049.002

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Epilogue

The Woman in the Dark

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The darkness of the void was impenetrable, even to the ones who dwelt within. There was little inside. A floor, wide and spacious, could barely be called a thing. It was merely something to stand upon to keep those who lived here from falling endlessly. Beyond that, there was nothing. Nothing but other residents. Most just chose to lie down and curl up. Few ever moved unless an outside stimulus broke them from their misery. Some select few actually engaged with other residents, but even they seemed lethargic as of late. Like every scrap of motivation these poor souls had was dwindling down to nothing.

It hadn’t been like this so long ago. When Tommik first arrived, everyone around him was practically abuzz with excitement. The people here, even those of… lesser mental acumen, constantly interacted with one another. Some chose to fight. Some chose sex. Others simply chatted, if capable of such feats. Tommik had quite enjoyed his spars with the others.

But now, he could stab a shiv into someone’s sides and get little response in return. Maybe a grunt of pain. Maybe not even that.

Tommik looked upward. It didn’t really matter what direction he looked in, darkness was all there was. Yet, when he first arrived, that hadn’t been true. There had been a light. A single shining pinpoint high above, rather like the sun on a heavily overcast day. That light was around no longer. And its absence was the primary cause for everyone’s lethargy.

It was strange. He really didn’t care for anyone’s happiness but his own. Yet he wished there was something he could do to bring just a sliver of that light back to this place. Perhaps that desire was all for his own benefit. Having partners he could spar against for the remainder of eternity sounded like his idea of an ideal afterlife. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t benefit. They could go back to their orgies or their brawls, their simple discussions.

But he had no idea how he might go about changing things. The only person who did wasn’t talking at the moment.

Lowering his gaze from high above, Tommik found the one bit of the smooth floor that was not flat. The ground raised up to form a small pedestal, upon which a throne, made from the same obsidian as the ground, had been placed. A woman sat in that throne, one leg crossed over her other knee. With an elbow on the armrest, she propped up her masked chin on her knuckles. The fingers of her other hand, resting on the end of the opposite armrest, drummed against that black stone. A single red eye stared out over the huddled and crouched masses of beings that resided within the total darkness.

She had been like that for a while now, just sitting, just staring. She didn’t even blink. Ever since the light overhead had gone out and they had all become trapped and unable to escape, she sat up there.

Did she have a plan? She was worried. In some discomfort as well. Tommik could tell that much. There was some kind of mental link between his lady and all those within the darkness. Nothing overt. His thoughts weren’t being controlled, but there was still something being shared. Emotions, mostly.

For her, it must have been overwhelming. There were countless souls around him. He wasn’t sure how far this world went in any one direction, but every inch of the floor was covered in some pathetic wretch. If all their emotions were getting to the lady as her emotions were reaching him…

For her, he wanted to do something as well. Perhaps he was being selfish again, but he wished there was some way that he could resolve matters within the darkness. She had already acknowledged him as one of the few who were able to keep their minds intact. It gave him a status, of sorts, putting him on a pedestal above all the others. It got him just a little more attention than he suspected he would otherwise get. Yet she had refused to spar with him. If he could rid this world of its darkness, puncture a hole through the very sky, and return things to how they were when he arrived, she would have to pay more attention to him. Perhaps she would even deign to spar with him.

Just the thought of it got his adrenaline pumping.

Yet he was new to this place. If those who had been here for hundreds if not thousands of years didn’t know how to ease their lady’s pain, how could he possibly come up with a plan? How could he think up something that his lady hadn’t already considered and dismissed.

Such were his thoughts. Trapped as any other of the demons here. He had considered the same things over and over again for… well, it was difficult to tell time in a place with no light, no sun rising, not even a candle. It was no wonder that even the others who had more sense of self had chosen to sit down and go idle. They would rise again, one day, surely. If only this world wasn’t the way it was.

Maybe… Maybe he could speak with his lady. It was another thing he had considered time and time again. Just walking up to that raised platform, bowing to her, and striking up a conversation. She wore that mask once again. It covered her mouth, nose, and one of her eyes. She should be able to remove it here, however. He had watched her remove it while they were up above, allowing her to speak to Tommik’s killer.

But he faltered. What if she didn’t remove it? What if he walked up to her and she simply stared at him? Or worse, what if she didn’t do even that. If she simply carried on, drumming her fingers while looking out over the miserable subjects that filled this place…

Tommik would likely join the others in sitting down. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to just lie down and wind up trapped even more in his own thoughts. He wanted to do something. He wanted to fight!

Perhaps he would fight his lady. She couldn’t ignore that.

Except she probably could. He could picture it now. Jumping up onto the throne and slamming his shiv into the side of her head, only for it to bounce off… or for her to continue drumming her fingers without even glancing his direction… or maybe she would simply launch him across this dark world, far enough that he would never be able to reach her again. He had seen her fight the Astral Authority. He knew what she was capable of.

There was no chance he would be able to do a thing to her.

Tommik stood, watching his lady drum her fingers, locked in inaction. Her fingers pounded against the throne, slamming into it with enough force that he could hear it even from a distance. The heavy sound resembled a heartbeat, thumping in his ears, over and over again. His body, stronger than it had been while a human, felt like it was being torn asunder by nothing more than those simple taps.

Was this revenge? For wanting something other than to lie down? For daring to think that he could attack his lady? Did she want him to give up like all the others? This existence… This place…

“This is hell?”

The drumming stopped along with the new voice.

Someone spoke. That was new. Of all the souls trapped here, there were only a few dozen that managed to retain their ability to speak. They all tended to keep to themselves… much like Tommik did.

“Less fire and brimstone than I expected,” came a different voice. Two different voices. That was…

It took him a surprising minute to actually notice just where the voices were coming from. Surprising given that there was now a hole in the darkness. A bright shimmering light piercing through the very world he stood in. It was bright enough that he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed. And yet, as he stared, he found it… difficult to remain aware of it. He had to actively remind himself that someone had just spoken.

The poor wretches on the floor were hardly reacting at all. Likely unable to process whatever was going on.

A trio emerged from the portal of light. Three beings with so much light around them that he found it difficult to actually look at them. It was more like he was seeing through them. It took focus and willpower to keep his eyes from drifting aside.

“I told you not to get your hopes up.”

“I wasn’t hoping for fire and brimstone. I was just… expecting it.”

“Is this what happens when you get infected?” the first of the trio asked. “You just appear here and cry for the rest of… how long, exactly?”

“It is the nature of this place,” the second voice said. “I can tell. It is a lot like Tenebrael’s prison, except on a much larger scale.”

“This is where I got the idea from, after all. By the way, hello sibling!” the third waved. Its arm was still hard to track, but the movement made it a little easier. Tommik could tell that it wasn’t waving at him, but rather at the center dais.

He turned to his lady, finding her still seated, but far more tense. Her formerly drumming fingers gripped the end of the throne’s armrest and her sole visible eye burned with an intensity he hadn’t seen since the Astral Authority sealed off the entrance to the pit. Although she had yet to stand, seeing her like that brought a smile to Tommik’s face.

There was going to be a fight. He didn’t know what the glowing creatures were. Something similar to the Astral Authority—they radiated a familiar if somewhat different aura. Holy beings. Maybe even angels? How would he fare against one of those creatures. He had heard stories from some of the others back when there was still light and life in this place. They were creatures of frightening power.

But so was he.

His knives slid down his sleeves into the tight grip of his hands as he readied for what would surely be a glorious fight.

“I think I understand,” the second voice said. “This place is horrible, but I understand the intention behind it.” It turned to the aura that had waved. “You might have become what is sitting over on that poor replica of the Throne if things had gone on long enough. Because this place seems designed to keep souls away from the Throne. And, quite possibly, to generate errors in the Tree Diagram.”

“Didn’t that Virtue say that there had only been like five errors before you showed up?”

“I didn’t say it succeeded in generating errors. Merely that it was created with that as its purpose.”

Their conversation stopped in its tracks as Tommik’s lady stood. All three looked toward her as she reached up, grasped the side of her mask, and unlatched the buckle that held it in place. Tommik tensed. He wasn’t the only one. Even though they didn’t seem to see the three intruders, the wretched demons took notice of their lady moving once again. They stirred in response, some even standing.

“Begone.” She took a single step down from the dais. The heels of her boots clicked, sending a shockwave out that nearly threw Tommik from his feet. Several of the others, even crouched down against the ground as they were, didn’t have the alacrity that Tommik had and were tossed by that simple movement.

None of the three intruders seemed to notice. The stood where they appeared. One glanced to another, seemingly unconcerned. Radiating complete indifference.

“So what do we do about this place?” One asked another. “I’d really rather not be here for too long. It is fairly disgusting.”

“Maybe we can create a world where—”

“Get. Out.”

His lady stepped forward again. Another foot against the obsidian stone sent her launching forward faster than Tommik’s eyes could track. Apparently not fast enough to trip up the intruders. Not that they tried to get out of the way. A simple smooth bubble appeared around them, stopping the attack with plenty of room to spare.

“Please. If you’re attacking us so quickly, you must know what we are. So you must be aware of just how silly it is to actually attack. Right? Sister now, is it? Haven’t talked to you in years. You look different. Are you doing alright?”

Knives flew from Tommik’s hands as he rushed to assist. A fight was just what he was yearning for. If he couldn’t fight his lady, he would fight with her.

The knives froze the moment they hit the shimmering shield. Undaunted, Tommik stepped over some of the stirring and moaning wretches. They were getting up to attack as well, but they were so much slower than he was. Yet even he couldn’t hope to match the speed at which his lady sent a flurry of blows against the shield. It had to break soon. Even the Astral Authority’s mightiest couldn’t withstand her attention. Once it fell, he would be ready. As would every other demon around him. They might escape on their own. They might be able to travel back through the portal that had brought them here. But that didn’t matter.

No matter how this ended, they had breathed some small amount of life back into this dark and decrepit world. Maybe it wouldn’t last long after they disappeared. If it spurred some small change, he would welcome it.

For the moment, he waited, watching.

Yet the shield remained strong. Blow after blow, she sped up, slamming into the shield with enough force to send out more shockwaves. The lesser demons were flung away… if they were lucky. The closest wound up little more than pulverized lumps of meat. The lady would reconstitute them later, surely, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience to be turned to mush. Tommik was well aware of that.

The oversized scythe appeared in her hands as she jumped a step back. Blades of wind followed the curved metal through the air.

“Will she wear out ever?”

“Not in your lifetime. Or… your old lifetime?”

“Maybe we just caught her on a bad day. Should we come back later?”

“No. We’re not here to instigate order or destroy your little kingdom here. You wanted nothing more than what Tenebrael wanted, you were simply able to accomplish it better—”

“Hey! I’d say we accomplished it quite well.”

The initial speaker waved a hand, shushing the other. “We simply came to inform you that you will not be allowed to carry on as you were. Nothing like what happened on Nod will occur again. Now, if you want to talk more, maybe discuss something that can become a real future for your… people, I’m sure you can figure out how to get into contact.”

“We’re leaving? Great, I hate—”

The three of them simply vanished. Their shield went with them. Tommik wasn’t surprised, but was a little disappointed. Only a little, for the light they had brought with them was lingering. The others were still active. His lady was no longer wildly swinging, but she was standing and staring.

“What does that mean?” Tommik asked. He felt fairly confident in addressing the lady now. Even the glare she leveled at him felt more welcoming than hostile.

She did answer him, but not for a long moment of silence, during which she stared back at the empty spot, faintly radiating light into the darkness. “A change has been made,” she eventually said, reaching up to the side of her head where her mask hung from her ear. “A change that will likely not be for the better.” With that said, she slipped the mask back into place, buckling it to the rest of her armor.

Although he only got one question in before that damnable mask was back on, Tommik was quite pleased with the outcome. A change. Apparently not a good one, but…

Looking around, watching as the demons around him remained alert and awake at least for the time being, he doubted that it could possibly be worse than what they already had.

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