A hurricane of condensed liquid fire, disintegrating everything in its path. That is the disaster named the Scarlet Storm.

Ba-BAM! The storm struck the ceiling of our city. Stalactites from the ceiling broke off and collided with our city with meteoric retribution. The panicked cries of the people can be heard all over the nation of Lucia. All the noise impaired my thought process. What should I do in this scenario? My father never taught me how to survive the apocalypse! 

I triggered a disturbing memory.

"Your life story is their entertainment!" Ethos had said, I would rather not recall his words. I suppose my life's genre changed to apocalyptic. The storm continued to rage against the ceiling triggering a shower of debris at every impact. 

"It's been forty years," King Edward grumbled. His eyes pointed straight at the ceiling. He then directed his gaze onto the panicking citizens. Like a click of a switch, his eyes glowed a violet radiance. "Everyone, calm down! We're going to have an emergency meeting. Attendance is mandatory!" All the people in the vicinity suddenly stopped and took a seat in the theatre. 

After everyone got seated, King Edward's eyes dimmed back to their original state. He took a deep breath and began speaking. "It may have been a while since our last storm, but this was not our first storm!" He declared hoping to calm his citizens down. "We survived several of these storms in the past. It will subside and we will survive!"

Referring to our people's history, our race has survived seven scarlet storms in the past. The first one, in particular, left a strong impact on our people. 140 years ago, we used to have over 10 million people in our race. But, when the Scarlet Storm hit, millions burned, melted and died from its wrath. In the end, only twelve survived. That was when we received the Verse. The twelve divided into groups of four with the ones possessing the verse as their leader and founded the nations we know today. 

The confidence in the King's words took effect and calmed the citizens down to a rational state. The shakings began to cease as the storm stopped striking at our roof. Many of the citizens sighed in relief. Unfortunately, the storm was far from over as observed by the sounds of raging winds reverberating off the surface and echoing all over the city. 

"We should analyze our options," King Edward advised. "We should evacuate to Nexon. Considering the worst-case scenario, we can evacuate to a different planet using their Nexus." 

Nexon, the Land of Travel. It held the largest percentage of our population. Most of the non-native visitors watching the tournament came from there. The Nexus is a power granted to their city by the Verse. Allowing for interdimensional travel that can bring them to a planet several stars away. 

One of my childhood friends, Elana, was raised in that city. She was also the daughter of their King. My family was good friends with them as they have partnered in several enterprise expeditions. My parents assisted with the duty of maintaining the Nexus hub. A portal room linked to several different planets and other astral locations. 

"I don't know what the situation is in Nexon, but it is our best course of action. This storm seemed a lot more aggressive than the previous ones so we do not know what could happen." King Edward mentioned. The King led our group towards Nexon. Located south-east of Lucia, it would take two hours on foot to get there. We ran towards the city outskirts and into the jungle scape of Lucia. The King followed the trail that would bring us to the Nexon passageway. 

While we were running, I observed the tall, radiant trees standing triumphantly over us. A few yards away from us was the Elder tree that supplied us with the light-bearing fruit which served as our main source of nutrition. Soon, we approached the passageway. A layer of crystallization coated the passageway preserving its shape and prevented erosion. The interior was lit by light-bearing fruits dangling on the ceiling preserved in a crystal shell. 

We ran across its tarmac-laden surface hoping Nexon was still in a condition to accept outsiders. It seemed that other people had the same idea as us as they rode their quadrupedal creatures and strafed across the tunnel. As we crossed three-quarters through the passage, the traffic started to slow down. In the distance, there was a blockade of large rocks due to the ceiling's collapse. 

"Fuck, what is this bullshit?" Someone lashed out. Colour drained out of their faces as they began losing hope. For the first time, I was overcome with an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. I followed my dad's teachings and learned how to fight to avoid this feeling. This mocking feeling telling me, "you can't do anything about it". I caught on to a fleeting thought. Perhaps I could use the powers I recently acquired to overcome this crisis!

With a renewed feeling of hope, I walked past the group with the belief that if I prayed hard enough, the rocks will part in front of me. Before I could do so, King Edward placed his hand on my chest to stop me. 

"Don't be reckless," he warned. "You don't know anything about your powers yet. You're too young." He looks at me with stern eyes. The corner of his lips perked up to form a subtle smile. "Right now, it is my responsibility to protect our people and overcome this obstacle." 

He walked resolutely towards the cluster of rocks. He surrounded himself with his aura. But his aura was unlike the one I encountered when I first met him. I could see the menacing, violet hues coming out of him. Now that I think about it, Ethos was surrounded by a terrifying spectrum of colours when he unleashed his aura. I connected the pieces together. Is he using the power of the Verse?

Once he was a step away from the blockade, he placed his hand on the rock and closed his eyes. His aura expanded to cover all the rocks and in an instant, they all dissipated into the air. I looked upon the miracle with shock and awe. Me and everyone else's jaw dropped onto the floor. As the initial shock subsided, I quickly recovered and ran up to him wanting an explanation.

"Don't you lose your powers once you gave them to me?" I asked him. He warmly smiled and replied.

"I gave you the source of my powers," he answered. "However, I still can use the power I have absorbed into my body. I have a pool of residual power in my body in case of emergencies." 

"So what was that ability you used to destroy the rocks?" I asked. 

"It's called Overwriting," he says with a smile. "It is a very important ability you must learn in the future. Ethos may hate teaching but he's a great teacher." I nodded with a giant shit-eating grin. If I can master this power the King has given me, I will never have to feel this sense of powerlessness ever again. 

With the obstruction gone, we continued our journey towards Nexon. Finally, we could see the exit of the passageway. But something wasn't right, the traffic once again slowed down to a halt as several guards are found in front of the exit. 

"We're sorry but we are not permitting outsiders from entering Nexon until further notice," one of the guards said. What the hell happened here? Did the Scarlet Storm ravage their city? I constructed several possible theories in my head. King Edward walks towards the guards in order to persuade them to allow us passage.

"I understand there may be some difficulties going on in the city," King Edward concurred. "But it is very important that we enter. It is my duty-"

"We know who you are, King Edward." The guard interjected. "Unfortunately, we cannot let you through."

"What's going on in your city?" King Edward inquired. "Is it the Scarlet Storm?" The guard hesitated before answering.

"Our king... was assassinated."

His response was met with silence. It was the last thing we expected to hear. But before we can ruminate upon it further, a thunderous clap resounded the entire area. The colour drained from Edward's face. 

"No... it cannot be..." King Edward said fearfully. "The Scarlet Thunder... it's coming."  

The Scarlet Thunder was said to be the phase that killed the most people during the scarlet storm. Several millions of people have died from its wrath. However, this phase only happened during the first scarlet storm. The one that massacred almost all our people. It's said that the disaster begins after hearing the second clap. 

As if on cue, another thunderous clap struck thunder onto our ears. My hands began shaking uncontrollably. But this was different from the feeling of powerlessness. This was the feeling of imminent death. The skies began to hum. 

The humming grew louder 

and louder

and louder 

until... 

It happened. 

A concentrated beam of blinding plasma incinerated the city's ceiling. Its wrath sought judgement onto the underground city of Nexon. In an instant, the fire engulfed everything. The buildings, the trees, the people. Hundreds of lives burned away without a second chance. 

The guards and the people in the passageway were in a state of pandemonium as they fled back to Lucia. Through the giant hole in the ceiling, you can see the blood-red skies thirsting for our blood. Flames danced among the clouds as a continuous barrage of flames wreaked havoc on the city. The Nexus hub found in the distance was half-eaten by the flames; the rest of the structure charred black.

Everyone at the tunnel ran back to Lucia with reckless abandon. Me and King Edward remained at the mouth of the tunnel. The king looked upon the crimson skies with eyes of resignation as if he accepted his fate. 

He faced me and put his hands on my shoulders "Child, if nothing else, you must live." He says to me with tears flowing down his cheeks. "Our Verse may not have the ability to transport people, but I have a trick up my sleeve." 

His statement lessened my shaking a little bit as my mind flooded with questions. "Wait, what do you mean-"

"Child, trust me," he reassured. He placed one hand on my back and his other hand tightly gripped my chest. "Child, remember this, we are Mausida! We are not alive through our body but through our soul!" A violet aura oozed out of Edward's body which then engulfed my entire vision. "You cannot die here, child! You are the hope of Lucia! The hope of the entire Mausidan race!" He went all out, planning to exhaust all his residual power to do one last thing. Though I was no longer able to see him through his aura, I heard him speak one last thing.

"Ethos, I'll leave him to you."

Then I blacked out.