Chapter 1 - If This is to End in Fire

#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #DanceTillOurEnd #DTOE

About This Story

This is the original version of Dance 'Till Our End, released prior to Endwalker.
It deviates significantly from the rewrite due to lack of info at the time, along with a different vision for the story overall.

Content Warning: Murder, Blood, Major Character Death

View the new version: Dance 'Till Our End (Rewrite)

Story Description

Dance Till Our End Cover.png|350

The clock was ticking, the planet was screaming, and blood was pooling upon the bandage holding it at bay. The seers were deaf, and the listeners were blind. Soon we would see the hand fate would draw to the stewards that broke their vigil.

In desperation as the clock neared the final hour, the shepherd turned to blood. Yet she would fail that too, it seemed, and she would spend eternity paying her dues over and over.

Distantly, a somber melody would play, and the dance would end in the blood of silence.
For no one should be left alone for eternity; that was the cruelest of fates.

Zodiark would save them, this much she knew. And so she would free them, by any means necessary.
But with so little time left, and pleas falling upon deaf ears, what choice did she truly have?

If the world would end, let it. Whatever would become of them, they would become it together. No one would be left alone, for that was the cruelest of fates.

This she hoped--this she wished--as the dance ended in the blood of silence.

"Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls

If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night"

-- I See Fire, Ed Sheeran

"The world's out of time
But it doesn't know
I will step in and be its metronome
Plenty to fix
But the lines in the sand
Must be toed over if I'm to stand a chance

Experimental successes are rare
The barrier holds strong
But other answers aren't there
I know I'm onto something, I swear
Like Atlas, I'm burdened
But this pain I'll bear"

-- What is That Melody, Fareeha

It seemed like it came as quickly as it was gone.

"We've been hearing it for weeks now, every now and then," they explained. "It feels like it emanates from everywhere, and then our creations get all deformed and wrong."

The story was the same everywhere I went, but no one could tell me what was causing it, or even where it came from. How this 'sound' and the fires were linked was a hard thing to pinpoint, particularly when you couldn't even find the source of it.

Absentmindedly, I summoned my pen and journal to scribble down some notes. When there was naught but air in my hands, my brow furrowed in confusion. Again, I tried. Again, again, again. I screeched, jumping back reflexively when the most disgusting rat I'd ever seen appeared before me.

It frothed and drooled at the mouth, and just as I felt as if I'd throw up any second, the rat was the least of my problems. I doubled over in pain, screaming as a high pitched wail rang through my entire being.

And then, with wide eyes, I saw it. It was like the sky was caving in on itself. Fire rained from the heavens, and the screams of innocent people could be heard for miles.

Shit. My time was up.

Frantically, I stumbled to my feet and began running for my life. "Don't stay here! You all need to leave, now!" I yelled.

If I didn't hurry, I knew I wouldn't make it. I prayed it wasn't too late.

I mumbled pleas, begging my magic to work as I tried repeatedly to activate a teleportation spell. Finally it activated and I ran through, but when I reemerged, I was still a few hours away from Amaurot.

The flames encroached, smoldering on the horizon as they moved to claim what was left of the grass beneath my feet. The sudden increase in smoke told me the fires were much worse here, and my lungs heaved for air, making me cough and choke.

I altered my mask so it would cover my mouth instead, filtering out the smoke, even if just by a little. It was all I could manage to do with my control of creation magic so weakened.
The simple alterations of a child... Truly, what had we been reduced to? What was this?

Now closer to the city, I tried my earpiece, though I doubted the signal would make it through the thick atmosphere.

"Hades? Are you there? Love, please..."

"You can't! That's insane!"

"What choice do we have?!" Lahabrea yelled.

"And you're okay with this Eli?"

He smiled. It was the same sweet smile he always gave, and it panged my heart to see that even in the face of death, he would continue to put duty above himself.

"I am willing to do whatever I can to keep our star safe. Please, do not weep for me Azem. It's okay."

"No, it's not! It isn't fair, you're just a boy!"

"Nothing about this is fair," Hades chimed in. "Nothing is..."

I could see the anguish on his face as he clenched his fists. To see him display emotion so was a testament to how much he truly cared. This much I knew, and yet still he didn't waver.

Elidibus was still a boy in comparison to we who'd lived so long. Not a child by any means, but still young. Truly, I could think of nothing more cruel than sacrificing a life that had barely begun.

And then there were the countless others that would be sacrificed alongside them. They were said to be picked at random, but I knew that if given the choice, there was not a soul on this star that would turn down the offer.

As a kindness, the general public had agreed that all families should go together. Were one of them chosen, all eligible among them would go, so that no one was left behind. Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters... All would go.

There was a strict procedure requiring the convocation members, their families and friends received no special treatment.
Any rules or restrictions also applied to us where applicable. We could very well have been chosen had the majority of us not been participating in the summoning. Even I would have been eligible had I not gone abroad. That in and of itself was a terrifying thought, but not one I wished to dwell upon.

The closer I came to the city, the more monsters appeared on the outskirts. Terrifying and ferocious as they were, I was glad for my previous experience in combat. I feared, however, for the less experienced that seemed to be the creatures' targets.

As the smoke grew thicker, and the monsters in abundance, I got a horrible sinking feeling at what awaited me in the city itself. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight.

Buildings were crumbling, debris littering the once pristine streets. The usual twilight glow of the city was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was naught but fire and ash.

Charred bodies lay strewn about, and the very sight of them made me sick to my stomach. Were it not for the ear-wrenching screams, I'd have thought the city entirely bereft of life. As I neared the centre, it was the fighting and wailing cries that made me rush to the source.

A handful of people staved off the monsters from a large crowd. Twelve summoners were at its head and a white-robed boy stood before them. When I screamed for them to stop, he looked at me gave his usual smile.

"Welcome home Azem." He said the words as if it were another day when the sun was shining and I had returned at last from a long journey. I couldn't help the tears that spilled forth as he disappeared almost immediately after, along with everyone else.

"Y-you can't..." I whispered, reaching out in his direction like it hadn't registered that he was gone. I collapsed to my knees midst the chaos.

It was deathly silent then. The sky was still, but the fires still burned. All that was left were the broken remnants of what was, and the cries of those left behind.

I sat unmoving, staring at the spot that half our very number had stood just moments ago. Hades rushed over to hug me desperately, murmuring relief at my safe return. I barely heard it, however, through my stupefied state.

I had failed them.

I had failed them, and they'd been forced to pay the ultimate price.

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