A soft fog covered the city as sounds of joy rang out from its every corner.
It was the Laughter of children
The cries of children, big and small rang out in unison with the flutter of wings.
Filled with joy, soft sunlight streamed through the white clouds of feathers falling from the heavens to the earth in a gentle rain.
Strangely enough, wherever one looked, there was no signs of children anywhere.
Even if one were to roam the white fog, they would only spot the white birds that took flight in a flurry of motion
But still the laughter of children rang true in unison with the flutter of white bird feathers.
That is until they noticed that the white birds weren't alone in their flight.
On the backs of the messengers of white, there were children of all ages, races and genders laughing joyfully upon their white steeds.
Even if those children looked significantly different than them in species, their laughter had no borders.
'Little Angels'
"What are you doing Master?"
A small figure cloaked entirely in black, their face covered in shadow walked through the dense white fog surrounding them.
Facing their Master similarly cloaked in a black that stood in stark contrast to the City's white nature, the Man glanced at the child like figure that reached up halfway to their waist.
Reaching his side, the little figure waited patiently besides the man as he seemed to be lost in thought before finally speaking.
"...I was watching the Birds."
A whisper with a windy undertone.
As if their voice was damaged long ago and only now was it recovering.
"The birds...?" Curiously looking at the white birds, the girl looked at the man. "Do you mean the Little Angels?"
The Man in turn turned fully to face the childlike figure exposing a crow's mask that stared deep into the short figure's shadow covered visage.
Eyes glowing green, they seemed to stare deep into the soul of the girl.
"Stop worrying about them, they've already passed on long ago Master, there's nothing more that you can do for them besides just letting them have their fun."
'Aren't you a child yourself? Why do you speak so maturely?' Wanting to speak but failing to do so, the only words that left his lips was silence.
"..."
"Master? Aren't we supposed to be going to the source hole by now?"
"...That is true."
Rubbing his neck, the Man gave one last glance at the Little Angels sat atop the white birds before speaking softly.
"Let's... go then."
Gesturing for the little girl to follow, the Man slowly walked into the fog surrounding them exposing the weathered stone walls that was previously hidden in the fog.
Feeling its rough surface, the Man stared at the destroyed building that had fully revealed itself within the fog before continuing his walk down the street paved with inlaid stone bricks.
Following close behind the man, the little girl struggled to match the Man's broad steps.
"..."
Glancing back and pausing at the sight, the man nevertheless continued towards the Source Hole albeit with much shorter strides.
Heavy combat boots slapping against the floor, black puddle's mixed in with white and red splotches were the norm.
The red was the blood of those who had once lived here, the white and black on the other hand belonged to something else...
"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH"
Something once human
A feminine screech rang out in the foggy city, a dark shadow moving within the fog as it rushed at the Man and Girl.
Seemingly made of liquid tar, the obsidian colored humanoid figure ran forwards arms outstretched as a black goopy substance flew every with every step that they took.
The black splotches came from people that have Dusted and have since turned into Shackled Spirits.
Grasping at the air with a glove covered hand, a flash of green flitted through the air before the black figure instantly collapsed to the ground as a mound of frothing black liquid.
Shifting and boiling, the painful looking process ended swiftly, evaporating the rest of the black sludge into a white condensation that joined the rest of the fog covering the city.
It was the source of the white puddles on the ground..
Watching the black underneath his feet turn white in real time, in enough time it would evaporate into more of the white fog.
A white fog now covering what was once known as the Capital of a rather prominent Kingdom now only could be known from the annals of history.
'With how much Attachment there is left on the ground, the fog will start to disappear in'
"Forty days..."
"What did you say Master?"
"Nothing of importance"
Still walking forwards as he said that, silently mourning for the dead, he periodically reached out to grasp at the rushing black sludge like figures seemingly dead set on killing them.
These Shackled Spirits soon found proper rest at his hands.
Walking forwards with steady steps, they walked past all sorts of buildings, large and small.
Ranging from humble taverns to large merchant stores, butcher shops to wineries and even Guard Posts and Mercenary Guilds, if there was one commonality to be had...
It would be that they were all empty and broken with signs of negligence prominent along their walls.
'...The War truly took a toll on people's lives.'
Reaching out once more, the black sludge like figure hiding behind the wall collapsed onto the ground before evaporating into white fog.
They continued to walk with the sound of falling bodies.
And with more than a few of the black sludge figures evaporating into fog, they reached their destination
Eradicating another one of the black figures with a gesture of his hands, the Girl spoke up.
"We're here."
Hearing her words, the man turned to look ahead
And suddenly the white fog gave way with a rush of wind
Rolling forwards, the clouds of smoke and mist fell down revealing what was previously unseen in the thick fog.
A giant pit in the middle of the city.
With a gaping black maw with no end, the sides of the pit was coated in white fog that continuously rolled down its side, falling to a bottom that never seemed to appear.
"...The Source Hole"
Spotting one of the main sources of Mana that powered the entire world, the Source Hole, someone else who also had a date with the Source Hole appeared..
"You finally appeared huh? And here I thought someone would have to go find you again." Appearing out of nowhere, an elf with wood brown skin appeared besides the man.
Placing his arm around the Man's shoulder his sharp ended ears twitched, his apple red eyes turned to look at the tiny figure confidently meeting the mans gaze.
She soon shrank behind the man and clung to his cloak when the stare off continued much longer than she would've liked.
"And who is this little one?" Still smiling, the man stared at the little girl hiding behind the Man, eyes moving between the man and the little one.
"Don't tell me you just found her and started to keep her around right?"
The Man nodded.
"Is that so, didn't think you were the type to take care of little ones"
"...and that means?"
"You certainly didn't spare those little ones last I saw..."
Murmuring quietly, the elf smiled mysteriously before he gestured at the Source Hole.
"Anyways, the others are waiting down below for you, it's just you who's left."
"I see..."
"Don't give me an I see, give me action!... Unless you want to leave something for the little one?"
"..."
The Elf smirked "That's all that I need to know, do that then, I'm not going to wait for you."
The Elf walked towards the edge of the Source Hole "Come quickly though, the others are still waiting for you Argo you strangely sentimental man"
"...I understand Tepes"
"Last name? And here I thought we were close enough to be called friends, I only died for you twice Charon." Joking with a flourish, Tepes smiled before stepping off of the edge
Seeing the Elf fall down towards the seemingly endless abyss, the girl hurriedly ran forwards to see his fate only to be greeted by the darkness of the Source hole.
Then she turned to stare at their master who turned to look at her.
Green eyes greeting the shadows, he silently took something from within his overcoat, presenting it to the little girl.
"If... you're in trouble, break it" Handing a small wooden figurine, the girl realised that the figurine bore a striking resemblance to the Goddess of Freedom.
Hurriedly raising her head, the man called Argo Charon disappeared into the bowels of the Source Hole.
It was just Another Day.
+++
Tree that finally caved in and wrote a story that's been on his mind for some time now.
Tree that wishes that he didn't cave in during exams