Anew Pt. 1 (reset)

Grey clouds shield the lonely world. A somber cloak wrapping around the entirety of the planet. They offer no kindness for they are sad as well. The warmth of life was gone, barely a ghost lingered here among the rubble and broken spires. So the clouds could only offer stillness, as even the winds were dead. This place is a grave of forgotten mementos now. But the clouds dared not to be unwelcoming. The monsters were gone now. So they longed for life to grace them once again.

And so it would.

A grey man appeared, his arrival marked by purple light. He was tall, extremely so, much taller than most of the world's previous inhabitants. Though, he somehow seemed familiar. The land almost mistook him for a giant, but he was still shorter. A giantkin, perhaps? His complexion made sense, but his stark, white hair and purple eyes gave the land pause.

As did his stride. The man floated above the ground. The land begged, yearned for the echoes of boot soles once more, yearned for footfall against its soil. He seemed to hear it. He seemed reluctant, but after a moment's hesitation, his feet touched the ashen earth.

The footsteps were gentle, betraying his size. As if the man dared not disturb the world. He was sad. The clouds could see his reflection in their own, the land felt it as well. They wanted so dearly to treat their guest with green trees and songbirds, with wrathf tempest and furious tremors.

But there was no life here anymore. The planet itself was a shadow.

"I'm sorry," he spoke to the world. Not aloud, no. He spoke to the world. If it weren't so frail, the planet would shake with joy. It had been so long since its last communion. Not since the shamans and mystics passed on.

"I hope that you can forgive me one day. What happened here shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have taken me so long to come. For that, I am sorry."

...Recognition. If not for the weakness, anger. He was familiar. It was ones like him that did this, "You..."

"Yes," he lifts from the ground once more. Regret apparent in the tone of his thoughts.

The lonely world takes time to respond. Other than the yearning and sadness, emotions are something it had almost forgotten. It clawed at what scraps it had left. The grey man waits patiently.

"...I do not hate you. Your kind wanted to protect the others, that I understand, but you hurt me. You hurt all of me. Then you left. You left me alone, with nothing."

"I know. When I learned of you, you were thought dead. I couldn't sense you then. The barrier-"

"I have been this for so long. Empty, quiet. I would have preferred death. This is torment. They are all gone. I don't want this. I don't want to be this."

The words fall against the grey man. Not wrathful, not furious. They were all but hollow. Tinged with a sunken spirit that could no longer bear the weight of its past self.

"I would like to help, if I may. I would like to try."

The world's voice is silent for a moment longer, scattered about the dust and ash, "If you think you can."

His eyes glow fiercely as he gestures to the planet. At first there is nothing, but then a shift presents itself. The world begins to turn. Slowly at first, but the momentum gains intensity until it's restored in full. The spirit of the planet can almost breathe again. It practically sighs.

He closes his fist and a torrent of dynamics explode at the center of the colossus. However, this alone won't be enough, "You held this flame for eons. You were worthy of it in the beginning, and you're worthy of it now, but the spark must be your own."

Force and burning ripple through the world's veins. It tries to hold on but its grasp is weary, "I- I can't. It's been so long. I'm not fit, I do not deserve it."

"You held fast through the eigth cataclysm. You held through this darkness and when I arrived you greeted me with open arms. Will you bow? Will you cast out your dream now?"

The songs fill the planet's mind. The song of every bird, toad, and cricket. The heat of every wildfire. The majesy of every mountain and forest. The coldest depths of winter and the brightest days of summer, "No."

The man calls upon a great Astral current. It strikes the world, and the world catches it. "I don't want to be empty anymore."

The spark is reignited. The core, the very heart of the planet, roars to life. The pulse is still weak but it is defiant. Plates shift ever so slightly, ley lines criss-cross over the land, those invisible forces begin their dance above the atmosphere. Its spirit shines once more, "I will dream. I will live again."

For the first time in a long time, there is sound. The dust moves. Wind. The clouds gather. Now rain. Streaks of searing light fill the sky. Then thunder, "I will!"