During the next year, my life went on as usual. At least from the outside.
I continued to work hard on my farm, and grew further and further away from my mother.
My father... Well, he still cared for me, but my mother's words seemed to be getting him.
No matter how much time passed, they never seemed to forget about what happened that day.
Deep down, I think they both believed that I was cursed.
They didn't speak to each other anymore, unless it was necessary to keep the house going.
I couldn't stand the atmosphere, so I found myself spending more and more time with Ivy.
Ever since the day she killed me, I was always on edge around her. Yet she was my friend.
She would often tell me about the state of the word. Information she would learn from the church pilgrims, who's jobs it was to travel the world and spread the word of the Allfather.
It seemed that the Forever Empire were expecting another wave of the apocalypse to start soon.
They knew not when it would come, or how long it was last. Only that it would come soon. The 'signs' were apparently showing.
Humans had started to prepare themselves. The Empires forces had started to spread throughout the world, travelling to each settlement to make sure that they had enough defences.
Being furthest from the center of the world meant that we would receive reinforcements last.
This wasn't a problem. They would arrive before the expected time of the apocalypse.
...
One a cold night, me and Ivy travelled out to the black sea.
Ever since travelling there a year ago to wash ourselves of the blood, it was as though we had grown a connection to the place.
We were both twelve years old now, and we had been friends since we were eight. We were each others closest companions, and spend most of our free time together, despite some of our disagreements.
"Will you miss me when I go, Leox?" She said suddenly, as we arrived at the black sands.
For a moment, it sounded like she was planning to die. I knew what she was talking about though.
When a child of the church became a teenager, they would travel to a Greater Church, located in one of the capital cities of the Fourth World. There, they would spend three years in training to become a Holy Angelite, until they reached sixteen, the age of adulthood.
I shrugged my shoulders as we sat on the grass and stared out at the sea.
"I'll miss you, but that's not important. What's important is your training. Becoming a Holy Angelite is a big step in your life."
"..."
Ivy pinched my cheek as if I were a baby. I frowned and brushed her hand away.
"Aww, look how sweet you are." She teased me playfully.
Silence followed afterwards for a moments as we enjoyed the scenery. Eventually the silence was broken.
"You know Leox, you can come too."
"Come where?"
"To the capital city."
"Pfftt."
"Whatt? I'm being serious."
I knew what Ivy was hinting at. Over the past year, she had still constantly hinted at the possibility of my awakening.
It was true that I had become some what of a physician specimen. For some reason, I was taller than my mother and father, despite being only twelve. My work on the farm had also helped me develop muscles, despite having only started pubity.
But strength wasn't enough to awaken. You needed knowledge and wisdom as well.
"If I awaken, then there's something wrong with this world." I laughed.
Ivy squinted her eyes are me. "I thought we already knew this?"
After sharing the joke, we watched the set beneath the horizon of the sea.
But then, a sound came. From the water. A faint splashing sound followed by a ripple in the water travelling towards the shore.
Neither of us could believe it. The fishes and sea creatures had stopped swimming the seas a few weeks ago. It was one of the common signs of the apocalypse arrival.
Ivy leapt to her feet, a look of joy on her face.
"A fish! It's a fish! The empire was wrong, the apocalypse isn't here!"
She rushed over to the sea towards the approaching ripple.
As I watched her run, I couldn't help but feel something strange resting in my heart. It felt like something was wrong.
"Ivy, wait!" I called out, but the woman didn't listen.
She knelt by the water and waited for the approaching ripple. I pushed myself to my feet, and swiftly started to make my way over to her.
Unfortunately, I was slower than the ripple. It reached Ivy faster than I had.
I watched as something leapt from the water. Even now I have trouble describing what it was.
Perhaps it could have been described as a fish. It had the body of one after all, though it was green and covered in black goo.
The 'fish' had 'legs' attached to it's body. Four legs that looked like sticks, each bent at a wrong length, twitching as if they had a mind of their own.
From the side of the creatures body was what looked like a human head, half grown into the fishes flesh. It was bloated, and the skin stretched and split disgustingly.
Most frightening was the fact that this grotesque beast was bigger than Ivy herself.
Before she could react, the fish opened it's mouth.
I tried to react too, but what could I do? I was just Leox, the Unawakened twelve year old.
The fish chomped down, pulled it's back quickly, and then swallowed.
Ivy remained still, unable to process what had just happened.
Then she looked down at her hand. All of the flesh was missing, leaving only the skeleton of her limb. The womb wasn't even bleeding, as though it had been sucked dry.
Finally she screamed.
The fish stood there on its mishappen legs, continuing to swallow its meal.
I stood there, filling with fear that felt uncontainable.
But above all else, I felt rage. Rage at the world for what it had done to my only friend.
The Apocalypse was here.