Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Of Shadows and Dust: The Story of Kyrie ❯ The Dark World ( Prologue )

* = Author's Notes

Italic words are thoughts from the noted character or voices in their heads.

Disclaimer: I do not own Esper or Cetra as they are ideas owned by Square. If you see any need for further disclaimers, email me at Mriccardo781@aol.com ASAP. I have no desire to be sued for my material, my only desire is to entertain you so please R&R and/or email me with comments and concerns.

Prologue: The Dark World

A dark storm began to descend upon the city. It was the most advanced city of the time, with nearly 2 million citizens. But these storms always seemed to ravage the city weekly. The population would have to once again hide below ground and hope that the damage was not severe. It never really was, and the people probably didn't have to hide from it, but it is hard to simply ignore 2000 years of good instinct.

In the year 2850, what was thought to be impossible became true… WWIII. The United States spanned the entirety of North and South America as well as many Pacific Islands and parts of Africa. The new German Empire, The Fourth Reich, managed to overtake all of Europe, Africa, parts of Asia and parts of Australia. While the Empire of the Sun, owned the majority of Asia. It was a three-way war started over the revival of Imperialism, and Japan was winning the war. In a last ditch effort to survive; the Fourth Reich unleashed its nuclear arsenal against the other two empires. The resultant counterstrikes ravaged the world and over 6 billion people lost their lives from the blasts, and from the fallout that was inevitable.

The Nuclear Winter hit hard. Millions of survivors lost their lives to the myriad of diseases that sprang forth as a result of the radiation. Riots over dwindling food supplies and drinkable water took even more of a toll upon the population. Mankind struggled to survive though the frozen winters and the only somewhat warmer summers. Dread Storms ravaged the world again and again. These storms created winds of over 200mph and frequently dumped huge amounts of contaminated rain. The sky during these storms was so dark, you could seen little but swirling fields of blackness that seemed to form twisted faces in agony and death's heads screaming in torment. The winds howled fiercely and sometimes… just sometimes… the sky itself sounded as if it was moaning in pain and torment. Some say that these storms are the planet's nightmares and tortures made reality. The people learned to hide underground during such storms, in fear of being maimed by flying debris or driven mad by the cries of the tormented skies.

2000 years later, the Nuclear Winter was finally beginning to ease, but people were still afraid of the Dread Storms. Now as civilization was being rebuilt, the old fears simply would not die. However, there was one young girl among the populace of Neo Los Angeles that didn't fear the storms, they instead intrigued her.

As the storm began to settle over the town and the madness that was the sky twisted in its insane show, she stared though the window in awe. There was no rain this time, but the winds began to quicken and the sky moaned in pain, the sound echoing like thunder across the abandoned streets. It sent shivers up her spine and caused gooseflesh to manifest all over her body. In her heart she felt an ache, almost as if she felt the planet's misery. It was the first time she ever felt this, and it was scaring her. Her name was Okani Kyrie.

She stood only 5' 2" tall and weighted and unbelievable 70 lbs soaking wet. She wasn't anorexic by any means, bearing an almost perfect figure with a bust that lay somewhere in the upper side of the C category. Her skin was somewhat pale but flawless. Her hair has an almost crystalline feel to it, ebony black and reaching down to her backside. Her bangs were also long but not nearly, curving around her face and stopping below the chin. She kept her hair tied back with a thin dark blue ribbon that trailed along the length of it ending halfway to the tips. Most striking were her eyes. Although it was obvious she was Japanese, her eyes only hinted her heritage. Their color was a beautiful blue seen only in the purest Star Sapphires, and they seemed to give off their own light. She wore blue jean shorts reaching about mid thigh, and a black t-shirt without any writing that left her midriff exposed. She didn't wear socks but wore high top sneakers that were also black.

Kyrie always knew she was different. At age 12, she accidentally knocked over a bookshelf in the library. She had fallen to the ground and the shelf was falling at her. It would have easily crushed her petite body, and she knew it. In fear she threw her arms over her face and screamed, "No!" Suddenly, the bookshelf stopped falling. She peeked out from behind her arms seeing the bookshelf at an angle nearly 60 degrees off of the vertical with books hanging out of it apparently falling, but nothing was moving as if it was frozen in time. Quickly she scrambled out from under it and leaned against the wall in a sitting position. The shelf remained suspended for another 20 seconds before it fell over at last.

After that incident, she began to experiment with her newfound ability. She learned to control it with a lot of practice. At first she could only move small light objects with her mind, but she graduated quickly to mentally rearranging her furniture. She could literally lift tons with her mind, although she couldn't even lift her own weight with her arms. Mentally, she realized she was quite powerful. But physically, she was very weak and fragile.

During her training, she discovered she had other talents as well. She accidentally started a fire in her apartment after throwing a fit of rage over her performance, but somehow managed to extinguish it with the same mental energy. Fire and then Ice. She practiced with that ability as well and eventually learned that she could control all four of the primary elements; Wind, Water, Earth and Fire. Mixing them, she discovered other powers; creating electrical energy, healing wounds suffered, and cleansing diseases. She learned that she could even manipulate gravity and time itself to a degree. All the while wondering just where she gained such interesting powers.

Now, at age 16 (but just barely 16) she began to feel the torment of the planet in her heart.

"What am I!" she screamed out as tears began to stream down her face. She felt the misery the world suffered throughout the centuries, emanating from the vicious storm that whipped though the city. Inwardly, she felt as if she were somehow impure, like the world, finally dropping to her knees and sobbing. As she did so, the twisted faces and apparitions within the Dread Storm began to fade away. The moans that were once prominent and whispers of torment were dying off, being replaced by a low rumble of thunder. Then, at last, the rain began to fall. Little did this young woman know, but this would be the last time in history that a Dread Storm had occurred.

As the weather changed, she looked out the window again, seeing the final change in the storm. The pain she felt was gone and her body sighed in relief. She had watched many such storms in the past but never did they affect her like this. And never once did they change into normal thunderstorms.

Kyrie stared out the window as she unconsciously fiddled with the pendant worn on her silver chain. The pendant was a small crystal slightly larger than a fingernail, and clear, but sometimes it glowed blue. It was an interesting curiosity left by her long dead mother, a mother she never knew.

As she wiped away her tears one her left hand, she felt a deep determination growing inside her. "One day, I'll find out what I am. Even if it takes a lifetime."

It would only take Kyrie 5 days to learn what she truly is. And it was a truth would change her… forever.

*End of Prologue

*Next Chapter: Tragedy strikes, and Kyrie's trauma only unleashes more chaos…