She looks at the world below her. It is small; nearly a dwarf among planets. She supposes it may have a particular kind of primitive charm.

She shivers. These dead zones are genuinely uncomfortable.

She searches and finds the highest concentrations of the beings below her. Mortals, the lot of them. She sneers. However, she is here for a purpose, so she swallows her disdain and proceeds with her assignment.

Creating nine facsimiles of herself, all of her move toward the ten highest populations of sentients in the skies below her.

Shangai, People's Republic of China

A massive boom rings out. Screams follow: is it an attack? Before chaos has much chance to spread a voice rings in the ears and minds of the residents of the city, and indeed those beyond the city.

"Mortals."

The voice seems somehow louder than the explosive thunderclap that preceded it.

"The 1,000 circuit tribulation for this third Planar Realm has ended. At the conclusion of this announcement, the fundamental energies will be restored in three stages each of which will last three circuits. The first stage will begin immediately following this message. The second stage will follow three circuits after the first. The third will begin three circuits later. Each stage will be divided into low, middle, and high substages. Each substage will last one circuit. Upon the completion of each circuit, one-tenth of the fundamental energies will be allowed to return to this realm. Some among you will not survive the return of this energy. More will die each circuit as the density of the energies increases. Those of you who survive the conclusion of the 9th circuit may rejoice."

All across the world, people are looking into the sky. A small woman with incomprehensibly dark hair and skin that could be confused with the petals of a moonflower is standing in the air, an almost formless gown fluttering around her, her hair whipping behind. The fire and thunder of her appearance coruscating behind her.

Shanghai; Lagos; Istanbul; New York; Sao Paulo; Sydney; Moscow; and thrice above the oceans.

Although this message is delivered from these places, every thinking being on the globe hears it. All who listen somehow understand it in their native tongue despite the language of the Herald being one never known upon this small planet.

"Many of those who survive each stage will be changed. Those who are not changed, but survive, are not sensitive to the energies being returned to this Realm. The first stage will begin now."

Immediately a bell-like tone resounds in every corner of the Earth. The bell rings a second time: a third time. Each peal is louder and more sonorous than the last.

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When the third bell rings, the universe seems to crack. Suddenly a mist forms everywhere on the planet. Many of those who feel this mist are immediately invigorated, while others feel an intolerable burning in their veins.

***

A grandmother of many who had been telling a story to some of her grandchildren feels her body burn painfully when the mist appears. The pain does not fade. She does not know what to do. She can tell she is about to die but the children cannot be allowed to know something is wrong, so she tries to continue telling the story, but she can barely speak.

She will not scream. She refuses to scream even as the pain intensifies more and more. The children cannot know.

She finds the strength to smile at her grandchildren. She says to her grandbabies "Sweet ones, grandma must go now. Grammy has been called to heaven and has to go. Goodbye sweet ones." The children do not know what she means; they do not understand Heaven. Is heaven a different place like Chicago where some of their aunts and uncles live?

The children begin crying, but one child is crying because he hurts. He hurts all over. He wails. His cry echoes in a strange way, a way that makes the cry seem to go on forever.

Grandma sees the pain of her grandbaby, and finally she cannot stop her tears from falling, but still, she does not scream. The last thing she can give her family is her strength. She will give them this no matter what. She will smile at the face of doom; she will grin in the mouth of the abyss. This is her family.

Two figures in the room glow and then fade into nothing as though they had never been.

The children cry.

***

A father stands stupefied. Listening to this message he missed catching the ball thrown to him by his son.

When the mist rises, he feels incredible. His muscles surge with strength. The knee he injured many years ago stops hurting. His back stops aching. The feeling is so unbelievable he laughs with joy.

From the corner of his eye, he notices a white glow. It is his son. His son is glowing. At first, he thinks because the light is white and beautiful and he feels so amazing in this mist that the glow must be a good thing.

His son screams. It is not a scream of joy, but one of indescribable pain. The scream has claws that rip at the father's heart.

He rushes to his son, but he doesn't know what to do to protect him. He cannot save him. All he can do is hold him and say he loves him. He says it so many times. He says it even after his son is gone. After his body has disappeared, he still holds his arms like he is hugging his son. He whispers again and again "Daddy's here son, daddy loves you. Daddy will always be with you."

When the tears come, they will not stop.

***

A mother holds her newborn baby daughter in a dark hospital room. She is so proud. Six pounds and 7 ounces and healthy as a lioness. Her first baby was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The father had disappeared when he found out she was pregnant, but looking at her little face for even a single moment made everything worthwhile. Her daughter was what she would live for.

Then the message came.

Then the mist came.

As soon as the mist rises, both mother and baby begin to glow.

Baby and mother cry out in pain. The baby does not understand, but the mother seems to. She screams, but after a moment she gathers herself.

Gritting her teeth, she manages to say, "Emily, your name is Emily. We'll go together, Emily. You and me forever. Where you go, I go."

Soon the room is dark again.

After delivering the message the messenger and her clones rise back into the sky and disappear. From so high she cannot hear the cries of those who die or the screams of those who survive.