Final Chapter: End of the Past, Birth of the Future
{ The end of despair, revival of hope; a God is no more. }
The Nameless stood up on shaky legs, despite all his injuries.
After taking several deep breaths, he spoke:
"All of you, to make me remember this painful feeling that started all of this madness and suffering..."
The air around him changed, causing all of them to be on guard.
The Nameless looked at all of them before raising his hand, placing it on his chest and bowing his head.
"... Thank you."
They were all confused, yet at the same time the air around the Nameless made them all feel at ease.
"For so long, i hated mankind, my companions who left me behind and fate for refusing to change. I despised them all, believed they had abandoned what mattered..."
He continued while keeping his head bowed.
Then as he lifted his head and opened his eyes, they all felt a sense of elation, of joy, for his eyes had changed;
they were no longer cold, indifferent fierce eyes of a heartless God but instead the warm, benevolent and hopeful eyes of a human.
In that instant they understood and realised that these eyes belonged to the old Nameless, when he had first set out to truly save mankind; the eyes of a man whom so many had entrusted their hopes and loyalty, to follow him through hell itself. Even his voice, was no longer weighted down by despair but instead being restored by hope that had revived within him.
"... but i was wrong; I was the one who had forgotten what mattered the most. I wanted to stop the endgame so much and in doing so lost sight of what it was that i had been struggling for.
My compannions saw this, and tried to keep me from going down this path, yet in my arrogance and pride i refused to understand or even listen, opting to think they had given up and betrayed me.
You might be right, maybe i have already changed things enough so that mankind will live beyond the endgame. Yet, i was too afraid to have hope in mankind to see it through. Or, maybe i simply just refused believe anyone but myself could see it through to the end."
At this moment, his body was acting strange; parts of it began to ever so slowly change in color that looked like ash.
"Maybe, fate sent you all my way; To show me how wrong i truly was... and to stop me from destroying what matters the most."
More images of his child played in his head, while at the same time everyone could see that the parts of his body that were turning in color were also breaking into actual ash.
'This, is how it should be, isn't it? I am doing what i should have done so long ago...'
"This body, that has lived throughout so many ages is finally at its limit. When i made the last jump through time, i felt it; something had began to breakdown inside me and now with this defeat i will die, turn to ash and disappear. But it is here, at the end of my long road that i have met you all, people to whom i can pass on my hope."
He then lifted his slowly disintegrating hands to his sides and declared:
"Let my death mark the end of my mission, and the beginning of yours. This, is your world now."
It was in that moment that they all felt the urge to shed tears, for it truly felt like they had won, not only the battle but also allowed The Nameless who had long since lost faith in mankind to pass on his blessing, hope and will to them.
It was then that the palace around them began to tremble, signaling its imminent collapse. The final battle had left its structure compromised and it had been a mirace it lasted this long.
"Go! Return to your world and live!" Were his words to them, as all of them began to flee from the collapsing building.
However, at the entrance to the throne room, the brave soul stopped and turned back one more time, speaking to The Nameless: "What is your name?"
He was stunned yet again. 'I swear, this one...'
Before replying: "It does not matter, i am something that should not exist and must disappear that way as well, leaving nothing behind."
"Yes it does matter! You fought so long, suffered and lost so much, so to see you disappear just like this without even knowing your name, is just too sad!"
The brave soul said, crying again. "You lived here! You existed here! We felt your convictions, beliefs and heart in our battle! You told us your past, your suffering and loss; we will remember you! You are not a Nameless God, you are human!!"
The Nameless, stunned beyond words stayed silent, even when the debris was slowly coming down around them all he could do was look at the the brave souls crying face and hearing those words echo in his mind.
'We will remember you, you are human';
How long had it been? How long had it been since anyone had dared to be this close to him, to call him that, to ask him something so simple; what is your name? He had resolved to disappear without a trace, to leave nothing of himself behind in this world. And yet...
This time, it was the brave souls turn to be silent, for this was a moment that once passed would be lost to all time, except for the one person who bore witness to it.
"My name... My name is-"
His voice was covered by the now increasing falling debris, and only the brave soul heard it.
"I will remember, I will never forget it!" Were the brave souls words before departing in a hurry.
In the collapsing throne room, he stood alone with most of his body having turned to the color of ash and the rate of his disintegration increasing rapidly.
This was the end.
What would come beyond death? Heaven, hell... or for a soul like him, maybe only oblivion awaited.
Yet, none of it mattered.
For at this moment, he felt peaceful beyond words. Something so simple, for someone to simply ask him for his name after an eternity of having none.
Now that he had uttered it, it felt like he was finally himself again;
'I am human.'
Was the only way he could describe this feeling.
The Nameless truly was no more...
"Thank you..."
Were the quiet words he uttered as a large piece of debris fell onto him, crushing him into the ground and causing the majority of his body to finally break and turn into ash.
Yet at that moment, whether it was a delusion of a dying mind or not, he saw a light above him from where a hand was reaching out to him; even after all these countless centuries, he recognised it instantly.
◢✥◣
'Come home...'
◥✥◤
And then, just as he breathed his last, his eyes shed true tears one last time as his hand reached up and took hold of the one reaching out to him.
With an arm that had already turned to ash....
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈
As they all watched from a distance as the palace collapsed, the hero and the brave soul were the only ones who felt that The Nameless had passed on, yet could swear they too felt the peace he had felt.
The brave soul then asked: "Do you think he was forgiven?"
To which the hero replied: "That, i do not know. But at long last he... finally forgave himself."
{ At the end of long strife, all that remains is the requiem for a fallen friend. }
A battle that determined mankinds fate would never be known in history, those who fought, bled, cried, suffered and died in it would disappear back into the flow of time and fate.
Go their separate ways, each seeking their own path forward towards the unwritten future.
Yet despite separating they would always be connected; continuing a mission entrusted to them by a Nameless man who had defied time itself to safeguard mankinds future.
To not give into despair, to not lose that which matters the most.
And avoid repeating the mistake of carrying all of it alone.
But most importantly; Never to forget how to love, cry or laugh.
Without them Hope is but a withering plant.
Yet it will endure, always awaiting us no matter the depths of our despair.
For it is the one, small and frail thing that keeps us going through strife of life.
Until that day we find ourselves holding in our hands the ones we pass it along to, keeping it alive along with memories of those whom passed it to us...
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈
Years after the battle ended, the brave soul has a family and is holding their first born child. When asked about the childs name, there is a very special one.
A name that brave soul has been carrying, that no one else knew.
Smiling, the brave soul spoke:
"His name? His name is..."
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈
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The End
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