Chapter One: The Light in the Sky.
Too long… It’s been too long since humanity has last experienced peace. The beginning of humanity was so long ago that no one even remembers what year it is. The sky is always dark, there is no sun, hell it’s hard to believe there ever was. This is why I’m always so depressed… I want to see the light.
Growing up we were taught that the gods killed each other in “The great war of the gods.” I always loved this story, or this history lesson I guess. We were all told about the 8 gods.
Goddess of the Stars: Stellae
God of the Night: Nox
God of the Light: Lux
Goddess of the Soul: Anima
God of the Mind: Mens
Goddess of Nature: Natura
God of Time: Tempus
Goddess of Love: Amare
I was always confused about why these were the 8 gods. Why wasn’t there a god of hatred? A god of the moon? A god of destruction? A god of creation? Why did they fight in the first place? I never understood, but I guess that’s irrelevant, because we’re all gonna die too. I hate this feeling. The feeling of not being able to do anything, helplessness. Would the gods help us if they were still alive?
“Hey! Nazim! Stop daydreaming! We have to get ready!”
“Oh, right… Coming Lascelles…”
“You’re always daydreaming about something! We have bigger problems here!”
“Sorry…”
“Stop being so depressed, for the love of god, it’s contagious.”
Lascelles has been my best friend for my whole life, but two years ago when he met his girlfriend Amelia, it seemed like he stopped caring about me, but recently he’s been more talkative, so I guess I’ll take that as a win… I just don’t understand why you would prioritize a girl you’ve known for two years over your friend that you’ve known your whole life… Oh well..
Humanity has existed for so long at this point that we’ve developed colonies halfway across the observable universe. So we’re all confused as to why they keep going quiet, they stop sending us reports of what’s going on over there, permanently. It’s been happening for generations now, nobody can figure it out, all the colonies outside of the Milky Way galaxy have gone quiet now, we can’t contact them, and our cameras are all gone too. It’s only a matter of time before we go quiet for good…
A couple hours pass.
“Okay class! This is your last class period before you join the military!”
Once kids reach the age of 15 we get sent to military school, most of the classes are the same as regular school, like math, history, science, etc. However we get 2 new classes: Combat Training and Military Prep. Me and Lascelles’ last class of the day is history, and today is the last day of school before we get drafted into the military… Without our consent.
“Today you will be learning about Rage Forms. This is a simple yet complicated topic at the same time. Let us begin. At the end of The Great War Of The Gods, Tempus, the God of Time, knew that none of them would survive, he looked into the future and saw only doom for us humans. So in a dying fit of rage he gave us all of his divine power, and doing so he was the first god to die. Three years after the war ended, humans all over the world began to gain these powers which we’ve since dubbed “Rage Forms.” They are called rage forms because humans quickly began to realize that they could only be unlocked in a fit of immense anger. A sheer amount of anger so insane that nobody, not even those who’ve unlocked them, can comprehend.”
“But how did they know that we had these rage forms in the first place?”
“Great question, Amelia! They figured this out because of one man. We don’t know who he is today as his name was lost to time, but that’s irrelevant. His wife was killed in front of him by his neighbor, and obviously he was furious, but instead of just feeling anger, he felt stronger, he felt like an unstoppable mountain, and all of a sudden, he became a mountain! He became so incredibly large that his sheer presence crushed anybody in the same country as him! And this is just barely touching the tip of what rage forms can do, there’s been more powerful ones that the military has found, and some completely useless ones too. But when you join the military, you will be taught how to control them if you do ever unlock yours! No matter how weak it may be-”
*Sigh* “Why are we learning this if we aren’t even guaranteed to get one? Shouldn’t we talk about the colonies that have gone missing?”
“I suppose you’re right, Nazim. However, don’t lose hope! It’s been studied that over the years more and more rage forms are being unlocked. But sure let’s talk about the colonies. As you all know, all of our colonies outside of the Milky Way have gone quiet, but not to worry! The military is sending a group of 15 volunteers-”
*Mumble* “I highly doubt they’re volunteers…”
“What was that Nazim? You know saying stuff like that could get you in big trouble.”
*Sigh* “Sorry ma’am.”
“As I was saying, the military has sent a group of 15 volunteers to the nearest colony outside of the Milky Way! They’re so confident about this project that they’ve decided to broadcast cameras on the volunteers to the whole world! The live stream will begin in approximately 7 and a half minutes, and since it’s your last day of school, I suppose we can watch it. Until then you can socialize with your peers.”
7.5 minutes later.
“Alright. It’s time for the livestream everyone, make sure to pay attention.”
*Click*
Testing, Testing. Okay, we’re good to go.
Start the travel sequence.
*Wormhole travel activated.* Take us to the nearest colony outside of the milky way.
*Engine starting* *BOOM!!!* And they’re off, they’ll be there in T-Minus 10 minutes!
This is exciting, for everyone watching: Don’t lose hope! These 15 men will be our saviors! I will talk to you for these next ten minutes in case some of you don’t know what’s going on. So, a couple generations back, colonies of ours started losing contact.
10 minutes later.
Alright! Enough of that, they’re arriving now!
Oh? It appears the broadcast is buffering. Boys, talk to me boys, what do you see? Boys?
Hmm, this is odd.
“Well, I guess they’re gone too…”
“NAZIM! DON”T SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!”
“Sorry ma’am…”
“God Nazim, always so damn depressed.”
“Sorry Lascelles…”
*All of a sudden a bright light shines, and screaming and crying can be heard outside.*
Ignoring all the screaming, Nazims face lights up with excitement, completely oblivious to all the screaming and crying.
Everyone rushes outside, with the livestream still on in the background, which everyone has already forgotten about.
Nazim is still locked onto the sky with excitement, however he quickly begins to realize that it isn’t a natural light, no. He begins to realize what it really is. Maybe… Maybe the gods didn’t kill each other…