The Lost City of Serenity

Report Tape 1: Anonymous 
Reporter: "So, let me see if I got this right, there's an world that exists under ours?"
Anonymous: "No, no, it's between ours."
Reporter: "Between ours?"
Anonymous: "When you die, your life flashes before your eyes. But when I died, I was taken to there."
Reporter: "But you're right here with me right now? How can you say you died when you're sitting right in front of me right now?"
Anonymous: "No, No, NO! None of you understand! You weren't there that day!"
*Subject can be seen slamming his fist onto the table.*
Anonymous: "None of you will ever understand"
*Subject can be seen slamming his head into the table repeatedly*
Report Tape 1: End

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The train was seemingly empty. Only Mark was left alone in the train. The floor was a smooth, white granite. The walls were a smoke felt gray fabric, soft to the touch and perfectly clean as if it were just installed. There were doors on both sides, with windows to the opposing cars. Mark walked over to one of the windows to peer into the neighboring car.

There was a someone, on the floor, sobbing into their hands. 

The train shook suddenly and Mark was, unavoidably, thrusted into the door, alerting the person on the other side of it.

They began to look up, but once Mark caught a glimpse of their face, he threw himself away from the door and to the edge of the train where he was just sitting. While the fabric on the walls did feel soft to the touch, that was certainly not what was on his mind at that moment.

Mark threw his hands over his mouth, muffling his voice.

"Their face! That is not a human face!"
"Their eyes were normal, in fact, they were beautiful! So why do they have no other features?" 

Marks eyes were still peeled onto the window, silently praying that they had not seen him and would certainly not be about to look back through the window at him. But of course, he knew exactly what was going to happen, he would have done the same himself is he was in their situation.

The brightest purple, as enchanting as the galaxy above mixed with a slight touch of blue from the residue of their tears, shone through the window into his car. They both stood still, looking curiously at one another, admiring their physical differences.

The only features Mark could see was a head gazing sideways at him from the window, it was as if their head was tilted. He realized something was off, their head looked more like it was made of darkness, than it was human skin.

The figure blinked a few times before opening the door to Marks car. 

"You've got a really nice morph! Your features are so clean and clear, color me impressed!"

Mark stood there speechless as they stood there, showering him with compliments. Except, they weren't standing, they were floating!

The figure looked to be about 2 feet tall; they had to have been about a third of the size of the door. Their body was pitch black like the night sky , but their entire front was white as to give life to their mouth that seemed to only appear when they were speaking. Their most intriguing feature was that they seemed to vibrate on the outside of their body as if they were shrouded in TV static. Their feet seemed to be where the vibrations came from because they really didn't have any legs or feet at all, it was just a stronger form of vibration, maybe that's how they were floating?

"Are you real or am I dreaming?" Mark asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I've never seen anyone look like that."

The figure paused for a brief moment, one that felt like an eternity to Mark.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, YOU'RE STILL HUMAN," the figure shouted, eyes growing wider as if they themselves had never seen a human before.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad," the figure began to say on repeat while slowly starting to spin in circle. 

The figure began to spin in circles increasingly faster, leading them to gain momentum, zip across the room, and slam into the door on the other side of the car.

*BAM*

They fell back first onto the floor. Mark walked over and kneeled down beside them.

"Are you insane?" Mark questioned.
"Is that how you ask someone if they're hurt?"

They were still laying on the floor, their eyes were now in loops as if someone had twisted them like a rope, which conveniently squeezed out any tears that remained left in there. They also somehow weren't rolling, even though their body is mostly circular.

The figure moved back up straight, shook their head violently like an owl, and then looked recollected as if none of the past 30 seconds had just taken place.

"I'm Lea by the way, it's cool to meet a human."
"I'm Mark, nice to meet --you," Mark paused for a moment, not sure how to describe Lea.
"You can call us Mantles."
"Oh, I can see the resemblance."
"We're also just a type of undead, it's not just Mantles that live in Serenity you know."

They both stood up and walked over to the seats that Mark was originally sitting in.

"I wouldn't know, I've never been to Serenity. I've heard about some old investigative tapes detailing people's experiences from when they traveled there, but most people either consider them insane --or believe they visited another world."

Mark glances downwards at his legs and rubs his hands over where he felt the bullet enter his body.

"I never thought reincarnation after death was how I'd get there though. Also, why did the white figure, or goddess, or whatever she was, reincarnate me back into my same body? I expected I'd turn into someone different at least."

Mark looks over at Lea to gauge her reaction, but she flies out of the chair to float directly in front of him.

"You've met the goddess Diana!" Lea shouts, directly in front of his face.
"Is she really that famous?"
"There's stories around here that when goddess Diana blesses you with a gift, she's guiding towards finding something you've lost."

Mark shot up straight in his seat, eyes bulging as if Lea had just told him the best news of his life.

"You said find someone I've lost right," Marks asks, both full of hope and anxiety.
"Something, someone, it doesn't matter as long as you received her gift."

Mark looks back down at the floor and starts smiling ear to ear. Lea tilts her head in confusion, perks up, and then asks another question.

"Wait, you didn't receive a gift did you?"
"She handed me like a small, blue orb."
"That's incredible! Do you have it?"
"I don't think it's physical, or at least I just don't have it on me."

The train, which had been rather smooth for quite a while, starts to rumble and shake more frequently.

"It's good you don't have it, actually," Lea summarizes.
"Why not?"
"The border guards might take it from you."

The train hits another bump again, causing Mark to lift a bit off of his seat. Lea isn't effected by this since she already floats.

"We're almost there, I can explain more as we head towards the city. Just stay by me and you'll be fine. But adhere to my advice, DO NOT tell anybody that you met Diana or that you're still a human."
"I understand not telling anyone I've met a goddess, but why not that I'm human?" Mark asks, but he's afraid he's known the answer from when they first met, she's never met a human before has she?
"The thing is," she begins, seemingly conflicted about how strongly she should lay on the news. "Humans aren't really allowed here."
"..."
"They will come find you."
"Who is they?" Mark glances back over at Lea who is now back on her seat looking straight forward.
"The Guardian Beasts."

The train starts screeching, and they felt the train slowing to a stop.

"I'll explain more once we start heading towards the city. For now, keep this on you at all times."

Lea's body grew about a foot in size and an arm that could only be described as a giant shadow hand appeared from her side and reached into her stomach, pulling out a large sized mantle for him to wear. Mark stood watching in a mix of shock, horror, and amazement that she hadn't mentioned that she can morph her body at complete will.

"Honestly, I should've expected that." Mark thought to himself.
"Put this on, it's covered in my darkness so no one should suspect anything is awry."

With that, the train came to a complete stop, and they both stepped off.

The lost city of Serenity awaits...