And the world was swallowed up by a blinding, white light.

 

Everything vanished.

 

It was too late.

 

The carriage reeled and shook, catching her off guard as she was thrown from her seat. She bumped into the wall in front, making a thud sound that woke Sven from his thoughts. She rubbed her forehead and grunted. She glanced out the carriage window as it came to a stop. The gates of Machina stood in front of them—in rubble, it was.

 

Strange.

 

Something was wrong. The roads, the streets were too quiet and there was no one in sight, not even a single crow, not a single ant or bug. She looked back. The screams and cries felt so far away. The men with Sven and herself, held up their hoods as they entered the city. They bowed at Sven solemnly before they turned and walked on.

 

Isn't it strange to have no guards outside, despite this apparent dire situation?

 

She thought as she faced the entrance once more. Sven stood beside her, staying silent the whole time. She half-turned to his direction, glancing at his face and what he was looking at—the seemingly eerily empty city.

 

She felt something cold brush against her cheek. She let out a soft sneeze. She looked up at the dark, gloomy sky. Was it snowing again? She half-expected to see white flakes but all she saw was black soot falling from the sky. She rubbed her nose uneasily, worried that she would not last long enough for her return.

 

Then she felt a tug at her arm.

 

Come on now, Mel, he said, pulling her past the gates of Machina City. She obliged, feeling a sharp pain as they passed through the gates.

 

Something's off.

 

Her face twisted in pain as she dropped to her knees. The black city she saw earlier was no more. She heaved, staring at the white vastness stretching ahead of her.

 

Snow? She wondered, surprised.

 

The pain was gone, and she reached and touched the white ground. Cold. She slowly got up to her feet, and brushed the dirt and wet snow off her attire. She looked around. Everything was white. Everything was cold and empty.

 

She turned behind where the gates once stood. It was no longer there. She felt a little anxious—the city was gone. No factories, no black soot, no Sven. All there was a flat vast land, that stretched out without an ending. The skies were white, so was everywhere she looked; there was only white silence and nothing more.

 

She felt uneasy, something was missing but what?

 

Nothing was going to happen if she stayed there. She took a step... And another... And another, making footsteps with her boots. The only sound she could make out was the sound of her breathing and the boots against the snow.

 

...forty-five...forty-six...forty-seven

 

By the time she made it to fifty steps, she was out of breath and fell flat on her face against the cold, hard ground.

 

Mel! What's wrong?! A voice resounded in her head. Sven... He called me Mel earlier too... No one but my family calls me that... But wait... There's someone else but he... Ah!

 

She turned, facing upwards at the white sky. She subtly remembered a boy from her childhood. A bright and cheerful blond-haired boy with green eyes. She felt a twinge, her hand clutching at her chest.

 

Her breathing hitched as she struggled to get air into her lungs,  she watched fearfully as snow fell from the sky. It was hard to breathe, her chest hurts and her vision blurred. She felt drained, both physically and mentally. She felt like it was okay to just go to sleep and not wake up anymore. She was scared, but she was too disinterested and tired of her fears, wanting everything to just go away.

 

At that very moment, she felt as if sound had disappeared from the face of Veritas. It was too quiet for her taste, feeling much more alone than she was at first. She reached for the snow, wanting to feel not alone and the very moment she touched a snow particle, her surroundings turned red.

 

She was no longer lying down on her back, but instead she was standing. The skies were dark and beneath her feet was a pool of water. Her eyes darted across the space, bodies... bodies everywhere.

 

The strong metallic smell of blood gushed into her system. She covered her mouth, feeling ever nauseous. Her eyes widened in fear when she noticed several familiar faces—her sister, brother, mother and father.

 

This is not real... not real... NOT REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

She fell to knees, drenching herself in the pool of blood. Her family's blood. She held her head and screamed. But, there was no sound, and she was in despair. Her eyes widened and she stared helplessly at their dead bodies.

 

"Melanie, wake up. Wake up... before it's too late..."

 

Melanie remained motionless and dropped to the ground, letting the pool of blood swallow her. Her eyes slowly darkened, sinking into darkness. Slowly sinking, slowly drowning when a hand reached for hers and pulled her out.

 

She coughed, and gasped for air. A white-haired girl stood in front of her, staring down at her with clear golden eyes. Melanie looked up at her and around, beneath her was the green plains—and above—the blue skies.

 

"...Lune?" She cried helplessly. Lune gave her a faint smile and nodded, "It would seem like the end is almost here." Melanie was more confused than ever, not sure if everything was just a dream, or a nightmare.

 

Lune pulled Melanie up and then walked off, with Melanie following behind. Once they reached a small pond, Lune came to a stop and gestured for Melanie to move closer to the pond. Melanie blinked at the reflection of herself at the pond.

 

Messy white hair, tied into a ponytail and tired, weary dull brown orbs. She knelt, looking closer at the water. All the red was long gone from her hair—signifying her imminent death.

 

Is this me?

 

"Yes...." Lune said, taking a seat beside Melanie. She hugged her knees and stared at their reflections. "I'm sorry, Melanie."

 

Melanie, you see a familiar figure staring back at you whereas I find a stranger in which one calls her reflection.

 

"What are you apologizing for?"

 

"It's my fault it came to this. If I never came here, the people, the villages, your family... and perhaps soon... even Sven and yourself..."

 

A moment of silence passed through them with Melanie lost in her thoughts. The bloody sight earlier flashed through her mind, her face darkened.

 

"...Was what I have seen earlier even real?" Melanie said after giving it some thought. She noticed the guilt on Lune's face. She sighed and patted Lune's head. She was unbelievably calm that it came as a shock to Lune and even to herself.

 

"Why aren't you mad? My presence had caused your world to—" Lune frowned, looking like she was going to cry. Melanie smiled and said, "I don't know, I feel like this isn't real. The end just does not seem real to me." Even the pain and all the screaming before was past her now.

 

"Perhaps—it's because I'm dead to begin with—an entity detached from the world," Melanie added, smiling weakly at her own reflection. Lune remained sullen, at loss.

 

"Be strong, Lune. You have to stop it," Melanie said, slowly getting up to her feet. "No one else can."

 

"But I..." Lune said, struggling to get words out. But nothing, if there was nothing she could do, what else can she say?

 

"You can," Melanie spoke in a clear, loud voice, giving Lune a hand. Lune blinked back her tears and looked up at Melanie.

 

"If you truly feel sorry for the lives that were gone, stop it," Melanie added, smiling brightly at her. "Don't worry about anything. Believe in yourself. You can do it." Her words strongly echoed in Lune's mind, Lune reached for Melanie's hand as Melanie pulled her up.

 

Leading Lune by the hand, Melanie walked ahead, "Let's go back, together." Lune nodded, feeling a little nostalgic upon hearing those words.

 

Even though, there is no place that I—

"He's waiting for us."

 

Night fell, lending no solace to the people. In the city of machines, the cold wind blew snow across the city, as if trying to deepen the unending darkness. In the center, lay the last building of defense, Division III. And in a distant, beyond the clanking noises of the machine and the woes of wounded men, lay nothing but darkness. The skies were—as well—nothing but an abyss that was trying to swallow up the city as a whole—an omen that the end was near.

 

Instantly, fleets of machines shot forward, spreading across the city and up into the dark gloomy sky. A loud roar could be heard across the land, and it did cease getting louder and louder. Something big was approaching, something vile and destructive. It was coming. No one will see it coming but Nidhogg was approaching—dawn will never have the chance to fall upon this land. No more.

 

Melanie shot up from her unconscious state. She exhaled and inhaled, trying to understand what it was that she was seeing—mercenaries flooded the city, there were men in uniform everywhere and Sven was.... nowhere to be seen.

 

Where did these people come from? Earlier, there were no people in sight. S..Sven, where is Sven? I need... I need to...

 

She stared at her hands—moving them—as if trying to free herself from the numbness. People moved at a quick pace and no one paid her any attention. Where am I? She thought, looking at the buildings near her.

 

She stood then, on a busy street and there was not a single soul that she recognised. She tried calling out to people but to no avail. "Out of the way! Out of the way!" People dressed in military uniforms hurried across the street, paid her no attention and she was greeted with flailing elbows.

 

Pushed to the side, she rubbed her arms, feeling deeply unsettled. What's going on? She looked up at the skies—fleets of aircraft machines flying in formation—on stand-by. She had rubbed her hands together, in attempts to keep herself warm.

 

Snow continued to pile up.

 

Will anything I do make a difference? You told me to believe in myself, Melanie. But I don't think I am...

 

"If you cannot then, believe in me. For I believe in you."

 

Melanie sighed, "You think too highly of me, Melanie." Then she stood up, walking towards the building in the center, shivering slightly at the cold. "This world won't be holding up much longer."

 

A sudden realisation hit her. Neither will Melanie. She held up her head and hurried towards the center. She would at least let them reunite for one last time before their time was up. Everything else, then, could wait—

 

Before anything else could happen, the world was swallowed up by a blinding, white light.

 

The stopped time was finally moving again.

 

To its predetermined ending.