Chapter 365: Not From This

"The Earth... is crying."

In the mountains that seemed far away from any civilization, an old woman was looking at the sky. The tears that almost endlessly flowed from her eyes, falling and filling in the cracks of her wrinkled face... until they finally fall on her long, thick braided bundle of grey hair that almost served as a poncho.

The woman seemed to be weeping, but at the same time, her eyes were filled with a sort of acceptance.

"...Tsula, are you alright?"

"I know you feel it too," Tsula did not bother to look at Katherine as she approached. Katherine did not seem to mind, however, as she just stood beside Tsula and also looked up at the sky.

"..." She then took a deep breath as she closed her eyes; and soon, tears also started to trail on her face,

"You're right," she whispered, "...I could feel it."

"..."

"..."

And as the two remained standing still, a girl suddenly appeared from the trees behind them — her almost crystal skin and even whiter hair, reflecting the peaceful sky above.

"..." Karina curiously stared at Katherine and Tsula as she quietly stood between the two. And now, from only reaching to Katherine's waist, she was now almost past her navel.

"..." Karina seemed to want to say something to her mother, but just chose to shut her mouth and also close her eyes as she pointed her head to the skies.

"..."

"..."

She didn't last, however, as her left eye opened and looked at Katherine. She closed it again, but this time, only a second as she let out a long and loud breath,

"Mom... are you and grandma Tsula meditating?"

"...No," Katherine quickly wiped the tears on her face as she sighed, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I woke up," Karina slightly giggled, "What's going on?"

"It's... nothing," Katherine could only shake her head before lifting up Karina and carrying her, "Just the world as it always is."

"...What does that mean?"

"You'll find out when you grow up," Katherine said as she tapped Karina's nose.

"Hm," Karina nodded... before trying to pull on Tsula's braids.

"Don't do that!" Katherine quickly pulled Karina and started walking away, "What do I always tell you?"

"...No?"

"...Don't do that?"

"The other one."

"A... always treat people with respect," Karina let out a small breath as she coddled on Katherine's shoulder.

"And?"

"Always... be kind."

"Hm, good," Katherine nodded, "And what do you do when someone asks for help?"

"Help them!"

"But?"

"But first... check if they're good people!"

"Good... that's good. Never forget that..."

"..." Tsula finally moved from her spot as Katherina and Karina's voices faded into the forest; still, her eyes remained to the sky as she started to whisper,

"The world finally howls. And soon, the Harbinger of Destruction comes, and the Messiah rises from the ashes...

...and that is prophecy fulfilled."

"I heard that before."

"..."

And suddenly, a shadow emerged from Tsula's back; wearing a sort of lab gown as her steps quietly moved away.

"What's going on out there, Diana?" Tsula didn't really seem surprised as she didn't even flinch; her eyes, still towards the sky.

"They finally did it, the humans," Caitlain let out a long and deep sigh as she stood beside Tsula, "They started destroying themselves."

"We've been destroying ourselves ever since the dawn of our existence," Tsula's eyes finally strayed away from the sky as she looked at Caitlain, "Long before you even set foot in our world, Yee Naaldlooshii."

"Hm," Caitlain only shrugged, "That prophecy — you've also mentioned that before when I first met you hundreds of years ago. What does it mean?"

"What's a woman of science like you doing listening to a fairytale?"

"There are no such things as fairy tales."

"Hm..."

"You always say that prophecy..." Caitlain crossed her arms, "...yet I never hear you ending it."

"Because there is no end," Tsula shook her head, "The prophecy just repeats itself."

"Until when?"

"Until it's forgotten."

"...Forgotten," Caitlain only smiled and scoffed at Tsula's words.

"Do you miss your family, Diana?"

"...I do not have a family," Caitlain blinked a couple of times from Tsula's sudden and random question.

"You have lived a hundred of my lifetimes; let us not tell lies to each other," Tsula let out a slightly trembling sigh, "I am dying, whatever secret you are hiding will remain a secret."

"..."

"..."

"...Oh?" Tsula continued to stare Caitlain straight in the eyes, "You do not miss your husband... no."

"..."

"But the children..." A small smile then crawled on Tsula's face, causing all the wrinkles on her face to fold, "...you've grown attached to them."

"That's enough."

"...Is that the reason you have expedited the girl's growth?"

And as soon as Tsula uttered those words, Caitlain's eyes started to light up.

Tsula, however, only burst out in laughter; partnered by a vehement cough here and there as she started walking away,

"Children..." She then said as her laughter faded,

"They could topple even mountains if you give them long enough."

"..."

***

Someplace else, another laughter resounded. It was a quiet laughter, but it echoed through the air — in almost like a... child-like manner. At the same time, however, it contained a darkness that couldn't be explained.

The battle was over. But no one cheered or cried — but the battle was over. And to prove that were the almost thousand corpses that littered on top of each other like a tree.

And on top of it, almost like the star at the top of a Christmas tree, was Paragon. Laughing as he stood on his enemies.

It probably lasted one more minute before his giggles completely stopped. And as soon as it did so, he leaped from the mountain of corpses and slowly made his way to the people of the Academy; most of them quickly backing away.

"Hello, Spectacular Mustache Man."

"What do you want!?" Daniel was the first to respond as he raised his voice... before hiding behind Spectacular Mustache Man.

"Is that Academy full?"

"...What?" Spectacular Mustache Man could only squint his eyes.

"As a hero, we have saved people and brought them here," Paragon then said as he pointed up. And as soon as he did so, Spectacular Mustache Man and the others finally noticed the colossal ship that was slowly descending from the sky.

"What... is that?"

"Civilians. They—"

"You are Paragon."

And before Paragon could finish his words, a somewhat neutral voice whispered in the air; belonging to an even more androgynous face — Bulwark. His golden hair, now only reaching to his shoulders.

"Yes," Paragon only nodded. As for Bulwark, he looked at the mountain of corpses as he approached, before letting out a sigh and once again focusing his eyes on Paragon.

"I thank you for the assistance," he then said as he continued to sigh, "I have faced many wars — and I knew this was a losing battle. They would have successfully infiltrated us without your help."

"Was it a losing battle?" Paragon blinked, "You could have faced all of them by yourself. You also have many soldiers inside the Academy."

"You never send children to the battlefield, no matter how strong — they are meant to be protected."

"..."

"You said you brought civilians with you?"

"Yes," Paragon then said as they both watched as the colossal ship successfully landed on the ground without even as much as a sound — weird, considering it was the size of a football stadium.

"..." Bulwark did not seem to put any mind to it, however, as he just focused on the huge door that suddenly spawned randomly; and very quickly, people started stepping out of the ship.

"Assist them!" Bulwark raised his hand, "Prioritize the injured and take them to the med bay! As for the—"

"Paragon!"

And before Bulwark could finish his commands, a roar even louder than his reverberated through the air.

It was Hannah, already flying towards Paragon with her fist locked onto his face.

"..."

Paragon quickly caught Hannah's hand, of course. Gently rotating his body before placing his arm around Hannah's waist and embracing her — almost like a dance from those who have witnessed it.

"W— fucking let go of me, man!" Hannah quickly pushed herself away from Paragon... before letting out a couple of frenzied and stuttered words,

"I... you... fuck! I forgot what I was going to say! You... you don't do that!" Hannah then finally formed words as she violently pointed at Paragon, "You don't go by yourself!"

"It's alright. There weren't that many."

"Y—"

"Fucking hell," Gary then suddenly approached, looking at the mountain of corpses while he... spoke in a British accent,

"...Now I see his resemblance to Riley. They're both charismatic murder machines."

"Ugh," Hannah could really only roll her eyes as she walked away; shaking her head before walking towards Bulwark,

"It's... been a long time, sir Bulwark," Hannah then let out a quiet breath as she stretched her hand to Bulwark.

"It has. I... just wished we met in better circumstances," Bulwark shook Hannah's hand before looking at the people stepping out of the ship, "How... many people?"

"We... didn't really make an official count. But it should be more than 40,000 people according to Silvie."

"...40,000?" Bulwark whispered as he once again focused on the ship, "...Are you sure?"

"Yeah...

...more than half of them died inside. The... radiation just ate them from the inside out."

"I take it the people that died... were mostly normal humans?"

"...Yeah," Hannah nodded, "The supers... don't seem to be affected by the after effects of the bombs. Do... you know how bad the damage is? On the entire planet, I mean?"

"...Yes," Bulwark nodded as his voice suddenly turned quiet, "We were able to salvage images and videos from the satellites before everything crashed."

"And?"

"The world as you know it is changing— ending."

"Yeah, that's kinda been happening for a couple of years now," Hannah scoffed, "And we always manage to recover."

"No..." Bulwark shook his head as he looked towards the darkening skies, "Not this time...

...not from this."