The night air was cooler once we left the confines of the crater, a sign of the wintertime. The scorched earth disappeared behind us, giving way to clean pavement. Cacophony walked at my side, her bare feet hitting against the asphalt. Unlike before, she didn't march ahead at her own pace, opting instead to stick with me. I wasn't sure how long that would last, though.
Every so often, I cast a glance over my shoulder. After my rather dramatic arrival, part of me expected to see flashing lights in the distance or hear the rising wail of sirens. I mean, a human meteor obliterating a house must've made quite the commotion; there's no way it'd just fly under the radar.
That's what I thought at least, but nothing came. I waited for something to arrive, but the night remained still. The air was completely hushed, save for the rhythmic sound of our steps and the distant noises that drifted through the air. In short, no one came, and it seemed no one was coming.
On top of that, Cacophony didn't seem too worried about it. I also didn't hear any loud crashing sound during my descent... Guess we're safe?
I adjusted my pace slightly and looked north. "From my house to the school, it's usually about a thirty-minute walk. That's going west to east in a straight line, though. The graveyard was southward, in Little Haiti, so we'll have to travel north and a bit west to get there. I'd say… forty to forty-five minutes, give or take."
Cacophony nodded her head, but didn't respond. She focused her attention on the houses we were walking past.
I couldn't blame her for being unfocused. For a centuries-old vampire, there was a lot to see in the modern world. It was sure to be far different than whatever old-timey country that she'd lived in.
Even I was feeling glad to see a change in scenery. Though it wasn't new to me, any sight that wasn't the houses of the Null Streets was a welcome change.
The further we went, the more the scenery began to shift. The squat, tightly packed homes of the Null Streets gave way to wider lanes and more spacious buildings. The roads here weren't forgotten residue of a time past; these were maintained and had more modern flair.
We'd finally reached the main road.
As we continued, we exited the residential area and began to see small one-story storefronts, each with signs advertising local businesses, organizations, and upcoming events.
One of the signs advertised a festival taking place on January the twelfth. Next to it was a simplistic analog countdown. It stated: 'Four Days Left!'
'That means it's definitely still Wednesday, January the eighth. While we were in the Null Streets, time didn't pass at some accelerated rate.'
I slowed for a moment, glancing around. "Huh. Looks like we finally made it out," I muttered under my breath.
The Empress opted not to comment on my obvious statement. Her eyes continued to scan the streets, a twinkle of curiosity growing within them. As her eyes swept across the buildings and signs, her slowed gait increased slightly. I got the feeling that in a few moments she'd scurry off ahead of me.
'And she doesn't even know where we're going...'
I should try to strike up a conversation to stop her from going off on her own.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and let out a thoughtful hum. "Y'know, there's only one thing that my great, sage mind can't wrap around. Why is it that you didn't make a crater after falling out of the subspace?"
She spoke without slowing her pace, "When it comes to escaping subspaces, there are tricks to know where you'll end up. In my case, I reentered the world only about half a house's height from the ground. From there, I landed gracefully on my feet."
As she spoke, she continued to speed up. Soon enough, she was prancing on ahead. My conversation scheme went up in smoke.
With a sigh, I did my best to keep her within my sights, but I found myself having to speed walk just not to get left in the dust.
All the while, my exhaustion and fatigue were gnawing at me. With my arm and eye healed, the issue that still plagued me was the exhaustion that came from running up and down the Null Streets so many times. Of course, the fact that my body wasn't on the verge of failure made me thankful, but having to walk for forty-five minutes on these shaky legs was going to be a challenge.
Unlike me, Cacophony had no such problems, floating along the street like a leaf in the wind.
Ahead, the cityscape grew more lively. Alluring scents and chatter drifted out from midnight diners, wayward drifters walked the streets, and residents prepared last-minute preparations in case of a sudden storm or downpour.
A simple fact struck me in that moment.
The world is far different at night. The sights, ones that I'd gotten used to seeing all the time, looked foreign.
I'd always thought of myself as a night owl, but I guess I never really thought about going out and experiencing the night like this. I spent the vast majority of my free time alone in one place or another. After the sun went down, I was basically always cooped up in my house. That was why I'd never seen the city in this way until now.
The quietness of the normally busy streets coated my ears in a special kind of serenity. The edges of my mind were already blurred due to my exhaustion, so as I stood in that serenity, I felt as though I was in a different place altogether.
I learned then of the bewitching enchantment of a city that was half-awake and half-asleep.
***
The time went by faster than I would have expected.
The Empress constantly found herself enamored with some random aspect of the modern world and trailed off on her own. I would then be forced to guide her back onto the correct path, whilst giving some bare bones explanation for whatever it was that she'd grown interested in.
As she went, it looked like Cacophony was taking mental notes of a multitude of things so that she could familiarize herself with her new environment. In contrast, I struggled with the few explanations that I was providing her. It felt like I should've been thinking harder about what I was saying, but I found myself stumped.
'I mean, a streetlamp is just a streetlamp... How much can I really say?'
Somewhere around the forty-minute mark, the scenery around us became more like what I was used to.
Ahead was a metallic bridge built over water. The bridge itself was about one hundred feet long and ten feet wide.
We crossed over a bridge of dull, time-stained metal. Its supports groaned faintly as we stepped, but having crossed this bridge countless times, I knew it would hold. Looking over the side, I peeked at the water. The faint outlines of rooftops and streetlights could be seen through the rippling surface. Schools of fish swam, having made the sunken houses their own.
As we made it to the second half of the bridge, the details of our destination became more obvious.
The advanced, sleekly designed electrical streetlamps of the more fortunate regions were replaced with candle-lit lamps that needed to be manually lit by hand. These let out a weaker, weary, orange glow instead of the electrical yellowish white. The vibrantly colorful, Caribbean-themed houses and buildings had faded away, replaced by rows of muted, patchwork houses. These patchwork houses were made from fragments of scrap metal and shoddy woodwork.
This entire region was built upon large floating platforms that kept everything from being drowned in the vast sea.
The air was thick with the lingering scent of salt and iron.
Wooden walkways stretched across patches of shallow water where streets had once been, and small, humming pumps whispered along the edges, keeping the tide at bay. At the very end of the bridge, there was a message hand-painted onto the ground.
In bold white letters that contrasted perfectly against the metallic black that the bridge was constructed of.
Cacophony stopped to look at the message. The artificial glow of a nearby lamp cast her face in pale gold as her red eyes traced the words.
"An unusual place for a message. What does it say?" she said quietly.
"Oh, you can't read it. I nearly forgot." I replied, resting my hands on the railing. "It's a greeting to any vagabonds who might find themselves desperate enough to take refuge in a desolate place such as this. The words are simple: 'To those set adrift, the seabreeze remembers.' It's, well, something of a uniting motto."
Cacophony looked back at me with questions in her eyes, but seeing my tired eyes, she decided to hold off.
"Let's hurry along. Your house is nearby, yes?"
I nodded. "A castle worthy of someone such as me."
Pushing myself off the railing, I marched ahead. "We can cut through the walkways, just have to avoid the parts that unsavory scavenger factions have claimed."
We stepped off the bridge and onto the planks that connected the floating platforms. Unlike the ever-groaning bridge, these didn't protest with every step. Underneath, though, the sounds of the sea's lapping and surging continued.
Flames from streetlights flickered one by one as we passed, their orange glow rippling over the canals that divided the streets. Between houses, dark shapes shifted under the water's surface. They could've been fish, remnants of buildings, or something else entirely. As long as it wasn't something dangerous, though, I wasn't much interested in investigating.
After a few more turns, we reached the end of a narrow walkway that led to a small floating platform isolated from the rest. My house stood there completely alone.
It was a single-story patchwork made from a wooden frame and salvaged metal plating that glimmered faintly under the moonlight. Since the outershell was made from random metals, the surface was uneven. At a glance, it might've seemed thoughtlessly put together, but there was a logic to the madness.
Every seam caused by the uneven metals was sealed with a rubberized waterproof coating, its color black as tar. For obvious reasons, it was extremely popular for housebuilding in this region.
The house's more defining feature was its roof. It had a sharply sloping, asymmetrical design that angled down toward the rear of the house. It was built to direct hurricane winds up over the house instead of against it. It was a more novel and unknown design trait that many of the other houses lacked.
"Not too bad, but shouldn't the Dark King have a far more lofty abode?" Cacophony remarked.
"Well, uh, currently I'm hiding out from the... Holy Un-Angelic Order? Something like that. Anyway, I can't make too big a splash as things stand now."
Digging into my bookbag, I grabbed my key.
"Hold on. We should make a plan for how to deal with your parents and siblings."
That statement caused my eyes to dart to the floor. "No, there's no need for any of that. The Great Dark King doesn't need to be pampered by his parents or siblings. I live alone."
"Really? You manage to not only maintain upkeep for this residence, but also pay for all its amenities on your own?"
"Something like that... Well, I wouldn't call myself a king if I couldn't take care of everything that needed taking care of."
Cacophony smiled faintly, the gesture just barely visible in the low light. "Then I'll hold my tongue. Let us rest, Dark King. Tomorrow, the world will wait for no one."
With a curt nod, I inserted my key and twisted the doorknob. Pushing open the door, we both stepped inside.
At the very first opportunity, I allowed my exhaustion to finally take me and fell asleep.