Day ???: The Curtain Falls

The witch’s voice resonated in a space that no longer belonged to a single place.

—As you can see, I am here thanks to my messenger.
Thanks to how atrocious your reality is… and to the endless cycle to which this world belongs.
An anomaly, a marginalized being like you, managed to free himself halfway from this aberration.
That is Zick.

The awakened watched in silence.

—But do not be mistaken —she continued—.
He is not special.
He was simply a little lucky… and possessed an intense desire.
Many came close to achieving it.
Very close.
But they failed.

The shadow watching Zick did not move.

—Until one of his writings reached me —the witch added—.
My creator was already incognito in this world.
As I said before, the presence of entities like us alters realities.
That is why some only observe.

The witch smiled.

—Now you know half of the truth.
It is time for the curtain to fall… or not, entity slayer.
What is it that you protect so fiercely?
Why do you repress my messenger?

The shadow replied with a deep, ancient voice.

—I will not allow him to be consumed by the entity your creator hunts.
The oneiric entity.

—I see —said the witch—.
You know more than you appear to.
But do not grow overconfident.

Then she turned to the awakened.

—Give the best of yourselves.

That was when Zick spoke.

His voice was not a shout.
It was a truth that spread.

—We live surrounded by mirrors that do not reflect who we are, but who we are supposed to appear as.
They tell us to be authentic, yet they hand us molds.
We change identities believing that makes us free…
when we are only walking down the same corridor.

The words crossed borders.

—There is no worse prison than the one that convinces us we are free.
If we want to reclaim authenticity, we must recognize ourselves without the world’s mold…
even if that means being left alone.

At that moment, the world reacted.

Entire cities descended into chaos.

Awakened fought against experiments sent to contain them.

Streets split apart.
Buildings collapsed.
The sky filled with impossible lights.

Some awakened protected civilians.
Others were consumed by their rage.
Many simply… could not endure.

Social networks exploded.

The news could no longer hide it.

Zick felt everything.

The pain.
The guilt.
The collective rage.

Then, a different presence touched him.

—Do you really believe you can save us… from the world? —Sally asked, through her energy.

When their energies met, the truth emerged.

Zick: incarnation of madness.
Sally: incarnation of wrath.

Nothing could stop them.

The world powers activated their final resource: weapons capable of erasing nations.

But Sally expanded.

Her shadow devoured experiments, towers, entire armies.
A dark structure rose, covered in eyes.
At its summit, Sally gazed upon a world that had chosen to abandon them.

A distorted eye appeared in the sky.

Reality began to change.

Colors ceased to be opaque.

The world, for the first time, was too alive.

Zick fought while absorbing the suffering of the awakened.

An experiment confronted him: flesh, bones, and twisted energy.
Zick fell, losing an arm, but he did not scream.

He understood.

No one will save us.

That was when he saw them.

Kori and Zai.

—Thank you… —Zick whispered—.
You always helped me.
I always felt I was in debt to you.

—You never were —Zai said, smiling.

—Now it is time to repay it —Zick replied—.
In another life… we will meet again.

With his energy, Zick freed their souls.

Kori and Zai departed toward other worlds.

The shadow spoke within him.

—Now I will take over.

Zick stopped the awakened.
Not through violence, but by freeing them from the pain consuming them.

—It is time for you to stop suffering.

Sally and Zick destroyed that which sustained the system.

The dramaturge witch watched from afar.

—Well done… deranged martyrs.
You have shown me that there are still stories worthy of a great ending.

The world did not survive.

But neither did it die in vain.

In their frenzy, Zick and Sally destroyed everything.

And for the first time…

They managed to be free.