The Poisoned Crown (SyndiSparklez)

8.2: The Night That No One Knows What Happened

^ Pic drawn and colored by yours truly

2:00 am

...

Tom walked, his movements were smooth, fluid as he strolled down the taint filled streets. There was an uneasy calm to his usually hyper, power-filled form. A form that constantly fluctuated with abilities and bursts of energy. Yet the only thing that jumped around was his yellow eyes. The taint ignored him as his eyes scanned for any sign of life, any sign of survivors.

After finding none, he smiled and laughed darkly. The fire came and it ravaged.

Worst than the taint. Harsher than the purple. The fire glowed with a brighter light. A bright light so blinding one could have sworn they looked upon the Angel of Death. It twisted and danced, as if twirling with an intricate partner. As buildings fell, the fire jumped, a graceful split in the air. As the horrid creatures burned the fire spun, around, around and around in loops of dizzying speed. As the fire erased, it stretched high to the sky, seen for hundreds of miles around. The fire danced, heated and passionately, it reached, it embraced all, it left nothing unloved or untouched.

When it was over, the fire's dance fell to a bow. The city was of ashes. Like a curtain falling on once in a lifetime show, there was a strange silence and emptiness. Yet there was applause. The Earth did not mourn the town infected by the taint. Once silent owls overhead began their call again, a wolf howled from the woods and a lone stray cat weaved back into the town. Tom's eyes snapped to it, but he didn't raise a hand in the cat's direction.

Like the fire in the town, his eyes for a moment dulled, as if something gray, perhaps the ashes and cinder falling through the air covered them. When he looked back the cat was gone. All that stood was Tom. A handsome sight among carnage and destruction.

And no souls ever beheld such sorrow lurking in the cat's eyes as he watched Tom turn from the shadows. There was nothing purple left. There was nothing red left. Or orange. And only the yellows of Tom's eyes.

The only colors were shades of gray falling from the sky.

It was if the taint had never been there. And the fire had done this itself.

Mission complete. With the same fluid grace Tom walked out his hands swaying at his sides. He stopped briefly, as if by impulse, by some bushes and stooped to pick up a small silvery object on the ground. Once he had it, he continued walking back towards the way he came. He was eerily silent, the yellow lights in his eyes dancing as the fire had.

...

2:07 am

...

A gray cat with red markings on its ears, feet and tail watched Tom from the branches of a large tree. Its ears twitched and it licked a paw. Lazily its glowing eyes switched colors every few seconds as it watched Tom retreat. The cat waited for him to disappear fully before dropping down, its eyes settling on a dark gray.

...

3:00 am

...

Sonja had been more than relieved to hear from the hotel manager that had grabbed the check-in book on his way out that everyone had been accounted for. Of course, except for Tucker, Jordan and Tom. No one cared about Tom, not anymore, not even her. She wasn't a fan of Tom. Mot had been alright and she found Steve a decent man, but she'd never clicked with Tom. They'd never really interacted either. The only stories she heard about him were from Tucker. And none of those were usually pleasant.

At the moment all that kept going through her mind was Where was Tucker? The building had apparently caught on fire at one point, but it had been squelched by the guards that went in. Dozens has poured in, guided by Alister who politely thanked her for thinking to evacuate the people of the hotel. She hadn't had the heart to tell him that was Tucker's idea.