Colors of our Souls

1. Broken Child

Ikari

I am surrounded by darkness as a heavy weight presses in on me from all sides, slowly crushing me. Curling into the fetal position, my short, golden hair is pulled slightly by the slow moving rubble. Closing my eyes, although it makes no difference in the total darkness surrounding me, I try in vain to breathe through my nose. My heart rate escalates, body screaming for oxygen. Heart pounding in my ears, I press my arms and legs outward, far as I can as I drown in the ocean of rubble.

As my arms press slowly outward, muscles trembling from the strain, my right arm abruptly breaks the surface and is surrounded in scorching-hot air. A tiny flicker of hope shoots through me that is quickly quashed as the rubble shifts, rendering me motionless.

I feel a huge, rough hand grasp mine as I grow too weak to fight the weight. A fiery pain shoots through my shoulder as my arm is roughly jerked upward. I am pulled from the debris like a weed from the ground, soil still resisting the removal of it's prize.

My lungs are flooded with sweet, sweet air as my body emerges from its would-be grave. After a short moment of gulping in oxygen, I crack my eyes open to a bright orange glow surrounding me. My lungs register a burning sensation as smoke filters into them. A gust of hot wind blows black ashes around my face as I take in the scene surrounding me.

Around me, I can hear children screaming for their mothers, mothers frantically searching for their children, fathers shouting for their families. I remain silent. I can see a single, dark blue haired boy sobbing as he kneels on the ground a few hundred feet away. The world glows orange with the starless night sky backing it, translucent black smoke filling the air with the scent of burning memories.

I am kneeling atop the ruins of my home, between some of the blackened boards, I can see a light salmon colored Teddy-Bear, my best friend, peeking out. I smile as I move to crawl towards him.

I still have my best friend, I think, happy for the first time in this ordeal.

He seems unharmed, until a huge black, birdlike foot smashes into the debris, smashing my heart along with him. My eyes widen as the friend I love so dearly is crushed before my eyes. A single tear, hotter than even the air around me, slips down my right cheek as my vision blurs slightly.

All of this, in a few short seconds.

Snapping me out of my shock-induced stupor, the hand from earlier pulls me roughly to my unsteady feet.

I look up into the normally powerful, onyx eyes of my father, Aki, staring frantically down at me. His spiky, golden hair speckled with black ashes. I can see his lips forming words, but I can no longer hear a sound.

In a flash, he lifts me up below my knees and behind my shoulders. Keeping my body rightside up, he clutches me close to his chest. Instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. Looking behind my father over his shoulder as he begins running away from our home.

Standing over our home is a massive beast. It seems hundreds of feet tall in a blue-black color. It has two terrifying horns jutting out from its forehead above black pits that must be eyes. A mane of black hair flows down to the nape of its neck, transitioning into a huge torso with two muscular arms ending in clawed, scaly hands.

The monster stares at me, or maybe he is looking at my father. Either way, it terrifies me beyond bounds of the imagination. The demonic beast leans forward, bridging the gap between us without even lifting a foot. Reaching out a taloned hand, it tries to grab me. My father turns around abruptly.

He has stopped running and stands petrified, head tilted up towards the beast.

"Father?"

I feel his strong arms loosen in shock as he stares into the demon's face. Just as the monster's hand reaches us, my father utters a single word in horror.