Chapter 41 : Nothingness

After the Scream - 900 million universes remaining

Arden had grasped the box in his right hand. He hadn't paid any attention to the object, nor to Hammond. He had simply looked far away in a precise direction.

"He will keep his promise."

Arden spoke these words in a calm voice. There was no hesitation in his tone, no room for doubt. However, he added no argument to his assertion, merely storing the precious box in one of the pockets of his coat.

"You and your promises," replied Hammond in an equally calm voice.

There was no reproach in his voice. Killing all the inhabitants of his universe had annihilated almost all the emotions left in him. However, he had kept his lucidity. He had no desire to alienate Arden at such a crucial moment.

Hammond knew that the time for reproaches had already passed. Now was the time for farewells, but he had no one to say goodbye to.

He didn't even have a sad chukkle as he reached this conclusion. He turned to Jason:

"I would appreciate it if you conveyed my greetings to the Director and his brother. Tell them…"

The Monarch searched several seconds to find his words.

"Tell them that I loved existing."

It was simple, raw, and without the slightest animosity.

"I will tell them."

Jason had lost all sympathy. He could have prevented the massive genocide that had occurred just seconds ago, but he had already understood that their deaths were inevitable.

He hated this feeling of helplessness, he loathed it.

Worse than that, he had been forced to witness it. He no longer had the heart to mourn the death of an old acquaintance or to wonder what secrets the scene might hold.

He only had one desire: to leave.

And only his conscience prevented him. He had to stay otherwise all of this, all these deaths, would have been in vain.

He clenched his fists.

"Why me and not someone like Orion?

- I did nothing, you came of your own accord," replied the Monarch.

- Of my own accord, huh? I guess nothing and no one can escape their fate."

He had a slight smile on his lips that was not a smile.

"I hate fate."

The universe shook. The void became dark, cold, and threatening. The stars twinkling in the distance, the planets, the gas clouds, the black holes, all disappeared. There was nothing left but this alien and menacing void.

Jason couldn't understand the problem with this void, but he could see it. His whole body was slowly disintegrating. He could perhaps survive for five minutes, but that wouldn't be the case for the others. The mortal who was with them would have already perished if he hadn't been protected by Jason's glowing dome.

Arden didn't seem concerned about what was happening to his body. He pulled out from his coat pocket the small box that Hammond had entrusted to him. 

It only took a few seconds for the void to turn the Monarch's body to dust before erasing those residues forever. He had said only one cryptic sentence before dying:

"I hope you make the right choice when the time comes."

No one knew what he was talking about or to whom he was speaking. The only one who seemed to know had just disappear before their eyes.

He had left behind only his soul, a glowing white incandescent ball that was slowly being devoured by the surrounding void.

Arden approached. With one hand, he grabbed the Monarch's soul, and with the other, he opened the box. Both were already close to total deconstruction, but Arden was faster.

He forcefully shoved the Monarch's soul into the box before making the latter disappear using his own portal.

Yet he had stayed behind.

'So, this is what they wanted me to see? The death of a universe?' Jason wondered, looking around.

'No, there's more than that.' he thought.

'This world is dying.'

He was aware of the sudden disappearance of universes, but he had just found the cause.

The main culprit seemed to be this nothingness that slowly consumed everything it came into contact with.

'I guess I can now go see the old man,' Jason thought, tearing his eyes away from the scene.

He could still stay a few minutes in the void, but he had already seen everything he needed to see.

He cast one last look at Arden, who stood motionless, before creating a portal and leaving with the mortal.

Then only the void and Arden remained.

The latter had turned his gaze to look at the Unchained standing far in the distance. Hammond had been wrong in his accusations. Arden himself didn't know much and, above all, he wasn't the one the Director had sent to silence him.

Like Jason, he was just a spectator, the difference being he wasn't seeking to know the truth.

He had stayed to hand the box over to the Director's right hand, and once that was done, he would leave without asking any questions.

He pulled the small box from a portal before tossing it towards the unleashed figure.

Now that he had done his part, he crossed his portal and left without looking back.

"Why can't I meet him?"

It was the soft voice of a woman. She had appeared out of nowhere without using a portal after Jason and Arden had left. She was about one meter fifty tall and wore a loose purple garment that hid her face.

"Do

Your

Job."

The Unchained handed her the box before leaving as well.

"But I wanted to talk to someone from the outside."

The woman said nothing else. After all, everyone had already left.

'There's only work that matters to them,' she grumbled, disappearing from the place as well, leaving the oppressive void behind her.