Written by Sonora for Writing Prompt #18

 

He crumbled at the sight of it. Fire. Light. A crescendo of the cosmos–it.

He thought that he would be ready for this. The years of preparation and training couldn’t be for nothing. Yet here he was, on his knees, screaming along with the rest of them.

Mortals, humans, extra-terrestrials, ghosts. Golden fire rained down upon them all, not distinguishing man from child, rich from poor. They all felt it.

His well-toned arms were only used to shield his cheeks. His hardened mental exterior had shattered like glass at the first lick of flame.

Sensei had told them it would come, her calm, stern mouth in a thin line. “I cannot guarantee you will be ready, my children. Only you can do that.” But we thought we were–all 201 of us, trained in combat, in logic, in harnessing our chi all whilst keeping a lake-smooth mind.

The lakes had turned to stormy seas as he knelt there screaming, all the broken promises of strength weighing down and squeezing the life from him. The planet shook as the sky and reality crashed together and fought each other with blades of light. All 201, crying and grovelling in awe and fear.

Prepared. The word they’d shouted the night before was empty and broken like the sky as all living things crawled and wept and clung together.

Only Sensei, her arms spread wide to welcome the brightness, was calm. Her long greying hair and her white robes whipped out behind her in the wind. He saw her through a film of his tears, stood atop the wreckage like an angel.

“The stories were right–celestial lights have come to Earth,” she said as she smiled.