Prologue: the Four Trials
Geysers of flame erupted from the living ground, spewing forth as if to sear the heavens. The burned dead moaned silently as their flesh was consumed by the raging inferno. Grand forests of deepest green turned black as the flames entrapped them, leaving stunted piles of blackened ash in their wake.
Still the people fought for a war that held no meaning, fighting despite the fact that most were being killed by the elements and not by human contrivance.
Rivers, streams and lakes overflowed their banks and rushed exuberantly through fields and cities, grabbing those unlucky enough to be caught in their path. From coast to coast the tumultuous sea swelled and groaned, pushing liquid tentacles deep within human habitations. With every violent crash of bloody water, bloated and water-gorged bodies were seen as they rode a never-ending ride of death.
Yet the angry masses raised their guns and fired upon each other, as if they were invincible. As if their fighting would accomplish something.
From the living ground great flows of mud moved with surprising alacrity and entombed men, women and children as statues. The huddled people raising their hands in futile defense encased for all eternity, how ever long that would last, in the once forgiving earth. This was reminiscent of Pompeii. Just as the ash and mud suffocated the hapless inhabitants of the town beneath its destructive peak, so too did the mud extinguish all that it enveloped.
With angry cry the oblivious humans fought on for it is in their very nature to destroy themselves. Those who were not fighting prayed to some god above to accept their polluted souls.
Trees, cars, people were smashed together in a bacchanalia of destruction. Hurricane force winds swept tirelessly across New Eden, grabbing everything in its path and hurtling it to the seething ground below. The screams of thousands filled the ceaselessly moving air as it flung deadly projectiles with malicious intent. Burning embers spiraled gloriously among the raging funnels of destruction.
This was humanity's apocalyptic fate. The endless and pointless fighting and the destruction of their once perfect world.
This was the sight that greeted the Child's resurrection. Her multi-colored eyes opened to witness the final moments of Armageddon. Around her stood four mute entities, the elemental demons that thrived upon the chaos all around.
She knew their names, their purposes, even as she couldn't completely comprehend her own.
The first was the elemental demon of fire. A burned corpse still issuing corrupting smoke while small flames burned across its charred flesh and blackened bones.
The second was that of water. Pale and translucent flesh sloughed off of the bloated form and its mildewed clothes were forever dripping wet.
The third demon was known as earth. This being was caked in bloody mud, bits of plants and bones of those buried alive stuck to the viscous substance.
The fourth and final elemental demon was air. Its visage and form were hidden by windswept linen that churned restlessly about it.
They watched her with burning eyes, searching for the life that dwelled within the dying fools below. When they found none, nothing to toy with and then destroy, they began to wail. Their keening cry pierced her newborn ears and blood began to trickle slowly from her nose and eyes.
The Atlanteans had gathered what they could of her essence, but they had been unable to collect all of it. If they had then New Eden would have began to self-destruct at an exponential rate. So she had been born with a fraction of her previous experience and knowledge.
I have died, she thought with something akin to sadness. Now she was once again as close to living as she would ever be. But what was her reason for being reborn?
The deathly wailing continued as the demons attempted to summon back her forgotten past from the rents in the combined reality of New Eden. She knew they wanted her to stop them and at the same time didn't want her to. Their reasoning was very simple: if they continued with their wanton annihilation of all life then in the end there would be nothing left to destroy. They would be without purpose and cease to exist.
The elemental demon of fire grabbed her tender arms in its burning grasp and dragged her off the mountain where they had stood. She screamed and writhed in pain as it flung her among the battling humans. As she watched it summoned a burst of flame that seared the combatants till all that remained were charred cadavers clutching melted weapons. She screamed as the flames branded her flesh and boiled the water within her body.
Satisfied that she had learned all that she could from it, fire took her burned body back to the mountain.
Next the watery demon took possession of her and dragged her to the flooded cities of the coast. It pulled her among the frigid waves and forced her to float among the blue corpses that it had claimed. She sobbed as their gelatinous flesh stuck fast to her own and their lifeless limbs knocked against her own. With a jittering laugh the elemental demon of water pushed her beneath the crimson waves into the coldest depths of the sea. Water filled her mouth and traveled into her lungs, filling them, killing her.
Before she could pass out the demon resurfaced and took her back to the mountain.
She stood shivering pitifully as she was carried away by earth. It took her to witness and experience the death of a family. She lay beside them as the living mud mercilessly encapsulated them, cutting of their screams. The Child opened her mouth to scream in protest, only to let the thick mud coat her mouth and lungs. Its cold weight pressed into her, crushing her ribcage and bursting vital organs. The cries of the children and baby were cut off as they too succumbed to the power of the earth.
Hemorrhaging inside she was unearthed and brought back to the mountain.
The fourth and final demon embraced her, its cold body freezing the Child's poor, defeated body. And then they were flying through the frozen air to dance among the burning tornadoes. It forced her to waltz as around them objects were thrown with incredible, deadly violence. They glided among those fighting, those who cared not as their comrades and enemies were picked up like toys and flung into the ground about them. She wept and the tears froze to her burnt cheeks.
"I remember now. I remember now," she whispered soundlessly, the breath stolen from her lungs.
The elemental demon of air brought her back to the mountain and placed her almost tenderly on the seething ground. Together the four entities regarded the shattered Child impassively. As the earth flowed with the water and slowly entombed her faltering life-vessel they remained unmoved. When the wind came and dried the shell and the fire baked it hard, they felt nothing.
Once again the Child had died, yet her sacrifice had not been completed. Her trials were not quite over. Her existence still depended on the safety of Gaea and the Earth.
* * * *
I think that was the most disturbing thing I have ever written in my entire life. A stroll through Armageddon is always a nice way to start off. I even creeped myself out with that one. Anyway, REVIEW and I'll show you how morbid this can get. Are you ready to face the Apocalyptic Fate?
Geysers of flame erupted from the living ground, spewing forth as if to sear the heavens. The burned dead moaned silently as their flesh was consumed by the raging inferno. Grand forests of deepest green turned black as the flames entrapped them, leaving stunted piles of blackened ash in their wake.
Still the people fought for a war that held no meaning, fighting despite the fact that most were being killed by the elements and not by human contrivance.
Rivers, streams and lakes overflowed their banks and rushed exuberantly through fields and cities, grabbing those unlucky enough to be caught in their path. From coast to coast the tumultuous sea swelled and groaned, pushing liquid tentacles deep within human habitations. With every violent crash of bloody water, bloated and water-gorged bodies were seen as they rode a never-ending ride of death.
Yet the angry masses raised their guns and fired upon each other, as if they were invincible. As if their fighting would accomplish something.
From the living ground great flows of mud moved with surprising alacrity and entombed men, women and children as statues. The huddled people raising their hands in futile defense encased for all eternity, how ever long that would last, in the once forgiving earth. This was reminiscent of Pompeii. Just as the ash and mud suffocated the hapless inhabitants of the town beneath its destructive peak, so too did the mud extinguish all that it enveloped.
With angry cry the oblivious humans fought on for it is in their very nature to destroy themselves. Those who were not fighting prayed to some god above to accept their polluted souls.
Trees, cars, people were smashed together in a bacchanalia of destruction. Hurricane force winds swept tirelessly across New Eden, grabbing everything in its path and hurtling it to the seething ground below. The screams of thousands filled the ceaselessly moving air as it flung deadly projectiles with malicious intent. Burning embers spiraled gloriously among the raging funnels of destruction.
This was humanity's apocalyptic fate. The endless and pointless fighting and the destruction of their once perfect world.
This was the sight that greeted the Child's resurrection. Her multi-colored eyes opened to witness the final moments of Armageddon. Around her stood four mute entities, the elemental demons that thrived upon the chaos all around.
She knew their names, their purposes, even as she couldn't completely comprehend her own.
The first was the elemental demon of fire. A burned corpse still issuing corrupting smoke while small flames burned across its charred flesh and blackened bones.
The second was that of water. Pale and translucent flesh sloughed off of the bloated form and its mildewed clothes were forever dripping wet.
The third demon was known as earth. This being was caked in bloody mud, bits of plants and bones of those buried alive stuck to the viscous substance.
The fourth and final elemental demon was air. Its visage and form were hidden by windswept linen that churned restlessly about it.
They watched her with burning eyes, searching for the life that dwelled within the dying fools below. When they found none, nothing to toy with and then destroy, they began to wail. Their keening cry pierced her newborn ears and blood began to trickle slowly from her nose and eyes.
The Atlanteans had gathered what they could of her essence, but they had been unable to collect all of it. If they had then New Eden would have began to self-destruct at an exponential rate. So she had been born with a fraction of her previous experience and knowledge.
I have died, she thought with something akin to sadness. Now she was once again as close to living as she would ever be. But what was her reason for being reborn?
The deathly wailing continued as the demons attempted to summon back her forgotten past from the rents in the combined reality of New Eden. She knew they wanted her to stop them and at the same time didn't want her to. Their reasoning was very simple: if they continued with their wanton annihilation of all life then in the end there would be nothing left to destroy. They would be without purpose and cease to exist.
The elemental demon of fire grabbed her tender arms in its burning grasp and dragged her off the mountain where they had stood. She screamed and writhed in pain as it flung her among the battling humans. As she watched it summoned a burst of flame that seared the combatants till all that remained were charred cadavers clutching melted weapons. She screamed as the flames branded her flesh and boiled the water within her body.
Satisfied that she had learned all that she could from it, fire took her burned body back to the mountain.
Next the watery demon took possession of her and dragged her to the flooded cities of the coast. It pulled her among the frigid waves and forced her to float among the blue corpses that it had claimed. She sobbed as their gelatinous flesh stuck fast to her own and their lifeless limbs knocked against her own. With a jittering laugh the elemental demon of water pushed her beneath the crimson waves into the coldest depths of the sea. Water filled her mouth and traveled into her lungs, filling them, killing her.
Before she could pass out the demon resurfaced and took her back to the mountain.
She stood shivering pitifully as she was carried away by earth. It took her to witness and experience the death of a family. She lay beside them as the living mud mercilessly encapsulated them, cutting of their screams. The Child opened her mouth to scream in protest, only to let the thick mud coat her mouth and lungs. Its cold weight pressed into her, crushing her ribcage and bursting vital organs. The cries of the children and baby were cut off as they too succumbed to the power of the earth.
Hemorrhaging inside she was unearthed and brought back to the mountain.
The fourth and final demon embraced her, its cold body freezing the Child's poor, defeated body. And then they were flying through the frozen air to dance among the burning tornadoes. It forced her to waltz as around them objects were thrown with incredible, deadly violence. They glided among those fighting, those who cared not as their comrades and enemies were picked up like toys and flung into the ground about them. She wept and the tears froze to her burnt cheeks.
"I remember now. I remember now," she whispered soundlessly, the breath stolen from her lungs.
The elemental demon of air brought her back to the mountain and placed her almost tenderly on the seething ground. Together the four entities regarded the shattered Child impassively. As the earth flowed with the water and slowly entombed her faltering life-vessel they remained unmoved. When the wind came and dried the shell and the fire baked it hard, they felt nothing.
Once again the Child had died, yet her sacrifice had not been completed. Her trials were not quite over. Her existence still depended on the safety of Gaea and the Earth.
* * * *
I think that was the most disturbing thing I have ever written in my entire life. A stroll through Armageddon is always a nice way to start off. I even creeped myself out with that one. Anyway, REVIEW and I'll show you how morbid this can get. Are you ready to face the Apocalyptic Fate?