The Aftermath

The land was desolate. 

His shell protected him from the scorching sun, shining down with a vengeance upon the wrecked remains of a once habitable planet. 

The smoke, taking its last shuddering breaths, was distinguishable through the grey haze that enveloped the planet like a blanket. 

The bombings had obliterated the landscape, and scorched patches of earth peppered throughout the region.

What was foretold had come to pass.

As his beady eyes roved over, taking in his surroundings, he wondered if it could've gone any different. 

He couldn't even bring himself to feel too bad about it. 

After all, they had brought it upon themselves. 

It was humanity's very nature, the need to survive no matter the cost, that lead it to its own doom.

The constant greed, the hunger for power. For more.

It could only take so much before boiling over as they incurred its wrath, and it struck back against centuries of abuse. 

Nature rebelled.

Humans, being unprepared for the vicissitudes of nature, were overwhelmed. 

The fungal infection had been taken care of.

The result left a haunting scenery to behold.

Lost in reverie, he was startled when he felt a slight pressure on his head, light as a feather. 

The first shower of the aftermath. 

The slow drizzle gradually turned into a torrent, and as the ocean began to take over the biome, inch by inch, to salvage what was left, he knew it wasn't over.

At least for his kind and the like.

The ocean would wash away their history from the face of the planet, lost into the deep recesses of the ocean, degrading until it was like it never existed, and that would be the final nail in the coffin. 

Just to start anew. 

Except it was their world now.

Though, there was still some beauty to be perceived if one looked hard enough.

Beauty in the bellow of thunder. Beauty in the monstrous waves crashing against the shores, engulfing any last remains in its vastness. Beauty in the gentle waves caressing his scaly limbs, playful, as if Poseidon himself felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Beauty in the sun starting to peek out from the horizon.

It was bittersweet. 

And to think it had all been for the 'greater good.'

Yes, they had been doomed from the start.

And now, it was time to start all over again.