A Strange New World

[Yukki Kazuto]

Yukki woke up with his nose pressed against the hard, cold ground. He had always been told he rolled in his sleep, and this new world seemed to not change that. The light given off by the ground he was facing and the sky around him was forcing him to see red inside of his eyelids instead of the black usually associated with closing one’s eyes. He gave a small groan, not wanting to get up, but knowing he had to go somewhere else where he wasn’t just lying next to a fountain.  He got the impression the fountain was of great importance to the people in this world.


The fountain! Maybe it would tell him which way was the smartest to go, or at least a clue as to which way were actual things besides the white emptiness around him. He raised his head slowly and opened his eyes. Before him, he saw the bright white ground and the fountain that he had woken up next to earlier. How much earlier had it been? A few hours? A day? Longer? He felt refreshed, unlike the grogginess of when he first arrived. He easily rose to his feet and began to examine that fountain in front of him.


It was a marvelous piece of art, he decided. It was pure white, made out of a material he had never seen before, excepted for four colored spots spread equal distances around the ring. Water was slowly trickling out of the top of the fountain as if it had once had more power but was now in need of repair. The ring around the edge where he had sat earlier had a beautiful design in it. He could swear that he would sometimes see images, only to blink and find them to have disappeared.


The items that grabbed his attention the most however, were the four gems in the ring around the water. Each was placed the exact distance away from each other, and was a different color. They gave Yukki the impression that they were cardinal directions. To his left was a red ruby, which reminded him of Overton’s red jacket when on the job as an info broker. To his right was a black onyx, which was the exact shade of the suit Reuben wore on assassinations. Across the fountain from him was a blue sapphire, reminding him of the outfit Jessica wore when doing jobs.


But directly in front of him was a green emerald, the exact shade of Mey’s eyes. He looked as it and could almost feel her looking back at him, giving advice, and protecting him. He remembered her taking him in, teaching him, convincing reuben to do the same, and protecting him. He decided if he was going to go under anyone’s color, it would be Mey’s.


He thought of his trusty pistol that had always been with him, giving it his full concentration. After four or five minutes, it appeared in his hand. He felt slightly drained, but still not as fatigued as his arrival.  He found that the pistol had appeared with a full clip of ammo as well. He placed it in it’s usual spot inside his jacket, and began walking in the direction that the emerald pointed. He didn’t know if he would find anything, or even if there was anything to find.

He prepared himself for a long journey ahead of him.