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- Seen Aug 4, 2005
This was an one-shot of mine I wrote in March. Enjoy.
It?s beyond words how it happened. But there?s no denying it? it?s reality. You don?t realize that something this horrible could happen so simply; that all hope just vanishes in less than a blink of an eye. Legends have been told of heroes rising against the odds to destroy evil with bravery and courage standing firmly behind them. Villains and tyrants have been vanquished, demons slain? but yet the entire world falls so effortlessly? It?s unworldly. Chaos has been destroyed by fearless warriors many times in the past, but this time it remains, infecting the world today as it did so many years ago?
I don?t know what to think anymore. Sometimes I don?t want to think at all, I just want it to be over? Sometimes I would give anything to start over, to be given a second chance? But I?ve grown to be strong. I try my hardest not to cry when I look down at the Earth. Shrouded in a bleak cover of hopelessness, it is slowly crumbling away piece by piece. Any sign of hope that remains lies hidden beneath the veil of despair that hangs over the planet. Occasionally a tear falls from my eyes into the chaos-filled world below, but I quickly wipe it away as if someone will see me? As if I?m hiding my tears from my pride.
There must be someone still out there; someone who, after this thousand year period of destruction, is able to say that their ancestors survived this fatal disaster. There must be someone who wanders the bleak, unforgiving world with a confused mind, holding on to the last bit of hope that they can in a desperate attempt to stay alive, not knowing how this era of hopelessness came to be. Someone in need of answers. Wherever you are, you may have been searching for these answers all your life. But you need not search any longer? I will tell you those answers.
More than a thousand years ago, in a world that existed in a completely different dimension than that of Earth was the vacant scent of nothingness. Nothing existed in this world for as long as anyone could remember. There were no water, no plants, no trees, and no animals, just mountains. The entire terrain was an endless sea of rigid hills. But then, an organism began to form, slowly rising out of the nothingness. Over time, the organism developed, evolved, and multiplied into great beasts. However, these beasts were of no importance and had no future. Because of the dark, hate-filled world they lived in, they weren?t any higher than demons, powered by greed and suffering, with no purpose except to destroy everything that existed. Their empty souls contained nothing but pure hatred. They were nothing more than scum.
But, a tiny light was born from this terrible world; a miniscule sign of a glimmering shard of light, hidden deep within the savage creatures. This fragment of hope, something that exists in all living things, grew slowly into a physical being. This being was born with no name, but the beasts gave it a name themselves?Mew. This creature was the physical embodiment of everything bright and hopeful. Piercing the dark world with sapphire eyes, the tiny creature?s plush, pink, cat-like body swiftly glided through the air and looked over the world with pity and sadness.
Fueled by dreams of a future for these beings, Mew began to devise a plan. She saw more than just deranged monsters in these creatures; she saw a hope that burned brighter than anything else. Beneath the shadows that plagued them, she could see a great race. A race with a future that wasn?t just to fade away into the pages of history and be forgotten forever. With hope gleaming brightly in her eyes, she set out to cleanse these beings of everything that made them evil. She would take this precious hope and nourish it to change them into proud creatures. A new life for them was just on the horizon, and Mew, wasting no time, set forth in her efforts to purify their black hearts.
But as her hopeful ambitions were put into action, another story was forming, in the world that is slowly killing my soul every time I gaze upon it. But in this day and age, the Earth was a very hopeful planet with a bright and glowing future?
The year was 1623. A young boy rose from his bed, brushing his usually tidy light brown hair from his dark eyes, which gazed blankly at the wall across from his bed. Struggling to keep his eyelids from drooping over his eyes, the boy found himself quickly jumping out of bed in a hurry when his father?s voice boomed through the house. Knowing not to test his father?s patience, he quickly threw on some casual clothes and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
A small plate of a typical breakfast meal, simply bread and cheese, awaited him as he sat down on the usual old but sturdy wooden chair. His father sat across from him, tall and stern. Steel grey eyes deep in thought stared into space, dark circles from sleepless nights lay beneath them. The man?s rough skin seemed worn and wrinkled from oncoming old age, and his dull, graying hair sat messily on his head, strands darting everywhere. The man?s son, who was about a foot shorter than him, quickly finished his meal and headed outside. Today was his rest day, so he didn?t have the hardships of working on the farm to worry about. At least, he didn?t today.
Outside, the glorious orange sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, and the chirp of crickets was slowly fading away. The sky above was still dark, and the boy turned his eyes to the vast fields that lay ahead. Meadows as far as the eye could see stole the landscape. And the boy loved these meadows; every rest day he would be found running gleefully through them, laughing cheerfully along with the joyous songbirds. Today would be no different.
Time passed, and Mew?s progress slowly grew. The dark entities still roamed over the rocky terrain of the world, but the burden on their souls seemed to be growing lighter. As she was resting in the crimson sky, looking over and studying these curious beings from the clouds, a strange feeling grasped Mew?s thoughts. It was definitely something out of the ordinary, or Mew wouldn?t have paid any attention to it. She felt an unusual disturbance coming from the jagged mountains that jutted upward straight ahead of her. Wasting no time, her small, light body glided swiftly to this bizarre presence.
She drifted deep into the mountains, avoiding sharp rocks that protruded out of the rough mountainside. The rust colored mountain range was just one of the odd features of this world, along with the fiery red sky that blazed above. Suddenly, a shimmering glow of blue light shot up from the valley that lay beneath, and Mew went to investigate.
But as she reached the crumbling earth below, there was no sign of the mysterious blue light. Mew averted her gaze towards the mountain to the right of her and stared at a strange crack, her mind deep in thought. She could feel something strange here, something she hadn?t noticed. Something about it wasn?t right. It was as if someone, or something, was trapped deep inside the mountain.
Just then, Mew?s suspicions were answered. The crack suddenly shimmered in a beautiful azure blue, a color Mew had never seen before in this world. Concentrating her thoughts, Mew mentally chipped away slowly at the rock. She pressed on, tearing away at the mountainside until she reached something that no one would ever come across carved into a mountain. It was a door.
The mahogany colored door set into the rock stared back at her, giving off an unusual, otherworldly aura. The door was quite large and rounded at the top but was completely plain; there was no writing or carvings inscribed on it. There wasn?t even a handle. A rain of thoughts poured down in Mew?s head. Something wasn?t off. For some reason, Mew could tell that this door did not simply lead to a cavern inside the mountain. It was as if there was another world behind the door? Yes, that had to be it. A new world, a better world? She didn?t know how to explain how she knew, but somehow, she could feel it. She was sure of it.
Right then and there, she had decided. When the time was right, she would open this door to the other world. Still? how would she do it? This question ran up and down through her mind. There was no handle, and she couldn?t make it budge. It was full of mysteries. As Mew pondered, the once blood-red sky above had now begun to turn to black. Sighing heavily to herself, she cast her bright eyes upward and took flight. However, something unusual caught Mew?s attention, and she quickly glanced back to see what had happened. It happened fast, but she was positive it occurred. The door shook and convulsed as if it had been rattling on its hinges?. But there weren?t any hinges. It was built right into the rock. Keeping her eyes locked on the suspicious door for what seemed to be forever, Mew finally closed them, floated upward into the dark night sky, and fell asleep.
The farmer?s son sauntered lazily through the meadows, enjoying the cool morning breeze as it gently drifted through the tall grass. Enjoying this well deserved rest day of rest and respite, the youth lay on his back and stared up at the morning sky, which was now a deep blue. Jumbled thoughts wandered through his head, things like the weather, his father, and the great amount of produce they were harvesting. But then they took a sharp turn and the smiling image of his mother emerged into his mind, the kind, loving mother he never knew.
The young man?s mother died soon after she gave birth to him, but he always had a good image of what she looked like. Whenever he was sad, he would visualize this mental portrait of her engraved into his brain, and he would always feel better.
But it wasn?t just the wistful feeling of never seeing his mother that saddened him. It was the constant rumors that had flooded through the old town he used to live in. The rumor was that supposedly his father had not been by her side when she had died. Many people thought that he had simply stood by and watched as she slowly suffered from an unknown illness that she had developed, not doing anything about it. Supposedly, he didn?t even call a doctor or make any effort to find medicine. He just let her suffer in a bed, slowly dying, as he went on with his routine farming duties. And many people believed this gossip and formed mobs and ran his father out of town and into the countryside, along with his son, who was only three years old at the time.
Of course, the boy never believed this. His father was silent and rarely spoke, but he knew that his own father wouldn?t let his wife suffer like that. He knew that he wasn?t inept of all emotion? But these were things that burdened him, and a rest day should be spent relaxing, and not spent dreading things that probably never happened.
Mew woke up the next morning in the bright orange sky to find herself lingering above the recently uncovered door. But when she looked down, it was not the door that made her shriek in horror. It was the two dark, shadowy bodies that lined the ground in front of it, covered it blood.
The cat-like creature slowly descended to see how this had occurred. Surely it had nothing to do with the door, an inanimate object, but this happening was definitely strange. Although this sort of thing happened often, these dark beasts attacking each other in a fit of rage, something was out of place? Not putting any more thought to it, Mew levitated the bodies and buried them in the ground on each side of the door. She turned away from the door, only to hear the sound of rocks tumbling down the mountain with a great velocity. Her tiny, pink body nimbly darted around and her eyes grew wide with fear.
Two boulders had fallen from the mountain side and crashed directly into the graves of the two beasts. But no other rocks had come falling after; it was just those two rocks. Not even dust. Was this some kind of omen? Mew really didn?t know what to think of it. Just a coincidence, told herself. After all, she had too much to worry about to have her mind concentrating on a rock slide.
The teen rose from the ground to greet the bright blue sky. It seemed the boy had fallen asleep for a while when he was lost in thought, but now he was determined to waste no time and make the most of the day. That was just part of his attitude. Whatever bad situation seemed to come his way, it was just a part of him to make the very best out of it. People often commented on how much of a bright and kind young man he was, and were often surprised to hear that he was doing most of the work on the farm and not his ?worthless? father.
The carefree youth strolled through the now waist-high grass, and soon found himself at the foot of the forest. His father warned him about entering the forest, especially at night, because the paths were very maze-like, that there is a chance he could never find his way back. But today, this boy was feeling adventurous, and since the sun was shining brighter than ever and he?d been in there before, he didn?t see any harm.
Hours passed, and the youth eventually grew weary of the expedition through the dense forest in which he had embarked on. Looking up, the trees spiraled high into the sky as if they had no end. The path grew very thin, and constantly twisted through the trees, going in no particular direction. The boy decided it was time to head back? but which way was back? He had taken so many turns that he could not answer that question. But suddenly his thoughts left the subject of going back home? his mind seemed to become blank. He heard a faint whispering somewhere off into the distance, but who was it? His feet frantically started moving in the direction of the sound as if he was compelled to find out the source of it. Then, when his right foot came down to normally reach solid earth, it hid flat wood instead. Curious, the boy kneeled down to see what this was. As he brushed away the scattered leaves and shrubs, a look of surprise overcame him. Built into the forest ground was a door.
Studying the peculiar door thoroughly, the boy noticed strange marks etched into it. They looked to him like some sort of foreign language; he couldn?t make any sense of it. What he could clearly see was a picture in the center of the door. It was that of a circle, and within the circle was a strange, tiny creature he had never seen before. He reached a large hand out and touched the door, but leaped back in utter shock as the inscriptions suddenly began to glow a cryptic blue color, like that of the sky. But for some reason, the boy couldn?t peel his eyes away from the light. He kept his eyes glued to the door, and suddenly, they became engulfed in the same blue light. Instead of backing away, the boy found himself slowly moving back towards the door, with one arm extended, as if he were possessed. He knew he had to do this; he had to open it? He needed to? It was beckoning?
Drifting in the air at a low altitude, Mew was deep in thought. Her mind was troubled, not because of the unexplainable appearance of the door, or the death of the two creatures and the falling boulders that followed, but because of how incredibly slow her progress was going. It had been years and years since she first devised the plan to purify these beasts, and although she could see a difference in their attitudes, things were not advancing as fast as she would?ve liked. However, this thought suddenly shattered as thousands of ear piercing howls filled her small, curved ears. To make matters worse, they were coming from the direction of the door.
What was it about that door? Why did everything seem to happen around it? Questions shot through Mew?s head, just as they had done before. Something definitely wasn?t right. That door didn?t belong in this world.
Finally, in a single instant, all the pieces fell into place. It had been so obvious, so blatant, yet she had been oblivious to it the entire time. The door? was alive. The only portal to the new, better world was alive and it gave off a very dark, disturbing feeling. It had all been laid out before her eyes, yet her mind refused to comprehend it. But now, it was all so clear. The door hadn?t been ?rattling on its hinges? before. It had been breathing.
As hastily as she could, Mew took off in the direction of the door, and as she did, the stench of blood filled that filled her nostrils grew thicker and thicker. As she arrived at the door, her eyes were filled with terror and a queasy feeling erupted in her stomach.
At least forty bodies lay in a rotting pile of blood and flesh directly in front of the door, which was now enveloped in a strange blue light. Gathered all around were hundreds of the dark monsters, each one letting out deafening howls. Something she hadn?t seen before caught her eye, and Mew, utterly terrified, went down past the mutilated corpses to see what it was.
What she found was a strange language carved into the wood of the door, a language Mew did not understand. Mew?s body flinched with shock at what she saw carved into the middle, and was now glowing ominously. It was without question an outline of herself, engraved into the door, surrounded by a glimmering blue circle. However, the one thing that horrified her the most was what was written in a clear, understandable language below the outline of Mew. The inscription read in shining blue lettering:
The light of one and darkness of many shall lead this world to the realm beyond, the eternal playground for the beasts of shadows.
A cold shiver bolted down Mew?s spine. Why was this happening? Her mind was racing for answers to this question. This wasn?t supposed to happen... It couldn?t happen?
Mew?s instincts took over while her mind was still stunned in horror. She had to reseal the door; it was the only way to prevent it from opening. Focusing her entire mind on the rubble and scattered rocks that were broken apart when the door was discovered, she lifted them into the air and tried to put them back in place. She had to cover the door, trap it within the mountain like before. But a strange force was pushing back. The door wouldn?t allow itself to be dormant again. Fighting fiercely with this force, Mew focused everything she had on the rocks. This was her last chance. If she failed to seal the door, then she would lose everything she had dreamed of. And an entire world would be doomed because of her fatal mistake. She couldn?t let it happen.
However, regardless of how hard she tried, she was fighting a losing battle. She could slowly feel her life draining. The door was draining away her energy just as it did with the shadowy creatures? But Mew wouldn?t let herself fall. With every ounce of her being, she pressed on, while the creatures watched the battle intently. She had to keep fighting?
But suddenly, without warning, the rocks that Mew was so desperately trying to put back together shattered. Whether it was the door that did this or the amount of pressure from both sides that was being put on the rocks, no one knows. The only thing Mew could do now was watch, and she knew it too. Without any energy remaining, all the hope that made her up vanished.
Staring in complete terror, Mew saw the door began to open a crack, allowing a stream of light to flood in. The beasts all shivered in fear of this light, for they had never seen such a thing so bright. But soon, they saw what this meant, the opening of this door. A new world was waiting for them: A new world to live in, a new world to destroy, along with everything that lived in it
And as this thought arose, the door opened even more, and more light streamed in. The faint silhouette of a boy could be seen on the other side, slowly disappearing into the light. Bearing it no longer, the dark beasts lunged forward towards the light and burst through the door. Those that did not feel as anxious to leave the world that they resided in were sucked in through, Mew along with them.
And as these beasts entered through the door, the Earth was plunged into chaos. The shadowy beasts claimed the new world as there own, and it would be only theirs, no one else?s. If that meant the murder of the entire human race, then that?s what it took. These lifeless creatures had no understanding of emotion after all, so they didn?t feel a thing. The only thing that made them up was the heartless rage that urged them to annihilate whatever they came across. And although the humans did fight against these monsters with all their heart, in the end, the majority of them were wiped out. Only you, the descendants of the first survivors, remain living on this desolate planet in constant fear that you or your families lives will be taken at any given moment, along with Mew, who looks down on the world from above, watching, praying, and trying her best to help those of you who are still alive.
It just seemed so quickly that Mew?s dreams were destroyed. Because she realized the truth of the door too late, her only chance for saving an entire race was crushed. Now, because of this mistake, an entire world and everything that inhabited it has suffered fatally.
I have just one question that, through years of contemplating this matter, I have asked myself many times, so I will ask whoever is listening. Do you believe in fate? Could our futures, and everything that occurs in our life, be already written out? That no matter how hard we try, there is nothing that we can do? Was it fate that the door was there and was destined to be opened, no matter what was done? This is an issue that has plagued me, and no matter how hard a try, the answer eludes me.
But how could such a thing exist? If we were to somehow travel back in time and undo mistakes we have made, fate wouldn?t have any power over us, would it? Would it cease to exist? Would this mysterious force finally be defeated? Or would our efforts to change the past fail because it was fated to happen, no matter what? So many questions have risen after so many years?
I, myself, do not believe in such a thing. I believe each individual, and each living thing altogether, is meant to create their own future, but there are things that often stand in our way. In Earth?s case, and in its inhabitants, the thing that stood in its way could not be prevented.
However, it is often possible to change things after they have occurred, and that?s why hope exists, and always will, as long as life exists. Even in a time where the only survivors must take refuge to stay alive , there will always be a fragment of hope that shines through, and this hope will continue to grow, until all the destruction has passed.
Hope? it?s the one thing that binds us to this world; the only thing that keeps us living. If we were to be devoid of all hope, our very soul would vanish from existence. It?s a precious thing that can never be forgotten.
But I do not know what the future holds for those of you who are still alive. I do know that as long as hope exists, a chance for a better life exists as well. So? I will tell all those who remain in this world, hiding in the darkest cracks of the planet, trying to do nothing more than keep themselves from fading away:
Whatever you do, never let go of the hope that keeps you alive.
Malevolent Door
A one-shot by FloatingFlames
A one-shot by FloatingFlames
It?s beyond words how it happened. But there?s no denying it? it?s reality. You don?t realize that something this horrible could happen so simply; that all hope just vanishes in less than a blink of an eye. Legends have been told of heroes rising against the odds to destroy evil with bravery and courage standing firmly behind them. Villains and tyrants have been vanquished, demons slain? but yet the entire world falls so effortlessly? It?s unworldly. Chaos has been destroyed by fearless warriors many times in the past, but this time it remains, infecting the world today as it did so many years ago?
I don?t know what to think anymore. Sometimes I don?t want to think at all, I just want it to be over? Sometimes I would give anything to start over, to be given a second chance? But I?ve grown to be strong. I try my hardest not to cry when I look down at the Earth. Shrouded in a bleak cover of hopelessness, it is slowly crumbling away piece by piece. Any sign of hope that remains lies hidden beneath the veil of despair that hangs over the planet. Occasionally a tear falls from my eyes into the chaos-filled world below, but I quickly wipe it away as if someone will see me? As if I?m hiding my tears from my pride.
There must be someone still out there; someone who, after this thousand year period of destruction, is able to say that their ancestors survived this fatal disaster. There must be someone who wanders the bleak, unforgiving world with a confused mind, holding on to the last bit of hope that they can in a desperate attempt to stay alive, not knowing how this era of hopelessness came to be. Someone in need of answers. Wherever you are, you may have been searching for these answers all your life. But you need not search any longer? I will tell you those answers.
More than a thousand years ago, in a world that existed in a completely different dimension than that of Earth was the vacant scent of nothingness. Nothing existed in this world for as long as anyone could remember. There were no water, no plants, no trees, and no animals, just mountains. The entire terrain was an endless sea of rigid hills. But then, an organism began to form, slowly rising out of the nothingness. Over time, the organism developed, evolved, and multiplied into great beasts. However, these beasts were of no importance and had no future. Because of the dark, hate-filled world they lived in, they weren?t any higher than demons, powered by greed and suffering, with no purpose except to destroy everything that existed. Their empty souls contained nothing but pure hatred. They were nothing more than scum.
But, a tiny light was born from this terrible world; a miniscule sign of a glimmering shard of light, hidden deep within the savage creatures. This fragment of hope, something that exists in all living things, grew slowly into a physical being. This being was born with no name, but the beasts gave it a name themselves?Mew. This creature was the physical embodiment of everything bright and hopeful. Piercing the dark world with sapphire eyes, the tiny creature?s plush, pink, cat-like body swiftly glided through the air and looked over the world with pity and sadness.
Fueled by dreams of a future for these beings, Mew began to devise a plan. She saw more than just deranged monsters in these creatures; she saw a hope that burned brighter than anything else. Beneath the shadows that plagued them, she could see a great race. A race with a future that wasn?t just to fade away into the pages of history and be forgotten forever. With hope gleaming brightly in her eyes, she set out to cleanse these beings of everything that made them evil. She would take this precious hope and nourish it to change them into proud creatures. A new life for them was just on the horizon, and Mew, wasting no time, set forth in her efforts to purify their black hearts.
But as her hopeful ambitions were put into action, another story was forming, in the world that is slowly killing my soul every time I gaze upon it. But in this day and age, the Earth was a very hopeful planet with a bright and glowing future?
The year was 1623. A young boy rose from his bed, brushing his usually tidy light brown hair from his dark eyes, which gazed blankly at the wall across from his bed. Struggling to keep his eyelids from drooping over his eyes, the boy found himself quickly jumping out of bed in a hurry when his father?s voice boomed through the house. Knowing not to test his father?s patience, he quickly threw on some casual clothes and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
A small plate of a typical breakfast meal, simply bread and cheese, awaited him as he sat down on the usual old but sturdy wooden chair. His father sat across from him, tall and stern. Steel grey eyes deep in thought stared into space, dark circles from sleepless nights lay beneath them. The man?s rough skin seemed worn and wrinkled from oncoming old age, and his dull, graying hair sat messily on his head, strands darting everywhere. The man?s son, who was about a foot shorter than him, quickly finished his meal and headed outside. Today was his rest day, so he didn?t have the hardships of working on the farm to worry about. At least, he didn?t today.
Outside, the glorious orange sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, and the chirp of crickets was slowly fading away. The sky above was still dark, and the boy turned his eyes to the vast fields that lay ahead. Meadows as far as the eye could see stole the landscape. And the boy loved these meadows; every rest day he would be found running gleefully through them, laughing cheerfully along with the joyous songbirds. Today would be no different.
Time passed, and Mew?s progress slowly grew. The dark entities still roamed over the rocky terrain of the world, but the burden on their souls seemed to be growing lighter. As she was resting in the crimson sky, looking over and studying these curious beings from the clouds, a strange feeling grasped Mew?s thoughts. It was definitely something out of the ordinary, or Mew wouldn?t have paid any attention to it. She felt an unusual disturbance coming from the jagged mountains that jutted upward straight ahead of her. Wasting no time, her small, light body glided swiftly to this bizarre presence.
She drifted deep into the mountains, avoiding sharp rocks that protruded out of the rough mountainside. The rust colored mountain range was just one of the odd features of this world, along with the fiery red sky that blazed above. Suddenly, a shimmering glow of blue light shot up from the valley that lay beneath, and Mew went to investigate.
But as she reached the crumbling earth below, there was no sign of the mysterious blue light. Mew averted her gaze towards the mountain to the right of her and stared at a strange crack, her mind deep in thought. She could feel something strange here, something she hadn?t noticed. Something about it wasn?t right. It was as if someone, or something, was trapped deep inside the mountain.
Just then, Mew?s suspicions were answered. The crack suddenly shimmered in a beautiful azure blue, a color Mew had never seen before in this world. Concentrating her thoughts, Mew mentally chipped away slowly at the rock. She pressed on, tearing away at the mountainside until she reached something that no one would ever come across carved into a mountain. It was a door.
The mahogany colored door set into the rock stared back at her, giving off an unusual, otherworldly aura. The door was quite large and rounded at the top but was completely plain; there was no writing or carvings inscribed on it. There wasn?t even a handle. A rain of thoughts poured down in Mew?s head. Something wasn?t off. For some reason, Mew could tell that this door did not simply lead to a cavern inside the mountain. It was as if there was another world behind the door? Yes, that had to be it. A new world, a better world? She didn?t know how to explain how she knew, but somehow, she could feel it. She was sure of it.
Right then and there, she had decided. When the time was right, she would open this door to the other world. Still? how would she do it? This question ran up and down through her mind. There was no handle, and she couldn?t make it budge. It was full of mysteries. As Mew pondered, the once blood-red sky above had now begun to turn to black. Sighing heavily to herself, she cast her bright eyes upward and took flight. However, something unusual caught Mew?s attention, and she quickly glanced back to see what had happened. It happened fast, but she was positive it occurred. The door shook and convulsed as if it had been rattling on its hinges?. But there weren?t any hinges. It was built right into the rock. Keeping her eyes locked on the suspicious door for what seemed to be forever, Mew finally closed them, floated upward into the dark night sky, and fell asleep.
The farmer?s son sauntered lazily through the meadows, enjoying the cool morning breeze as it gently drifted through the tall grass. Enjoying this well deserved rest day of rest and respite, the youth lay on his back and stared up at the morning sky, which was now a deep blue. Jumbled thoughts wandered through his head, things like the weather, his father, and the great amount of produce they were harvesting. But then they took a sharp turn and the smiling image of his mother emerged into his mind, the kind, loving mother he never knew.
The young man?s mother died soon after she gave birth to him, but he always had a good image of what she looked like. Whenever he was sad, he would visualize this mental portrait of her engraved into his brain, and he would always feel better.
But it wasn?t just the wistful feeling of never seeing his mother that saddened him. It was the constant rumors that had flooded through the old town he used to live in. The rumor was that supposedly his father had not been by her side when she had died. Many people thought that he had simply stood by and watched as she slowly suffered from an unknown illness that she had developed, not doing anything about it. Supposedly, he didn?t even call a doctor or make any effort to find medicine. He just let her suffer in a bed, slowly dying, as he went on with his routine farming duties. And many people believed this gossip and formed mobs and ran his father out of town and into the countryside, along with his son, who was only three years old at the time.
Of course, the boy never believed this. His father was silent and rarely spoke, but he knew that his own father wouldn?t let his wife suffer like that. He knew that he wasn?t inept of all emotion? But these were things that burdened him, and a rest day should be spent relaxing, and not spent dreading things that probably never happened.
Mew woke up the next morning in the bright orange sky to find herself lingering above the recently uncovered door. But when she looked down, it was not the door that made her shriek in horror. It was the two dark, shadowy bodies that lined the ground in front of it, covered it blood.
The cat-like creature slowly descended to see how this had occurred. Surely it had nothing to do with the door, an inanimate object, but this happening was definitely strange. Although this sort of thing happened often, these dark beasts attacking each other in a fit of rage, something was out of place? Not putting any more thought to it, Mew levitated the bodies and buried them in the ground on each side of the door. She turned away from the door, only to hear the sound of rocks tumbling down the mountain with a great velocity. Her tiny, pink body nimbly darted around and her eyes grew wide with fear.
Two boulders had fallen from the mountain side and crashed directly into the graves of the two beasts. But no other rocks had come falling after; it was just those two rocks. Not even dust. Was this some kind of omen? Mew really didn?t know what to think of it. Just a coincidence, told herself. After all, she had too much to worry about to have her mind concentrating on a rock slide.
The teen rose from the ground to greet the bright blue sky. It seemed the boy had fallen asleep for a while when he was lost in thought, but now he was determined to waste no time and make the most of the day. That was just part of his attitude. Whatever bad situation seemed to come his way, it was just a part of him to make the very best out of it. People often commented on how much of a bright and kind young man he was, and were often surprised to hear that he was doing most of the work on the farm and not his ?worthless? father.
The carefree youth strolled through the now waist-high grass, and soon found himself at the foot of the forest. His father warned him about entering the forest, especially at night, because the paths were very maze-like, that there is a chance he could never find his way back. But today, this boy was feeling adventurous, and since the sun was shining brighter than ever and he?d been in there before, he didn?t see any harm.
* * * * * *
Hours passed, and the youth eventually grew weary of the expedition through the dense forest in which he had embarked on. Looking up, the trees spiraled high into the sky as if they had no end. The path grew very thin, and constantly twisted through the trees, going in no particular direction. The boy decided it was time to head back? but which way was back? He had taken so many turns that he could not answer that question. But suddenly his thoughts left the subject of going back home? his mind seemed to become blank. He heard a faint whispering somewhere off into the distance, but who was it? His feet frantically started moving in the direction of the sound as if he was compelled to find out the source of it. Then, when his right foot came down to normally reach solid earth, it hid flat wood instead. Curious, the boy kneeled down to see what this was. As he brushed away the scattered leaves and shrubs, a look of surprise overcame him. Built into the forest ground was a door.
Studying the peculiar door thoroughly, the boy noticed strange marks etched into it. They looked to him like some sort of foreign language; he couldn?t make any sense of it. What he could clearly see was a picture in the center of the door. It was that of a circle, and within the circle was a strange, tiny creature he had never seen before. He reached a large hand out and touched the door, but leaped back in utter shock as the inscriptions suddenly began to glow a cryptic blue color, like that of the sky. But for some reason, the boy couldn?t peel his eyes away from the light. He kept his eyes glued to the door, and suddenly, they became engulfed in the same blue light. Instead of backing away, the boy found himself slowly moving back towards the door, with one arm extended, as if he were possessed. He knew he had to do this; he had to open it? He needed to? It was beckoning?
Drifting in the air at a low altitude, Mew was deep in thought. Her mind was troubled, not because of the unexplainable appearance of the door, or the death of the two creatures and the falling boulders that followed, but because of how incredibly slow her progress was going. It had been years and years since she first devised the plan to purify these beasts, and although she could see a difference in their attitudes, things were not advancing as fast as she would?ve liked. However, this thought suddenly shattered as thousands of ear piercing howls filled her small, curved ears. To make matters worse, they were coming from the direction of the door.
What was it about that door? Why did everything seem to happen around it? Questions shot through Mew?s head, just as they had done before. Something definitely wasn?t right. That door didn?t belong in this world.
Finally, in a single instant, all the pieces fell into place. It had been so obvious, so blatant, yet she had been oblivious to it the entire time. The door? was alive. The only portal to the new, better world was alive and it gave off a very dark, disturbing feeling. It had all been laid out before her eyes, yet her mind refused to comprehend it. But now, it was all so clear. The door hadn?t been ?rattling on its hinges? before. It had been breathing.
As hastily as she could, Mew took off in the direction of the door, and as she did, the stench of blood filled that filled her nostrils grew thicker and thicker. As she arrived at the door, her eyes were filled with terror and a queasy feeling erupted in her stomach.
At least forty bodies lay in a rotting pile of blood and flesh directly in front of the door, which was now enveloped in a strange blue light. Gathered all around were hundreds of the dark monsters, each one letting out deafening howls. Something she hadn?t seen before caught her eye, and Mew, utterly terrified, went down past the mutilated corpses to see what it was.
What she found was a strange language carved into the wood of the door, a language Mew did not understand. Mew?s body flinched with shock at what she saw carved into the middle, and was now glowing ominously. It was without question an outline of herself, engraved into the door, surrounded by a glimmering blue circle. However, the one thing that horrified her the most was what was written in a clear, understandable language below the outline of Mew. The inscription read in shining blue lettering:
The light of one and darkness of many shall lead this world to the realm beyond, the eternal playground for the beasts of shadows.
A cold shiver bolted down Mew?s spine. Why was this happening? Her mind was racing for answers to this question. This wasn?t supposed to happen... It couldn?t happen?
Mew?s instincts took over while her mind was still stunned in horror. She had to reseal the door; it was the only way to prevent it from opening. Focusing her entire mind on the rubble and scattered rocks that were broken apart when the door was discovered, she lifted them into the air and tried to put them back in place. She had to cover the door, trap it within the mountain like before. But a strange force was pushing back. The door wouldn?t allow itself to be dormant again. Fighting fiercely with this force, Mew focused everything she had on the rocks. This was her last chance. If she failed to seal the door, then she would lose everything she had dreamed of. And an entire world would be doomed because of her fatal mistake. She couldn?t let it happen.
However, regardless of how hard she tried, she was fighting a losing battle. She could slowly feel her life draining. The door was draining away her energy just as it did with the shadowy creatures? But Mew wouldn?t let herself fall. With every ounce of her being, she pressed on, while the creatures watched the battle intently. She had to keep fighting?
But suddenly, without warning, the rocks that Mew was so desperately trying to put back together shattered. Whether it was the door that did this or the amount of pressure from both sides that was being put on the rocks, no one knows. The only thing Mew could do now was watch, and she knew it too. Without any energy remaining, all the hope that made her up vanished.
Staring in complete terror, Mew saw the door began to open a crack, allowing a stream of light to flood in. The beasts all shivered in fear of this light, for they had never seen such a thing so bright. But soon, they saw what this meant, the opening of this door. A new world was waiting for them: A new world to live in, a new world to destroy, along with everything that lived in it
And as this thought arose, the door opened even more, and more light streamed in. The faint silhouette of a boy could be seen on the other side, slowly disappearing into the light. Bearing it no longer, the dark beasts lunged forward towards the light and burst through the door. Those that did not feel as anxious to leave the world that they resided in were sucked in through, Mew along with them.
And as these beasts entered through the door, the Earth was plunged into chaos. The shadowy beasts claimed the new world as there own, and it would be only theirs, no one else?s. If that meant the murder of the entire human race, then that?s what it took. These lifeless creatures had no understanding of emotion after all, so they didn?t feel a thing. The only thing that made them up was the heartless rage that urged them to annihilate whatever they came across. And although the humans did fight against these monsters with all their heart, in the end, the majority of them were wiped out. Only you, the descendants of the first survivors, remain living on this desolate planet in constant fear that you or your families lives will be taken at any given moment, along with Mew, who looks down on the world from above, watching, praying, and trying her best to help those of you who are still alive.
It just seemed so quickly that Mew?s dreams were destroyed. Because she realized the truth of the door too late, her only chance for saving an entire race was crushed. Now, because of this mistake, an entire world and everything that inhabited it has suffered fatally.
I have just one question that, through years of contemplating this matter, I have asked myself many times, so I will ask whoever is listening. Do you believe in fate? Could our futures, and everything that occurs in our life, be already written out? That no matter how hard we try, there is nothing that we can do? Was it fate that the door was there and was destined to be opened, no matter what was done? This is an issue that has plagued me, and no matter how hard a try, the answer eludes me.
But how could such a thing exist? If we were to somehow travel back in time and undo mistakes we have made, fate wouldn?t have any power over us, would it? Would it cease to exist? Would this mysterious force finally be defeated? Or would our efforts to change the past fail because it was fated to happen, no matter what? So many questions have risen after so many years?
I, myself, do not believe in such a thing. I believe each individual, and each living thing altogether, is meant to create their own future, but there are things that often stand in our way. In Earth?s case, and in its inhabitants, the thing that stood in its way could not be prevented.
However, it is often possible to change things after they have occurred, and that?s why hope exists, and always will, as long as life exists. Even in a time where the only survivors must take refuge to stay alive , there will always be a fragment of hope that shines through, and this hope will continue to grow, until all the destruction has passed.
Hope? it?s the one thing that binds us to this world; the only thing that keeps us living. If we were to be devoid of all hope, our very soul would vanish from existence. It?s a precious thing that can never be forgotten.
But I do not know what the future holds for those of you who are still alive. I do know that as long as hope exists, a chance for a better life exists as well. So? I will tell all those who remain in this world, hiding in the darkest cracks of the planet, trying to do nothing more than keep themselves from fading away:
Whatever you do, never let go of the hope that keeps you alive.