Chapter 1 - Reve Amethyst

Sixty years ago, during the advent of Ether and its monstrous spawns, the old governments collapsed. With the loss of order came chaos.

An absolute chaos that sought the destruction of everything that was.

To keep the world from crashing down, something needed to be done. Amidst the emerging monsters, horrific dreams, demons, and bizarre deaths, a secret organization rose to power, calling themselves the New Order.

They were the first to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural, and with their leadership, the survival rate of earthlings declined to a relatively moderate rate.

New Order built shelters around the world and dismantled the notions of nations and continents.

Instead, they divided the world into zones, with the privileged living in the best of the zones, while the rest struggled in lower zones, and the unfortunate lived in the unregulated outer zones. The truly miserable were left to try their luck in dangerous regions known as Fallen Zones.

Although there were others that vied for control, New Order wielded the greatest influence and control

Now sixty years after the advent, the world was considered in its healing phase.

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"You can never run far away, Reve Amethyst. I have seen your fate, and it has only one end; absolute death. You are destined to die and I have eternity in my palm. I will wait for you. Do you hear me? I will wait for you!"

Reve woke from his nightmare with beading sweat rolling down his forehead. It was the same dream every time, with the thunderous voice piercing into him.

He recognized the voice. It belonged to the King of Blood, a being he had antagonized during his adventure to Taxan, in a bid to revive his friend.

The words the King of Blood said still haunted him. It was not his first time hearing about his eventual death.

Reve quietly walked out of his bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. As the drops of water fell to the basin, Reve glanced at his reflection in the mirror… it was the face of one who was marked by death.

With his unique silvery white hair, he carried a nonchalant air around him, but his heterochromatic eyes bore a deep shade of grey. What was originally a left frost green eye and an arctic blue right eye was now shaded, as if he was haunted for decades.

"I still have time," Reve muttered.

As he put on his clothes, he reviewed his current plans and goals, something he did every day to keep sane.

"I have to find a way out of this world."

Reve Amethyst was not like everyone else. He came from a magical world known as Arcadia.

Well, it was more technical.

Reve was originally from Earth, but he found himself in Arcadia after an unexpected adventure.

After years in Arcadia, Reve rose to prominence, but he wasn't satisfied. He set out to revive his dead friend in the hellish plane known as Taxan. And it was this risky adventure that got him to where he was, in the most powerless state he could ever imagine.

This Earth was not like the one of his past. Something happened to it after he departed. It was dangerous and bizarre, teeming with demonic and otherworldly influences everywhere.

It harboured a special energy known as Ether. People who channelled this strange energy delved into the supernatural and possessed mystical abilities.

Having realized his newfound vulnerability in this world, Reve strongly desired these abilities. However, they required the consumption of a special potion called prima.

Reve sighed as he thought of primas. Fortunately, he had a plan in mind.

After dressing up, Reve left his room and knocked on the door of the room across. It belonged to Ren, his first friend in this world.

When he fell into this world through a spatial portal, Reve met the seventeen-year-old lady in the woods.

She explained to him that, days ago, she had survived the massacre of her family, and together, with the help of her father's journal, they left the woods and settled into Ashtown.

Now, it was already been two weeks since they came here. The two had settled really well, making their living stealing with another group.

Morals were not a question for Reve right now. It was the apocalypse. He was willing to do whatever paid.

"Ah, it's too early!" Ren came out with her ruffled raven hair.

Reve said, looking unimpressed, "We need to go over the plans tomorrow. Don't you remember? Val said our next run is something big. Potentially, we could get our hands on primas."

Val was the leader of the group. While Reve didn't trust her, he agreed with her perspective on things.

Recently, Ashtown was getting more infected with New Order troops. They seemed to have their attention elsewhere, which made it the perfect time to steal some goods.

Ren yawned and grumbled, "Whatever. Let me change."

Reve stood outside and waited for her as she went back in. He was used to Ren's carefree attitude. In a world filled with evil humans, it was nice to have someone like her by his side.

When she came out, the two set out for Val's base at the Fallout Bar.

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Reve and Ren walked fast as they got outside their apartment.

Suddenly, a blaring alarm pierced the silence, and the streets erupted with the roar of approaching vehicles.

Reve quickened his pace, his heart pounding with fear and adrenaline, and peered into the chaos. Large cars, each packed with five armed individuals, tore into the streets, bringing forth a huge cluster of dust.

He caught a glimpse of the insignia on the side of one of the vehicles, a blue sun rising above dark clouds covered by a golden areola.

'The ascent of the sun. It's the New Order.!' He hissed through gritted teeth, "What are they doing here?"

He understood that the New Order's presence in this outer zone was unusual, and the fact that they had sent so many troops suggested that something may be very wrong.

He muttered, his voice brimming with caution, "Ren, let's keep going..."

They darted through the deserted streets.

The atmosphere was silent and tense. Half of their mind was focused on their backs, wondering if the New Order troops would return for them. The other half was patiently preparing for the unexpected.

It didn't take them long to arrive at Fallout Bar.

Being regular customers, they bypassed the guards and entered the back room.

The room was noticeably dim. The only source of light was a window covered with a dark curtain. A bed was fixed close to the window, and surrounding it were tables and couches... as well as two men and one woman.

Once he entered, the lady's eyes scanned him fervently. Her weathered face was tanned and lined, the result of years of surviving in this harsh, unforgiving world. She wore a worn leather jacket over a faded t-shirt, and her calloused hands gripped a glass of amber liquid.

"You are here, good. Help me with this." She said as she aligned a large map on the center table.

"Do it yourself." Reve scoffed.

Apart from Lane, the rest of the group was there. There was Kallum, a man that hid behind a wooden mask, and Blimey, a short man with an ugly face.

Val scoffed and turned to her friends, shifting the map infrequently, "Kallum, don't you have eyes? How does it look?"

"I–" Kallum awkwardly winced, releasing a vexed huff as he stressed, "I'm wearing a goddamn mask!"

Val ignored him and directed a stare at Blimey.

"What about you, Blimey? Don't let me down. How does it look?"

Blimey's cross eyes examined the map placement, and he winced. He wanted to tell her it was placed badly, but looking at the smile on Val's face, he realized that would be a bad decision.

Blimey hesitated before saying, "It looks great."

"You sure? I don't trust your ugl–" Val stopped herself, and donned a fake smile, "--fine eyes. But I guess I did a good job, didn't I?"

She dusted her hand and admired her work, ignoring that she had failed to cover a side of the table.

"That's really good."

Suddenly, she lunged at her table, resting her body on it as she dangled her legs.

Reve frowned and pointed out, "You just roughened it."

"Oh that, it's alright. We actually don't need the map. I just wanted to set the mood."

She stared at him with a smile, saying, "How do you feel now? Do you feel your thievish senses tingling?"

Ren mouthed, "I'm not sure we do."

"That's a shame," Val sighed as she collapsed on the table.

Reve frowned and asked, "Why don't we need the map, Val?"

The last time they spoke, he had assumed the operation was a direct attack. Yet Val's words carried a subtle meaning with them.

Val said, a teasing smile on her face, "Well, we are not directly confronting them, in a sense. We are infiltrating. I mean, come on, did you think we are just gonna raid the place? That would get us killed."

"Where is the target?" Reve raised an eyebrow.

Their previous runs were mostly big stalls and the few shops that were still open, but somehow, Reve got the sense that Val was aiming for something truly big this time.

"What else but Ashtown Bank? We are gonna luck out big time tomorrow. I have everything prepared, don't you worry."

Reve sighed. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Yeah. Like Val, no, that's just a red flag," Ren added.