Epilogue Bonus: A meeting beyond time and space.
When I opened my eyes I was back in that white room, strangely I wasn't naked this time which was pretty good considering it all. Taylor however, who had been sleeping next to me, was gone as expected. The Goddess wasn't one to bring other people into this. It was strange then when I realised I wasn't alone.
"Caius?" I looked at the Demon Lord with wide eyes. We had been talking earlier about trade routes across the border forest but I didn't expect to see him so soon. It was the first time I had seen any other person in here.
"Rain?" he looked at me just as confused.
"Caius!?" the new voice higher pitched but infuriatingly familiar entered my ears. It was Jane as I knew myself. I had never liked how girly he sounded or looked for that matter. "Wait, who are you?" he pointed at me.
I scratched my head. I'm pretty sure he shouldn't have existed anymore. Either the Goddess had played around more than I thought or I was having a weird arse dream. "Hold on, let me confirm something. Caius you know who I am don't you?"
"Of course, we talked earlier," he replied but couldn't take his eyes off Jane. He spat, "Damn you really could pass off as a girl.
"Hey!" Jane complained. "It's not my fault I was born like this. If anything blame that damn Goddess." He turned to me, "Now explain. You look like you know the most."
"You could say that," I sighed exasperated. "Basically I'm you after being reborn again in the Goddess' world. Caius is us if we had never left and encountered me. It's all confusing I know."
"Oh you're Rain," he nodded in understanding. "Lara told me about you."
"Wait Lara?" it was my turn to be surprised. "She made it back to you?"
"Well yes," he raised his brows at me. "Weren't you the one who sent her?"
"We did but I didn't think she went to a world where you existed," I laughed, relief flooded into my chest. So the Goddess really did take her somewhere she could be happy. "I'm sure you're looking after her."
"Of course I am," he folded his arms, the hand on top adorned with a single ring. "She is my wife after all."
"…." Both Caius and I were stunned. Even Taylor and I hadn't got that far.
Jane clapped his hands, "Oh right, you're with that Taylor girl aren't you."
I threw up my arms. My brain couldn't handle this right now. To think that Jane and Lara would get together…. No truth be told I had an inkling Lara felt that way about me but I never thought it would go anywhere.
"Okay that's a thing but what we really need to know is why we're here," I changed the topic. "Only one being could bring us together and I'm suspicious at the fact she hasn't shown herself." We all looked around for the Goddess' white figure.
Instead we were greeted by a different voice. A male one and like the Goddess' his voice changed with each sentence taking different tones, "Sorry to disappoint but it was not the Goddess who called you." A white figure appeared, distinctly a man. "I wanted to talk with you all."
"And who are you?" Caius asked with clear intent. His brows drew together.
The figure laughed, "That certainly is a question. Let me ask you this, did you ever think there was a grander plan to your lives?"
"I felt that it was grand enough," I answered roughly.
"Of course the closest to me would say that," he smirked.
I frowned, "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"To put it simply, as you said to Jane, I am you," his words caused me to shake down to my core. Why? Because he was clearly a being on a different level to us, he matched the Goddess. The possibility of becoming him in my future frightened me. Taylor, Axel, Ronalt and the others, I'd never be able to be with them the same again.
The figure chuckled, "Relax, all of you. There is little to no chance of becoming like me. The circumstances leading to this… were unique."
"Well you've obviously brought us here for a reason right?" Jane asked purposefully.
"I wanted to see the best outcome," the figure smiled and with it came a strange warmth. It wasn't like the Goddess' but more mellow.
"Could you just explain it fully for us so we don't have to keep asking?" I folded my own arms and the three of us stared at him.
"My apologies, since I took this form social interaction hasn't been a priority," with a swish of his hands the white room changed revealing a simple lounge room accompanied by chairs. Without being told we sat. "The path I took was close to your own Rain. Though there were key differences, Taylor fell to the Monster of the border forest and Ardent to the Demon Lord." Just by hearing that my heart ached. Still he continued sombrely, "We defeated the Demon Lord, you Caius, and returned victorious. Lara went to the Empire and I went home, however when Lara was turned against us and my soul was crushed, during my second chance Caius no longer existed in the world. We had truly killed him using the Hero's power. Without him there was no foothold against Lara and the Empire crushed the Kingdom. The Demon's soon followed. I was next to useless despite all my experience."
"So you're from the bad end?" Jane asked.
The being laughed, "Not quite. It's complicated. In that world the tale never ended. What came was called the years of chaos. The Empire used Lara as a puppet continuing to fuel the artefact with the lives of countries they subjugated. After conquering the entire continent they sailed to the next. With only Earnest and Marley we set sail to warn the rest of the world and in doing so encountered Lara again and again, each time living through luck alone. It was then that the Goddess gave me a vision. A set of trials to obtain the power I had lost and with it I could defeat Lara and save the world. It became my goal in life to complete them. All the while people continued to be sacrificed and Lara was sucked further into the void.
"It took years and by the end the world was divided. Half against the Empire wanting freedom and the other taken by their ideals, believing Lara to be the coming of the Goddess. We faced each other and the resulting battle devastated everything around us. Days passed yet it felt like mere moments… then I was defeated. Lara had bested me but in those final instants something happened. The belief the world had in us took shape and our bodies evaporated, we became spiritual beings not bound by humanity. Lara's mind however had long been lost after years of the artefact's use. She had become a monster, one that had to be put down. Our battle destroyed the fabric of that world. After what felt like dozens of years I somehow managed to subdue her. It was hard to remember why we were even fighting at that point. The last of her life was absorbed into me and the me now was born. We had broken the limit, and with it I ascended to godhood."
It was a lot to take in. Even after my own journey and pains dealing with Lara, his felt so much worse. It was nonsensical yet I couldn't hold anything against it. Finally I spoke, "So you're currently a god?"
"Yes… though not an almighty one," he answered almost as if grieving. "The truth however is that the path I took was the intended route, it was what the Goddess wanted."
"She wanted you to become a god?" Caius narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
The figure that could have been us, stood, "The laws of the world are many and the Goddess controls ours. Yet there are many worlds. Some like the one Lara resides in have no true sovereign, others do and they are not all friendly. To defend the world, a god must face a god. The Goddess can only do so much to become more powerful, the easiest way is to leave it to someone else."
I understood, "From the beginning she saw us to have the potential to become like her…."
"Correct. Once I ascended, my world disappeared and in your worlds the concept of me does not exist. The various worlds that you came from, all the same yet different, each are mirrors controlled by the Goddess. It is only in some of them were I have been granted permission to reign."
I scratched my head, "And I thought my life was complicated. So what's it like being a god?"
He chuckled, "Restricting. Though I can do the impossible I cannot do the possible. It is hard to describe to mortals."
"Great," I sighed. "And I thought one bothersome god was enough."
"Your world is your own. I will not interfere."
Jane raised his hand, "So this is me just being curious, but if you are the intended ending and we are the good ending, what was the bad one?"
Though it was hard to make out his expression the being that was us saddened, "That…. Again I will ask the question to Rain who was the closest to achieving that end. Do you know?"
It took a moment for me to think about it but with a shudder I knew, "When Axel was sacrificed. The Goddess intervened stopping me from killing myself. If I had, I would have been stuck…. I would have lost myself."
"Indeed," the being nodded. "One of my first duties was to purge that world from existence. It was a dark fate."
I sighed, "Looks like I really do owe the Goddess for that one."
"I believe we've paid her back," he chuckled. "However she did risk much by doing that."
Caius looked to the white figure piercingly, "From that I assume you are quite close to the Goddess now."
"You could say that. However once again do not worry, I will not interfere with your lives. I simple wanted to see the better result, one in which my friends and family lived, one in which you were happy." He smiled, "It gladdens me there was an outcome like all of yours."
"So you aren't happy?" I had to ask.
"On the contrary, I believe I am blessed in my own right."
The room shook and changed back to white. The table and chairs faded to nothing and suddenly we were made to stand. Another figure entered, one more familiar.
The Goddess moved to his side, "I've come to pick you up. Are you done with your chat?"
He answered, "Yes, we just finished."
She looked at us, her white figure smiled, "I should thank you all. I no longer have to spend eternity alone."
"Just don't mess with us too much," Jane replied bluntly. "I have a good thing going."
She laughed, "You I can interfere with the least. The world you reside in is technically not within my bounds."
I heaved a sigh, "Well this has all been a rather enlightening experience. If we're done, Caius and I need to be up early for a meeting and I'd prefer some actual sleep."
The Goddess wrapped her hands around our other god self. They looked quite intimate. She spoke into his ear, "Are you satisfied?"
"I am," he nodded content. "Goodbye and live well my other selves."
"Likewise," I answered for us all.
And as a final goodbye they revealed their true forms. The pressure exerted on my brain threatened to overwhelm me. Their beauty impossible to comprehend by human limits. They smiled and for a moment I felt my soul lighten, "Thank you".
*
I shot awake breathing hard. The hell was that for? Without a doubt they knew just how tiring it was actually looking at them for real. If I was a normal person I might have been fried. Damn gods playing pranks on me. Caius was probably feeling the same in the next room over.
"Rain?" Taylor rubbed her eyes and sat up joining me. "You okay?"
"Well I just had a very interesting experience but sure," I shook my head and faced her. She was wearing simple nightwear and looked at me confused. I pulled her closer and hugged her. The warmth of her body and the now familiar feeling she gave me. Yep, there no doubt in my mind, I loved her the most.
"I mean if you're in the mood I won't say no," she whispered to me coquettishly.
"Hey Taylor," I pulled away from her and looked at her seriously.
"What's up?"
"Will you marry me?" I smiled, the question coming from the depths of my heart.
Her eyes widened, the last ounces of sleep torn away by my words. Without warning I was pushed down and we fell from the bed in a tumble. She sat on top of me with the brightest smile I had seen from her in a while, "I couldn't be happier."
Well I might not have become a god, but this was much better regardless.
The End. By HMP Dharma