The lights keep flickering on and off as Caroline tries to fix the power. I try to focus on meditating, but the flickering distracts me. The tension along my body feels like a rope being twisted further inward. Looking inward, I slowly unwrap it by forcing this tension down my body. Turning my stomach when it passes and then instantly offering relief, my legs become squished and then relieved when it passes all until it oozes out of my toes. My body is now ready, but a fog still covers my mind.

This fog is my fear; I am scared to die and let go. I hate what actions have led me here. Farly made me think when they said we never truly had a life. The thing is, did I have a choice? I probably did. I had seen paths where Vera and I became friends as she used her emotional and psychic powers to temper my powers as we ruled over humanity more justly and equally. Well, at least we tried; humanity was stuck in a cycle of oppression and inequality. I don't have a choice; this is the only way, and I must continue down it, or all those I have killed, all those who suffered will be for nothing. The fog of my mind empties and fades, and I can finally accept my fate.

Even the flickering lights don't distract me anymore as my room begins to fall away. Trees and mountains rise in their place, filling the area once more. Standing up, I see the entrance to this area being filled with people once again.

"Aurel, you grace us with your presence once again," I hear being said from behind me. Flicking around, I see Rye standing there looking the same as ever.

"I was worried I would never see you again after our last meeting," He added.

"You got lucky plans changed," I said, happier than ever.

"So, why are the new people here?"

"Long story,"

"I bet, what is that a million people?"

"I had to destroy a rebellion to make people hate me."

"So that you can make the universe a paradise?"

"Exactly!"

Rye and I begin to laugh at our little exchange, but slowly, it fades as we realize the dark trauma behind what is happening.

"So, how is this mystical woman going?" Rye ask.

"Her name is Vera; she currently hates me and will likely kill me in the next few days."

"That sounds like your relationship with Lauri honestly."

Lauri was from before I was an emperor and just a revolutionary. We were in love. Fighting side by side and seeing our friends die brought us together. Once my prescient power expanded, our passion became distant as I focussed more on grander ideas humans couldn't understand. Eventually, during the last battle right after Rye's death, I ascended the throne, causing Lauri to hate me and continue the rebellion against me. Later, she died in a battle with one of my legions. I tried inviting her to my realm, but she has resisted for all these years.

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"Difference is I didn't want her to hate me."

"Once she kills you, what's going to happen here, is my existence going to be over again?"

"I will be honest, Rye, I have no idea. I am hoping that you guys will stay here forever."

"But I might also die?"

"Yeah..."

We looked at each other silently as the magnitude weighed on us. Rye's famous smile was gone, and his eyes looked down towards his feet.

"Do you know what it feels like to die?" Rye says while bringing his eyes up to me.

"I sensed the pain people have felt and the fear before it... but I have never felt what death is exactly."

"Well, obviously, I have. Do you want me to tell you?"

I didn't respond; I stared at Rye and his blank, blinkless eyes.

"There isn't a specific feeling. It is mainly fear and pain, as you saw for yourself, but you never feel the finality. I am sure if you did, you couldn't have killed this many people, even if your dream was terrific. In fact, come with me. I want to show you something."

Rye turns around, leading me toward a mountain. In the mountain, there is a staircase that leads between the gaps. It's made from the mountain's stone. Up, up, and up it goes until at the top is a flat surface that looks directly over the entire valley where all my victims lay.

"Imagine killing people, killing this many people if you could feel the finality they felt. Even you wouldn't be able to do it."

I look over the edge to see almost a trillion people in my valley, a valley I have not seen from this angle to see the sheer size it has grown.

"If you really are going to die, you will feel that finality, and you are going to have to know you made that feeling for all these people. I honestly just wanted to let you know, you will have to be ready for it."

"Why are you telling me this, Rye? Are you worried I am not ready for this?"

"I think you have prepared yourself. I know you, and I couldn't see you not being prepared, but I hope you understand your paradise's cost. Can you guarantee that this is all going to be worth it?"

"I don't see specifics; I don't know how this will happen and what paradise is. I just know this will be some sort of utopia where all humans are equal."

"I trust you Aurel, make it worth it please." Rye says while we both look over the edge.

We leave the mountaintop and slowly head down the steps. Moving down one by one.

"To brighten the mood before your potential death," Rye says as his smile slowly clammers back onto his face. "What would you have done if you didn't become emperor?"

"Well, I would have probably lived in the real version of this valley. My visions showed me a future before I became emperor, where I live here off the land using my powers. It's where I got the idea from to make it.

"What were you doing here? Farming!" Rye said while chuckling.

"Yes, actually, it's me and a few people. Picking wheat and growing fruit is my happy place, I suppose."

"That will be the day! The serious and melancholic Aurel becomes a farmer and not an intergalactic deity." Rye replies as we both chuckle at the bottom of the stairs.

We continued to talk about this future I once saw. I showed him where things were, such as my house and the plants, which greatly amused Rye. We finished the tour when I started to feel my mind strain.

"Rye, I have to go now," I say, Rye's smile slowly turning back to sadness. He didn't say a word and just leaned in, embracing me. We held each other for what felt like an eternity. Pulling away, my consciousness begins to fade as I hear Rye's final words: "I love you, brother."

My room is now fully back as I am once again feeling lethargic and drained but now with confidence in my oncoming death.