Part 0: The end
Larrana Claire stood silently, watching as the few people that remained walked toward her uncertainly. The man who had once been Sean Bade, but who was now little more than a man in tatters, both physically and mentally, was the first to reach her.
"Larrana…" He croaked. "Larrana, what has happened to us?" Tears streaked down his dirt-encrusted face, leaving damp trails. "Why is this happening?"
Larrana sighed and looked past him, knowing the answer, but knowing it to be beyond the old man’s comprehension. She looked beyond him to the wasteland that surrounded her, Sean, and the few stragglers that had made it this far. There was only devastation. The first wave had seen to that. Terrible, cacophonous energies had torn across this world, her world. At first, it was little more than storms- natural thunderstorms with unnatural strength. There was damage, but nothing serious. Then, toward the end of the first wave, tremendous walls of energy had materialized, disintegrating all in their path. All life, be it animal, plant, or human, had given way before these walls. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the first wave ended. With most of the people dead or without homes, they had sought out Larrana. Her own sanctuary had been untouched, simply by chance. Larrana was the most powerful magic user that existed on their world. The people had come to her, seeking an answer. Like a fool, she had taken them in.
The second wave had hit three days after the first. There were no storms to announce its coming, just the walls, which moved slowly, tearing apart not only life, but the earth itself. Spheres of total blackness appeared where matter once was, tears in the fabric of reality itself. This second wave had decimated nearly the entire population of the planet. Larrana’s own sanctuary had been torn to shreds, and despite her powers, she was only able to save a handful of people. Now, as she stood in the desolate wasteland that had once been a planet filled with life, she considered saving those people a mistake. Better to let them be destroyed instantaneously than suffer the remaining time their universe had left.
She had no doubt that this universe was coming to an end. She had warned the people of this world repeatedly, but they had refused to listen. A subject such as the end of their entire universe had been too magnificent for them to grasp, and they dismissed it lightly. And now it was too late. Her highly attuned senses felt the coming of the third wave a full minute before it hit. The refugees looked up to the sky dimly, seeming to perceive a threat but being too shocked by previous events to be able to think much on the subject. The land began to vibrate, then shudder, and finally quake as the sun grew dimmer and dimmer, the stars appearing in a brilliant flash of light only to subside into darkness. The walls of energy appeared and then vanished, to be replaced by all-consuming blackness, tears in the fabric of reality itself. The refugees huddled, clutching to Larrana desperately. Larrana herself knew that there was no way to save them. Their very universe was falling apart around them, and while Larrana was very, very powerful, she knew that she could not withstand the destruction of everything. The refugees cringed for an instant before their sun exploded, incinerating them instantly. Larrana found herself unhurt as the heat and fury of the dying star surrounded her. Her eyes had closed reflexively, and she stiffened as she felt the forces surrounding her tearing the fabric of reality apart… Her mind became overloaded with pain as her magic slowly failed her, its base being erased along with the rest of the universe. As she slipped into her own blackness, she felt the fury of the galaxy collapsing, the sheer destructive energy wrenching her… the fury of the force she had known would claim this universe…
The fury of the Cataclysm.
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