by Samuel Small
Dante’s drawn-out obscenity echoed through the forest in the gloaming.
Chapter 2
Jake was happy to finally have all the work done as he sat in the warm steamy bath, his arms outstretched to either side and resting on the edge of the rock. He looked about and marveled at how much of a luxury it must be to be able to bathe in comfort outside. Although the area was surrounded by a wooden fence to block the view of casual onlookers, a few trees sprouted here and there that added to the sense of privacy. It was a nice change of pace from the metallic showers he was used to, and he loved soaking his entire body in the calming warmth of the water. He smiled, tilted his head back, and prepared to doze off.
“Take your jacket off!”
“I already fucking said I’m not into you!”
“And I’m not into you!”
“Then why are you trying to take my clothes off!?”
“So I can wash them for the first time in forever.”
It sounded like a very hard-fought battle was being waged on the other side of the fence. Jake shut his eyes tight as his brow twitched. He just hoped the door didn’t fly off the hinges and hit him dead in the face.
Somebody heard Jake’s prayers as the door only flew open, prompting him to open his eyes, see Dante and notice that his trademark jacket was oddly absent although the rest of his wardrobe (thank God) was intact. Through the entryway Sara yelled loudly, but was cut off when Dante slammed the door shut by placing all his weight against it.
“Don’t come in, I’m takin’ ’em off!” he shouted, then began to frantically undress. Jake turned his head away, afraid that he might view a sight far worse than any Malice he’d ever fought. He heard the door creak open, followed by the soft clump of clothes meeting open hands, and then the door was closed. He didn’t dare open his eyes until there was a very loud splash, and warm droplets of water sprayed his face.
Dante rose from underwater and screamed. “Ah, that’s fucking hot!” He waved his arms frantically, splashing water all about. Jake sighed and waited for the boy’s fuss to be over. When Dante sat up, placing his arms to either side, Jake’s eyes widened.
His body was toned, as Jake would expect from his workouts, but that wasn’t what shocked him. Over the entirety of his torso were little scars or marks from wounds that were deep or not properly healed, but they seemed insignificant compared to the injury on his left forearm. Across it was a large burn that Jake couldn’t conceive he had failed to notice, but his mind started working and he realized he never really had seen the boy without his trademark jacket on. Even in the winter he wore it underneath his black coat or cloak. Hell, even when he trained in the gym he had it on.
Still, the injury looked like a bad burn. The skin along it was uneven and rigid, and there was a slash on top of the burn mark, making his forearm a mess of lumpy keloid and scar tissue. Jake stopped looking at the arm and examined the boy’s face, only to see it twisted into a disgusted scowl. “Quit checkin’ me out. I know I said I’m not into any of the girls, but that don’t mean I swing that way either.”
Jake shook his head frantically, trying to get as many “nos” as possible with the motion. “Like hell, I was just noticing that you have a lot of scars.”
“You’re one to talk. You’ve got an awfully bad shiner right there,” he pointed to Jake’s kidney, where the bruise he received from the demon shone dully, a patchwork of green, red, yellow, and purple. He covered it with his hands. Not seeming to care about Jake’s odd gesture, Dante reached for the soap, rubbed it all over his hair, and began to bathe. Jake sighed and got out of the water. He really didn’t want to know what kind of weird idea of clean Dante had.
After promptly drying off, Jake wrapped the towel around his waist and proceeded through the door. He heard some mechanical noises, and when he peeked around the corner he saw Sara staring intently at a metallic heater, which was drying some clothes. Dante’s clothes, Jake noted. Had Sara become his personal assistant or something?
He thought it was a bad idea to let the girl see him in just a towel, even if he had a perfectly good explanation for it, so he had to get past without her noticing. He took note that she was staring at the flickering heater as if it was some kind of strange ritual, and hell, maybe it was. Thinking that it was better to not be around when Dante got out, Jake slowly crept past the girl. When he got to the door, he tore it open, ran through, then slammed it shut behind him. He hoped that she wouldn’t bother to check who just passed her as he jogged down the hallway.
Luckily he encountered no more obstacles on his way to his room, and he had his sword sharpened and his Sol rifle polished within a few minutes, and was in bed soon after. He was able to get a few minutes of tranquil peace before the door burst open and Dante’s wet feet smacked against the wooden floorboards. Jake rose out of bed even though he wanted to continue sleeping, since Dante was going to be loud and keep him up no matter how much he wished for peace.
Sure enough, Dante stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist, muttering to himself as he slammed the door shut. He looked up and didn’t waste any time explaining what he was ticked off about. “That bitch got my clothes all wet, and they won’t be dry until tomorrow. I’m gonna have to sleep naked like some asshole!”
“Like me you mean?”
“Yeah, like some asshole like you!”
“It’s karma for what you did to me earlier,” Jake said, and looked at the clothes that were hanging off of his bed. Dante caught his eye and scoffed.
“As if, it’s hardly my fault that you can’t handle some porn monster.”
Jake realized the argument was going to go nowhere fast, and so sat up in his bed, scratching his messy hair. “You shouldn’t be so hard on her, she’s doing you a favor after all.”
“Like I asked her to! I like you and princess a lot more, at least you don’t inconvenience me with your kindness.”
It was the first time Jake heard someone prefer to not have kindness imposed upon them. Although he wasn’t actively mean to Dante, he wasn’t exactly nice to him either, and Elizabeth certainly wasn’t. It was weird, but that was Dante for you, and Jake was almost ready to dismiss it as just that, but his mind drifted to the scars that covered the boy’s body and he muttered, “Dante… are you just not used to any form of kindness?”
“What was that?” Dante asked from over his shoulder, his arms gripping the blankets on his bed. He tore them off and allowed them to fall to the floor in a heap. He soon followed, draping the blanket over himself on the wooden floor. That figures.
“What the fuck? Is this shit wet?” he mumbled, and Jake felt a slight twinge of anxiety. “Nah, it’s probably just cos I’m still wet from the bath or something,” he finished, and relief washed over Jake.
***
The following morning Jake awoke to his uniforms dry and Dante still sprawled out on the floor, the blanket barely covering his less than stellar features. Jake began to put on his Republic uniform, happy that the damn thing was dry. Someone knocked on the door just as he threw on his blazer, and he walked over and opened it.
There was Sara, a bundle of clothes in her hand. She tried to peer through the cracked door and behind Jake as she asked if Dante was in, but he quickly stepped within the narrow space. “Uh yeah, but he’s sleeping.”
“Well, can you wake him up?”
“I very much enjoy living.”
“I’ll do it myself then,” she said, and tried to squeeze her body through the narrow opening. Jake sensed impending doom as the possibility of Dante rolling over, exposing himself, then her freezing the room in horror flashed through his mind. He tried to shut the door, but her body blocked the way. She squirmed forward, asking him what the hell he was doing, but it wasn’t as if he could explain the entire situation right then and there. He only shook his head and put more force into keeping the door shut. He thought she was about to give up, but then something cold blew through the air as the door shot open and Jake went reeling bac
kward. He stumbled and fell onto his rear.
Ice wedged the door open, the angry girl striding into the room. Jake reached out for her, but she looked down and widened her eyes. Dante hadn’t moved as Jake imagined, but Sara wasn’t happy about the sight. She averted her eyes from the sleeping boy and locked them with Jake. They were narrowed and seemed to say ‘you could’ve just told me.’ Then she threw the bundle of clothes on top of Dante, who flinched and then sat up. Sara turned and walked out the room, slamming the door shut.
“What the fuck…?” Dante began, then saw his clothes on his lap. He turned to the door and muttered something, Jake could’ve sworn it might have even been ‘thank you,’ but he wasn’t sure, then he continued to get dressed. As Dante slid an arm into his jacket, Jake grabbed his sword, sheathed it, then slung his Sol rifle on his back. Dante looked at the piece of technology suspiciously for a moment, but soon lost interest and shrugged, then fixed his jacket.
“You ready?” Jake asked.
Dante nodded.
They met up with the girls outside and without a word set off, although there was some awkward eye contact between Dante and Sara. They traveled out of the hotel and further across the landscape. Ordinarily they took regular breaks on their journey but Dante opted to forgo them today, since if they really tried they might be able to make their destination the following night. Everyone seemed to be in agreement, so they were on their way.
Surprisingly, they didn’t encounter any problems on the journey, although that may have been in part due to Dante’s wary eyeing of anyone who crossed their path, which was usually followed by a scolding from Sara. Whatever bandit or thief may have been considering the group as a target had to have realized that they were too crazy to be worth the trouble, and they continued their journey unmolested.
What was especially odd was the number of potential bandits and shady characters who Jake saw along the way. There were numerous, and he was surprised that they weren’t attacked several times on the trip. For the first time in ages he was grateful for Dante’s odd behavior, as it probably saved them from an altercation or three.
Still, that shouldn’t have been the case. They weren’t far from a major nation so there shouldn’t be too many criminals around them. He was sure soldiers and officials from Icarus traveled around the area for goods and services, which would have kept the immediate area relatively crime-free, but as Jake wandered the pathways he would’ve thought he was in the middle of somewhere infested with criminals like the Great Desert or something. He thought back to his schooling and whatever lessons he’d learned about the floating kingdom.
There wasn’t a whole lot he could actually recall. The kingdom was isolationist, so they rarely interacted with other nations. As proof of that, they failed to send a representative to the All World meeting a few months ago, and as far as Jake knew they hadn’t tried to make contact with any other nation since the Malice showed up, despite he and his group suspecting that they were dealing with one on par with the monster they fought in the Republic.
It didn’t make sense and Jake hoped that the entire country hadn’t been destroyed in the blink of an eye by one of those creatures. It was certainly possible if it was anything like the one Jake and the group had fought just a month earlier.
The forest thinned out, and soon Jake and company were on a cliff overlooking a lush green field. Floating before them was a mass of land, moving slightly up and down. It too was green and lush above the soil, with trees and buildings visible. Jake had seen pictures before, but seeing it in real life was truly amazing. He shook off all of his earlier concerns, as such a magnificent landscape couldn’t be destroyed too easily. He took a step down the path, careful not to trip over the tumbling rocks his feet dislodged. As they walked, Dante asked some obvious questions that Jake had also asked before he researched the place.
“How are we supposed to get up there?”
“Apparently there’s a rope dangling from the bottom. We’ve gotta climb it,” Jake replied. From behind, there was slight shifting and when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Sara had her arms positioned awkwardly, as if her stride had momentarily paused. He didn’t think much of it and so continued onward.
After a few minutes they were in the field, the area cast in shadows on account of the hovering landmass soaring above them. Jake looked around and noticed the area was empty. Little information was known about the inner workings of the flying city, but Jake figured they had to have some form of immigration or customs policies. The lack of guards or soldiers at the base probably indicated that they’d be waiting at the top once they’d climbed the rope. With that in mind, Jake had to make sure he’d be up before Dante.
About halfway across the shadowy field a length of rope swayed in the spring breeze. Jake picked up his pace to a power walk, eager to get to it before Dante, and placed a hand on the braided fibers. He gave it a solid tug and was pleased to find it to be of firm material. If it really just dangled all day every day it must have been exposed to the elements year-round, and could well deteriorate. It was good to know the thing wouldn’t snap while he was climbing. Jake gripped the rope and almost started to climb, but then turned to his comrades as he considered something.
“Do you all know how to climb a rope?”
Elizabeth nodded and Dante said, “Yeah, we used to climb one in the gym, although it snapped one day.” To the side of Dante, Sara averted her eyes, which he thought was odd. She’d done training in the academy just like Jake, so he knew she possessed the skill. She must have known what he was thinking, as she spoke up, shaking her head.
“It’s not that, it’s just… since I was in that state for so long my muscles aren’t what they used to be. I managed to get them up to a competent level, but I doubt I could climb that whole length.”
Jake pulled back and cursed himself silently. He should have considered the possibility. Now he had to think of a way to get Sara up there, but that would be difficult as there didn’t seem to be any other way. Perhaps he could climb and see if they had an alternative method once at the top, surely they had members of their society with disabilities who—
As Jake was thinking through the options, Dante spoke up, “I can just carry you on my back.” He crouched down and leaned forward, then motioned with his head that she should hop on. Sara stood flat-footed and eyed him warily.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. I doubt he has the stamina,” Elizabeth said.
“I resent that,” Dante retorted, and it seemed like they’d get into a shouting match if Jake didn’t intervene quickly so he added his two coins.
“Dante’s probably in the best shape out of all of us. If anyone can do it, he can.”
Elizabeth looked back at Jake, wide-eyed, probably because her only anti-Dante ally had just turned traitor. Still, she must have seen Jake’s point as she turned her head and scoffed. “I suppose that he’s good at brute strength, but that’s about it.”
Dante knelt back down and motioned for Sara to hop on. She took a hesitant step forward. “Okay, just don’t drop me.”
“Only if you nag me,” he said. She bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck, and when he stood up she hooked her legs around his waist. He smiled. “Damn, I thought your fat ass would be heavier.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sara shouted, then beat Dante over the head with hammered fists. Jake laughed, and figured that if he was going to insult her, he should have at least made sure she wasn’t attached to him. When the two’s bickering subsided, Jake grabbed hold of the rope and started to shimmy up.
From behind he heard Dante grunt and Sara pester him, and Jake had to agree with her. She was saying that since he was the most likely to fall, they should go last. Dante mumbled something about wanting to get things over with, and started to climb, being insulted by Elizabeth under him. Jake ignored him and focused on climbing and not looking down, since he’d soon be well into the air.
When Jake was about halfway up the
rope, and his arms began to feel just the slightest burn of fatigue, he could no longer ignore the persistent grunts and angry whispers coming from beneath him that had played out the whole climb up. He took a tentative look down to see Dante with Sara clinging to him, his face contorted into a mix of anger and exhaustion. When he saw that Jake finally bothered to look at him, his eye narrowed like a predator ready to strike. “Will you hurry the fuck up?” he snapped.
Jake grimaced, then continued to climb the rope, careful not to fall off. The wind blew them from side to side, so of course he needed to be careful in order to keep pace. Not everybody could be as reckless and crazy as Dante, after all. Still, the orange-haired boy didn’t care, and tried to force his way up and past Jake, even though it wasn’t technically possible. He rammed the top of his head against Jake’s boots, which caused him to shake and nearly lose his grip on the rope.
“Calm down,” he shouted at the boy, “I won’t survive a fall from this height.”
“Knock it off, you idiot,” Elizabeth yelled from below.
Sara didn’t say anything and just cowered, helplessly stuck to the angry and irrational boy’s back.
“This shit is heavy, hurry the fuck up!” he yelled then rammed Jake’s boots once again. He swayed to the side, and the whole rope moved with him. If Dante wanted him to climb faster, this certainly wasn’t the method. From underneath, the unmistakable sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed through the air, and Jake looked down to see Elizabeth pointing hers up at Dante, waving it at him.
“Knock it off or I’ll—” but before she could continue Dante grabbed the rapier by the blade, the knuckles of his other hand white where he gripped the rope. If she pulled back she would have severed his fingers, but she had at least some kindness – and sense – so she let go when he pulled. He flipped it in the air and grabbed the handle, then gave Jake the most devilish grin.
