Epilogue: Take me to The Moon, and Maybe Beyond?!

Amidst the flaming wreckage that continued to rain down from above was a man, laying in a large crater of where he’d come crashing down to the earth. Clearly he dwarfed me at 8 feet tall, and flames were like clothing over him.

I detected he was still alive, but his vitals were fluctuating.

“Prometheus!” Jess shouted as she rode her instrument down the mountain. Viro was holding onto her for dear life as he sat in tandem with her. “Is he okay!?”

“He’s alive!” I shouted. “Okay is a different story.”

He wasn’t looking too great in my opinion, but I’d never seen a titan before, so his strange vitals could have been normal. But one thing I had seen was a bruised and beaten down man, and he wore that almost as obviously as his fire.

Jess boldly reached down toward him, aiming to grab his hand. She retreated a bit in fear of his flames, but realized they wouldn’t hurt at the touch.

“Prometheus…” she finally took hold of his hand and lifted it. The size difference was like a child to a basketball player.

“So, this was our pumpkin friend?” Viro asked.

“Darkness warps people and makes them into monsters,” I commented. “When I expelled it all from him, he changed back into his titan form.”

It was good to know that even powerful beings like this could be reverted back when corrupted by darkness. But I left the rest of his recovery afterwards to Jess, since she knew him better than I did.

Finally the titan began to wake up. His vitals were still strange from my perspective, but were stable.

“Euterpe…” Prometheus said, addressing Jess, sitting up out of his own strength. “Dear little one, I’m sorry for what I’ve done.” He looked her deep in her eyes with his orangey pink gaze, then made sure to give us strong glances too. “I’m sorry to you both as well. To all this city. I cannot begin to understand what came over me.”

He was very sincere, so I felt it was completely justified to accept his apology without scolding.

“Demons make people do crazy things,” I said. “So don’t sweat it too much.” I tilted my head cutely and smiled. “Just thank God for His mercy and you won’t hear anything more from me on that.”

Despite me passing down some easy going forgiveness, Prometheus still held deep shame in his eyes. Even he knew there was a little more work to be done before everything was put back right.

“This apology is a fair bit easier to accept since almost all the damage done was reverted,” Viro commented. “However, as forgiving as the Eighth Star is, we will have to hold you in captivity for a time to investigate how this happened at all.”

There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered, so I agreed with Viro. First and foremost, we needed to know why and how a titan was corrupted by a demon in the first place. If this was going to be a common issue, I needed to figure out a way to prevent it in the future.

“I will do whatever you ask.” Prometheus bowed his head. “But please, do not look at Euterpe with disdain for my association to her. She had nothing to do with this.”

Jess had more than proven that she wasn’t our enemy. I wouldn’t have personally endorsed her to the world if she was.

“If all goes well with the public, she’ll be pretty popular.” I winked.

“You really think so?” Hope caused Jess’s green eyes to brighten. “I-I mean, I am still a witch and all…”

“With everything you did tonight, I think you changed some opinions.”

It was going to be an uphill battle to give a good reputation to a witch, but a lot of people just saw her protect and entertain them, so she was off to a good start.

And with that, Viro called a church escort to lead Prometheus to the Imperial Security Force building downtown. At some point I would have to stop there and check up on the interrogation. But for now, I had a city to get back in working order.

~🎃🔥🎃~

“I just can’t go on…” Yamin sobbed into a handkerchief, her many tears turning the cloth sopping wet. “It’s over for me.” She then proceeded to blow her nose, extra loudly for dramatic effect.

I was rubbing her shoulder to comfort her in her time of grave distress.

“Don’t feel bad,” I said in a consoling tone. “You couldn’t help turning into a giant monkey kaiju.”

“No boy will ever marry me now!” she cried loudly into the sky, lamenting her unfortunate circumstance. “They’ll call me the monkey queen and tell me to get back to the jungle!”

As much as I supported my friend in her suffering, I almost burst out into laughter at her comment and had to cover it up with a fake cough

“Y-Yamin, it’ll be okay.”

“I heard that laugh…” she wiped the rest of her tears away with her sleeve. “Oh, what does it matter at this point?” she breathed out a sigh and calmed down significantly. “At any rate, I’m glad you guys saved the city and stopped Prometheus.”

“I’m glad too,” I said. “This was one heck of a Halloween.”

In all the mess, I lost my bucket of candy, so there wasn’t that to munch on while things got back in order. But the night wasn’t all a waste though, because I still got to experience my first trick or treating, which was really fun while it lasted.

“Would have been nice if I at least got some candy…” I pouted.

Samael was restless on my head and slithered until his head popped into my vision. He made a very intangible hiss and looked like he was ready to spit something out.

Then there was a comical spit sound, followed by a piece of candy nicely wrapped in plastic sitting in my lap.

“Eww…” I grimaced.

“Ssss!” he hissed, aggravatedly.

“Well, I mean, of course I want candy…” I picked it up, making sure it was completely wrapped up. “And, thanks, I guess, but…”

I suppose beggars couldn’t be choosers, but something about eating a piece of candy that came out of a snake's mouth just didn’t sit well with me. It was going to take a fair bit more contemplation to decide if I was going to eat this.

Anyways, at this point, most people had left the bunker shelters around the city and bounced back enough to start handing out treats again. So that was an option if I wanted. I wasn’t proud to say that world devastating threats were common around here, but it happened enough that people had gotten used to it as if it were par for the course.

“I have to give credit to these humans,” I started. “They don’t let catastrophes hold them down for long.”

“You know how these demon things work,” Yamin started. “Most of them probably don’t even remember what happened, if they could see it at all.”

That was true. They had a funny way of forgetting demonic events like this one. They just knew I was the one taking care of things and that somebody reported on it in the morning over the radio while they were on the way to work.

A breathy chuckle left my mouth at the thought of that.

“What’s so funny?” Yamin asked.

“Just thinking how weird my public life is.”

Speaking of public life, Jess was already making a good reputation for herself by continuing to help people who were recovering. We’d long since evacuated all the bunkers and got people back on their feet, but she was taking it a few steps further by entertaining children with a bunch of songs in her own language...

“Νάνι νάνι το παιδί μου. Έλα Ύπνε ύπνωσέ το και γλυκά ‘ποκοίμησέ το. Έλα ύπνε 'πό τ’ αμπέλια, πάρ’ το παιδί μου από τα χέρια. Πάρ’ το σύρ’ το στα μαντράκια, να κοιμάται σαν τ’ αρνάκια, να κοιμάται σαν τ’ αρνάκια, να ξυπνά σαν τα κατσικάκια.”

-Translating Olympian-

"-Nani nani my child. Come Sleep make it sleep and sweetly lull it. Come Sleep from the vineyards, take my child from the hands. Take it to the sheepcote to sleep like a little lamb, to sleep like a little lamb, and to wake up like a little goat.-"

All the costumed children gathered around her were clapping and cheering as she sang out nursery rhymes in a language they’d never heard before. There was something magical about it that made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

“The kids have no idea what she’s saying,” Yamin snickered, “but they sure love it.”

“I love it too,” I said. “She’s got a good heart.”

I was suddenly put on alert when men in suits and sunglasses approached Jess, unintentionally menacing enough to startle her and the children. These were some beefy dudes, so they had a serious presence.

As I began to approach in case things got rough, Jess took initiative and confronted the suited men on her own, blocking them from reaching the kids.

“Sir, we’ve identified the girl,” said a dark skinned man leading the suits. “Yes sir. The area is clear.”

“Excuse me?” Jess’s head tilted in confusion. “Who are you people?”

Just as she said that, a man entered the scene, his gray suit brimming with simplicity, but still giving him an incredible air of high status. He had a little bit of gray in his well combed hair, but his nearly chiseled face appeared to be no older than forty.

Something about his eyes told me that he was a shrewd man, one who knew he had something others needed, and was willing to give those things out for the right price.

“So this is the young witch who saved my beloved city…” he spoke in a very deep voice but had a lot of charisma to back it up. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard music as good as yours, and I’ve heard quite a bit in my time.”

The man practically shooed away what seemed to be his body guards to get a one on one chat with Jess, which eased her stance a little bit.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are.”

“Where are my manors?” He pulled a business card out of his pocket and kindly handed it over to her. “My name is Clint Cosmo, and I’m the CEO of Satellite Industries.”

Holy cow. THE Clint Cosmo? This guy was a big name in the world right now, since he owned one of the most profitable industries ever.

“Yalda…” Yamin’s jaw dropped and she couldn’t have been paid enough to hold back her smile. “It’s him! It’s the space man himself! Eeeeeee!” she squealed like a fan girl.

Yamin was a stargazer, so this was like meeting a celebrity.

“It really is him,” I commented. “But why does he want to talk to Jess?”

I debated whether I should approach or not, but I figured this was a moment Jess needed to tackle on her own.

“Wow!” Jess said. “You’re the guy who owns the big building we saved?”

“I sure am. And don’t think I don’t appreciate your work. It was very good work!” He proceeded to pull out a piece of paper and a pen. “Listen, Jessette. You’ve got talent and I owe you a favor now-”

“You’re giving me a free pen?!” she got excited as she took the pen from his hands. It was an impressive pen from a glance. “Thank you!”

He started laughing loudly.

“You can keep that, but I think I have something a little more interesting to you.”

He then handed her the paper and she read it over. Her eyes went wide and she looked up at him.

“This is for real?” she uttered in disbelief. “Like, you’re serious?”

“Jessette, you saved my city from absolute annihilation,” he said in an encouraging voice. “This is the least I could do for someone in your position. If I were you, I’d write my name on the dotted line.”

“Heck yeah!” she scribbled down something where he pointed.

He tried to read her penmanship, but with all his squinting he didn’t seem to know what it said.

“Well, good enough.” he smiled, hiding the paper back into his jacket. “I look forward to taking you to the moon, Jessette. Maybe even further beyond. You like that idea?”

“We’re going to the moon?” her eyes widened even more than before in amazement. “Do they do gigs up there?”

“It’s just a saying,” he replied. “You’re going to be very popular, Jessette. The most popular idol the world has ever seen. I’m going to make sure your popularity skyrockets to new heights. I’ll ask again… You like that deal? I hope you do, because you’re signed up for it now.”

I kinda’ wish she would have let me read that contract over for her, but I can’t blame her for signing it like a sucker. Getting sponsored by Clint Cosmo directly was unheard of.

After a little bit more conversation between the two of them, she finally regrouped with us and was all sorts of ecstatic.

“Guys, like holy moly do I have news!” she leapt off her instrument and skipped over to me, pulling my arms and forcing me to dance with her.

“Woah!” I cried out a cheer. “You’re in a really good mood!”

“I sure am! That guy I talked to was the CEO of Satellite Industries and he was so grateful that we saved his building that he asked me if I wanted a job so I said I totally do want one but wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do and then he explained that he wanted to endorse and sponsor me so I could chase my dream of becoming a pop idol and I was like totally dude!”

She took in a big gulp of air after that. It was even funnier because we heard the whole thing.

It was an even bigger deal than she might have thought. Satellite Industries was responsible for practically creating a new age of satellite based broadcasts, which was part of a world wide network that they were establishing. If they were sponsoring her, she would certainly dominate the airwaves unattested for a long time.

“Wow, Jess!” Yamin joined in on our hand holding. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! ᶜᵃⁿ ᴵ ᵍᵉᵗ ʰᶦˢ ᵃᵘᵗᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰˀ ”

“I’m happy for you too!” I said. “This is big! You’ll have your name in lights in the stars in no time!”

“I sure will!” Jess let go of us and pointed her finger to the night sky. “Get ready, world!” she shouted loudly. “Jessette the Musical Witch is about to change everything! It’s time to face the music!”

~🎃🔥🎃~

In the skies, high above the now peaceful city Urnan hovered a witch on a broomstick. The dress she wore gleaned red in the moonlight and the strands of her skirt danced in the wind. A single tare had split the dress between her bosom, showing a long scar over her heart.

A seductive smile curved her lips. Her red eyes gazed down on the people, watching like a bird of prey to unsuspecting mice scampering the streets.

Like two birds of a feather, a large eagle of fire flew to her and perched on her arm as it was trained. Its crimson gaze had a yellow ring within. Within its beak it passed along a blue flame brimming with supernatural energy.

She was all too pleased to accept it and held it up toward the moon Darmos, which was just beginning to touch the horizon.

“Perfect.” She brushed her hand across the bird's head. “Enjoy this night, humanity. For soon your last day shall come.”

-To be continued-