Prologue - Ten Years Later
“... Sam?”
“… Anna?”
“I’m sorry,” body shaking, her fingers clawed into her wrists.
Sam took a deep breath and squeezed her hand for reassurance. She reciprocated, no longer timid about her fear.
The two stood together in the face of the new threat to the underwater city of Aurora. The city that never slept was thrust into a waking nightmare. Its giant scrappers were so small now, even the dome that encapsulated them seemed lackluster compared to this fearsome reality. Citizens pointed and stared upward while androids prepared to defend the empire alongside their human counterparts.
The mysterious figure floated in the sky, a hundred feet off the ground. Her eyes were inky holes, bleeding ravishing galaxies. Sheathed in white, black, and gold, the celestial woman’s dress was as awe-inspiring as her form. The silk material solidified into specific rigid parts, becoming akin to armor. Etched into her sleeves were words of the ancient Prophecy, shimmering with ethereal might. They were infectious, spreading through her entire being, radiating like the twin suns.
“I have come for the Bane. To rewrite the past. To reshape the future.”
Anna stepped back, attempting to drag Sam along, but he was rooted, transfixed.
“The cycle must be broken,” the woman’s blonde hair spiraled with a life of its own.
Frantic, Anna pulled. “Sam! Snap out of it!”
The ethereal being turned her head, attention now enraptured. A smile crept from her lips, paralleling her fearsome presence. She outstretched her hand, the power radiating from it like the celestial bodies overlooking the planet.
“Samua-”
It all happened so quickly. The celestial being was tossed aside, plummeting downwards in a violent spiral. The act ushered in the sky opening. Hundreds of cultist daughter’s pierced the veil as they crawled out of the thin fabric of reality. Gunfire erupted and explosions soon followed as the city of Aurora was thrown into chaos.
Sam and Anna turned around just as an explosion bellowed behind them. The streets became flooded with those trying to escape. Pushing through the panic, they arrived at the transport station’s entrance. A thick cloud of dust and debris thundered overhead.
Directly behind them, one of the cultist’s twisted her head to the side, flowers writhing through the pores on her face. Beneath, a smile crept out from within the flora mask as she vanished.
The two quickly ducked into the transport just in time for it to start grinding across the tracks. They picked up speed, inch by inch, foot by foot, till they passed the major section where people got onboard.
Outside to the left, a body rolled down the steps while the cultist daughter from before landed on top, stabbing its head in one fluid motion. A myriad of flowers eclipsed her face, but the neck swiveled in their direction.
Grabbing Sam’s head, Anna forced him just underneath the window seat. They waited in agonizing silence as they held their breaths. The quiet was the worst part; the pure nothing, just the faint whirling of the transport as it cycled from different gears to complete its journey.
“I think… I think it’s safe…” Sam chuckled nervously.
A loud “thunk” came from overhead.
Anna shut her eyes tightly.
His smile faded.
The silence was deafening.
Then there was a cruel cackle, one that was all too familiar. “Did you miss me?”
