AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll see you soon,” she stated as she stepped back. He could still see some hesitation, so he walked backwards towards the door and gave her a small wave before she could talk herself out of it.
She simply nodded once again before she turned and shadow jumped mid-stride.
Chapter 35
He waited a moment in the empty room, unsure if the Moirai would pop back into existence so he could ask a few questions of his own. Nothing to that effect happened, so after a few awkward minutes of standing in an empty room, he decided to actually take a walk around the city. He knew Persephone would find him no matter where he went if she needed him.
As he made his way out of the Fates Consulting, he found the rest of the building completely empty. No one in the hallways, at the front desk, or even security at the door when he walked outside. He guessed they really enjoyed making everything as creepy as possible, but most likely these people were just parts of the Moirai themselves, since all the power trails that moved like rivers through the building were the same color.
Stepping outside, he felt the heat of the sun and a light breeze touch his skin. Perfect Weather. If ever there was a time to check out the city of Halcyon, it was now.
He started his little jaunt as a tourist by making his way down the main street. He took in the coffee shop, bookstore, metal works shop, and transportation services building.
All the vehicles there plugged into a large central station since vehicles no longer ran on ancient remains from the earth. The humans had exhausted those resources long ago, burning through them as if some eternal supply was hidden beneath the soil.
He always found the concept super weird.
As he walked into the city center, he spotted an engraved plaque on a nearby building declaring it the International Relations Building. It stood proudly as if it were a welcome beacon to the city, or a sentry at the metaphorical gate of Halcyon.
As he moved past the exquisite building, he noticed a large statue of a woman looking out over the city with a blindfold on, a sword in one hand, scales of measurement in the other, and a lion resting at her feet. The sun caught the marble tone of her skin and lit her from behind. It made her look like a Goddess come down from the heavens to protect her city and not simply an immovable slab of stone.
Deciding not to enter the main part of Halcyon, he turned down the road away from the International Relations Building, catching sight of the sun glinting off the Thalassian Sea.
Large ships drifted in and out of the port, full of exports and imports from other places on the continent. He always wondered how far the ships could go before they entered the dangerous waters he had heard rumors about.
No one he knew ever ventured from Zephyr. The areas beyond their continent had been destroyed to the point that no one could safely navigate the land or water. These different places fascinated him as a child, or what they once were.
All of that was gone.
He knew of only Zephyr.
He tried to find books on the world before the Great War, what had happened, but could never find anything current or even relevant. As if all the information regarding anything but Zephyr was burned in the wars.
Catching sight of a large ship with Oceanus Industries written in tall, proud letters on the side, he thought of West. His closest friend as a human. The man whose entire back story had been a lie, crumbling the foundation of their entire friendship to dust.
Weston Murphy was the heir of Oceanus industries.
How many lies can one human be dealt and still believe in anything or anyone ever again? He watched the ship pass by him with his hand in his pockets, the wind blowing his dark blonde hair into his eyes, his thoughts melancholy.
“Dev,” he heard from behind him.
He froze for a moment before he turned to take in his longtime friend.
Gone was the man who drank next to him, talked about the jobs they did or had coming up, and how their career choice had stained their souls.
Gone was the man who wore the same tactical gear and was amazing at getaway plans, mostly by water, which made sense now.
Before him stood a different man in an expensive pea coat and jeans that probably cost more than Devon had made in a month. Hair slicked back from his face, he looked how the well-dressed heir of an empire should.
“Weston Murphy, heir apparent.” He laughed without humor. “Who knew?”
“Dev, I wasn’t him for a reason. Actually, a lot of reasons, but holy hell, man! You were dead. I saw you die!” West looked like he might actually get physically sick from the memory of it. “I went to your funeral. I gave the fucking eulogy!”
West rubbed his hand over his face and Devon noticed it looked like his friend had aged a few years since he saw him last.
“I did die.” Devon asserted, but found it only came out as a whisper.
West looked at him, squinting his eyes, and Devon could see him processing his words.
