Epilogue: To Love and Be Loved

  Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness.

  A broken window and a door without a handle.

  A dying scream.

  Darkness, darkness, darkness.

  But beyond the darkness, there was light, even if only a spark, and...

  ——

  The hardest thing was always letting go of something good.

  But it was necessary.

  Heather and Sylvester parted as naturally as they had come together, returning to their human forms. Or, at least, what could be called human. In any case, they returned to the real world just outside the base, in time to see the being finish dying before them, with the darkened and empty horizon as the backdrop—or perhaps like a star whose light reached Earth many, many years after it had burned out.

  In other words, it could be that the creature had already died, and they were merely watching its light fade.

  Either way, it was done.

  It was finally over.

  Sylvester had come to understand many things during the brief time he was one with Heather, having ascended to the level of the being that had threatened the existence of countless universes—a god playing with ordinary living beings as if they were ants. Naturally, he had learned much.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Among these realizations was the fact that eighty percent of their world had vanished, along with most of its human and animal life.

  A rather Pyrrhic victory at best—but a victory nonetheless.

  Sylvester was not happy. It would take him a long time to feel happiness again. But he was satisfied. And calm, at peace.

  That was much more than most people could ask for.

  Both the dead and those who remained.

  Portals were scattered across the void like tear-streaked scars. Everywhere—above, below, and all around the creature's corpse. They almost seemed ready to devour it. Sylvester supposed he should care about how the evacuation efforts had gone, how many of the remaining twenty percent of the world’s population had been saved.

  But he didn’t care, and he felt neither guilt nor self-recrimination at that thought. Peace.

  One of the many things he had understood in that small, perfect eternity was himself.

  He felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders—in more ways than one. And now, without the need to keep fighting, sweating, bleeding, and crying for others, now that all his responsibilities were gone, now that he could choose what he wanted to do instead of what he had to do—what would happen now?

  Floating in the air on wings of pure white, Sylvester turned his head to look at Heather just as she chose to do the same. They had been one, a single being of energy. But had they truly separated? He wasn’t so sure. The man smiled.

  “I thought I’d never see your face again,” Heather said, tears glistening in her eyes.

  “I thought I’d never hear your voice. This is a victory, even if it doesn’t feel like one. We’ve won, Heather.” The name of love, he thought. Sweet is the light, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun, he thought. “We’re free.”

  “It’s true.” Heather reached out to caress his face. “You don’t have to fight anymore. So, what are you going to do now that you can make your own choices? Now that you owe nothing to anyone?”

  Sylvester didn’t have to think about it. He had already decided before crossing the portal to the final battle.

  “I’m going to find out who I am.”

  Sylvester knelt. Not the most natural posture, hovering in midair, but he did it anyway. He reached out and took one of her hands in his, stroking it gently, bowing his head like a knight about to be crowned, submitting to the will of his queen.

  It’s a shame I don’t have a ring.

  “Will you marry me?”

  THE END