Chapter 39: The Truth of the Crater

Not long after, Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig, each carrying their own backpack, stood in front of the train doors. They watched Selma and Mary embrace before them, Mary also wearing a large backpack on her shoulders. After the two released their hug,

"Alright, don’t push yourself too hard in Safe Haven," Selma said, holding both of Mary’s shoulders and smiling.

"Of course. Come visit me over there sometime," Mary replied, holding Selma’s arms.

"Definitely... I’ll drop by often. Give my regards to the people there," Selma replied.

"I will. Take care of yourself, Selma," Mary replied.

"You too, Mary," Selma replied.

The two hugged briefly once more, before Mary released her hold and walked inside the train car. Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig bowed to Selma, who raised her hand, before turning and stepping inside to follow Mary. The doors closed, and before long, the train began to move. Selma waved her hand in farewell to the five people inside the train, who waved back in return. After the train entered the tunnel, Selma turned around and walked back toward her tent.

Meanwhile, inside the train, Clyde and Craig helped Casca, Corie, and Mary stow their bags in the overhead storage above their seats. Then, they sat down across from the three girls sitting together,

"Is the city of Safe Haven far from here, Sister Mary?" Clyde asked as soon as he sat down.

"Not really, only an hour’s ride by train," Mary answered casually.

"Oh... and from there, is there a line that goes straight south?" Clyde asked once more.

"Yes... part of Safe Haven is on the surface. From the surface, there’s a ground-level train station with a train heading to Utopia. Even though that city isn’t as large as Neo Ark, it’s hidden over there, like a paradise unknown to the world," Mary answered.

"So it’s really inhabited by demi-humans? What are they like?" Casca asked.

"Humans with wings, lizard faces, half-beasts, and many others. They mingle with humans because they are also hunted by the giants and used as food as well," Mary answered.

"Oh... really?" Corie asked, curious.

"Since the last war, a lot has changed. The giants who rule everything consider everyone outside their race to be food, including the demi-humans who were also in their world before the Great Transition," Mary answered.

"Sigh... so those giants really are humanity’s enemies, huh," Craig replied.

"You could say that, but in truth, we humans are just trying to survive. There’s no way we can fight back against their attacks, so you could say we’re running away from them," Mary replied.

Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig fell silent after hearing that, having no idea what life was like in a new world that was still so foreign to them. But one thing was clear: they fully intended to go to Utopia to search for Celes’s whereabouts.

The atmosphere inside the carriage, which contained only the five of them, felt quiet and still, with only the rhythmic sound of the moving train echoing in the air. But suddenly,

"Na... na... na..."

The melody resonated in the heads of Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig once again. The four of them clutched their heads, then looked over at Mary, who seemed to be hugging herself and gently nodding along with her eyes half-closed. Dizziness began to creep into their minds, but because Clyde and Casca were already experienced, they held onto Corie and Craig to keep them from panicking and to let them process the melody in their heads. The two urged Corie and Craig to close their eyes, and sure enough, their consciousness slowly faded away.

***

"Bzzzzzzzzz..."

"Kresssssssk..."

Five children, two aged 12, one 11, and two 10, were inside the cockpit of a giant robot that seemed to be running through a military base currently under attack by a giant monster. The attacking beast resembled a T-Rex but stood roughly 242 feet tall, its back covered in coral-like spikes.

"Bwaaak!"

One of the robot’s arms choked the monster, which appeared slightly larger than the robot itself, causing it to thrash wildly. Then, "pyasss," the robot slashed the monster’s neck with its spiked arm, severing its head and throwing it aside. Standing before the robot were several more giant monsters resembling gorillas and spiders with human-like upper torsos, marching toward them.

Suddenly, a massive volley of weapons fired at the robot. "Aaaaaah!" all five children inside screamed in terror as a barrage of bullets, explosions, and magic slammed into their cockpit screen.

"This is bad, Brother Clyde! We can’t escape! The nephilim are attacking the base and blocking our way out!" Craig shouted.

"The timing is all wrong... what do we do? But if we don’t run, Celes will be taken away... I don’t want that!" Casca cried out in panic.

"We break through. Humans or nephilim, they’re all the same!" Clyde answered.

"Right, we have to run away from here!" Celes shouted.

"Yaaah... I want to get out of here... together! I don’t want to be used as a weapon for war and research!" Corie screamed.

"We push forward. Come on, everyone!" Clyde yelled.

"Yeah!" Celes, Casca, Corie, and Craig shouted in unison.

"Blam!" The giant robot stepped forward, trampling across the base and destroying everything in its path, including the military soldiers and the attacking nephilim giants. "Psiuuu," "blaaar," rockets and missiles rained down on the giant robot as it kept marching forward toward the mountain range. Suddenly, a tune began to play over loud speakers.

"Na... na... na..."

"Ugh!" Clyde, Celes, Craig, Casca, and Corie began to sway and stagger, but they refused to give up or pass out. "Bwaaak!" Clyde slammed his head violently against the steering control that encased his arm in a tough, meat-like shell,

"Don’t give up! We can make it out! Don’t lose to that song!" Clyde screamed.

"Bwaaak!" Celes, who was at the very back, copied Clyde and slammed her head against the flesh wrapping around her arms.

"Clyde’s right... we can’t give up!" Celes shouted.

However, the influence of the song, now blasting through loud speakers, assaulted Clyde and Celes once again. "Aaaaaaaaaah!" both of them screamed at the top of their lungs. Hearing their screams, Craig, Casca, and Corie joined in, screaming loudly as they unconsciously unleashed their power to fight off the song’s influence. Their gray-skinned, red-eyed bodies unleashed a dark reddish energy aura that filled the entire cockpit, making it tight, stifling, and glowing with light and smoke.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" they all screamed together.

The 230-foot-tall giant robot spread its arms, its body transforming into a blinding light. Then, "bwuuung," "blaaaar," the giant robot released a massive wave of energy in the form of a giant, multicolored black dome that exploded, obliterating everything around it. All the military soldiers, the nephilim and monsters attacking, the military base itself, along with half of their orphanage building, were completely atomized, leaving behind nothing but a massive crater.

After everything was destroyed, leaving only scorched earth in the silent night, "blung," the robot fell onto one knee. "Psiiiuuu," the cockpit opened up. The five children were left gasping for air. Silver-haired Celes, located at the very back, raised her head to look at the others. She observed Casca and Corie panting heavily, glanced over at Craig who looked utterly exhausted, and finally looked at Clyde in front of her,

"Clyde... hurry and take Craig, Casca, and Corie away from here," Celes said.

Hearing that, Clyde turned around to look at Celes, who was smiling at him. Clyde’s face twisted in anger,

"What are you talking about, Celes? You’re the one they want to take away to use as a weapon for war, not the rest of us! You’re the one who needs to leave with Craig, Casca, and Corie... I’ll stay here and hold the Chimaera Z-X!" Clyde shouted.

"No, Clyde, they want me. That’s why I have to stay. You guys can live freely out there," Celes shouted back.

"What are you saying, Sister Celes? Please don’t say crazy things like that!" Craig yelled.

"She’s right, Sister Celes! I don’t want to be separated from you!" Corie cried out.

"Let’s all leave together, hurry... leave the Chimaera Z-X behind! They can’t do anything to our robot!" Casca shouted.

Everyone turned to look at Celes, and then they realized something, their faces turning instantly pale with grief. Half of Celes’s body was covered by a pulsing mass of flesh that was creeping higher and higher up her torso. They realized that the energy they had just unleashed, which created a massive crater equivalent to multiple nuclear warheads detonating in a single spot, had caused Celes to be half-swallowed by the Chimaera Z-X,

"Celes... you..." Clyde said, staring at her in sheer horror.

"Yeah... I can’t run. Hurry, you guys need to go. Even if they want to take me, they won’t be able to pull me out of here. Quickly... before their forces arrive... humans and nephilim are all the same... and if you get caught by them... your memories will be erased, and we’ll really be separated... hurry and leave!" Celes yelled.

Clyde swallowed hard. As much as he wanted to take Celes with them, seeing her condition, swallowed by the machine, it would take far too long to free her. Clyde could only nod. He pulled himself out of the flesh wrapping around his legs and reached for Craig, then he and Craig grabbed Casca and Corie. After that, they looked back at Celes once more,

"I... no... we... will definitely come back to get you," Clyde said.

"That’s right, Sister Celes!" Craig, Casca, and Corie said in unison.

"I’ll be waiting... hurry and go!" Celes yelled, smiling through streaming tears.

Then Clyde and Craig carried the weakened Casca and Corie on their backs, immediately leaping down from the cockpit and sprinting into the forest, fleeing from their orphanage. Meanwhile, inside, Celes maneuvered the Chimaera Z-X to stand in the middle of the crater before all of its systems shut down, spewing smoke as the crater sank into darkness.

"Bzzzzzzzz..." "kresssssssk..." suddenly, everything blurred and dissolved back into pitch-black darkness within an instant of complete silence.

***

"Clyde... hey... Clyde... Casca... Corie... Craig..."

"Whoaaaaah!"

Clyde, Casca, Corie, and Craig woke up with a start, immediately spotting Mary in front of them, looking like she had been trying to wake them up.

"What were you guys dreaming about? You were sleeping so soundly. We’ve arrived in Safe Haven," Mary said.

"Oh... right, Sister. Sorry, we fell asleep," Clyde replied.

"It’s fine, I just woke up myself. Let’s head down," Mary said.

They grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment, put them on, and stepped down onto a clean, brightly lit underground station platform. As they exited the underground station, they saw a city that wasn’t overly large, free of tall skyscrapers and illuminated by glowing neon signboards. It wasn’t a massive metropolis, but at the far edge of town stood a massive cylinder that appeared to be a lift ascending to the surface.

"Welcome to the city of Safe Haven," Mary said to the four of them.

None of the four answered. They simply looked around, their minds still lingering on the recent dream as their memories unlocked what had truly happened back when they escaped. Naturally, Clyde and Casca finally found the answer regarding the last photograph shown to them during their education at the rehabilitation center, and now they understood what had happened to Celes and why she looked bound to a machine on the screen they had seen. Clyde tightly grasped Casca’s hand, and she squeezed back just as firmly.

"We will find Celes," Clyde said.

"Yes, Brother. Definitely," Casca replied.