3 bar menu

Interstitial Sea – Part 01

The earth became green and beautiful again, and in a deep forest that the fire had not burnt a woman and a man wakened up. They had been hidden there by Odin and left to sleep during Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.

—Padraic Colum, The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths

---

Prologue

Wonder Girl Episode 1

Illustration & Story by Bon & Coup

Comic Manhattan, January 1929 Issue

The sky at the end of the world blazed brown.

The smoldering sun, now refusing to set, cast a perpetual rusty glow, filling nearly half of the leaden sky. Day and night blurred into an eternal twilight. The dark horizon beyond the desolate coastline appeared blurry, as if liquefied by the relentless heat. The waves, sluggish and undulating, mirrored the feeble rhythm of a dying titan’s breath. A crust of salt stretched into the distance, tinged with the crimson of world’s end.

The demise of Wonderstar drew near.

Once a beacon of advancement, a bastion of peace and prosperity, Wonderstar was a planetary nation blessed with lush greenery and boundless resources, the grandest of celestial realms ruled by a regal queen.

None was to blame, except the relentless march of time. Eons of tranquility and plenty now culminated in the planet’s impending demise.

The hour of death approached.

Upon the royal hill, shrouded by eerie green moss, stood the ruins of temples, reflecting the dying embers of the colossal sun. Save for the occasional whisper of the foul sea breeze, all was silent, motionless.

This planet was, at this very moment, dying. The colossal heavenly body was finally at the end of its lifespan.

A figure emerged in the ruins, slender arms pushing aside and lifting massive pillars with effortless ease. It was a girl with long, silver hair, barely in her teens, possessing a doll-like, delicately petite figure. She wore no clothing, her pale skin exposed to the bleak wind of desolation. Her face displayed a resolute expression.

She stayed motionless for a while, holding a thick pillar high.

“Hmph!”

With a sharp snort that belied her dainty form, she hurled the pillar into the red sky. The pillar warped, before plummeting into the leaden sea, sending up murky splashes.

The girl surveyed the surroundings with a discontented scowl. Her dissatisfaction with her mother planet was palpable—a raw, unfiltered anger borne of innocence. Gray waves crashed and retreated.

“Wonder Girl!” called a looming figure behind her.

Wonder Girl—her silver hair billowing like a cloak—turned to face the speaker.

Standing there was a woman with similar silver hair—the last ruler of the prosperous planet Wonderstar, Wonder Queen.

Once regal and imposing, she had lost both an arm and her majestic crown. Her body, with its ample breasts, toned abdomen, fine buttocks, leaned to one side.

“Mother!” the girl responded, her features etched with sorrow and dismay.

Their silver tresses intertwined, manes ablaze in the winds of destruction.

“You must depart, Wonder Girl. You are our irreplaceable princess, the beacon of our future.”

“Depart? But where, Mother? Our star is dying, and with it, hope… Our home planet, our star, our memories, our future… I can’t stand it!”

“There’s still a future!”

“Where?”

“Beyond the skies!” Wonder Queen pointed to the sky, indicating somewhere far into the universe beyond the burning sun. Her hand, with several missing fingers, gleamed bronze. “Listen closely. Our star is dying, our land is burning, civilization is crumbling, and our people are gone. But you, Wonder Girl, are alive. It pains me to release your tender hand and send you forth alone. But I have faith in you. You were destined to lead Wonderstar. Even the future will bow to you.”

“But…”

“The professor spoke of a vast blue planet in the distant cosmos, similar to Wonderstar but in its infancy. You will journey there.”

“Mother…”

“Within your bronze body burns the strength of a million steeds. A gentle soul within a tough physique. Even in a new world, you will help others and live a good, respectable life. Now, step into the capsule the professor prepared!”

“Will you not accompany me, Mother?”

“Huh? Well…”

As the girl began to show signs of anxiety, the Queen nodded slowly before shifting her gaze elsewhere.

Snowflakes started falling along the coastline, reflecting the dying hues of the sun. Pale comets streaked across the sky, vanishing as swiftly as they appeared.

The Queen pushed a button covered in seaweed and moss, and the cockpit of a gigantic spider-like machine, capable of traversing the cosmos, opened. She nudged her small yet strong daughter inside.

“I’ll tell you the name of that planet.”

“Okay… Um, where will you be seated, Mother?”

“I’ll be in the back. Hurry now!”

“O-Okay.”

“I lied about joining you. It’s a single-seater capsule.”

“W-Wait… I wanted us to journey together!”

“It’s all right. You’re already a capable adult.”

The Queen gently pushed her daughter’s head down as she closed the cockpit.

“M-Mother! I don’t want to go alone!”

“Wonder Girl, do not forget your own power and what you must wield it for.”

“This can’t be goodbye. I’ve been in Wonderstar all this time, even in its final days…”

“Use your power to uphold what you believe is right.”

“Mother!”

“The name of the new blue planet is—”

“Mothe—”

“Bluestar!”

With a loud clang, the cockpit sealed shut. Wonder Girl’s view narrowed to the moss-covered glass window of the giant spider-shaped, single-seater capsule.

The capsule ascended into the heavens. She stole a final glance behind.

Through the glass, Wonderstar, the cradle of their civilization, dwindled rapidly. Then, it split into two before her very eyes, rapidly consumed by flames, then transformed into a large, black, cooled lump.

“No… Wonder Star! Wonder Queen!”

The girl trembled. Then, slowly, she shifted her gaze forward.

Passing the blazing giant sun, the capsule soared through the vastness of space.

Time passed, and a dazzling blue planet appeared. Waves undulating across vibrant seas. Clouds weaving intricate patterns in the sky. Rich lands teeming with the brilliance of life. A bright blue. A youthful blue. An unpolished blue. How dazzling it all was!

Wonder Girl, who had been sobbing alone, finally lifted her gaze to the planet.

Amazement. And a newfound sense of wonder swelled within her.

“Is this…” Her cherry lips parted. “Bluestar?!”

A small capsule, carrying the brave girl with a bronze body and the strength of a million horses, journeyed through space, steadily descending into the blue seas of a new planet… towards the future. And then…

Splash!

A mighty spray erupted off the coast of Babylon City, a neo-development enclave resembling an island at the eastern edge of the United States of America.

To be continued!

---

Chapter 1: Interstitial Sea

Summer of 1930.

Between the sinking Old World and the hopeful new land stretched a gray expanse of sea. The wind was calm, and now and then, eerie migratory birds drifted by like messengers bearing ominous news.

A large immigrant vessel swayed as it sailed across the ocean. An old vessel that had survived two world wars, its once gleaming hulls were now weathered and rough as sandpaper.

Weary crew members shuffled across the worn deck. As they descended the creaky stairs, several rats darted out. In the mess room, a cook in a stained apron sat in a daze. A heap of dirty dishes sat in a bucket nearby.

The stench of vomit permeated the corridor. Below, the hold doubled as a makeshift sleeping quarters for third-class passengers, furnished with straw mattresses. Immigrants of diverse backgrounds huddled together in their sleep—a Jewish man with curly hair dangling from his temples, a Russian with a thick beard, an Armenian woman with dark skin.

The lively songs and conversations that had filled the air at departure had since faded during the arduous ten-day journey. Now, only the snores of men, the cries of children, the hushed murmurs of women, and silent prayers remained.

They were headed to the promised new land, but their faces had turned grim. Days aboard the ship were harsh for the destitute.

And then, the persistent wailing of a baby grew louder.

One man stopped snoring. “Hey! Quiet that child down!” he snapped.

But the cries continued, and all eyes turned to the source—a young mother, seemingly Italian, too drained to comfort her infant. Cold sweat beaded on her brow as she lay with eyes shut tight.

Next to her, a small figure, perhaps a child, wrapped in a tattered gray cloth, curled up. The young East Asian man nestled close to her, maintaining proper posture, had his eyes closed in exhaustion, his jet-black bangs hiding his forehead.

Suddenly, the young man’s eyelids quivered. “Father,” he mumbled in his sleep. “I… I’m sorry. I will forge… my own path.”

Kazuya Kujou slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the darkness of the night.

Through blurred vision, he saw the gray atmosphere of the hold, the heap of straw mattresses, the immigrants in their varied garbs. He wondered where he was.

A baby’s cries reached his ears. Kazuya jolted. He looked at the person wrapped in gray cloth beside him and nodded gently.

Whispers drifted from somewhere.

“A long time ago, there was a massacre in our village. In Coronea, northern Italy. Must’ve been over sixty years ago.”

“They didn’t catch the culprits?”

“No. Bandits from across the border descended from the mountains. They slaughtered everyone. Some disappeared, like this divorced woman. Known as Batty Betsy for her eccentricities. She was pretty, so probably taken by the gang, then killed.”

“Yeesh!”

“It was a peaceful village, too. My folks used to talk about it.”

Kazuya glanced toward the speakers—laborers drinking in the shadows. Their weary, somber expressions matched the mood.

The baby’s cries intensified. The men lifted their heads, irritated.

“For heaven’s sake, quiet down! I can’t sleep!”

“Damn right!”

“Shut that kid up!”

The gray bundle beside Kazuya stirred. From within, a cascade of silver hair emerged, gleaming like a meteor shower in the night. It caught the lamplight. The men stared at the golden sheen, taken aback.

A pair of green eyes, sinister as a cat’s—no, something more ferocious, like a leopard or a wolf—gleamed from within the cloth, turning to the source of the crying.