Subrift Tales/Chapter 7

The year is 1814. The country is Mareila.
It was the middle of autumn, when Versune's school term was drawing to a close as the yearly Illustrinald, when the sky turned silver for one day, was soon to approach. The Mareilan sunlight was fairly bright, the wind hasty but not fierce, and together they clashed to form a very equal temperature.
There were two on a hurried kind of walk with the wind blowing to their face. At a glance, the two boys were completely different. One was seventeen years old, a strongly-built young man with a most peculiar hair colour. Its purple hue was common in Mareila, but it was so pale that it almost seemed white. The other boy was only eleven, though with his tiny build and short height he was completely dwarfed by his brother. His hair was a creamy light brown, a colour more expected from Niphora than Mareila.
On a closer look, however, the brothers had many subtle similarities. Their hairstyles were the same, as were their jade-green eyes. They both wore the same kind of uniform - the jacket with two pairs of sleeves, pocket-laden shorts, utility belt and boots with sewn-in socks. The older brother, Riza Aiorouma, was suited in red, while the younger Senne wore white as a sign of his lower rank. Riza was a member of the Mareila Subrift Analysers, responsible for checking the stability of the mysterious rifts in his local area. Senne was trying to apply as well, though it was six days into his one-week trial session and he was on track for failure.
Before long, Riza had found something - a tunnel in the ground, through which the stone-coloured earth seemed to shift to bluish-silver. This was the location of the Subrift he'd been told to analyse that day. He pulled the scanner from its clip on his belt, quickly flipping it into position and pushing the buttons in sequence. A wide cone of white light beamed out, and within seconds a five-symbol code, 2AY71, flashed on the scanner's window. He opened his jacket, reaching and taking out a tablet from the inside.
He pressed one of the two buttons, and a keyboard showed up on the screen. Riza quickly typed 2AY71 into the keyboard, and the tablet gave a message in return - “Subrift Stable”. A long chain of notes was next to show up on the screen, a more detailed description of what the scan entailed.
“Alright, scan complete.” Riza stated, in the usual rushed Mareilan accent. “Let's go for the other rift.”
His brother didn't reply, not with words, and not with motion either. Senne was ever the quiet boy, and Riza simply had to assume with him. Like it or not, his little brother had to do a good job if he wanted to prove he was fit to become an Analyser, so Riza began to take to the destination with pace. Senne followed, silently and meekly, for some four minutes. Riza stopped and turned his way, with an arm gesturing to another hole in the ground, through which the earth took on a burning red hue.
The younger brother unclipped his scanner and hesitantly tapped the up-facing arrow on the neck of the device. He paused, trying to think what came next. He knew that he had to enter the right code for the scan to work on this particular Subrift, but his memory of the exact entry was faint. He didn't even know if the up button was correct, so he tapped the centre button to reset. Senne tried to think again what inputs he needed.
“Up, left, right, left, down, centre.” Riza told him. “Up, left, right, left, down, centre, remember?”
Senne didn't remember, but he nodded all the same, thankful for the input. He tapped the five arrows in order. He remembered that he needed to aim for the Subrift before pressing enter - he did, pushing the button and projecting the white light towards the space in the ground. Senne kept a tight grip, until the light faded out and the code showed on the little screen, 3K1IR. Committing the code to memory, he pulled his tablet out next, and pressed a button to turn on. He'd gotten confused between the two “on” buttons over the past week, but now remembered that the first let him view notes, while the second was for making a new note using a code from the scanner.
He tapped the keyboard keys - 3, K, 1, I, but he couldn't remember the fifth. Taking the scanner back out from his belt, he looked at the fifth, R, and tapped it in again. The tablet's message, “Subrift Stable”, came to him. Riza took a look over his little brother, though he only saw the fully detailed notes, not the simple notification.
“What'd it say?” he asked.
“S-Stable,” Senne explained, in a voice that could easily come off as afraid, “the S-Subrift's stable.”
“That's good. Well, we'd best get back.” As Riza began the walk back to the base, however, he paused. What's the matter with Senne?, he asked himself. He's so quiet, even for his standards. There's gotta be something he's not telling me. Riza turned back to his younger brother, and asked,
“Actually, Senne, before we head back. What's with the quietness?” Senne didn't reply, he must not have understood. “It's just... you've been real quiet all week, is it something with being an Analyser?”
“Uh...” Senne struggled to answer.
“Look, you can tell me. I'm your brother.”
“Well, I... I'm n-not really feeling...”
“Oh, so it's a mood problem? That explains why you're so hesitant.” Senne nodded silently, and so he continued with bluster, “Look, you've gotta be more active if you're gonna make a good Analyser. We'd better get that mood of yours back up. Maybe... a Subrift power! How's that?”
“What?!” Senne's voice raised a little with the shock. “Riza, no, th-they're too dangerous!”
“Only if you pick an unstable one,” Riza reassured him. “the stable ones are fine. Besides, I know a Rift that has a really fun-sounding power. Why don't we check it out?”
“B-But you know the stories, right? People f-fall into Subrifts that completely ch-change their life!”
“You worry too much, Senne. It'll be fine!”
“Riza! W-Wait!” Senne spoke up even more, distraught as he watched his brother running away from him. He sprinted after Riza, who had thankfully stopped to wait.
“The rift's over on that hill,” Riza told him, pointing to the outline in the distance. “It's not that far. You're fine with ten minutes, right?”
Riza was running again, headed for the distant hill. Senne had no choice but to follow after - he wasn't about to lose his brother, even if he was scared by what might happen if he fell into a Subrift. Most of the run was natural, loosely sloping green fields, though they did pass the steel-paved edge of one of the industrialised cities.
Senne was a fast runner, but he was prone to losing energy quickly. He slowed to a standstill near a modern home, leaning against the conservatory wall and catching his breath. Before long, Riza noticed and ran back, leaning on the opposite side of the summer house. Though it wasn't showing quite like with Senne, he was certainly thankful to be resting his legs.
“Not long now, Senne.” Riza told his little brother, certainly pumped-up. “You wanna hear about that Subrift?”
“Riza, I-I'm not going in there.” Senne replied. He wanted to sound resistant, but the voice didn't have much power to it.
“Don't judge it if you haven't tried it,” his brother gave in response, “it'll be fine, you'll be fine!”
Senne wasn't so convinced, and he remained silent, besides the sound of his breaths. In short time, he stepped away from the wall walked around to his brother, tugging on his jacket.
“Riza, can we-“
“You've got your energy back? Sweet, let's dash!”
There wasn't time for Senne to protest as his big brother began to run again. He fought to keep up, and in another five minutes they were running up the winding path of a rockery-covered hill. He was quickly exhausted going uphill, ready to collapse in the fresh, blowing grass on the inside of the path. He kept on running until he noticed that Riza had stopped - he didn't look too winded, though, he must have stopped a while ago. His gaze was fixed on something, a hole in the hillside. It seemed the same colour as the sandy path the brothers had run along, but that soon shifted to a quartz-like tone.
“Well, this is it.” Riza stated. He turned to his brother, who made no sound, “If you're really so scared, I'll go in first.”
“O-Okay.” Senne told him. “But... if you're in danger, get out of there.”
“Absolutely.” Riza wrapped his arm around Senne and gave him a bright smile. After letting go, he moved to a sitting position by the hole in the ground, cautiously lowering his feet in. Then, he threw himself off and dived into the Subrift.
Senne knelt down and stared into the rift. He saw that the ground inside was sloped, but not so sharply that it would be impossible to climb back up. There were two long, rigid trails, left by Riza's boots as he slid down. The end of the slope was out of view through the hole, though, so Senne could only hope that his brother wasn't in danger.
Inside the Subrift, Riza's head was spinning from the sights that encircled him. Crystals all around, the palest pink and shimmering as if the light and reflections constantly looped between them. But the shine of the gemstone had a deep blue hint to them, creating the most over-worldly effect. He'd never been inside a Subrift before, and it was always your first rift that decided what power you'd develop. After a while of standing idly, there was a rising feeling within Riza's body, one that he'd never known before, the feeling of magic. It wouldn't be long before his newfound power was completed.
His thoughts were cut open as a spear of energy blasted from ahead. He noticed azure and lavender, but paid no further attention. Darting swiftly out of the way, he glared in the way the beam came from. The shadow he saw was dragon-like, with a serpentine body leading into six arms, which fanned out like a cobra's hood. The head at the top was glaring at Riza with two eyes that flashed the same as the crystals all around. That was the only thing he identified, though, all there was to make of this beast was a silhouette.
Riza's suspicions were great, he'd always heard that this Subrift was free of danger. Another lance of magic came to him from the shadows - from the position, he guessed the centre-right hand. He dodged once again, but the explosion knocked him off to the side. Riza landed knees-first, he felt the shock, and while it didn't seem enough for a real injury, he wasn't in a good state to stand up.
With his movement limited, Riza knew he needed to fight back more than ever. He opened his jacket and reached inside to grab the electro-mag rod, the primary method of self-defence for a Subrift Analyser. He saw a pool of blue energy, dashed with lilac, building up around another arm on the shadow. Riza held down on a button near the end of his rod, charging rapid electricity around the blue orb on its end. As a red-rank, Riza wasn't allowed to go on missions inside Subrifts, so his electro-mag was a very simplified model, but he'd rather resort to it than rely on a Subrift power he'd never used.
The spearlike ray from the menacing silhouette blasted out, and Riza let loose a cyan thunderbolt from the electro-mag rod. They clashed in midair, and while the lightning was quickly pushed back, the opposing beam used up all of its energy and exploded mid-flight. Riza was close enough to the burst, however, and he was knocked back by the magical force, lying with his face to the crystalline ground.
He looked back up, his sight reeling from the impact, and figured there was someone else in the direction to the monster. He thought there was a woman standing there, but knew that couldn't be true in a Subrift. She looked so human, but her gemstone-patterned robes were something he found at once unfamiliar. Her hair was mahogany brown at first sight, but it was impossible to tell afterwards, for it reflected the light in the same way as the crystals and the dragon's eyes.
The mysterious person was coming closer, holding a wooden staff close to her face. In two of the arms of the shadow behind, the lapis-lazuli magic built up again, ready for another blast.
At that moment, Senne slid down the slope into the Subrift. He'd heard what was happening, and didn't want to stand idle while Riza was in pain. Besides, if the Subrift was dangerous, he had to act quickly if he wanted to have the chance to gain the power his brother was talking about.
Senne's eyes quickly caught the blue rays coming from the distance, though he didn't see what was firing them. He noticed Riza right in front, lying down in pain, as the spears thrust towards him - but then, a ring of light burst out around him, glittering with crystalline effects that Senne winced at the sight of. His eyes were sealed closed for a while, until the glaring light show came to a rapid close. He opened them, noticing that Riza was the same as ever, the light had negated the energy blasts. The next thing he noticed was the woman who ran towards him, staff in hand, from which a sparkle of rainbow poured from the end.
Who is she? Senne thought. A Subrift resident? She looks human, besides the hair... He'd read before that Subrift residents weren't to be trusted, so seeing one of them protect his brother was truly confusing. Fearing the worst, he grabbed the damaged Riza, who was now completely unconscious and floating perhaps four inches above the ground, by the shoulders. Senne tried to drag him away, and to his surprise, it worked - normally, he'd never get his big brother to budge, but here he was three times lighter. It must have had something to do with his floating.
Senne's eyes were wildly darting, from Riza, to the woman with the staff, and then to the draconic shadow that was now clearly in view. Blue light emerged in the mouth at the top of the shadow, and Senne panicked, fearing the blast. He wanted to dash away, but knew that would only make his escape take longer.
Instead, he shut his eyes, ready for the blinding light barrier from the magic staff. It came, and with two clashing flashes, Senne could see a mad, fiery dance of blues and whites over the black of his eye-closed vision. He felt dizzy at the sight of it all. Even with protection, he wouldn't be able to endure the monster's onslaught for long, he had to pick up speed.
He charged up the slope, almost making it to the top with the blue sky clear to see. But the weight in his hands left him. In his haste he'd let go of Riza. Senne panicked, and tried to dash back down to save him again, but then the dragon's ray shot at him. The blast didn't hit either of them directly, but with the explosion, Senne felt a shock at his frontmost foot, pushing him upwards and throwing him off-balance, though he managed to stop himself by tightly holding to the slope with both hands. Riza, meanwhile, was pushed down the slope, back towards the Subrift. His little brother charged down again, and looking back into the crystal world, noticed rubble cascading from above.
The staff-holding woman backed off, closer to the silhouette. Another two rays shot from the dragon's topmost arms, hitting just below Riza, and the force sent him flying upwards, towards the mouth of the cave. Senne was in his way as he was knocked skyward, and so he clashed into his little brother like a round from a catapult. The force knocked Senne's little frame far, almost to the edge of the path they took to get here, and knocked the wind out of him. He drifted off, into a restful black.
...
In what was only three minutes, but felt much longer, Senne's eyes opened to the cloudy air above. He raised an arm, gazing tiredly at the back of his hand. He turned to face his right, noticing the great drop off the hill and shuddering at the sight. His next look was to the left, at Riza, who was still completely unconscious, his jacket loose and open, though that was the only outward sign of his scuffle - he looked perfectly fine. It was as though he was simply asleep.
Senne lifted himself up to kneel down, but was shocked to not feel the force he directed to the ground. He looked down, and noticed that his knee was three inches above the ground. He was floating, acting as if he was still on the ground, even though there was a newfound distance. He remembered how Riza was floating as he was unconscious, and he noticed this was still true. There was no doubt, this was the Subrift's effect.
“Riza?” Senne asked, meekly. “Are you okay?”
There was no response. Riza was breathing, though the rise and fall of his chest was slow. Senne moved a hand in to check his heartbeat - not the speed it should be, but it was there, and it was orderly. Riza was alive, there was nothing more to it, so why wouldn't he wake up?
“Riza... Riza!” Senne's tone grew louder, more emotional, the most desperate it had been for a long time. He tried shaking his big brother, with more speed and power each time, but there was no reaction.
“Please, please wake up!” A downpour of tears began to well, and Senne rubbed his eyes to clear them out. He was so distressed - Riza had only done this to help his little brother, but he had no idea what would happen in the Subrift.
Giving in, Senne levered his arms under Riza's back. Knowing he was lighter while floating, it was easy to carry him - in the loosest possible terms, for his brother seemed to hover above the space in his arms. Senne stood up, and he filled his mind with one thought: Stop floating. Stop floating, stop floating! His thoughts worked the trick, and he felt himself drop the tiny distance to the ground below. He felt his feet on the ground, and he began the walk down the hill. He had to get help for his brother.
After about five minutes of walking, Senne was at the base of the hill, but there were two people in his way, both with the blue Analyser uniform, a rank above Riza's red. On the left was a beefy young man with a shade of dark purple hair that was basic as could be in Mareila. Senne thought he had the same kind of body as Riza, and felt instantly frightened - this person could easily crush him. The person on the right was female, with the same colour hair as her partner in two bushy pigtails. She wasn't too intimidating, but certainly didn't seem small compared to her ally.
“E-Excuse me,” Senne spoke up, trying not to seem fragile. “my brother's knocked out. Can you take him to get help?”
“Where did this happen?” The female superior asked him. “In the Subrift on top of the hill, perhaps?”
“That's right,” Senne told her. His voice stopped after that, he knew that he shouldn't be telling these two.
“Well, then, what happened in there?” The male superior inquired with commanding tone. “Had you done anything to collapse that Subrift?”
“No, I-I promise I h-haven't!” Senne replied shakily.
“I didn't just mean you, dirthead.” Senne jolted at the sound of “dirthead”, a name insulting him for the colour of his hair. He was sick of the name, first from the bullies at elementary school, and now in his new life as an Analyser.
“The guy in your arms, did he rope you into this?”
“H-He's my brother, and he didn't come here to cause trouble...”
“Of course,” the woman stated, “the little watchboy wouldn't be told the whole story. But remember, breaching Subrifts out of orders is truly punishable.”
“We'll wait until the head responds,” her partner added, “but until then, we'll discipline the kid.”
“I'm telling you, we didn't do anything wrong!” Senne was starting to get angry, feeling the heat in his face. The retort was met by a bolt of golden energy and a spiral of harsh wind, striking his foot and throwing him sideways to the ground. He landed on his side, and barely noticed Riza being flung out of his grasp, falling onto the ground two metres away - this time, he didn't float.
Senne got up to a kneeling position quickly, and noticed the sun-coloured sparks in the outstretched hand of his male attacker. By the time Senne got up to his feet, he sure the sparks building up again, and threw himself to the side to dodge the electric wind. Though he managed to dodge the centre of the whirl, he still felt a jolt as the lightning flew by. Senne pulled himself back up quicker than before, and he realised, they were wielding Subrift powers. He had a power of his own, but this was his first time using it.
Not sure of what would happen, Senne closed his eyes and kept telling himself in his mind, Use the power of the Subrift. Before long he heard a kind of humming sound, and opened his eyes to see white and blue sparks fizzling in the around. In front of him were a few rocks, glowing with the same blue-white energy, and rising into the air while floating forwards. That was his ability, being able to control gravity, make any object float at his command. He liked what he saw, and he gave the stones an order to throw themselves forwards.
Four rocks might have made for a powerful attack, but Senne hadn't been able to throw them at good speed. His two opponents blasted slicing winds from their hands, electric wind for the man and water-filled wind for the woman. The stones flew back towards Senne, scattering around him - his attackers weren't going to cause major harm, but he was still paralysed with fear of being struck down. While he was frozen this way, soaking winds blew him down, throwing the boy down to the ground again.
This time, however, Senne had an uncomfortable landing, twisting an ankle and being stuck where he'd fallen. He tried to channel his gravity power again, managing to bring two more rocks from the ground up in front. But he quickly dropped the gravity and let them fall, knowing that they'd only be blown back if he threw them.
“Well,” the man with the electric winds remarked, “that's your lesson-“
He didn't get to finish his sentence as two rocks rocketed into him at full speed. They didn't cause much harm, being swiftly blocked with his arms, but the shock was all that was needed. Senne couldn't tell where the attack came from, until he noticed - Riza was floating protectively in front of him. He was awake, and Senne felt ecstatic, though he kept quiet to avoid attracting attention.
“What's your deal?” Riza demanded from the two attackers. “Keep your hands off my brother!” He raised an arm, and a field of gravity burst out, much larger than what Senne could conjure. His brother and his two new enemies were both on the inside of the field, and they felt a strong breeze leading up and in, to the top of the dome of gravity. The six rocks that Senne had been controlling throughout the scuffle were drawn to the top, along with countless smaller pieces of rubble, floating in a loop around Riza's sky-raised hand.
The woman tried attacking with a tempest, thinking Riza was open as he prepared this attack. To her surprise, he moved his arm to face forward and shifted the mass of stone in front of him, forming a shield that, combined with the gravity force holding it together, threw the wind back. With his opponents distracted, trying to brace themselves against the gale, Riza tossed the rubble he gathered into the air. The grit and rubble rained down on them, while the six larger rocks landed around - he was trying to end the battle, not make it worse.
To Riza's surprise, the male enforcer was fast to recover and sent his electric winds at full speed. The blast, however, landed in a strong, concentrated gravity field, flinging it back at the one who sent it. His partner tried a typhoon of her own, but it met the same fate as it flew into the gravity.
“Well, how's that?” Riza told the two. “Battle over for you, not us.”
“Didn't the kid say you were knocked out?” The man with electric winds asked, in a much more relaxed manner.
“I'd say it was more similar to forced sleep.” Riza explained. “I could hear, I knew what was happening around me, but I wasn't allowed to respond.”
“That occurred in the Subrift, didn't it?” The female Analyser inquired.
“Of course it was, Anisha,” her male partner told her, “the kid mentioned it.”
“Devin, you know I have to confirm the truth.”
“What my little brother said is true,” Riza assured them, “I was being attacked by a beast in that Subrift. I didn't get a good look, it was too far away, but I think I saw a dragon with seven heads. In the end, I took too many blows, and all my energy was gone.”
“Why were you in the Subrift?” Devin asked.
“For my brother's sake. He's in a real slump, and I thought this Subrift power would lift his spirits.”
“Without supervision?” Anisha questioned. “Unauthorised Subrift access is discouraged.”
“I scanned it a week ago, and it was confirmed Stable. Plus, I know a few people who walked into that rift without any trouble.”
“A lot can change to a Subrift in a week,” Devin told him, “but if it wasn't you, how did it collapse so suddenly?”
“It might have been someone else.” Anisha suggested. “Did you notice anything suspicious about that Subrift?”
“Well...” Riza thought for a while, and then he had his answer. “There was a woman. She didn't look like a normal Subrift resident, she was too human. The only different thing about her was her hair, it reflected light like a crystal. But she protected me when the monster attacked, using some kind of barrier power?”
“Right,” Devin replied, “how about you tell us more, uh...”
“Riza.” He pulled his identity card out from the inside of his jacket. “...and my brother is Senne.”
“Okay, Riza,” Anisha went on. “Come to base at fourteen-hundred hours. Bring your brother, as well.”
With that, the two took their walk away, leaving Riza and his brother alone. Fourteen-hundred hours was fine for him, it was immediately after lunch break. He turned and knelt down, willing himself to stopped floating, and looked into the eyes of Senne, still injured on the ground.
“Hey, Senne?” He began, trying to sound a bit softer than usual.
Senne didn't respond at first, but he gave a bright smile, one that Riza hadn't seen enough of.
“Thanks, Riza,” He told him, as he tried to stand up. The bad ankle stopped him, however, and he almost tripped and fell. Riza grabbed him before that happened and lifted him up, so easily that he might have been lifting a Senne-sized pillow.
“Careful, careful!” Riza re-positioned his little brother so he was upright, but kept a tight hold on him so he didn't drop to the ground. “Use your float powers. That way you can still walk on a bad foot.”
“S-Sure.” Senne focused his mental energy, and as Riza let go, he found that he didn't drop, he was above the ground. He tried walking, and it worked almost perfectly. “Thanks, Riza. But... how come y-your powers are so m-much stronger?”
“What do you mean?”
“You m-made more things float, you threw them f-faster, and you could even throw back a wind blast. How's that true if we b-both have the same power?”
“Must have been because I spent more time in the Subrift. Sorry I misjudged, Senne, I was just trying to help you out.”
“I-I know.”
“Come on now, let's get back to base.”
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