TEOTW

The world was ending.

Sunny let out a bitter laugh, standing amidst the ruins of the bastion where he and Changing Star had once lived. What had once been a stronghold of hope was now dust and echoes.

Nephis stood beside him, silent, her expression unreadable. To anyone else, she looked indifferent, stoic even. But Sunny could see the grief buried beneath.

She wasn't wearing her usual Supreme Memory. Instead, she dressed in simple, unremarkable clothes. It was almost as if, in this moment, she wasn't the Changing Star at all.

Sunny was no different. A black shirt, black shorts. Fitting, really.

Could he blame her for giving up?

After all their futile attempts to stop the Unholy Titan from rising, after all their desperate battles to hold back the inevitable, this was the result. A Gate 7 had opened—impossibly, horrifyingly early. No one had expected one for another thousand years. But it had come.

Right at the doorstep of the Dream Realm.

No one was prepared. Not even the Sovereigns.

Sunny turned to Nephis, studying her quiet face.

"Still silent, even now?" he chuckled, voice hoarse.

She looked at him then, head tilting slightly, like an owl. "What's so funny?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just… it's strange. You're still calm, even at the end of everything."

A crack in the mask.

She didn't answer right away. Then, softly:

"We can we do, Sunny?"

Her mind suddenly shifted to the horror of the unholy titan. The size of that thing could not be compared to any creature on earth. It's aura that surrounded the vile beast intimidated even the sovereigns. Screams of sleepers, awakeneds, masters, saints and even horrified expressions on the sovereigns themselves had filled her mind, flickering like a old DVD player. It was the first time in her life, where she truly felt hopeless.

With no way out of winning a fight against an Unholy Titan, let alone kill it, she had accepted her fate.

'Fate, huh...'

Fate was funny. Sometimes it would throw you oranges at the speed of what a kid could throw, then a brick at the speed of light could be coming straight after. A series of unfortunate events could be explained on their very situation.

However, this whole thing proved one thing, and one thing only.

Humanity wasn't ready.

She felt a hand slip into hers.

Warm. Steady.

Her breath hitched as she looked down, then up at the man beside her.

Sunny wasn't looking at her. He was staring ahead at the sky, where the pale blue glow of their end was drawing closer.

"It's okay, Neph," he said, voice quiet, almost lost to the wind. A sad smile ghosted his lips. He wanted to fight. He always had. But even he knew—there was nothing left to fight for.

The light was growing.

It swallowed the horizon, moving faster and faster, consuming the world in cold, blue fire.

They turned toward each other.

The light looked at the shadow with a hint of many things. Whether it was sadness, or anger, or regret, or shock. One stood out the most that reciprocated with the shadow.

Love.

A small, fragile smile passed between them.

"I love you," Sunny whispered.

The roaring explosion drowned out Nephis's voice. He couldn't hear her reply.

But he saw her lips move. He watched her mouth the very words he wished for.

"I love you too."

A tear slipped down his cheek. 

His small smile stretched wider across his face.

And then, the blue flames engulfed the both of them. Leaving no room for both Shadows and the Light.

Everyone is dead.

The world was gone.

Forever.