Chapter One

96 years.

It has been 96 years, 8 months, 14 days, and 5 hours since the day I was strung up in my own place of worship. 841,518 hours and 350,632 minutes since I was swept away from the love of my life in a whirlwind of flame and destruction. Almost a century since the world burned.

944 days ago, I gave up on the hope of escaping the chains that bind me.

Stale and damp air swallows the corridors of an empty temple cavern. Dust and ash spread into the thinnest corners of every brick and cascades through the moist oxygen, tiny beads appearing only to a trained eye. A large cask of sorts casts a negative shadow, with small bones strewn about towards the back and a collection of cobwebs thick enough to ensnare small humans. Not a single one of them is willing to risk entering this sacred domain.

A temple built to contain me, imprison me. Modern era design altering the structure of Egyptian and Greek architecture.

Destroyers.

A fitting name for a destructive race. The few billion that inevitably sacrificed themselves to enslave us were foolish and naive to think a small tempest would serve as the only consequence. A few hundred lives might seem justifiable to the greedy, pathetic excuse for a race. Likely not half the planet.

Now I can't even smell the seasons outside. All that awaits me is dust, ash, and a rude sneeze to knock loose hair into the sweat of my cheeks. With some effort, I might catch the scent of rain on a charred plant or smokey heat.

Surprise flickers in my chest when I feel it. The brisk chill of movement and what sounds like crisp leaves across the cold ground. Blood and pine distantly meshing together in a wild demonstration of bliss. Spices are warmth against the harshness of ice.

Eyes uncomfortably sewn shut, I squeeze them a few times before the sound of stone doors opening vibrates through the room. A powerful wind breaks, blasting through my chamber in a blinding light and wisps of magic sparking off from the outside in.

A fool disarms the binding powers containing my power within.

A silhouette blends into the sun, yet my vision clouds over and I wince against the pressure now pounding through my skull. Each vein pops into existence again, drinking in the nutrients as if I, myself, were a plant in dire need.

"What is that?" A small voice questions from far away.

My neck snaps up, gaze focusing in on the slender frame. A lanky blonde with swimming blue eyes. Her skin is ashen, pale and far from clean. Even in the darkening corners of this temple, I see a minor mutation. Scale-like flesh replacing what used to be soft and supple on the human body. She flinches under my stare, dropping a small illuminating device on the ground far from what flashlights used to resemble.

Sucking in through my teeth, I groan at the searing pain spiking in my cornea. I chomp down a little on my lip and laugh to myself.

Of course...

I take advantage of the fresh air and use each moment I get to heal my lungs. This comes with a price. A large male towers above me, his dark hair gently grazing against the ceiling of this deep abyss. His skin, too, has grown rough and slightly impenetrable. The complexion a shade darker.

"What are you?" he asks.

Ignoring the incarnation of entitlement looming in front of me, I stretch my neck up and down, side to side, and roll it back again. Mana courses through me once more, albeit weakly.

"Are you deaf?" He snaps, a sense of anger coating the words. "What the hell are you?"

Blinking very slowly, my feet shove into the ground and I right myself to look at him. With a deep, thoughtful breath, my eyes bother to search his. "It smells like October," I murmur. "Is it October?"

The whites of his eyes are milky and filled with flecks of black. Though I do not understand, it appears as another mutation. They widen in astonishment, but something more along the lines of fear remains. "What?"

"It smells like October," I answer again, a smirk pulling at my lips when a deep laugh threatens my stomach. "I used to love October."

The small girl lurches forward to grab his arm and tries with empty futility to get the wall of muscle and stone to move. She yanks again before slipping and stumbling back. Her butt would've met stone had the man not caught her wrist and held her up like a skimpy treat for a dog. Her fragile limbs threaten to snap with the pressure.

They share a look before he starts in on her. "Damn it, Ebony, what in God's name are you doing?"

I snicker at the comment, mind ripe with godly puns and jokes to last us an evening. Neither gives me a look, but I imagine it gives them a cold sweat. I obviously lack leverage, my arms and legs bound by chains above and below me. This doesn't seem to matter, they still flinch when my shackles grind on the rocks below.

Her name reminds me of something from old fairy tales. Though I can't place which. Even still, Ebony tears her weak noodle of an arm out of his grasp and backs away. "She could be dangerous."

"Yes, and animals can speak." He rolls his eyes. "Look at her, clearly malnourished and weak. I bet all the strength she had went into standing properly."

A sly grin haunts my lips. "Everything can speak, most things simply have their own language."

He growls at me, taking a stance in front of Ebony. "You sound delusional."

"You sound like an arrogant prick, but we all have our flaws."

Choking on his tongue, I see the fire start to dissipate in his eyes.

"Are you ever going to answer me?" he asks, this time with the tone of a stern parent opting to lecture. "What are you?"

"I see no merit in rewarding your foul tongue and disgusting heritage."

My eyes zero in on the open door, the seal broken. Whether or not they leave, whether or not they take me out of these chains, it doesn't matter.

Something seems to shift in his mind, a perspective of sorts that I'm sure warrants manipulation. "Fine then, we'll just leave you here."

Another small laugh escapes me. "Okay."

The male proceeds to flip around and drag Ebony away. She resists at first, uncomfortable and disconsolate. They linger in the doorway, his eyes drifting to the ground as I lean slack against my restraints again.

"You're not going to try and convince me otherwise?"

My eyes slice into him, narrowing against the faint light. "I do not need the help of a Destroyer."

Something seems to click inside that peanut sized brain, the man's cold stare drilling into me. He pivots a little, aiming to come at me again. I'd insulted his heritage before and nothing came of it, yet for some reason this hit him. Pure, unfiltered rage glosses over those irises. Even with pursed lips and grinding teeth, my focus simply engaged his eyes.

Ebony tries to catch him, to grip his arm and pull them outside. The strong male slips through her fingers like sand.

"What did you just call me?" he snaps.

My eyebrow quirks up. "Don't you know your heritage, boy?"

A blonde flash distracts me and I meet Ebony's blue gaze when she comes to stand in front of me. Her small hands curl into her hips, but with elbows swung out, she's providing a barrier between her partner and I. "Just what do you think you're talking about, lady."

A dark snarl reveals my teeth, shiny with canines glistening. I feel static ripple through my pupils. "Take another step."

The ignition of anything resembling fire against my features creates panic. Tucking herself away like a frightened pet, she disappears behind the large figure. "Axel, come on..."

"Well isn't your name ironic," I smirk, holding his gaze with determination and admiring the masked terror. "Do you know what it means, Destroyer?"

Axel's brows furrow together, arms crossing over his chest. Such an infantile display of dominance. My mind wanders to the days where men were warriors based on action and display, not petty posture and deep voices. His neck hair is standing on end and sweat rests in thick clumps of unkempt bangs. Weak. Spineless.

Assuming his silence is an invitation, I stand again. "Axel is Hebrew, boy. The Scandinavians derived it from their bible, as it means the father of peace. I always find it amusing when someone of your race has such a name. Your species burnt the world to a crisp in manic chaos, yet you preach peace, love, and understanding. That is where the irony comes from, Destroyer."

"You keep saying my race," he says, more calmly than before. "Why?"

In a temporary display, I swipe my tongue gently over my teeth. Electricity follows, sparks clinging to the bright enamel and dispersing into the smoke of my heated breath. It billows into his face and elicits a cough.

Good.

Stunned faces stare at me. A palpable sense of hierarchy develops, cogs working overtime to process this subtle revelation. "What. Are. You?"

These words weren't meant as a demand or even something asked in curiosity. Topic changes from the breed to whether or not safety even existed. This question is breathed into reality as if crying for help or a sign. A prayer.

A god answers prayers.

"Tell me, what caused this world's demise?"

Ebony frowns and looks up at Axel, attempting to search his eyes. "We were raised in a colony with many stories... you say it's the humans?"

"Come now, it's only been a century. They must have textbooks, resources, video, somewhere."

Axel rolls his eyes, arrogance returning in crippling waves. Beneath the facade, I still find him drowning in anxiety. Taut muscles prepared for flight. Out of his depth, out of his element and he still clings to a form of control. A weakness, a flaw. These poor beautiful creatures and all their imperfections.

They are lost. Confused. Ebony is fidgeting with her soaked hand-me-downs and Axel is stumbling for words. Any sentence would do at the moment, but his lips only part slightly.

Pushing my brain back as far as it will go, I picture large Starbucks, movie theaters, overpriced housing, and the legalization of drugs. An overpopulated planet with wars and rumors, love and loss, too many duck faces and makeup tutorials. My thoughts scrape over living in New York and I halt abruptly. Static fills my ears and my heart rate starts to jump, the intense throb becoming nauseating.

I clear my throat, blinking away heated water. My tears steam slightly. "What do you two know?"

"You never answered my question, why should I answer yours?"

I scoff at the remark, bored by his humanity. "I'm trying to, human. Your impatience is unbecoming."

Ebony tears up a little. "Most died... Technology is nearly nonexistent, largely destroyed since the apocalyptic break down. Our parents were some of the first to be murdered when anarchy broke out."

Tasting the air for a second, I laugh. "You're not related."

She stiffens at the fact before shaking it off. "We were taken in by an elderly couple on the outskirts of what used to be Berlin."

I take another sniff and yawn. Years of sleep and Destroyers were still exhausting. I can hear the synapses in their brain, almost feel their cells forming. Some powers take effort, energy, but I am one with time.

Time and Death.

"You're 19, he's 20, so this must mean it took 76 years for anarchy to break out if we're talking about your birth alone. I believe you're lying."

Ebony bites her lip, a small tremble is evident in her arms.

"How could you possibly know our age? Let alone the time frame of the Tragic Storm?"

At first, a snort of contempt escapes me, yet the more I think about it, giggling takes over. "Tragic Storm? So dramatic, I swear. It only took out a majority of your planet's population and charred this orbital rock to coal. You named things like Hurricane Katrina and Ivan, yet all the Destroyers came up with for this Armageddon-like catastrophe was the Tragic Storm? Jesus... I thought species were supposed to evolve."

Axel grows impatient, my eyes zoning in on his hands as they clench and release. If he weren't preparing himself for an altercation before, he is now.

Both humans possess something similar to offense, yet they're the ones who lied to me. If anything I should break these chains and lash them.

Ah, medieval torture. Never lets me down.

How.

They wanted a simple answer to a complicated question, though both questions could be filled in with one sentence.

"What do you humans believe in nowadays?"

This seems to unsettle them, Ebony hiding more before granting me a squeaky answer. "What do you mean? Like religion? Science?"

I snort at the mention of the very things conflicting with each other. Something the race never got right. They coincide and yet completely contradict belief systems. "I don't want any of your fancy labels, I don't need any elaborate explanations into 'your god', I just want to know what you believe."

Neither made any sort of move. Gravel shifted outside and the two beings stiffened in unison, glancing at each other and then towards the door, Ebony reaches for a blade at her hip and Axel seems to reach for something tucked under his thick sweater. Amusement must flicker across my face as I watch the young girl act like she could protect, a tiny scoff in my direction more than enough to stir the laugh in my chest.

"No one's outside, you know," I say casually, leaning back and swinging a little. "It was the wind."

"How could you possibly know? You haven't been out of here in what looks like ages."

I roll my eyes. "I'm a god, it's what I do."

There was no dramatic gasp or mockery. Nothing to warrant my bored expression either. They stand frozen, deer waiting for an impending collision. Temporarily empty of all emotion. "What?"

"I'm. A. God," I snap, eyes glazing over in a small moment of distilled hatred. "I know things, I do things, I don't need air to breathe or food to function. I know you two came here alone but from the smell of it, people have been tailing you for three days straight. I imagine you're not part of a larger group from the way you bare down on your weapons so quickly, so it makes me believe that the Anarchy you speak of is true, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that's about the only part of your story I can believe."

Ebony's lips quiver a little bit. Stepping out a bit more, she moves to inspect me. "How did anyone enslave you if you're a god?"

Sighing, I stiffen and wonder whether or not that's insulting. "I'm immortal, not all-powerful, give me a break here."

"I don't believe you," Axel laughs, his cocky stature grating on my nerves for soon to be the last time. Clearly, he doesn't understand I'm playing nice. Against my better judgment, I allow him a chance to speak again. "You don't look like you can hurt a fly and no one's been trapped for a century... Every building gets ransacked regularly for supplies..."

An evil smile grows on my lips. "Humans tend to avoid the temples."

"Where are your powers then? What can you do that sets you apart from just another human?" The accusation in his voice deepens, a dark tone flooding the air as a cloud shifts and the light hides away. "Go on then, show us your abilities."

"Axel, what are you doing?" Ebony says, a screaming tucked under her tone. Fear swells inside her and for once she yanks him to face her. "Are you stupid?"

"I want her to prove it," he says with a sinister grin. "They're superior to us, right? So where the hell have they been while we rot in the ashes of this world? Where have the gods been?" Axel is yelling now, loose dirt falling from the ceiling around us and dusting our hairlines. "Because you know what, I don't believe in anything and I certainly don't believe in this."

Fire pulses in the heat of my veins, yet I still strive to control it. Puffs of smoke drift from between my parted lips, ghosting away into the damp air. Stupid, ignorant, foolish boy. So broken and somehow privileged.

He's tasted the air, felt the sun on his skin, understood the depth of rest. This male has interacted with others of his kind and even in the worst of times not been alone. Every second he trekked his path through whatever desert in any country, he's been free.

Anarchy is the ultimate freedom.

"You speak as if we owe you something," I hiss, daggers laced into my words. "My existence isn't to serve you, Destroyer, so think carefully about your next choice of words."

Axel rolls his eyes, a disgusted snarl rising over his features. "Why do you insist on calling me that? Why can't you just prove it? It's not like a Century just sucked away all your godly-ness."

I look at him with every intention of dissection, muttering an infinite supply of well-spun curses inside my brain. "Even if a Century is simply a moment to a god, every single one of them has their own source of power. We are the exception. You grovel at my feet Destroyer, but this is the doing of your kind. Tell me, did your families suffer as they melted into oblivion? Did they burn alive with the intensities of a thousand suns and proceed to claw their way back to rationality?"

"I don't know what you're talking ab--"

My fingers curl tighter around the chains, arms tearing down on the shackles to demonstrate helplessness. "You're heritage tore balance in half! They slit open a seam in the foundation of space and time. Tell me Destroyer, did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That people like you brought this world to its knees." 

Thanks, everyone for reading! Let me know what you think below and have a good day!