Rest in Peace

SNAP.

The sound was like a harp string breaking in a cathedral as a blinding flash of white light exploded from Vanessa and, simultaneously, a wave of black sludge exploded from Malevolent. Vanessa screamed as the divinity was ripped from her soul and the white light shattered in her eyes, causing her to collapse in the aftermath.

Malevolent on the other hand shrieked as his immortality vanished, his tether to the soul of a Goddess severed, leaving him a shell of his former self, a lowly monster, alone in the dark.

"NO!" Malevolent howled, withering away. "I AM ETERNAL!"

Silver turned to the God, his eyes cold and empty

"Not anymore," the Death Mage whispered as he ripped the daggers out and, in one fluid, brutal motion, drove his right hand straight into the God’s rotting chest. He grabbed his heart, a black organ that smelled of sin and the abyss, cutting off Malevolent’s scream instantly as his eyes bulged.

"Death Art," Silver whispered into the God’s ear. 

"Final Verdict."

A shockwave of silence blasted outward as Silver crushed the heart in his bare hands, but Malevolent didn't explode. He imploded. The rotting flesh, the black blood, everything about the monster, it all swirled inward, sucked into the vacuum where his heart used to be. The Serpent folded in on himself, screaming silently, compressing smaller and smaller until he was nothing more than a speck of black dust and then, the speck vanished! 

Soon afterwards, the grey sky shattered like a glass ceiling as the vibrant blue hues rushed back in and the clouds turned white while the sun, the real sun, poured golden light onto the arena, relieving everyone for miles around. The universe breathed a sigh of relief in unison as even the Solspire tree in the center stopped rotting, its leaves healing as they turned back from black to green, shimmering with life once more.

The silence held for a heartbeat.

Then, a sound broke it.

Thump.

Silver fell backward and hit the stone hard, his daggers clattering away to his sides as he stared up at the blue sky, his chest heaving, his vision blurring, his mind fading, his body running on fumes. He reached up with a shaking hand to take out a cigarette to smoke but failed.

"Damn," Silver whispered, a weak smile touching his lips as he pushed himself to crawl over to Vanessa. She was lying  there on the obsidian floor, her chest still.

"Vanessa?" Silver choked out hesitantly as he reached for her pulse and for a second, there was nothing. 

Then... thump.

A weak, fluttery beat. 

thump thump. 

Vanessa gasped, her eyes flying open as she coughed, curling onto her side and clutching her ribs in pain before looking at her hands. The glow was gone, as she scraped her palm on the stone, and it bled. It hurt.

And it didn't heal!

"Silver..." she rasped as he sat up and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"You're alive," he sobbed

"I'm mortal, and it's all because of you" 

she corrected, a weak, beautiful smile spreading across her face as she looked up at the blue sky.

Vanessa looked around at her surroundings and observed the Dojo students who were sitting on the ground, dazed, their weapons discarded, before turning her gaze to the Sol Academy students who were emerging from the vines, hugging each other, crying in relief.

"We won didn't we.." Vanessa whispered, squeezing his hand. "It's over."

Silver closed his eyes, letting out a long, ragged breath. "I need a nap..."

"Don't you dare die on me," Vanessa warned, an inch from death herself.

"I won't," Silver mumbled, drifting off "Too much work.."

Across the arena, near the spot where the God had died, Ezekiel sat slumped against the rebar. The gold dust was fading from the air, returning to normal, brown sand that fell around him slowly but surely. The madness of the Jester was receding, leaving only a tired, broken man.

Noah limped over to his favourite instructor, falling to his knees beside him when he reached close.

"Teach?" Noah asked, his voice trembling as Ezekiel opened one eye. It was grey again.

"Hey, kid," Ezekiel whispered, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth, his breathing laboured. The more he spoke, the worse it got. "Did you see that? I battled a God."

"You did," Noah said, smiling and happy, yet tears were streaming down his face. "You saved us."

Ezekiel smiled.

It wasn't the manic grin of the Jester, it was the gentle, sad smile of the man who had lost his mind and tried to do the right thing, over and over again, only for destiny to beat him down, testing him until he broke completely. 

And yet, he never gave up. 

He looked at Noah, really looked at him, observing the bruises, the trauma, the rage, the sadness, the love, the loss, everything in a glance without any words exchanged, reading his eyes, he saw... the survival.

"Noah," Ezekiel rasped, reaching out a shaking worried hand and patting the boy's cheek. "Don't... don't be like me. Okay?"

"Teach, please," Noah begged, grabbing his hand. "We can get a healer. Principal Callie is..."

"No," Ezekiel cut him off gently. "I'm tired, Noah. I've been tired for a long time. I wished for good fortune... for myself....but it never came... and now... I need rest... this is for the best.."

He looked past Noah, toward the spot where the Queen had fallen and thought of his biological mother before his thoughts strayed to Meline and then finally to Elara and the baby in the slums.

At least,  Ezekiel thought, his vision darkening, my child will see the sun.

"The mask is heavy, kid," 

Ezekiel whispered, his eyes closing. 

"It's nice... to finally... take it off...."

His hand slipped from Noah’s cheek.

Ezekiel Sapphire, let out one final, shallow breath. And then, he was still.

Noah stared at him. The silence of the arena was heavy, but it wasn't grey anymore. It was warm. The student bowed his head, resting it on his teacher's chest, and wept. Slow sobbing and gentle tears turned to loud, uncontrollable wailing. The trauma from Meline, the death of Kami, and now Ezekiel, it all hit him together like a freight train of emotions as Noah lost himself in the agony. 

It was the only sound that reverberated in the entire colosseum.

Above them, the wind picked up, carrying the last specks of gold dust into the sky, where they sparkled like stars against the returning blue and disappeared over the horizon.

The Colosseum, once the symbol of the Queen’s oppression, was a crater of shattered obsidian and overgrown vines while the statue of the Sun at the gates, a symbol of the Japanese occupancy, had crumbled, lying face down in the dirt.

But the air was clean, the heavy, suffocating pressure of the Empire gone with the death of the Serpent God.

In the center of the arena, the survivors moved slowly, quietly and efficiently tending to the dead.

Noah stood up, his legs numb, his face streaked with dust and dried tears as he lifted Ezekiel’s body in his arms. The teacher felt surprisingly light, as if the heavy burden he had carried in life had finally evaporated with his soul.

"Let me help you," Rain offered, stepping forward with a bandaged arm.

"No," Noah whispered, adjusting his grip. "He carried me when I couldn't walk. I'll carry him now."

Noah walked past the stunned Dojo students. Tsukihime, the proud princess of the moon, sat on a piece of rubble, her massive sword lying forgotten in the dirt. She looked at Noah, not with arrogance, but with the lost, frightened look of a child who realized her parents were monsters.

The Empire was broken.

Meanwhile, deep in the slums of Darkspire, Elara sat outside her father's home as Fester was busy brewing tea inside. She wasn't shaking; instead she looked clean and rehabilitated, a bag of gold coins, enough to buy a lavish house in the upper district, sitting in her lap. It had been delivered anonymously that morning, with a note that simply said: For the future.

She looked down at the baby in her arms and the child looked up at her with bright, intelligent grey eyes, cooing as it reached a tiny hand toward the sky.

Elara followed his gaze to witness how, above the towering buildings of the slums, the sun was rising, shining bright! It wasn't blocked by smog or shadows. It was warm, and unending.

The baby laughed, and for the first time in a long time, Elara smiled back.

One Week Later.

The aftermath of the battle was a blur of reconstruction as the Japanese fleet retreated and the Queen was buried in an unmarked grave. While the Japanese influence on Darkspire's architecture and the integration of it's community within the culture could not be undone so easily, at least the ruling class was removed and the power was finally back in the hands of the people of the land.

The symbol of harmony between the two cultures, the mixed blood instructor Ezekiel, was honored as a hero, his example serving as the glue that held the opposing communities together, to live in harmony and peace without a Queen or ruler to subjugate them.

But politics mattered not in the infirmary of the Academy which was quiet, smelling of antiseptic and fresh flowers.

Silver opened his eyes, groaning on one of the beds, feeling as if his entire body had been put through a meat grinder and reassembled by a blind man.

"You're finally awake."

Vanessa spoke, sitting there in the chair beside his bed in a simple white blouse, her hair tied back, her violet eyes bright and clear as she peeled an apple with a small knife.

"How long?" Silver rasped, trying to sit up and immediately regretting it.

"Seven days," Vanessa said, handing him a slice. "Chernobog said your mana circuits were fried. He wasn't sure you'd wake up. But I had no doubt you would."

Silver chewed the apple slowly. "Did we..."

"Yes," Vanessa smiled, though her eyes were sad. "The Queen is dead. Ophelia is dead. Musashi is dead. The Japanese fleet retreated this morning. They took the Dojo students back to Saigetsu. After being betrayed by the church, they needed to regroup. The occupation is over, for now atleast."

Silver let out a long breath, sinking back into the pillow. "And the Academy?"

"Hmm.." Vanessa paused before answering. "Still standing but..."

"Ezekiel?" Silver asked, though he already knew the answer.

Vanessa’s smile faltered. She looked out the window, where a new monument was being erected in the courtyard.

"He's at peace, Silver. For the first time."

The funeral was held at sunset, beneath the branches of the Solspire tree. It wasn't a grand state affair but rather a private gathering for the students and the faculty. Three coffins lay side by side. One for Meline. One for Kami and one for Ezekiel.

Noah stood at the podium, wearing a black suit that felt too tight as he looked out at the sea of faces; Rain, Summer, Azrael, Runa, Ken, Silver, Vanessa, Aureli, the principals, Chernobog, even Lilith stood in the back. 

"He told me..." Noah started, his voice shaking as he gripped the podium. 

"He told me that the mask is heavy. He told me he had been patient enough. Struck by misfortune after misfortune, he spent his whole life hiding who he was because he thought the world wouldn't accept him. He thought he was a monster."

Noah looked at the coffin.

"But he wasn't a monster. He was the only one who saw us. Not as rankings, not as nobles or commoners, but as people."

Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was the signet ring of the Sapphire family, the one Ezekiel had taken from his father.

"I won't wear a mask!" Noah vowed, looking at the crowd.

 "We won't hide anymore. We will build the world he wanted. A world where you don't have to be 'pure' to be worthy. A world of order out of this chaos!"

He placed the ring on Meline’s coffin.

"Goodbye, Teach. Goodbye, Meline. Goodbye Kami."

After the funeral, back in his office in the greenhouse, Silver packed his bag, getting ready to leave. He hesitated for a moment, looking at the tarnished silver shield, his P.I. badge, in his hand. The insignia of the Sol Academy Private Investigator gave him authority and  purpose,  not to mention an array of unforgettable memories. But now, it was no longer the time to ponder over the past. It was time to gaze into the eyes of the future as Silver tossed the badge onto the mahogany desk. It spun for a second before settling with a final, metallic clatter.

"You're quitting?" Chernobog asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm retiring from the Academy, the P.I. life is quieter." Silver said "And besides, I have a promise to keep."

Chernobog limped into the room on his walking cane, still recovering from keeping the dimension together, but he didn't look at Silver. Instead, he walked over to the badge on the desk, reaching out with a scarred hand to pick it up as he ran his thumb over the engraving.

"You were a terrible employee," Chernobog laughed. "Insubordinate. Reckless. You smoked in my office. Heck you smoked wherever you wanted, and alot of students complained you know? You destroyed public property. And you cost me a fortune in insurance claims!"

Silver smirked, leaning back against his desk. "I’ll send you a cheque."

"Keep your money," Chernobog said, dropping the badge back onto the wood as he finally looked up, meeting Silver’s eyes. The gruffness in his voice cracked, just a fraction. "I taught you didn't I? Death Magic is a transaction. A life for a life. A breath for a breath. I taught you that everything has a cost."

"You did," Silver nodded. "Lesson one. I still remember it, very painfully."

"I was wrong," Chernobog admitted softly.

Silver paused, having never heard the Headmaster admit a mistake in twenty years.

"Excuse me?"

Chernobog stepped closer, his shadow looming large over his student.

"I taught you how to spend your life, Silver. I never taught you how to keep it." Chernobog poked Silver’s chest with the tip of his cane, right over his heart. "You killed a God. You saved this school. You saved me. The ledger is balanced. You don't owe the world a damn thing anymore."

Silver looked at the old man and saw the pride, the relief.

"I didn't do it for the world," Silver said quietly. "I did it because you were too stubborn to let the roof cave in."

Chernobog huffed, a sound that was suspiciously close to a laugh. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pristine, unlit cigar.

"A parting gift," Chernobog said. "From my private reserve. Don't smoke it all at once."

Silver took the cigar and tucked it into his pocket.

"You're going soft, old man," the death mage quipped, shouldering his bag.

"And you're going away," Chernobog countered as he moved aside, clearing the path to the door. "Go. Before I find a reason to fire you instead of letting you quit."

Silver walked past him, but stopped at the doorway. He didn't turn around.

"Hey, Chernobog?"

"What?"

"You were a hard teacher," Silver said, his voice thick with unsaid emotion. "But you were the only father I ever had."

He didn't wait for a response, walking out into the greenhouse, the door clicking shut behind him.

In the silence of the office, the terrifying Headmaster of the Sol Academy, the Pillar of strength and resolve, the pesudo leader of the nation now that the Queen was dead and the pope was gone, the one and only Chernobog stared at the closed door. He took a shaky breath and wiped a speck of dust, definitely just dust, from his eye.

"Class dismissed," he whispered.

Later that evening, the Academy grounds were quiet as Silver stood by the main gate, leaning against the stone archway. He had a fresh pack of cigarettes, but he just held one in his hand, twirling it.

"Leaving?"

He turned to find Vanessa walking up to him, the moonlight catching the silver strands in her hair.

"Job's done," Silver shrugged. "I'm a P.I., remember? I solved the case. I Saved the girl. I Killed the bad guy. What else is there for me here?"

"And where will you go?" Vanessa asked, stepping closer, letting him sense her intrigue, her curiosity, her emotions. "Back to chasing cheating husbands and lost cats?"

Silver chuckled. "Maybe. It pays better than fighting Gods."

He looked at her as the moonlight made her look ethereal.

"What about you?" he asked. "You're a free woman now, Vanessa.  No Queen hunting you. No destiny hanging over your head. And now you're on a clock! You can go anywhere. Do anything. Go, live your life to the fullest for the time that you have left.."

Vanessa looked past him, out at the road leading down to the city, filled with bright lights and then over towards the horizon which promised excitement and adventure.

"I spent hundreds of years running," she said softly. "I spent a decade alone in a cave, waiting for someone to save me."

She turned back to him, her eyes locking onto his.

"I don't want to go anywhere, Silver. I want to stay."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "At the Academy?"

"With you," she corrected, inching closer to him, her voice melodic and passionate now.

Silver froze as he looked at the cigarette in his hand, then tossed it away. It landed in a puddle, unlit.

"I'm a mess, Vanessa," he warned. "I'm broken. I'm grumpy. I have too much baggage."

"I know," Vanessa smiled, stepping into his space as she reached up and placed a hand on his scarred cheek. "But I trust you. With my emotions, with my life, with my stories, with my heart, with my future, with everything."

Silver leaned into her touch as the tension that had defined his life for many years finally unspooled.

"You're stubborn," he murmured, smiling under his breath.

"And you're ugly," she teased, her eyes sparkling. "We're a perfect match."

Silver laughed as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.

"Alright, then let's go, together. Just you and me."

Silver said causing Vanessa's eyes to beam with excitement.

They walked out of the Academy gates, hand in hand, leaving the magic and the madness behind them as they stepped into the rest of their lives.