Savior

Let’s go back a few years.

Cruelty had nothing left to do when the empire fell, the world had become too complicated for her. Yes, she was everywhere, creeping into the new, modern ways of corruption. But she was alone and terrified because she knew the Thing was planning something big and nobody believed her.

Then the watchers fell.

She was both relieved and worried. What would come next? What had toppled them? As visions of the nightmare spread, she understood that mankind was under mortal threat. She visited the strongest among those who could see the nightmare and convinced him that he had a singular fate,

Listen to me: you are meant for greatness. The end is upon us, and you will become the savior of all mankind.

The man dismissed her as a lunatic. So she did what she had done so many times before, she proved her point with fire instead of words. She immolated herself in front of him only to be reborn the next day. She explained his task to him,

You are among the few strong enough to see the nightmare and not be crushed by it. You noticed it, right, the sphere in the garden?

Yes.

That’s the device he will use to kill us all. I will provide you with explosives to blow it up.

But if he’s so powerful, why won’t he be able to stop me?

Because he’ll have to use all his energy to spread the nightmare. That is our moment to strike. You will run to the machine and blow up.

The man looked at her, worried,

Wait I, I’ll die?

Yes, it’s a small price to pay to save mankind, isn’t it?

Well then you pay it. I want to live.

Why? Everyone dies sooner or later. Only a few have the chance to be a hero and be remembered down the ages.

Wait, wait, wait. If people die sooner or later, then why not now? Maybe our time has come.

Look, if you don’t do this, nobody will. You will be responsible for billions of deaths. You. Your two options are A) Die like everyone else. B) Die a hero and save the world.

You don’t really have a choice.

Fine… you win.

Over the next days, she kept trying to convince him not only that his task was momentous, but that it was good in itself, that he should feel proud of choosing his own immediate death. It only made his doubts grow. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t someone else be the hero? He didn’t care about history, he didn’t even care about humans. What had they done for him anyway? He had been a pariah all his life, never connected with anyone, always keeping to himself. Besides, he didn’t trust the crazy woman who torched herself alive to win arguments.

She and the man traveled to the city near forest where the Thing lived. There they waited for the last day. When the nightmare began spreading, Cruelty sneaked her savior into the forest and he made his way to the garden. There he watched the deathless floating in ecstasy and ran to the device. The raven appeared before him, threatening him, begging him. He put his hand on the button, ready to blow up as soon as he got to the device, which was only a few dozen meters away now. But he stopped. He couldn’t press the button. Cruelty’s voice popped into his mind,

Go! There’s little time.

The raven spoke softly,

Don’t listen to that bitch. Come with me instead.

Come where?

To other planets, to conquer everything we see and do as we please.

Her voice wasn’t so sweet anymore. She said,

Shut up you murderous deceiving tyrant. This man is a hero and he’ll do what’s right.

The man fell on his knees, thoughts swirling in his mind. Her voice grew more insistent.

Go, do it, blow it up. Save the world. Go, go, do it, kill yourself to save us.

Shut up, shut up, shut up! You know what? Fuck you.

The man started taking off the explosives.

Don’t you dare.

Watch me, bitch.

The man burst into flames, screaming in agony. Her voice filled his mind.

Go to the device, go. If you want me to put you out of your misery, go to the device.

But the man refused. He used his last drops of strength to throw himself on the ground and burn. She walked into the garden, staring directly into the raven’s eyes. Wherever she walked, a trail of fire shot horizontally, setting the whole garden on fire. The raven grabbed her and held her against the ground, binding her with chains that sunk deep into the earth.

He tore her eyelids and said,

I don’t want you to miss a moment of this.

The nightmare crawled exponentially faster, submerging everything in it. Everyone it touched suffocated and gave up their ghost. The massive bank of souls flowed from all over the world directly to him. In hours the whole world had fallen.

He had wiped humanity.

She was now a sickly pale pile of bones writhing on the ground. He removed her chains because she couldn’t do anything anymore,

You do realize that you sabotaged yourself, right?

She looked at him with contempt. He continued,

You chose the one man to stop me that you knew would fail. You really can’t change at all. Now, look at yourself.

Shut up.

How does it feel to lose everything? Fun, isn’t it? For some time I thought I wouldn’t be able to defeat you, yet here we are.

I’m not dead yet. You’re just like me, even if you don’t want to see it. That’s what I tried to make you see. I wanted you to join me, but you scorned me. Well, look at us now. I’m bound to you, the last sliver of humanity left in the world.

You’re right, but don’t worry, I’m willing to let it go.

No, you can’t possibly–

The raven sacrificed what was left of his own humanity. He destroyed every trace of pity, self-contempt, hope, blind delusion, hatred and cruelty. She contorted and screamed, burning down one last time.

He was ready. The earth shattered in a terrible earthquake. From the broken soil emerged a humanoid figure in an ivory lifesuit. It was him, in the flesh. The raven soared to the sky and flew over deserted cities toward the sea. The whole planet was silent now.

Out in the sea, a green thunderstorm raged on. A swirling vortex appeared in the sea, and out of it rose the ivory tower, reaching for the skies. The titans of the sea came to witness his ascent. Whales, sharks and immense octopuses that stretched for kilometers were all there. The titans swam around the ivory tower in celebration, crushing deserted oil tankers and cruiser ships under their tentacles and claws.

He descended into the depths of the vortex and entered through a small door. Using his will, he set the engines running and flew up to the control room. He could see through the hull into the space above. Before lift-off, the traveler spoke through him,

So long have I waited for this moment, so long you could never imagine…