The sky that night was breathtaking.
Earth shimmered like a star, glowing with light gifted by the sun in each of its turns.
That same sunlight reflected upon its nearest moon, casting a pale silver hue. Fragments of destroyed spacecraft, wreckage from a battle that hadn't occurred long ago.
Human corpses lying freely on the surface of the moon. Blood and signs of infection crept across their powerless bodies.
Not far from the ruins, a man's body lay still. The infection had spread through him—his arms, his legs, his body.
Blood trickled down from his temple, and various parts of his body bore open slashes.
His vision was nearly gone.
His eyes reflected before death come.
And yet, the man still resisted to die.
In front of him stood a man draped in a long, navy-blue cloak with a strange halo on his head. The cloak fluttered gently, as if moved by a wind only he could feel.
His eyes—deep violet with a single glowing red dot—
spoke of a strength far beyond the man lying before him.
"Why… did you kill me? Why… did you kill... humans?"
the man on the ground asked, his voice weak and trembling.
"You don't understand, my Dee.
I despise humankind.
They're nothing but pests.
But you…
you were a light. A light that shines so bright.
Dee, I wanted to give them one more chance—
but I don't want you destroy it again,"
the cloaked man replied coldly.
He then float, turning away from the man called Dee. The cloak flowed behind him, forming what looked like wings, swaying gently as he drifted.
It was as though he meant to leave Dee behind,
to die slowly from infection and the collapse of his healing systems.
"Liar…" Dee whispered faintly.
With the last of his strength, he reached for the pistol in his left hand,
lifting it shakily and aiming it toward the man.
His fingers trembled uncontrollably.
He knew—he knew—the shot wouldn't kill him.
But revenge…
revenge had a voice of its own.
One pull of the trigger.
Bang!
As expected—
the shot missed, grazing only a portion of the drifting wing-like cloak.
The hand holding the gun dropped to the moon's surface.
He could hold on no longer.
Pain surged through his body like fire,
burning him alive inside and out.
His chest, once rising and falling, slowed to a halt.
His once-bright blue eyes faded to pale grey.
His gaze went blank.
Every trace of life had left his face.
His final breath whispered a quiet goodbye.
Dee is dead.
That was all that remained.
The cloaked man returned, approaching Dee's lifeless body.
His expression didn't change,
but inside him churned a storm of emotion—
disappointment, anger, sorrow, and a deep longing.
Forty thousand years of waiting had brought him nothing.
"See you again, in 10.000 years, Dee" He whispered softly, as though it were a familiar ritual.
He reached down, taking Dee's cold hand, pressing it gently against his cheek.
Then he rose again, slowly, hovering above the moon, with Earth glowing faintly in the distance.
He raised his right hand,
as if holding Earth's fate within his grasp.
"The world must return to its time now, goodbye." He spoke, cold as the void itself.
And with one sweeping motion,
his hand moved from right to left—
as though wiping away the stars.
With that gesture,
Earth and its remnants began to rewind.
Back to the past.