1 Chapter I: Gale
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GALACTIQUE SYNE, 14
FEMALE
CLUSTER PATRON: AQUARIUS
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ROUQKET, SOUTHERN WELISQ
12,000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT
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Millions of years ago, it was believed that the heavenly stars were fated to meet and from their coalition, brought forth the most destructive event in the entire multiverse. An event which led to both boon and doom of the living forces. An event that abolished the known kind, and rose were the species of grand and godlike creatures, individual planets to never tantamount words. It was known as the Xaqeilar, or the unknown collapse and from this, Welisq, my planet had been born.
Our ancient origin, were the star clusters. Many believed that our planet was the most amazing thing that had happened in the past. Overflowing with crystal waters, fertile land and nature to tantamount a non-existent definition. Everything was perfect, until the day the stars that formed our planet were prophesied to dismount and cling to their rightful places in the dimensions above - space. That left our people, the celestiques rummaged through scriptures to prevent the horrid future from happening.
That was my planet's tale. Or how they told us.
In the midst of the chaos, where young and determined keepers stayed at the sacred altoire in multitude in search of the possible solutions to deny the prophecy, that I luckily came into existence.
Actually, I came after they started walking out from it with their faces wearing the veils of forlorn and despair, with their dehydrated skin that hung freely under their necks, upper arms and freaking cheeks. Right moment to be born, indeed.
During those years, it was tough to live in a planet where anytime it could crumble to dust and leave nothing alive behind. Didn't I say that I was born when the planet started decaying? I did. When I was born, the suns that we had, north and south became blue. Well, the northern sun did. The south managed to fight the spreading disease and remained bright orange. That meant they didn't have more time to radiate warmth. Or support life that obviously starting to decrease in number anyway.
When this happened, many of the northern people moved out from their beloved shelters and started anew in the southern part where life shares its perks. Some said the land became dark and soot started coming down from above, like a new version of flakes except that we couldn't stick our toungue out to relish it.
While the live stocks died one morning, there seemed to have a one same reason why. A black ink coming from their snouts, maws and any other orifices had been terribly found to have caused such inevitable fate of these meats. A week after the massive breakout of what they called "the ooze", people started to develop same illness. In their case, their eyes suddenly turned to face their brains while in their veins were the ooze slowly taking their body over and inflicting its dark gruesome effects. As fast as the gusts of wind, half the population of the north died. That was the real thing, the real beginning.
That was the reason why in generations, many of the keepers dedicated their lives into unlocking the secrets of the mysterious prophecy. None of them were lucky enough to find a slice of hint. All of them failed.
We were left with nothing but our ownselves. No one knew when the stars drift away from each other or the planet's doomed day.
One by one, people started dying as the ooze seemed to have spread down to the southern part of the planet.
Some claimed to have found the answer, or the specks of it. But really, every other desperate and mad keeper had told it long before generations of their kind repeated the cycle.
The system didn't bother. Didn't waste any time hearing the complaints of its people. Or it just pretended not to hear, not to care, so the people could form any assumption that filled up their mind with treacherous hopes, if lucky, despair.
One acceptable reason came from my mind though I still opposed everything that the system was trying to do. They didn't try hard enough. I thought that maybe the people behind it were trying to remain strong or to show that they were so the public could have a grip to a withstanding wall of strength and absolute justice for a long living planet. I found the idea crooked. I didn't know why I still believed on it despite every negative reason that I should be doing the opposite.
As a child, I didn't know what it meant to live a day like it was your last. Certainly because I was too inclined with the reason why the planet was formed, gave the people hope with its bounty supply of everything then suddenly giving up its role then taking everything back to how it was used to be - dark void of nothingness.
Did I also say that each celestique, me and my fellows, were born with an image of a star?
"The game will start in a minute, Gale. Come on we'll be late if you keep on dealing with your whimsical observations." I was caught in a trance when Drew eagerly said as he jumped his way to the arena which was kilometers away from our region.
"Don't ridicule yourself mister. You know we can't go in there without them getting some energy from our star emblem." or kill us in the process. I almost add.
He knew we couldn't go in their domain, if we do, we'll be trapped or forever gamble our lives with its tricks just to keep us from escaping. It was designed for people who could manipulate their emblem and create things from it that could only enter and exit at the same time. For the feeble ones, they could create but the exit part? It was futile to even comprehend what could happen next simply because the arena was placed at the north. I knew he was stupid, I didn't know he was beyond that when he started making a portal out of his emblem.
"What do you think you're doing? You'll be drained. Stop it right now Drewvoyd!." I said in terror as I desperately came to approach him to prevent his stupid self from being literally drained, like a trunk without a water or a land without rain.
"Hey, easy there. It was a small portal that could last for a minute" was his reply.
"Don't you dare give me that look." As he started pouting and blinking his eyes into slowly, like he was being sincere. Who was he joking? He knew that the moment we stepped there, every energy we have for the day would be lost, evaporate in the misty region of black void.
"If you really want it so bad, then you should have given me your best effort. Not that low class persuasion skills." I grinned with the comment I uttered without any hesitation. "So stop it. I'm not going to deter you from doing it the second time around." I started to walk away. To be honest, I didn't have the plan to go give up my life so I could watch a silly game invented by a more foolish people. And I certainly didn't want to die in their hands or by the mystified power dark engulfing ooze.
Seriously, I didn't like begging people to stay or to not do what they wanted to do. I just let them think or act the way they wanted. Since that was the notion my dad had told me, the notion I kept inside to protect my heart from breaking. So far, I was alive, I thought his notion really worked.
When I thought he was tailing me behind, under the scorched-heat suns - one giving off the invisible arrays of cold-breaking blue-ish ooze , a gust of wind suddenly appeared and suck me to what looked like a whirlpool of dirt, dust and other decaying leaves. I freaking realized I was where I feared I shouldn't be when I smelled air.
"Welcome" was all I heard after that inter dimensional travel or should I say after we travel. Welcome? Like welcoming someone to face their imminent death caused by tragic inhalation of ooze and other dark dirty and super disgusting particles?
" Now we're stuck in here. How dare you grab me here without my consent?" As if asking me would change anything. I was caught in my going-to-angry track, bewildered and taking my best facial expression to show concern instead. "Oh my goodness Drew you are turning pale." He did. And the funny part was his emblem started to give off billows of transparent blue smoke in the air.
Eyes wide with shock, that confirmed my assumption. They were stealing energy from the spectators. They, I meant the system. So they found a way to benefit from a death-giving problem by sucking our energy then what? My goodness they shouldn't be messing around with the unknown. Especially if that unknown despicably took millions of lives. These brute system and their mad experiments. How could they even think about it? Or I was just over thinking. But if that was the case, I would take off my pride and admit that I was an over thinker because learning that the system and their hidden motives with the utilization of the ooze could kill the planet instantly.
"See? Anytime now you could collapse. And I won't be making a portal for two. How much energy did you exert?" with a concern look in his eyes, he told me he used a half of his day's energy. How could we even last for hours now? I couldn't share my energy to him, we weren't on the same star type. Mine was six-pointed. We were not fellows.
"Are you insane or were you just acting out your innate nature? You're unbelievable!" I looked at him sharply as he raised his both hands up on the air to admit defeat. I started to venture toward the loud noises and boisterous cheers of the addict celestiques coming from the arena to stop him from making mad decisions that could put our lives into a debacle worse than death itself. Worse meant us being suck by the ooze while desperately trying to remain alive, breathing dark particles in and out and finally dropping on the ground so the entire ooze could eat us up. Thanks to his initiative we were still alive and will be for a couple of hours.
"Thank you for coming with me." He said, that made me lessen the anger building inside me or what I believed were. But that didn't lessen every inch of step that death made to finally reach us.
I just stared at him in disbelief.
I took time to observe how the arena's facade was formed. I constrained my lividity. For I was so sure it was made of our emblems' energy particles. I had to investigate.
"Who do you think would win the game? Your fellow or mine?" I was sure Drew couldn't contain his excitement. Challenging me with those hungry looking eyes for victory. Who did he think I was supporting? I support no one as everything in there was futile and waste of energy and time.
But I was at the same time worried about him. About what would happen next. I didn't show any weak resolve. I slowly solidified my thoughts and deal with the chaos in front of me.
I walked toward the arena, hoping that the barrier that currently fended the dark particles off was a real thing and that it didn't come from the energy our emblems had been giving off since we arrived on this living dark.
"I bet my fellows will knock yours down. Let's see the thrill." still oblivious, high of himself, with his blue-sun shining crystal eyes the color of this place's sun, he bumped his way into the crowd and started yelling even when the game started a couple of minutes ago. His fellows did the same.
What a fool.
