Disaster

"What type of confrontation was it?" Uro asked quietly, his eyes searching Lorian's face.

"It showed me the past," Lorian replied, voice flat but his gaze distant, leading Uro's head dipped in slow understanding.

"…A flaw confrontation?" Uro ventured, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.

"Beast." Lorian stretched out his arm as Uro's expression fell, apprehension blooming on his face.

To descend deeper into the Archetype, one must confront the Shadow. These confrontations are as varied as the people who face them, but over the centuries, Ascendants have learned to categorize them: Hatred, Beast, Inner, Judgment, Morality, Flaws, and Problem. The Shadow will initiate a confrontation through one of these groups.

The ordeal is never gentle. For the Ascendant, it means being shown and told things they can barely stand to acknowledge memories best forgotten, truths they'd rather deny. For example, in a Beast Confrontation, the shadow slowly tries to get you to accept a secret, forgotten, and horrible part of yourself.

One you'd rather bury and lock away.

But the shadow doesn't care; it will continue pressing, pushing, and guiding you to accept it. If you wish to descend further.

"It's okay, Uro. Lorian will be fine," Selene's soft voice floated through the air like a soothing balm. Her hand found Uro's shoulder, her touch grounding, before her gaze slid to Lorian. She offered him a radiant, reassuring smile

Uro let out a long, shaky breath, shoulders relaxing a fraction. "I suppose you're right," he murmured, as Selene passed a set of cups to Lorian.

Lorian drank them all in quick succession. With delicate grace, Selene reached up and caressed Lorian's face, her fingers feather-light.

The warmth of her touch sent a shiver through him. "Remember, no matter what it shows—"

"Nothing will change, because we will always be together," Lorian finished with a smile, Selene nodded, her eyes shining.

"Let's head down to eat—" Uro began talking but then Lorian interjected. 

"Oh, right! We should head to Kyros's house. I kind of promised I'd stop by for breakfast." Lorian chuckled, making Uro raise a brow before shrugging.

"Saving money and home-cooked meals sounds amazing. Let's go."

…

Lorian waved back at the chuckling bartender as they exited Yasoy Bella, stepping onto the sands as the slowly ascending sun cast its rays upon him.

"I'm surprised that all of that happened yesterday," Uro said after Lorian gave him a summary of what happened when he and Selene picked up Kyros.

"You only saw the game yesterday?"

"Yeah, when I left the food store, I saw the crowd. But I left it alone because I wanted to get more food from the stalls on the other side of town."

"Ahh, sorry for leaving everything to you, Uro." Lorian's lips twitched, but before Uro could reply, something sharp and electric split the morning calm.

Without warning, a bolt of pain stabbed through Lorian's skull, so sudden and fierce it wrenched a gasp from his lips. He staggered, clutching at his head as a cold sweat broke out across his brow. Uro and Selene flinched in unison, alarm flaring in their eyes.

The ground itself seemed to take offense at their peace. It started as a low vibration beneath their feet, barely perceptible, like the purring of some beast below the sand. Then, in an instant, the tremor erupted into a full-blown quake. The street bucked wildly. The world shook so violently it felt as if even the sky was rattling in its frame.

A deafening rumble crashed down over them, swallowing all other sounds. The buildings groaned and windows shuddered in their frames as the roaring grew, a monstrous noise that made conversation impossible

Startled, Lorian, Uro, and Selene looked at each other in surprise. As one, they activated their star vision, magical senses flaring.

The world shifted.

Beneath their feet, a lattice of thick blue ley lines pulsed and flickered, trembling as tiny cracks webbed across them. Lorian's gaze sharpened; more cracks kept appearing, spreading like fractures in glass. The bar behind them rattled so hard its sign swung loose, banging against the wall.

Then, with a surge of realization, Lorian saw the ley lines start to shrink and wither. Their color receded from the sand in a way that felt sickly, wrong.

"The Magic Ley Lines are shrinking! It's a Class II disaster! Selene, wake everyone, have them put on clothing if needed, and tell them to leave their houses!"

Selene was already moving, her eyes glowing a violent crimson, star-bright and fierce. A pulse of magic blasted outward from her, more felt than seen, making the hair on Lorian's arms stand on end.

[Ruler - Control Freak.]

Her shout split the air. "Everyone, wake up! Get dressed and leave your house now!" The command carried the weight of authority, magic wrapped around every word, compelling obedience.

The response was immediate and desperate. Doors burst open all along the street as townsfolk poured out, footsteps pounding the ground in a frantic, uneven chorus. The bartender from Yasoy Bella flung open his door, yelling for patrons to move, and a dozen people spilled out after him, faces pale, eyes wide, some still clutching mugs or napkins. The café owner stumbled into the sunlight, hastily tugging on a tunic, looking as if he'd just been snatched from sleep.

The once-quiet street became a river of motion and noise. All around them, people streamed from homes and shops, shouting for loved ones or dragging dazed children behind them. Fear and confusion painted every face.

And through it all, the earth didn't stop shaking. The tremors rolled on, relentless, as if the world itself had decided to tear the town apart.

'Two minutes have passed. That means six minutes left before it all blows,' Lorian thought before glancing at Selene with a nod.

[Ruler - Control Freak]

"Everyone, leave the town now! Head south!" Selene's command rolled out over the chaos, wrapped around every mind, as if an invisible wave that swept through the crowd.

At once, faces slackened. All around, the panic drained from the townsfolk, replaced by a glassy calm. Even the children, who only moments ago had been wild with fear or confusion, now moved with eerie silence. The whole town began to run, not in scattered panic but as if pulled by a single string, every step in unison, every gaze fixed ahead.

Lorian's heart pounded. He triggered his Star Vision, feeling the delicate web of stardust stretch between himself and each person, as if he were holding the entire town together with threads of magic.

[Magician - Naivety]

Glittering streams of stardust flashed by the people before fading away. Lorian watched as pandemonium unfolded around him. The windows shivered violently in their frames, and the shutters slammed against the walls like frantic hands seeking escape as the earthquake's deep, resonant growl reverberated through the air.

Pandemonium raged in the physical world. The windows of houses shivered, wood rattling so violently it was a miracle none had yet exploded outward. Shutters banged open, slamming against walls, the sound like frantic hands beating for release. The ground was a living thing beneath their feet, rolling and heaving, threatening to buckle at any moment.

The crowd pressed forward like a single, moving organism. Adults held their children close, arms tight around small bodies, while others stooped to lift the elderly, refusing to let anyone fall behind. Boots and bare feet alike pounded the trembling earth, urgency pulsing through every motion.

"David!" Louise's voice cut through the chaos. Lorian whirled to see Louise and the Silvian Outlaws spilling out of the bar, weapons already slung over their shoulders, bags clutched in calloused hands.

"Help me!"

"Right! Some of you follow the townspeople, help anyone who falls! Magicians, keep applying Naivety!" Louise shouted.

Lorian glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the Unicols dashing through the crowd, their forms blurred with speed. Behind them, Roy sprinted, terror etched across his features.

"Young master, let's go," Selene said, a warm presence exuding from her. Lorian nodded as his eyes caught sight of the rumbling slowing down.

…

They passed building after building, each one cracking, splintering, and sending shards flying. Dust spun through the air, thick and choking, mingling with the metallic tang of fear. The sun, rising higher, revealed spiderwebbed fissures in the ground, a stark reminder that nowhere was truly safe.

All around, the people marched on, faces expressionless, spirits blank, compelled by Selene's will. The silence of their escape was almost unnatural, as there were no screams, no sobbing, just the collective thud of over fifty.

[Four Minutes]

A house ornamented with intricate bone carvings began to groan, the sound swelling into a sickening creak. Lorian watched it sway, knowing that if it fell, it would crush anyone too slow to move. Still, the crowd pressed onward, unflinching, oblivious to the death looming so close.

[Three Minutes]

Above them, the watchtower rocked dangerously. A decorative bone snapped, whistling down to shatter on the stones where, just days ago, children had played. Yet the people kept marching in eerie unison, numb to the disaster erupting all around them.

[Two Minutes]

With every new tremor, more buildings collapsed in on themselves. The marketplace that was once the joyous heart of the town. Vanished in a roaring cascade of timber and bone, the sound muffled by the dust now choking the street.

[One Minute]

At last, they reached the outskirts. The chaos of the town fell behind them, replaced by a sudden, jarring brightness as sunlight filtered through the swirling haze. They kept moving, another hundred meters before, as if released from a spell, the crowd began to slow and blink, confusion dawning.

[Zero]

As though an invisible curtain had lifted, awareness returned to the townsfolk in a wave. For a moment, they stood still, bewildered, and dazed before turning, as one, to face what remained of Nuya. Dust swirling in great clouds, engulfing the fallen structures, burying memories beneath a shroud of ruin.

Panic surged through the crowd as realization washed over them like a tidal wave. The serene expressions shattered into fragments of horror and disbelief. Shocked gasps echoed among them, voices rising above the rumbling earth.

Hands flew to mouths, and tears brimmed in wide, unbelieving eyes. The bakery, once a cornerstone of warmth and community, was reduced to splinters; its familiar scent replaced by the acrid stench of dust and ruin. Mothers gathered their children close, and fathers clutched trembling hands, but no embrace could shield them from what they saw.

"Look!" a man's voice broke the heavy silence, ragged with disbelief. A shaking finger pointed toward a row of homes perched near the edge of the town. All eyes followed just in time to see one of the houses, blue and white, the home of the old woman, teeter and collapse. Its stone roof caved in with a groan, walls bowing outward as bones snapped and wood shattered. The sound was sharp, a memory being erased. A woman nearby let out a strangled cry, collapsing to her knees, it was her mother's house.

One by one, the other homes followed. They tumbled in a slow, dreadful procession, bones beams splintering, windows exploding, the wood giving way at last to gravity's pull. Every crash was another heartbreak, another shared history ground to dust.

The stench of destruction filled the air, mingling with the haze of powdered stone and the sharp bite of burning. A once-sturdy plaza where they had shared laughter and stories was now a pile of ruins.

With every building that crumbled, a piece of the community, a piece of someone's life was swallowed by the dust. Familiar things vanished, the bar that was lively, the cafe everyone stopped by and the sandy place where kids played. All gone, erased in a matter of moments.

A cacophony of emotions exploded in the aftermath: mourning, disbelief, a raw, animal fear. People clung to each other, sobbing openly, some rocking in place, others staring in numb silence, already used to this.

Yet it hurts every time.

And then, just as the emotional upheaval reached its peak, a new agony swept through the crowd. It began as a tingling ache, then an aftershock that ran up their limbs, tightening muscles and stealing breath. The pain quickly blossomed into monstrous, full-blown torment. Limbs seized, backs arched, and some collapsed outright, writhing in the sand.

As the chaotic blur of the world around them slowly sharpened into focus. Their limbs felt like lead, weighted down by an exhaustion they had scarcely acknowledged in their desperate flight.

"What's happening to us?" wailed a trembling voice from somewhere in the mass. The question was answered only by more cries, faces twisted in anguish

Suddenly, Edran, the food stall owner, staggered violently, clutching his side as though the very air had transformed into a crushing force against his ribs. "It hurts!" he bellowed, his face blanching as he collapsed to the ground, gasping frantically for breath.

In a heartbeat, panic erupted among the group like wildfire. One by one, they succumbed, collapsing under the relentless weight of their own bodies and the brutal backlash of Selene's command dissipating. The command to escape had driven them to defy their own physical limits, and now, with its absence, reality struck back with a vengeance.

Women crumpled to their knees, wailing as stabbing pains erupted throughout their bodies. Men cried out in torment, clutching desperately at their hearts or temples as exhaustion crashed over them like a relentless storm.

[Lover - Other-Worldliness]

Instantly, the pain vanished. The suffering melted away, replaced by blinking confusion. Uro rushed in, four Silvian Outlaws at his side, forming a protective ring around a cluster of fifty. They extended their hands, magic brightening the air.

[Lover - Mother Wishes]

An ethereal blue light emanated from Uro and the outlaws, cascading over the crowd like a gentle wave and wrapping them in its luminous embrace. The azure glow seeped into their bodies, infusing them with serene energy just as the Other-Worldliness effect began to dissipate.

A few among them winced as the familiar sensation of pain crept back in, but it was fleeting, as the magic gently dulled the sensation and eased their discomfort.

Some children erupted in jubilant cheers, their voices echoing with delight, while others, like Kali, gazed in awe, her eyes sparkling as she tried to capture the ethereal blue light that enveloped her like a shimmering cloak.

…

Lorian, helping to calm the skittish Unicol, managed a small, bittersweet smile. Before he turned his gaze back to what remained of Nuya, he watched as destruction continued in slow motion. Homes, lives, and memories collapsing inward, each fall a hollow drumbeat in the quiet morning.

The sight of daily life of hanging laundry, a stray wooden toy. A copper bowl, barrels of water was swallowed by the spectacle, vanishing beneath waves of dust. Even the ground looked wounded, deep cracks glowing with eerie blue light, beautiful, and deeply wrong.

Selene walked up, her long hair blowing in the wind. "No casualties," she said with a smile, glancing at Uro for confirmation.

"None," Uro grunted. He was kneeling where Kali and a few other children had started drawing patterns in the dust with their fingers, the blue afterglow of magic sparking faintly in the wake of their movements.

"None over here, everyone made it out safe," Louise shouted after Anne came up to tell him.

"And all of the Unicols are safe," Roy said near Lorian, also making sure the Unicols were unharmed.