The family now found themselves settled comfortably aboard the bullet train as the massive vehicle began its smooth departure from Dome 6's station. All of the domes scattered across the frozen wasteland were connected via these remarkable bullet trains that ran through smaller protective tunnels made from the same supposedly impenetrable material as the main domes themselves. The transit tunnels stretched for miles across the barren landscape, creating safe passages between the isolated bastions of human civilization.
They sat in the main passenger cabin, a spacious area with cushioned seats arranged in rows facing each other. Cael sat directly across from his mother, able to see her gentle face clearly, while his father stood several tables down the aisle, engaged in what appeared to be an intense conversation with some official, probably discussing dome business as always.
Cael's mother studied her son's troubled face carefully, noticing the distant expression he wore. "What is it, honey?" she asked softly, her voice filled with maternal concern.
Cael deliberately looked away from her searching gaze, turning his attention to the window instead. "Nothing," he said softly, the word barely audible.
His mother's face grew even softer, radiating understanding. "Is it all the talk about you becoming an Archon again?" she ventured gently.
She was met with only silence, a heavy silence that confirmed her suspicion. She gave him a moment to gather his thoughts, waiting patiently. Finally, after several long seconds, Cael spoke.
"I don't want to be an Archon."
The words hung in the air between them. Cael's mother smiled gently as she looked at him, her eyes full of sympathy. "I know you think that now, sweetheart, but being Archon is truly a great honor. Soon you'll grow into your responsibilities and understand why this path is so important, not just for you but for everyone who depends on us."
Cael sat motionless, staring blankly at the endless wasteland of white snow stretching beyond the window. The landscape rushed past in a monotonous blur of white on white, broken occasionally by skeletal remains of old-world structures jutting through the drifts.
"Whatever…" he muttered dismissively before continuing, "And besides, don't you have to be an Awakened to become Archon? I'm already fifteen and Her essence is still completely dormant inside me. What if I never awaken? What if I'm just… normal? I mean only like 1 out of 10 peoples essence ever awakens and gets gifts!"
His mother's smile remained steady and reassuring. "It will happen, Cael. Trust me on this. Eve's blessing doesn't follow a strict schedule, you will awaken in your own time."
Everyone is born with the essence of their God, that essence usually stays dormant inside most people for all their life. But in some rare cases that essence will awaken allowing them access to a power specific to their God and potential they could never believe. It's seen as being favored by their gods so only people who have awakened can rise past a certain rank in the hierarchy.
Cael didn't respond, instead returning his gaze to the window and the colorless world beyond. 'This world is so grey now, so utterly devoid of life and vibrancy. It lacks color, lacks warmth, lacks everything that makes existence worth living,' he thought, his mind wandering. 'If I could have one wish of my own, just one single wish for myself, it would be to see how the world was like before the snow hit. Before the color was drained from everything. Before we were trapped in these glass cages.'
He sat there staring out that window for the next ten minutes, lost in contemplation, until his mother's voice suddenly broke through his reverie.
"Oh, Cael!"
He looked over to see his mother staring at him with unexpected enthusiasm, her eyes bright. "I forgot to tell you, bu—"
Cael's mother would never get to finish that sentence.
Almost instantly, with no warning whatsoever, Cael's eardrums popped violently from a sudden massive change in pressure. The sensation was disorienting and painful. Cael couldn't even begin to react as searing heat began pressing against every inch of his exposed skin. The windows along the entire cabin exploded inward in a shower of razor-sharp glass fragments. Then the metal frame of the train itself began to tear apart with the horrific sound of shrieking, twisting metal. The entire cabin imploded in a massive explosion of fire and force.
Cael's consciousness fled. Everything went mercifully black.
Slowly, agonizingly, his senses began to crawl back to him. He heard muffled yelling through the ringing in his damaged ears, screaming voices full of terror and pain, and then the sharp, distinctive cracks of gunshots echoing across the wreckage. He began to open his eyes slowly, each tiny movement sending fresh waves of agony through his battered body. He was in pain, so much pain that his mind could barely process it. Everything hurt. Every single part of his body screamed in protest.
He could feel sections of skin on his face burning with an unbearable intensity, as though flames were still consuming his flesh. His vision was blurry and distorted, but he could make out fire everywhere, dancing orange flames consuming the twisted remains of what had been their train car. The vehicle lay in scattered pieces around him, metal and glass strewn across a wide area. He could feel the cold now too, the killing cold of the outside world pressing against his burns.
He turned his head with immense effort and looked behind him to see that the supposedly impenetrable protective dome tunnel had been very much penetrated. A massive hole gaped in the structure, allowing frozen air and snow to pour inside.
'W-what is going on!?' he thought desperately as consciousness fought back through the fog of shock. 'My face! My face! It hurts so bad!'
He instinctively reached up to touch the source of the worst pain, but immediately pulled his hand back with a choked sound of horror as his fingers encountered the wet, boiling mush where smooth skin was supposed to be.
He blinked repeatedly, forcing his vision to clear through sheer willpower. He saw soldiers engaged in combat throughout the wreckage, armed figures moving between burning debris. But when he finally realized exactly what he was witnessing, his eyes flew wide open in absolute horror.
He saw his father standing in the midst of the carnage, his entire body covered in an exoskeleton of white bone, his awakened power granted by Eve's divine essence. The bone armor covered him from head to toe, forming natural plates and spikes. His father was fighting soldiers with desperate ferocity… but these weren't enemy soldiers.
They were their soldiers. Eve soldiers. Their own people.
Dome security forces in their distinctive uniforms were shooting at his father with automatic weapons, the muzzle flashes bright in the smoke. Theron was already burned and bloody, his bone armor cracked and broken in places, covered with oozing bullet holes that leaked red across the white bone. But even in this condition, he screamed with rage and charged at them, taking them down one by one with devastating strikes.
But for every soldier he managed to take down, another wound opened up on his battered body, each more severe than the last. His movements began to slow visibly as blood loss and exhaustion took their toll.
'W-what's happening!? Those are Eve soldiers!? Why are they fighting Dad!? This doesn't make any sense!'
As Cael lay sprawled on the frozen ground, covered in his own blood and struggling desperately to understand the impossible nightmare unfolding around him, he heard another voice calling from somewhere to his right.
"C-C-Cael…"
The voice was weak, barely more than a whisper, but he recognized it instantly. Cael's head snapped over quickly and his eyes found his mother. Or rather, what remained of her.
She was crawling toward him across the blood-stained snow, dragging herself forward with trembling arms. Her lower half was simply gone, severed cleanly in the explosion, leaving a trail of crimson behind her as she desperately pulled herself toward her son.
Cael stared in absolute, mind-breaking horror. "Mom!" he cried out, fighting desperately against his own pain and overwhelming fear. He forced his battered body to move, crawling toward her across the short distance separating them.
He grabbed her outstretched hand with both of his, feeling how cold her fingers already were, and tears immediately began welling in his eyes. "Mom, what's happening!?" he asked frantically, his voice breaking as the tears began to flow freely down his burned cheeks.
"You need to run, Cael! You need to go now!" she gasped out, each word clearly requiring immense effort.
Cael didn't understand anything anymore. His world had been torn apart in seconds and nothing made sense. He didn't know what to say, didn't know what to think. "W-what? Why? What about you? What about Dad?" he managed to force out, barely able to push the words past the tightness in his throat.
His mother's grip on his hand tightened with what little strength remained in her failing body. "Forget about us, sweetheart. You need to go… you need to live."