Odyssey Into 2012 Ch. 2 : The Gate

Her eyes snapped open. Why was she lying on the street? How did she—The Light Train! Did it drop her here? She had no idea. Footsteps behind her. They were strangely loud. Should she follow them? No other leads existed. "Whatever!"

Then it hit her. The streets were abandoned. And the stores. She was in Tokyo and she was the only human there. Despite this revelation, she continued onward, walking for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, she couldn't move forward, as if an invisible wall stretched across the street.

A strange, indescribable sensation emanated from her left pocket. Reaching in to retrieve the scrap of paper, her hand went immediately and totally numb. Then the wall that held her back shimmered and started to warp and shift, condensing. Then it faded away, leaving in its place an obelisk, roughly three meters tall and made of what she guessed to be solid obsidian. The pillar was marked with runes like she had never seen before, curvy and flowing, and dimly glowing a deep shade of purplish blue. The whole obelisk seemed to pulse, emitting a sourceless thrumming that she felt deep in her stomach.

Thinking it safe to look at that odd scrap of paper, she unfolded it, careful not to tear it. It had changed. "Tokyo" had a single line drawn through it. Below the crossed out "Tokyo" was another word, written in a seemingly different hand. "London"

Several of the runes resolved into two words. "Seek Zephyr". Stepping onto the base of the obelisk, she felt the thrumming swell. She reached to touch the pillar.

As her fingertip made contact with the gate, she slumped to the ground, unconscious.