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When he wakes, it is cold. The sun is at its apex, beating down in rays of warmth, and yet...and yet he is still so, so cold. The sun had risen as their final contest began, and it had been beautiful. Been perfect. They had fought valiantly. Violently. Both beasts. Both savage. Grinning and revelling in the bloodshed. Perhaps once, they would have called it senseless. He hopes it gave them fulfilment.
If they wanted, they could tell their friends he'd cornered them. Forced them to fight. And in their rage, they'd struck him down. The hero finally, finally slain their greatest adversary. The world would be safe from Zenos viator Galvus. He laughs, and it has a wheezing quality to it. Will it be their secret? Will their love die with him? He wonders. Will anyone know, that as they both lay dying, it was he who whisked them back to safety once more? He knew he was finished the moment their fight began. Knew there was only one way it could end. Every contest has a victor, and for once, he had lost. Lying here, his body failing, he knew it would be unfair to keep them. A selfishness beyond words. Beyond measure.
*
As his flesh began to fail, and each breath became more of an effort, he was overcome with a peculiar sense of sorrow. Oh, how he had coveted them! Wanted them. Needed them. Once, he would have given anything to have spent eternity with them here, in this half-life. But they did not belong to him. They were wild. Free. And so, so beautiful. His lungs ached. He was glad he had nothing left to say.
His twisted, monstrous hand reaches out to them, so close, yet so very far. Would that he could see them off properly…
And yet, he yearns not for their company a moment longer. There is a longing deep within him, leaving him hollow, and numb. One last good deed, he thinks, as he slips deeper into slumber. He thinks of their friends. Their friends, who he knows; he realises, need them. There is no place for a monster like him. On Etheirys, or anywhere. But there is still so, so much left for them. He supposes there will be no need for a Warrior Of Light, nor Darkness. Their days of heroism are behind them. Will they be happy? He hopes, desperately, that they will. That the life they live is long, and that they find fulfilment. He wants them to go home. He will take them home. After all the suffering he has inflicted on them, they deserve this small kindness.
A picture begins to form in his mind's eye. They're back at Sharlayan. A hero's welcome awaits them. They are bruised, and scarred, but they are whole. They are surrounded by the people they love, content at last. They will go home. They will live. He wills this. He knows this.
His outstretched hand lies limp, and he finds he cannot open his eyes any longer. His lungs will not fill with air. His chest ceases to rise and fall. This is to be his end, and yet he feels nothing but contentment. Oh, how terribly he shall miss them, but he understands his story must end here. He made his peace with it long, long ago. Everything aches, and yet the ache becomes duller, and duller. And as he takes his last breath, he smiles.
*
The Resonant was a curse, as much as a gift. One he had given himself, too, he laments. He could return if he wished to. Perhaps even meet his dearest again. Would they want to see him, though? He supposes not. He knows Etheirys has nothing left for him, for it was by his hand that the star almost met its end. It is ruined, and he the architect of its destruction. It is not his world to return to.
Zenos Yae Galvus is dead, buried in Gyr Abania. He took his own life, depriving the resistance of even the pleasure of his taking his life. The man who was thrust out of that body, who followed his Warrior to the ends of the universe; he is a monster. A ghost. His time has been borrowed, he thinks. He sits, no longer able to feel the deep aches of his injuries. He is already healed, and nary a scar remains. A third chance at life, he scoffs, for he does not want it.
There is a deep, crushing loneliness that runs through him. He misses them. He longs for their company. Perhaps, if he'd wanted, he could have kept them here for an eternity. The two of them together, dancing endlessly before the rising sun. But he did not want that, for he knows that they did not. And happiness at their expense would bring him no pleasure. A hunter they may be, but callous they are not. They would not forsake their closest friends to dance with a madman until the end of time.
He isn't sure he's ready for eternity. Even as he drinks in the sun's light, he feels numb. He could live a thousand more lives. Travel The Great Expanse, perhaps. But they wouldn't be with him, and then who would he be? He cannot stomach the thought of eternity. It is too cruel of a punishment, even for him. This need not be his fate, though. He need not be condemned to an eternity alone. The story of Zenos viator Galvus is over, the final chapter written by the hand of his beloved. They have given him a good ending, one he is not entirely sure he deserves. But he will not squander it; this he knows.
It is time to go.
As he has done before, as he has separated his soul time and time again, leaving the bodies he's taken behind, he allows himself once more to slip into the aether, though this taking his body with him. He will leave no way back for himself. No temptation to forsake the fate he has chosen for himself. Where will this soul take him next? Perhaps, he will be the hero of a new tale. Or maybe he will once more take the mantle of the villain. Or, he might just be someone. No great strengths, no dominion, no claim to a throne. Just a man, he thinks. Just a life. The idea feels so strange he gets almost giddy. Would his soul find peace? In a life like that? For once, he finds he doesn't know, and that thought makes his heart swell with joy.
*
He had heard, once, of a theory. That souls themselves contained some form of personality. That they would ever endure, even through death. That souls of friends, of loved ones, seem always to gravitate towards one another. A friendship that would endure, life after life, death after death. How many times had they met before? How many times will they meet again? The heart of Azem - of The Traveller, will guide them to him again. He is sure of it.