Nihilist: Volume I

Fracture: Act III

Descent

The only light

We brought to this wasteland

We called home

Were the falling meteors

That burnt the clouds to ashes

And reigned terror upon our kind

She took me to her domain

And gathered eleven other children

Birthing experiments to her visions

Using foreign stones from beyond

She tore into our skin

She cracked the thoughts in our skulls

She fractured our natural bodies

And divided them by the light of divinity

The staff I found in that cave

Had become a connection

An alignment with that of the stones

That now flow through our veins

And we followed her every command

Without will, without question

As she waved the staff

Our eyes had followed

As she slammed it into the earth

We fell to our knees

As she raised it to the skies

We praised her for the gifts

The unnatural, powerful gifts

That we used to reign over humanity

Divine slaves to the tyrant

The one with a throne

In the stars

And when the time had come

For humanity to witness

The future she had created

She set out to use us

As weapons of war

Against those who opposed her

And we were bodies of violence

Aged into perfection

And we fell from the skies

Our gifts taken from the stars

Our names taken from the constellations

Our reign, the future to humanity

We descended as meteors

A bright, violent wrath

That swept nations away

Until they, too

Fell under the reign

Of Autumn

Moonlight Dove

The planets in your eyes

Reflect the ones in the skies

Crumbling down to us

Consumed in flames

To celebrate our love

We wear our masks

Both carefully painted to perfection

Dancing under the light of the moon

Your dress sparkles with the brightest sun

And we say the words

‘I do’

Spending the last moments of our lives

In peace

In peace

We close our eyes

Connect our hearts

And fall into an eternal sleep

With the star that finds its home

On our earth

Melt

Who knew that space was so cold

That it could freeze the human body

Would bring something so hot

Spiraling down with our sanity

To make clouds look like smoke

And bury life in ashes?

Forlorn

Once more, we have reached the end

As my sister rises from her chair

With the crashing waves of the ocean

Soon to bury our light of hope

And bring chaos to the shores

She nears the fountain

Turns to the crowd

Awaits for the beams of the moon

To wash over her pale skin

Calling the attention of hundreds

She drags her smile to her cheeks

And everyone watches her

Blind to fate, ignorant to a storm

Brewing just beyond the glass

Of the tower

Libra waves to the crowd. "Good evening, everyone. I would like to thank you for visiting us in this greatly anticipated and rewarded reunion. We have walked a treacherous road since we last had such an event. The tyrant of Autumn, a name I wish to bury, had once burnt a seal of a curse upon our lands. From what you remember, the tyrant had unleashed a devastating war upon her neighbors and conquered swiftly with violence. We, as celestials under her watch, were once blades and shields to her reign. I can assure you that times have changed. I know you look to me with doubt hiding under your gazes. You fear we are a blight to humanity. You believe we are what brings the end. But during the war, my sister had used her abilities to foresee a greater future for us."

She glances to me. A hundred eyes follow. "She guided us to an escape from the tyrant's grasp and helped us to turn our backs against our false savior. When we were blind and forced to see the world as Autumn had imagined it, she saw past the dark of our carved fates and sought a solution. This solution, however, did not go unnoticed. Autumn witnessed her slaves of children turn into her own worst nightmare. We heard your pleas. We saw your fear. We had finally grasped what that woman had never let us experience... emotion."

Everyone returns their focused stares to my sister as she echoes words of encouragement across the lobby. Though she speaks of our earned ability to see, I am the only one to hear the crawling thunder that beckons from the horizon. I gaze into the walls near my table, sweeping my gaze across the glass of the structure, and watch as a barrier between the light of the tower and the dark of the night begins to c***k.

"With our battles against our own kind, we would affirm that the tides have truly turned in humanity's favor. No longer are we threatened by the immortal toys of Autumn. No longer do we face torment and deception against the threats of her creations. Taurus, a constellation turned into a weapon, has been buried in the earth that he once controlled. The tyrant responsible for a long, unforgiving war now rests in an eternal prison, held by chains the size of her crimes."

The c***k doubles in size with an abrupt crunch. I look behind me and another one forms. I look above me and find another. It's happening again. The very foundation of my future is collapsing again.

"The war against the stars, safe to say, has finally come to an end. I know there is still much to do to earn your trust. I am aware there are still many things you do not understand. From this moment forward, however, please recognize this gathering as a truce of peace. We are no longer your enemy. If we must be servants, then we will be servants to humanity."

The cracks draw across the glass like branches in a tree. They spread like wildfire, fracturing the glass surrounding us, yet no one witnesses the same. They continue to look to her, smiling and clapping, and remain blind as they always have.

Yet, in all their failures to remain aware, there are some things that not even I can see.

"With that," she lowers her glass to the table in front of her, "I take my leave."

The cracks turn into carvings. The wind threatens to shatter them. The thunder roars louder. The rain slices the air and wishes to slice the tower in the same way. I will not be witness to this torment again. I raise from my chair, push myself aside from the table, and pace toward my sister across the lobby. She stands in front of me, the water of the fountain sparkling behind her, and she smiles with a shimmering gaze.

"No, you cannot," I call out to her. The watch of humanity returns to me.

"Sister, I must. The storm brews greater, and if I do not leave soon, it will bury the aircraft's ability to leave," Libra responds. I shake my head.

"No, I can't let you. I've searched my branches, and they only speak of violence for you," I respond. Her smile wrenches into a frown. Her expression grows annoyed and she shakes her head back at me.

"You do not need to worry about me, sister. You have been unnerved since the end of the war. Had you not listened to my speech? Are you not assured that we have finally met with peace?" Libra raises her hands and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but we have little time to waste. If what you say is true, then you must let me go now before the storm takes me. I may be able to move the oceans, but the rain above still follows its own stride."

I close my eyes and reach out my hand. Growing in frustration, I call to my place in the stars and gather what control left I can muster within myself. A beaming light begins to flicker from my palm. Just over the crevices of my skin, I feel the warmth of a raging heat burn white and solidify in my grasp. Enclosing my fingers around the rising heat, I feel the light of a dozen stars crawling over a beaming rod. It extends from the edges of my palms and shines out past my hold. I open my eyes again and grasp a thin, white staff shining my skin pale with my other hand. Spinning it to stand tall with me, I slam it to my side and hold a firm stance against her judgment.

"I said," I tighten my grip around the staff that stands to my shoulders, "You cannot."

Libra lowers her gaze to the floor and sighs. "Not everything can be under your control, Aries. Follow that very thought and you may walk the same fate as Autumn."

She turns her back to me, walking towards the fountain and the exit just beyond it.

"Libra," I call to her, asking for her compliance, though the answer has been burned into my memory.

"I'll see you again soon," she says.

One Way Mirror

It seems my judgment of time

Has failed yet again

For our conversation has ended again

As it did fifty times before

And as the sun hides behind the moon

You rise from your seat

And tell me its time

For you must leave into the storm

Through the clouded darkness of death

Never to return again

But you don’t know that

You tell me

I’ll see you again soon

I tell you over and over

That we’re living in the last seconds

Each tick a heartbeat

But you keep walking

Telling me I’m going crazy

That my branches have reached over my head

Why didn’t you listen to me?

I am the seer of earth

Keeper of secrets

The holder of divine multiples

We were children to the universe

But as you walked to the glass doors beyond

I could see the color from your dress fade

The sapphire blue flowing through the room

Moving with the water below

Built from the storm

The skies crying in agony

The waves shifting to your will

But soon to be someone else

The next libra

To trace your steps

But even as they follow the same path

The same footprints in the snow

They’ll never be the same as you

They’ll never live up to what you’ve become

Why didn’t I stop you?

Was it because I made a mistake?

Torment

She turns her back to me

Deaf to my call, blind to my warning

Her path towards the ocean

Awaiting to cradle her

No longer will I stand in torment

Turning my back against the truth

To fall in the same fate as her

I raise my staff to the stars

Our home burning bright

And I swing it from my side

Releasing its weight from my grasp

With the burdens of my mistakes

It spins to her

Violent and bold

And she turns once more

To face me

The ocean blue in her eyes

Sparkling into diamonds

As the light of the staff

Threatens her swiftly

She reaches out

And catches it

The light of the staff

Spreading out like wildfire

And pulsing out with rage

The light of a million stars

Coiled around the staff

Held frozen in her grasp

And so, my world at last

Finds its fractures

As the tower beyond me

Shatters

The gravity of the tower

The sounds of the people

The ocean, the storm

Melted with my thoughts

Swirling into oblivion

For what I see now

No longer exists

And is a mere dream

To what I wish

I still had

The tears of the skies

Hold to the shards of chandeliers

The tower tilting to the ocean

That will bury my longing heart

And hold a reunion to yours

And as gravity pulls me forward

My body lifts from the luxury

The solace of light and hope

And I remain once more

Drifting in my own head

I must piece myself back together

But not without you

The shards surround us

And you fall through the fountain

Your weight thrusting to the ocean

As the tower drags us down

My foundation lost to the sea

Of my nightmares

I reach out to you

My hand out to save you

And as we near each other

Your reach beneath mine

I feel the shards begin to tilt

Shifting to my control

Returning to one another

As I piece myself together

And take control

When you had it all along

Fault

There wasn’t a mistake

I couldn’t stop you

Because every branch led to this

No matter how we left this tower

You will always sink below the surface

Of the shifting, ruthless ocean

Swallowing half the earth

The sin and the sorrow

Under your command

Shift

If you shifted the ocean at your will

Then why did you drown below your will?

You learned how to overcome

My branches, my control

You clashed your abilities with mine

You could’ve lived.

But you didn’t want to.

I wasn’t the only one

To know your end had arrived.

You knew, too.

Reflection

And with this piece of mind

Slicing against my skin

The shards of truth

Forcing me to release

The warmth I once had with you

The walls form again

The glass clicking together

The shards much larger than before

And as I hold my reach out

I witness my reflections

Against the glass

Calling out all the same

My countless selves

My endless search

To find a way to save you

All to the same outcome

As I see your reflection

Your countless selves

Your endless fall

Always out of my reach

And always will be

No matter how many times I do this

I will never bring you back

And so, I fall the same

I close my eyes

And return to reality

A reality without you,

But a reality that remains

With me.

Shade

I land to the ground

The balcony beneath me

The same as it was before

The tower standing tall

As I will soon do the same

But my tears fall with the rain

The ocean crawling out in hunger

My staff beneath my hands

As I sit on my knees

Mourning

I look up to the skies

The stars veiled by a blanket of gray

The smoke of the storm

Clouding my hope for the future

But although they may be clouded

At least these ivory eyes

Can see beyond to them

When humanity cowers

To the thunder

The haunting calls

The brewing chaos

The unknown

And I remain

Over this balcony

As time moves beyond me

Looking up to see the same outcome

For no matter what branch I take

The root of truth remains the same

Faded Red Light

Off they go

The thump, thump, thumps

Of the helicopter blades spinning

With a violent speed

Slicing the raindrops and piercing with the thunder

Giving sight those who watch it leave the pad

Rising slowly and pushing against the storm

Until it is seen as nothing more

Than a faded red light

Blinking with the beat of her heart

To fly up and into the clouds

The collected ash of the past

The faded smoke to the burning ice

And fly above the rain

To reach the stars

To get lost

And float

Against the shadowed hand of time

Climbing to nihility

And never to be seen again

Until the next dawn arrives

Spreading an aurora into the skies

An eulogy to a celestial passing

And reveals the blossomed flowers under ice

Next to the debris of fallen metal

Where the ocean shores

Aren’t able to reach

Silence

Our purpose is limited

When we spread it across the inked skies

And make ourselves known to all that will listen

Yet the stars do not speak back

For no sound is made in the universe

With every noise that surrounds you

It does not truly exist

It is not heard by those

Who are beyond what we see

Yet we speak to each other

Holding onto a constant chain

Of reassurance

That we are heard by something

For if an insect were to understand

What we had to say

We would still find satisfaction in ourselves

The truth to all of the sounds

That spread themselves to the atmosphere

The invisible barrier of our dreams

Is that if the creation is scarce

It will be more desired

If our words were to be important

If every conversation could cure cancer

If there were never a single breath to be wasted

Our knowledge could rise above the stars

That label our inabilities to reach beyond

Our miniature capabilities

Instead we use our words to execute our enemies

We use our words to create

A different kind of silence

A silence with a haunting past

A silence that though will never be heard

It will always be known

And remembered

Gloss

A soft rain

Touches the black glass

Of a plaza that reflects

The shining galaxies above

I listen to the melodies

Played through a delicate piano

An instrument of grace

Each note echoing a purpose

To touch the surface above the horizon

If I am blessed with the wish

From a star dashing across the sky

I hope that those notes

Will shatter that surface

And grasp your hand

To bring you down

With the light of the storm

For you are the gravity

That brings the tears of the stars

Crashing to the earth

And I will be the glass

Glossed over the soil

To bury your sadness

Within the precise cracks

Of my shattered heart

Until I can reflect the shine

Of the distant moonlight again

Ceremony

The people litter the streets in harmony

The aurora shining brighter than ever

An inverted rainbow running along the night sky

And with the fall of a celestial

The world thrives in grace

Without a single storm

The last flakes of black and white

Finding a home in the soil

The perfection of the earth

Created from the motivation

To gaze into the unknown

To venture beyond the limits

And rejoice together

As cheers and smiles fill the city

Many watching a great step

Being taken in the life of two

As they give the trust of their memories

From past and to future

Holding their hands to connect their souls

And ignoring the fact

That the weight of their guilt

Begins to fade

As the gravity and balance of the world

Does the same

Orbit

Our relationship

Connected the stars

And gave them an orbit

To stop them from drifting

Into the endless void

But now you’ve joined them

Your light has faded

To bleed with mine

When we should’ve been

Dancing together

Under the sky we painted

On the world we saved

Many people wonder

Where shooting stars go

After they’ve soared beyond their eyes

Yet I follow you

With every second

A light year passes

You’re going further

Further

But I’ll never let go

Until the moment

You leave your mark on me

And you become the darkness

We worked so hard to light

For when I watch the sky

It won’t be the rain running down my face

Mixing with my tears

That hides the stars we formed together

But instead it is

You

A black hole

Erasing everything we’ve known

And bringing us back to the beginning

As someone new holds your name

Except this time

I won’t let the stars

Lose their orbit again

White Torch

I am the final light

The one to halt the end

I am the seer of time

The sage of solace

The order of the cosmos

The balance of the universe

And I watch the towers fall

Only to rebuild again

And I see the tyrants break

Lost from luxury and sovereignty

Only to see another take their place

Time moves forward, but when will we?

I have witnessed the birth of this universe

In the same way I will view its death

But if we must truly drown to oblivion

Our bodies sinking into the black sea

I will be the white torch

That will guide our life anew

And soon

Libra will be rebirthed

Inhabiting a new body

Replacing the name of another

And when we meet again

My dearest sister

A new war will brew above us

For we came upon humanity

As meteors from the stars

But now, the ink has shifted

The void crawling to sow

The final threads of time

Reaching beneath the skies

To take back what we stole

The scale of the universe

Shifted from our mistakes

And soon

We will rise again as meteors

Returning to the dreary skies

To fulfill our true purpose

To not only carry the weight

The universe holds over humanity

But to present as constellations

The servants that guard the stars

Tethering the light of hope together

The strongest weapons

Against the lurking threat

Of the unknown

And her sibling

The end