Half a millenia ago.
That was when they first appeared. . .
Meta factors . . .powers that defied common sense.
Some foreign power, a strange disease, or an enigma of the super natural...no one knew what caused them.
What we were certain of was that the peace and stability of the past would henceforth be nothing but a pipe dream. . .
My name is Maison Quill. I’m seventeen years old. This is the story of how I got myself killed.
My day started out normal enough. I was rummaging for supplies in a destroyed mart when the sound of a distant explosion jolted me.
It was closer this time. . .
By the way, I’ve been homeless for the past six years.
Some of you may pity me. Others may think,Eww, how do you live like that!
But it was safer this way, with no attachments I had nothing lose. I lived in a lawless hell. A place where the worst of humanity had been granted the power to feed the worst of their instincts.
I stayed clear of everyone i saw, knowing most innocent peiple were in hiding or simply dead.
Almost everyone who roamed these lands was a human only by the loosest definition.
Run, hide, survive. That was the drill. But even then. . . tommorrow was never promised.
Another explosion sounded . . .not as loud. Just mild enough that I could faintly hear the screams. Whoever...whatever was causing them . . .it was savoring the death and terror.
I twisted the Heishi beads on my wrist like I always did when I was anxious.
The Heishi beads . . .
The last gift I had recieved from my dad.
As usual their sight tugged at the back of my skull ... pulling out my memories of him.
Memories from that night spun through my mind like a torrent of rain: our hospital base burning down, a scream from a mother as she watched her infant daughter perish in flames – my dad who’d been burnt beyond recognition – dragging me out of the rubble, then going back in to save the others.
The flame roared and the glass windows shattered. A maddened peal of laughter merged the with the deathsome wails.
And then the hospital collapsed. . .
Out of the wreckage, several figures emerged, crimson flame dancing across their skin, and their eyes glowing with malice.
They were laughing . . . They had killed all those people for sport.
My eyes rolled up my head as i fainted dead away, semi buried in a layer of soot and cement dust. Just enough that i was not discovered.
No one came to save me, or even find out what happened. Everyone was too busy trying to survive.
Meta humans now made nearly 80% the population with more and more appearing with each birth.
The dwindling human population felt a fear and desperation they’d never felt before.
And so the fighting would not stop.
Knowing this I’d been hiding since that night, living under the radar, too busy surviving to grieve properly for my dad.
Another explosion . . . Even more screams . . .
The ground shook ominously.
They were here . . .
A sharp whistle cut through the air as my pupils dilated.
I bolted out of the mart right as an inferno descended.
The concrete crumbled like brittle earth as they were enveloped in conflate. The shock wave threw me onto the asphalt.
The left side of my face was red with burns.
Around me people screamed, pushing past each other to escape.
But i wasnt as hopeful, i knew they wouldnt let any of us go. It wasn’t too bad. Id been able to live longer than most.
I stared at the approaching flame calmly as it edged closer.
Men, women, and children perished voilently within the flame. Fire danced across roofs. Windows shattered from the heat as walls crumbled.
The masses continued to flee like a panicked herd.
Then our assailant waltzed of the fire.
A ten-foot-diameter circle of charred, steaming asphalt burned into existence around him.
In the centre of the chaos he stood: a pale man in dark robes.
And when I say pale, I mean his skin was the most bloodless and flawless shade of ivory I’d ever seen. Not even the palest albino alive couod have been so fair.
His face was inhumanly cruel, malice so pure it nearly congealed was evident in his pupils.
His long hair had grown in to an untidy fray.
He looked like a demon whod stepped straight out of a horror story.
Then I thought, No, not even a demon would radiate cruelty to this extent.
Only...why did he seem so familiar..
He locked eyes with me and i was instantly aware.
’He was there that night, he was one of them.’ I remembered’Brave man.’ He praised as he watched my face contort with killing intent. His voice was deep and resonant. ’Im going to enjoy killing you.’
An old abandoned pickup stood between us. But he walked straight through it, melting a path down the middle of the chassis like a knife through butter.
The sizzling halves of the truck collapsed behind him, glowing a thermal red.
He raised his arms. Flames slithered between his fingers.
"Ah I remember you..." He sighed. "The pitiful whelp at the hospital" At his feet, the asphalt bubbled and melted. More buildings crumbled.
Several dozen of those around me were incinerated.
A nearby mother collapsed from the heat. A young boy who couldn’t be any older than ten attempted to drag her with his frail body.
But I was okay. His flame had not targeted me. Only...I was angry. I could see only amusement in his eyes while he ended a dozen lives.
’I will kill you.’
I promised in rage.
He laughed. ’Just like your father at that time. .. All you have to offer is this false bravado.’
I clenched my teeth. My vision turned a field of red. I was powerless but... I would make him pay even at the cost of my life.
But, before I could take action, something whizzed past my ear and pierced through the surrounding fire.. striking his squarly on the for head.
Had it been a weapon, perhaps he would have met his end. Fortunately for him, it was a nothing but a coin.
It hit him between the eyes with a dull thunk, fell to his feet and promptly melted.
Our assailant blinked. More confused than terrified.
It was the young boy, while defensively guarding his mother hed caused all surrounding metal and debree to levitate.
He was a meta.
He yelled and all the debree was hurled at the man within the flame.
I watched the scene with a warm smile. . .
If only I’d also been given the opportunity to defend my parents.
Unfortunately, this world was not for the selfless and brave.
’Enough.’ The flame meta extended his arm. From his open palm, fire spilled out and surged towards the boy.
’Perish.’ He growled.
The boys faced warped in fear, but even now while his own instincts screamed at him.he still did not move. Since he couldn’t, naturally I had to.
I picked up a nearby car door and rushed to space front of the boy, holding it up like a shield as the curtain of fire slammed into us.
I groaned.
The heat was overwhelming. The car door was red and losing its shape. The semi molten metal had began eating into my flesh.
All of this while my skin blistered and burned solely due to the surrounding heat.
When the conflagration passed i wrenched the door from my arm. Clenching my teeth as some of my flesh was wrenched of with it.
’Run’ I yelled at the child while I charged the man in the fire. He watched with amusement as I approached. I could sense the fires intensity dimming even
I had grabbed a metal rod from the cars wreckage.
When I swung it at him it had melted before it could touch him.
’Arghh’ The skin of my palm burned against the metal.
The flame meta looked at me, laughed cruelly. Then with a fist clad in fire he punched me in the gut.
I’d been punched countless times, just not like thus.
I doubled over in pain. My vision blurred and tripled. When I regained my focus, I was on my knees.
Staring listlessly at a puddle of vomit and blood.
The meta could have easily ended me, but I guess he wasn’t done with his fun.
He paced in front of me, making tsk-tsk sounds.
’Weak,’ he said. ’A pointless existence. This is why you all must perish.’
What was he saying?
Before I could retort, he kicked me in the ribs and sent me sprawling.
I lay flat on my back, staring at the darkening sky.
So it was already twilight huh?
I think i must have been delirious with pain because a hundred feet up, I saw a young woman in the sky.
Her image was faint, but her sight was still a sledge hammer against my soul.
With snow white hair suffused with starlight, and white sparkling skin she was simply a perfection surpassing all known definitions of beauty.
Her face was impassive and cold. Ruthless, predatory ruby eyes regarded me.
Our eyes met for a mere split second.
’If you’re real, please, help.’ I thought.
She dissolved into darkness.