Song is Judgement Day by Kathy Mar. Songfic is result of staying up too late and then listening to filk as I fall asleep. The mind is a crazy thing.
People striving in vain
going quickly insane
though the nightmares remain
of a world blown away.
Three armies wait in the field in the dim light before dawn, waiting for orders. This is the end of the world, everyone knows that. Nothing will ever be the same again. The sun rises over the horizon, illuminating the scene below
Still you try to break free
of the torment to be.
Every nation must see
what's beyond judgement day.
Things have come to a head. Conflicts between the three powers in the world have come to this, a final meeting. The dragons pace to one side, waiting. Ever waiting. The mazoku sit calmly in their area, though occasional teleports betrays their anxiety. Humans sleep in their assigned lines, trying to get some sleep. Several soldiers are jolted from their naps as the dawn light spills across the field into their eyes.
As the earth goes to hell,
poisoned oceans foretell
of a global death knell
and the end of our way.
Filia stared out over the battlefield, eternally worried. Her people, the most powerful of all the dragons, covered the grounds, unintentionally showing their worries to all. Those damn mazoku!, she thought angrily, if only they hadn't tried to "balance the scales" after two of their most powerful died, this wouldn't have happened! and that wasn't even our fault, but theirs! She squinted in the new morning sun, suddenly bright.
All the tech on our side
can't avert the landslide
of leaders who lied
to deny judgement day.
Xelloss frowned as he surveyed the scene below him, eyes open to see everything. He levitated above the small army of the mazoku. His small army. Frowning deeper, he thought sharply of the circumstances that gave him this undesired duty. We mazoku finally get an army together after those dragons killed off Dynast as their way of "balancing the sides" and then we find we have no one to lead! Gaav was the one who had always lead this army, whenever we weren't fighting amongst each other, but he was dead now. Zellas didn't want this sort of responsibility, so she passed it off to me. Deep Sea, she's just... too insane to consider, even for a mazoku. And thus this burden was passed to ME, Xelloss briefly smiled at the thought, Me, a subordinate, although a powerful one. What's the world coming to? He stared at the field below, analyzing the situation better in the light of the rising sun.
What is human and who gets to say?
Is it knowing the value of life?
If you kill are you better then they,
and if not, what's the point of the strife?
Amelia wil tesla Sairuun, leader of the human army, awoke suddenly as her maid opened the doorflap of the tent to let the morning light in. She sat up in bed and stared out over her army. If only Daddy was here... But he was dead, killed by an assassin. In plain sight even. And then that scoundrel TELEPORTED away! Obviously not a human. And then, then, after the leadership of Sairuun was suddenly dumped on me, all the other rulers asked me to lead this fight against the mazoku. A stupid fight that will kill too many. Amelia rose from her bed and stepped out into the morning light.
This whole nightmare began
through the blindness of man,
racing on with no plan
and unwilling to pay.
Lina Inverse sat on a rock outcropping near the human encampment, unable to sleep. She has been given an indescribable burden. As the most powerful sorceress, the sorcerers guild had asked her to start the battle. With a Dragonslave. But... on which army? Lina stood quickly as light came into the sky and lit the scene below.
And out there all unseen,
people liquid and mean,
every killer machine,
rides towards judgement day,
It was the preordained time to start the battle. The dragons stopped fidgeting and some took to the sky. Several mazoku teleported in, called by an unheard signal. The humans woke and got in their lines, with the sorcerers in front. Shields were put up to prevent spells from getting through, especially the initial one. After all, who was to start the battle and what spell she would be using was well known, but no one knew who exactly would be targeted. Every eye was on the petite sorceress who stepped out into the middle of the field, shown clear in the new day's light.
What is human and who gets to say?
Is it knowing the value of life?
If you kill are you better then they,
and if not, what's the point of the strife?
Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme, had a very difficult choice. What side to attack, the dragons, the mazoku, or even... even the humans? No, not the humans, Lina decided quickly, too many friends are in those ranks. But... I have friends in both the dragons and mazoku... Spinning slowly, she considered her choices, suddenly too clear in the light of the morn.
When the century's done,
will we find we have won
every daughter and son,
free to live as they may?
The mazoku were the obvious choice. They were chaotic, desiring to destroy the world, but still... They also protected this world from the forces in other worlds who tried to destroy it, as Xelloss had shown with Darkstar. Even if their purpose was to destroy, they also had interest in our world. Xelloss would hate it if he had no one to annoy... But would the world be better without them? The sun came suddenly bright into her eyes and she turned again.
Will the old beat the new?
Will we learn what to do
to live on and renew
and reclaim the new day?
The dragons were the protectors, the peacekeepers. They chose to fight to stop the destroyers. But they also could go too far in their protection. Did they not exterminate a whole species of their own kind to "protect" this world on the basis of all too few facts? If they come into power... they were all too likely to just wrap us humans up and deny any actions that would put any of us in danger. Was that what was needed to protect the world, stagnation? But the dragons would not destroy us... Lina stared straight up, hoping for help in this choice in this new day's light.
Will we chose the right side,
before all life has died,
only you can decide,
this is your judgement day.
Of course! That's who to choose! Lina brightened as she decided and began to chant, hands gathering in the light of the new day, "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."