A/N: Returning to Judy's arc at last.
Chapter 30: Cataclysm's Fury
Right after The Shattering
We shattered the wall and collapsed from exhaustion. They betrayed us as soon as lightning struck I wished I could protect everyone that came with us.
I open my eyes to find a verdant grassland. I see rabbits and my house in Bunnyburrow up ahead. I recognize the rabbits nearby as siblings which lives were cut short. I guess this is death and rebirth was a lie? They welcome me into the house. I could see them talk to animals that weren't there. I guess we could only see what we recognize. Apparently, three kits are here but invisible to me, recently burned to death. It's odd, everyone perceives this place differently. In a way, everyone all seems insane talking to animals that couldn't be seen. There is no collision, no contact, we could walk through each other. The initial welcome turns to blame. Everyone that I can see now blames me for killing the three invisible kits. Apologizing for my actions does no good, all that they feel for me is hate.
I wished for this to end. The area seems receptive to my demands. A fox made of fire is seen in the distance. I guess Pop-Pop was right they are indeed made by the devil. Other rabbits do not see the fox when the fox approaches them, they get burned alive and start screaming. No one sees the fox but me. The rabbits that welcomed me initially are now accusing me of making up tales.
The fox is nearly here. I leave the house and try to guide it away despite all that's happened, I don't wish for them to get burned alive. The fox continues onwards towards the house even though I left. I asked, "What do you want?"
He replies, "You to come to me." He continues onwards to the house.
I ran towards the fox hoping it would spare them. His touch sets me on fire. I am being burned alive. He takes me away. I think I'm going to hell. A large hole in the ground appears in front of us. He throws me into it.
Falling… sentenced to hell.
I didn't want it to end like this, so many regrets of what I missed out in life. I land in a boiling pot and struggle to stay afloat. The scenery here sure seems like hell, fire is present all around us. Torment that shouldn't be possible is what I felt. I think any mortal would have collapsed from the pain.
Was immortality just a lie? I desired vengeance against those who killed me. Pleas and regrets all floated through my mind seeking a way to end the torment. Nothing seems to work. Only silence, no one around to hear my cries. In one of these moments I dared to wish I was alive. The reaction was immediate. I could see myself being torn apart and my spirit drawn to somewhere. This was even worse than languishing in the boiling pot.
I found myself naked and alone next to the great flower in the sacred cavern surrounded by mostly red crystals. Ten are grey.
Cataclysm walks in. He's the wolf that devised the plan to shatter the wall and assigned us all our parts. He's still wearing just a pair of pants depicting images of flames. "Finally, found the desire to live, have you?"
I reply, "What was that?"
"It's your own conception of the afterlife.
"But all that torment, why did it happen to me?"
"Until you find the desire to be alive, the afterlife is simply what you imagine it to be. Some take longer than others to recover especially, if it's their first time. Normally, their mates would guide them out of it in one form or another. Now, you do remember everything that happened, right?"
"Yes, I remember us being killed after shattering the wall and I desire vengeance against those that killed me after my experience with the afterlife."
"Don't worry, you aren't alone. With the Prime's absence, I will lead us. You are currently back in the coven around the sacred flower."
"Everlight betrayed us, aren't they going to come for us now?"
"There's always that possibility, if that happens we will fight to the last. They shouldn't dare due to all the myths surrounding us. They were always stronger than us but dared not to attack us and the one time they did, they received heavy losses." That doesn't feel comforting at all.
"What about Zootopia? How are we going to leave here?"
"We are going to integrate the sanctum and the coven once more. We're going to hope that the savages leave on their own or that they come to rescue us. We're also going to seal the sacred flower so that it's safe from most things. My plan is for us to be ready to leave." He then gives me specific tasks. "Now then, even though your partner is gone, you're still expected to carry a remote and wear a collar just the same. Also, get yourself a pair of pants. Go the store and put one on."
I made myself presentable and sought out Cataclysm again. I'm given the task of overseeing integration between the coven and the sanctum. Alone. I'm also given the authority to execute anyone that proves problematic for integration. I see Kindleheart moving buckets of desire's embrace away from the sacred flower.
Using my own judgement, I decided that the coven should leave and join the sanctum. The sanctum is larger than the coven. The coven is where we store all of our secrets anyway. I informed every hybrid living in the coven to pack up and go to the sanctum. It works because everyone within the coven respects us and our decisions. There's no arguments at all. They are to be ready to leave the coven tomorrow.
I went to the sanctum and informed everyone of what's going to happen. We are planning to abandon this place soon, we're going to integrate the hybrids with them as a test for adapting to Zootopia. A few of the inhabitants of the sanctum remember the initial cause of the split. Everyone's committed to trying once more.
I slept with the Swiftpaws finally able to tell them the truth of what's happening. I revealed Zootopia to them. They are fine with leaving because they trust us. It's also the first time they're allowed to leave the sanctum, they're rather excited. Morning came.
I sense a gathering nearby, I suppose only the Prime knows how to contact us through crystals. All ten of us are present in the cavern. Cataclysm speaks, "These savages have shown no signs of leaving. We will force them to leave or at least prevent them from surviving."
That was a vague. I ask, "How?"
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I'm giving the savages one more day. I owe it to Comet for the original idea. Regardless, we will be leaving in a week or sooner. That is what I've decided. You all know your tasks, continue on with them."
"Why not tell me what you're planning? We're in this together."
"I am going to set fire to the entire chasm, there will be no survivors. The savages will be forced to leave or to fight us on our own terms. Hopefully, they leave and we can make our escape."
"But that's just wrong to kill so many."
"It's the best way because of your resentment. I'll give the savages a day to move out, if they don't the chasm will burn. We would sacrifice anything to ensure the safety of the sanctum and the coven."
None of the others bothered to question Cataclysm. They simply followed his lead, they are continuing on with their tasks so that we may leave in a week.
I go to the coven, and tell them it's time to leave. Everyone left the coven for the sanctum. Packing everything they needed. After an hour, the coven is completely deserted save for us. We're still finishing preparations.
Shadowslight is delighted that to see other rabbits for a change. She joins the Swiftpaws as does her temporary hybrid family. I learned that she misses Frostfang and Tom. I told her what happened. She too wants to see Zootopia.
I left the Swiftpaws and started walking around the sanctum looking for any problems. A family of sheep is rallying for support against the hybrids. This isn't Zootopia, there's no comfortable cell to put these deviants in. I used my powers over fire to kill them.
Death has come to the sanctum and I was the cause. It's the first time someone has been killed by another over several centuries. This is also the first time, hybrids have been exposed to true prey. A few of them chose to dine on prey. I killed those as well.
It feels like the time that I'm walking around the settlement with Nick looking for problems only this time, I'm alone. Judge, jury, and executioner all in one. They live or die by my will. No one questions my judgement. I am right regardless of what I decide.
I go to the Swiftpaws to sleep exhausted from the day's events.
In the morning, I sense another gathering. This time around the flower. On the way to the flower I notice that desire's embrace are being collected in buckets in the cavern. A lot of buckets are present. I notice all the crystals are red again. Cataclysm declares, "The savages have not attempted to leave yet or made any movements to. Now, I will force them."
"Can't you find another way?"
"This is the best way forward for us. We've already saved everyone we cared about. I've given them a day to move out but they still haven't. You can watch or you can leave. I know it's painful for you."
"I'll watch." I can't shy away from this. It's going to happen regardless.
"Let's go to the precipitator. I owe it to Comet for the idea. We used it to make rain for the chasm so they can more easily grow crops. Now, we will use it to rain fire." We go towards a ledge surrounded by blue crystals. "Let it begin."
The rain of fire starts to fall on to the chasm. It ignites the chasm below. My sensitive hearing could hear their screams as they're burned alive. I cried, I cried for them. The entire chasm is wiped out or so we think, all the flora has been burnt to ash.
Cataclysm continues, "Now, the savages will need to look for an alternative food source. Be ready for combat, if they choose to attack. My hope is that they will leave then we can go to Zootopia ourselves."
I note, "You just killed everyone in the chasm." I knew it was going to happen but I'm still in shock.
Cataclysm isn't bothered by this, "It's a price to pay. We would do anything to ensure the safety of the sanctum and the coven. Everything else is secondary. The savages turned on us, they aren't going to leave. We will force them out or at least make sure they won't be able to survive by remaining here." He asks a question directed to me, "How goes the integration?"
"I've executed a family of sheep, a few hybrids that chose to dine on prey."
"I trust in your judgement and ask that you trust in mine. We still have work to do. We must be ready to leave when the opportunity presents itself."
We split off again and work on our individual tasks because of the situation I've organized a system of runners in the sanctum to inform everyone when it's time to leave. It should be relatively soon. I'm thankful that for the rest of the day, nothing significant happens.
The next day, during our meeting Cataclysm reports that the savages have indeed left and everything on his end is ready. I note that there's a lot more buckets of desire's embrace. We walk around the coven one last time. The great flower has been sealed off. I ask, "Won't that prove a problem for others when they are reborn?"
He informs me that ledges have been constructed all the way leading towards the summit. That will be the only way out as well as precise instructions. He asks, "Would you like to do the honors?"
I am confused, "for what?"
"We will burn everything here, leaving no trace that anything was here at all. The great flower has been protected."
I decide to be a team player and accept the honor offered to me. I set fire to everything in the coven. We sealed the entrance shut as well. No one would be able to tell that something was there unless if they knew about it before.
I go to the sanctum to give the command to leave. Everyone gathers up to leave. In an hour, everyone's packed and ready to go. This is the first time they've been allowed to go to the outside. We gave them tasks as well, a lot of them are aiding with carrying buckets of desire's embrace. The order is at the forefront guiding them.
We started journeying towards Everlight. The inhabitants looked at the chasm, they're aghast to what happened to it. It's different from what they remember. Cataclysm admits that he set fire to it all. In him they trusted, so it was okay.
This time we didn't have the magic of air to speed us up. After seven hours, we've encountered no one. We reached the great opening and walked onwards unopposed. It's currently night time. The sky is dark outside. Cataclysm decides to test his powers. Since, the shattering occurred here, it's extremely easy to manipulate fire. He launches a wave of fire just to see how far it would travel.
We see it go on until it fades out in the distance, now there's two paths of destruction. We go onwards through the main path. The surroundings have all been burnt to ash. We don't know where the inhabitants of Everlight went, we are going to be prepared for combat.
After a few hours continuing along the path, I can sense Nick. They can't sense their mates yet. I guess the bond between us is stronger since both of us have wings. We continue onwards Nick starting moving towards me.
We came across the savages asleep. The savages are unarmed, they don't have any crystals that were from Everlight. The first thought that came to mind is revenge. Cataclysm starts using fire to set the savages aflame. We follow his lead. We manifested the rage of fire around us and immolated a few. We are delighted as they run away screaming. The entire camp has been alerted to our presence. Now, they cower before us!
Cataclysm conjures a wave of fire that travels towards them. More and more spirits of fire seem to be drawn to the conflict, we gave them all form and gave in to our desire. Absolute destruction of their very existence is what we want. They will all be turned to ash.
They run from us and we chase. I feel myself getting stronger, I desire even more power. Odd, I start to feel a slight sensation of pain. The savages cannot run from us. More will be consumed by fire. I feel I just hurt something precious to me. I emit a startling cry that brings everyone else to their senses as well. I see Nick aflame in front of us. I try to extinguish the flames but they wouldn't yield. I feel sorrow and guilt. The sun has risen, our crystals are gone. I looked around us, we are surrounded by Zootopia's military.
We use dirt to extinguish the flames on Nick. I walk over to his body and wept.
A/N: Part of me wanted to have Nick reunited with Judy unharmed but I don't think that would be realistic. Feedback and suggestions welcome.
