The Harbinger's Message
13 Jun 2024Kasumi Goto
She walked across a green field, flowers blooming under the bright spring sun, enjoying a light breeze. Not a worry on her mind, not a thought.Suddenly, the scenery began to change, but she was not alarmed. She knew it would happen. Flowers wilted, retracted into the ground, grass withered and died, turning into dust, carried by the air, as the sun's light began to fade. The ground, turned from brown to black, as if charred, and began to disintegrate, falling apart under her feet, leaving behind only a dark, empty, lifeless void.
Yet, she still did not fall, or feel concerned. She had been called here for a reason, and continued on her path, where the wind blew the dust, where the shadows congregated, swirling around a singular spot, capturing the remains of what had once been a vibrant world. The swirling intensified, becoming more and more violent, blocking the view of what happened at its center. Then, just as suddenly, it began to cease, and a figure stepped out.
"You called.", she said, as if greeting an old friend, not seen in a long time.
"And you came.", the Harbinger replied, its voice cold, but intense, reverberating through her and the void. This was its domain, and if it so chose, she would be obliterated, but that was not the reason for her presence. "You know why you are here."
She nodded. There was only one reason to be summoned to its world, and be left alive. Nobody who entered without its permission left... alive.
"Then you must know what is coming. Tell me, do you believe humanity is prepared?"
A question asked could not go unanswered. And she answered it.
"They are not. They believe they are winning."
"Then we are in agreement.", the Harbinger replied, motioning for her to follow, cold shadows flowing from it, obscuring its true appearance. "Come."
She obliged, walking alongside, but remaining quiet as it delivered its message, in the same, stone-cold voice. It would be unsettling to any human which witnessed it, but bore no resentment. It was merely an actor in the order of things, and there was no room for one's feelings in it. Not even for the Harbinger.
"Humanity does not know what is coming for it. What their blind, destructive acts are truly causing. Their hubris... makes them unable to see." It stopped, turning to face her. "But you are not as blind as they are. You are different, understand that there will be consequences. Humanity's mistakes will no longer go unpunished, and soon, the true extent of their acts will become apparent."
She nodded. Knowing what was occurring in the world, her world, now, could not be ignored. And it would likely bring untold destruction. But she still had a question, hiding doubts behind it.
"But what if they will not listen?"
The Harbinger reached out, placing a shadowy hand on her shoulder, its voice taking on a slightly different tone. "Your doubts are natural. Humans have continued on this path for centuries, without learning from it. And they will pay their price for it. They would not listen to words, but they will listen to blood. If not now, then in a few years, when little of them remains."
She was uncertain about this path, even as unavoidable as it now seemed. But the message was very clear.
"You have tried before. They chose not to heed the message. Now, it is time for them to submit to the inevitable - their acts carry consequences, and they will not be spared, or given any reprieve. They believed they could fight the lightning without retaliation, but such belief is foolish. Its place is not to be taken, by those who would attack anything that is not themselves."
"Will they survive?"
"Some of you may remain, but if they are not your downfall, your own species will be. However, this... is a truth, for another day. One that you will see even without my guidance. One that you may already have."
She knew. Humans were belligerent enough to still fight amidst each other even with an external aggressor at their door. And it could not go on like that forever.
The Harbinger stepped back, and spoke in its authoritative voice again.
"It is time for you to return. Deliver this warning to them. Tell them... they are about to face judgement. And they are not ready for it."
The Harbinger retreated, back to where she could not see. She turned around, to see a bright, white light coming toward her. She shut her eyes as it closed in and surrounded her, pulling her back to the mortal world.
End of anomalous transmission.