A tale of Light and Glass

The day of reckoning broke open over humanity like a sky split in two by a vengeful bolt of lightning, shaking the very earth beneath, it finally happened, or to add specificity, that day ended. Humankind had toiled with instability for far too long, they disregarded what nature intended for them, ripping and tearing at the balance of things. The day that presumably stopped these acts of primitive ignorance, the fighting, bickering and indifference seemingly ceased It ended petty rivalry, the scorn, the way people viewed one another in contempt, it stopped the bickering amongst one another, the utter disregard for other's feelings and thoughts. And the way that society forced people to believe that beauty, influence, power and respect were supposed to be this unattainable thing that only a select few can truly possess. With a war. Society had always been such a fickle concept, from how we came to be, to how we live our daily lives, every aspect of our existence speculation and an extensive history, most of the time bathed in tragedy, uncertainty, and blood, everyone has their version of what they deem to be the truth, yet we still managed to coexist semi fine in this unpredictable world, but how? Well, that is the question isn’t it, the best way to answer it however, would be to start at the end, do not misconstrue, only the end of what society used to be. Typically living in an unstable environment will create cracks in the foundation, cracks that drip with that instability, at first not as prevalently, but as time goes by and the unstable circumstances progress, it will embed in whatever is on the receiving end, until it can no longer be contained. Humans, as all living things need a healthy balance in order to grow, to make choices to better themselves, but being constantly thrown around in chaos and uncertainty could never have any positive effects on the mind or the soul. So in a world plagued by these unstable themes and darkness, like stereotypes, racism, sexism, discrimination, lies, hatred, insincerity, homophobia, and above all, money, things are bound inevitably to... crack. So then in that darkness, however arduous or impossible, one must fight to find the light, for it is the light that will give strength and move us towards what we were meant for, if we choose to stay in the darkness, we will become consumed, engulfing us until we too are a part of it… - Black night filled a room, and a deafening silence bewitchingly complimented the thick dark. Slowly an ember faded in and out of the dark, as it ignites, an outline is cast into dim crimson light, illuminating its features by the soft glow. After a couple of calm seconds, a sound echoed throughout the silent night, and a flame is brought to a candle. Casting a direct contrast over the previous setting, a room slowly starts to come into view, the outline now morphed into a face, then in mere seconds, into a person. The room is bathed in simplicity, invoking the feeling that this was once an industrial building, perhaps a factory of some kind, now desolate and overtaken by nature in the years of neglect. Vines and plants grew with a freedom that they previously did not possess, through the cracks in the concrete, bringing a sort of macabre beauty to a place that history cast to the side, to be forgotten. “Sira?“ a soft voice fluttered through the room, further contributing to the shift in tone. The source of the voice stared forward at another female, sitting against a wall with a rolled cylindrical paper lit up at the end between her long slender fingers, resting her elbow on her one raised-up knee, her arm slightly dangling. Slowly she lifted the object to her lips and took a long calm drag, filling her lungs with smoke, then lazily blowing it out and staring into the sky, through the broken-down roof of the building, her eyes longing for something she herself was not yet familiar with. ”What?' she pressed the ’T’ sharply through her pearly white teeth, signalling the absolute effort of lending attention to the other female in the room. ”It's puff-puff pass, not puff-puff-puff-puff, look broodingly into the sky until you slowly die of old age“, the girl raised her eyebrow at the snide remark, nonetheless, a thin smile crept onto her plump, light rose tinted lips. She shifted her body weight slightly, extending a well toned arm to her friend if only to stop an inevitable incessant nag fest. ”Thanks”, quite sarcastically she breathed out the word. She leaned her head to the side to look at Aesira, she always admired her ability to always look so effortlessly calm and pissed off at the same time. Her thick long silvery hair framed her sharp face perfectly, cascading down her muscled back, immaculately contrasting her bronzed skin. Calen allowed her eyes to glide over her friend's physique. Her skin, was always so dewy, not shiny, but dewy, like she sat in a meadow as the night turned to day, and the dew drops mistook her for a flower. She loved Aesira, deeply, she might have been a pain in the ass, grumpy, occasionally sadistic, and an impulsive alcoholic but she was her best friend. They had a very special bond, like sisters, no, like twins. She was strong and protective and she never allowed anyone to step on top of her, or those she cared about. That's why Calen admired her so. ”Stop that, I know what you're doing”, Aesira spoke at last, her voice like liquid gold, firm but opulent. She took the blunt back from Calen and had to force herself from smirking, she was no fool, and definitely no stranger to the looks Calen gave her when she had an idea forming in her chestnut hair-covered head. ”Come on, Sira, look at me”, she scooted closer, ”you know what I'm going to say, you're turning 24 in 2 weeks, you are aware of the pressures on your shoulders and what follows if you don't declare yourself by then”. Aesira’s face was stony, serious, and slightly annoyed, while Calen’s eyes carried a sense of worry and concern. ”You're really harshing my high right now”, Calen rolled her eyes, a slight silence yet again overtook the room, but broke with a sigh. ”Look Cay, I know you're concerned, I love you for it, but I don't need to declare s**t”. In their all female civilisation one had grown up with the grand promise of your declaration day, it was a celebration day of what was marketed to be a type of ascension, a right of passage into womanhood, one either made a public statement of their orientation or they would make their life partner known to their community, if they had already started their courtship before then. It differed from person to person, the higher one's status in the community, the bigger of a deal it would be. For those that were typical every day citizens, it would just be a massive party in their home town or sisterhood (neighbourhood), but for those that were in the public eye, like celebrities, politicians, and those that closely mirrored what was seen as royalty in the old world, known now as the Impiria. They were of strong warrior bloodline and generations of leaders in their cities, towns and the whole continent. The importance of the Impiria also differed, some were more involved in the government, others were just very influential and proudly lived up to the warrior name, but all were affluent and influent, they were a symbol of strength and power, and they were widely respected. So for this reason their declarations would be a sight to behold, akin to the coronations of the royals of the old world. The Impiria bloodlines just so happen to also produce some of the strongest mages and warriors known, it was a widely speculated subject as to why, could just be genetics, years and years of good genes that contributed to the strongest of the strong, so naturally that meant that they almost always joined the Prismatic defence force, putting their talents to good use. Aesira was attempting to put her declaration day out of her mind with every fibre of her being, for one she hated anything to do with traditions and societal duties, she was an Anarchist at heart so her distaste for these things grew with each passing day. Besides hers would not simply be just a party, she had other weights hanging around her shoulders, shackling her, suffocating and burdening her mind. ”In a week I go through the trials, then I'll be ranked as Onyx, I’ll just say that I don't want to endanger a life partner with my work, or that I’m too busy serving my nation, it doesn't need to be so complicated, and it's been done countless times before“ she saw her friend's face scrunch up into discomfort, ”so stop worrying, you know how much respect the Onyx gets right?” ”Yeah, everyone knows that, those assholes gets thrusted so hard onto the highest pedestal I'm sure they reach completion just by existing”. Aesira laughed at this and gave Calen an approving shove. ”Yeah, they really can be a bunch of snobby f***s sometimes“. ”You always agree with me on that, I don't see why you want to rise to that rank, you already have the highest in your current class. The military really isn't all there is”, Calen stated firmly. ”I know, but being in the Auric class isn't shattering that ceiling, how else am I going to bring down the government if I'm stuck as an Auric?” she laughed slightly, at the thought of one person toppling centuries of governmental influence, but then her face darkened. “And besides, you know it's not that easy for me, I don't exactly have the freedom to just break hundreds of years of family tradition, especially in my family“ her tone grew darker than her face at that last part, she stiffened up a bit but caught herself just as Calen wanted to address her claim, instead of giving more rope to the topic she took her last drag and put out the blunt. “You’re so stubborn and complicated sometimes Aesira, but I get it, you always need to be at the top of everything, if not, you'll be going against your nature”, Calen shoved Aesira lightly, brightening up the tone by addressing her incessant compulsion to always be the best. Showing her acceptance of the answer, and not pushing the matter any further, as it was very obviously touchy. Beep beep beep beep beep ”s**t“ Aesira breathed out, jumping to her feet and guiding her eyes over to a big black bag, its shape was compact, made out of the firm substance that all material things consisted of, Mercurium. It possessed the ability to interconnect with the Magick that became a part of their world after the war and the technology that had been engineered to work along side it, for it to be controlled through simple movement, in a way eliminating the traditional way of using Magick by giving something in return, as the Mercurium served as a conduit for the Magick to draw power from. She flicked her wrist and motioned toward the bag, it lifted effortlessly off the ground and glided over without hesitation, immediately after, it meshed into the black cropped shirt she wore, sitting comfortably on her back. This choice of clothing was’t her usual fight suit, or in line with what was normally worn in their society, she’d much rather have worn her uniform, but as fate would annoyingly have it, it had to be sent in for alterations and upgrades for her upcoming Onyx trails. Calen surveyed her, making it very apparent that she did approve of their outfits for that night, though Aesira felt quite differently on the matter. Both were clad in black, skin-tight pants and short tops, with matching gloves seamlessly fused into the long sleeves of their shirts, with the small mercurium honeycomb pattern embedded throughout, the fabric felt like a type of rubber to the touch, but in reality, it was incredibly breathable, flexible, and durable. Withstanding heat and cold to a certain degree, and protected from most damage. That night they were focussed on every second, waiting out the passage of time in this decrepit structure. By day, both were hard-working citizens, fun-loving young adults, and best friends. But when night fell, they enjoyed running through the city, draped in black, and occasionally wreaking havoc. It completely went against what soldiers of the Prismatic defence force were supposed to do, but Aesira was no conformist, she followed that small voice that whispered dangerously sweet things into your ear. And Calen in this instance, turned into her rebellious counterpart. With one final glance at the time on her holo-prism, they were off, the heels of their thigh-high boots clicking against the concrete, as they left behind the tattered building and invasive flora, still growing there, like it has, for centuries. -