With a gentle wave of her delicate hand, a gleaming city came into being. Another wave and it was teeming with life. She looked down impassively at the faces of millions of strangers living their sad little lives, seeking their sad little joys, unaware of the existence above that ruled their fates.


    And today their fates were not safe.


    Words were spoken, and the skies cracked.


    Gates, unconfined by the Nexus’s protective Monoliths, made terrible noises as they formed through twisting and fractured space.


    The innocents of the city heard the sounds of their nightmares and looked up in horror as not one but ten Gates began opening their demonic maws right over their heads, casting shadows of monsters and beasts that clawed at fractured space, drooling to feast on human flesh, waiting for the final membranes of reality to rupture and unleash them.


    Cold, emotionless eyes looked on from above as the tiny mortals mounted their futile resistances. Hastily formed teams of Hunters and soldiers formed what they could of a defense. Weapons were mounted on building tops and atop rune cars that bravely rose to meet the enemy. Cold metal behemoths rose from their resting places and prepared to defend the city with their mounted weapons of death.


    One valiant figure stood out from the rest. A tall and righteous woman with her long brown hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in a pure white battle gown, stood on the highest rune car, thrust a green sword twice her own size above her head and called out in a valiant cry that all could hear.


    She called out to all the able-bodied to pick up their weapons to fight. Fight to protect what was important to them. Fight to live and see tomorrow. Fight today or all dreams would end tonight.


    Her voice boomed and all the terrified souls of the city heard it. The panic stilled and seeds of courage sprouted into action.


    Retired Hunters, transportation workers, school teachers, chefs, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, anyone that had something to protect rose as one and gathered their tools of slaughter to meet the enemy just as their forefathers had.


    More and more came, and soon their numbers were vast, and a hope sprouted that they would see tomorrow.


    But she knew what they would not.


    She did not intend for hope to bloom today.


    A word was spoken and all ten Gates unleashed their hordes.


    Monsters fell like rain, constantly rippling the surface of the city’s massive barrier. Return fire was fierce and decimated the enemy to a rain of corpses. Resistance was strong, and the morale was high.


    If only it was enough.


    From the masses of slaughtered were some that were faster or stronger or more durable and would make it to the barrier. They would only land a blow or two before being similarly decimated, but they began to mount.


    A few blows turned into tens, which turned to tens of thousands. They couldn’t be stopped.


    She saw hope drain from their weak little faces as the barrier shattered with a poke of her finger.


    She saw the destruction as chaos consumed the city alive.


    Buildings fell, humans were slaughtered, Hunters fought alone until they too met their pitiful ends.


    The last to fall was the lone female warrior.


    She watched as this poor soul fought to protect the barrier.


    She watched as she fought to protect the front line.


    She watched as she fought to protect the retreat.


    She watched as she fought to protect the last shelter.


    She watched as she fought to protect the last team members beside her.


    She watched as she fought with nothing left to protect.


    She watched as she fought as she wept.


    When all the wailing had ceased, there was only death and silence. The poor soul had done the impossible and slaughtered all invaders, yet she wept as her life blood ran dry before her tears did.


    “When I created the scene for you, I was under the impression it was for a modern day rom-com. I worked really hard on those cafe interiors, you know.” A familiar voice interrupted her.


    “I was just taking some test shots for my next work.” Mary dismissed her neighbor without looking at him.


    “And since when have you ever been interested in ‘annihilation tragedies’? You didn’t give those suckers a chance,” Juan chuckled as he approached his moody friend.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “What do you want, Juan? I want to be alone right now.”


    “You have been alone, Mary. For a week. Now that the little ones have gone off to school, you’ve holed yourself up in your studio and refused to leave. I’ve given you a week. It’s time you rejoin society and stop playing demon god. Your children need you... I need you,” Juan said, truly worried for his best friend.


    The matter with their eldest children was bad enough; Jun having to flee from who knows what, and their youngests being alienated as a result, was too much and for whatever reason, Mary was blaming herself. Silly woman. She should have been blaming him.


    He had been aware that there was a darker side to his firstborn. He would catch glimpses of it from time to time when Danny believed no one was watching. Shadows of sinister thoughts behind the eyes that all believed to only contain goodness. Juan always half-heartedly believed he’d seen wrongly. That his family was untainted by his ex-wife’s touch.


    He should have done something then.


    Juan was always more of a hands off type of caregiver. He believed that it was his job to allow their children to freely explore the world and only intervene and give guidance when necessary. He thought Danny’s companionship with an upstanding role model of a peer like Jun and a kind childhood friend like Desi would keep him from straying. He must have hit his head as a child to have thought that was alright.


    It was his own fault, as a father, for not guiding his son to be a good man, and he hated that Mary was suffering from his mistakes.


    She didn’t respond. She didn’t even look up from the smoldering remains of the simulated city.


    Juan waited. He was willing to wait however long it took. He owed her more than that.


    “Desi was eleven when Tony and Camila left.” She finally spoke. Juan grimaced at the memory, but stayed silent as he listened. “She was young but old enough to feel the pain of her father’s abandonment. She struggled the hardest, more than Lily or even me, not understanding how her beloved daddy could just leave us like that.”


    Juan silently approached and embraced his ‘heart’ from behind her as she shook with silent sobs, offering what strength he could.


    “We used to hold each other and promise to be better to each other than Tony ever was, to love each other more than Tony ever did, and be the happiest family so that Tony would regret ever abandoning us.” Mary struggled through, now clutching Juan’s arms as if they were the only thing keeping her afloat.


    “So why?!” Mary finally broke. “Why would she do the same thing as him?!” She cried.


    Juan held her as she wept bitter tears of anguish. She had cried some on that day but had tried to remain strong afterwards for her youngest, but she couldn’t hold it in anymore. They should have done this sooner.


    All he could do for her was hold her close and whisper, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”


    They stood there in the middle of Mary’s film prompter studio, as two weeping giants standing among the clouds, overlooking the death of millions.


    Many minutes later, feeling as if a poison had been squeezed out, Mary looked up at Juan and asked in a hoarse voice, “Did you call her?”


    “…Yes.”


    “What did she say?”


    Juan sighed and combed a hand through his hair as Mary backed away from their embrace.


    “She honestly didn’t know Danny had moved into the Vaults Family until I called. She looked into it for me and it seems they’re registered as a married couple serving under James Vaults, the Eighth Son.” Juan explained. “Danny seems to be James’s new favorite lackey and Desi has holed up practicing their outer family arts.”


    “Did you find out if my daughter knew about their deal?” Mary asked flatly, and Juan shivered with rage and sadness at what his son had done.


    “Camila hasn’t heard. Apparently, no one’s properly seen Desi since she entered the Family. I don’t believe she would have known. I’m positive it’s all my son’s doing. I bet he’s kept her in the dark about what he’s done.” He assured.


    “How could he have hidden it?” Mary denied him. “All it would take is for her to check her com and see the trending news involving her new husband’s boss. All her ex-lover’s work had been stolen, and she didn’t know? I don’t believe it.”


    “Knowing that boy, he’s got an angle prepared that will make it acceptable enough for her. Probably thinking it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Juan tried to take the heat away from the girl and pile it on his son, cause he was confident that it was so.


    “Even without that. That girl.” Mary went silent as she thought about how her daughter had hurt Jun so badly, so callously.


    Mary thought back to the day their youngests had brought to them a broken boy. Physically and emotionally scared and tortured, it took all the love of both families to slowly build him back up, and the one that took guardianship of that fragile youth’s shattered heart was her own daughter who had done a wonderful job putting it back together, only to later trample it with her own feet.


    Hearing a defeated sigh, Mary looked up at her neighbor.


    Seeing Juan’s downcast appearance, Mary finally saw the man.


    He was still tall and large, like his sons, but he looked small at that moment. Juan looked so haggard, with huge dark circles under his sleepless red eyes and the usually immaculate beard was getting out of hand. She had never seen her friend look so drained of life. Even when Camila and Tony had left them, he was a strong pillar that she and their children relied on. But then, who was his pillar?


    That’s right.


    She wasn’t the only one hurting.


    Juan blamed himself.


    How could he have known their own children were capable of such emotional violence?


    Mary stepped forward and embraced her lovable brown bear; this time, not in desperation, but in warm comfort. Juan was surprised but was quick to return the affection. She looked up and said, “I’m sorry Juan, I shouldn’t be lashing out at you. You’ve been a constant source of strength for me and I want you to know I always appreciate it.”


    Juan was touched, a growing warmth in his heart. He suddenly remembered what the little bastard whispered to him before he left.


    Cheeky punk.


    He looked down at his hopeful future and made a suggestion.


    “How about we go and take a day off together and not think about any of this for a while? Let’s go visit the Inner Ring, see some sights and eat some real food for a change. There was that new place on Barkers Lane you wanted to try, right? Palmer’s Palace. Tobey was raving about the interior design the last time we had lunch. Why don’t we check it out and get back into the mindset of romantic comedies and away from genocide?” Juan asked as confidently as he normally would, but felt a new feeling of nervous anticipation underneath the bravado. He was rewarded with a gleeful squeal of excitement that he’d never heard nor expected to hear from Mary, and it seemed neither had she.


    Mary looked at Juan with widened blue eyes that peeked through the hands that hid her face in shock, which wasn’t enough to cover the blush that extended to her ears. She was so cute.


    Jun was right. He’d best make sure his future wasn’t snatched from him because of stupid indecisiveness and unjustified insecurities.


    What had he even been waiting for, anyway? All the lists of why’s and why not’s ceased being relevant the moment she started raining down small punches to his chest as he laughed.