Fire. The living incarnation of destruction was the beginning of everything. As far as the eyes could see, a wave of rolling flames razed down the earth while black smokes blotted out the midsummer sky. The blue sea, stretched far in the horizon, could only watch as the fortified shorelines crumbled into blackened rubble.

The land wept with thunderous tremors. The heavens furiously roared. Pillars of wind and flame rooted out buildings and people while the roads melted into a sea of hot tarmac. Screams and wails ripe with despair filled the city as the planer's crusts collided to produce a tidal wave which washed over the harbor, devouring the remaining voices into oblivion.

It was as if the planet was singing its death knell.

Children cried next to charred corpses of their siblings and parents. Adults called out the names of their families or friends in the heat that scorched their throats. Puddles of blood on the grounds boiled and evaporated as the heat wave roared through the city. Flesh burned, melting away in the burning pyres that were once a house filled with warm atmosphere. In no less than several minutes, the product of modern civilization fell apart, turning into a wasteland of ashes and charcoal. In the midst of all this, gazing from the horizon, two pairs of eyes observed the natural disaster that would forever be etched in mankind's history with clear disinterests.

"Oh my, there it goes again," one of them said, the limb of her equipment, a piece of herself lazily swaying from side to side "I wonder how many times this has to make at this point. No matter how much humanity advanced, they remain ignorant of nature's wrath."

"That too, is a trial for every living being born on this blue planet." A short pause. She felt the dry winds and smelled the faint scent of salt in the air; two things that had yet to change. "Those who survived will know of the truth. They will take this as a lesson, adapt themselves to better prepare for the next trial, and conquer Mother Nature once again. Such is the destiny of man."

"How envious." The pair of golden eyes lowered down before turning to the corner. "But this too shall be used for our benefits. Tester, will you be a dear for me and establish contact with Purifier?"

"Another brain child of yours, Observer?"

"But of course. We have aaaalll the time in the world to achieve our objective." The one named Observer licked her lips. "Now that humanity has obtained the method to sculpt their own Pieces, I cannot wait to see what sort of innovation will be born in this era. Don't you feel the same?"

"To defeat that which cannot be defeated." Tester Beta turned her gaze to the sky and then hung her head low as if in deep lamentation. "If only killing 'That' is as easy as killing off the human race. How many times do we have to repeat this war of ours?"

"Uhu hu hu… isn't that why we are conducting our experiments? To grasp that so-called fighting chances?"

The sea was blue. It reached far and wide, spanning over 71% of this planet. In the distant past, humanity had traversed the oceans, created sea charts, and conquered this cruel and mysterious region. Surrounded by the azure seas, mankind thrived and evolved, climbing the food chain to become the king of the world. The planet was theirs, and so they shaped it into their desired form of paradise.

"Such arrogance and conceit… but that too is the nature of man." The Siren–Observer–looked up to the dark, smoldering heavens. "Show us what it means to live by your own will. Guide us down the endless branches of evolution, o humanity."

For everything shall be done for you–our dear Creator.


Author's Note:

Happy new year. Life has been tumbling down, the future is blurry, and I lost much respect and love for my favorite franchises. But setting aside the few sobering news about the continuity of my other stories, this one has been in mind and planned out for quite a while. I hope readers can enjoy this as much as I did while writing it.