Day 15 - The Omega Rain

Cain woke up to the sound of a conversation. He could see Macie attending to a battered Theo, but that did not stop the latter from fervently arguing with William.

"I say let's throw her outside or kill her. Anyway, we can't just do nothing. If it wasn't for those two, we might have all died," screamed William.

Theo tried to retort but he just ended up damaging his body further. After he was soothed by Macie, he said to William, "I know that and you know I know that. However, there is more to this than just a quest for murder. I checked her yesterday, she never showed any signs of turning. Then suddenly, this morning, she's becomes a bloodthirsty creature."

He went on, "There is more to this than we know. Moreover, since we have her tied, then we are free to explore."

"But what will happen afterward? It's not like we can just suddenly feel safe around her again," said William.

He looked at the others and was even more confident of his notion.

Theo retorted gently, "Let's be real here. There's something clearly off. Your daughter has butterfly wings. Macie's eyes are glowing white. Mark has retractable claws plus snake eyes. Lara's skin is freezing. You, yourself, are not a bit injured from the beating you got from Alexia. And let's not talk about the insane feats of strength we all displayed. Heck, Alexia was basically teleporting!"

He consoled them, "Hear me out….I think Alexia is the least of our problem…."

As he spoke, the temperature increased. The air became moist but Theo failed to notice. It was only when he saw the indescribable looks on their faces did he glance at his fingers.

A small wisp of flame was lit on it and yet, defying any human logic, Theo wasn't harmed by it.

"Good Lord! Now, you see my point!"

"Yeah, it's hard not to see it when you are burning up," joked William.

He realized that Cain and Azrael were awake, "Welcome back to the land of the living. Rael, are you alright?"

"Yes," replied Azrael.

"Good," smiled William.

After Theo was wrapped in bandages, he gathered the group, "I think its time to get our answers."

Leading them, he walked to the monitor and "woke up" Caelus. The big wall screen brightened like the sun.

After a while, the feminine voice echoed from all sides of the room, "Good Morning, Theo, Cain, Mark, Azrael, William, Lara, and Alexia."

"Yeah, it's not "good". I take it you predicted this, right?" asked Theo.

"If by this, you mean your sudden changes, yes. I had predicted you needed to experience it yourself before explaining to you," responded Caelus.

Her cold and calculative tone was intimidating. She didn't even sound caring at all.

"And Alexia? You predicted that too?"

"No."

Theo raised his brows, "Oh, how strange."

"I didn't factor someone like Alexia would be among you. Albeit, it is inauspicious."

"Do you mean she is not a threat? She tried to kill us," wondered William.

"See for yourself. Alexia is awake," said Caelus.

Theo scoffed, "What? That's not possible, we have been watching her for so long."

"Her breathing patterns point towards the fact that she is awake. Her vitals are pulsing vibrantly. Do you need me to list other signs?"

Macie went over to Alexia and observed. She came to the same conclusion.

"Yeah, she's awake," she directed her voice at Alexia, "Open your eyes. You were never good at pretending."

Macie was the close friend of Alexia. They had even survived the early stages of the apocalypse together. Hence, Macie was one of the few people that were on Alexia's side even after she attacked them.

Alexia opened her eyes. The red glow that was burning in them moments ago was nowhere to be found.

She looked to the ground and muttered softly, "I'm sorry."

That was all she could say. No words could fully express her confusion and immense guilt. She felt it more when she thought back on when her body attacked Macie, her dear friend.

Theo eyed her, "What happened back then?"

"I--I--I don't know," wavered Alexia.

"You have to know. We require an explanation. At least give us one," snapped William.

For the first time, Macie shouted at the top of her lungs, "Just stop. Can't you see she is as confused as we are? Must you always be so loud!"

Her rants made everyone quiet as they self-reflected.

Not long after, William apologized, "I'm sorry. But I still think we should go about this carefully."

"Of course, we will. Caelus, you have some explaining to do," announced Theo.

Including Alexia who was tied up, the group faced the screen waiting for it to respond to them. It was true, Caleus owed them an explanation.

......…

"Perhaps it was twenty years ago or even two years ago, it was unknown when it all began. However, what could be inferred was that it reached its tipping point during the Omega Rain!"

"The Omega Rain? That was five years ago! Are you telling me---" William interrupted Caelus, but he got cut off not soon after.

"Yes, precisely that. The apocalypse began five years ago!"

Five years ago…..

At that time, all of them still lived in the normal world, ignorant of what the future was to become.

Back then, Cain was partying and studying with his friends. If he thought deep enough, he could extract a memory of him conversing about the Omega Rain with them.

It was just something normal to him. It made the news and was worth discussing, but that was all that. Nothing otherworldly about it.

The Omega Rain was a meteor shower that struck the world. It was widely known for appearing suddenly, even the world's greatest nations couldn't detect it in time. Some of the meteors from this rain caused a massive amount of casualties. While some were said to have not yet been found!

"Five years ago, after the events of The Omega Rain, things began to subtlety change. The tectonic plates were shifting. Forests struck by the meteors were growing vibrantly. Animals that contacted the meteors mutated!"