Before I was born, a darkness ravaged the fabric of creation, and the gates of the afterlife were closed. After soldiers would die on the battlefield, their souls would get corrupted. They would come back to life killing anything in a violent frenzy. Back then kids younger than ten years old would fight, including me. Many planets had to be "iced" once lush terrains were now Ice tundra. Freezing the darkness, but it wasn't enough to end the war. After years of fighting and Icing, three nations united. The black star, Egypt, and finally Camelot also known as the Cloud Kingdom. They all made a final stand on a planet called Achot. I was born during the middle of the war on Achot, and helped end it, killing Mael the true Angel. But it seems that the darkness never went away. This story is how I became the horsemen of hope, and defeated the darkness once and for all.
Despite being the future queen of a smaller Egyptian faction, I have to live in an apartment to "humble" me, according to my dad, the current ruling Pharaoh.
As I wake up, I pull the white sheet over me, my head throbbing from last night's party with my R.G team (Royal guard team). We're a combat team designed to defend the throne, and we're about to take part in the team show, a yearly military competition that tests every nation's strength. This will be our first time competing, which is why we celebrated.
I get out of bed and glance out the window at the two suns, one black and one blue, orbiting each other and giving us forty-eight-hours in a days. I look above the thresh hold over my room where I could hear a ticking and I quickly realize. I'm running late!! "Great, just what I need, I knew I shouldn't have drank so much." I mutter under my breath scratching in my hair.
Feeling the pressure to rush. Hastily, I throw on a baggy shirt that could double as a dress and slide into thigh-high stockings paired with frayed denim shorts. As I wrestle with my hair in a mirror a girl looks back at me, she has hair that seemingly has a galaxy in it, and freckles that decorates her face, her skin was a milk chocolate color and her right eye pupil was completely black, while the left was a bright pink.
A sudden loud knock startles me, causing a black wire to thrash uncontrollably, sending my glass of hair gel crashing to the floor splattering everywhere. Looking behind me I notice the black wire connected to my lower back, with a crystal at the end of it.
In frustration mixed with a slight scent of regret, I muttered, "I just bought that yesterday…"
As the knock echoed through the room, I called out, "Who is it?" Swinging the door open, I was met by two familiar faces. Emma, with her fiery red hair peppered with freckles and a sword strapped to her side, stood beside Faith, tall and elegant in a white dress adorned with vibrant flowers in her hair. They were not just any acquaintances, but my best friends. Concern etched on Emma's face; they must have came to get me.
"Sorry I was just getting ready," I said.
"It's alright," Emma said as she looked up at Faith
"Do you mind? I will pay later promise" Emma said to Faith.
Faith nodded and quickly grabbing our hands teleporting us to the pyramid where the team show was taking place.
I looked around and saw millions of people emerging from their airships. Then I heard a voice near the pyramid's entrance.
"Dreamer, get over here. It's almost time for us to go in!" It was my team leader, Phoenix, "Be over in a second" I answered
In a stern voice, Phoenix retorted, "Be quick, we're about to head down to the battleground!"
I quickly gave Faith and Emma a hug and kissed them on their cheeks.
"Thanks, wish me luck out there" I said excitedly. Before they could respond, I ran off into the hangar. As I entered the room, my team was suiting up in their sleek black armor.
"Maya! What the hell are you doing without your armor?" Phoenix's voice boomed, her frustration evident.
With a hint of sarcasm, I retorted, "You know how much I hate wearing armor~." I smiled awkwardly.
Phoenix let out a heavy sigh, gripping my shoulders firmly as she peered into my eyes with a grave expression. "We don't have time for your games today little girl. You're assigned to ship duty," she said her voice deepened. Phoenix stormed off picking up a pulse rifle.
That was scary. I've never seen her that pissed before. At least I can shoot the cannon on the ship, at least…
As I turned to leave, a voice piped up behind me, "Hey why is Maya on ship duty!?" picking up my head it was Meggy, a young woman with a complexion reminiscent of toasted almonds, standing petite in stature with hair cascading like a river down her back, reaching past her shoulders. Her attire included an unzipped jacket that exposed a delicate fishnet bodysuit underneath.
Two years ago, Meggy and I fought the battle of Starfell, all of the dragon-born masters got corrupted. These people had the ability to create dragons, some as big as city's. In those days it looked like the sky was falling and the sun was obsidian eclipsed by the moons. Me and Meggy fought for a week straight nonstop, after this battle I was permanently weakened, I used to be able to destroy planets but now I can only destroy a small city at most. The battle left trillions dead, and a Giant continent sized creator where now a memorial wall blocks off what used to be Starfell. Me and Meggy were the only survivors of Starfell but because of that we grew close.
Meggy marches forward towards Phoenix as she turns around and says,
"Are you trying to make us lose, because you wanna have some pissy fit over some armor?"
She points at Phoenix's face while looking her in the eye. Phoenix's face turns red in anger; she smacks Meggy's hand out of her face.
"You wanna take her place?!" Yells Phoenix while grabbing Meggy by her shirt collar,
"Yeah, if it means we win" Meggy answered
Phoenix throws her on the ground as she says "Maya, you're on the ground with us, don't make me regret it. Meggy, man the cannons on the ship, provide us that air support!"
Phoenix walks off lifting her pulse rifle over her shoulder.
"Meggy, what were you thinking?" I asked while helping her up off the ground. With a smirk on her face she responds, "That's one way to say thank you,"
"You didn't have to do that," I responded. In a worried expression Meggy giggles and looks up at me revealing her glowing right eye.
"If it means I win, it's worth the risk" she says with a gentle smile.
Defending others was Meggy habit, and she did it with an air of self-interest, blending the two seamlessly.
Ten minutes later we arrived at the battleground in the military district, surrounded by nothing but gray rubble and destroyed buildings.
My team of five, including myself, stepped off the airship with confidence, leaving Meggy behind to provide air support.
As a loud alarm blared over the military district, the team show began, but it ended just as quickly as it started.
My team consisted of five members: Phoenix, the leader; Meggy, the ship operator; Kain, the sword master; Sory, a Plant-Toa who could grow giant violent vines to fight her enemies; and there's me, Maya, a star-born human created by the Tree of Life, with hair that reflected the galaxy. As a striker, I fight using hand-to-hand combat and high pulses of energy through my fists.
We walked through the rubble slowly, the sun shining fiercely down on us, we stayed low to the ground to avoid being spotted. Meggy fired from the sky at a nearby squad.
BAM, BAM!
Meggy took them out before they could respond with an electric rail gun.
My team and I approached the unconscious bodies, taking their gear and handcuffing them, then loaded them onto our airship. We continued north, seeing nothing but rubble and caves as far as the eye could see, for hours.
Then, we noticed a giant shadow overtaking the horizon. We looked towards the sky to see a giant floating cube, and soon we heard an AI voice in the air.
"Team, show, canceled, evacuate now!"
The voice continues to repeat, "what's the plan, boss?" Kain asks while looking back at Phoenix nonchalantly, his sword bobbed over his shoulder, "hmm, Maya call your dad to see what's going on" Phoenix asks me.
"Okay" I responded, before I could take my phone out it was shot by a "sniper!" I yelled while running to cover, I used a small brown box my radio device to contact Meggy to find the sniper, but no response.
"What the hell's going on" I said confused,
"I thought we weren't supposed to use live rounds!" Sory said, looking at my phone that now has a gabbing hole in it.
"That's what I'm thinking," Phoenix spoke.
Before we knew it, we were surrounded by cloud soldiers from the cloud Kingdom, they all covered half of their faces with masks and decked out white armor.
"Hands In the Fuckin air!" One soldier yelled.
Ten others pointed guns at me and my team. With no choice we complied. They handcuffed us and were about to put us in a black and white van shaped airship, floating in mid-air. It was then, we saw dust on the horizon, and it was getting closer and closer and then I heard screaming.
"MAYA PUT YOUR HAND OUT!"
It was Meggy on a land ripper, (a motorcycle powered by crystals). Running from cloud soldiers. I stuck my cuffed arms right before I was dragged out into a giant smoke screen and somehow on the back of the land ripper.
"Thanks for the save" I said while holding tightly to the bottom of my seat
"But what about the others?" I questioned
"We won't have enough time. Your father sent me to get you. We're about to leave the planet." Meggy answered.
I gasped as I asked, "Why? What's going on?"
Meggy ascends the land ripper into the air, and looks back at me, and says,
"I don't know… but it seems that the Cloud Queen wants you and the entire royal family's heads."
Flying high above the city, the horizon stretches endlessly before us.
Below, the once bustling streets now lay in ruins, buildings reduced to rubble and smoke billowing into the sky. In the chaos below, a fleet of ships scramble to evacuate civilians. Their desperate attempts are a stark contrast to the serene expanse above.
We arrive at the pyramid landing on a flat silver platform. A single elevator sits alone. Meggy slashes the handcuffs off of me with a sword, "Go to the throne room, your father will be waiting there." Meggy says throwing the sword to the ground before turning around.
"You aren't coming with me?" I asked while grabbing her hand. She looked back, smiling, trying to hide her true feelings but tears came falling down her face.
"I still have work to do. I'm still part of the royal guard after all…" She says while looking down at the ground.
"Will I ever see you again, Meggy?" I ask as my eye watered,
"Probably not."
She dashes over to me and kisses me on the lips. She then pushed me into the silver elevator,
"I love you, Maya! please live the life I couldn't! Thank you for being my friend…"
The elevator closes and shoots in the ground leaving nothing but smooth silver ground.
Now formed in front of Meggy stood one hundred, no, a thousand cloud soldiers, wearing masks only covering half of their faces from the eyes down, some wielding guns, some swords but this did not matter to Meggy, as she was determined to fulfill her last command from the Pharaoh. The moons in the sky cover the suns creating a solar eclipse as a dark shadow flows through the horizon Meggy's eyes glow a pinkish purple, and she then dislocates her right arm before ripping off.
"AHHHH!" Meggy screams the cloud soldier realizing what she is about to do makes a run for it, but it was already too late for them, Meggy grabs a rainbow-colored stone from her wound and then crushes it, creating an explosion equivalent to three nuclear bombs wiping the living district off the map only leaving a massive purple mushroom cloud over the city.
I continued to descend on the elevator. Was there no other way, Meggy. I think to myself with tears falling from my eyes.