Learning is done through failure. The human race can only learn through the shared experience of true failure—total defeat.

  -The last human before ascension

  Reports indicated a large cube levitating near the top of the tallest building in a city touching the seed. The average estimated time since the search started until now had been roughly four-hundred years. Lower extremes indicated that the search had gone on for only a couple of years (these reports mainly came from the generals personnel and was based on feel). The higher extremes indicated were measured by a variety of sources whose reliability varies greatly from source to source, but the general estimate was five thousand-three hundred-eighty-two years. The remnants of a bridge that protruded from the crumbling city acted as the landing port for the general's army. However long ago his army was only forty, now, his army is fifty-thousand strong. Shadows stood like statues in front of the bright, blinding light of the seed. Its twisting dark purple and white hues ominously watched the army assemble. Scouts had been sent to cross the bridge and identify the shadows as well as any other possible unwanted dangers, though they hadn’t returned yet and time was nearly up. Unverified reports from soldiers and other military personnel on the bridge reported movement amidst the shadows. The general was assembling the five brigades necessary for this mission. The plan was simple. Create or find a path through the city. Investigate the cube to truly show that it cannot be New Jerusalem. The General's heart had only recently begun to skip a beat at the thought. He had seen the cube when approaching the bridge in his ship. If only he had the helicopters from his time but that wouldn’t work either. The stories of how the seed would open up to let the believers into New Jerusalem protruded into his mind. The close proximity of the cube made him question whether it was a coincidence or not. The general began to search for a reason as to why it couldn’t be, but he was suddenly torn from his thoughts after hearing the mention of ‘Ares’ from one of his soldiers. The general walked past his army to the end of the bridge carefully watching space. Supposedly ‘Ares’ was sending soldiers to assist with the mission. The name didn’t seem to have echoed through time as no matter who was asked no one ever knew. Of course some spoke of the mythical Ares, the god of war, but never a living individual. Regardless of who they were, the general was reluctant to accept. Regardless of an offer or his decision, they were coming. Regardless of who they were, more soldiers could be beneficial. Suddenly, glint from the seed reflected off of the wing of a ship that was approaching for a landing on the other side of the road. The general pointed his rifle at it and tracked it perfectly. Refusal was possible. His metal finger remained on the trigger.

  The ship had landed on the opposing side of the road before opening the appropriate side panel lifting the ship's wing into the air with it.. Around fifty soldiers exited the blocky middle portion of the ship and entered formation. The ship left the soldiers to the general's care. The general stepped in front of the unofficially gifted militia and assessed their gear. They all wore white armor with green visors with subtle hints of dark red. The most prominent feature was a dark red crescent symbol on the right side of the helmet. They all looked the same, but their soldiers could be divided and identified proportionally by their weapons. Ten carried triple barreled shotguns with scopes and a transforming mechanism to turn the weapon into one capable of powerful long range shots. The next ten had snipers with barbed spears mounted to the side of the barrel which was connected by a metal string to a large pulley system attached to their backs. Another ten carried large multi gallon containers on their backs that attached to their long blunderbuss shaped flamethrowers. The following ten carried miniature targeting missiles for a portable missile launcher. The last ten carried nets and landmines. Good. Nothing that can harm me. The general assessed. He felt secure in his metal casing. “Can you tell me who Ares is?” he inquired only to end up with silence. One unaccounted for soldier came around the side of the rest of the group. This one was different. They were shorter. The shorter of the other Ares soldiers saluted with one hand while holding a small atomic bomb in the other hand almost as if it were an offer, their answer. Coldly and mechanically, “At your service my…general,” exited their mouth. The general knew the pause was intentional. The general’s confidence remained mostly intact despite this new potential threat. He hadn’t considered he might be faced with an atomic threat.

  He simply added two of each type of unit to his five brigades before getting into his position in front of the army. The odd, short atomic wielding one would march beside him, both as a show of power and due to suspicion. Slowly, they began to march across the bridge. The army maintained position throughout only stretching apart and compressing around debris and cars. Their rhythmic stomps haunted them across the bridge drowning out the subtle crunches of broken glass and other ancient materials. As they approached, more and more of the light from the seed began to be blocked out by the concrete towers revealing weathered details in their silhouettes. Then there was the smell. It creeped up like fog and surrounded the army. Wretched odors of the past suffocated the army: burnt iron, sulfur, and ash. The general searched the scene as more and more details unraveled before him for one of the statue silhouettes. He saw one standing under a streetlight. Yes, they were truly human-like, just as the reports had said. Though, something was off. The general strained a muscle around his eyes and the metal vessel he inhabited responded by enhancing his vision like binoculars. The dark skull seemed to be facing the seed. Something about the jaw was off it seemed to droop down more than normal. The head began to tilt back revealing dark, skeletal eye sockets to the general almost as though it looked into his eyes and as if the spine had grown too tired to carry it, but then suddenly, quickly it jerked back into position. Showing no sign of fear of it, the general reversed his eye muscle movement and returned his vision to normal. The uneasiness that had wormed its way into the general's chest began to inflate. He didn’t believe the city—New Jerusalem—was real. He wanted to dig into the seed to disprove its existence. He wanted to search this fractured realm to disprove it. But he never wanted to find it. It might not be it. He tried to comfort himself, but the unease was not yet quelled. Finally, they were at the end of the bridge.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The city stood before them like the mouth of a great beast. Documents, posters, more broken glass, debris, and ash covered the roads. The rays of light came down from the seed in endless volleys lighting up the otherwise dark city. Three blocks down that same shadowy creature stood exactly the same way as before, no longer a shadow, yet still looking the part, it was bathed in light.The general marched on until the shadow was only ten feet away. The soldiers had already blocked off the side alleys behind them ensuring this interrogation would be left uninterrupted. The general commanded the Ares soldiers in the brigade directly behind him to assess the threat level of the light-shadow. They encircled the shadow, and the general encircled them. He watched the husk closely. Its wide open jaw. Its tall yet frail stature. Its skin was dark and leathery, with an appearance of being melted onto the bone underneath. Its limbs refused to be proportional resulting in some exposed bone as it tore through the surrounding skin. It slowly began to shift to its left. It leaned and leaned until it was about to fall before jerking its leg to catch itself. Its head followed its body in the motion, still staring at the seed, resulting in its neck releasing a loud crack leaving the skull partially attached. Yet it still stood. The Ares soldiers tensed up. Do they kill it now? Is this a sign of aggression? Shouldn’t it be dead? One of the soldiers shot their net around it. “General, I suggest we move the camp from the start of the bridge to the end so they can research this… thing.” The general nodded in approval of the suggestion and sent a messenger back with the Ares soldier who carried the thing with him. The general had his army fall back into formation and he continued the march. The roads were desolate besides a couple of cars here and there. The side roads and alleys were dark, the light from the seed blocked out by the tall concrete towers. Remnants of shops lined the streets. Their windows shattered and the goods were taken or destroyed long ago. The city felt dark yet light, claustrophobic yet open, despite the suffocating dread the general felt. The march was once again a rhythmic chant of stomps.

  The march went on deep into the city. The starting camp, now at the end of the bridge, looked tiny in the distance. The general turned right at an intersection and the army followed. He stopped. The general saw one of the light-shadows crawling on the floor. His chest had collapsed due to what appeared to be tires. The general looked around. He turned and faced the army. “We might not be alone. If you see movement, notify me.” The warning and instructions came out coldly, his voice muffled by his metal helmet. His army didn’t have the luxury of the general or the Ares army. The general continued the march in the new direction avoiding the crawling light-shadow, and his army followed. Early attempts to reach the cube consisted of underprepared expeditions and risky skydiving missions. No one knows what happened to the expeditionists. Generally, they got lost due to events that evidently failed to match the environment before reports cut out for good. The skydiving missions seemed to go fine before the vehicle would lose power and crash. There was a high altitude attempt where the skydiver fell from an extraordinary height, though no one knows how it ended either. Then there were his scouts. . . .

  Based off the report, the cube was near. The mission had been surprisingly… simple. Eerily simple. If that truly was the cube, which it most likely wasn’t, would salvation truly be so easy? The general argued no! It added to the list of reasons why it couldn’t be the cube, but… he had to be sure. Just then, the storm began. Dark clouds formed around the cube. The clouds raveled into and out of sight repeating the movement as though disintegrating to the seed and reforming out of might. Lighting struck down in a rhythm complimenting the march with the inclusion of some outlier strikes. Random bursts of lighting would approach the ground, split and strike 10 times in a large area simultaneously. The general continued the march. Strong winds approached from the cube and rain followed as its companion. Lighting would occasionally strike near the army. Yet the march continued. The thunder drummed in the background. Several lighting bolts split their bolts and struck the army. Thirty died from the first wave. The second set killed 40. The general realized he couldn’t continue like this, so he split up the army even more and instructed them to take shelter in some nearby buildings. The building the general went into was an apartment building with a bakery on the first floor. The little food that was present was spoiled. The army had begun digging holes in the walls to connect to the rest of the army. The short Ares soldier was instructed to go with him so the general could ensure that the atomic bomb wasn’t set off. The thunder stopped for a moment before a loud burst of it erupted in the distance. Moments later, the power came on in various spots around the city. The interior bakery had an oddly comforting feel to it despite the crampedness. Behind the still broken counter a mangled old woman rose. Her body had the characteristics of a light shadow but she had her eyes, she had her hair, and her skin wasn’t leathery. She was human. The lights flickered off for a moment and the husk came out again only to hide when the light came on again. He looked out the window and saw thousands of ex-light shadows crawl onto the street excited to have been reborn.

  The general spiraled into thought. It's what they predicted: life after death. Could they be right? If I’m wrong what is going to happen to me? He looked back on his life and saw signs. Signs of god's trials. Will he damned for all eternity? They said it was never too late. They always said that. Could someone like him truly be saved? These worries swirled in his stomach. He remembered the god that destroyed Earth, the first god in history came to know him. They thought it was the other god, the one in that cube, supposedly. They were wrong. Coincidences. Coincidences the general reminded himself. The general pushed his way through and stepped into the rain. He faced the cube raising his hands and calling out: “You are a fraud! You exist in belief solely by irrational argument and the frequency illusion! You cannot stop me! You don’t exist!” The general breathed heavily gasping for air. He stood up straight once more. He was about to turn when suddenly dozens of lighting bolts hit his metal casing. He easily survived. “Is that all of you’ve got?!” the general called out. In a quick, almost retort-like manner, the ground trembled sending a building onto the general burying him under layers of concrete and steel.