Atlas took a deep breath, the air here was fresh, far different from what he was used to back on earth. The flowers surrounding him were vivid, possessing colours that felt almost unreal.
He bent down and took the flowers in his hands, feeling as its petals brushed gently against his hands.
"What happened?"
Before he could properly rise, Atlas suddenly felt a weight slam against his back. Instantly, he braced himself, thinking that maybe he had been attacked by an alien.
But when he got a good look at the creature, he smiled.
Dewy brown skin, energetic eyes and a petite frame.
"Dahlia!"
"Atlas…" She said, streams of tears already running down her face.
"Dahlia? Are you okay?"
The girl took a step back and wiped the tears off her eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine. It just took a while to find you so I thought something might have happened."
Something did happen, but Atlas could not tell her that. He still hadn't figured out who his killer was after all.
Now that she was a step away from him, Atlas noticed something very wrong about the way she looked.
"Did you change your clothes?"
Dahlia looked at herself and scratched her head in confusion.
"That is the strange thing, we all woke up dressed like this."
Atlas glanced at his own clothing, she was right… his elegant battle suit had been replaced with an archaic cloak and leather belt.
But that was not the only strange thing.
"Did she say, we all?' Wait, Does that mean?!"
He suddenly looked past the girl and his breath got caught in his throat.
'What is happening here?'
Scattered across the clearing were the civilians he had rescued. The children, elders, young men and women… everyone.
Just like him they all looked confused and stared at the environment with caution, yet, since Dahlia said she looked for him, they must have arrived here a bit earlier than him.
'It's probably due to my rebirth…'
The children were the only ones unbothered by the unfamiliar scene, they played around in their groups, dancing through the flowers despite their parents warnings.
"How did I miss them at first?"
Atlas had been in a daze when he first arrived so he had somehow not noticed their presence.
"How is everyone here?" He said to himself.
'Did they all die at the same time?!'
No, that made no sense… The StarTrekker was perfectly safe and there was no way the androids followed them to space.
The StarTrekker was too fast to be caught up to.
"It's weird right?" Dahlia asked. "We all woke up here at the same time and I don't think this is Delta."
Atlas ran his hand through his hair. "Tell me everything that happened just before you arrived here."
It took less than 5 minutes for Dahlia to recount what had happened because nothing much had happened.
There was nothing strange about the story, the ship had entered its hyper dive stage and that was the last thing they remembered before this…
'If they are all here I guess I wasn't cheated by the goddess?'
Something must have happened that led to their mass migration to wherever this was, and so his body was carried along with them.
The rebirth must have happened somewhere along the line.
Atlas grabbed onto the girl's wrists and pulled her towards the direction of the crowd. There were a lot of things he had to think about, but he had to push out thoughts about the Destroyer and the mystery behind his family crest.
Right now, their survival was far more important.
"Come with me."
Dahlia nodded, following swiftly behind Atlas.
"Gather around!" Atlas screamed as he walked through the crowd, walking towards a large rock he could use as a podium.
Many of the people were already moving closer to him but a few of them were still staring around, looking lost.
That was until a far louder voice boomed over the area.
"Gather around Atlas you airheads!"
Out of the crowd, Akaman was cutting a path through the people with a broad smile on his face and a long straight branch in hand.
"Any chance you have an explanation for this?"
Atlas shook his head.
"I'm just as lost as you."
Akaman laughed. "I thought as much."
***
Once everyone had surrounded the large rock, the more anxious people began to voice their concerns.
"What is this place?!"
"We couldn't have gotten to Delta so fast, what happened?"
"Is this the doing of the Androids?"
"I'm hungry!"
Atlas smiled nervously before he spoke.
"I know you're all confused, trust me I am just as surprised as you all are, after all, this was not part of the plan."
"We seem to have somehow teleported to another planet…"
He had seen countless pictures of Delta, the planet was known for its characteristic gas ring that could be seen from anywhere on the planet.
The skies here were plain and clear.
The murmurs intensified when they realized the implication of his words.
On delta, they would have been received as refugees and given not just a place to stay, but free food as well.
Instead, they were stuck here. A place they had no idea if humans even existed!
"There is no need to panic, we can figure this out together. We survived the androids didn't we? This will be a piece of cake."
The crowd began to settle down, although they were still wary of their current situation, there was some truth to Atlas' words.
Atlas cleared his throat.
"That being said, we need to get moving. I don't know how time works in this place but there are a couple of things we need to set down."
"We need food, a water source and shel—"
"What makes you think you can lead us?" Before Atlas could finish his sentence, a calm voice interrupted him.
Out of the crowd came a middle aged man with greying beards and sly eyes. In his hand was a long branch he had converted to a walking stick and his lips were curved in a wicked smirk.
"Mr Lord of nothing."
"Who the hell is this guy—" Akaman asked, about to walk up to him when Atlas held him back.
"Let him speak his mind."
The man's smile broadened as he took his time to walk to where everyone could see him. Once he did, he tapped his stick on the ground to gain their attention.
"We are in God knows where, our clothes have mysteriously vanished and our only way back, the StarTrekker which by the way was the last of its kind is gone."
"Let's not forget that we have no food, water or means of entertainment. Remind me…" the man glanced at Atlas.
"On whose leadership did we get into this mess?"
Whispers began to spread through the crowd as they considered the man's words, but Atlas remained calm.
"If you have something to say then be quick about it, we need as much time as possible to prepare for the night."
The man shook his head slightly and looked back at the crowd.
"Our little lord here might have rescued us from the perils of the Androids but this is an entirely different ball game."
"Pray tell… do you know why they call him the Lord of nothing?"