The World Ended With You: Prologue

The beginning of a new series, from the acclaimed !Nikolas!Co. To be concluded in a relatively small period of time/wordcount, for a change.

Taki, perched high in the branches of the Great Tree, looked out eagerly to the east. He adjusted a light telescope he'd set up a day before in preparation, now refocusing and panning, searching for something. Then he gasped. "There it is!" he whispered to himself, hurriedly adjusting focus. Checking a timepiece, he saw the hour: just before four in the morning. "And about time, too," Taki murmured to himself, turning back to the telescope's eyepiece. "He's cut it to the last minute!"

Through the telescope, Taki could see a dark shape, surrounded by hills: a tower. Light flashed from within, dazzlingly bright in the nocturnal gloom, pouring out from every window and seam. One beam, teal-yellow in colour, shot out of a wall; where it touched, a thick cloud of dust boiled up, visible even at this distance, even through the telescope. The tower itself began to visibly shake.

"That's it!" Taki said. "Come on, come on!" He frowned momentarily; perhaps he should not be referring to something of this serious as though it were some wall-ball game! Then he discarded the thought and returned to watching the tower.

After some time, Taki checked his watch again; only seconds left! Quickly, he returned to the telescope: and saw it.

Blue light shot skyward from the tower, seeming to writhe and twist as it leapt toward the stars. For a moment, the tower went dark. Then Taki lost sight of it as the earth shook beneath him. The telescope fell tumbling down; moments later, Taki followed it, screaming in panic as branches broke and the ground below him cracked and strained. Lying on the ground, bruised and perhaps worse, Taki lost the breath to scream or even speak; he felt pressed to the ground by some enormous weight, but could not even muster the strength to turn his head. Directly in front of him, he saw a house shake and tremble; items fell and shattered inside, and one eave collapsed.

Slowly, after some unbearable eon, the shaking stopped. Taki checked his watch; it had stopped. Then he looked up, trying to gauge the time by the position of the first moon in the sky.

The moon was gone.

Taki paused, gasping. He found his telescope, lying on the ground, and picked it up, looking at it dazedly. Then he ran to the Great Tree, still remarkably whole, and scrambled upwards, racing recklessly to the top. He was breathless and tired by the time he reached the peak, but high enough, he thought, to see something more. Setting the telescope in place, praying it had survived the disaster undamaged, he put his eye to the piece and looked to the east. Then - slowly, unbelievingly - he began to scan, making a complete circuit, then again, not believing his eyes.

Near the horizon - further in some directions, very close indeed to the west - the world had cracked apart. Not just two halves; many, some smaller, some larger. Water poured over the sides; vast clouds of insubstantial atmosphere drifted away, faintly-yet-perceptibly clouding Taki's view of the stars. He could see only what was not blocked by the earth beneath him; but that was enough for him to realize the horrific damage.

"It's the end of the world," Taki realized. "It's cracked apart - shattered into a hundred pieces, blown apart from its center by some incomprehensible force. I'm probably only seemingly okay and rational because I'm in shock."

He paused, thinking. Then he decided.

"I know just what to do," he concluded. "It shouldn't take more than a week."

He considered further, rethinking this.

"Perhaps I should pack lunch," he added.