was alright, thanks." I answered, "You have to give me more warning when you appear like that."

Lonely Soul, the ghost we'd found in the engine of the System Uncontrollable, visited the house often. Obviously, being a ghost, he wasn't really tied down anywhere and could pretty much do what he liked.

"Sorry..." He said, "Old habits die hard. I used to scare people for fun. Still do sometimes."

A few moments later, Amber wandered through the door carrying two steaming bowls of beef and potato soup. I eagerly took one and sat down on the crimson sofa that was opposite the fire. Amber joined me.

"I always feel bad eating in front of you, Lonely." She said, looking at the ghost, "Do you ever get hungry?"

"Never." Lonely Soul replied, sitting on the armchair by the wall.

 "Well, that makes me feel a little better." Amber said, digging the spoon into her soup.

Archery City was a wonderful place. The people were nice, the streets were clean, and the food was cheap. It was also close to the Madwoods, where I would often go and practice my archery skills. I had also managed to acquire a job at the marketplace in the square. I had a stall selling the vegetables that we grew in our garden. All in all, it was a good life.

That night, I went to bed early. I had to be up at 6 o'clock the next morning to set up the stall.

When I slept, I would often have the same dream that I used to have on the System Uncontrollable, about Jasper falling from the balcony. I remembered what he'd said about me dreaming the future, but all I seemed to dream recently was the past.

As I fell asleep, the dream started as normal, with me looking down on Homunculus as he hung on for his life. The wind would blow and he would try and grab me. Then I would dodge and stomp on his other hand. He would then fall to his death.

However, tonight, before he tried to grab me, he said something. I couldn't hear it above the wind and so, I thought nothing of it. The dream carried on as normal.

A couple of nights later, it happened again. This time I heard it.

"Your father's alive, Jared." Homunculus said, "Your father's alive!"

Then Jasper's face contorted and dissolved into snow. The same happened for the tower around me and I was suddenly in a blizzard. A huge monster with a thousand eyes towered over me. I heard shouts from somewhere, but they were incomprehensible.

I woke up, gasping and sweating. This woke Amber up too.

"You okay?" She asked, laying a hand on my arm.

I stared at nothing for a moment, but then I turned and looked down at her.

"I have to find my father."