Chapter 4: Death in Billions
"Wow, you actually showed up," Musa laughed as she zipped up her dorm jacket in the bitter cold, "Impressive." Tecna looked out onto the river to notice the water was extremely choppy and the wind was really rough. She shivered and zipped up her jacket as well. The weather really wasn't working out in their favour.
"You seemed eager to go," Tecna shrugged as Musa handed her one of her spare hover boards.
"I promise you will not be disappointed," Musa winked, "We'll have lots of fun. Gardenia is quite a site at night."
"Whatever you say," Tecna snapped her fingers and her board hovered beneath her feet. She slid on her crash bracelets that molded around the shape of her wrists. She jumped up and down on her board a couple times to be sure it was steady. It was very steady and sturdy underneath her feet. Suddenly Musa handed her a pair of goggles. "Uh...What are these for Twig?"
"The waters rough and dangerous anytime you go out. You want to see where you're going, right?" Musa jumped on her board and slid her goggles on over her eyes. Tecna did the same. "Left your interface ring at home?"
Tecna nodded and giggled as she pulled up her shirt a little bit to prove there was nothing attached to her belly button.
"Now," Musa snapped her fingers to raise her own board underneath her feet, "One more warning: You need to keep close to me. The water will be noisy and we won't be able to communicate without our rings. Don't get lost."
Tecna gulped as Musa edged her board over the water and Tecna edged her board forward to follow her. She had a hint of doubt and felt she should have turned around. After all, she did promise Stella to not do anything to get the wardens involved. She shrugged it off and guaranteed to herself that she wasn't going to get caught. Both of them soon quickened faster over the waves that were getting bigger and were causing larger splashes of water. They were already dripping wet in the freezing cold water. She could only hope she wouldn't catch a cold after all of this; especially with her operation only a week away.
Soon Tecna could see faintly coming up ahead of her a light blue glow; indicating the position of the Andros Belt. As soon as she and Musa crossed over she held her breath; fearing that somehow they would be out to catch them, and force them to remain ugly forever. She couldn't get the thought of herself looking the way she did right now; but covered in wrinkles, grey hair, and signs of age. A wave soon knocked Tecna back into reality and she concentrated on following Musa over the water. She heard Musa screaming with excitement and glee ahead of her.
As the last signs of civilization disappeared behind her; she finally could take in the world around her. It was one thing to be out here during a school trip; but it was another to actually be here in the fierce wild at night. Everything seemed so much more dangerous, crisp, and beautiful. As the full moon shone brightly over the crystal clear water and trees; she could make out faint wildlife of deer's, rabbits, and owls. It was definitely a pleasant change than the constant viewing of Magix and of all the pretty fairies. Tecna finally had to admit that nature was a very beautiful place. Unlike her and every other ugly pixie; nature didn't need an operation to be beautiful.
It just was.
Finally after a good 10 minutes of zooming through the winds and being splashed in the face every 10 seconds; Musa finally shifted her board towards shore and she soon followed. They both remained in utter silence as they slowly hovered their way towards the ruins of Gardenia. Until the loud rapids of water finally left their eardrums; they started talking again.
"So, was that fun? Or was that fun?" Musa nudged Tecna as they hovered alongside each other.
"It was...thrilling," Tecna squeezed some of the water out of her clothes because they were drenched, "Didn't think I'd be getting this wet. If I catch hyperthermia I'll never forgive you."
"Even if you do...It'll be worth it to come here. I've got something I want to show you," Musa replied as she pushed through multiple branches and leaves. As soon as they emerged from the deep, tangled brush; the ruins stood directly in front of them. Tecna stood there with mouth dropped.
They glided through the dead and abandoned streets in silence; as if worried to disturb any of the spirits that still may be lingering. She sighed as she looked up at the black metal skeletons of the once massive buildings. Vegetation was slowly invading and surrounding some of the remaining structures. She wondered how many people lived in one of these buildings...600? Maybe 1000 of them squished like little bees in a hive. It really surprised Tecna to learn that so many people lived in such a massive city. She remembered in history class that at one point the population of Earth was over 10 billion before the collapse of civilization centuries before her. After that, the total population of Earth was a struggling 50,000.
Seeing the city at night really made it appear more real. She remembered that during school trips and history lectures that they made the Warrior Fairies seem like complete idiots. Cities fighting with each other over resources, power, beauty...the list went on and on. On top of that; they used magic as a natural resource as well as a weapon. She remembered learning that they used magic to construct everything that they ever built. No wonder only metal remains were left of the civilization.
"It really gives you a more appreciation for life y'know? I wouldn't have wanted to be alive during the Dark Days," Musa broke the silence between them. Her voice echoed in every direction around them.
"How can billions of people die in almost an instant?" Tecna felt very sad as she asked this. It really wasn't explained that much to her in school; as if to avoid the subject as much as they could.
Musa sighed sadly, "Well, you know how these people used magic for everything right?" Tecna shook her head, "Well, they honestly used it for everything because that was the power of magic. Mostly everyone was born with magical powers, and on top of that magic could be mined as a resource like gold, and iron. It was found nearly everywhere. So that's why it was used as fuel for their cars, building materials for everyday objects and even buildings themselves were constructed with strong magic walls." She slapped the side of a giant rusty metal frame, "Hence why the metal skeletons are all that remain of the structures. They will last forever if constructed out of metal."
Both girls continued to hover through the abandoned streets. Tecna managed to speak in, "What does this have to do with anything?"
"I'm getting to that," Musa rolled her eyes; "You have to be able to comprehend everything that led up to the end. Anyway, since this was the time before the operation and mostly everyone was ugly and had magic powers...people were bound to get jealous at some point. It was perfectly acceptable to kill each other (even in your own city) over power and beauty. It would be like you and me fighting to the death over who was prettier, or stronger. It was scarier to see cities scorch each other with bombs over nothing more than magic and looks. It was stupid. Everyone just wanted to be on top."
"And you aren't exaggerating?"
"No! People actually once lived like this. For centuries they torched the sky with missiles and bombs and polluted the skies, water, and ground with toxins and poison. It seems we got too good at destroying each other, until..." She stopped for a dramatic pause, "The Anti-Magic was released upon the world." Musa paused to take in her surroundings. "We're unsure if it was meant as a city killer, or if it was an act of terrorism upon the entire world. Either way, they didn't know what they were up against. Like mold consuming bread; it spread to anything with a single speck of magic concealed within it. It changed the structure of magic and making it decompose and combust in an instant. So you remember how everything they ever made was made of magic? Imagine all of it exploding spontaneously into fire."
"They...never told us this in school..." Tecna's mouth became dry and she began to shake slightly, "Then what happened?" She felt herself lingering on Musa's every word, "What happened to the fairies with...powers and magic within them?" Musa gave her a look to tell her to steer away from that topic, "Oh..." She trailed off.
The wind currents managed to sweep the anti magic globally and were soon a global epidemic. With the cities ablaze with panic, only the few who weren't fairies had to leave their burning cities and live in the polluted and desolate wilderness. With so much dependence on magic, more ended up dying anyway due to lack of survival skills and the toxins in the polluted waters. That's when the last survivors of the anti-magic learned to ultimately bond together to survive the best way they could. And they somehow did. The survivors learned to rely on technology, and hence the world we live in now. We live in a world not entirely dependent on magic."
"What about the magic grids in the city? How about the fairies with magic shooting out of the palms of their hands? What about them?" Tecna felt herself so overwhelmed with questions about the true history of her world.
"All replicated and fake magic. It's nowhere near as powerful as actual magic from centuries ago. However, there is a legend about these people who run our cities from behind the scenes. It's been said they've been able to harness anti-magic to the point that they are extremely powerful and unstoppable in combat if they chose to. They're called Witches," Musa smirked, "It's just a myth though. No one has been fortunate enough to see them face to face."
"Happy ending."
Musa shrugged in response.
"Thanks for opening my eyes Twig," Tecna joking punched Musa. "But there's one more thing I want to ask you Musa...How do you know all of this?"
Musa giggled, "I thought you'd never ask. It's kind of the reason I brought you out here. An old friend taught me everything I know."
"Oh, but he's pretty now I guess?" Tecna asked in a sad tone; feeling sorry for the loss of such an awesome sounding friend. He sounded like someone who really knew his history.
"Yo...Frizzy, can you promise me something? It's a huge promise you must make."
"Sure thing, you can trust me." Musa searched Tecna's eyes as she said this for signs of lies or mistrust in her words. She found Tecna to be one hundred percent genuine in what she was saying.
"You can't tell anyone about what I'm about to show you..." She bit her skinny lips just slightly. "You can't bounce on me."
"I swear! I'll never tell a living soul! I would never be that illogical."
Musa's eyes gazed up to the top of a metal skeleton of a roller coaster just ahead of them at the edge of the city nearly entirely engulfed by foliage and trees. It was in shambles. She took a deep breath and sighed, "There's someone I want you to meet, tonight."
"But we won't be back until-" Musa cut Tecna off before she could finish her statement.
"He's not in the city Frizzy..." A smile emerged from Musa's face, "He's out here."
Sorry for lack of excitement...but I had to explain at some point what happened during the Dark Days. Anyone who has read Uglies will see how similar my story is to the real book.
