Chapter 1
Mismatched Eyes
Three years ago.
Concrete towers decorated with vibrant screens illuminated the night sky, as if to defy the darkness, soaking the Chinese streets with blinding neon signs. Underneath all of the colorful assortment of lights, was a symphony of advertisement songs, the honking of cars, and the countless conversations, which all coalesced into a senseless blur that the citizens had long learned to tune out.
Some of them walked hastily to and from work, exhausted and disheveled, regardless of age and gender. Some relaxed with their backs leaned against the walls, taking long drags from cigarettes to calm their nerves.
Hooded teenagers in dark clothing took their artistic skills to paint over the windows of a building still under construction, leaving behind a depiction of a man adorned in blue lightning dueling a large yellow serpent.
College students were dining in fast food restaurants with a logo of a lion, while high school students were playing in internet cafes.
As the city went about its regular routine, the neon hues from the large screens were washed out by a tower of light shooting from the center of the city.
Heads turned and lifted up as everyone curiously looked at what was happening.
The onlookers gazed with varying reactions. Many stood in awe at the shining spectacle, while others were more apprehensive, and there were even a few who were apathetic at first, but their curiosity immediately got the better of them.
None of them could pull away from the dazzling sight that disturbed the usual night. The golden pillar of light that dominated the sky, shimmering with crystal-like patterns that demanded their attention.
They all stood back and idly observed it from a safe distance.
Many of the younger people were quick to pull out their phones, excited to take photos and videos of and with the golden beam, only for their expressions to turn sour as their LED screens instantly turned black as they put it in the frame.
A businessman standing at the edge of the light let his curiosity get the better of him, and he reached his hand out to it. Though most people were apathetic and moved along to do their daily routines, there were a handful of those who watched intently to see what would happen to him.
He flinched as sparks flew the moment his palm made contact with its surface. But his face calmed down as he felt it. The movement. The warmth. How it flowed upwards felt similar to hot steam. Though the bright color reminded the businessman of fire, it was harmless.
He looked at his audience and gave them a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, only for him to notice that the light had slowly enveloped his entire hand. It had expanded without him even noticing, and he started to feel his hand being squeezed from every direction.
The people slowly backed away as soon as they noticed the man’s shift in expression. He tried pulling his arm back, but it was trapped inside the amorphous light. There was a tight grip that would not let him get his arm back, slowly swallowing him whole — no, it was slowly expanding all around him.
Though he tried to keep himself composed, his face gave it all away — dread.
Frightened shrieks then filled the businessman’s ears as he looked around, realizing with a sheer panic that those who copied him were experiencing the same fate.
That ear piercing voice was the signal for all of them to start running. The businessman watched as several of them started sprinting without hesitation, while he had remained stuck where he stood.
But before he could call for help, a sharp tingle coursed through his flesh, followed by a tingly numbness that coursed through his veins.
The businessman realized in horror that not only was the crushing light growing, but that he was also being electrocuted.
His heartbeat was in his mouth, pounding loudly into his ears, while the hot light swallowed his arms. No longer able to keep himself composed, he took in a deep breath, but before he could scream, the light swallowed him whole.
Shrieks of panic overtook the music, while the stampede filled up the streets, trapping the people inside their vehicles. There was no way they could push through the dozens of people standing in front of them.
Those who could not escape their homes locked their doors, hoping for safety. Parents hugged their children, and held their grandparents, praying that this would all go away.
A tidal wave of shimmering flames swept through every nook and cranny of the road, casting a yellow glow that shut down every device and machine that it came in contact with.
News helicopters recorded the pillar’s gradual transformation into a round, burning sphere. But not even they were safe from getting caught in its rapid expansion.
It quickly enveloped the people on their feet, and eventually swallowed those inside vehicles.
Only the motorcycles were able to slip past and squeeze their ways out of the city, their engines blaring deafeningly on their way out. One rider in particular, a tanned man, stopped in front of a young girl sitting next to a woman lying bloody on the ground, trampled under the stampede of scared citizens rushing to escape.
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The tanned man reached out his hand for her, but she refused to budge from where she sat. She tried her best to help the woman beside her, but the older woman placed her hand on the girl’s cheek and spoke in her native language, “Go, Yu Ming.”
The young girl forced back her tears and got on the backseat of the motorcycle. The older woman looked at him, as if to entrust her to him, and the tanned man nodded, as if promising to keep her safe.
His engine blared as he zipped past everyone running in front of him, leaving behind both the expanding golden light, and the crying old woman. Without turning back, the two were fleed from the golden flames, and headed to the edge of the city.
Everything inside the golden dome came to a halt.
Not a single soul moved an inch where they stood. Not a single one could.
Even the helicopter’s blades froze, and the people inside found themselves locked in the sky.
There was little sound, and those who were trapped in the transparent yellow could only hear the thumping of their own heartbeats and the thin crackle of electricity in their ears as static ran through their veins.
The air in their lungs was trapped, gradually causing their insides to ache and burn.
Even though the haze felt hot, there were no marks, burns or blisters. Only a pervasive discomfort.
Few were able to muster just enough strength to move their fingers, while most were completely frozen in the crystalline haze.
The strings of electricity coursing through their veins made it feel impossible to move, but it did not prevent those from trying.
With desperate strength, fathers with families, mothers with children, and individuals with strong physiques were able to push through.
The businessman who first touched the pillar saw a silhouette walking in the center within it — a figure bathed in a light.
A crystalline haze poured out of the figure’s body, cloaking them, making it impossible to see their features. Only the golden pupils, whose gaze met with his own.
Under the golden figure intent stare, the businessman felt the pressure on his body loosen for a moment. Rather, it started to pull from every direction. Tugging away at every inch of him.
Golden zigzags relentlessly pulled him apart. The fabric on his clothes were pulled by the strings, and a thousand particles of light pulled his skin apart.
A numbing agony ran through his body as he was taken apart. Each layer fragmented — Flesh, muscles, veins and bones, all disassembled.
Though his mouth stretched wide, no scream escaped him.
Every fiber of who he was pulled into infinitesimal specks, until nothing remained but a man-shaped stain.
The golden being then raised their arms, heralding the slow hush of destruction.
Gradually, as if something was pressing down on them, the skyscrapers started to crumble. Breaking apart piece by piece, little by little. There was no fanfare, no deafening boom, no blood curdling noise that sent shivers. The destruction was accompanied by an overwhelming silence, it was muted, as if submerged in the deepest depths of the ocean.
The same fate awaited everything within the spiraling flames. People, animals, and inanimate objects were all subjected to the same silent destruction.
From the top of their heads to the bottom of their shoes, they were all disassembled.
Everything and everyone within started falling down and crumbling to dust.
Those who could move forced out every last ounce of their energy, some of them were even able to gain momentum. Dozens of individuals were even able to start running, gradually getting through hundreds of meters through the haze.
Even as the golden dome continued to expand, they continued to run regardless.
The tanned motorcyclist passed through many of the people running away, and saw the forest at the edge of the city. Yet the golden flames were mere meters from reaching him.
One girl in a uniform was the very edge, and the girl behind the tanned motorcyclist reached out to grab her. But as the student reached out to her, and the two grabbed each other’s hands, the golden light caught — Only and the student’s hand was the last part of her that remained.
From the outskirts, a helmeted figure clad in a black suit approached the edge of the city, cutting through the silence with the motorcycle engine’s roar. The helmet’s visor reflected the star-like structure that engulfed everything on the horizon.
As the helmeted rider made it to the edge of the city, it nearly came into a collision course with another motorcycle came racing from within the city.
The helmeted rider sharply swerved over to the side and saw the two riders panic and lose control of their vehicle. The couple who were desperately fleeing from the catastrophe behind them nearly met with another disaster ahead of them, straight towards a tree.
“Bollocks.” The helmeted figure extended their arm, and a red spear radiated with a fiery glow sprung out from the motorcycle and struck the two precisely by the back of their clothes, pulling them away at the last second before impact.
The unknown individual removed her helmet, revealing long silver-hair swaying with the eerie, silent wind of the flattened city. Her eyes radiated with the color of fire.
“You both okay?” The silver-haired woman, Luna, asked.
The tanned man answered, “Huh? Ah, yeah… yeah, thank… how did you… do that?” He asked in a disoriented manner.
Luna opened her palm, calling upon her weapon, which then flew towards her. “You both should leave.” She warned as she looked back into the golden disaster that was still expanding.
With a swift swing, she cut through the golden flames, holding it back for a few seconds.
“Ah, a-alright…” He nodded and looked at the paralyzed girl. He took the student’s severed hand off of her and lifted her up, putting her back on the motorcycle and resumed getting away, all while the silver-haired woman watched as her own ride crumbled into a flat sheet of metal and rubber.
The golden flames slowed down to a halt, and the expansion stopped right where she stood, and began to dissipate into dancing golden particles.
“Would ya look at that. My luck hasn’t run out, after all.” As the structure began to fade away, the silver-haired woman pressed into her earpiece and spoke, “Professor Tetsuya, I’ve arrived.”
“Luna…” The Professor responded, “Make sure you come home.”
“ ‘Course, I promised Felix I’d take him to his first pub when I get back.” She smirked.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate for a child. Regardless, you know what to do. Good luck, and leave nothing to chance.”
“Yes sir.”
She marched into what was left of the once bustling city, her boots stepping over the fragmented concrete.
A desolate wind blew across the landscape, the city’s dying breath.
The proud skyscrapers were no where to be seen. There were no hollow husks, nor any metal structures left to represent how tall they stood. Only fragmented mounds of concrete piled atop one another.
Window glass littered the ground, mixed with everything else.
There was no ground zero, no epicenter of the blast. Only where it began and where it ended. The catastrophe flattened everything in equal measure, which made it easy for Luna to locate her target.
Men, women and children were crushed into red stains and powdered bones mixed with the small debris. They were the only things that stood out.
In the darkness of night, through the leveled city, it did not take long for her to find who she was looking for.
Blood splattered to the ground, dripping down from the nose of a golden figure, whose body was bathed in a thick, golden glow that streamed upwards.
“Lookie what we have here.” Luna twirled her spear, “Finally found you, and luckily fer me, yer all out of energy.”
The golden figure looked back at the spearwoman, with bright golden irises.
~