EyeWatch: Afterceneon

The sun had risen from the horizon and we all gathered at a building’s rooftop. Landing upon the grounds, we folded our wings and rose our eyes glancing at one another. Everyone had faint smiles on their faces. Telling each other we were alright and had safely escaped from the building without any injury. I was relieved, the stress had been lifted away. And as I stared onto the other officer dragons looking over their bodies, all I saw were patches of black or brown spots invariance of sizes. I had decided to seal my tongue and kept silent as the others were conversing. Talking about the next plan of action. But seconds later, the conversation had died down and all eyes were to me. The silence was my answer as I met their eyes too. We remained like this until Doax started talking to us, saying the words on his mind as we listened.

“We should meet up with Yang’s group at the entrance of one of the streets.” A couple of nods confirming the suggestion and all eyes were on me. “What’s the word, Ling?” Quichie asked me. I exhaled and spoke to them “We are returning to the building.” I looked studying their faces, noticing how surprised they were by the look on their lightened face. Eyes were popped out and their mouths were hanged open. It was as if they were surprised by my sudden order of returning to the burned building behind us. But there was no other choice, we needed to go back to gather the items that I had found and failed to do so because of the fire and the sounds we heard threatening our lives with the building collapsing. With the sudden memory of hearing the cracking and loud bangs onto my ears, I shuttered and closed my eyes. My wings folded behind me while I listened to the silence. Although the sounds of my memory filled my deaf ears instead. Within seconds, I heard Lizrow protested to me. Growling as her fangs grounded together and her eyes narrowed, pointing daggers at me. “We will not. It was a stupid trap set by the Chaos members! We were lucky to survive. But now you wanted to go back?” “It is an order, Lizrow.” I stand stuck with my word and she grunted, turned around. Her wings spread as she jumped, flying off northwest where she would meet up with Yang’s unit. For shortly afterward, Quichie Doax and Lutica turned their heads to me as my lips parted “Anyone else?” silence was my answer. I smiled faintly before nodding, throwing my wings wide as the others did the same. We all flew in the opposite direction. Straight for the building that we had barely escaped from.

Thoughts had entered my mind, whispering dangerous and threatening threats. It had seemed they were trying to stray me from my course towards the burned building. However, in the tangled of those threats, only one remained stuck with me. It was rather surprising to me that my face had allowed to show it. But quickly discarding the responsive expression I had on my face as my wings gave another powerful flap to keep me in the air. We arrived on the scene. We landed immediately and rose our eyes to the horizon, staring upon the scene before us. The media was here. All gathered in one spot and around the building. Three cars and vans were positioned far away from the cameras. The news reporter was the lightest purple scale dragon. Eyes narrowed and horns were pointing forward like a bull. The news reporter had a thin slim body build. Their wings were a span of eight perhaps nine. As their tails wagged in excitement but hidden away from the camera to avoid the excitement from the dragons. I turned to the remaining members of my unit and slightly nodded at them as they replied in response. We all walked forward and past the reporters. Thus approaching the doors, we grabbed onto the knobs and pulled wide before entering in.

We were greeted with warm air that scaled up upon our bodies. Doax and Lutica panted as their bodies became warm with their wings flapping to keep themselves cool. We all looked around. The main room was a bit small. A pair of doors stood a short distance from us. A pair of torches were adjacent to those doors too. The walls surrounding the doors and torches were dark. And they were solid and hard when we touched or knocked onto them. Doax Lutica and Quichie rapidly separated from me going off in their direction. For a short second, I spotted Doax and Lutica opening the door and entered inside. Disappearing away from my visions, I turned to Quichie who was staring at the wall in silence. Her claw was raised to her head and approached the wall, she hit it once then another. An echoed sound filled the void surrounding us as I shook my head before walking to the door where Doax and Lutica were before and grabbed the doorknob. But before opening the door, I called out to Quichie who turned to me. She ran to me quickly just as I entered through the door and held the door wide enough for her to entered in as well.

With the door closing behind us, we turned our attention to the bigger room. The walls here changed from solid and hard color into thousands of bookshelves of different colors and sizes. All of those books were organized into groups of ten. But their sizes remained, resulting in leftover gaps and black spaces that we could see from far away. Turning my head away from the bookshelves, I spotted before us four or five brown tables. All of the tables had one stone each upon the surface of them. Doax and Lutica have already paired themselves onto one of the tables, which left us with the remaining two. And I motioned Quichie and told her the situation of the room. But it seems that she already understood it at once. As she ran towards the next closest table she could find, she lowered her head and glanced at the rock before her. I walked to the final empty table and stood by it while looking at the rock before me. When we all chose our tables, we grabbed the rock before us and rose to it our heads meeting with our eyes. The rock that I was holding was smooth to my touch. But it felt slippery and greasy as if someone had painted oil over it.

I heard Lutica’s grunts and Doax’s frustration over to the side. But Quichie remained silent and I do not know why. Disregarding the thought, I continued staring at the rock momentarily then promptly flipped it over whereas I noticed a word marked underneath the rock. My eyes opened wide at the sudden discovery that I pulled my claw closer to my face hoping to read the word. When my eyes could see better, I started reading. “Ling”. ‘But that is my name.’ I thought in protest as my mind registered that my name was on this blue rock. I slipped my eyes away from my claw and turned to the others saying to them. “Guys.” They turned to me, wondering what I was going to say. “Turn over the rock. There is a word underneath it that you got to read out loud.” “A word?” Quiche muttered, her voice was high in surprise as I watch Doax and Lutica blinked several times in confusion before agreeing with my request. All three dragons flipped over their rocks and spoke out what it said on the other side.

“Yang”, “Kyro” “Zander”

“Wait a second.” Spoke Doax, a second after reading and hearing the names. “Why are there names written on the stones? And why four? Where is the fifth?” “What happened to Natty?” Quiche questioned, looking over her shoulder at us as if we knew the answer. Silence had fallen onto our heads and the surroundings. Our eyes kept staring upon the rock then to one another, no words were spoken for our minds were preoccupied with the sudden former names that had made up the unit. Even I was surprised upon hearing the other three. But what Quichie and Doax said was correct, ‘What happened to Natty? Did she disappear? Gone from existence? Did the merge between Order and Chaos already happened and that was why we started seeing the media outside the crime scene?’

“Hey, guys look at this.” Spoke a sudden voice that shattered my thoughts altogether allowing me to enter back onto reality. As I rose my eyes high and glanced over to Doax who was already at the golden door. There was a note imprinted there that he already took down and read out loud, I turned to Quichie and Lutica. Their eyes widened and looked so deep in thought. For their wings were hanged out as I returned to look to Doax and asked him, “What does the note say?” “‘A four-legged creature wants revenge.’” “It is… weird,” I replied, my voice had started cracking. My mind started racing as thought and thought entered my filling mind. I pondered as anxiety filled my body. With my scales moist and heating up, I breathed rather excitedly as I stepped away from my table. And my claw risen to my head, I motioned the others. Lutica had noticed and nodded before coming to my side. Quiche same as well. But she had noticed my tone was a bit higher than normal. So with a tilted head look of confusion, she asked me. I sharply silenced her and silence invaded once again.

We were done with the room. The place had no clues except for the two that we found all together. And as I walked across the room heading forth towards the door where Quichie and Lutica regrouped with us. With everyone present, I nodded to Doax who grabbed the door and pulled it wide. A moan answered as the door opened, allowing us in. We entered without hesitation and disappeared from the room. And as we returned to the hallways, the first thing either of us noticed was the walls. They were well animated and vivid. It almost looked lifelike. The blue thinner swirls of color were vibrating sharply against the thin silver line that ran across it. The lines would mimic water-like movements making it seemed that there were waters reflected against those walls. We were mesmerized by such a thing that we often caught ourselves staring onto such one. But I snapped my claw and everyone returned to normal. Before us was a pitch dark atmosphere, it was a bit easier to see due to the lines reflecting faints of light from the waters below. I stepped forward and resumed my walk, the other three followed me behind as silence fell around us

With Doax shifting his head around the wall still looking with awe, Lutica and Quichie conversed with one another. They seemed to be talking about the four stones, the white note, and the walls being water-like. For both, it was odd and catches their attention greatly. I, having overheard their conversation, found myself nodding in quietness as the dragoness looked over to me, but only Quichie spoke adding me in “You thought so too huh?” “Yeah.” I started with a frown forming on my face in response adding “should not all of these things burn already? Gone or completely erased from history?”

“What if there was no fire and it was to distract us from the real objective.” Lutica suggested and Quichie nodded “Yeah! Maybe it was the three clues that we were supposed to gather and meet up with Yang to expose the real culprit.” “Maybe…” I trailed off, flickering my tail in thought as I shift my attention to Doax. While the dragoness is chattering excitedly with one another, I decided to strike a conversation with the isolated one, Doax. I asked him, jogging his memory of the two clues we had found from the room behind us. But his answer was “I do not know. The culprit could be anyone with four legs: like an elephant or tiger or… the list just goes on.” “But you do not know what animal did it as vengeance?” I questioned Doax and he shook his head and we continued walking.

The hallway was long and wide. It took us hours to return to the exit on the other end of the halls. But as we approached it, Doax and I held out our claws. Pushing against the doors before us as we heard a click, then the doors pulled away and we exited. However, we were surprised to see another big room. A huge swimming pool stood inches away from us. The waters were still making little movements. Lutica breaks away from the line and crouched. Lowering her eyes to the waters below her, she stared in silence as Doax too breaks the line and joined her upon the edge of the pool. Quiche sidestepped and joined my prescience as she stretched her eyes out to the horizon and stared around. I too stared around, but my thoughts prevented me from doing so. The room had nothing except for a huge long pool. There was another door on the other side of the room. And two more were to the sides. I noticed the three other doors and leaned forward, tapping onto the shoulders of Doax and Lutica as they turned to me, I pointed ahead drawing their attention towards the doors presented to us. They nodded in response. With the plan set, we all separated into three groups. Doax and Lutica isolated themselves while I and Quichie were in one group. We gathered to one of the three doors. And opened them all at the same time.

Doax, mine, and Quichie’s doors came up empty. A dark room with a flashing lightbulb hanged overhead of a chair underneath it. A brown rope hung between the two. Stuttering, I closed the door rapidly. I heard another slam and pondered if Doax had done the same. Instead, we turned our heads over to Lutica whose door was glittering with light. Sparkles of yellow and white washes over her aqua scales making her beautiful. We all watched in awe and we all gathered to her. She blushed suddenly and looked away turning herself over towards the light and sparkles coming from the door itself. Doax whistled, smiling as he does so before asking her. “What was inside it?” “I am… not sure.” She hesitated, her cheeks still red and rosy as I exhaled, rolling my eyes before pushing her in. We all entered after her.

We entered onto the streets. Back outside of Vaster city, it seems. Quietness and tranquility filled our void ears as we all smiled brightly, having escaped from the building. As we turned around facing one another, our smiles faded away as if we were never happy in the first place, and started to recall the items we knew upon our second investigation there. “There was that four stones we found at the table.” Doax started the conversation, “Mine was smooth.” I added, Lutica agreed to say hers was the same. “So two smooth rocks…” Doax trailed in sudden answer, looking over to Quichie who answers back, “Mine was rough. And I guess yours was also huh?” A nod from Doax answered Quichie’s question as she answered back with a nod of her own, smiling afterward before asking. “So why four then? Where was Natty? Why was she deleted from the list?”

“Was she not a member of the original unit before?” Doax asked

“She was actually.” I started, a nod came afterward as Doax and Lutica frowned, their faces darken pondering over the thought. I decided this was the time for me to speak and I took the opportunity to do so with my thoughts spitting out from my tongue as I converse with them.

“Natty was the third member of our team. She was a former bully and took advantage of us during preschool to middle school. However, she seemed to stop in the aftermath of the shooting at the auditorium beforehand.” “The auditorium, Ling?” Doax asked, tilting his head to one side and I nodded back smiling, “Yes.” “What happened there?” Asked Lutica, but I shook my head bringing back the conversation to the topic at hand. “That is not important. Rather, why Natty was gone or deleted from the list.”

“Oh right.” Answered Lutica with a frown on her face wondering if I did it for purpose of avoiding a personal relationship with my former bully.

“So we know that she was a former bully. But stopped after the auditorium shooting.” Quichie started, “But that does not tell us why she was deleted.”

“Maybe it had something to do with the merge.” I started, piping my voice as the other three turned to me. “The merge?” Doax questioned me, his head tilted again looking onto me with confusion as I nodded to him, defending my answer. “Think about it. When Order and Chaos merge. Both sides lose something. For Order, it's Natty and some other dragons. For Chaos, we are not sure.” “Cause we never met the R7 yet.” Answered Quichie despite the force laughs from Doax and Lutica as I shook my head, smiling.

“Maybe…” Started Doax as silence fell again. Neither of us said anything else for our minds was dry as well. With the conversation stopping there, I exhaled and shook my head a bit, and returned to reality. Everyone else seemed to raise and spread their wings as an evening cold air rushes against our scales. I rose my eyes to the horizon, noticing that the sun was sinking despite us complaining that it was so sudden. And shifted my eyes fixing them to Doax who caught them, nodding his head. Silently, we agreed to meet up with the other unit who was waiting for us at the entrance of the hallway. Westward from our headquarters which was North from the burned buildings where we are at right now. As breath escaped from my mouth and my eyes closing suddenly, I joined the other four dragons in spreading my blue wings. We jumped together and flew high into the air where the air rushes between our wings. Rising in sky elevation, we flew north with the hope that Yang’s unit was still there.

However, by the time of our arrival, we were surprised to see the entrance empty. Yang’s unit was gone erased from the streets as if someone or something had swallowed it up. We landed safely by hard upon the grounds that cracks formed underneath our weight. I stepped away from my unit and forward to the entrance staring at the spot where they used to be there. Tears had started falling from my eyes as I quickly and quietly pondered where they were at. As I stepped closer to the spot, I heard Doax spoke to me and pointed leftward as I turned to him. I looked over to my left, spotting a huge blue dark sign appearing at us. It arched over between the gap of two fences. Ahead of us was a narrowed pathway. Buildings were to the sides, taller than the buildings we have now as I narrowed my eyes and clenches my claws. Growling and a bit pissed off, I stormed my way forward through the gates as my unit followed behind me hastily. For a single thought entered our minds as we walked through the alleyway before us, ‘Where was Yang’s unit.’

We were deep within the alleyways. Dark walls closed in onto us. With close and tight windows surrounding us and Doax being afraid of someone watching them from those windows secretly, we planted ourselves on the center of the road. Staring at our surroundings. There were no lights or lamps. The roads underneath our feet were rocky and it hurts. The roads stretched to the horizon, however, no one was around. A dark eerie atmosphere washed over us as silence came front to our mouths. Doax, Lutica, and Quichie stared in silence. Hearts beating in their chest as I motioned everyone after a short break. We moved as a unit forward inching to our goal. Wherever the road had taken us.

We walked for miles without end. It seems that the roads were forever. Block after a flock of alleyways formed before our very eyes as the darkness ahead of us reeled backward. Shortly, I was afraid and anxious that my mind began to wonder. Pondering about what was waiting for us at the end. In the end, I was left with two questions. ‘Where is Yang’s unit.’ and ‘Do the clues point to us the answer?’ I never said anything and allowed the silence to follow me over. The windows were gone, doors appear in their stead. As lamps hanged from the rooftops above us and shined faintly in the darkness as well as our eyes, our footsteps echoed and bounced along the walls surrounding us. We continued walking, perhaps already reaching two-thirds of the way there, and my heart pounded loudly in my chest and thoughts swirled around my head as I continued.

We probably already reached the end. But neither of us could confirm it. As our eyes laid upon the brick wall before us, I huffed and exhaled my held breath relieving my lungs of the pressure as I turned my head over to Lutica. She was preoccupied and staring down at the wall before us. Her wings folded behind her, her head tilted to one side. With her mouth closed, she suddenly stepped forward and raised her claw to her head. Lightly tapping against the wall, she knocked twice. One light, one heavy. The wall breaks suddenly, I smiled. Doax and Quichie raised their claws above their heads forming a fist pump as they congratulated her. She only smiled faintly, red rose blushed upon her cheeks as she avoided us with her eyes and kept upon the path ahead of her. I said nothing but a nod before she leads us through the wall and entered into whatever was ahead of us.

Yet we were surprised to see what was there. No building. Just a plain view of a grass field that stood where flowers had started to unfold.  In the distance, we spotted Yang’s unit. All of them had gathered on one spot, their claws busy holding someone down. Doax and Quichie gasped attempting to run up to them and help, but I held them back. All we could do was watch as the grass fields rapidly turned into a drought. The fantasy unfolding before our very eyes as we stood in our groups. Staring with a mixture of silence, awed and concerned upon our expressive faces as we stared upon Yang’s group and the culprit at the center of the unit. We watched as everything started warping and transitioning.

Till all that progress faded off. Our fantasy is gone. Reality returning to our eyes. And Yang’s unit slowly rising from the depths of their frozenness. They stood on two feet, wings unfolding and spread out. The bright blue sea light shining behind them and covered them. It all looked almost like a play as if Yang’s unit and the culprit had rehearsed this many times before our arrival. It was as if we were the audience awning in surprise at what we were looking at. The actors remained still for a few more seconds before the culprit slipped underneath the shadows of Yang’s unit and escaped stage left. The culprit was quick and cunning that it only separated itself from the others for a second before disappearing. Then once it was gone, the play was over. The light behind Yang’s unit vanished. They fell to the ground, the shadows of their bodies peeling back showing their colors. At around this time, I allowed my unit to run to them and they did so at my silent order.

Rapid footsteps echoed in my ears as shouts and screams were ignored. The bodies of mine and Yang joined together into one. Yet one of the two heads hanged over while the other expressed concerns. I said nothing but to step forward. Slow at first, cautious upon Yang’s well-being and concern that she would not recognize me after being away for a long time. But as I approached, her head rose from the grounds below her and met my eyes. I smiled, she responded with her own. As we stared for a moment before snapping my mind into attention remembering about my professionalism, I crouched and stretched my claw out for her. She grabbed it and helped herself up. We said nothing as she stood on two legs, our eyes met once again. But I saw tears forming from hers. Blurring her visions as she hugged me and wrapped her arms around my neck. My wings frailed opened in surprise upon her gesture but folded again as I wrapped my own around her. Allowing her to cry as we held each other.