Radioactive

I’m waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age

The onslaught of pure power was like an unexpected bath in ice water, the essence of water, wind, fire, and earth, coursing through his body as though they were blood. For a moment, the shock almost forced him to his knees, but as the elements merged with his body in tendrils of storm could gray, dark amber, and forest green, he’d never felt stronger.

The lantern fell from his grip as he walked forwards, moving across the air as though it was ground. As it hit the ground and he exhaled, in some part of his mind, he realized that he’d been holding his breath. The Sun Chi Lantern was as of a minute ago untested and he hadn’t expected it to be like this.

The warring armies didn’t pause their attack to look, whether it was from distraction or disrespect was up for debate, but from up here, washed in the brilliant glow emanating from his body, the soldiers looked as fragile as glass automatons. Tiny, frail, and so, so stupid. They just did what they were told, didn’t question how truly stupid this conflict was. They didn’t listen when he’d tried to stop this, but then again, seeing them as they did now, he couldn’t believe that he ever thought they would.

There was a stillness to the air. Stillness and silence, he’d been removed from the world in order to reshape it in his own image, from the inside out. There would be peace and it would start now.

He extended his hand and with a flick of his fingers, the earth split before him. Now that he could see for himself what could be done, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t created the lantern before. Such power, all the elements at his fingertips, all these years it’d been wasted across four vessels. Now, now it rested with somebody who knew how to use it.

The soldiers stared up at him, their faces a mix of awe and terror. For a moment, a brief feeling of discomfort crossed his mind, but he pushed it aside. Before he didn’t know how to handle their attention, but now he did. It was glorious, the eyes of the world on him, filled with reverence. He was their god and they knew it. They knew his true power and knew that their fragile lives rested in the palm of his hand. It was disgusting.

Such weak minded subjects, abandoning their previous goals for the sake of their own survival, but at least they were devout. And to cement his power, he called to the water in their bodies, and said, “Bow,” his voice resonating as if there were many of him, and they knelt before him and veins of black crept across his glowing skin like cracks in marble.