A/N: Here is the start of my next long project after I'm finished with Laws of Attraction. I literally just found Hadestown last night, but I've already listened to the soundtrack three times and knew this had to be my next work. I'll finish LoA soon, then this will be my focus. I've already planned the entire fic out from top to bottom.
Title is taken from the lyrics to 'Doubt Comes In' from the Hadestown OST: "It won't be long / 'cause the darkest hour / Of the darkest night / Comes right before the dawn."
Right Before the Dawn
It was dark, that night. Winter's chill had long sunken into the bones of every unfortunate passerby caught outside in the wee hours after midnight, and they trembled more with every step, facing the wind. It howled through narrow alleys, rumbled through fluttering windowpanes, spinning weathervanes and attacking leafy palm fronds and bushy treetops without mercy.
Something was terribly wrong with the world. Upon the Destiny Islands, a tropical paradise off the south coast of Radiant Garden, winter had never been an issue in the past. Even within Twilight Town, the capital city of the tiny state, they used to barely receive more than a few inches annually, despite being tucked into a higher mountain range upon the main island.
But lately, the winters had grown longer, the snow had fallen all the way to the edge of the water, and the people were starving. The terrible storms raged endlessly, and all was falling away to nothingness. The aftermath of the last gale still lingered, littering the streets with debris and broken tree branches, destroyed signs and scattered belongings.
But that wasn't all that was wrong with the world that night. No, the fact that there were people on the streets at all signalled the greater issue.
Three young women sighed, seated upon the edge of the highest clock tower in Twilight Town. Their pale skin and bright blue eyes shone unnaturally in the dim light, all three women almost perfectly identical aside from their clothes and hair. Sitting above the train station, their vantage point was perfect. As they surveyed the town below them, the strangely snow-covered beaches glittering in the scattered moonlight beyond, they began to speak to one another. Their voices were young, but belied an experience of age-old wisdom.
"The largest district was flooded from the storm last night," the black-haired girl on the left murmured. Out of her long, dark sleeves came a shining haze which draped upon the laps of the other two. Upon closer inspection, one could faintly pick out the appearance of millions of little strands of thread, each as fine as gossamer silk and far more fragile. Snip.
"Many of the people died," the platinum blonde on the right murmured sadly, stroking the ends of her long hair absentmindedly with one hand. Within the other, she held out a pair of scissors, snipping the strands as they wove through the air towards her. Snip.
"It is as foretold," the middle one murmured, voice soft and somber. Although her eyes were trained in the distance, auburn hair falling in the way, her hands deftly separated the strands, the majority of them spooling back up inside her pocket. The threads which she pulled apart from the rest remained free, drifting over to the blonde woman, to the scissors. Snip.
"They would have died anyways," the brunette commented bleakly. Snip. "They don't think they have a future here."
"And if they give up hope, we have to cut their threads," the blonde added. Snip. "Anyone who gives up hope can't expect to survive."
"It's a changing world," the redhead explained. Snip. "Once upon a time, these islands were perfect. The town was beautiful. But that man's greed has stolen the summer away."
"And without the summer, they can't eat. There's no food." The brunette let her eyes wander to the stars, wistful and sorrowful as they took in the clouds blanketing the sky, barely allowing the moonlight to illuminate the crumbling world. Snip.
"And without the summer, they can't work. There aren't any jobs." The blonde let her gaze travel to the ocean, to the snow drifts lying on the beach where they had no right to take up residence. Snip.
"And without the summer, there's no shelter. They weren't made for this weather." The auburn one let her glance fall upon the lights shimmering below, the lights of the people leaving the town and heading for the docks. Snip.
There was no longer any way to sustain island life with the force of the winter. Trade was cut off by the ice and the weather, and tourism was down. The people were giving up on Destiny Islands, leaving it cold and empty, searching for a better future somewhere far away.
"The spring is on its way soon. That's why they're all leaving now- to settle in somewhere else before the winter comes back." Snip.
"The spring is on its way soon. But they'll realize that even on the mainland, Radiant Garden is facing as even harsher change in the climate." Snip.
"The spring is on its way soon…" Snip.
The three women paused, looking up into the sky with eyes that looked far beyond the edge of the stars, past the infinite void, into time itself.
Unanimously, they whispered, "This time, how long will it last?"