Ethereal Phantasm

PROLOGUE

THIRD PERSON’S POINT OF VIEW

2056. It was in the middle of the night and everything should be peaceful. The sky should be quiet and everyone should be in a deep sleep by now. Like the usual situation in Earth, everything should be calm and in peace. It should be. But it wasn’t, and will never be.

“Suit yourself, gentlemen. Every great survivors, warriors, and soldiers are commanded to get every human in this world they can as we depart,” PM Liu Feng, the Prime Minister of China, said. Everyone who’s in his side, the current Presidents all over the world, agreed.

Every soldier—air-based, land-based, or sea-based—nodded as they started to do what have been mandated to them. Each leader, including people that represents their nation, of the countries assembled into one building as they started another meeting.

“Are we really sure about this?” the President of United States asked.

PM Feng nodded. “Yes. We already did what we can to stop those extra-terrestrials to colonize our home. We even hid these things to people to prevent panicking. But we can’t just shut now. We need to move.”

Everyone in that room where they are right now nodded, agreeing. But they can’t deny the fact that they felt guilty for everything that’s happening right now.

“But Prime Minister,” the Prime Minister of North Korea, who’ve decided to finally seek peace with the South after decades of conflict, interrupted. “Are those two large spaceships enough to the number of people here on Earth? Remember that it’s not easy to get 8 billion people in two spacecrafts in just a snap.”

PM Feng stopped and looked away. He is not sure. The people who worked hard to build those ships said that only half of the population could fit in the ships.

“When will we depart, Prime Minister?” one of the Presidents questioned. “Is the time enough for us to get all those people? Is the spacecraft enough for us to travel for years into the space? Is it safe?”

"This night, we currently have 10 hours to depart. As long as the captains who’ll control the ships are great, we’ll be seeing no problem,” PM Feng assured. “So, shall we talk about what will happen after this departure?”

An awkward silence suddenly occurred between the leaders. Well, not really silence. From the inclusive building where they are, the panic outside is heard.

“Do you mean the One World Government, Prime Minister?” one of the leaders started. “Since the humans of the Earth are in deep crisis, I think we need to settle ourselves to one man who’ll lead us to the right path.”

Everyone turned to Prime Minister Liu Feng, who plastered a big smile on his face. Then they looked at each other—like they are having the same thoughts. In the end, leaders have decided to let go of their thrown and give it to Prime Minister Liu Feng, without asking humans opinions who are now currently in a deep struggle of striving for survival.

…

Philippines, at 4:56 A.M. Everyone is screaming, crying, and panicking outside a big establishment—an apartment. Inside's a mother who is protecting her daughter from any danger.

"Shh," hush the mother. Her 3-year-old daughter cried even more as they heard the sounds of gun outside.

As the loud sound of catastrophe continues, a blatant thug from their door suddenly occurs.

"Hide here, okay? Sisilipin ko lang kung sino 'yun," her mom commanded. The child nodded as soon as her mother stood up.

Suddenly, the little girl heard a sound of a gun. The fear she felt earlier began to spread even more. She decided to stand up but after remembering what her mother had said, she stayed. Instead, she sneek a peek.

She began to felt numb after seeing her mother—laying down. She's not even sure if it's lifeless. But then she saw two people—a man and a woman—who's helping her mother to get up. They have guns and armored which made her more scared.

"No," the mother insist and pointed at her daughter who is currently hiding under their bed. "Save her, please. Save my Laire."

The couple immediately went under the bed and looked for the child. There, they saw a little girl crying. They rescued the girl and her mother who's already injured. From the mother's side, the girl saw a strange being.

It's a human-like figure but bald. Its skin is a combination of light and dark green. Its opened eyes are wider than a human's average eyes. The girl started to cry again.

The couple tried to get the mother together with them but they can't do it anymore out of danger. Her body is weak and dying, they've got no choice. As they got out of the establishment, they immediately put the little girl to their jet plane together with their two sons.

"Suit yourselves," the man commanded. "Xander, please hold her tight."

"Yes, father," the 7-year-old little boy agreed and guarded the little girl.

"Is that girl the last one we rescued?" the woman asked. The man nodded. "Let's hurry up. Baka mapag-iwanan tayo ng ships."

"Copy, General."

Their plane started but the girl continues her cry. She looked at the boy beside her and his intentional, scary look shut her up. The 5-year-old little boy glared at her.

"Goodness, Jacques. What have you done?" the woman asked, worried. "You are turning into a sociopath again."

The little boy didn't respond. Instead, he smirked secretly and whispered something a norm don't want to hear.

"The end of the world is happening, nice."

…

"Prime Minister Feng, are we really going to leave now?" one of the commander asked. PM Feng nodded without doubt.

The two large spacecrafts just departed successfully after hours of gathering people. That made every human who rode on the ships breathe and feel safe—but not all humans feel the same.

"PM, we only got 3.4 billion humans!" one of the generals exclaimed. "How 'bout the others who are left? We can't just leave them!"

PM Feng suddenly stopped thinking and took a deep sigh. He turned to the big glass where he can see the Earth and shook his head. From there, he saw the agony of the people who are left. Guilt crept inside of him. No one wants this kind of crisis.

Everybody wants peace. Nobody wants war—yet it is still happening because of greed.

PM Feng swallowed and nodded.

"Soon, we're going back," Feng whispered. "We're going to get our home back."