Into The Bloom
My eyes fluttered open. My gaze lowered to the watch.
Ordinary.
I was dropped in the heart of Clematis City—'The Bloom'—famous for its clematis-flower shape.
I was surrounded by government buildings and offices of the elite.
I walked through the empty streets and came to Gate-One, separating the heart of the city from the Business Petal. The toll gate lights were dark—completely powerless with the city's main power shut off.
How do I get past the gate?
Maybe I should try the teleportation device the arena provided me with…?
My upper teeth captured my lower lip.
Ugh…
I grabbed the ledge, pulling myself up with all the force I had. My arms trembled as if ready to give up any second.
I really need to work on my arm strength.
The gate wasn't too tall—just a metallic divider with a railing. Climbing over was awkward, but doable.
I wasn't ready to use the teleportation device; I barely understood how it worked.
Finally, my left leg swung over the ledge. I tried to find footing to get down the other side.
"AHHH–"
I lost my footing, falling on the ground with a loud thud.
I groaned, slowly sitting up. I barely recovered from the alien beating, and I was already abusing myself again.
Rubbing my back, I stood up, checking the device again.
They were near.
I followed the dot beeping, leading me to a five-floor building. It looked empty. Were they really inside?
"Fern Mask?"
I called out.
No answer.
Beep.
I checked the device again, my face scrunching as I saw the dots move to The Bloom.
The device clearly showed them in the Business Petal, and now they were in The Bloom…?
I stared at it for a good few seconds. There was something wrong here.
The dot jumped. Why? And how?
I looked around, feeling nothing but emptiness. It created a haunting feeling.
I didn't like it.
I turned around, heading back the way I came from. The machine was as annoying as the arena.
Unreliable.
In the distance, I saw familiar figures. A forest green suit and a white suit.
Fern Mask and Black Watch.
I headed towards them.
Black Watch stood beside Fern Mask, talking. Like the whole empty city was none of their concern.
Weird.
Once I got closer, I waved at them.
They weren't even looking at me. Why did I do that?
I cringed inwardly.
I forced the awkwardness aside. I walked closer to them. Black Watch was the first one to notice me, and he excitedly called me out.
"White Watch!"
He dashed over towards me, almost colliding with me. I flinched back in response.
"Oh hi… Fern told me that you were joining us today. I thought he was messing with me, but you are here. You really are."
"I am."
My gaze flickered to the side. Awkward.
Fern walked over, easing the tension in the air.
"Hey, White Watch. I am glad you came by."
"It's not like I had a choice," I mumbled. Maybe I shared too much. "So… what were you guys doing before I arrived?"
"Nothing much. Just–"
Fern Mask started but Black Watch cut him off.
"Just wandering around. We still have not gotten any new news from the arena. Just that you were coming by."
I nodded as we began to walk over towards the city hall. Black Watch walked too close for comfort. I subconsciously put some distance between us.
Something about this place tugged at me.
Nathan visited the city with Mom and Dad when he was five. He always preferred Clematis to Starlight City, saying Starlight was too crowded compared to Clematis.
He wasn't wrong.
Especially over the past few decades, Starlight's population has grown exponentially.
"By the way, what took you so long?"
Black Watch asked.
"The tracker messed me up, led me to the business petal. So I had to make my way back."
"Oh… right."
They both looked at each other as if they knew something I didn't. I fiddled with my hands. Should I ask them?
No. I'll just observe for now.
We ascended the staircase, heading upstairs into the main building.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Black Watch leaning to whisper something to Fern Mask. What were they talking about? Were they talking about me? In a good way or a bad one?
I didn't know which one I wanted.
I focused ahead.
Inside, things were clean as a city hall should be. Fern took the lead, leaving Black Watch and me behind. The silence stretched, and I felt someone's eyes on me. But whenever I looked at him, his eyes would be averted.
We finally reached the staff room where they had set up everything.
There were snacks set up, with weapon reloads, medkits, communication devices, spare juice refills, and even a bean bag.. How much did he spend on this setup? And why?
"Pretty cozy."
I commented, eying the setup. Why did they have these things? What were they planning…?
"Yeah, I wanted it to be cozy."
Black Watch said.
"Yeah, he spent a lot of his credits making sure this was the perfect atmosphere, almost…"
Fern Mask said something at the end but I couldn't catch it. Black Watch elbowed him in the stomach.
My mind wrote that down. He spent credits on these… unnecessary things…
"How much credit did you spend on this setup?"
I asked, turning my head around to look back at Black Watch.
"Not much, just 5000 credits."
I quickly did the math in my head. 1 credit was $0.10. So he spent $500 on this.
"You spent that much on this?"
I muttered.
"Yeah—I invested. I can put them away and reuse them for the next time."
"Except the snacks."
Fern Mask added.
"Right."
"That's a lot to spend on something like this," I mumbled, to myself.
I adjusted the newly made mask. Typically, I love the smell of new clothes but this suit had a rusty smell, almost too…minerally. What other things were this suit made of other than carbon fiber?
"The suit looks good on you. Sleek and simple."
Fern Mask said.
He forgot to mention how it resembled Black's suit. Naming myself White Watch was so stupid. Now I have a matching suit with Black Watch; his was all white with black seams while mine was all black with white seams.
But it did look good on me.
"Yeah… it is great."
Black Watch added.
He noticed the similarity, didn't he?
"The mask is a little loose but other than that, it is good," I said, trying to forget about the suit.
"The question is about comfort. Is it comfortable?"
He asked.
I walked over to the empty seat and settled down.
"Not really."
"Then you should tell Gertrude. She will take another set of measurements and fix it."
Black Watch said.
My eyes twitched, recalling what that woman did to me.
"No! It is fine. I am fine. This will be fine. I will adjust."
The thought of going back to that room made my body tremble.
Black Watch eyed me.
"You sure?"
Fern Mask walked over, sitting down beside me.
"Yeah. I am fine," I said too fast.
"It is a pity that the rule of covering our faces is only heavily enforced on us. The AVA and Zionalma Kingdom's members don't really care. The Guardians of the Unirex only does it because Mr. Hornet Mask tells them to. To help us fit in."
Fern added.
The 'Earthians'—the group I fell into—consisted of Fern Mask as the leader, Black Watch, M. Cool, Odd Star, and me, White Watch.
The GOU had seven active members on Earth: Hornet Mask, Agile Eye, Night Coven, Toxic Doxie, Aureolo, Tigeralla–famously known as Tiger Girl, and, surprisingly, Stella.
Stella Lumaris.
The lines between AVA and ZK were blurry. To me, they all were… aliens—they do not belong on Earth.
In fact, the AVA and ZK were not even known to the city, kept a secret. Now that I know it, it could be used as leverage.
I let out a sigh, leaning back.
"So… what kind of life did you have before joining the arena?"
Black cooed, making me snap.
A ray of disconnected memory flashed before me—car… accident… Nathan… Godfather… alley… night… laboratory…
"Black! Behave!"
Fern Mask shouted.
I snapped back. My heart was racing. I looked away, hiding the guilt. My body grew warmer underneath the suit.
Why did he ask that? What was wrong with him?
"Shouldn't we check on what happened?"
I forced myself to speak. Maybe this will help me ease up.
"We did a check. Come along, we will show you."
I followed behind without hesitation. Finally, I'll actually learn something instead of just shadowing them.
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