Chappter 1 Draft

Chapter 1: Cruel Reality

          It's always that same dream he awakens from. That dream of fire and destruction. Destruction of the city. His city. His home.
          Every time he'd awake from that dream, he was always in a cold sweat. The dream would be so vivid that it was an actual tragic memory. A sad memory that haunts him. Trapping him in endless torment. A torment he's unable to run from for eternity.
          It's not real. None of it is. It's all in your head. Ezekiel thought to himself as he covered his face with the cotton sheets he so dearly loved. He slowly rose and uncovered his face to see a bright room that was always there, always has been.
          He knew it was almost afternoon due to the amount of sunlight, which blinded him each day he awoke, that pierced through his window. Scorching his room as if it were a wildfire. It was burning his skin. A familiar feeling. A feeling that seemed unreachable. A distant memory, something his mind probably forced himself to forget.
          Fire, he thought. He shook his head to forget the dream. It was stupid. Nothing but a waste of his mind to hallucinate it all.
          "WAKE UP, EZEKIEL," a voice thundered into his room. It echoed all around and almost shook everything. Ezekiel even thought some things were swirling around and moving unnaturally as if he was still in a dream. He slapped his face and repeated what the voice had said.
          Ezekiel got out of bed and quickly put on a shirt and pants. The kingdom had been feeling as if it was engulfed in flames for three years now, so Ezekiel opted to sleep nude.
          Ezekiel quickly got dressed and went over to the door. Touching the searing hot doorknob. As soon as he grasped the knob, the pain of the burn traveled up through his wrist as he heard a loud boom outside his window. Shit... are we under attack?
          Ezekiel flung open the door, blazed through the hall, and stormed down the stairs, ready to fight whatever bandits or nation were attacking.
          His eyes were blinded again as he instinctively raised his hands to shield himself from the light. Scorching heat was pulsing from it, and Ezekiel felt as if it were melting his skin. The heat from a bright blazing fire that consumed everything in its path.
          Ezekiel lowered his hands into fists at his sides - ready to fight the enemies and save anyone from the raging fire that threatened to kill. But, it was not needed.
          "Oh, you're finally awake! Huh, Ezekiel? You're always sleeping in. daydreaming until something finally snaps you out of it!" His aunt yelled out while holding a pan covered with flames. She placed down the pan, putting out the fire. She looked down on the poor eggs she had been cooking for her customers. She knew they were a waste now after being blackened by the fire. She grabbed the pan, threw out the eggs, and ordered a little boy behind her to get more eggs. The boy eagerly looked up with his sky-blue eyes. He nodded after understanding his order.
          Ezekiel sighed in relief. The boy got ready for his sprint. He knelt down, looking up. Ezekiel saw a glisten in his eyes as the boy set off sprinting. His luscious blonde hair flowed behind him, looking as if it was like liquid lightning. Ezekiel reached out to pat the little boy's head as he ran by. He felt nothing--just wind.
          Remmy sure is a speedy kid, chuckling to himself as he thought Remmy was constantly speeding through the diner.
          He looked around the diner. Somewhat full. He's seen this place packed full many times, but it's been dying out lately due to the immense heat surge during the past few years.
          The diner had six little booths where people could eat. They were portioned to be three on the right of the main door and three on the left. The right side of the door opened up to another little section where people could eat by a giant window and see the daily lives of people in the kingdom.
          He remembered when drunkards would sit in the back, avoiding his aunt and trying not to get kicked out. That always annoyed him. He could get the best view of the lively kingdom from there, but they always stole his seat. Seeing the city at its busiest and being able to drift off in his head was his favorite thing.
          On the left side, past the three booths, a little hall led to the bathroom and upstairs where Ezekiel, his aunt, and Remmy lived. The little area where his aunt would cook took up most of the room. She had everything she needed contained within the space. She had pots, pans, plates, and anything else to cook for her customers. She even had a little device called a radio. She had bought it off a merchant who had brought it down when he traveled to Jannat, the nation of Paradise.
          Ezekiel looked around; he always thought of the whole diner as a corridor of hell. At night, the diner seemed to get particularly cramped, much to the dismay of Ezekiel and his aversion to small spaces.
          "What would you like, Zeke?" his aunt called out, snapping him back to reality.
          Ezekiel rubbed his eyes. Still tired from his long dream. Everything started to swirl again. I shouldn't do that anymore, he told himself.
          "Jeez, you're always zoning out! Daydreaming all the time and never listening; It can be really annoying to get your attention. Now wake up and tell me what ya want, hun."
          "Just bacon and eggs, like usual." he sighed while looking around the semi-full diner again.
          His aunt gave him a deathly stare as Ezekiel knew he had to tell Remmy to get the eggs if he wanted them. Ezekiel smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't kick him out and make him do her chores.
          He sat down on the stool next to him, remembering when he was a kid; he always wanted to sit there but was too little to reach the top.
          After dark, this diner becomes the city's best pub. So, the stools always belonged to the adults. He would always sit by the windows on his small throne. Wishing to, one day, grow taller and climb up to the greater throne. But, now that he's older, he always sits here - on these lofty standing thrones. They weren't as great as he thought they would be; they offered no power as he thought they would.
          The people who sat here would get to watch the television. It's another unique device from Jannat; though it was much more popular, many people had it as it was deemed necessary to social life.
          It always seemed off. Jannat was this peaceful nation that thrived on the technology of the olden world, far more advanced than any of the other four nations. However, they rarely shared their ways or technology with the rest of the world as we were still in the "Middle ages of humanity" and had to evolve like our ancestors of the Old World.
          However, they got to keep the tech because the two royal families that ruled over the world deemed themselves the protectors of the Umbras and this world that they created, giving themselves the privileges of the Old Word's technology.
          Protectors, my ass, Ezekiel thought, as the world was always full of chaos and suffering. Ezekiel shook his head not to get lost in his thoughts.
          "Oh, by the way, who was screaming for me to get up? And what was that loud noise from earlier?" he questioned his aunt, watching her as she cooked his meal. Then she paused, looked at him, and gave a concerned face.
          "What do you mean, hun? No one called for you to wake up. And what loud noise? Did ya mean me burning mah eggs and crying out my soul for them?" She questioned him as she quickly stopped her cooking. Looking lost as she knew no one called out for him.
          Ezekiel gave her a look, both of them now lost. She looked more confused than he did for some reason, but as quickly as she stopped her cooking, she resumed it right away. It was very off, almost not human. He chuckled at the thought of that; she was an odd person anyways.
          " yo-... re....il..dr...ing," a voice behind him attempted to speak to him.
          Ezekiel turned around quickly as his heart beated in his throat. It was just an old man with a cane. He was muttering stuff, but that voice couldn't have been his. Could it?
          He watched the old man stroll to the door. Open the door and walk away. He sort of faded away. Probably foggy out today. He shifted his focus slightly to the left and saw a person standing outside the diner's window. He was pounding on the door, but there was no noise or anything.
          Ezekiel slowly got up, grabbing the sword that was conveniently next to him. Then, he sauntered toward the person on the outside of the window. The little radio played a new song now.
          They continued slamming on the door but still made no noise. Was it an act or something else? He could only hear the song that danced across the room; it was his favorite. Both sides now, a piece of the Old World.
          Ezekiel glared at the person noticing his details even though he was at least 15 yards away. He could see the man had brown ash hair, eyes were misty blue. He had a battle axe sitting on the ground next to him. It was a mix of the colors of brass and copper. Two gems were embedded in the hilt near each side of the double-bladed battle axe.- an aqua blue sapphire gem and a blood-red ruby. The song played, and the beat thrummed through the diner's halls.
          Wait, how can I see his eye color and such details of the axe from here? Ezekiel thought to himself. No, it's not that I can see it all. I... I know the details.
          "Honey? Zeke, are you okay?" His aunt called out to him once again, snapping him back from his thoughts. He looked at her and quickly jerked his head back to the window. No one was there anymore, just people walking by. Regular castle folk, merchants, and day-to-day pedestrians keep the city busy.
          A black hooded man was standing in the middle of the street. He waved his hands through the air as if trying to conduct an orchestra - he was likely on some sort of drug.
          "That's the kind of person you want to stay away from, Remmy." Ezekiel turned around and returned to his seat., trying to forget what just happened. A bizarre start to the beginning of a long week ahead of him. However, he didn't know what was going to happen this week. Gosh, what kind of illness has me forgetting things like this?
          He looked around, and Remmy wasn't anywhere to be seen. Ezekiel was questioning why he said his name as if Remmy were next to him, listening. Kid's probably doing something stupid; he reasoned with himself -- as he wouldn't listen to his Aunt or parents whenever they told him to do something.
          His parents. Ezekiel paused at the thought of that but wasn't sure why. Once again, forgetting why things seem off to him.          
          Ezekiel, this time snapped himself back to reality, though now he was a bit annoyed. He was ravenous and tired of waiting for his eggs - feeling as though he had been starving for five days. Finally, a plate was placed in front of him, and eggs with bacon were placed on it. It depicted a little smiley face. He looked up to see the exact jolly face on his aunt's. The radio kept playing the song in a low, slow tune. A calm but haunting way. Definitely not how the music should be played.
          "How did you make the eggs that fast when Remmy wasn't even gone for a second? Did he even come back?" Ezekiel looked back to see if he had missed the quick little one, but he didn't find Remmy anywhere. He looked back, and he didn't get a response. Just a smile again, but this time it came coupled with a blank stare that had no soul in her eyes. He couldn't tell why, but she seemed off. His aunt dropped her smile, turned quickly, and resumed cooking. More eggs and bacon were on pans sizzling from the fire underneath them.
          Did they pop out of thin air, or did she never need the eggs? Just sending poor Remmy to keep him busy? He chuckled; she would do that to him, so why not poor little Remmy too?
          Ezekiel sat down. Looking at his delicious meal, he noticed it lacked any mouthwatering scent, however. He shrugged it off and began to eat his eggs and bacon. They tasted bland for some reason. No, not bland; they tasted like nothing. They lacked any taste or texture.
          Remmy came speeding back to the counter and jumped onto a stool next to Ezekiel, staring at Ezekiel as he ate his flavorless meal.
          "What's up, kiddo?" He spoke with his mouth full of food, pointing his fork at the scrawny boy, "you should eat to gain some weight. They need strong boys in the army ya know!"
          Remmy didn't pay any attention to Ezekiel. Remmy remarked about the song that played, saying it was stupid and meaningless. Ezekiel intervened with his opinion, stating that the music had a good meaning and that he was simply too young.
          "It's about clouds, love, and life; makes no sense," Remmy countered as he asked their aunt to turn it down and proceed to glare at the tv that portrayed a city on fire. Ezekiel gave his attention to the screen also.
          "War, such a cruel thing. Luckily we don't have to deal with that for now." Ezekiel placed his utensils down and mourned for the lost souls.
          "Not now, but we did in the past," Remmy spoke, jerking his head to Ezekiel, glaring into his eyes almost as if he was provoking him.
          "What do you mean by that?" Ezekiel leaned towards Remmy. Moluvia hadn't been at war for ages now.
          His aunt came between them, wearing her joyful smile, which quickly dropped to a scowl as she looked back at Remmy. "You're talking about the wrong time period, boy."
          Ezekiel was lost. At what they both were saying. He tried questioning them, but they paid no mind to him. What is going on today?
          His aunt pulled a plate out of nowhere and gave it to Remmy, beckoning him to eat his breakfast. "Now, keep quiet and talk about other things, boy!" She scolded the child.
          "Yes, ma'am." He bowed his little head and then began to chow down his food. As he took his first bite, he perked his head up and spoke with his mouth full of food, "Oh! Can we talk about the history of the world? They brought it up in school the other day."
         Ezekiel stopped eating his food and swallowed what was in his mouth. He turned to Remmy. "The world? You mean the old worlds and the Umbras?" Remmy shook his head.
          "Oh, here we go for a history lesson. It's common knowledge, boy! How have they not taught you sooner?" Their aunt teased them while cooking.
          "Well, you see, Remmy, our world was created by the Umbras. They are essentially the gods of our world, though this wasn't their only world!" Ezekiel spoke with excitement while eating the tasteless bacon.
          "The Old World, as we call it, was their first creation. Where humans lived on one piece of land that was divided into nine nations with Thirteen royal families ruling the lands. Eight nations were around one singular nation. The eight nations worshiped their own Umbras. Though two nations had two and one had three. Twelve Umbras in total."
          "But don't we have thirteen Umbras!?" Remmy jumped at this information.
          "We had thirteen," Ezekiel replied with a pointed look at Remmy, showing him his annoyance at being interrupted, and went on with his lesson. "These nations had multiple Umbras as those nations had much more land than the others and simply had more royal families to rule, but they didn't work together and were separate. I forgot to mention that each nation had one royal family representing their Umbras -except nations with multiple families, obviously."
          Their aunt walked by, remarking how boring and exhausting this was, especially for Remmy, who was getting a massive overload of information all at once.
          Ezekiel ignored her and continued with his history lesson as Remmy listened intently. "The 9th nation was in the middle, which served under the strongest Umbra. The 13th Umbra. Avon, the Umbra of the wind, and Skies. This nation had one royal family, which branched into three little sections; it oversaw the other nations and ensured each was in check. You know the royal families were the messengers of the Umbras and protected their people and lands?" Remmy shook his head once again.
          Ezekiel looked down at his half-full plate, pausing before continuing with what he was saying. He sighed, "The world was at peace for many centuries--a few wars here and there but not too major. As time passed, the people grew with advanced technology and grew apart from the Umbras and the royal families. This angered the Umbras as the humans forgot them and didn't care what they had done for them for so long. So they then gave powers to the royal families, magical powers, and came down to the world themselves. Together with the families, they brought upon a cruel judgment on those who had forgotten the old ways. Bringing the world to complete extinction."
          Remmy was astounded by all the information he had just learned. "What else happened, Zeke? What happened afterward?" He jumped with excitement in his seat.
          Ezekiel chuckled, trying to calm Remmy. Then, as he began to speak more of the world, his aunt came over and hushed them both. "That's enough information about our world's history for today."
          His aunt vexed Ezekiel for not letting him finish. "Well, he should know Angginaxus' full history! I should finish." Ezekiel shot back at her. She gave him a look; it was the same look she gave him every time she had had enough of his whining and didn't want to hear more.
          Ezekiel huffed angrily, looking back at Remmy. "Long story short, Umbras gave most humans magick powers; they appointed the royal families and made a world full of wars and hatred. The opposite of what they first created. I must add that 4 of the Umbras were not needed for this new world and simply vanished; no one knows for sure why. "
          Remmy smirked, and it sent a chill down Ezekiel's spine. "I know about the war and hatred part." He chuckled. "I mean, look at what happened to your city and us! I just felt like you needed a reminder as you keep forgetting easily."
         Ezekiel paused. Stared at him. Such a joyful smile, cloaked with a menacing aura. "What did you say?"
          His aunt came rushing to Remmy. "Boy! I told you to stay in this time period and not to mention anything!" She shouted at the boy.
          "Aunty, what does he mean?!" Ezekiel was furious as he was still lost. She gave him a look but said nothing. Went back to her cooking, like always. She finished up two dishes she had been making and walked past him.
          What is up with today? Am I going mad? Ezekiel was concerned about what was going on. His head began to hurt. He tried to forget everything so he wouldn't make himself stressed for no reason. After all, this could be a farce.
          The radio started to crackle, and it replayed the same song again. Odd.
          His head jerked to his aunt as she served the dishes to two men. They looked like soldiers.
          Did they fight for Moluvia? But they both wore weird clothing as if the kingdom had issued a new uniform after decades of the same ones. Though the uniform looked very familiar.
          "What army do you guys fight in?" Ezekiel questioned the two men.
          They looked back at him. Nothing. Blank stares. Blank, but horrified. They didn't say anything. They didn't move. They just sat there.
          Ezekiel's aunt put down a pot and faced him. "Why the same army as you!" She cheered. Ezekiel looked at her as if she had multiple heads.
          What army am I in? He hadn't joined the Moluvian army yet...
          Before he could say anything, there was another loud boom, just like the one from earlier when he woke up. No one was moving. No one reacted to it. He looked outside. The man with the axe reappeared and stood there staring at him. Mouthing something. He could make out the word "dream" but nothing else. He noticed the man in the black hood wasn't in the street anymore. No one was. As a matter of fact, no one else was in the diner anymore but them.
          There was no sign of any life in the diner, but his breathing and the song still seeped creepily into the lifeless diner. He was the only real thing there. No noise. It was all still. The outside world faded out. Finally, Ezekiel had enough of the farce being pulled on him. Slamming his hands on the counter and rising. Pissed at the joke that had gone too far. "Okay, enough of this shit!" He yelled out, voice cracking with a hint of it quavering.
          No one said anything. They all remained motionless like corpses in a coffin. Ezekiel's hands started to tremble. He was scared, but how could he not be? This was a very elaborate and eerie joke. He grabbed his right arm with his left, trying to get a hold of himself.
          He took a deep breath and slowly stepped away from his seat. His aunt, Remmy, and the two men traced his movement as if they were ghosts in a hall, watching life go on without them. Only their heads moved.
          " This isn't funny anymore! Come on, guys, stop it!" Ezekiel cried out, practically begging.
         The voice that woke him again roared, shaking everything violently. The dishes on the walls rattled off their holders, the pots full of boiling water threatened to spill, and the customers' meals crashed to the floor.
          He could only make out one word the voice was saying: "Hallucinating."
          Ezekiel covered his ears. Screaming "stop!" but the voice drowned out his pleas.
          Then it suddenly stopped; as suddenly as it had started, it all ceased. He slowly removed his hands from his ears. Dead silence again. No, he noticed something beyond the deafening silence; he could hear people screaming outside and gunshots. All the sounds of war. He tensed as he realized it wasn't from outside. It was coming from the radio. It had stopped playing its song and, instead, played the themes of war.
          He glanced to see his aunt standing next to someone. The figure looked familiar; it looked like someone he loved.
          "Mom?" Ezekiel asked the woman in the white dress, the same dress from the night of the great fire.
          He blinked his eyes in disbelief at what he was seeing. She was gone, vanishing into thin air. There stood his aunt only, as she wept quietly.
          Tears ran all over her face. "You need to let us go, honey." Then, wailing out, pain in her voice.
          Ezekiel realized this wasn't a prank or farce anymore. He shut his eyes. I'm in a dream. Once I open my eyes. I'll wake up from this nightmare and go back. I'll wake up from this hell.
          He flitted his eyes open. His aunt was covered in blood; most of her mouth was gone. The inside of her mouth was exposed. A flailing tongue and teeth that hung loosely were all on display. Blood slowly seeps out, staining her bright green dress a mahogany red. Her jaw bone was exposed from the inside, her bones making out the structure they formed. Her muscles moved as she tried to breathe, but it only caused her to cough out and discharge more crimson red blood out of her mouth. She tried to speak but could only attempt to form the words - her tongue wiggling around aimlessly with no jaw or mouth to help her communicate. She tried to take a breath but only choked on more blood, spatting it on the floor.
          Ezekiel couldn't look at her like that - dying and in pain. The two soldiers got up and turned to face him. He blinked again. They were decorated in bullet wounds and blood; so much blood. "Zeke, you need to let them go and help us" Their voices reverberated deeply, shaking the floors.
         "What do you want from me?" He cried out. "I don't even know you! What the hell is going on?" He demanded answers but was met with no replies.
          Then they all started screaming and talking at once. They were shrieking like banshees, shattering everything made of glass. The windows, plates, and family photos all burst into tiny pieces. This cacophony vibrated, rippling through the very air surrounding them. That damned voice echoed "dream" again. But it was coming from the little radio along with the continuing noises of a battle.
          The world started to quake again. More things began to plummet to the ground. Dirtied utensils left next to half-eaten plates, mugs filled with coffee or ale, and little stools all started crashing to the floor.
          Everything was getting louder, more hauntingly too.
         "Stop it!" Ezekiel shrieked, begging for this nightmare to end. It didn't relent. "Please just stop it" Ezekiel slowly knelt down on the floor, covering his body with his hands. Curling into a fetal position, wanting his mother to come to hold him tight, comfort him, and help him escape.
          The song belt out in glory. Rows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air, and feather canyons everywhere, looked at clouds that way...
          One of the soldiers' heads suddenly exploded. It was just like when Ezekiel and his friends smash watermelons in his backyard during the summertime, crushing the big fruit into millions of pieces.
          Blood splattered on his entire face. Ezekiel was panicking. His breathing became erratic. He jumped back from his position, staring at the many pieces of meat on the floor.
          A chunk of his ear there, a juicy slice of tongue next to him, Little mushes of his brain were on his cheeks, dripping down into his mouth. He tasted something this time.
          But now they only block the sun, they rain, and they snow on everyone...
          His aunt screamed blood murder, gurgling with sounds of blood that projected out of her trachea. Whatever was left of her mouth widened more. Blood drooled onto the counter, spilling like coffee; spreading out and staining all in its path.
          Her entire face then slowly sliced open. Her bright white teeth came out, falling out one by one. Blood flowed out slowly, like a red waterfall. Finally, one eye fell out, and her emptied socket was exposed to the world.
          More blood. The other eye fell out, and along with the bit of muscle that held it there, it dangled near her chin like it was an ornament.
          There was more blood till there was nothing but blood all over the place. Then, she dropped dead, lifelessly crashing onto the counter, bashing her remaining skull into more of a pile of meat compacted into a ball of brains, bones, and muscles.
          So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way... The song grew, chanting its tune.
          Remmy cried out in pain. His face began to melt. The ashes of a great fire charred his bones, hair, and muscles. Remmy reached out to Ezekiel for help from his horrifying death, as maybe he could be saved this time.
         Remmy's skin blackened. His face dripped onto the floor. Skin, blood, and muscles mixed into a mesh of goop that trickled onto the shiny stainless stools and the floors. His eyes dissolved inside his pockets. Oozing out like an exploded poached egg. He reached out for one last effort. He was reaching out as far as he could. He then succumbed to the pain, plunging to the ground. Dead.
         I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow...
          The other soldier lunged at Ezekiel. Begging him to save him.
          "I don't want to die. No please." He sobbed all over Ezekiel. Tears flowed like a waterfall, drenching Ezekiel's uniform he now wore; it was the same as the soldier's. "Mommy. Please. I wanted to be a good boy," The soldier teared up. His bullet wounds spewed out blood. Painting his navy blue outfit into a glossy maroon. The man screamed out more. Hysterically crying.
          His body shook with fear of dying. The soldier's face became pale. His hand was covered in blood. He reached out for Ezekiel's face. Touching him, they were freezing cold. The soldier's hand plopped on his chest. He was dead.
          "No... No, no, no! Please just make it stop." Ezekiel cried out for hope. "I want out of this hell." Tears ran down Ezekiel's face.
          The song finally died out. It's cloud illusions, I recall; I really don't know clouds at all.
          A hand grabbed him. He was violently turned. Ezekiel feared it would be his mom this time. He would have to see her scorched skin, charred to the bones. Her all-loving face would be gone, instead replaced with a demon's.
         He didn't open his eyes. Until he knew this nightmare was over. He didn't want to open them.
          Smack! A hand slapped his face from left to right. He faced the right now. Where his aunt's dead body was. He was scared to open his eyes, but he knew he would have to open them to end this nightmare.
          He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
          Nothing. Well, not nothing. But nothing from the diner was there. It was all rubble and ash. He wasn't inside anymore; he was outside in a ruined city. He looked around. There was ruin and ash everywhere. Dead, lifeless bodies plagued the grounds. Dead soldiers with many wounds and a few limbs missing perished horrible deaths and were laid on the battlefield. Dead civilians littered their neighborhood; most of them were in little packs holding one another; Protecting each other from the horrors of death.
          He saw people who were living, too, though. Soldiers in uniforms were fighting for their lives, using guns and even magick to save themselves from death. Gunshots rang out, their sounds piercing the sky and their soon-to-be-dead targets. People, most likely civilians, were running and screaming. All were trying to escape this nightmare. Ezekiel knew this feeling all too well, especially the sounds. Sounds of war.
          He was puzzled about what was happening; how did he even get here? He was at the diner just a second ago. He looked at where he got slapped from. It was a soldier with the same navy blue outfit as him and the other soldiers. The soldier looked horrified but pissed at the same time.
          He huffed, Kept huffing, in fact, and breathing in and out violently as they tried grasping for life in the air. Then they gave Ezekiel a death stare.
          "Zeke, come on, please snap out of it!" The soldier yelled at him in a high pitch that didn't fit the man.
          "Where, where's Remmy, my aunt? The diner? My mom..." Ezekiel, panicking, looked around, desperately trying to find what he had sought.
          The figure rushed up to Ezekiel and grabbed him on the neck of his uniform. "Zeke, for crying out loud! This needs to stop!" The soldier started to tear up. "They're all dead. Remmy and your aunt died long ago... and... your mom.." The man stopped.
          He took a deep breath. "She died during the siege of our capital city. After Moluvia fell."
          Ezekiel stared blankly at the soldier. Blankly like his Aunt and Remmy just did a few minutes ago, before he knew they were fake.
          "We've been in a battle for a week, trying to take back a village from the Voldornis! We haven't even eaten in 5 days! You're our leader in this fight! How can you lead us if you're not mentally here with us!!" The soldier screamed. His voice echoed. Giving away where they both were.
          The soldier hit Ezekiel in the face, crashing him to the ground. On a puddle of blood. The pool of blood came near him from a dead soldier. Not any soldier, though. It was the soldier who cried for his mother. His body was full of bullets, but his face had been scarred with a line seemingly from fire.
          Behind this deceased body was another. A body with its head missing but had chunks of it all around it. Ezekiel knew it was the soldier he saw at the diner.
          The living soldier in front of him cried out. Ezekiel didn't pay any attention to what they said. He was so lost in what was going on. Everything was all over the place. He looked at the soldier who stood tall, covering the sun--covering any rays of light except one tiny little ray that came from a building.
          Ezekiel stared at the ray of light behind the soldier and knew what it was. A sniper.
          A shot rang out. Everything went slow for Ezekiel. He watched a bullet approach them. First, it went for the soldier, colliding against the back of his head. Then, drilling out of the front, spinning and ripping the chunks of his brains out. Ezekiel closed his eyes not to see any more horror.
          A loud thud fell at his feet as the soldier's blood soaked Ezekiel's boots. He could taste it, The soldier's blood on his lips. He slowly opened his eyes to his actual reality.
          A reality far worse than his altered reality from earlier. A dream that his mind created to spare him from the horrors of this cruel and harsh reality. Ezekiel looked up into the sky. The sky cried with him. It was pouring down its tears on his bloodstained face. The tears washed away the blood. He wished it could wash away his pain along with all the blood.
          The pain of coming back into this world. A world where he didn't live with his Aunt and Remmy. A world where he watched them die. A world where everyone he loved was dead. A world cursed by the gods who created it. A world that was so cruel that love wasn't a thing here. A cruel world that trapped him there, making him endure suffering and pain until the end of time.
          Ezekiel opened his eyes, seeing the sniper's flash once again. He was finally ready for the world to take him away as it did with everything he knew and loved.
          A shrilling shot rang out. Approaching its target, ready to kill.
          Ezekiel sat there. Nothing had happened. Or maybe it did, and he was dead, in some sort of heaven now. At the thought of that, he eagerly opened his eyes.
          But only to disappointment. A tall floral wall stood in front of him. A figure stood behind it. It turned eagerly.
          It was a girl. She was a soldier, too, decked out in a blue uniform with roses on it. She looked down at him, but not with pity or disappointment. Instead, it was joyful as a grin spread across her face, and she tilted her head to the side.
          Was she going to kill him? No, she looks. Familiar.
          "There you go again with your hallucinations, Zekey!" The girl spoke in a cheery manner. She was bending her upper body while keeping her legs straight. She pouted her lips. "I'll go take care of that dirty Voldorni while you can sit back with Galen and try to remember where ya are. Alrighty?!"
         Before he could answer or acknowledge what she said, she dashed out of her cover. She threw something in the air and rolled to the ground. The sniper shot his rifle but nearly missed her by an inch. The girl smirked.
          She turned her head towards Ezekiel, "Just a reminder of how things work in this world, Zekey." The object she threw in the air came at her. She raised her hand and caught it.
         The object glowed and sort of fused into her hand. No, it's transforming... into a rifle.
          Ezekiel glanced as the girl took a stance on the ground, wielding a massive green rifle with a floral pattern. Not just flowers, it had different kinds of plants on it.
         The girl stared at where the shots came out. She spoke something he couldn't understand and took a seed from her pocket and plopped it onto the rifle as it absorbed it. It glowed once again. She looked back at him.
         "Galen, bring him out and let's show him," She said as Ezekiel felt something grab him from behind and drag him out behind his cover. The sun blinded him for a second. He then saw the building.
         The girl yelled out, "Alright, let's make that fucker pay for killing one of ours" She grabbed the rifle's handle and yanked it back. Then, she placed her head behind the gun and aimed.
         A blaring shot rang out. It speeded into the window where the sniper was. Ezekiel watched as the tiny seed grew and grew as it neared the window, and when it reached, it plunged into the room and heard a small explosion.
         He watched as he heard screams of the sniper escaping what the girl had gifted him. Vines grew out of the room and window. They looked like plants but acted like animals. They shrieked and sprawled out, looking for prey. Finally, he heard one last shriek as a bloody loose leg flew out, only to be caught and ripped apart by two plants fighting for their meal.
         Ezekiel watched aimlessly. The girl's rifle transformed back into a little pill-like shape. She looked upon it as if it was a masterpiece. "Damn those people of Jannet, having such great technology and only giving it to us for the only purpose of killing others and fighting wars." She scoffed. "It's the only reason they're never part of any wars."
         Her smile disappeared. Only a frown was left on her face. She then shook her head as if shaking off that pain. Finally, she glanced back at him.
         The person who dragged Ezekiel out came up from behind him. "Forget about anything or anyone, Tanya. We shouldn't care about any other nation. Our goal is only to win this war, get back our nation and kill all of the Voldornis."
         "Gosh, Galen, you're always on about killing so many people," Tanya spoke out, pouting once again. "You know we don't have to kill everyone to achieve true peace for our nation." She looked up high at the clouds slowly pouring freezing rain on them.
         "Doesn't it hurt you when you kill?" She questioned Galen. Ezekiel heard the pain in her voice with that sentence. As if he has listened to her pain before.
         "No, Killing will only make me feel better. Killing will only cleanse the world from pain; if done enough, there won't be many people on this planet who want to kill anymore." Galen stared at Tanya below him. "Only people who have felt immense pain will realize that there will be a need to stop."
         Tanya turned at him. "Your thinking is flawed, though you do have a good point of everyone who will feel pain will want to stop and never feel it again... but if you kill all of their people, a vengeance will grow in them which will just repeat history and cause a never-ending cycle, won't it?"
         Their words spoke to Ezekiel as a few memories of pain and suffering rushed back to him. Memories of even killing.
         "Nothing will bring true peace. Until humanity ceases to exist, peace will never come true." Ezekiel spoke out, not knowing why, but it was like an instinct.
         The two soldiers looked at him--both with sorrow on their faces. Tanya rose and walked towards him.
         "Glad to have you back in this reality and not yours." She looked into his eyes and pitied him. "It's sad to see you walk around and act as if you are really in another world."
         Galen walked up behind them. "So Ezekiel. Are you back and ready to lead us in this fight for this small city and free it from the Voldornis?"
          Ezekiel looked at them both. "I'm gonna need my refreshers like always; I'm slowly remembering. But I do remember one thing. My pain."
          Ezekiel rose off the ground. He looked around the devastated city. He clenched his hand. "We will fight for our freedom and run the Voldornis out. Push them out more and slowly get back out of the nation. I will fight till my very last breath to get my nation back. It is why I remember this determination first."
          Galen and Tanya looked at their leader. As he stood tall against the cruel world that faced him. Ready to endure a long journey of pain to get back what he desired.
          ***                                                                                                              ***

Chapter 1.5: Recrudesce

         So, back into actual reality, huh? I laughed; seeing him on the ground like that, scared shitless. But thankfully, we're out of that hell, though I don't think it's terrible as this shithole of a world.
         Oh, how we fucked up, huh? ...Again, may I add
         I wonder what will happen from now on. Will I have to kill more men? Beautiful men. I stood idly by as Zeke's little minion died in front of him.
         Oh, he was a bit cute. They always die first--such a shame and waste; imitating him was exciting.
         I kissed my teeth at the thought of that. I started to look around at the dead bodies. Looking to see if my claim was justifiable.
         No. Eh, he's okay. Oh, he's hot. Him too. Nope, Nah, Eh, cute but pass, not my type. I searched like hundreds of bodies. I had to fly to see if I was right. Well, I'm not going to say if I was or was not. But I still stand by my claim. Do whatever you must with that.
         Oh shit, I should probably keep an eye on him.
         I looked down upon him from the sky. Oh, the blood is gone from his face now! That's good. Oh, here's Tanya to save his little ass. What a joke, a leader my ass.
         Aww, look at him standing up and trying to sound like a badass.
         I laughed. We will see when the time comes, and I will have to fight with him. I smirked at the thought of that. That will be exciting. I gripped my axe. My lovely axe, which I decorated with my two favorite gems, just a nice little decoration I added myself.