After being both pushed and gently kicked off the person, Nakiea rolled onto the rocky earth they both lay on. He remained there a moment to allow himself a chance to catch his breath and let his mind process everything that had happened in those short couple of minutes. Nothing was making sense, especially since he had just been inside the ruins not two seconds prior to falling through the mirror. What used to be the mirrors was now an open, barren world of rubble and destruction. He was outside in the darkness, broken down buildings with the debris that remained lying just within reach. It was quite a lot to accept and his mind refused to do so. 

"What the hell is your problem? Jumping on people like that. . ." 

The sound of the other male's voice had immediately caught Nakiea's attention once more. His gaze slowly turning, taking in the man's slightly disheveled appearance. For some reason, he had a feeling it was his fault for how the male looked now. He was the one who had fallen on top of him, pressing his body into the dirt and dust. 

Those midnight back eyes were down turned while the male rose to his feet. Even so, Nakiea could still see the way his eyes shimmered like the night sky, only set ablaze by the irritation he had caused the other male. He had equally black hair, but it reminded him more of the color of a raven's feather. It was a bit messy and hung slightly in the guy's eyes, but it definitely suited him. He couldn't see the man with any other style than the one he had. 

"Well?" 

Midnight colored eyes finally rose to meet with his mossy green ones. Though covered by the veil of raven colored hair, Nakiea could see the impatient question rising within them. It was that very looked that brought him back to the present, to realize the situation he had gotten himself into. . . he was no longer within the safety of home. He was in an unknown world, one he had no idea as to what was going on. 

"I'm sorry, I. . ." 

Slowly clammering back to his feet, Nakiea carefully brushed the bits of dirt, rock and dust from his already tattered clothing. He turned to look back at the spot he had fallen from, ripples vanishing in the air now that it was no longer being disturbed. 

". . . fell?" 

Nakiea questioned his own answer, stunned that he had managed to travel somewhere new through a single mirror. The entirety of the idea seemed completely unfathomable, but somehow, he had managed to do so. It left many more questions swirling within his mind, especially if he was going to be able to do the same thing through any mirror or only those that were within the ivory ruins. 

"Fell? From where? Thin air?" 

"Something like that." 

His voice was quiet, threatening to become nothing more than a simple whisper. It's not that he wasn't telling the truth, it was just hard to tell the truth without sounding like he was completely insane. 

Returning his attention fully onto the male he had unintentionally used as a landing pad, Nakiea froze at the utter look of disbelief he was currently receiving. It prompted the sheepishly nervous smile he quickly threw onto his face. At this point, the male eyeing him probably thought he was absolutely insane, completely bonkers. He wouldn't have blamed him either, even he himself was beginning to think he was somewhat crazy because none of this seemed remotely real to him. 

"You're kidding me, right?" 

Shaking his head, the male fixed his own clothes and righted himself as well. It was in that very moment when he straightened the white tunic he wore (now dirtied by the ground he had been laying on) Nakiea spotted the pistol attached to his hip. Curiosity and panic rose from deep within the pit of his stomach and threatened to bubble over like boiling water about to rush over the top of the pot. The raven haired male must of have seen or sensed that panic within him because his gaze followed his own, looking down at the gun he had holstered before looking back up once more. 

"Don't get any funny ideas. One wrong move and I will shoot." 

Nakiea's head snapped up, mossy green orbs wide with a sudden fear he didn't know was possible to feel as he stared at the stranger before him. Surely he didn't mean what he had just said. Even if he didn't, Nakiea looked much like a fish out of water, gasping for some much needed air. 

"If you give me reason to that is." 

"N-No. . . no, it won't-" 

His hands flew up, waving frantically in front of his face at the same time his head shook with much vigor. However, Nakiea was quickly cut off by the loud rumblings coming from somewhere not far into the distance. His, along with the stranger beside him, their attention was drawn towards whatever was coming their way. The sound made whatever it was sound extremely large and very intimidating, Nakiea could only imagine what it was coming in their direction. 

"Shit, why of all times." 

The raven haired male hissed under his breath, letting his shirt drop back into place while glancing around their current location. 

"What. . . is that?" 

Nakiea's head slowly turned to face the male once more, praying that he would have the answer to his one desperate question.

It was his turn to be shocked that time, however. Had his surprising young friend truly asked what was coming their way? Surely he hadn't heard him right and the young brunette before him had asked something completely different. Maybe he was inquiring about something else, something not even he knew about. Somehow, that wasn't completely right, not when he saw the desperation, fear and confusion all flickering across those innocent mossy green eyes.

"Are you. . . have you been living under a rock all this time?" 

"I-" 

"You know what, we don't have time to sit and chit chat. We need to move, we need to hide." 

Grabbing Nakiea's hand, the young raven haired male took off at a run without giving him much of a warning. He was pulled along, nearly tripping over his feet in the process while looking around for whatever was causing the loud crunching and steam expelling sounds. 

Stumbling over his own feet, Nakiea had no other options but to follow the guy he had crash landed upon. The pair rushed across the rocky terrain, his mossy green eyes darting all around as the minimal light from the moon began to reveal the true state of what could have been a thriving city at one point. However, it was nothing more than partial buildings, destruction and a wasteland of dust and dirt for miles. 

The buildings that once stood high within the sky, towering over the people below were nothing more than broken piles of rubble. They were still crumbling to nothing but dust with the help of who knew what. Some of the buildings even looked as if holes had been blown into them, by what, Nakiea wasn't willing to stick around to find out. The man leading him was his best chance of survival at this point and he wasn't about to piss him off any further to  lose that little bit of security. 

Upon continuing his quick inspection as they ran, it wasn't just the buildings that had caught Nakiea's attention, it was the objects that lay littered within the shattered stone and broken glass. 

Clothes from a nearby shop lay tattered and charred on the ground while dirtied stuffed animals waited patiently for someone to clean them. Some graffiti remained splattered on certain structures that were fighting to remain standing, even after their imminent desolation. However, if not for the raven haired male pulling him along, he would have stopped, frozen deep within the clutches of his own fear. 

Nakiea managed a quick glance to the side, catching a glimpse of what was coming towards them right before his raven haired protector ducked within one of the buildings. 

Coming from down the street was an oversized iron beast, its four wheels of thick treads gripped the earth below and shattered it into small pieces. Anything smaller than a stone that got within its path, popped like a balloon at a birthday party and fell to the ground in a heap of dust. A rotating turret sat at the vehicle's top, certain the monster's pilot was itching to fire it at the first thing they saw move. The metal was dark, maybe aged overtime or made to look that way naturally, but it didn't appear like any metals he had ever seen before. Not even where he was from had metals as dark as the ones he was staring at. 

"What is that?" 

"Shh~" 

The stranger hiding with him clapped a hand over Nakiea's mouth in an attempt to silence his attempted whispers. It was in that moment, the younger male realized there were bright golden lights illuminating the darkness that had once blanketed and hid them from sight. The machines, that's what they were, they were machines looking for something. . . or they were looking for someone. 

Even as the thought crossed Nakiea's mind, the machines moved ever closer to their current hiding spot. The rumbling and rusted shrieking becoming extremely overbearing while the vibration the large machine created was making Nakiea's body go entirely numb from the force. He was frozen, eyes cast upwards as drones flew overhead to illuminate anything and everything their lights could manage to reach. Nakiea prayed that they were hidden well enough, not wanting to find out what happens if they got caught by the pursuing drones. 

Nakiea wasn't certain if it was reflex or his nameless friend was intentionally doing so to try and make him uncomfortable, but the moment the drones flew overhead, he pressed himself ever closer to his body. The heat coming off of his protector and the sudden closeness between the two had his own body warming while his face turned a crimson red, thankful for the darkness hiding it. He only hoped that the man couldn't feel the heat coming off his face. 

The bright beam of the light drifted over their heads, narrowly revealing their hidden location. The massive tank-like structure that had been inching its way through the small city, vibrated the ground and drowned out any sounds that might have been made. That, Nakiea was thankful for, especially since his heart was thrashing around within his chest for a multiple number of reasons. 

Minutes ticked by so slowly, it felt like an eternity before silence once more claimed the darkness around them. The only sound that seemed to shatter the returned quiet was their breathing and Nakiea's thundering heartbeat. He only hoped his current companion couldn't hear it, especially since it would cause an overbearing amount of embarrassment to take hold of him if he could. 

His racing heart had started because of the machines, but he began to wonder as well if it lingered for another reason. A reason he felt absolutely ridiculous for feeling so quickly. 

Nakiea shook the thought from his mind the moment his nameless protector moved away from him, finally releasing his mouth and creating some much needed space between them. However, the warmth he had been feeling was replaced by a sudden coolness, forcing a shiver out of the young brunette. 

"What was that?" 

His thoughts were once more forced to the matter at hand, the danger that he had suddenly found himself rooted in. 

Nakiea had made certain to keep his voice down, pinning the other male with a curious gaze. Desperation mingled within his silent plea for answers, ones he hoped to be answered now rather than later. 

"Okay, I think the coast is clear. We should get moving before more of those machines show up." 

The raven haired male had completely disregarded his inquiry, leaving Nakiea just as lost and confused as ever. He didn't like being in the dark on things, both figuratively and literally. 

As his companion rose from their hiding spot, intent on making a run for it, Nakiea quickly reached out and snagged the man's wrist. He successfully managed to stop his retreat, pulling him back down so they were once more at level with one another. The desperation he felt in regards to wanting answers clearly shown upon his face and within his mossy green eyes. If this guy couldn't see it, than he had to have been blinder than a bat in daylight. 

For a brief second, both males just stared at one another. However, the frustrated sigh that left Nakiea's companion's lips was a win for him. He knew he had won out and the male was finally giving in to explain what was going on. 

"Look, I don't know what rock you've been living under to not know about the Sanctum Police, but they're bad news for anyone who gets caught by them. They're made of nothing but machines programmed to eliminate people like us, caught roaming the surface." 

Nakiea tried to wrap his mind around what he was being told, but there was no room to doubt it all either. He wasn't from this world, he had no right to doubt what someone from the world was saying. They would know what was going on far more than himself, especially when his world was far more peaceful than wherever he currently was. 

"Okay, we could sit here all night while I explain the Sanctum Police to you, but I really don't feel like getting caught tonight." 

Pulled from his swirling thoughts, Nakiea blinked his mossy green eyes while taking everything else in. He didn't feel like getting caught by any form of police either, not in this world and not in his own. 

"Okay, then what do you propose we do?" 

"I propose we get out of here, so get up and put a hustle on it." 

"Right." 

It was the only thing Nakiea could say that his mind and voice would agree upon. 

Nakiea and his raven haired companion both stood from their crouched positions. However, before the nameless man could take the lead one more and turn around to guide them to safety, Nakiea stopped him once more. He knew the man was frustrated with his stalling actions, but there was one last thing that had been bugging him since the two of them had met. 

"I'm sorry, but I have one last question. It'll be quick." 

Silence was what Nakiea was met with, raising his anxiety ever so slightly. He didn't need the only person he felt he could place some semblance of trust in to snap at him and leave his side. 

After a quick glance around, the dark eyed male looked back to Nakiea and nodded. 

"Make it quick." 

"I never got your name. Mine's Nakiea." 

Nakiea could see the disbelief flash across the man's midnight colored eyes. He knew the very question he asked could have been answered another time, but if he was going to continue following the male, at least a name should be given. He didn't even care if it wasn't the man's real name, just something to call him by would have been nice. 

"Persus, my name is Persus. Now, if you don't want to end up in the world beyond, I suggest we get moving." 

"Right, lead the way." 

A small smile tugged upon Nakiea's lips as Persus turned from him and leaned out of the building. He watched his raven haired companion scan the nearby streets, making certain it was safe enough for them to make their getaway. 

Like rats sneaking around in the dark, Nakiea and Persus made their way back in the direction where they had first crashed into one another. The buildings that sprinkled the town behind them slowly became more non-existent as they ran into the shadows of the night. Nothing but dusty soil and rocky earth stretched out before them, no place to hide if they were ever pursued by the Sanctum Police. 

As anxious as their path was making Nakiea, there was no room to doubt Persus and where he was taking him. He had placed his life in the male's hands, he had to trust he would keep him alive long enough to see another day. He had to hope he would, anyways. Nakiea prayed he wasn't making a mistake by following Persus, but what other choice was there when the other choice was human murdering artificial intelligence units known as the Sanctum Police? 

What had he gotten himself into?