By: Miaomiao Yu
The clouds rolled with thunder and occasional flashes of crimson lightning illuminated parts of the abandoned city. Cars were scattered across the roads and half-eaten food was left on tables; everything seemed to be deserted hurriedly. Only a few months ago, the city was filled with tourists from countries around the world coming for the city’s famous attractions, but that all ended after that incident two weeks earlier.
A huge crevice appeared in the middle of the city, stretching for around ten miles long and 230 yards across. When it emerged, the ground crumbled down as if it were hollow underneath, swallowing the buildings that were originally above it. Around 20 hours after its appearance, large amounts of thick mist erupted from the crack, and formed a dome around the city, blocking all communication from the outside world. All people were evacuated soon after the crevasse appeared, but the city was not sealed off yet by any government forces. Thus, adrenaline junkies and risk takers took this as an open invitation.
As the woman walked into the mist, she experienced a sense of distortion in the space surrounding her. Something has changed about the world, something was… twisted. One step forward, another following… time seemed to lose its meaning inside the mist. A light came into sight. What she saw was different from the pictures of the city before. Everything was tainted red, and unusual monsters roamed on the streets once filled with humans. The first thing that came to her eye was a beautiful structure high in the sky — something similar to a castle from fantasy stories. Red crystals fanned around it, and the structure itself seemed to be made of half-transparent glass. Eerie music seemed to come from the castle, overriding all other sounds inside the dome. Just as her eyes met the castle, she noticed a faint glint of shining color. An immense force seemed to capture her, and she started flying towards the floating castle.
The air smelled like rain and faint smoke, with hints of toxic chemicals blended within. There was no wind, despite the clouds rolling furiously and her flying. As her distance from the castle shortened, the castle’s magnitude became comprehensible. It was far larger than what she saw near the borders of the city, having a size near a middle-sized city. The same monsters that roamed the streets underneath stood like statues in the floating structure. No… they were statues. Something had petrified them into stones, with expressions of shock and terror plastered across their faces. The details of the castle came into sight — the same red crystal as the ones surrounding the castle made up its building blocks. The structure was the embodiment of beauty. Everything seemed to be created with great detail. Stairs, lights, walls, even the tiny pebbles in the glass gardens were made perfectly.
She landed on the balcony where she saw a glimpse of light before. What originally was there had left. As if hypnotized, she pushed open the doors behind the balcony, and started walking uncontrollably down a corridor. She pushed open the doors at the end of the hall.
The thing inside the gigantic room behind the doors had a form she would never be capable of imagining. It was not like any living thing on earth, yet it seemed so familiar to her. It was radiating light and dark at the same time, and its color was constantly shifting in its slumber. She cried out in awe, and it raised its gaze to her. She exploded into a blast of light from the gigantic load of information that her eyes took in from seeing its face.