Ether: Way of The Blade.

Chapter 2 - Ethereality.

Ceremonial chirps of birds flocking west coincided with the vermillion rays of a sun, forehead peeking out from beneath the earthen clouds, an orange, purple, & red infusion shading in the regional skies; sunrise arrived in sanctifying breaths of life, the rays like lips kissing the empyreans awake . The shadows of buildings danced & flickered; dew tinted a healthy emerald-green sparsely swaying in patches. Zephyrs patiently whistled along the cityscape, gently moving through hordes of murmuring denizens  -  Pangea bustled with activity even at the earliest roots of morning. The city was likewise in a state of intense vitality  naught foreign to their culture: Pangea was, in many ways, influenced by the Greek -  its pulchritudinous scenery being one. Most structures adopted similar if not identical symmetries, with doric, ionic & corithian colum orders freely sprawled across the city. What made conurbation prevalent was its vastness, stretching across several thousands of acres, each branch of civilization living in seemingly blissful harmony with one another. A sun arisen at its apex smiled at civilization -  the plants smiled at beauteous rays which they cherished biologically. The cycle of life continued... Parents, children, occupants  -   all of Pangea found themselves living to see another day endlessly, akin to a golden age of sorts...

Piercing, obsidian eyes lingered over it all, face sweat-ridden, his hasty climb up what seemed to be a local skyscraper as impressive as it was discomforting. A high-pitched, kiddish voice escaped maturing teeth  -  a particularly maturing sense of achievement accompanying it.

"In record timing!"

A terse creak caused his body to jolt a bit -  enough to catch him frenzily wailing his arms back and forth before auspiciously regaining his balance. A subtle huff of air followed; adjusting, he placed his left hand on an iron bar, while bringing his free hand to his brow, scouting the city: | 'If I can climb this far up... I wonder: what are the limits...!?' |

The landscape was mystical: he spotted a late murder of crows, rearing near enough to evoke caution -  nay, motion. He was visibly panicked at the sight as he veered right: "WAAHHH!" He bellowed; he instinctively leapt off foot-first into the ether of space, before transmogrifying into a crow, himself, before his boyish instincts kicked in. Curious of their course & excited for the grandiosity of adventure presenting itself before him, he found himself joining them as they flocked away elsewhere.

Meanwhile...

Footfall percussed along a once-vacant stairwell. As the one spearheading the group's hand rose to perform an impending series of knocks, he, as well as the deluge flooding the floor with life, were halted  -  revealing a suited, slender man, hands lodged in his pockets. His social & economic stature preceded him, as, he donned a blazer & dress shirt tailored to his physique; his bushy, furrowed brows plastered a constant face of disdain on his face... Despite the light of day outside, the cubical of an office held some shades above pitch, with its furniture prepared in a way that the premise looked to be vacant, stripped of the latter, only holding a desk-full of papers  -  and pills. Hair as white as winter, eyes as cold & spiting as frost; his demeanor reeked of condescension, albeit the significance flaring off him. He glared at the quintet of sillhouettes exposed by the excruciatingly bright light illuminating the hallway.

His only words were impactful, nonetheless.

"Sit."

Succinctly, he softly nodded; footfall erected dutifully after, & so did the snow-haired male's room-reverberating baritone.

"I'm sure the lot of you are curious as to why you've been called here."
"...let's talk on the basis of humanity -  for humanity's sake."

His gaze veered toward the spearhead for a second, before darting toward the ceiling, empathy still seeping from their irises' sparkles.

"For some, at the most unfortunate of times..."

He then flyingly soared into the topic at hand  -  to him, equivalent to the elephant in the room.

"...let's talk on the basis of humanity -  for humanity's sake."

Nods of concurrence were almost remedial to the rigid, almost fretful atmospheric tension.

Floral white dominated the room, as domineering as the contemptuous nature of his brows as he looked onward. His hands rested at his chin, one curled beneath the other's knuckle. A sign of regality.

"Let's cut to the chase: humans have never stopped being human."

A statement so simple, yet oddly mystifying. It caught the room astorm  -  all ears wide open, all eyes were on him.

The silence was deafeningly loud. But that was the world of Ether: a constant game of mental chess.

"..."

"Humanity, however, has always been shackled by their own lack of solidarity... We ARE the only species on this planet that could lust its destruction nonsensically - consciously, but without reason, motive...never thinking about our impact on a globe-wide scale - never minding the droplets of impending doom trickling down our rear-view window - until we go blind to the truth."

"We must repent...don't you think?"