บท 2: The Destined Invitation

The Priest pressed his hand against the Elder Tree, as he has done many times before, but this time…was different.

He felt nothing from the tree. The usual energy he could sense from it and the warmth it gave off was completely gone. His eyes opened wide in fear.

W-what could this possibly mean?! He thought frantically.

The Priest felt a small tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Michael staring at him with eyes wide as his and worry cemented into his face.

"Am I still going to get my system, Priest??" He asked. "All my friends already got theirs! When will I get mine?!"

Before the Priest could even formulate a generic positive response, a much larger problem had now presented itself - a loud cracking sound began to echo throughout the area that put everyone there on pause. The Priest looked behind him and his heart immediately sank.

The Elder Tree was beginning to fall apart.

The long reaching branches began snapping off one by one from the tree upon the hundreds of people that had set up underneath them. Parents quickly tried to scramble and grab their children, but their fates had already been sealed.

A branch landed right in the middle of a group of kids that were huddled together in fear and pulverized several of them into the ground - parts of their limbs were protruding from underneath the heavy branch, unmoving.

A Mom who had snatched her daughter by the hand tried to run off as quickly as possible, but was knocked over by a group of people rushing past them. All she could feel was the constant stomping of feet as people trampled right over her and her daughter as they now only had concern for their own safety.

The Priest meanwhile stood with his back against the tree as he watched in horror. Since he was against the tree the branches weren't falling on him - just everyone else around him.

"By the Gods…" He whispered in horror.

Not everyone was only concerned with their own well-being however. Those who could, decided to take action to protect others.

A man jumped out in front of a family of 4 just as a branch was about to flatten them. "Two ton barrier!" He shouted. A veil of green energy in the shape of a half sphere enveloped the 5 of them. The branch smacked against the barrier and ricocheted off - only to skewer several people that had almost made it out from the falling branches.

The man released the barrier as he witnessed the sight. "I..I didn't mean-" During his hesitation, another branch fell down and ended all 5 of their lives as blood splashed out and decorated the already red stained ground.

More people tried their best to utilize their systems - using fire to burn away the falling branches, speed to try to get as many people out of harm's way, but not everyone there had abilities that could be used to save even their own life.

"Move, move, MOVE!"

"Where's my mom?? Mom!!"

"I wanna go home!!"

Screams of terror filled the air as life after life was snuffed out. But finally, the last branch fell and an eerie silence filled the air.

A small number of people stood on the outskirts with horrified faces and, some, with blood on them that may not even be their own. All that was left standing was the trunk of the Elder Tree and the priest who stood stock still up against it. The Priest who had not lifted a single finger with his wind based system to help people as they were reduced to a pancake right in front of him.

"P-priest…."

The Priest looked down and saw Michael laid out on his stomach at his feet. A part of a branch had fallen on the lower half of his body and completely crushed it underneath. The boy looked up at the Priest with the light fading quickly from his eyes. He reached up a trembling arm towards him before it fell back down and Michael was added to the list of those who perished in this tragedy.

"I'm…I'm so sorry…I'm-" The Priest started.

A thunderous CRACK drew everyone's attention away from the dead and the large quantities of blood. The Priest felt a huge weight slowly shifting his body forward. He looked up to see that the Elder Tree wasn't done yet - the trunk was beginning to fall forward in his direction!

He tried to move out the way but the trunk was very wide and he didn't have time on his side. He decided to turn towards the trunk to try to slow it down with his wind abilities, but he turned in time just to come face to face with the bark of the Elder Tree before it smashed down upon him and anything else in its path.

This day became later known as "The Day of Abandonment". For, based on the events that followed, it was clear that they had been abandoned by the Gods.

With the Elder Tree now gone, the Elder Grounds were closed off completely by the government for fear of what other things might transpire since no one truly knew much about the Elder Tree or its origins.

If only things had ended there.

It was about a year later when the first child that survived the ordeal became deathly ill. Their veins glowed bright yellow and their body slowly shut down on them until they were bedridden up until their final moments. It wasn't long before the next child showed the same symptoms and the next. Soon, every child that had survived the Day of Abandonment died in this way.

Doctors around the world worked together to figure out the cause as it didn't line up with a single thing they had seen before. It wasn't until children that more recently turned 13 began to die the following year that they finally made the connection.

Their bodies were rejecting the absence of a system. And now every child that reached the Age of Wisdom was becoming sick with the "System Plague" and there was nothing they could do to solve it. Future generations were completely being wiped out as each month passed.

The blessings from the Elder Tree were now nothing but a curse.

[ Ten years later…. ]

Beep...beep...beep...

The continuous beeps of a life support machine could be heard inside a small hospital room.

A teenage boy with white hair was lying in a bed with a breathing apparatus hooked up to his mouth as his chest slowly fell and rose in rhythm - his veins shimmering with a golden color. He was in one of the many hospice centers that had been quickly erected over the years as children began to fall ill due to the system plague.

He looked around his room - there were no flowers or cards that he had seen in other rooms as they mourned the inevitable coming loss of their loved one. A nurse peeked in through the small window that was on the door with a look of sadness on her face before slinking away.

"That poor child." She whispered to herself. "He hasn't had a single visitor since he was admitted. Not even his own parents have checked on him.."

The boy looked out the window at the night sky and didn't need the constant reminder of the pain in his body to know that his time was almost up. He felt no fear however.

I'm ready for this to end, he thought to himself. I'm ready for this life to finally be over.

He closed his eyes and replayed the grotesque scene of the day the Elder Tree fell on the back of his eyelids. He remembered seeing the mood of the crowd change as the wilted petals fell from above and the screams as the first of the branches began to fall. He had looked to his side, only to see that his parents had already begun to flee without him. Only the kindness of a stranger gave him the borrowed years that allowed him to remain until now.

He reopened his eyes and was met with the cold embrace of solitude that he knew all too well.

Maybe, things will be better in the next life. He thought again.

As if responding to his destitute state, his body began to tremble sporadically and the last of his strength began to leave him as even life support wasn't enough to stop the end from coming. His eyelids slowly shut for what he hoped would be the last time.

"Are you truly done?"

The boy's eyes shot back open as a voice rattled him back to; but as he scanned around the room he couldn't see a single person.

"Are you really ready to fade away into the void?"

Again he heard the voice, but there was not a soul in the room outside of himself.

Am I getting delusional in these final hours? He thought.

Suddenly, a figure cloaked in darkness appeared at the foot of his bed - it stood almost as tall as the room itself and wore a shadowy cloak that seemed to sway on its own. A pair of jagged horns protruded out from under the hood, but the face was completely masked.

Who…is this? In his current state, he no longer had the ability to speak.

"I am simply but a messenger. One bearing an invitation for those with the will to accept it."

That's when the boy realized he could obviously hear his thoughts.

Well, sorry to disappoint. But I think my calendar is going to be pretty booked up for a while. It was nice to have a visitor though.

"You still have not answered my question."

Yes, I'm ready to-

"Even if there was another way?"

I think if there was another way, we would all know it by now.

"This way is only for the chosen. A way to fix everything should you succeed."

The boy paused - how could he possibly fix anything in this state? Let alone why it was decided that he could do something about it when the brightest minds in the world still had no solutions. But he would be lying to himself if a small part of what was left of him wasn't scratching at the possibility that he could still do something with his life. That he didn't have to die with the waste of a life he's lived so far.

…..What is this way?

The figure inched closer. "A game of chance and possibilities. One only played by those who have been afflicted with this disease. It will be very difficult and it will test every part of you. But should you win, ultimate power awaits you. Power that can be used to save your species."

The boy immediately knew this sounded too good to be true. But with the boy lying on his literal death bed, he knew he had nothing more he could possibly lose.

What do I have to do to enter?

"Simple. You die."

Well, that shouldn't be too hard.

"So, do you accept the invitation to participate?"

The boy looked once more back at the night sky and thought of how he could use it as a metaphor for the blank darkness of his own life. Did it truly not have to end that way?

I accept.

As if in synchronization with his answer, his body convulsed one more time and his heart played its final beat. The last thing the boy saw was the figure moving closer to him as his eyes shut on his mortal life.

"I will see you soon, Zero."