☽ 1.
The streets were covered in ash and rubble. Buildings that had once stood tall and straight now lay collapsed. Black smoke rose from their broken walls. The wind blew strongly through the ruins, stirring up dust. In some places, fires still burned, casting flickering shadows on the ground. The sky was gray and cold, and sometimes, lightning illuminated the destroyed buildings.
Silence reigned everywhere. Only the crash of falling walls and the whistle of the wind broke this quietness. At times, entire walls would collapse, raising clouds of dust. The air smelled of smoke, burning wood, and hot metal. Every breath was harsh, filled with fine particles that stung the throat and eyes. Ash drifted through the air, falling slowly onto the streets like gray rain. The ground cracked under every step, and it was impossible to tell if it would give way at any moment. The wind carried distant echoes, unclear sounds like cries or calls for help. Everything seemed frozen, but at the same time, pieces kept falling, breaking, and disappearing.
The roads were covered with debris and twisted metal. Old traces appeared through the dust: footprints, wheel marks, and cracks in the tar. The broken and bent streetlights leaned over the sidewalks. Some flickered faintly, as if trying to remember the days they had given light to passersby. The vitrines reflected fragments of sky, flames, and rubble, creating strange and unstable illusions. Pieces of glass and metal littered the ground, and each step could make something more fragile fall.
Once lively squares were now empty and silent. Fallen statues, broken benches, burned trees, and animal carcasses were mixed with the debris. The fountains were empty and covered in thick black mud. The chipped walls seemed to tell forgotten stories, and every crack held the memory of a world long gone.
The river still flowed, but a collapsed bridge blocked its way. The water was dark and murky, reflecting lightning and flames like broken glass. Occasionally, a bird flew above the ruins, the only witness to the chaos. Its sharp cries echoed between the broken walls, a reminder that life persisted, fragile and silent. Often, the wind carried pieces of glass or metal, dropping them into the water with a sharp sound. The current seemed to search for its path among the debris, carrying fragments of memory with it.
In some areas, the ground still shook, sometimes under landslides or falling rocks. Clouds of dust rose like moving curtains, making the ruins even more unpredictable. Every corner could hide an unseen danger: a collapse, a beam ready to fall, or debris swept up by the wind in deadly arcs. Even the silence felt heavy with threat, and every sound seemed amplified.
The sky remained dark and low, a gray, heavy mass that seemed almost tangible. No stars, no sun, no moon. The clouds pressed down on the world, oppressive and threatening. Only lightning lit the ruins, showing the outlines of destroyed buildings and casting worrying shadows across the ground. The red and orange flames still burning in some places created a strange contrast with the dark sky, as if the world teetered between despair and tragic beauty.
Then, in the distance, a light appeared. It came from no visible source: no fire, no sun, no lightning. It floated, still and growing slowly, as if absorbing everything around it. Flames and shadows seemed to retreat before it. The gray clouds turned white, bright and pure. The light touched every stone, every piece of rubble, every drop of water, transforming the world into something almost unreal.
The light grew stronger and stronger. The wind, the fire, and the sounds of chaos seemed to fade before it. The destroyed buildings appeared less harsh, the debris less threatening. The air felt lighter, calmer. The lightning died out, the dying flames eased. Everything seemed suspended in this radiant whiteness. Every part of the world seemed frozen, absorbed by the brilliance.
Finally, the light became blinding. It covered everything: the ruins, the sky, the ground. The world seemed to hold its breath. The light was complete, mysterious, without origin. It enveloped everything and left nothing else to exist, leaving the world suspended in absolute, intense, and unreal white.
