The faint sound of creaking wood penetrated the air, as Stacy stirred in a warm bed. Her amber eyes flickered, trying to hide the reality of a golden light shining through a porthole window. Stacy tossed over in her bed, and covered her head with her pillow, not wanting to get up, hearing the sound of ship bells outside her door.
“Ship bells?” she thought to herself. Her curiosity having been stirred, she sat up in bed, her short snow white hair a mess. Shaking her head to come to, she realized she was in the quarters of an old galleon ship. There was a puff of hot air that came from a pipe above her head, implying the ship was steam powered. She sat up in her bed, and looked at her attire. A red and black striped long sleeve shirt, some rough green pants, and a belt with a large golden buckle. She fumbled around on a wooden end table, still seeing the world in a blur, and picked up her gold locket that she wore every day. Putting the locket on around her neck, she observed the environment around her from the ropes and barrels to the lantern and boots she wore.
“This isn’t my room. Am I in a dream?” she said to herself. Just then she heard shouting outside her door, and a scrambling on the deck.
“Hoist the sails ya lollygaggers! Pull those ropes! We set sail for Puerto Setienta!” Stacy was startled by this, and ran to the porthole, looking out the window. It was then that the girl realized that there was no ocean of water, but of clouds. The ship she was on was flying! Stacy hurried herself over to the coat rack, and snagged off a brown leather jacket of which she proceeded to put on. She opened the door, and ran out onto the deck, seeing pirates swabbing the decks, running and maintaining the massive steam airship.
In front of her stood a tall and much older man, dressed in rather Victorian attire with a three cornered hat, his hair a long, blazing black, mangled, mess. His beard went down to his chest, and bore the smell of the salty sea air that would normally be of the ocean. He bellowed out to the girl,
“Welcome aboard, lass!” Stacy stared at him, and looked around herself, then spoke confusedly back,
“Yes, thank you! This is quite an amazing dream I’m having! Are you the captain of the ship?” The man cocked an eyebrow, and then bore out a laugh,
“Hahaha!! Dream she says! This one’s a keeper! I am Captain Crow, and this is my ship, the ‘Lady Luck’! What be your name, lass … and tell us why might you have been stranded on the beach we found you on?” Stacy gave a confounded look, and responded,
“My name is Stacy Augustine, Captain. I think you have me confused, I don’t remember anything about a beach!” The Captain looked off to the side to a man wearing a skull t-shirt and long sleeve purple striped shirt underneath. The man blew some of his dyed blue hair out of his face, and slipped a thumb through his studded belt before speaking,
“She might have hit herself on a rock, Captain. No other explanation I can think of for her being out like a light and having amnesia when she woke up.” Stacy laughed shortly afterward and spoke,
“No no, I don’t have amnesia. I’m just asleep. This is all a dream and I’ll wake up soon.” The captain and the man looked at each other, and then back at Stacy. The Captain spoke up this time around,
“Lass… there’s some stuff we’ve got to tell you.” Stacy rolled her eyes, and responded,
“Alright, alright… I’ll play along. What about you, man with white eyes? What’s your name, just so I know?” The man with the blue hair stared at her with his soulless white eyes, and simply said,
“Ryan. Ryan Kells. That’s all you need to know.”
When the group had entered into the Captain’s quarters, the Captain sat Stacy down in a chair at his desk, while Ryan stood off to the side in one of the darker corners of the room. Captain Crow stood up, and folded his hands behind his back, facing out the window panes into the golden sky that glowed before them. He spoke,
“Do you know where we are?” Stacy shook her head and said,
“No sir, I don’t have a clue.” The Captain smiled slightly,
“You are on a world called Arevass. A massive world filled with many wonders and dangers. One of these dangers being called-…” Stacy quickly interrupted,
“Arevass? That’s my world.” The Captain responded,
“Well of course it’s your world… you live in it!” Stacy shook her head with a puzzled look,
“No, I mean… I created Arevass. I drew everything that exists in it. It’s in my sketchbook.” Ryan blinked, and turned to face her,
“Stacy, believe me… this world is real. It exists, and it breathes. Just like you and I do.” Stacy rested her head on her hand,
“Ugh, you don’t breathe. You’re not real. The Captain isn’t real. This whole ship isn’t real. None of it is real. I’m just dreaming right now, and you’re trying to convince me otherwise.” The Captain spoke up,
“Enough, listen Stacy, this is important. We need to know if you’re the person we’ve been looking for. There’s something bigger than these fantasies you have rolling around in your head. It’s called the Rift.” Stacy groaned, and leaned back in her chair,
“Alright, alright, I’ll play along for now. You got my attention. What is the Rift?” Ryan walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee from a coffee machine sitting in the corner of the room and explained,
“The Rift is a dark, all consuming, force. Its sole purpose is to turn this world and others into ash. Some say there are men who walk in this darkness seeking out the sole survivor to an ancient race of humans, who would be able to defeat them.” Stacy blinked,
“Wait… I never drew anything like that. Matter of fact, I don’t think I drew mysterious men either. Where did those come from?” Ryan gave a sigh and spoke to her,
“Pretend just for now, that this is all real. An eraser isn’t going to save you here.” Stacy nodded, and covered herself with the jacket to warm up a bit. She asked,
“So assuming this is a huge deal, why do you need to find that person? Couldn’t they just handle things themselves?” Captain Crow pulled out a black box from his desk, and set it down on top. He opened the lid to reveal a strange “L” shaped hilt with a handle. He pulled out the device, and set it down on the desk in front of Stacy. She eyed the device, and picked it up by the handle, observing it. Captain Crow asked of her,
“Can you turn it on? And please, point it away from the rest of us.” Stacy nodded, and pressed the button on the hilt. Nothing seemed to happen, and Ryan gave a depressed sigh,
“See, I told you she wasn’t it.” The Captain then spoke quickly,
“Wait!! Look there!” The device lit up in Stacy’s hand, the lines and button engraved in it lighting up with bright yellow golden light, as a brilliant glowing blade struck forth four and a half feet long. A dark aura shadowed around the glow, and anything that got near the blade fizzed and looked like it got disrupted from the field around it. Stacy looked at Captain with an astonished look,
“What is it?!” Captain Crow chuckled,
“Well I’ll be… it’s the fabled Dimblade.” Stacy raised an eyebrow, and the Captain explained shortly afterward,
“A Dimblade is a mysterious weapon, only wieldable by certain individuals of ancient descent. The descendants have been notable by their white hair, markings on their face, and golden crest they wear around their necks. There are only so few of them in this world. These people are your people, Stacy. Whether you know them or not. This is why we needed to find that special person.” Stacy scratched the red marking around her eye, and turned the Dimblade off. She sat up from her chair, and walked over to the center of the room, looking around herself. She then asked, looking out a window,
“I just have one question after all of this.” The Captain inquired,
“And what question might that be?” Stacy pointed out the window, and asked,
“Are either of you two familiar with Green beard the Pirate?”
The group rushed out onto the deck, and a man on the other boat stood threateningly. The man had an eye patch over his left eye, a neon green beard and mohawk, a biker’s jacket, a peg leg on his right leg, and his left forearm had been replaced with a mighty sword blade. He threw his blade arm forward, exclaiming,
“Captain Crow! It is I, Green beard the Pirate! I have come to claim the fabled Dimblade! I know ye have it! So don’t bother tryin’ta hide it!” Captain Crow yelled back,
“On what terms, yarr scar faced son of a sea snake?! And how did you know it was me?!” Green beard set his blade arm down on the wooden railing of the ship,
“I’ll have ya blown out of the sky, Crow! I knew about ya half drowned scally wag backside pickin’ those white haired sissies off the shores and all over Arevass! I wouldn’t put it past you to try and get the advantage with the Dimblade!” Crow turned red faced furious,
“Ya blistering, fog bound, dullard! I’ll have your neck rung up in ropes for that!” Green beard the pirate bellowed out a loud, chortling, laugh,
“Hahaha! Ya hear that boys?! Crow wants a piece of the terrors of the sky! I say… bring it on, salt crusted, old man!” Pirates on the opposing ship threw grappling ropes onto Crow’s ship, and started climbing across. Crow’s men immediately rushed to the sides, to cut off the ropes. Stacy was confused as to whose side she should really take. This was a dream after all, right? Stacy turned the Dimblade on, and ran to the far side of Crow’s ship away from the fighting. She then made a full on sprint for the warring side.
Green beard the Pirate was caught by surprise when Stacy suddenly made a magnificent leap off the ship, and flew through the open golden sky. For a moment, she was unaware of what she was doing. Stacy stared below at the open air, which trailed down for a few miles to a black colored sea. Fear filled her, as she understood what it was,
“The Obsidian Sea…” she said to herself, when she flew onto the deck of Green beard, and rolled forward, slicing a rope on her way. The rope whipped out of control, and tangled a pirate up on the lines above who was making his was down. She looked to her right just in time to roll out of the way of Green beard’s blade arm… the large metallic blade of many pirate deaths sliding just above her nose, into the mast of the ship. Stacy stood up, and drew the Dimblade forward, swinging it to her left to block a Pirate’s oncoming blade. The Dimblade sparked shadow and smoke, and blinded the pirate temporarily, giving Stacy enough time to slice the blade through his chest. The crew member grabbed the point where he was stabbed, watching his body shatter like glass from the penetration point. Stacy’s eyes flashed in wonder at the strange effect the sword had, and drew her blade out, slicing it through the neck of the pirate, watching his neck shatter apart to glass like shards. His body followed suite when it hit the ground, smashing to fractured glass pieces. Green beard laughed, and yelled after Stacy,
“Yarr be a Sea Witch!! What crazed and silly stance you have! Have ye even handled a blade before, ye scrappy swine?!” Watching one of Crow’s men follow her way onto the ship, and deflect an oncoming blade that was about to hit her, Stacy spoke up,
“I have not handled a blade, no! But I know enough about you Green beard, to bring you down! Abandoned at birth, and left with nothing to do but live amongst the rats of the street!”
Green beard yelled, infuriated, and swung his arm blade twice at Stacy, she trying her best to dodge each swing. Stacy spoke again,
“I know your moves! I can play you like a Chess Board! I know how each piece moves, and how each piece works!” Green beard swung again, the tip of his arm blade racing up only an inch in front of Stacy, nearly slicing her clean in half. He bellowed to her,
“You forget, woman, that you are facing the real me! And the real me has plenty of tricks up his sleeve!” Green beard pressed the button on his arm blade, and retracted the blade into his metallic socket, then slammed the side of Stacy’s head with it. Stacy was thrown way off balance, and watched as Green beard’s lightning fast reflexes brought the blade back out, and narrowly sliced her arm. With a swift kick, Green beard kicked her over the side of the ship, and watched her howl out in pain from the slice. He laughed heartily, and then jumped back into the battle that went on the ship.
Stacy fell through the sky, watching the quickly advancing Obsidian Sea below her. To improvise, she quickly held the leather jacket in an open and square-shaped way. The leather jacket was just large enough on her to slow her fall more. On the slowed fall, she ripped her right sleeve off her shirt, and tied it around the wound on her arm. Upon getting closer to the sea, she let go of the jacket, and twisted herself into a swan dive into the open water.
Opening her eyes, Stacy saw the pure black darkness that was the Obsidian Sea. There was nothing to be seen, and almost no light penetrated the surface. She frantically searched around for the surface, and saw a faint glow. She quickly started swimming up, feeling her lungs start to give out from the sheer impact of her descent. Her arm was in pain from the salt water in her wound, and she almost couldn’t take the amount of pain that was in her body. To make matters worse, the water was thick with not only just water but machine oil.
“I’m not home anymore. This can’t be all real, it can’t be! Why can’t I wake up!? This isn’t a dream!?” Stacy’s mind raced and panicked, and she finally hit the surface, taking a deep breath in of the salty sea air. She let out a yelp in pain, and looked around herself. Stacy cried up, looking at the sun setting,
“Help!! Someone help me!!” Stacy looked around herself, seeing in the faint distance a large section of land. She thought to herself,
“Land! I can get out of this! I can go home!”
As Stacy began quickly swimming towards the land, she saw in the distance a black colored triangle sticking out the top of the water. Stacy looked at her hand, and saw oil trailing off her hand as well as the dark water. There was a reason this was called the Obsidian Sea. She looked back at the triangle, slowly circling around her in the distance, as well as another. She became panicked, and rushed towards shore, eyeing the circling triangles.
Stacy raced faster, watching the triangles get closer, when she heard the turbines of the creatures warming up for a charge. Stacy whispered to herself, frightened,
“Meat grinder Sharks…” Suddenly, the triangles submerged. Stacy kept swimming for her life towards shore, when she heard an explosion, and then a rocket. A shark burst out of the Sea, on fire, leaving a trail of flames as it rocketed across the surface of the water towards Stacy. Stacy held her breath then dove under, narrowly dodging the shark rocketing over her head. She swam away from the glowing orange water, and towards the last known direction of land.
Surfacing, she saw a wall of fire blocking her way back, when she heard a second explosion and then as a rocket as the other shark charged across the surface. It smashed Stacy away from itself, flinging her backward in the water. When she surfaced again, she saw two walls of fire, walling her in from escaping. She had met her doom. The first shark circled around, and aimed right at Stacy down the lanes of fire. She heard its engines warm up again for another charge, and then the explosion as it rocketed down the lane towards her. Stacy gave a terrified look as the shark leapt out of the water to consume her when it stopped right in front of her. She looked inside its mouth, seeing the spinning and grinding machinery, with bones from unknown other creatures that have met their horrible fates.
She looked up, to see Ryan levitating in the air, holding his fingers on his head, preventing the shark from eating her. He swung one of his hands up, lifting the shark out of the water, and pulled it over to him, to give it a massive punch in the robotic eye. Stacy watched in amazement, having never been told previously that Ryan had telekinetic abilities. Ryan twisted the shark in the air, and then punched it with an extra kinetic blast. The shark went flying out into the Sea, broken, and having a huge hole in its mechanics. The other shark reared up, intent to eat Stacy as well. Ryan flew down to the shark’s level when it leapt out of the water, then stopped it by grabbing its massive jaws. He kicked the shark up, and held a fist up to watch the shark to crash down upon. The shark broke, and gears fell out of its mouth. He then held the shark up, and spun around in a circle, to perform a powerful kinetic kick, sending the shark flying away, crashing into a rock nearby shore on land.
Stacy’s jaw dropped in amazement, as Ryan came down and held a hand out to her, to lift her out of the water. She then spoke,
“That’s all I need to know?! What about the part where you can fight things just by staring at them!?” Ryan stared at her then responded,
“My name is Ryan Kells, and I have telekinetic powers. That’s all you need to know.” Stacy gave him a somewhat irritated look. Ryan handed Stacy the Dimblade from his belt,
“And you dropped this. Please don’t lose it.” Stacy took it, and attached it to her belt, as she levitated across the sea. Ryan brought her down to the shore. She took a deep breath in, and looked at the setting sun,
“Alright. Now I have lots of questions.” Ryan sat on a rock, and watched her from behind,
“Ask, and I’ll try to answer. Also, you need a shower. You’re covered in black oil.” Stacy was trying to strain the oil out of her white hair as best she could, but it just wasn’t working. She then asked,
“Alright… first off… this isn’t a dream. You were right. I can actually get hurt here, and I can’t wake up. So… if you tell me I’m in Arevass, what does that mean?” Ryan stared off at the sun replying,
“You’re quite simply in Arevass. If you made Arevass, you somehow fell in it.” Stacy shaked her head, and held the side of it confused,
“But that means I’m inside my sketchbook back home.” Ryan replied,
“Then you’re in your sketchbook. Don’t ask me how, I wouldn’t know.” Stacy nodded and asked a new question,
“Okay, then next… what of Captain Crow? Where is he? Will we ever see him again?” Ryan nodded and answered,
“Yes, we’ll see him again. He just set a point for us to rendezvous. There’s one place you don’t want to land with an airship, and that’s the Obsidian Sea. It’s dangerous with those sharks. They bore right through the wood and eat the crew.” Stacy shivered, remembering the sharks. She tried her best to wipe the oil off of herself. Ryan pointed out,
“You’re going to be covered in that for awhile, trust me. We’ve got a long way ahead of us.” Stacy groaned, and looked at him,
“Can’t you just fly us there?” Ryan shook his head,
“Contrary to what you believe, it’s actually rather exhausting to do all that. C’mon. Let’s get a move on.” Stacy tried brushing more oil off her arm, and followed Ryan as he had already set off walking towards the forest before them, up ahead of the beach. She walked along looking at the purple and red shaded forest before them, then stopped,
“Ryan… if this is my world, I don’t especially think it’d be good for me to walk through that forest in particular.” Ryan turned around to face her,
“Would you rather we walk around the whole wood?” Stacy looked left, and she looked right, realizing the forest spanned the entire stretch of land, lining the beach. She replied,
“No, but I really rather not have oil cooking my skin in those woods. That’s the Violet Woodlands. It’s really hot due to the light it sheds through the tops of the trees, and gives it that color.” Ryan shrugged,
“That’s better than fire fairies.” Stacy blinked and responded,
“But… fire fairies are harmless. I just gave them that name cause they looked like little fire sparks.” Ryan frowned slightly,
“They’re far from harmless. Especially with your entire body covered in oil. To meet them would be horrible luck for you.” Stacy sighed,
“Suppose so. Maybe there’s a pool of water in there, or a waterfall.” Ryan was already walking into the forest again, and Stacy ran to keep up. She thought for a moment,
“Does he even care? It’s apparent he cares for my safety, but for my being at all?” Ryan responded as if in response to her thoughts,
“It’s best we don’t ask personal questions. Especially if they’re about me.” Stacy jumped, not expecting an answer, and sputtered,
“Buh- Wha- Huh!?” Ryan spoke again while entering the forest,
“My name is Ryan Kells. I have Telekinetic and Psychic abilities. That’s all you need to know.” Stacy stopped him,
“Wait a minute! If you’re psychic, then you had to intentionally read my mind to hear that! Why were you looking in my head?” Ryan said,
“I said its best not to ask personal questions.” Stacy stammered,
“But you were invading my personal space! I think I deserve this one question!” Ryan groaned and answered,
“I was curious if your mental state was alright, normally people do not have a stable mind after falling off a ship, being charged by meatgrinder sharks, and/or finding out they’ve been trapped in their sketchbook, for that matter.” Stacy stared at him for a long while, then Ryan continued shortly afterward,
“I’m just making sure you won’t go psycho on me. You have no idea how many people are jumpy. Be thankful you aren’t as skittish.” Stacy watched him continue into the forest, and she ran to catch up, looking at the pink lights cutting through the tops of the purple hued trees, and getting a good look at the swaying, dark blue, grass. She spoke up, stepping over a small puddle,
“So you don’t trust me, is that it?” Ryan quickly replied,
“I don’t trust anyone.” Stacy sighed, and followed Ryan into the forest, deciding to keep quiet. Ryan wasn’t particularly one to talk. When he did talk, it seemed like he begrudgingly talked, almost as if giving someone the privilege to even hear his voice. He had a dull and uncaring look on his face, except when he was using his powers, that is. An aura of almost darkness shrouded him, not the evil kind of darkness, but the kind of darkness that would imply someone is very alone, and keeps to themselves. Stacy balanced on a tree log, following Ryan through the woods, getting hotter from the humid air. It had been awhile before they came to a large waterfall colored a neon pink color, almost glowing, due to the light reflection.
“Can I clean up here? The water looks pretty fresh… I think.” Stacy said, tilting her head at the pink waterfall. Ryan shrugged, and walked away from the waterfall a good ten meters, and sat on a log. Stacy went off to clean herself up, while Ryan lay down on the log, staring up at the tree cover. He pulled off his right fingerless glove to reveal a ring, very similar in design to the Dimblade. It glowed softly a golden yellow, implying it was in use. Ryan slid his glove back on over the ring, hiding the glow. He looked off to his left, seeing a spiky toad made of stone. At first, it didn’t move. The toad then proceeded to hop into a puddle, and then under the log. Birds flew above Ryan’s head, singing their songs, violet trails lighting the air from their sparkling wings. For a moment, Ryan smiled. The serenity of the Violet Woodlands is what he appreciated about this world. Nothing to ruin the day, when he heard the familiar voice,
“Okay! I got most of it off I think! Another shower later should fix it.” Ryan twitched slightly, having his sweet moment of peace broken, but he shrugged it off and let out a sigh, sitting up. He walked on over to Stacy, seeing her white hair in its full silk, and her skin clear of filth. However, her clothes still looked terribly damp. Ryan blinked,
“Not going to wait for those to dry?” Stacy shrugged,
“Well I figured you’d want to leave sooner.” Ryan rolled out a sarcastic tone,
“Yes, that is exactly what I wanted.” Stacy blinked, not quite understanding Ryan too well, and then continued on her way as Ryan started walking again.
“So… why’s your hair blue?” Stacy asked. Ryan gave a weird look, as if it was a stupid question to ask,
“Why’s your hair white?” Stacy responded,
“Well I don’t know. My hair isn’t normally white. I just drew myself in Arevass before with white hair and this mark over my right eye.” Ryan said,
“Then my hair is likely blue because you wanted it to be.” Stacy blinked and said,
“I drew a lot of people… I’m not sure I remember drawing you. Though you do seem familiar, so… I suppose I must have at some point.” Ryan shrugged,
“Well there’s your answer. That’s why my hair is blue.” Stacy walked along with Ryan for awhile, then asked,
“So if you don’t trust anyone, what about the Captain?” Ryan twitched, and then left a remark,
“Do you always have this many stupid questions?” Stacy took offense, and responded,
“Well I’m sorry, I’ve only been in this world for what? A few hours?” Ryan added to her answer,
“That you made.” Stacy explained herself,
“You know, there is a point where you draw so much that you forget a lot of things that you’ve drawn in the past. I’ve had this sketchbook ever since I was ten, for crying out loud. My parents saw that I loved drawing, and got it for me.” Ryan looked at her,
“You had that sketchbook since you were ten?…” Stacy nodded,
“Yeah, Why?” Ryan gave a searching look, and then turned back to walking,
“No reason.” Stacy gave a pouting look,
“I wish I could read your mind.” Ryan shook his head,
“Trust me, no you don’t.” Stacy shrugged, and kept walking with Ryan. She asked Ryan,
“So, where are we headed?”
“Iron Hill.” Ryan responded. Stacy tilted her head,
“Isn’t that where the S.O.R. is?” Ryan looked over his shoulder,
“Society Of Robots? Yeah.” Stacy gave a slightly excited look. Finally something she created that wasn’t going to bear her down! She smiled, thinking of the robots she created and their top hats and monocles. Being in this world may not be so much a pain after all. Ryan spoke again,
“You’re also going to need training. I saw your ‘skill’ with a sword… it isn’t up to par with the standards around here. If you want to last, we’re going to have to find you a trainer.” Stacy didn’t like the sound of ‘going to last’. It made her feel like this world was a lot more dangerous than she originally intended. Not only that, but she was told she was supposed to be the savior of this world? That’s a huge task. Especially for someone who knows there are several horrible fates to be met with in this world. It can’t be all bad though, she thought to herself. Maybe there are several wonderful people in this world to meet who can help her? Maybe she can make lots of new friends if this is the place where she needs to stay. She certainly had a lot of thinking to do.
