Chapter Text
Once again, I’m looking over the edge of a cliff. The cliff. The Terminus cliff. The words I spoke to you so long ago echo through my head. Terminus. It means the end. Ironic that it’ll be mine. I’m sitting, like last time, but now I’m on the bench. If I sat down on the ground, I wouldn’t have the strength to get back up. I still might not. A cane leans against the side of the bench. You walk to the bench and sit on the opposite side silently. You take care not to disturb the lump of fabric between us. We’re both staring at the horizon, carefully not looking at each other. We probably make for a great painting, two gray-haired people sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean. This probably will be a painting someday, in your museum exhibit.
“You’re early,” you begin. “Despite everything that’s happened, that’s gotta be a first.”
I smile. “I figured I should try it at least once in my life. Not to mention, I wanted as much time as I could get with you.”
We look at each other. Our eyes say everything the historians can’t be allowed to hear. I keep smiling at you. You smile back, but I can see the tears you’re holding back for my sake.
“I’m sorry it can’t be just the two of us,” you say. My eyes flick to the guard, standing a few feet away, and back to you. I get it. This should be just us, but we make do with what we got.
“It’s fine. You’re slightly important to the world, you need a security detail.”
“ Slightly? ” Your indignation is just to tease me, and I know it. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you win.
“Yes. You may be important to the people of today, but me and my whispers are what will be important tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You provide the plans-”
“You provide the hope. You work in the sun-”
“You work in the shadows.”
“Where I’m most effective. I do have one regret about that, though.”
“Really?”
“I won’t be remembered.”
“Yes, you will. Your work in the shadows will be discovered eventually, and even if it isn’t, you’ll be remembered for creating modern medicine.”
We lapse back into friendly silence. Something’s still eating you, though.
“You know,” you say in a hesitant voice, “I’ve known you for decades. I know just about everything about you, but the one thing I’ve never figured out is how that damn hat is still on your head. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you super-glued it on.”
I chuckle. “You sure you want to know my last secret?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
You blink. “What?”
“I have no idea how this thing stays on my head! It’s a miracle!” We completely lose our composure at that. We laugh for a full minute before we remember to breathe. I decide to ask. “You know, I know you pretty well too. I certainly know you well enough to know when something’s bothering you. What is it?”
The mood shifts back to solemn. You ask me, but you’re struggling to get the words out. “How long do you have left?”
I don’t want to answer. I know it’ll hurt you. But I can’t lie. Not about this.
“Till sundown, at the latest.” I can see you trying to be strong for me. I want to tell you that you don’t have to be, but it’ll just make you feel worse. “Probably earlier. I decided to take a dose of LW.” You tense. I know now is the time. “Which means that now is the time to pay off your last debt to me.”
“What debt?”
“The first time we were here, you made me three promises. You’ve honored all but one. Luckily, now you get the chance. It’s kind of poetic, actually.”
“What promise? What are you talking about?”
I grin, and with a flourish, I swipe off the cloth “Ta da,” I say.
You gasp. “Is that really-”
“Yup. It is.” Between us, on the bench, sits our favourite chess board. The pieces are lined up exactly as they were when we abandoned the game all those years ago, on this very cliff. I smile at you, admiring the shock still on your face. “Time to finish the game.”
It’s an interesting game, filled with gossip and nostalgia, just like the old days. There’s only one difference. In the old days, we would try to win as quickly as we could, trying to play the most games possible. This, however, is the longest game we’ve ever played. It has an air of finality to it. We’re both trying to win in the most moves possible. We’re drawing closer to the end, though.
The pain is getting worse, but I don’t let it show.
“Can I ask you a question?” I look up, surprised. We’ve been reminiscing about old times until now. We haven’t talked about anything serious.
“Fire away.”
“Those legends you told me about, all those years ago. Do you think they were always about us, or that we conformed to them unconsciously? Because I’m almost completely sure that we’re the two rulers. I’m the Hopeful Ruler, and you’re the Shadow Lord.”
I don’t disparage your theory. I was thinking the same thing. As a matter of fact, I didn’t find those legends while looking for legends about the cliff. I found them looking for legends about people who would rule the world. “I think that they were always about us, but us knowing about them allowed them to be correct.”
“Except they weren’t correct. Only one of them, the curse legend, got it right.”
“Multiverse, remember? There’s definitely a universe out there where the other legend was correct. Maybe if we could look over the cliff, and down into the water, we’d see it.”
“You really think there’s a universe out there where one of us could kill the other?”
“Yes. And, because we know which ruler dies in the curse legend, we know that in that universe, I kill you.” We pause for a moment. I wonder what you’re thinking. I wonder what had to be done to that me in order for his blade to kill you. I can’t imagine doing it.
A flash of pain runs through me. I’m getting close to the end. There aren’t many pieces left on the board.
“My turn to ask you a question. And it’s important, so I need you to consider your answer carefully.”
“What?”
“Decades ago, we stood over there and you forced me to make two promises to you.”
“I remember.”
“Do you remember what they were?”
“You first tried to promise not to hurt me. I wouldn't let you. Good thing, too."
"How so?"
"You're about to break that promise. But you did make two. The first was that you wouldn’t let me go too far. That no matter what, you wouldn’t let me become the villain. The second was that you’d always prioritize the world before me.”
“I didn’t keep the second. We both know that. But I have to wonder, all of the things we’ve done, the things I’ve allowed you to do...did I keep the first promise? Did I stop you from going too far? Do you think history will remember us as the heroes?”
You look into my eyes. I can see you believe what you’re saying.
“Yes,” you tell me. “I do. I think you kept your first promise, down to the letter and the spirit. I think you’ll be remembered as the unsung hero. One day, you’ll have a musical made about your life and all of your arguments will be turned into rap battles.”
I laugh in a mixture of amusement and relief. That’s what I needed to hear, to do what I’m about to do with a conscience which, is still by no means clean, but is cleared of broken debts to you.
“Well on that note,” I smirk, “I have to reply with...checkmate.” Your eyes flick down to the board. Sure enough, your king is trapped in check. “The last round goes to me.”
New understanding dawns in your eyes. “Now?”
“Now.” I can see it in you. My calmness breaks your dam. You bury your face in your hands.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t lift the curse, I couldn’t cure you, I couldn’t-”
“Hey.” I lift your head to look at mine. “ It’s okay . I’m ready to go. I just don’t want to leave you. The world is going to need so much from you, even though you’ve already given them so much. The human race might not deserve you, but they need you anyway.”
"I’ll be fine. And I want you to know; you will be remembered as a hero. You set so many events in motion. You made so many plans, I’ll be watching them at work till I join you. You brought so much peace. You can rest now. So you run on home to your mother, and you tell her; there are no more guns in the valley.”
I recognize the reference. I smile. I grab my cane. I stand up. I walk with you towards the edge. You halt a few feet from the edge. I keep walking. I stop at the very edge, looking down into the water.
For a second, I see myself, but not myself. His body is thicker with muscle. His hair isn’t gray. His hands are stained with blood, and his cheeks are streaked with tears. It's the other me. The one whose blade kills you. I look down on him, and I feel more hatred than I've ever felt before. The pain I'm experiencing now, how could he ever inflict it upon you? He's nothing but a monster. Then the image is gone.
I turn back to you. You’re smiling, but tears run freely down your cheeks. It’s a bittersweet last view. “Wherever I end up, I’ll see you there someday.” Your guards must not have been informed of my condition, because they’re running towards me, telling me to stop. I know you’ll explain this later, but for now, my they’re going to hear my last words.
“It’s fine, guys,” I shout. “Terminus means the end, and this is mine!” With a smile on my face, I take a step backwards. With the LW, it won’t hurt. I’ll die before I hit the water. As I fall, a gust of wind hits. For the first time in my life, my hat blows off my head. Right into your hands. You, holding that hat with awe, waving goodbye to me, is the last thing I see before I close my eyes.