Chapter 1: On the Tides of History

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1907 of the Third Aeon—Peloin City

"It'll be 17 caps, sir," said a young man dressed in a brown leather coat as he passed three crisp green notes to the shady figure in front of him. The guy in front of him seemingly didn't sleep in weeks; dark circles seeped deep into his skin as if they had been present since his birth.

The sleep-deprived man asked in a rather raspy voice, "Have bread prices risen again?"

"Yes, the yield was already low to begin with, and the cold has made up for whatever drawbacks of the war." The bakery worker sighed with a shake of his head. "Who knows when all of this will be over?"

The mysterious man nodded before leaving the rather run-down bakery.

Fog blanketed the streets of Peloin City, rendering it difficult to discern anything farther away than 20 metres. Only the tungsten-powered streetlights' fuzzy yellow light could penetrate the dense air.

Rusted black metal-clad horse-drawn carriages were speeding along the streets, seemingly unaffected by the heavy fog. A silhouette of people clad in bulky outerwear and numerous sorts of headwear could be made out. It was early morning, and everyone seemed to be on their way to their respective workplaces.

A crowd's distant, jumbled voices could be detected as the sleep-deprived man yawned and made his way to the railway station. With the ticket to the central station acquired, he settled down on a bench not so far from the track.

"I'm broke again." The mysterious gentleman sighed as he continued waiting for the train.

The train came barreling down the rails, showing no indication of stopping. "Something's wrong," thought the sleep-deprived guy as he rose and exited the platform, not giving a care to his bag of groceries.

Right as he had feared, the steam-powered train abruptly burst in flames. A tremendous crash, akin a million fingernails scraping across a chalkboard, signified the train's sudden stop in a moment of terror. Innocent children and senior citizens who were unable to make a haste escape were crushed by the vehicles as they veered off the rails and plunged onto the platform. Screams from innocent victims caught up in this anguish ensued, accompanied by a massive eruption of black smoke. All of this transpired in a matter of seconds, yet the consequences of the tragedy would persist to reverberate for months and years that follow.

Moving towards the wreckage in an attempt to uncover some hints about what had just unfolded, the mysterious man stared in sheer bewilderment. In a frantic rush, many people approached the debris, perhaps hoping to save their relatives. The scent of burning leather and charred human flesh permeated the air. A trace of a peculiar 'metallic' fragrance in the air was present as well.

To make out anything in between the blurry sounds of the crowd, which seemed to get distant and fuzzier with each passing second was inconceivable.

"The smell of blood..." As the mysterious gentleman approached one of the less crowded cars, he heard what appeared to be a little girl's pleas for help. He dashed in the direction of the cries, only to have his heart crushed by the sight before him.

The little girl, who looked to be no older than seven, was lying in a puddle of crimson, which appeared to have been formed by both her and likely her mother's blood. The woman had sacrificed her life to keep her child safe. Her body was practically split in two by the enormous railway car above her. Having her skull entirely crushed with greyish-white brain fluids appeared to be squirming underneath, her face was absolutely unrecognisable. Her internal carotid arteries had ruptured and her dying heart was on the verge of failing, seeking to take in one final breath of oxygen, only for her blood to gush into the earth's embrace. Scarlet and yellow secretions could be seen streaming from her internal organs.

Even in her last moments, she had wanted to reach out and touch her child's face. She recalled the pain she went through for Xiao Xiao to be born, thinking back on her time with her, her first words, "...Mama," her sobbing face on her first day of school, and the excitement on her face when she learned that they would be surprising their father today. The many sleepless nights she had spent caring for Xiao Xiao when she was sick and how each hug from her daughter seemed to make everything better re-surfaced in her mind...

While suppressing the urge to puke with every passing second, the mysterious man drew closer to the girl. The girl's condition wasn't favourable either; her left limb was buried beneath the train carriage, and she was on the brink of falling unconscious. A swift decision was made and the mysterious gentleman utilised his mystic powers to forcefully lift up the train car slightly, just enough to rescue the little girl. He picked her up and made a beeline for the exit in search of assistance. As if his wish was answered, a team of paramedics had just arrived at the entrance. He quickly found one of the doctors and handed the unconscious little girl over.

"Is she your child?" asked the doctor after basic treatment was completed.

"No," the mysterious gentleman answered in a low voice.

"I must then convey my gratitude to you for saving her; she would not have survived without you. Though it's unlikely she'll ever be able to walk again. Her left tibia bones were shattered segmentally, and she sustained a minor spinal cord injury, " replied the doctor in a somewhat sorrowful tone as he ran towards an old guy whose condition wasn't very favourable either.

The mysterious man left with a heavy sigh in the air as he struggled to accept what had taken place earlier. Thousands of lives were reduced to dust in a matter of seconds, hundreds of children were left orphaned, and hundreds of young people departed. No one was spared by the relentless river of fate, and the ever-surging tides of history would ultimately bury the dead, leaving no trace of their existence behind.

Just like that, all the sleepiness of the mysterious man faded away.