The girl sat facing the darkness that had enveloped the world; no sooner had she sat than her master appeared, but unlike before, his face was barely visible now. Nothing could be seen of him, nor heard, by any unwanted ears. He spoke in a dim whisper:
"It is time. The plan will commence at once. The time to act is now, but the window of action is short. You've known the plan for a while now; there is no way around it.
I want you to be together before it ends. Your love for each other has grown, and I can feel your heart longing to be with his. Tomorrow, you will be reunited, and it shall begin. Come, observe, young one."
Shakily, the girl got up and walked into the darkness, disappearing with it. She was now weightless in a dark void, though flying so fast that her stomach lurched. There was nothing to use as a reference point, but she knew their speed was extreme.
Soon, a black and red world came into view, her heart beating fast. They sped toward it, without any sign of stopping, as greater details and its vastness became clear. In a flash, they were in the midst of a war—the stained faces of the fighters vivid, the red flames stirring above, making the whole planet glow red with the clash of trillions of bodies.
The screams and shouting blended into a continuous stream of suffering. Though isolated, the girl could feel the heat here. The master spoke:
"7.2 trillion Guardians, D- to B-tier, against the natives, numbering 6.5 trillion. Ask any of them and they won't know what they are fighting for besides their lives. Every day, the death toll amounts to a few hundred billion, and every day, reinforcements arrive in the same amount. But let's look at this from above."
The girl was suddenly lifted, and now she looked down on the battleground. The native forces had a redder hue, while the Guardians had a darker hue overall. It seemed now that there was a needle piercing through the dark hue—the natives were advancing, and the Guardians were faltering.
"Trillions of daughters and sons dead, but quintillions made in profit."
The view shifted to a different world now, this time underwater. Deep underwater. Only a sliver of light shone through the ominous blue-green water that felt thick.
Here, she was isolated just the same, but the gravity of the planet subconsciously tugged at her feet. She looked down, though in any direction something could strike.
Then she saw it: a small dot, slowly growing in size. Even in the water, it was clear what it was—and thousands of others too, floating up slowly.
Then, a literal mass wall—a wall of bodies—rising toward the surface. And as she descended, the rumbling and clashing—the tremors through the water and the blood.
A giant body, so large that she wasn't sure how something like that could cast a shadow in the depths, barely visible, plowed through. The bodies were now nearly touching the surface, and the girl was eerily close to one of them.
The surface water suddenly broke as something pierced through, then a handsome man in what was obviously an extremely advanced aquatic suit emerged, followed by countless soldiers in darker armor. The man's hair flowed in the water, uncovered, and even his eyes were open; only on his mouth was there a breathing apparatus.
He gestured wildly and frantically, pointing at the depth, then swam downwards, the effects of pressure not obvious on his body strangely. The soldiers followed in a surprisingly organized manner, their rows unbroken by the waves.
Eventually, they disappeared as more and more bodies floated to the surface, like a grotesque snowfall, only with bodies coming up and clouding the light that once shone through the water. Not long after, three massive submarines appeared in the distance.
Like miniature cities, they advanced until an explosion rocked one, then two, and then all three were exploding, shrapnel floating like a slow-motion scene, followed by the evacuation vessels. Whoever they were attacking had just gotten far more powerful reinforcements.
The water swept around now, more and more bodies everywhere, eventually blending into a dark mass altogether, and then they disappeared. Now, this area was more peaceful, but the girl's heart beat with rage and horror.
A headache had occurred, but she could not close her eyes, a buzzing in her ear. She was drenched in sweat or seawater and was in the air in the dark night, a vast city beneath her, the lantern lights glowing here and there.
Just a mile or two away, a giant building, sleek with modernity and design, stood in the distance. There were glowing lights from inside, all of gold. The wind here blew her hair backward, but she kept her gaze on the building.
It was elegant and ominous on its own, the lights below glinting on its abnormally smooth and shiny surface.
Then below, the girl noted the ornate buildings. This was no ordinary city. Every building here was meticulously designed with architectural styles from across the universe. Trash was absent, and noise did not pervade the air.
Rather, a deathly silence hung, though this city was nearly populated to its maximum. In the tall building that stood out, the girl looked back into the window and just a tiny shadow appeared, with the golden light behind it.
Her heart beat faster, her eyes growing dizzy, but pain shot through her body and her limbs contorted. Then the darkness enveloped her, and she was flying so fast again, unable to breathe and unable to scream, though her mouth had literally disappeared.
Slowly, darkness disappeared and the girl was left alone, with her thoughts and tears. Though she knew this day would come, she never figured it would come this fast. It wasn't that long ago when they had first met. Now, she could only pray for their safety in the time to come.