A Cursed Child? Rambruck City

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For as long as I can remember, I was different. The things I could see ever since young were always so perplexing. I thought I had grown used to it, but even to this day, it’s still a wonder.

A young man pondered to himself with tired eyes as he sat quietly near a window seat of a moving bus. Outside the window, was seeing pedestrians and vehicles moving about their business, laughing and chatting as others carried on in a hurry. However, unlike them, there were also a few unusual things.

Tiny entities floated about the world; lifeforms made up of nothing but pure blobs of energy. They flew around as if trying to get the attention of regular everyday people, but sadly, no one could see their existence except the young man who traveled towards the depths of this concrete jungle.

This youth was abnormal; he had distinctive red pupils behind round-shaped glasses and short spiky silvery-white hair that glinted in an amber hue due to the outside light. He sported a silvery gray scarf with thick red stripe patterns and a black vest over a white undershirt, followed by black pants. His clothing looked roughed up as if heavily handled for a long time, and he had patches everywhere as even his shoe looked a bit old.

This boy was Nero, a young man with a unique shine despite his appearance. From his look, it was clear he was being bullied, but as if he didn’t care, he merely focused on the slowly moving scenes out the window.

A plump, round ball of light with large, innocent eyes flew towards the bus window as it noticed him. It twisted from side to side, adorably staring at him as if hoping to be picked up.

Nero frowned as he gave it an indifferent look. He clicked his teeth and coldly turned his eyes away, pretending it didn’t exist.

How meddlesome. 

Nero shook his head and took a glance around. His seatmate was a person his age, but they were busy minding their own business.

Many other people on the bus were youths like him, chatting about diverse topics, each with backpacks and books on their seats or legs. Like Nero, these youths were all students attending the Everbright Academy, a school known to accept only the brightest of those in the city.

Nero was a poor student who attended via a scholarship. Because of this, he wasn’t popular with anyone. Naturally, this led to him being bullied by a few who hated him for his uncommonly good looks and nerdy smarts.

Suddenly, Nero felt a wave of discomfort as he saw a bulky youth with a large belly from the corner of his eyes. He had short brown hair and fat cheeks as he sported a t-shirt and jacket with the words – bad boy vibes, written in bold on its front.

This youth stared directly at Nero from his seat, ignoring his friends chatting to him, his lips curving into a sly grin as he leaned back in a confident and superior posture.

Nero didn’t even bother to look at him. He turned away and fixed his attention outside the window indifferently. He could see a towering wall ahead, showing they were nearing their destination.

The youth watched him like a hawk and noticed his manner. He snorted in discontent, drawing his friend’s interest.

“Benson, that guy’s ignoring you. It looks like he got some balls today.”

“Right, from what I’m seeing, he thinks you’re a nuisance.”

The two sleazy youths said as they stared at Nero before mocking them. Benson frowned and lifted his head, glaring at the bus’s ceiling as he spoke, “So what? For now, let him be. After all, those from the ‘Gutters’ can only be trash.”

“Hahaha, so true. It’s only typical of a poor wretch from that place.”

As the guys spoke in the back seat, their words were heard by a few other chatting students. They couldn’t help but look at Nero as they said behind his back.

“Oh my, Benson’s angry. It looks like that pretty face bastard will get it again.”

“Ha, your right. He’s always wanted to get into Velmon’s group. Who told Nero to offend him that year? Benson will likely keep bullying him for the rest of his life to get that guy’s favor.”

“Indeed, Class A and Class B are different. Even with good grades, if you aren’t of a certain status, you can’t get into Class A. That Velmon’s background is terrifying.”

As the voices sounded behind him, Nero heard every word, but as if he didn’t want to show weakness, he clenched his fist while keeping his cold and icy pupils on the passing scenes beyond his window.

Velmon, one day I will make you kneel to give my mother an apology. Just wait! 

Nero decided as he recalled a bad mark in his past. The bus continued onwards, driving off into distant corners of Rambruck City.

✽✽✽

Rambruck was one of the most prominent municipalities, a place found far to the east in one of modern earth’s four core sectors, the Levier Sector. An area governed by the recently elected Levier Family as head by the earth’s governing body known as the Central High Command.

A union controlled by all the former national leaders of the different nations under a single goal. This union divided the continent into other sectors with its governance party, the Kailua Sector, the Levier Sector, the Maxima Sector, and the Vermis Sector, each governed by prominent figures from significant families.

This municipality was home to tens of millions of lives, with many rural zones sparsely located in its domain. Its bustling metropolis had numerous skyscrapers and other buildings that reached beyond the limits of one’s eyes.

While there were no such things as flying vehicles in this era, some only hovered a few steps from the ground, making them into low-scale hover crafts. Many other cars had transitioned to using more electric models, each with a sleek design, neon lights, and other accessories.

Rambruck was divided into two major regions, the Prominent Region and the Lesser Regions. In the Prominent Regions, large crowds walked about to handle their daily business, some dressed formally, others more casually or trendy, seeming to be from the upper-class society. 

They walked by large signs hovering before different, some advertising video games, commercial products, etc. A pleasant atmosphere filled the entire street, carrying a more festive mood. Yet, while it was so for this region, one couldn’t say the same for its underside.

The Lesser Regions were the slums of Rambruck, residing in the darker districts of the glamorous city of commerce, a place also more commonly known or labeled by those of the upper class as the Gutters. Here, the putrid scent of the runny drains wafted on the daytime winds, drifting through the dirty trash-filled streets with shady individuals left and right.

A few men wore shabby clothing, leaning against closed doors for what seemed like closed business as they smoked cigarettes and bantered. Others even lay down with lifeless eyes, drowning their worries with half-empty liquor bottles, looking as if they had lost hope.

Even what used to be gorgeous women, garbed in scanty wear, stood with dark shades under their eyes which stared towards peculiar sight — A bridge trailing from the Gutters towards a towering gate that led through a massive wall.

This wall was known as the dividing line, forever as its boundary, separating those the superior civilians termed as Gutter Trash. Those who could even be granted passage beyond it were the lucky ones who could find common-tier employment and those younger prodigies who used their scholarships to attend top-class schools.

Currently, two stern-looking men in soldier uniforms and the emblem of the Rambruck Military stood at the gateway, both seeming to bore as one of them even yawned while stretching as they laughed and bantered.

At this time, the engine of an approaching bus sounded, causing both guards to take on a more alert manner. In the distance, a yellow bus of sleek design appeared, throttling onwards through the sparse street with little to no activity.

The two guards sighed in relief as they the bus, their pressed brows loosening as their expressions became mock. It didn’t take long for the bus to arrive before parking at the gateway and opening its side door.

Moments later, a few students left the van, chatting and laughing while walking towards a few apartments and residential buildings nearby. It was clear that though they lived at the city’s farthest ends, they were still outside the range of places known as the Gutters.

As if standing out from the others, Nero was the only person who walked toward the bridge which led to the Gutters. With quick movements, he neared one of the guards who muttered, “Tsk, this little thing, I don’t know why the city bothers with kids like him.”

“Who knows? It’s none of our business. We only need to do our job. Our shift will soon be over,” replied the other guards as he shrugged.

Nero pretended he didn’t hear their words and moved onward. He soon showed his ID Card and stepped behind the boundary, but soon, a cold voice sounded from behind him.

“Nero… you sure moved quickly, even after acting as you did. Such a coward you are,” A teasing voice said.

Nero frowned as he turned around to look at the person who stood beyond the gates, the youth who stood taller than himself with a mean look in his eyes.

“What do you want, Benson?” Nero asked in a neutral tone.

Benson knitted his brows as he didn’t like Nero’s manner. He glared at him from beyond the gates, knowing he couldn’t do anything now.

Such a lucky little bastard. I wondered why he moved the front parts of the bus. He got out before I could grab him. Still, it’s not like this is the end; he can’t escape forever.

With such thought in mind, Benson smiled as he spoke, “Nero, you got lucky today. You’d better treasure this evening because tomorrow… I’ll teach you a good lesson.”

Nero didn’t say anything. He turned around and walked away. A few sounds of laughter sounded from beyond the gate, signs that his other schoolmates were mocking him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

The farther he walked, the colder his face became. He seemed like a mass of iciness, like a frigid glacier in the continent’s far north.

Oddly, in Nero’s eyes, the world was no longer one of colors but a deep, monotonous gray, and before him, the only place with color was far off into the distance, which caused him to feel a tinge of life and purpose.

He walked for an extended period, bypassing the fierce-looking men that glared at him from the corners of the streets, and after a good while, he arrived at a compound filled with uncut grass, a broken fence, and a small house.

Now arriving at the place filled with color, he walked up to the door and knocked a few times before his lifeless eyes shone with color, and a bright, cheerful smile came on his face as he spoke, “Mother, I’m home.”