Chapter 16 - Little Terra's Journey Through the Apocalypse

Terra By this point I was used to the darkness, turning it into my own little playground. Some would say the darkness encapsulated everything, turning existence itself black. But I knew better. I wasn't surrounded by nothingness. On the contrary, actually. I was surrounded by everything. To the left of me was this strange planet in the earlier stages of development. They had just learned how to develop a.i. and leave their atmosphere. Kid stuff for us, but a grand accomplishment nonetheless. Knowing how quickly science can develop I smiled. Soon they would be traversing amongst the stars. Unless the darkness gets them. Sighing, I looked to the planet on the right. By all accounts, they should be less than primitive. Their world can't even utilize electricity, for Christ's sake. But they do have a miracle just as magnificent. Magic. Even if they couldn't use the gifts of science, they had other ways to navigate the web of existence. Soon, their magic would allow them to traverse amongst celestial bodies. Unless the darkness gets them. I turned my direction to a third presence. Presence, not planet. This ball in front of me was far too large to be a planet. In fact, its very existence defied the limitations of a planet. It appeared to be an... amalgamation of all planets. No, not just that. All aspects of all planets. What is this thing? Before I could research it further, a new darkness took over. This darkness was different from the one I've known. As if it was blacker than pitch black. No... even further, as if it was the source of all things black. Not even I, someone who's become used to the darkness, could bear to witness it. Out of fear, I turned my face away, unable to see who would win the battle. Light or Dark. As I turned, I saw the familiar darkness take over everything. Planet after planet after planet. In all my eternities watching the cosmos, I had never seen the darkness so aggressive, so successful. With a flutter of wings, I felt something change inside me. I was no longer blind to the truth. For the first time, I saw it as it was. Darkness didn't surround everything, darkness was everything. Existence itself invited darkness. Invited the plague. All living things would vanish under its rule. I watched as every single planet began to be filled with them. Corpses. ... Congratulations, you have been chosen! Here very soon you will wake up and find that you have been cured of the Necropic Virus. Go on now, and explore the new world! May the stars always watch over you and us, the Vahkahdian Empire. The Vahkahdi- what now? I had no time to ponder what the heck I just heard because I was looking out into an entirely foreign, dark world. I hate the dark. I looked around, quickly realizing that the only light sources in this place were tubes. I looked above me. Like the one I was in. The fact that I knew nothing about myself or my life suddenly came crashing down, my anxiety keeping me from being able to breathe. Not knowing anything about this world was already scary, but not knowing anything about myself was downright terrifying. I felt a book in one of my pockets. Some part of my subconscious told me that I had to sneak it into the tube. It must be important then. And still, I remember nothing about it... Somewhere to the right, I heard someone conversing. Curious, I stepped out of the tube. Falling on my face. From the corner of my eye, I saw 2 people coming to check out the noise, seeing that my muscles had failed me. I should've stretched, huh. Someone told me the importance of stretching before. One of the guys chuckled, asking "What happened here?" Still unable to move due to the numbness of my legs, I mumbled "Just let me die." He held out his hand, smiling as he said "Hey, I'm Hyvakh. I could let you die, but I'd rather figure out why only we woke up." He gave an exaggerated shudder. "Also, this place gives me the creeps. Best to stay together." My muscles finally catching up to me and waking up, I took his hand. As I wiped the dirt off my clothes- a plain shirt and shorts? Did I think I was going on a casual trip and misread the sign that said 'impending doom'?- I asked, "do either of you remember anything?" Hyvakh looked at his friend, both of them nodding no. His friend looked off to the side, clearly troubled by this fact. Lowering his head, Hyvakh said "No. I think that we're all we have." Understanding, I pinched my thigh. I guess habits stick, at least. "Hey! Thank Christ there's someone else out there! You don't know how long I've been out here..." Searching for the source of the voice, I quickly saw a heap of mud. Well, I'm sure there's a person underneath all that dirt, but man was he shabby. The swinging of his left arm caught my eye, instantly noting the circular object it was holding. A weapon? Instinct kicking in, he was on the ground before either of us even knew what happened. He tried to force a laugh, but the pressure I held on his chest was insurmountable. Knocking the weapon out of his hand, I demanded that he tell us what was going on. Laughing, he said "I don't know myself! I don't have any past memories to go off of, and everyone I meet ends up already being dead." Applying more pressure onto his chest, I whispered "What do you mean, dead?" He tapped my knee, signaling the lack of a threat. I don't know if I trust him, but he did make a good silent point. He can't speak if he can't breathe. Kik kik kik. Some sort of chatter started surrounding us as if they circled their prey. My captive threw me off him as he dived for his weapon. Hey! "Get close to me!" His sincere yell sold his intentions to all of us. He meant no harm. As we gathered close to him, I could see him shaking, and sweat pouring from his brow. "I don't know if this device will work with all of us so close. I don't even know how it works. But it has to." His adrenaline-boosted shout shifted into a silent whisper. "But it has to. I won't be alone again." What does he mean- All thought ceased as I saw the... darkness. As I stared into their vacant eyes, some ancient, primal part of me started screaming, wishing for death. Hyvakh swore under his breath at its sight. ... Tyran was being torn apart. As he screamed, I could do nothing but watch. And be pulled along by Hyvakh. "Come on! Terra, dammit, run!!!" One foot. 2. One foot. 2. Slowly but surely, I caught my feet. Silencing out Tyran's screams, I focused on one thing. Moving forward. Move forward. As I ran, I clutched my book. The promise. We will see the sky! We will be free from this hell! For now, though, we have to move forward. Or else, Ty died for nothing. Crying, I internally screamed You idiot! You stupid selfless idiot! We were doing a daily raid on one of the kitchens when we found ourselves cornered by a corpse. That's what Farvie calls the darkness. I had set down our circle, reaching for a cereal that Hyvakh really likes. Something called Flakes. I should've just called him over... if I had... "AAHHH!!!" Hyvakh was being torn apart. As he screamed, I could do nothing but watch. And this time, there was nothing to pull me along. Trembling, I cursed the device in my hand. Cursed myself. Flakes scattered all over the floor, soon to be splattered by blood. ... "Just like that, they died. Nothing ceremonious, nothing heroic. Smiling, then torn apart. Because of me." Farvie was silent through the entire story, completely focused on his sevva. This is what he does when he's stressed. Cooks perfect steak. In another life, I'd have spent every day nagging him just to get a taste of his steak, the juicy perfection. In this life, I wish he'd do anything but cook steak. Slamming his fist into the floor, he screamed "SHIT!!!" I jumped at the venom in his words, even though I knew it wasn't directed towards me. In our month of being a group, we surprisingly didn't fight at all. I guess the apocalypse would force us to surpass the fundamentals of humanity. Or maybe we didn't stay alive long enough to have petty arguments. Farvie was silent for the rest of the night, except for the one time he interrupted my sobbing to ask if I needed anything. For whatever reason, he never showed anger towards me. I watched him sleep. Perfectly silent. One less experienced with the topic would've thought he was dead. Setting the circle by his side, I grabbed the other device. The one that kills the darkness. ... Just like that, in a blur, in a blink of an eye, darkness won. As I turned into the darkness, my last instinct was to protect my book. Little Jack's Journey Through the Cosmos.