Clone Seeker

Ciel would have thought himself a walking corpse if his heart had not suddenly remembered its purpose and erupted to life. The sensation of flowing blood felt wonderful, like a warm bath after a cold winter day. The blood rushed forth like an unstoppable tide within his veins, dispelling away the coldness ingrained in his flesh. Before he would do anything else, Ciel merely continued to lay in the soil. As his body heated, like an old machine being suddenly started, his lungs too remembered their purpose and immediately began demanding for fresh oxygen. He inhaled greedily for many more minutes after, his skin still beneath a layer of dirt.

I need a shower…

Ciel thought simply.

However his cold aimless stare directed firmly towards the sky showed no real haste. Finally after a few more minutes of inaction, he sucked in one final heavy breath then commanded his muscles back to work. Sitting upright the first thing he did was examine his surroundings.

He was inside a graveyard, however not one of any glimmer. It was dark and empty, only distinctive as a burial sight by the numerous wooden plank signs which protruded from the soil. Some signs were tilted, some had fallen over, others lacked even a base to hoist them above the soil and were halfway engraved into it.

Whatever their state was, every one of them had the same engraving. One which simply said:

‘Spot Occupied’

In front of him rested a massive wall, one made from the earth itself. No, not a wall, but rather the end of a carving which humanity had done towards a small portion of their beloved host planet. Finding the scenery vaguely familiar, Ciel twisted his torso, there his green eyes finally reflected more than just darkness.

Just beyond reach, small houses could be seen, they were clustered tightly with one another, then when that was not sufficient, they began to overlap each other. Some engulfed smaller buildings entirely while others simply closed off any obvious exit points. It was an ugly architectural mess, a great achievement of disorder.

Entering would be no different than entering a maze, and worse yet the buildings did not even have the integrity to be forged of a single material. Some were of wood and steel, others of steel and stone, some were of all three, while a few had materials indiscernible at just a glance.

That however, was just what was at reach, beyond it a far more magnificent sight awaited. Towering structures between ten to hundred floors stood proud in the distance. They gave off a warm yellow glow of an active industrial center. The lights gleamed and danced far beyond reach from those stuck within the maze of disorder.

That was not all, beyond that still, an even more gargantuan figure awaited, one which sparked the most recognition within Ciel. His eyes shifted upwards slightly, there he saw it clearly.

The Central Elevator…

A massive spherical shaped tower which stretched upwards to the sky, however it was not the sky which it touched but the ground.

It really did work.

The central elevator disappeared within the dark ground above which was substituting as the sky for the people underneath. The stronghold of humanity, Bastion City, was a city of three layers and eleven districts. An enormous marvel of engineering, architecture, and science.

Currently Ciel found himself located within its third layer, the underground district. The area responsible for all mining activities of humanity as well as the place where they discarded the trash of society. For the most part district 11 was no-less inferior than any of the districts above, however uniquely it found its edges infested with useless trash which did not participate within the larger structure of Bastion, the slums.

And at the further edges of even that, Ciel laid.

Understood. This is good, very good.

His gamble had paid off it seemed. Having confirmed that, Ciel turned around and away from the scenery. Too many details were off and he needed a moment to evaluate the situation.

I should be 15 years old. My parents had just passed away late last year on 182 AJ, so I should have already been living in this wretched place all on my own. Hmm, but if this is the year 183 AJ, what is the date? How long have I been in the slums? Have I already made contact with the Red Tiger Gang?

There were too many unanswered questions, with the only certainty being that his regression had succeeded.

If that is the case, then…

Ciel’s eyes narrowed towards the patch of dispersed dirt where he had claimed out of just moments prior. Above it laid the same weathered wooden plank sign as everyone else, one which read:

‘Spot Occupied’

His eyebrows knitted together slightly.

Why was I dead? Or was it rather that I was buried alive?

That did not align with the memories of his past self. His confusion rested heavily on his mind for a long moment until finally, with the lack of any additional information, he temporarily discarded it and instead shifted to another matter.

First things first, I need to set up my objectives.

That at least, would be far simpler. Ciel had two objectives. The first was the most obvious: grow in strength and prepare Bastion City for the sudden fallen herd which will descend on them in the year 194 AJ, eleven years in the future.

That was not only a clear-cut goal but his responsibility to humanity.

He failed to grasp the pleading hands of a hundred humans before, now he would take hold of it tightly long before they ever had a chance to do so again. Thinking such was illogical, for those cries had yet to have ever existed, however for Ciel, once was enough be it present or future.

Never again did he have any need for such a melody of despair.

The second goal was very different. Unlike the grandeur of the first, this was more personal. A wish of his own making. He wanted to save a single person, the woman who had been his savior many years before, or at least would be many years in the future.

Maeve Dawson.

The Arbiter who had saved him back when the fallen first attacked and Bastion city was turned to cinder. She was a tall woman who shared in his features, possessing black hair, pale skin, and deep green eyes, however she was a few years his senior and his mentor.

It was her who took a useless slum rat and gave him the strength to protect the few survivors of humanity. It was her who handed off that sole responsibility onto him as she laid buried under a pool of her own blood.

He had failed her as well, perhaps even the most.

He failed to grow stronger in time, becoming a stage 4 esper only after she had perished. He then thought himself powerful enough to traverse the eternal flames with a hundred lives on his shoulders, only to falter when the ghastly fallen descended upon them, eradicating everyone within a matter of seconds.

Truly his sins ran far too deep.

For that reason, for his selfish desire to help the person which he owed so much to, Ciel had come here.

This year held no significance for him, he could have very well chosen a far closer timeline. Perhaps even just five years before the disaster. Yet he came here, the year 183 AJ, the year Maeve lost her mother under a series of mysterious circumstances.

She had once told him that she held two regrets. The first was the failure to grow strong enough quickly enough, while the second was failing to discover the truth behind her mother’s death.

The two did not have much time to share quiet moments back in that desolate ruin, however that day had been an exception. It was the first time Ciel saw his mentor, a powerful almost otherworldly figure, shed tears. It was the first time he had seen her for what she was, only human.

Smiling darkly, his eyes dawned a glint of purpose and vigor.

Don’t worry mentor, I managed to give myself a second chance, I’ll do the same for you. Just you wait and see. When the fallen come, it will be us who shatter them into pieces of rotten flesh.

*****

Making his way through the empty graveyard, Ciel headed towards the dreary sight of clustered buildings which composed the slums.

His goals were grand, but for now, he needed to get himself started. He anticipated that it would be the most difficult part of his entire plan, however his confidence had yet to waver.

After all, who could stand in my way when I have a Concept Accommodation.

Ciel might have appeared powerless, but he was no ordinary boy. Far from it.

Even with his esper abilities gone, the sheer diversity of his accommodation was more than enough of a boon for the start of his imminent long journey ahead. It was here that Ciel took a moment to reach into his soul.

He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He felt the presence of his soul, and the connection it shared.

Hmm.

Ciel’s face contorted into a scowl. Something was not right.

His soul did not seem as vast and heavy as it should have, and his connection was no different. The glowing orb at the center of his soul shone brightly, much more than it ever had before, and yet, it had shrunk significantly.

Ciel remained motionless for a long time after that, his mind suddenly assaulted by terrible confusion and a bad premonition. Just as it had before, his intuition had begun ringing its alarm. This time with more vigor. Ciel opened his eyes, they were cold and distant. His scowl remained plastered onto his face, however that intense glare had no target, merely hanging in the air for a few long moments.

After two entire minutes had passed, Ciel finally moved. His hand reached out and grasped at the area where his heart should have been. He could feel the steady riddim of beat which it birth, as well as the warmth such a theme spread. And yet something was very wrong.

I don’t feel anything.

That was it. Ciel Adams, the newly established regressor, felt nothing at all. It was not that he did not feel sensation but rather that he did not care, he did not feel joy, nor did he feel anger, or even regret.

He felt no emotions which a human should.