The Voidbreak Crisis

17. The God-King's Tower

The entire world was in chaos, or so it seemed. There were soldiers filling the streets, jets flying overhead at all times, and gunfire could be heard in the distance. The wilderfolk losing control had, at first, initiated a silent war inside the many nations, some of them vying for control of the wilderfolk themselves. In less than twelve hours, civil wars erupted across the globe, plunging everything into chaos and forcing the silent war to the forefront. Massive explosions had been going off all night, and many major cities were in flames. Inside this planet's version of the U.S., long-held political and ideological divides suddenly burst into violence and all-out civil war. The people no longer wanted their government telling them what to do, and were out of patience for the slog of laws they would have to wade through to change things. The wilderfolk going berserk was simply a spark to begin a much larger flame. The people were through with their government not telling them everything, and revolted suddenly and violently.

Much of the same thing happened in Russia, China, and Japan. The U.K. erupted into a fireball of chaos and anarchy. The police forces were quickly overwhelmed by the people, and France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Scotland, Ireland, and countless others fell into complete chaos. In southern and central America, the gang leaders usurped the government, and through their iron firsts, order reigned. The people under their rule silently argued whether or not the previous government was more or less corrupt. Most argued the corruption was the same, simply closer to the surface. The world's armies were torn in two, half of them joining their civilian brothers and sisters, and the other half striving to protect the world they had been trained to preserve. Nearly every large country was torn into pieces by civil war in the short time of two days. No nuclear weapons had been launched, but internet, TV services and radio were all shut down. There were guerrilla forces everywhere, and any wilderfolk that were unlucky enough to caught out in the open were gunned down by them. The Sanctuaries that had been set up underground and in the backstreets of the world were raided and burned down, scattering the wilderfolk to the winds.

Kane, Matilda and Persephone had found shelter from the ensuing chaos inside of an abandoned apartment building, and were at a stalemate at the moment. Persephone was unsure of what she wanted, or where she wanted to go. She wasn't even sure she wanted to meet her mother after all. She had answered a few questions, but she felt like she had more. She simply didn't know where to begin. Matilda was watching the chaos out the window, waiting for the time to move out. She wanted to get Persephone away from this chaos, somewhere safe, somewhere they could both be safe. But to do so, she would need power, and a lot of it. She knew how to open the portal to get home, but she didn't have enough power. There was only one creature she knew of that would possess that kind of magical potency, and the thought of returning to him made her skin crawl.

"You should go talk to her." Kane said softly, sitting beside Persephone's bed. Persephone looked up from her book briefly, glancing at Matilda who was standing at the window still. She seemed cold, distant and unloving.
"What would we even talk about." Persephone said under her breath, going back to her book.
"I'm sure you could find something." Kane said.
"Please." Persephone said, rolling her eyes. Kane saw Matilda's ears flatten against her head subtly when Persephone said that.
"May I?" SwitchBlade said softly from the air around Kane.
"Go ahead." Kane said. He wasn't sure what SwitchBlade could say to convince her, but he was willing to let him try.

SwitchBlade appeared on the other side of Persephone's bed as a tall man composed of gentle flames, with his arms folded in front of him.
"Persephone." He said assertively. Persephone glared up at him and closed her book. Kane saw Matilda's ear turn towards them, but otherwise she remained stationary.
"She has changed, Persephone. Look at her arm." SwitchBlade said, nodding towards Matilda. She had her arms crossed behind her, and on her right arm, she had a single spiral of bright grey fur beginning at the back of her palm, and reaching all the way up her arm, before reaching her neck and continuing upwards to her right eye, where it stopped. She had a single streak of grey hair of the same color and brightness above her right ear.
"So what." Persephone whispered.
"More than physically, child. Can't you feel it? She feels now." SwitchBlade said, bending down to whisper next to Persephone.
"I knew her once upon a time, hundreds of years ago. She was a cold, heartless beast, incapable of love and bound to her instincts." SwitchBlade said softly. Persephone saw Matilda's tail twitch nervously, and could feel her listening to them.
"She has changed, child." SwitchBlade said softly. Matilda was no longer listening, however. She couldn't move, and her every muscle was tensed. Her whole right side felt like she was being electrocuted, and her vision began to fade to white. She was filled with a sudden surge of energy, and had a vision of a massive portal composed of stone and iron. She saw a powerful four-winged beast holding the portal open, and saw a little girl trapped inside an iron coffin, screaming for help. She saw herself rush forwards and rip the girl out, and vanish through the portal. She gasped for breath as she staggered back and fell to the floor unconscious.