The Fog

That day rained harder than usual. People who were driving cars had no problem going through the rain, but for those who were riding motorcycles, bikes, or even walking, they needed to find temporary shelter from the harsh rain. This rain really was an unexpected phenomenon for many people because the weather report we received in the morning indicated it would be sunny around my area. Well, the sun did appear for the first 6 hours of the day. After that, dark clouds started to gather.

It was 1 pm, and people had just finished having lunch, including me, who had just finished eating my sandwich on the 20th floor of my office, the Delta Tower. As I was tidying up my desk and about to put my lunchbox inside my bag, I caught a glimpse of something outside the window. Fogs were setting in, thick ones at that. Even in my years, I've never seen fog build up during the rainy season, no matter how bad the rain was. Some thoughts crossed my mind: Why is it so foggy today? Isn't this fog a bit too high from the ground? I thought only in mountains that fog got up this high. My coworkers seemed to think the same thing too.

"What's up with this fog?"

"Why is it so dense?"

"Something ain't right about this."

"I can't see anything through this fog."

"This sure looks scary."

Those were said by my coworkers. There was a lot of commotion in the office regarding this weird phenomenon, but I'm pretty sure we were all thinking and saying the same thing about this fog. As I was staring at this sea of eerie smoke, a thought appeared in my mind: The thickness of this fog, it almost looks like a smokescreen from those ninja movies. Almost feels like there is something hiding in it.

"It would be scary if suddenly something would appear out of the blue," I said in a low, almost concerning whisper. It felt like a whisper, but apparently, it was loud enough that those near me kind a heard it. I know I said something that sounded like a bad omen, but I didn't mean anything by it. I don't know if you could call this karma or a granted wish, because as soon as I said that, lo and behold there it is. Something I can't quite put my finger on, something that shouldn't be outside of the 20th floor of a skyscraper, this thing that I saw should've been inside with us or somewhere else where people should be.

There is a man, standing, among the sea of fog.

Huh...? I thought, eyes wide open.

I froze. It felt like an eternity, dumbstruck, trying to figure out what I am seeing with my own two eyes. I looked around the room at everyone, looking for some sort of affirmation of what is out there, other than the sea of fog. To my surprise, everyone was more concerned about the deep sea of fog-like cloud in front of them than what is actually in it.

I put my hand on my forehead. "Have I been working too much? Is this...the pinnacle of what stress can do to one's mind?" I thought to myself. I rubbed my eyes, shook my head, slapped my cheeks a few times to make sure I'm still in reality and my mind isn't playing tricks on me. I opened my eyes, hoping that the figure of the man had disappeared.

It had not.

When the figure appeared, he looked like he was watching something else. The more I looked at him, the more details I seemed to make out on what he looked like. He's tall, about 185 cm tall, has long black hair. By the looks of things, he has a good build too, and on top of his head is the most eye-catching part. What is that? Is that a horn? An antenna maybe? Like that of an insect. He's also wearing some sort of robe or is that a cape perhaps? Either way, the color looks mesmerizing in itself, with a combination of navy and gold. I think I saw other colors in there as well but can't quite figure out what it is due to the thickness of the fog, limiting visibility. The sight of what is in front of me is so bizarre that I didn't realize it sooner that he's standing mid-air. To be precise, he's actually floating in the fog, and the fog on which he stands is the only one that is crackling with electricity, almost like a thundercloud. People around me don't seem to notice it because when I ask my coworkers, their reply was:

"What are you on about?"

"Bro, you are tripping. This is not a shonen manga series."

"A what now?"

"Huh?"

Some were confused, some said that I must be crazy. Either way, this specific sight is something that only I can see, apparently. The emotions I was feeling were all over the place like confusion, excitement, fear, awe, worry, and many others mixed together. I kept pondering, looking down with my finger tapping on my forehead.

Oh, dear God, no way. There's no way this is real. This is not happening. I'm going crazy. I've been handling too many projects, haven't I? That's why I'm seeing this now, it's also because of those sleepless nights that I'm starting to see hallucinations out of thin air. I should probably drink more water, yeah, good idea. It's probably because I'm dehy- something stopped me mid-thought. I was about to turn around and get some water, but the thought ceased to exist. As I was about to turn, I looked through the window first and something changed.

He's looking at me.

The strange man is looking at me. I can feel his gaze. It's almost like he's staring into my very soul. Chills ran down my spine, my heart rate went 100 bpm, my hands and feet are shaking, I'm terrified. He wants something from me, I don't know what, but the way he's staring at me, it's as if a scientist analyzing his subject with such curiosity.

I can't move, my body won't listen to me. This is it. I'm going to die. The thought of dying kept appearing in my mind, and I could see my life flashing before my very eyes. It won't stop until something else disturbed it.

"Mortal, thou art a perfect vessel."

WTF?! That voice just now, did it just appear in my head?! What is that strange voice? It sounds distorted. Why is he smiling like that? Is this some kind of sick joke to him?

The strange man now turned his body toward the office window. He's facing me, I staggered backward, terrified. Not long after that, suddenly his cloak/cape/robe started to move. The movement of those fabrics is not normal. I thought for a second that it moved because of the wind, but this was different. The thing that I thought was his cloak/cape/robe was none of those at all. It's opening, and it's getting wider.

It's his wings.

They're big. His wings resemble those of a butterfly, with patterns and coloration that are so mesmerizing they could put someone in a hypnotic state just by looking at them. I was looking at them, and as soon as I saw them, the light in my office began to flicker at an alarming speed. I could also feel that the whole building began to shake. I lost my balance because of it. But strangely, everyone else seems to be unaffected by it. No one seems to be bothered by the potential earthquake that is currently happening. No, wait, something's not right. It's not that they're not affected by the shaking of the building; they're not moving. As if time were frozen on them. In a panicked and confused state, my eyes were locked into those patterns on his wings once more.

My vision is becoming blurrier by the minute. Everything around me is distorted: the walls, glass, and even the floors are crumbling. As they crumble, I saw rain seep in, and everyone other than me that came in contact with the rain, dissolved. Truly, a terrifying sight to behold. I didn't even have the time to think or react, and without me realizing, I'm already floating in the air, as everything around me is destroyed. My consciousness is fading. Before I lost my consciousness, I caught a glimpse of something. A scene befitting the term "Apocalypse". I saw the strange man flying in midair, the whole city behind him is destroyed, and there were 5 giant tornadoes circling behind him. My mind couldn't even comprehend what is going, and because of that, everything suddenly went dark.

I lost consciousness.