Chapter 95 Inside the void II
The battle began, not physical, not magical, not anything describable, It was battle of existence itself, of will against will, of refusal against inevitability, of impossible against absolute,
and Mara watched. Unable to help, unable to fight, unable to do anything except exist and hope. Hope that those protecting her were strong enough. Hope that unity was enough. Hope that love and determination and absolute refusal could stop something that predated everything.
The fight raged. Reality itself screamed. Oblivion was being torn apart. The void was collapsing. Everything was ending or transforming or becoming something entirely new.
And then. Catastrophically. Terrifyingly. Impossibly. The First won. It consumed Solarius first. The Sun God screamed. Blazed. Died. Ceased. Gone completely. Absolutely. Finally.
The Moon Goddess attacked harder. Faster. Desperately. But the First consumed her too. Silver light extinguished. Divine power absorbed. Goddess erased from existence. From history. From memory.
Valdris fought. Used every technique. Every power. Every secret from his thousand years. But the First consumed him. Shadow became part of greater darkness. Ancient power absorbed into older power. Valdris ceased.
Ash burned. Consumed. Devoured. Tried to eat the First. Tried to out-hunger hunger itself. But the First was too much. Too absolute. Too everything. Ash was consumed. Hunger devoured by greater hunger. Fragment reclaimed.
And then there was nothing between Mara and the First. Nothing protecting her. Nothing stopping inevitable consumption. Nothing except her own will. Her own refusal. Her own absolute determination not to give up. Not to surrender. Not to stop fighting.
"NOW. YOU. DIE. YOU. CEASE. YOU. BECOME. NOTHING. ANY. LAST. WORDS."
"Yes," Mara said. Somehow finding voice. Somehow speaking despite impossibility. "I have last words. And they are these. You lose."
"I. WIN. I. CONSUMED. EVERYTHING. DEFEATED. EVERYONE. THERE. IS. NOTHING. LEFT. NOTHING. TO. STOP. ME."
"Wrong. There is me. And I am enough."
"YOU. ARE. MORTAL. YOU. ARE. NOTHING. YOU. ARE—"
"I am the Moon Wolf, I died six times and returned, I absorbed two fragments, I defeated two gods, I entered Oblivion, I united five impossible powers, I refused when everything said surrender, I fought when everything said quit, I existed when everything said cease, and I will not stop, will not end, will not give you victory, because I am more than mortal, more than fragments, more than power. I am idea, I am hope, I am proof that nothing is inevitable, that everything can change, that endings are beginnings, and you cannot consume ideas, cannot defeat hope, cannot stop what I represent, you can kill me, you can erase me, you can make me cease, but I already won. Because I showed everyone watching, everyone in every reality, everyone who will ever hear this story, I showed them that fighting matters, that refusing matters, that one person can stand against impossible and make it possible, that is my victory, that is my legacy, that is why you lose, even if you win."
Silence, absolute silence. The First was thinking, considering, Evaluating.
Then laughter, not cruel, not mocking. Appreciative, respectful, admiring.
"YOU. ARE. CORRECT. I. LOSE. EVEN. IF. I. WIN. BECAUSE. YOU. ARE. RIGHT. IDEAS. CANNOT. BE. CONSUMED. HOPE. CANNOT. BE. ENDED. LEGENDS. CANNOT. BE. ERASED. YOU. WIN. MORTAL. YOU. IMPOSSIBLE. ANNOYING. MAGNIFICENT. MORTAL. YOU. WIN."
"So you will let me go? Let everyone go? Let existence continue?"
"NO. I. WILL. DO. BETTER. I. WILL. GIVE. YOU. GIFT. I. WILL. GIVE. YOU. CHOICE. SOMETHING. I. HAVE. NEVER. GIVEN. ANYONE. EVER. BEFORE."
"What choice?"
"RESTART. EVERYTHING. REWIND. REALITY. TO. BEFORE. THIS. BEGAN. BEFORE. YOU. ABSORBED. FRAGMENTS. BEFORE. GODS. FELL. BEFORE. ANY. OF. THIS. HAPPENED. YOU. GET. SECOND. CHANCE. DIFFERENT. PATH. BETTER. ENDING. OR. YOU. CONTINUE. FORWARD. ACCEPT. WHAT. HAPPENED. LIVE. WITH. CONSEQUENCES. CARRY. WHAT. YOU. BECAME. THAT. IS. CHOICE. THAT. IS. GIFT. THAT. IS. MY. RESPECT. FOR. WORTHY. OPPONENT. CHOOSE. NOW. QUICKLY. BEFORE. I. CHANGE. MIND."
Mara's consciousness reeled. Restart everything? Go back? Undo the fragments? Undo the transformations? Undo everything she became? Get her old life back? Get simplicity back? Get normal back?
Or continue forward? Accept what she was? Carry the burden? Face whatever came next?
Both options were tempting. Both options were terrifying. Both options changed everything.
"I..." She hesitated. This was impossible choice. Impossible decision. Impossible
And then the void exploded.