A Stranger in Every Direction

Sai had blacked out for a few seconds after the wall swallowed him. Only when he felt his body tip forward did his eyes snap open.

“Aah—!”

Thud.

He landed face-first on the ground, which was made of the same black substance as the wall that had engulfed him earlier.

“Ouch…” he groaned, turning his head to see yet another dark wall to his right.

“Wait a second…”

He ran his hand over the ground. Unlike the wall from earlier, it was sturdy—solid, unmoving.

“Weird.”

As he pushed himself upright, his vision swam. He blinked repeatedly, waiting for the blurriness to fade. The last time he opened his eyes, everything finally settled into focus. He let out a relieved breath.

“Hey, blinky.”

Sai snapped his head forward. In front of him sat another young man with unmistakably orange spiky hair, grinning.

“Welcome to the world beyond,” the stranger said, sweeping his arms wide at their surroundings, “where nobody has a single clue what the hell’s going on.”

Sai glanced around. The room was a rectangular box—floor, ceiling, and three of the walls all made of the same black material. Behind him was the wall he’d fallen out of. Ahead, at the far end of the room, stood what looked like a strange altar with a giant clock above it.

As he took it all in, Sai noticed other figures scattered about. In the middle of the room stood a girl with long blond-yellow hair. Slightly behind her, another girl with brown wavy hair hovered shyly. Over by the far wall lay a boy with his back on the floor, legs propped up against the wall, tapping a beat with his heel.

The blonde girl stepped up behind the orange-haired boy, shaking her head. Upon closer inspection, a cross-shaped scar was visible on her throat. The other girl trailed close behind.

“Sorry about him,” the blonde girl said. “I’m Mira.” She nudged the brown-haired girl forward. “This is Eira.”

Eira shifted awkwardly, fingers twisting together in a sort of wave. “H-hi.”

Sai waved back just as awkwardly while inspecting the clear scars on Eira’s forearms.

“And this idiot—” Mira reached out and flicked the boy’s head.

“Ow—hey!” He rubbed the back of his head, glaring at her.

“—is Corvin.”

“You know,” Corvin muttered, still massaging his scalp, “you’ve got two very different personalities. You make sure she’s fine, but actively injure me—”

Mira flicked him again, harder this time.

“That’s only because you keep acting like an idiot.”

Sai just stared, confused, watching the two bicker.

“So… where are we?” he finally managed.

“Good question!” Corvin sprang up, brushing imaginary dust off his pants. “A very good question, because—” he threw his arms out dramatically—“WE HAVE NO IDEA!”

Mira smacked the back of his head again.

“He means we don’t know as of yet,” she said calmly. “Don’t mind him too much. He’s been here the second-longest.” She made circular motions next to her head. “I think he might be losing it.”

Sai stood up, still just as confused. He looked at the three of them. Corvin held his hands protectively over his head, wary of another flick from Mira.

“So… who’s been here the longest?” Sai asked.

Corvin pointed dramatically across the room. “That’d be that weirdo over there—”

“Corvin!”

Mira’s finger shot up, sharp as a dagger.

“—meaning, um, no offense, obviously,” Corvin amended quickly, ducking behind Sai like a startled cat. Mira pinched the bridge of her nose.

Sai frowned. None of this made sense—why apologize when the boy probably hadn’t even heard them? Or, if he had, he didn’t seem to care. Maybe out of principle?

“What’s his name?” Sai asked.

“Reith,” Corvin sighed. “Anyway, he’s been here the longest, but no clue how long exactly. I’ve been here four days or so.” He pointed at the wall to their right. “Came through that one, just like you did yours.”

Eira raised her hand shyly. “I’ve been here three… days. Came from that wall.” She pointed to the opposite side.

“And this is my second day here,” Mira added, glancing up. “I, uh, fell in through the ceiling.”

Sai crossed his arms, frowning. One from each direction, huh?

Corvin leaned in and half-whispered, “I think that guy crawled up from the floor. Makes sense, right?”

Sai nodded—not necessarily because it made sense, but because at this point, what didn’t?

“Corvin, he has a name,” Mira scolded, giving him a stern look. “Use it. It’s rude not to.”

“Fine, fine.” Corvin rolled his eyes. “What I meant was, I think Reith came from the floor. Since, you know… the rest of us each came from a different direction.”

Sai exhaled, thinking to himself. What a weird group of people.

Sai stepped around Mira and Eira, Corvin trailing behind him.

“Hey, Reith!” Sai’s yell caused Reith to stop his finger-tapping and turn his head toward the rest of them. “How long have you been here!?”

Reith took a second to think before pressing his feet against the wall, rolling over his shoulder, and rising to his feet. He turned toward the clock, then back at them.

“Five days” Reith said while raising all his fingers individually as he walked towards the group. He stopped about a meter away.

Sai placed his index finger and thumb against his chin in thought. Hmm. One each day of the week… then maybe…

“Hey, weird question. Before you all got here, did you meet some hooded figure?”

“Yeah, some guy showed up when I was leaving my practice,” Mira answered before anyone else could. Her expression shifted. “Wait… HE KILLED ME.” Her voice cracked as her hand shot up to her throat.

For a heartbeat, silence reigned.

She pressed trembling fingers to the scar. “Oh god.”

Corvin let out a low whistle. “That realization? Totally worth the wait.” He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye as he laughed. “Anyway, I met someone after a long night’s study session in the library.” He drew a finger from his shoulder down to his hip. “Got me right across here.”

Eira held up her arms, showing her scars. “Someone… got me here.” Two big scars crossed her forearms. “I guess I won’t be needing to explain where I was struck, at least. I believe it’s obvious” Reith held his hand pointed at his scar over his eye “I got cut down while walking home.”

“Okay, so everyone got cut down by a hooded figure with a sword, then?” Sai said, thinking aloud as he processed the scars.

“No, I got taken out by an axe.”

“A bow for me,” Mira added, followed quickly by Eira:

“A naginata, I think they’re called.”

“A scythe for me,” Reith finished.