Gazing at the red dome, seeming as if time had slowed down, Cetas pondered and let his mind race.
When we first arrived at Seyil, we came from the mountain - a place where we can oversee the entire area. Although this town may seem small, it is quite rowdy in its commercial districts. The streets were quiet and there seemed to be a dangerous presence hiding beyond the gaping eyes of the darkened windows.
However!
That dome! That has never been there before. I remember gazing at the entire landscape, cherishing my first experience of my very first human settlement. Yet, in my collective memories, I recall no such object existing.
This can only be caused by a single possibility!
Before Cetas could finalize his thoughts, his body suddenly shuddered due to the sight of a familiar object near the dome.
A small cream grain-like substance appeared!
Cetas' eyes widened and suddenly time seemed to have turned normal once more. His momentum from his leap stopped, and he began to fall at rapid speeds.
The air below was pushed to the side, hoping to brace Cetas' impact and absorb his friction. Yet, the air is no match for Cetas' volume.
He was doomed to fall.
Cetas plummeted down, he maneuvered in the air and tried to lessen the damage by falling feet first in the ground.
In an instant, he fell down to the ground, prepared to experience immense pain.
Yet that pain never came.
Forming a deep crack, dust clouds flew up and covered his entire body.
As the cloud dissipated, Cetas' mouth went agape!
He saw his legs fractured and disfigured, blood covered the cobble path and his bones stuck out from within his flesh. Furthermore, onyx-scales scattered a few meters away from him, looking unbattered and still pristine.
Before his mind could even register the horrifying sight though, his bones and flesh started reconnecting immediately. A green pulsating light came from above and filled his leg with a soothing feeling.
A warm and grand sensation that made his pores feel all giddy.
Then, the green light vanished but his flesh continued to regenerate. Now that the light was gone, Cetas felt the soothness no longer.
Instead, it was replaced by an excruciating pain of regrowth.
It is only natural for one to feel hurt when their cells and tissues reconnect. The part where the fracture had been, swelled and felt as if it were burning.
Cetas gritted his teeth.
"Krgngh!"
From the dust clouds, a bald and dark-skinned man emerged. He then carried Cetas with his two arms, and leaped into the air.
Hearing the sounds of boots colliding with bricks, Cetas knew that he was in safe hands.
Jones the Doctor acted quickly and healed his fracture almost instantly.
Similarly, Cetas noticed that the Doctor is particularly quick in his judgments. He boosted Reid immediately when the individual possessing a red-dagger came, and now.. he healed Cetas immediately upon his impact on the ground.
Cetas came to his senses, parting his lips and expressing his gratitude for Jones, "Tha..nk.. you.."
Jones looked at his leg intentively, seeing as it was reconnecting from its teared tissues.
"Please do lessen your words, if possible then say words no longer. Your body needs focus and your utmost energy."
Cetas nodded and closed his eyes.
He wanted to fall asleep but he chose not to, he didn't want to rest now especially since he feels that there is something amiss with the red dome.
He needed to relay this information somehow yet his speech had been rendered useless as of currently.
So, he needed to wait until he could recuperate.
He heard blades clashing and thunderclap-like shockwaves in the distance. Slashes upon slashes resounded in the empty streets near the docks of Seyil. In the far horizon, large splashes of water and steel blows reverberate through his body, making his skin crawl.
He heard metal clashing upon one another.
He heard flesh pounding against alloyed steel.
He heard flesh being sliced clean.
He heard a large burst of energy stepping on the ground and leaping quickly.
Then..
Suddenly..
There was nothing.
As if the entire world itself went silent.
Cetas was quite perplexed. Naturally, he opened his eyes only to see that he was still in the same scenario.
Only that the sound was gone and the world had become frigidly silent.
His vision blurred, struggling to focus on the light received by his eyes.
Jones looked distorted and different. Elishia was no different, her face hazy and foggy. Cetas could only Jones' dark skin and Elishia' auburn hair.
He struggled to focus his sight.
Is this the repercussions of regeneration?
Perhaps so..
Yet the answer lay in front of him, beholden by its mundane appearance.
A simple pale cream dot the size of a grain revealed itself in Cetas' vision.
The world itself seemed blurry, however, this pale dot looked as clear as day!
It looked like it needed to communicate to Cetas, as if it were trying to tell him about something. In his mind, Cetas could comprehend the wordless message of the pale dot.
His eyes drooped.
I have to go.
Immediately, he stood up with the support of his arms and jumped down the brick roof.
Upon landing, it hurted like hell.
Cetas could not do anything but grit his teeth at the pain. He didn't look back because if he did, he knew that he'd see Jones screaming at him to get back.
With his partially rejuvenated legs, Cetas began to run.
Heading straight towards the red dome..
In front of him, a pale cream dot guided his way. It moved ever-so slightly as to avoid any obstacles that may come across his bleary eyes.
Cetas ran.
Then he ran.
Never stopping even with the pain of his legs.
Never stopping with the fractures of his bones.
Never stopping with blood seeping out of his tendons.
He just.. continued.
Following the pale cream dot and trusting it with all his heart.
He dodged debris. He crossed the town square. He felt the gazes of the people loom over him. He dodged the people's statures. He ignored all qualms and concerns for his broken leg.
He persevered.
He was determined to do something.
And he trusted his gut - his instincts.
If he fails here then he would've acted for naught.
Yet, something swelled in his heart.
Something that told him that if he didn't run now, then he would regret it later.
It's like a buried past - a trauma or a guilt.
Something connected deep within his past compelled him to run now!
He ran for 5 whole minutes, crossing the entire town from one side to another until the red dome was on sight.
And the dome was in front of him!
It was only a couple of meters away!
And yet.. the pale cream dot went around it.
Cetas didn't doubt the peculiarity of the grain-like dot. He followed it like a dog and continued even with pain rising up his thighs.
Until it traversed halfway around the dome. Cetas reached the lifeless streets once more. He felt gazes swipe upon him, hiding a deep malice from within.
He saw red gazes within his blurry eyes.
But he ignored them and continued to run.
He followed the pale cream dot, going around corners and edges, climbing boxes if he needed and pacing endlessly within the maze of the uncanny streets.
The red dome behind him became smaller, vanishing under the concept of distance.
Now, he had reached a 10 minute threshold of non-stop sprinting. With that, the pale cream dot suddenly stopped in the middle of a dead-end in the eerie streets!
Cetas stopped with the pale cream dot and in doing so, he crumbled and felt weakness wash over his body.
His leg procured an agonizing pain throughout his mind and body. His brain screamed along with his throat, eventually drying its moistness and turning his voice husk.
Cetas lay on the ground and hugged himself to endure the pain.
A minute had passed yet it felt like a long eternal minute.
The pain never dissipated but Cetas knew not to stay around and do nothing. He opened his eyes slowly, his vision still casted in a foggy state.
Then.. in front of him laid a familiar object.
A gun with a cannon sized-barrel.
That was all he needed to know.
He took all of his energy and reached forward, grabbing the gun with a cannon-sized barrel with his right hand.
He slowly stood himself up while enduring tormenting pain. Within seconds, he was standing in a slouched manner with a gun in his right hand.
It felt heavy.
Oh, so heavy.
Yet, Cetas extended his right arm forward and instinctively aimed at the red dome.
Putting his finger on the trigger, Cetas felt clouds and winds gathering inside the cannon-sized barrel.
He was familiar with Skadi's green lightning.
However, what appeared inside the barrel was something truly different.
Rain droplets, condensation, and...
Water..
The liquid inside compressed itself into a centimeter-wide bullet, pulsating with immense pressure.
Then.. Cetas pulled the trigger.
Faster than the blink of an eye, the droplet bursted towards the red dome.
On impact, the bullet exploded into litres of water!
As if the rain had come, it flowed down the dome of red and formed a hole on its topmost layer - at the center!
Instantly!
The gun on Cetas' right arm flowed away from him, it was as if it were pulled away by something.. or someone!
It flew as fast as the winds, going towards the hole at the top of the red dome.
Cetas fell over on his buttocks, his two arms supporting his body from truly falling down the cold pavement.
He didn't know how long it took for the gun to reach the red dome in the horizon but it didn't matter.
He already knew what was happening..
"She's here.."
Suddenly, a rapid blistering green lightning cracked from inside the dome and instantly shattered the clouds above.
From within that lightning, a figure appeared.
Covered by green winds and lucent rays of green light, Skadi emerged from the dome.