Chapter Five: Homeland

The "boat" took off across the water. It was like a speeding bullet, moving so fast that Dachii had to roll down the window to throw up almost a dozen times. Even Marachii was on the floor. He noted they would have to be traveling at over a thousand miles per hour. But that couldn't be possible, could it?

And if it was, they should have all been dead. Kia didn't look too fazed, still wearing the same troubled look she'd had on the entire ride. She didn't seem to be surprised in the slightest by this entire trip. She stared at the window, watching as the entire coastline of Estrium disappeared. It was just water. Pure ocean for miles and miles.

Dachii had just thrown up for the 14th time. The seatbelts they wore kept them from flying out the window, but it didn't ease his car sickness. While he hurled out the rest of his lunch, Marachii had to practically yell to state his question.

"Grandfather! What is this? What is going on?"

After Dachii finished vomiting, Morino rolled up the window so he could speak clearly. "My favorite whip! Got a lotta gadgets in this baby, and a lotta speed." Almost as if to emphasize his point, he hit a button on the newly transformed dashboard and the car kicked into overdrive, doubling its speed.

"Oh, gosh! Roll the window down!" As Dachii leaned out the window once more, Marachii looked all around them. The waters seemed calm, the sky was clear, and they hadn't even encountered a single shark.

While the thought of being in a weird "Super-Boat/Super-Car" was out of the ordinary, nothing else seemed to be too far-fetched. In just an hour, they were making good progress, and their grandfather let them know. "Halfway there, kids!"

And their journey continued. The vehicle sped across the waves faster than any manmade object could. While Dachii repeatedly fainted, and Kia kept staring into space, Marachii began to take mental notes of what he dubbed "a technological marvel." He wanted to know how, why, and when this thing was made.

As the skies darkened, they eventually saw, land? Giant trees that were much taller than any normal tree came into view. They stretched as far as Marachii could see, and they were so close together that he couldn't see anything beyond them. Dachii began to recover as the (boat?) slowed down.

Kia groaned as they touched land, and one button press from Morino had the boat shifting back into a car. Not the same car as before, but a futuristic version, like the boat. Dachii squinted to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Big ass trees..." he muttered to himself.

The car began to smoothly drive on the sand. Just another weird function it had. Kia started to mutter to herself, no doubt negative things about their surroundings. Dachii watched her and decided not to pry, but Marachii saw too, and curiosity got the better of him.

"Mom, have you been here before?" She perked her head up to look back, giving a sad look to her kids.

"Yes. I wish I didn't." The boys sat up, wanting to know more. "Really? When? What'd you see? What's beyond the trees?"

She put her head back down on the dash. "This place is hell. I wish I'd never had to bring you two here. You were never supposed to see any of this." This quieted them down, and even Morino seemed a little sad for her. Whatever was going on, these two seemed to know. Were there really wild animals roaming these parts?

The car drove parallel to the trees until there was a path in between them. Morino hit a sharp turn and raced along the path, and Dachii peeked between the massive trees that surrounded them. There wasn't much but leaves and branches, but at some point, he thought he saw a little house built into one of the trees.

"First that hood guy, now this? Yeah, I think something is wrong with my head," he thought.

He dismissed the sight as they got farther along the path. Marachii continued to take a mental note of the area, and Kia just looked up at the trees with a look that made it seem like she couldn't care less. Not too long after, there was a spilt in the trees that revealed an extraordinary sight: in the distance, a massive (kingdom? city? mega city?) was towering over them.

It was made of exclusively white, gray, and silver materials, with a touch of light blue. It seemed as "techy" as the car, so it was clear the car must have been made in this place. Dachii and Marachii looked in awe as the night sky illuminated the kingdom's various buildings, giving it an almost regal glow. Kia just glared at the place; no words left her mouth.

It almost seemed like a future version of NYC, except for the fact that there were giant walls all around it and there was also a humongous castle far in the center. Dachii almost seemed like he could recognize the place from somewhere. He sat up, and it looked familiar to an extent, but the recognition faded, so he just took in all the details.

"What IS this place? This definitely isn't a wild animal hideout!" Morino had a look of pride on his face as he pulled up closer to the front gate.

"Nope. You're looking at the most beautiful nation ever: Voltiana."

Kia gave him a slight punch, and he coughed. "I mean, uh, welcome to my homeland."

As the two brothers continued to look, the more questions they had. Before they could ask anything, they noticed the two guards at the front gate, wearing the same colors as the rest of the (nation?) Their armor covered from head to toe, and some parts glowed, most notably the light blue parts.

"Halt. Who are you, human?"

"Human?"

Dachii was puzzled. They seemed to have a human shape, but they had a confident posture, with confident voices to match. It almost seemed as if they weren't like Dachii and the others, and they didn't want to be.

Morino lowered the window, and the guards stayed silent for a moment. "Oh, hello sir! You may enter."

They stepped aside and pushed a button, and the front gate opened. While they didn't seem to have any issues with Morino, they did seem to glare daggers at the rest of the family, most notably Kia, who glared back.

Dachii noticed this, but he didn't say anything out of confusion about the entire situation.

Morino let out a relaxed breath. "Phew, glad they didn't say much." As Kia rolled her eyes, he drove down the silver streets of Voltiana. Everywhere Dachii could see, there were skyscrapers and fancy houses, with loads of technology everywhere. Mechanical birds to pick up trash, robots cleaning off houses, and FLYING CARS. Dachii thought it all was cool, and Marachii thought he was in HEAVEN.

"This isn't real! It can't be! This would all take decades, if not centuries to develop!"

Dachii did agree with him; everything he was looking at right now, would be impossible back home.

Morino gave a cocky wink. "Well, that's life here. Nothing is impossible." Kia simply muttered under her breath. "Mhm. Nothing but a happy life, I'm sure."

Morino's smirk disappeared. "Sweetheart, you'll love what I've done to the house. I told you, it's not the same anymore." She just gave him a thumbs up, not even meeting his eyes. While the boys silently watched this disagreement, they both noted a huge observation: there was no one outside.

"Is this place deserted?" Marachii blurted out. Morino shook his head. "Nah, people are just inside. This week, BIG events are happening, so they're all watching TV." TV. Of course they had TVs. Who makes a flying car without making a simple television first?

The car drove through the area and reached another gate, one that looked far more decrepit and worn down than the first one. Woah, this the jail or something?" Dachii looked the gate up and down. Pieces were falling off. Kia rolled down the window, just looking at it with disgust.

"No. It's where we...will be living."

As she glared back at Morino, he just shrugged again. He pulled up to the gate, which had two more guards in armor, and once he rolled down his own window, they recognized him and let him pass just like the first guards.

The gate was so broken it nearly collapsed when they opened it. The car drove into the city, which was completely different from the one they had just cruised through. All the houses and buildings were much smaller, the area smelled, and just like the gate, basically everything from the trees to the ROADS had seen better days.

If Dachii had lived in the hood back home, he would have imagined it would be something like this. Unlike before, there were people, who seemed undoubtedly human, walking the streets. They were as dirty as the place was. Ripped shirts, dusty shoes, and malnourished appearances. It killed the vibe that the first town gave off.

"Woah..." That was all Dachii could say. The town was one storm away from being destroyed altogether. The car took more roads until it reached a dead-end street.

At the very end, a massive, almost mansion-like house stood, made of silver, white, and even some gold materials. There were various cars in its huge driveway, and the yard was clean and had an entire backyard with flowers, a deck, and even a pool and hot tub.

Both boys were impressed by the house. Kia simply looked at it and turned her head away.

"Whose house is that?" Marachii sized the building up and down. It was the complete opposite of the rest of the area. Morino looked back with a smile so big it took up half his face.

"Mine! Isn't it a beauty?"

He pulled up into the driveway, and the house's garage doors immediately opened themselves. After parking his car in the massive parking space, he got out and opened the trunk. "Get your things, folks!" As they grabbed their things, a massive sliding door opened, revealing a fancy and polished living room.

They sat their stuff down on the couches, as Kia picked up what seemed to be a photo. Dachii was seated on the couch as Morino began bringing their bags upstairs. Marachii followed him.

"Here, kiddo, you can have this room." He tapped his finger to a finger identification pad near the door, and it opened. "Put your finger here."

He helped Marachii with setting up his fingerprint, and then Marachii settled into what he assumed was a guest room. The room had a huge flatscreen TV, a giant bed in the center, a dresser, a window, and even its own bathroom. "Woah, thanks, Grandfather!" He sat his stuff on the bed, taking a notepad out to write down various notes.

Back downstairs, as Dachii was sprawled on the couch, he snuck a peek at the photo his mom was glancing at. There was a younger Morino, a young black girl, and some pale-white lady. The child almost looked like:

"Mom! Is that you?" She nearly dropped the photo. "Well, uhh…yeah...?" Shame was on her face, while Dachii squinted to get a better look. "You never told me you lived HERE!"

"Well, you were never supposed to know...this place...it's not how it seems." She motioned outside, with beggars and drunks roaming the city streets.

"I just hope you never meet...them."

"Meet who?" She didn't answer; she gave him a kiss on the forehead and walked down the hall, pressing her finger to a finger pad, and the door opened with a: "Welcome back Kiana Jones! Would you like to update your fingerprint?"

She just walked through the door, ignoring the "AI" voice. Dachii looked at the photo she left behind, but Morino came to grab him. "Alright! Let's get you into your room!" He pressed a button near the stairs, and they started moving up like an escalator. "Uh, these are some...steps alright."

"Don't worry, this is just basic technology. You should see the others---" He caught himself. "Ahh, never mind. Here's your room." He did the same process for Dachii that he did with his brother, and 10 minutes later, Dachii was lying on his bed. After Morino left, he turned on the TV with the nearby remote.

"Wanna join our MILITARY? Are you a human? Participate in this year's Voltian Tryouts! Beginning in three, and I repeat, THREE days!"

Dachii silently stared at the ad. Lots of possibilities went through his head. All it showed was a bunch of obstacle courses and exercise machines. No people or anything of the sort even appeared.

"What's that? Why should you try out? You can become an honorary Voltian Citizen! That means all the perks, joys, and pleasures of being an official member of our society!"

"Voltian." Dachii pondered the word in his head. "So that's what they are. What the hell is a voltian?"

"Get ready! This Thursday will be our 500th annual Voltian Tryouts! Beginning at 11 a.m.! And don't forget, if you want to watch this nationally broadcasted event, tune in on channel 168!"

The ad ended, and some random music began playing. Dachii cut the TV off.

"I wonder, if I get citizenship, would they have something to fix my body? All this tech..." he thought. He sent Marachii a text to come to his room. After he told him his idea, the response he got was:

"Are you INSANE?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" He twirled a dreadlock in his hand, trying to act oblivious to Marachii's concern. "I mean, join a MILITARY? I'm a scrawny ass kid, and you can barely even lift a cup!"

"Well, this could be the solution, you know? This seems to be a tech place, I mean Grandfather Morino has a car that can BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER. Imagine if we could get tech like that?" He knew Marachii couldn't resist some cool technology. True to his suspicions, Marachii grabbed his head and groaned.

"Ugh, fine! If it gets hard, we're leaving!" Dachii shrugged in response. "Yeah, sure, how hard could it be?"

Thursday. That was the date. In the meantime, they kept it a secret from their mom and grandfather, just appearing to settle into their new place.

On Wednesday, the day before the event, they decided to warm up a bit before any trials came.

"Here, what do you think we should do?" Marachii had taken Dachii to a nearby park. "Stretches? Sit-ups? Sprints?"

"Uh, I'll try all three." He attempted to move without Marachii's aid, but he failed and fell to the ground. "Ow. Maybe this wasn't smart."

Marachii just shook his head. "Yep. We're doomed." A young, fair-skinned boy with long curly hair, seemingly around Marachii's age, ran into the park.

"Oh hey! Are you practicing for the tryouts too?" He had a warm smile on his face, but he clearly seemed way too energetic. Marachii looked around awkwardly and helped Dachii up. "Oh yeah, uh, we are." The boy reached out his hand.

"Cool! I'm Takamoto! Takamoto Tomoko! You can call me Taka, Taki, Takamoto, Tomoko, Tomoko Jr., Taka--"

Dachii coughed. "Uh, we can call you Tomoko. I'm Dachii, and this is my little brother Marachii."

Tomoko took Dachii's hand, shaking it so hard he nearly pulled the boy over. "Nice to meet you, Dachii and Mariachi!" Marachii let out an unamused groan, despite Dachii cracking a laugh. "MARACHII, not Mariachi. Ugh."

"Great! So, I'm doing laps! What about you guys?" He ran in place, almost as if to emphasize his point.

"Uh, training."

"Cool! I'll join!" He took off running. For the rest of the day, he and Marachii did some workouts, while Dachii failed at every turn.

Eventually, they said goodbye to Tomoko, who told them to meet him at the bus stop in their area before 11 the next day. They went back home, and Dachii and Marachii plopped on the couch.

"Well, nice to know we aren't the only people going," Dachii said as he laid himself out on the couch. Marachii drank some water, but he smelled some smoke. "Did Grandfather light a blunt?"

"I don't think so. He doesn't smoke."

Marachii noticed a faint black smoke coming from down the hall. He and Dachii went to investigate, and they found a bookshelf. Marachii felt around it. "There's something behind here!"

He checked the books and found one was slightly out of place. Pulling it, it acted as a lever and the bookshelf retracted underneath the floor, opening the entrance to what seemed to be a dusty old storage room.

The black smoke trail led deeper into it.

After a moment's hesitation, they followed it. After navigating some shelves, they reached the very back, where a dark crown sat on a display stand. It emitted an ominous aura. The boys looked at it, silent.

"Well, only one thing to do," Dachii said.

Marachii looked at him. "Huh?"

Dachii used his free arm, and he touched the crown. Immediately, the world around him shifted. When he opened his eyes, he saw a terrible sight.

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