1 'Prologue' (Part I)
"Those who turn a blind eye to the truth shall turn back, and find a horror in its place."
- Pontus, the Prophet.
*
Betrayal was never easy for Harwhal, at least until now.
He could still remember his twin brother howling in rage as he plunged his trident deep into his flesh. His sparkling, azure blood flowed from the wounds as he roared in agony; agony that went deeper than physical pain.
Then, before Harwhal himself could break down in trembling sobs and save his brother, he pushed him off the edge.
Narpoon fell, his screams echoing throughout the vast, oceanic planet as he descended from the sky.
Harwhal stared, horrified, as his brother's voice faded away with a loud splash. He could see a circular wave spreading out from where he had landed.
He was still shivering, traumatized by his own act. For a moment, he wanted to dive down after his brother and save him, just to heal the deep, fresh wound his own actions had inflicted on his heart.
He stopped himself. He wasn't supposed to feel this way; he should have been feeling the satisfaction of finally doing what he'd planned all along. In his mind, he tried to push those feelings away, but they left trails, traces of darkness. Darkness that proved that he was no longer sane, that he was a monster. He panicked and tried in vain to scrub that off the surface of his heart, but he knew they would never go away. They would stay, and they would fester, until there was nothing else left in his heart but blackness.
He ignored the dread growing inside him and urged himself forward. As soon as he stared into the clear water of the Spring, his grand delusions returned. He would recreate this world, and he knew it was for the best. A world without Narpoon's tight principles and petty rules was better; each and every creature on this planet could do as he wished. Yes, that was exactly what this world needed.
They had created it together, doing everything in harmony, balancing all the imaginary scales that came with the tiring task. Yet they succeeded. And Harhwal was about to change all of that.
He hesitated. "I really shouldn't be doing this..." he thought. Slowly, he backed away, and as soon as he did that, he cursed himself for being such a coward. He stepped forward, with renewed determination, then he stopped. Was he really going to destroy all they had built together?
He broke into sobs, trembling with sorrow. Something inside him snapped, and he ran towards the edge where he had thrown Narpoon off, screaming in rage.
*
Unbeknownst to Harwhal, his screams of rage had shaken the entire planet. When Narpoon was still present, he was able to temper Harwhal's nearly uncontrollable anger. But he was gone now.
In the blink of an eye, Harhwal's screams had formed gigantic waves, and they swamped all that stood in their way. Their unbelievable speeds wiped out entire civilizations without a single scream of protest from the inhabitants. They were buried in mud and silt, and their harrowing tales their corpses would tell were submerged along with them.
Volcanoes erupted, covering the sky with ash and changing the climate. Great earthquakes shifted entire tectonic plates, creating new continents. Civilizations that survived the waves died due to the terrible conditions. All life had died; the planet had become inhospitable.
Harwhal saw this, and caring about nothing else but his own sorrow, continued to scream.
