Ferris Wheel

A man stood on cold, damp sand. Thunder clapped in the murky sky, screaming behind him. A storm claimed the area, yet not a single droplet fell. They evaporated before touching the ground. The wind buffeted the man's white coat, its battered lining fluttering before him.

Above, some sort of shattered cylindrical frame swayed back and forth. Passenger seats clung to the aluminum wall. The fine leather was no more. The wooden veneer frames had already crumbled away, reduced to sand beneath the metal. 

It was one of many fuselages half-buried in the sand around the man.

Within the wreckage, a sharp metal pipe peeked out from the shadow, pointed straight at the man. Something in the shadow was breathing heavily, like a wild animal. Another flash of lightning illuminated two children in tattered clothes, clinging to each other. 

The boy pointing the pipe was painfully thin, his grip trembling. He held the thing so hard it cut into his hand. The little girl clung tightly to him. Her skin was far less weathered than his.

 The man looked at them with stoic eyes. The boy faced the stare then gripped the pipe more tightly. The man understood.

***

Midday, inside a department store. Two figures moved hastily across the second floor. The mall was covered in sand and dust. Steel foundations lay bare, jutting out from the pillars. Some had punched through the collapsed rooftop.

"Alkaa... faster!"

A little girl sat enthusiastically in a shopping cart . She held a toy magic wand, pointing it forward. Her vibrant yellow raincoat didn't quite match the magical girl act she was trying to imitate. Her short blue hair spilled from beneath the raincoat's cat-eared hood. She laughed brightly.

Behind the cart, a boy—Alka—pushed the handle. His face was rather flat and emotionless. He wore a muted-blue jacket, a green harness strapped across his back, and light-brown tattered pants. His short, curly black hair fluttered in the wind.

Up ahead, a man caught the aluminum cart, bringing it to a stop. He wore a long white coat and black gloves, with his right arm wrapped in bandages and an orange backpack with dark accents strapped to his back. He smirked beneath his spiky brown hair.

"Hehehe... this is the end for you, Magical-Girl Tia!"

"The Demon Lord! Alka! Tia will protect you!!"

"..."

Alka stared with a blank expression on his face. The man lifted her with ease. Tia playfully resisted.

"Let me go, you fiend!"

The man rubbed his jagged chin against her cheek, tickling her.

"Hahaha! Leo! Tia gives up! Hahaha."

Meanwhile, before the lovely scene, Alka stared hard at them—or rather, at Leo.

***

Tia played alone, swinging her wand in all directions. The other two were busy scouring the canned-food rack. Some of them had buckled, their plastic shelves shredded to pieces. Leo opened a can of smoked mackerel.

"This rack's no good either..."

Leo turned the airtight can upside down. Sand spilled onto his brown boot. Alka's gaze remained fixed on his face. He noticed the scar on his left forehead, just above his brow.

"Is my face that amusing to you? Want to say something 'bout it?"

"Why are you doing all this?"

Leo gazed back.

"Look, I'm not that crafty with words and such. I just did what I felt like."

Alka turned sharply. He stepped closer and brought his face toward Leo, his dark pupils shrinking within his yellow irises. Then he grabbed Leo's right arm and uncovered the bandage. Beneath it, some kind of tattoo was engraved on his skin. Two striped arrows—the last one had begun to fade.

"I know what you are... Soon, you'll take Tia from me and make her cry a lot."

"If I find you doing anything suspicious... I'll blow your head off myself!"

Leo shook Alka's hand away and kept searching for something edible.

"Don't worry, I only have several months at best..."

"That's exactly what I'm concerned about..."

Tia pulled Leo's coat, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's. She was still holding the wand.

"No fighting!" Then she held out her arms toward Leo. He smiled then lifted her onto his shoulders. Tia angrily tapped his hair with her tiny palm. Leo giggled at her antics. Alka gazed at them. For once, his stern expression softened.

The three of them walked away toward the first floor, stepping down onto an inactive escalator. Tia, perched on Leo's shoulders, looked up and raised her wand toward the rooftop.

"What's that?" she asked, her face filled with curiosity. A huge hole gaped in the rooftop, the cloudless sky peeking through. Between them, a metal chamber dangled just above the ground—one of many chambers responsible for the hole.

"It's a Ferris wheel."