[Epilogue] |
The essence of space parted naturally as something reached out to it. The Weave split apart on its own, as if it had waited all along for his return. Dark clouds and heavy downpours plagued the citizens of the empire for months. The storms hadn’t moved and clung to the densely grown Aether streams, fighting the Weather Mages fiercely.
But they scattered in swift, frightened arcs, unveiling the sprawls of the eternal city. It had emerged in the days of the Final Cycle and had grown ever since, developing into a city so vast it swallowed the horizon. It pulsed with life, woven into the very essence of the planet it was built upon, and he could sense all of it as he stepped forward.
David emerged, his clothes torn, his body covered in wounds that could not be healed even by the Ancient Gods of Life. How did he know that? Well, he had his ways. He spread his perception and listened to the bustling life of the city down below. He listened as the voices reached him, weaving together into something much greater than sound. David could feel their voices. They stirred his heart and resonated with the Corrupted Divine Heart. The voices pulsed in tandem, recreated his heartbeat — it was actually the people down below he felt.
Grand temples and equally colossal statues crowned the city, countless and radiant, carved in devotion to a familiar Sacred Beast that had once protected the city in its darkest days.
“Looks like I’m bonded to a celebrity.” David snickered, and the Mythical Electra within him stirred. Her emotions were in turmoil, but so were David’s. They… hadn’t been in contact with society for a long time — a very long time. The bustle of life was new to them. It was strange, as if it shouldn’t have been there, yet it was. The only living things on the other side had been David and Electra. The latter, in a way, was no more than an extension of David as well. At least, her sentience was alive and elusive to him. They could talk, and that they did. A lot.
“You think I am a celebrity? Well, sorry about that, but I’m pretty sure they have all forgotten about me.”
David snickered when Electra rebutted him.
“They worship you. Can’t you feel it?”
Electra could feel it. He could too. Their worship. Their loyalty. Their love.
Many generations must have passed, yet they continued to show their gratitude.
David’s gaze drifted across the city once more. Marble spires reached skyward, gilded domes gleamed like artificial suns, and from each one rose a melody in languages he had never heard before. But as different as they were, David could feel their unity — the unity in their faith in…the Healer, the Saint — the Lifeweaver and his Sacred Beast.
The connection struck before he could take a deep breath. Threads — millions, no billions — rushed at him, filled with all kinds of emotions. Joy, sorrow, as well as every whisper of a prayer reached David. It impacted hard and filled his hollow being with something.
Every life brushing against his with the intimacy of a touch flooded him. David knew they couldn’t see him above them, yet they knew him and Electra. He was within them, and they within him.
It should have been overwhelming, and it was for a moment. However, the sensation quickly dispersed, replaced by a feeling of… home.
For a moment, David hovered in the sky high above the city, silent, watching the world he was forced to leave. The Earthen Union had not forgotten. It survived the dark days and rebuilt itself in his absence… and it left space for his return.
A smile tugged at him — familiar, unsteady, but real.
He breathed in, tasting eternity.
And descended, eyes trailing across the city once more.
The corners of his mouth curled upward when his perception locked onto the massive palace built in the city’s center. Statues even more beautiful than those spread throughout the city and the surrounding settlements decorated the palace, displaying none other than the Mythical Electra.
The loneliness that had marred his heart for centuries cracked. It burst and evaporated, consumed by the seedling of joy that nestled in his heart as someone stepped out of the tower in the center of the palace. A woman, touched by the touch of time, stepped onto a large balcony, her long hair fluttering in a faint breeze.
She looked up, and their eyes met — vibrant, surprised, overjoyed. Love bloomed in her eyes, and bursts of golden light flared all around David. Space distorted, but he was much faster than that. He stepped forward, walked through layers of space to emerge before the aged woman, his smile vibrant and overflowing with love.
“I’m sorry for taking so long,” he said, pulling the woman into a tight embrace. Maja shuddered and burst into tears, her voice cracking.
“It was about time you returned, dummy.”
[The End].
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