Chapter 2: Chapter 1: The Train

The very first gate storm was said to be a sign of the end times, within one-week humankind was pushed closer and closer to the brink. Beasts poured out with no pause, if not for modern-day weaponry being up to par it would’ve been over in just a few days. Even with the best artillery, some beasts were nigh unkillable. 

It wasn’t until the gods descended from their thrones that we stood a chance against whatever was causing this madness. Certain humans were given blessings, and with those came trials, a new era for mankind was here. We lost hundreds of millions in the first few years, but as time went on we fought back and began to win battles here and there.

Some started making names for themselves, gathering others under them and forming guilds, others with blessings from gods of craftwork made companies to support the rest. Governments around the world relied on guilds to protect them from the gates, they were heroes in the eyes of many people. 

Eventually, sanctuaries and dead zones were established, and places that had been ravaged by those from beyond the gates were destroyed to the point of being uninhabitable. So humanity took refuge in large cities and built defenses to keep threats outside. Gates could still open inside of the cities but guilds were sure to take care of those before they were breached by those on the other side. 

We lost entire countries to the first gate storms, but those that were left were strengthened by the new materials that came from the gates. New weapons were made, and technology was bolstered to make the fighting easier. Life was indisputably different but humans still lived on, determined as ever to survive. 

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It had been two hours since she had gone AWOL, long abandoned and wildly overgrown homes flew in and out of view as the train passed through the barren countryside. Her bags jostled overhead and she flinched slightly, her grip on the backpack at her feet clenching momentarily. 

There were only a handful of people riding with her, most of them looking to be elderly with one younger fellow off by himself engrossed in his phone. Mitsumi herself was fidgeting about, scratching her thumbnails together as she began weaving a plan together.

In her mind, she didn’t know whether to count her blessings for only being stationed four hours away from Aina over in Toyooka. Or whether to curse the fact that it was another four hours where she was uncertain if her brother was safe or not. It would be much better to not dwell on such things, but with only the background noise of the train, she had little to distract her from any stray paranoid thoughts. 

She noticed a glance from an elderly woman across from her and realized just how white her knuckles were from clenching her fists. Before she can avert her gaze the train shudders suddenly and the rest of the passengers look up confused. 

“The train has stopped temporarily due to a nearby gate breach, please be patient while the dispatched guild squad cleans up.” The intercom speaks robotically, this wasn’t uncommon but it only delayed Mitsumi further pushing her back into her boiling frustration. 

“It’ll be okay right?”
“This happens all the time, this is my sixth time in the last two months.”
“I hope it’s a low-tier gate.” 

Voices mumble in the cart, and a few people talk with each other. Mitsumi scans them all and notices the youngest one from before looked a bit tense. Maybe this was his first time in a situation like this. 

“KYAAAAAA!” Mitsumi’s blood runs cold as a distant scream pierces through the quasi silence, it comes from the leading cabin, and as sudden as it is it vanishes. 

 Mitsumi’s hands jump to the zipper on her bag, she watches the doors connecting the cabins with a scrutinizing gaze. At any sign of danger, she knew she would need to act, the civilians here weren’t capable of combating the beasts from beyond the gates. 

The rest of the residents of the train car are backing away from the doors, Mitsumi has her hand deep in her bag when the inconspicuous boy from before steps in between the small crowd and the door.
“Stand back! I’ll take care of this.” The boy says before he reaches out in front of him and pulls an axe out of thin air, not all hunters had it but it must be an inventory. 

Just then banging begins to come from the door, dents appear and in seconds there’s an oversized leathery hand poking through a gap in the door. With an exaggerated swing, the boy slashes the hand with his axe, dark blood splattering onto the floor. Mitsumi watches cautiously, staying in her half-raised stance. Her hand lingers in her bag, unsure of whether or not she should just stay quiet. 

Before she can make up her mind a gargling screech comes from the door as one of the beasts' heads poke through the ever-growing gap. Loose skin and jet black eyes, it was uncanny as ever to see the goblins mock of a human face. The creatures usually came in groups, they tend to wear skin suits they stitch together from their victims' remains. 

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With a loud thunk, the boy's axe sticks right into its lower jaw, there’s a crunch as whatever was on the other side pulls the dead beast back so it can continue tearing apart the door. Another goblin pushes through and manages to get all the way through, the beast was short in stature but it carried a makeshift weapon with it. 

The beast and the boy clash as Mitsumi stands up still clinging to her bag, with a loud metallic creak the door is finally pulled open and two more goblins climb through into the cabin. The boy has managed to cut down the first one that made it through just barely before another attacks him. The third one jumps onto the seats and starts dashing towards the closest person behind the boy.

With a clean motion Mitsumi pulled her hand quickly out of the bag as the goblin leaped right at her, she drops the bag and with two clean motions stabs the beast right in the neck and pulls it back, and let the creature tumble backward towards the boy. By the time she looked back up the hunter had taken care of the last one and turned back around quickly swinging his axe which took the last goblin's head messily off. 

Mitsumi had already put the knife away by the time he’d finished his job, with this hopefully the hunter wouldn’t suspect her of anything suspicious. 

“That should be all of them!” The hunter grins at the horrified crowd, who quickly begin letting out sighs of relief. Mitsumi sits back down, letting her shoulders sag as she zips her bag back up and watches as more hunters pile onto the train. They must’ve been the team taking care of the gate breach, letting four goblins away had ended with six casualties. 

The hunters took the boy with them and dragged away the bodies of the goblins and the humans that’d been slaughtered. And with the commotion over the train starts back up, Mitsumi went back to holding her bag and watching the rest of the passengers try to put up with the stench of blood and death the incident left behind. 

 

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Mitsumi stepped off the train in Kobe, a cleaning team awaiting the train passed her as she left the station. Being in such a large city was slightly jarring, she spent so much of her time out in the field or cooped up in a base with less than a hundred people in it. All the strangers would always make her uncomfortable, never being completely sure of who was a threat or not. 

She slings her bags over her shoulder and begins making her way to the apartment complex Toshi’s parents had moved into. The walk isn’t long but she takes some twists and turns, old habits die hard. Walking past places she used to visit when she was young brought up memories she wasn’t quite used to. 

By the time she had gotten to the complex the sun was beginning to set, the hazy orange light being overshadowed by the industrial lights of stores and streetlamps. After climbing the stairs and walking down the empty hallway, she comes up to Apartment 305. 

She lightly raps her knuckles against the door, there’s a moment of silence before the door cracks open. Aunt Shiho looks like she hasn't been sleeping well, though she still smiles when she sees Mitsumi. 

“Mitsumi, it’s so good to have you here. Are you sure it’s okay? You’re usually so busy around this time of the year.” The worry bled through her sweet voice, Mitsumi was truly glad that Toshi had gone with such nice people. 

“It’s alright Auntie, I have plenty of paid leave days I haven’t used.” She lies through her teeth, there was no need to worry her poor aunt any further. She drops a couple of her bags at the entrance and looks around the apartment, it’s mostly the same but there’s a mess of papers on the kitchen table. 

“Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you some tea.” Mitsumi reaches out a hand to stop her aunt, she knows how stressful this must be but there’s no time to waste.
“Auntie, we need to talk about what happened. Where’s Toshi?”

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