This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. -2 Timothy 3:1 (KJV)
It was a starless night, lit only by the fullest moon anyone had seen in hundreds of years. It was a night like any other, fifteen years ago today, that people would never have thought twice about. Cool, still, silent. It was as if the entire world collectively held a breath and spoke no words. Even the heart did not beat. The rivers did not move. The waves lay still, and all living things slept with no breath between them. An eerie night in which Time herself must have stopped completely. Everything was clear, and everything was one.
A moment after the single quietest second the world had ever known, the moon dripped red like blood, and the night sky bled into a black shade. It was impossible to look through and a rising fog only made it more so. The world continued its hold on breath and the heavens looked on now as the hell below opened for the same look. Devils and angels locked eyes for a solid second before the earth was ripped in two.
A baby born blonde laid in a crib made of ebony and bone. Smoke rose around the child and fire engulfed everything around. Countless eyes peered wide at the babe, none blinking. Three dark moles under her left eye. Skin paled and unusual. The softness of her serenity clashed in contrast against the horrific background she laid against. She made no sound in unison with the deafening silence around her.
As her lids opened to reveal the ruby stain behind them, the world began to breathe around her. She laid silently still as screams echoed, blood-curdling and shrieks that could not be defined horrific or joyous erupted from every crevice. Still, she lay quiet. She breathed in deeply, the sulfuric air dancing in her lungs. She did not move. Even as a dark hand came down to stroke her soft cheek and as the worlds above and beyond began to live again, she lay still, eyes watching the figure above her closely. The color of her eyes dulled to fresh blood, and it was then that the figure smiled above her, sharp teeth gleaming in the twirling flames around them.
"Princess..." A deep voice echoed in her head, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Welcome."
The light from heaven shone brighter than ever before, and as round, brown eyes slid open trumpets played loudly- breaking the silence that had overtaken. Joyous laughs and speech made her head swim, and yet a smile still broke across her face, a small laugh escaping her lips. Dark hair pillowed around her, and eyes from adoring forms watched from all over accompanied with smiles to match her own.
Large hands lifted her softly and a loud yet soft voiced enveloped her and made her smile again. "Everyone!" It cheered, echoing over the clouded space around them. The cheers that followed drowned out each other, every single pitch making it back to the babe who tried her hardest to echo back what she heard. She was passed to smaller hands and then around to many others, each stopping for a moment to sign a mark over her head. And then she was being lifted higher and higher and higher, into a warmness like no other. And it was there she smiled again before falling into a deep sleep, blanketed by every joyous moment ever imagined at once.
The creatures of the earth began to stir.
Fires began leaking across continents; the world's oceans began to rise up; the crust of the earth began to rumble and shatter; stars began to fall. For forty days and forty nights, the world tore itself apart, warring against itself. Fifteen years ago... And now no one wants to speak of what lies ahead or dream about what may not.