The sounds of heels crunching into the ground caused the last terrestrial to turn away from his ship. Behind him, impossibly massive ark began to power up. Countless circuits lining the hull flared with light, giving the chromed surface a golden shine. Wings unfolded, preparing for its voyage away from its home.
The man, wearing a hermetically sealed suit, glanced down the ramp he had been ascending.
A blonde haired woman with red eyes and a silver dress glanced up at him.
"So long." He shrugged. There was no need for formalities.
"Farewell." The woman nodded once in agreement.
They had seen the worst and the best in each other at this point.
Still, there was no reason to be rude, right?
"Thanks for the fish." He smiled at her, placing a helmet over his head, sealing his suit shut as he turned back to his ship.
The terminal of Gaia blinked as the man boarded the last of the arks.
"They won't take kindly to you."
Both man and woman froze, surprised at the words that had come out of the latter's mouth.
The astronaut glanced back in surprise, gloved hands aborting their attempt at reaching for the lever that'd allow him into the ship.
Why were things always so -complicated-?
"We'll manage." In his attempt to assure the woman, the man freezes up. He shifts a bit in place when the woman narrows her crimson eyes at him. "Somehow." His attempt at softening up the previous statement, with the boyish smile he offers, is just enough to make the woman relax and smile.
"Just like always, huh?" She offered.
...so, so complicated.
"...I suppose so." The man finds himself standing at attention before the woman. "Sorry we left such a mess." He sheepishly bows his head, finding himself almost acting like a wet eared boy before a stern teacher.
She merely maintained the silent smile.
He flashed her a salute before he entered his ship.
Silence descended on the world for a brief moment, almost as it was holding its breath.
The last ark's engines came to life, screaming its defiance to the natural order one last time as it carried the massive ship far away from Earth.
It was okay, though. This was the last time.
"Fools." Despite everything, a faint, nostalgic smile appeared on her lips as she watched humanity take to the stars.
The golden light of the ark washed over everything below it as it rose through the burnt out skies. Its shining radiance was a harsh contrast to the blasted, stripped ruins of a metropolis that sprawled before the goddess now that the ark had ascended. The vitality sealed within the chrome vessel contrasted the dry, powdery earth.
Gaia's terminal took in the land around her.
It was a definite fixer upper.
But she couldn't be shown up by them, now could she?
"Hmph, better get to work, then." The blonde reached up for her skirts, hitching them up as she kicked off her heels. She waited until she was absolutely sure the golden dot in the heavens wouldn't return before she threw herself towards the city with wild abandon. An even wilder smile was on her face as the buildings began to collapse all around her.
As the goddess worked to rebuild her world, a strange idea began to form in the back of her mind.
'I wonder if I can top myself next time?'
Would it be the same or something new? She wasn't sure what would happen.
Maybe that was what made it so exciting.