Displaced: Fallen Kingdom

Earth

Manhattan; Subway

He’d be at this all day. The teen thought as he found himself stepping through yet another subway station. He grunted in disgust as his boots hit puddles of sludge, leftovers from either people not tossing their garbage in the cans provided down here or from the heavy rain that had stirred up not to long ago. Either case though it felt disgusting. Saving grace however; boots were waterproof. So murk wasn’t getting to his socks, let alone his feet. They touched his feet he was going to need another fucking bath. Not that he wasn’t going to need another bath after this anyway. Was already feeling dirty down here, and he hadn’t even gotten his clothes messed up yet.

Best not jinx it though.

Getting to the subway station had been rather easy, all it took was finding a station, and thankfully there were plenty around for him to access. All that took afterwards was to slip through the gates and walk out onto the tracks. He just hoped the trains were still out, otherwise he’s be pulling an Indiana Jones, only instead of a boulder chasing his ass it’ll be a 85,200 lb subway train clocking out at 55 mph. He could thank Wikipedia for that knowledge; as well as an essay on trains thanks to his old teacher.

Wonder if he made it out ok though… The teen thought before taking a breath, shaking his head and pressed on. If he was lucky his old teachers were still alive as were a few of his friends. If they wasn’t…

“Don’t think like that.” He muttered as he clenched his fists for a moment. “They should all still be alive. You saw them get away. You saw that they were alright.” He reminded himself as he closed his eyes for a moment and took a calming breath. Something scuttered beyond his senses as he opened his eyes turning his head as he reached for his weapon, stopping only when he realized that it was just a few rats moving about. “Fucking rats. For a moment I thought…” The teen shook his head as he pressed on, this time breaking into a jog as he headed down the tunnels. Wasn’t sure how long he moved. Could have been half an hour could have been a couple, but he still moved. Making his way across the tracks and through more dens of rats and mice. Thankfully they were the only things down here today. Above ground though?

Above ground wasn’t so lucky.

Reaching another station the teen came to a quick pause as he looked at where he was. Finally made it. Took twelve stops but he made it, and no Indiana reenactments either so that was a plus.

Now came the hard part…

Bringing himself outside the subway the teen signed to himself as he took in this part of Manhattan.

Didn’t matter where he went, Manhattan was a wreck. A glorified gravesite of buildings that either towered overhead or were smashed into the ground. Streets were broken, and cars were rammed into one another. Moss and some type of twisted black tar covered just everything; worse part was that the tar seemed alive, breathing and twitching every now and then. And the sky? The sky was etched in dark clouds for days now and it was maybe through luck the rain had not returned. Not that he cared at the moment though, he made his way through the streets dodging the black ooze and climbing over cars and trucks. Getting on top of a bus gave him a good view of his city, but it was still a sight of a fallen city.

“Still I doubt that any city won’t look like this now.” He thought before jumping off the bus and moved on.

“N ialbb m aeghmb maejv pi.” Stopping he looked at one of the buildings as something stepped out. Some freak of nature covered in horns and blackened, molted skin. It was quickly followed by another, as well as a third before they all looked around.

“Mi de n fgehrlg.”

“Ljepvr oep he mgl mbmoi ialbbnjv aeghmbi, nh’i bnclbo tpih oepg rpjvlg.” The third muttered as it looked back at it’s companions. From his hiding spot the teen listened as they had a back and forth, though he couldn’t make heads or tails of whatever the hell it was they were saying. Not certain that he wanted to either way. “Hmal oepg rpjvlg, I nbb zlld oep ieej ao fgehrlgi.” For his part the teen did nothing, simply reaching for his weapon as he slowly moved.

Could he take em? That was a good question. He could always turn and try another street if he was lucky, but as of right now? Too close. One of the monsters stepped over the car he was hiding behind as he held his breath. “… Jehrnjv ni rlgl, seal blh pi glhpgj he hrl dlj, zeed nbb bnclbo fl mmnhnjv pi.”

The others said something before they stormed off, both wandering after their apparent leader before disappearing through down one of the streets. As for the human, he took a breath, slowly getting to his feet as he moved.

Far to close that time. How many patrols did that make now? Seven? Eight? And to think those weren’t the only things he was dodging up here. He pushed that fact away and shook his head, reaching his destination. One of the residential districts, most of it was trashed but it was still standing, thankfully. Now he just needed to find the right building.

“Should be somewhere over here… here!” The teen muttered as he looked at one of the buildings and approached. Static greeted him, which in itself made his hair stand on end for a moment, but it was nothing a quick brushing down couldn’t have helped with. He knocked a few times, before pushing it open and stepped inside. “Hello? Anybody here?”

“Who’s there?” Hearing a voice actually greet him the teen raised his hands as he found a shotgun pointed at him from across the hall. Before him was an older woman, though if he had to guess she wasn’t that much older than him. Hazel eyes and ebon hair.

“Easy, easy? I’m not your enemy.” He told her as he slowly approached.

“Don’t move!” He obeyed. She stepped forward her weapon ready as she looked him over. For a moment her eyes changed; once, twice before turning to normal and she relaxed. “You’re not one of the shifters.”

“Thankfully.”

“And yet you made it through my barrier… who are you, what house do you hail from?” The teen simply took a breath as he lowered his arms, seeing as the older woman wasn’t going to put a hole in his chest as she started to lower her weapon.

“My name is Noah Astray Bellerosé; seventh son of Damian - husband of Vanessa. Eighth and youngest heir of the Bellerosé family bloodline. I seek the assistance of the House of Altera.” Hearing his introduction the woman completely lowered her weapon before nodding. She raised a hand to her breast as she took a quick inhale.

“I am Lucretia Liam Altera; third daughter of Michael - husband of Rosaria. Second eldest heir to the Altera family bloodline.” Noah bowed.

“Tis’ an honor.”

***

Their had always been two parts to the Earth; that which everyone saw in the light, and that which was hidden in the darkness. What was myth and fable in the light was real and true in the dark. Monsters, demons and goblins, they all existed in the shadows. It was a shame then, that what was hidden in the dark was now crossing over into the world of light.

“I’m sorry if it’s a bit bland, we don’t have much sugar left I’m afraid.” Lucretia stated as she poured two cups of tea.

“It’s find, bland is better than nothing, right?” Noah stated as he started to drink and relax for a moment. Noah wasn’t the most attractive of young men his age, though he wasn’t unpleasant to look upon either. Puberty had obviously been kind to him. His jacket was ripped and scratched up, and his pants had dirty knee-pads but still he found a way to look relatively decent. Her attention shifted to his weapon of choice, the one he had set aside for a moment. A European styled sword with a length between a longsword and a greatsword - a bastard sword if she recalled correctly. The other was still in it’s holster. A pistol that she couldn’t fully make out. “Thank you.” He said out of nowhere as she just returned to her own drink.

“You’re welcome.” She admitted as she took a moment. “I must say I am surprised though, I had not expected to cross the Bellerosé, let alone find one outside my doorstep. It is good to see that your family is still around.”

“Likewise, I hadn’t heard of what might have happened to the Altera, I was beginning to worry.”

“As you can see, we are still alive, though for how much longer, that’s the question.” Lucretia stated as she took a drink. “Regardless what brings you to our home Bellerosé, do you seek haven for the coming night?” Noah shook his head as he lowered his cup.

“As lovely as that would be, right now all I can ask for is your assistance.”

“In?”

“I need to contact the Order, do you have an Echolite I can borrow?”

“The Order?” That seemed to catch Lucretia off guard for moment as she leaned forward. “Are you certain you want to contact them?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Then I’ll lend you my Echolite.”

“Just like that?” Lucretia simply giggled as she looked at the teen. “I was expecting I would need to try convincing you or something.”

“The day may still be young, but dark times are still wrapping around us. Do you have the time to try convincing me to let you speak with them?” Noah stayed silent for a moment before nodding his head.

“I guess you have a point. In this situation neither of us have time to try beating around the bush.” The teen smiled for a moment as he lowered his cup. “Thanks again. As soon as I’m done with my call, I’ll be out of your hair.”

***

The Order; The Kingsmen, Knights of the Round Table. Had a thousand other names in the past but those were the most common. Noah had never bothered contacting them in his life before, never needed to, but times were different now. And hopefully enough time had passed to…

“Here you go. You know how to work this right?’ Lucretia asked as she handed the Echolite to Noah and watched him roll it between his palm for a moment. Bigger than the clump he was used to back home. Theirs was about the size of an chicken’s egg, this thing? Might as well of been a snowglobe.

“How the hell did you get one this big?”

“I’m not quite certain myself, but it’s been in my family for some generations now.” The young woman admitted before stepping back. “Whenever your ready.” Noah nodded his head and closed his eyes for a moment, focusing for a moment as the globe sized stone started to glow with an almost phantom blue coloration. He bounced it once, twice before tossing it forward.

The globe never hit the floor, simply floating in the air as the glow around it stretched for a moment, glowing into a horizontal line that touches both the ceiling and the floor at the same time.The globe pulsed a few times, vapors of magic spilling out of it before it enveloped the room and bathed the two in it’s light. They both blinked a few times watching as thirteen “ghosts” came into appearance.

“… and Geraint?”

“We haven’t heard… hm? Who’s there?”

“Hey, sorry I interrupting something?” Noah said as he reached his hand in his pocket. “I have the worst timing sometimes.”

“How did you find out this echo frequency?”

“My grandfather taught it to me when I was young, said that I might come in handy one day.” Noah did a mock bow as he introduced himself once more. “My name is Noah Astray Bellerosé; seventh son of Damian - husband of Vanessa. Eighth and youngest heir of the Bellerosé family bloodline.” Lucretia did a curtsy, something that admittingly looked a little odd considering she wasn’t in anything remotely like a dress.

“I am Lucretia Liam Altera; third daughter of Michael - husband of to Rosaria. Second eldest heir to the Altera family bloodline.”

“…! Altera? Bellerosé?”

“What are you two doing contacting us?!” One of the ghosts called out as they all but growled. “Leave the circle right now!”

“I’ll break it after we’ve exchanged words knight.” The teen muttered as he looked around for a moment, trying to figure something out before frowning. ‘This would be so much easier if we could see their faces.’ “Which of you made the circle?”

“That would be me.” One of the ghost’s stated as they stepped forward. Female, definitely female. “I am the Knight Lancelot.”

“A pleasure, and I apologize, I represent none of the Knights among us. So my name will have to do.”

“As will mine.” Lucretia muttered as she tried gauging the female ghost - the echo before her.

“I understand. Tell us what caused you to join the circle Bellerosé? Altera?”

“I wanted to talk.” Noah admitted. “As you know the world is all but falling apart at the seams, and that which we have forced into the darkness is starting to claw back to the surface.”

“Oh we’re aware of that, Ausgestoßener, how could we not? This is not a quarantined event.”

“Easy Sir Kay.”

“What was that?” Noah turned to the male echo and frowned for a moment. “Seriously what was that? I don’t speak Sweden.”

“Actually that was German.” Lucretia chimed in before coughing into her fist.

“Oh…well I don’t speak German either.” He muttered before turning back to Lancelot. “Regardless, I wanted to speak with you on the possibility of an alliance; one between the Order and the Tapestry.”

“Allying with the Tapestry?”

“Do you think we’re crazy?”

“Why in the hell would you even recommend such a thing?”

“Enough.” Lancelot silenced the echoes as she turned to the members of the circle. “You speak on behalf of the Tapestry, then I trust your words are their own?”

“I’m neutral in this ordeal, but yes I carry their words. Will you listen to them?” He was greeted with a series of denials but again Lancelot silenced them with her hand.

“Speak your piece.”

“I ask this alliance because we all have a common enemy and goal in mind; survival of humanity. I can’t think of a better analogy here but; Hell is knocking at our doorstep, it’s walking in the streets. The Tapestry sees this and wishes to put an end to hostilities in light of this crisis and honestly I agree with them.” Noah admitted. “We can’t help anyone if you’re focusing on your own shadow war. We want to protect the people, we need to stand united.”

“We can handle things on our own, Ausgestoßener, we don’t need the Tapestry’s help in doing that.”

“Agreed.”

“I disagree.” Lancelot stated as she turned to Kay and the others. “We have a crisis on our hands, one that is spreading far to fast for us to deal with on our own. We face not one enemy but five. We need all the help we can get during this kind ordeal.”

“Thank the Mother Goddess one of you see’s reason.” Noah muttered as he crossed his arms. “Your right too; none of us can do this alone. Hell, what remains of the nations are starting to gather as well, that’s just how fucking bad our situation is.”

“No truer words could be said.” One of the other Knights admitted as he shook his head. “I have connections in the American Government; they told me the president is trying to get in touch with the Council of Nations to organize a counterattack.”

“As is the Monarchy.” Lancelot stated. “Gawain, please try and contact the other Knight families. We need to bring this up to all the others.”

“As you wish Sir Lancelot.”

“You can’t be serious.” Kay growled as his echo stepped forward. “You seriously want us to consider an alliance with the Tapestry?”

“The entire world is at danger Sir Kay. If we are to survive this we will need allies. If the nations of the world can try putting aside their differences to protect our species we can do the same.”

“I can’t believe you…”

“As soon as the Tapestry has it’s chance they’ll no doubt turn on us, you know this.”

“You can not be to sure about that. This might just be what is needed in order to -”

“My ass!” One of the Echos growled. “If you believe we can trust those monsters then that’s on you, I want nothing to do with it.” The Knight’s Echo disappeared a moment later. He wasn’t the only one, one after the next the Knight’s disappeared, leaving only Gawain and Lancelot remaining.

“They always like this?”

“Not always.” Lancelot muttered as she raised an arm to her temples. “Usually the circle is more calm, but with how things are going lately…”

“I understand.” Lucretia chipped in. “Tensions are running high all over the place, it was bound to spill out sooner or later. We were just the outlet they needed.”

“I’m afraid so, and I apologize for any disrespect they may have caused.” Lancelot bowed before rising again. “Altera, Bellerosé; I ask for some time, when the remaining knights gather I will try to make them see reason. As you said; hell is knocking at our doorstep, if we can not be united for such an event, then we will never be.”

“Take all the time you need, Sir Lancelot. Gawain.”

“Be safe you two.”

The last two echoes disappeared as the Echolite dropped to the ground, bouncing a few times before falling still. Noah just sighed as he retrieved the stone, running his free hand through his hair as he looked at his companion. “Why is it that your half of the species is the one that’s the most understanding?”

“You obviously don’t watch Reality TV do you?” Taking the globe-sized piece of Echolite Lucretia made to put it away as she shook her head.

“No I really don’t.” Noah admitted before reaching for his sword. “Either way my message was at least sent, all I can do now is just hope they at least try to get an alliance going... we’ll need it.” The teen muttered as he set the weapon on his back. “Either way as promised I’ll get out of your hair now. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“My hospitality doesn’t have to end just yet.” Lucretia stated as she walked back over to the teen. “This is a safe place, and as I said before; if you desire it we can accommodate you with a bed for the night, perhaps even a bath.”

“I’d hate to impose.”

“You wouldn’t be imposing anything.” The young woman stated. “Though this is not the true Altera home, our doors are forever open to those that can bypass the barrier - so long as they do not stir up trouble.”

“I don’t plan to cause trouble.”

“Then my home is yours. Anything within its walls are yours.”