Before the summoning, June:
Ajax Leonid and Shaula Seikennith are currently about to start a test, sitting beside each other in the back of the classroom in Cyrus Median Academy highschool. Ajax Leonid is a six foot tall young man, of average weight and athletic ability, with a rather forgettable face.
He turned 18 in the first week of January in the state of New Amsterdam within these, the Federal States of Great Britannia. Ajax is currently wearing a school uniform polo shirt, track pants and a wristwatch which his dad gave him as a gift for being accepted to the prestigious ivy-league Samuel Johnson University.
He was accepted into the university’s Chemical Engineering program, having worked extremely hard to do so. Unlike his best friend Shaula, he wasn’t blessed with natural academic talent. His program requires him to maintain his GPA so he has to do extremely well in today’s English test. Dangling from his neck is a stainless steel black crucifix that his mother gave him when he entered high school.
The 19 year old Shaula Seikennith, Ajax’s best (and only) friend, has been staying at Ajax's home with him and his family, dealing with her own tough circumstances. Ajax, being the wonderful person he is, had insisted on helping her. He can even rely on her to wake him up in the morning when he forgets to set his alarm (just like today for example).
Ajax looks over at Shaula with a wry smile. She sneers back at him, fully understanding how anxious he is about the outcome of today’s test.
Shaula is wearing a long-sleeved blouse and necktie, along with a blue school-uniform skirt at her waist with skin-tight yoga pants underneath. This combination accentuates her immaculate, athletically-honed, feminine physique. On her left ear is a heart with a blood-red silhouette of a wolf earring and on her right ear is a musical note earring.
Shaula’s hair is tied back into a ponytail and has been adjusted so some long pieces of hair came to hang down at the front of her face. Incidentally, although she is more academically gifted than Ajax, she decided not to pursue a University STEM course, instead focussing on a trade program where she could apprentice to become an industrial electrician.
She simply didn’t have the resources to take out a student loan nor did she wish to have that burden on her for the rest of her life. Some felt her potential was being wasted. Even her English teacher had urged her to get a degree in poetry or journalism as she was a once-in-a-generation talent. Shaula simply wasn’t interested.
Ajax and Shaula see at the front of the classroom, this same English teacher Ms. Rowfield, explain the instructions for this test. Christa Rowfield is a beautiful woman in her late 20s, with bob-cut blond hair, green eyes, and an outfit consisting of a white sweater, olive blazer and jeans combo.
Without much delay having explained the instructions, she lets everyone start the test. Ajax and Shaula wish each other luck.
30 minutes pass and the time is 9:45am. So far this test is a relative breeze for the two of them. Shaula herself has already completed five-sixths of the test already and is starting to get bored. The test was nothing but simple to her. This is, of course, the moment when she notices… She doesn’t understand what she sees just yet, but she will remember this moment forever.
Wh... what is...
Two table rows in front of her, she sees something floating near the ceiling. She's a bit confused at what she is seeing however; floating in the air, a fluorescent marble made of light… Shaula rubs her eyes a few times, trying to make sure it’s not a trick of the light or anything. Her eyes are as clear as they can be… and still, the mass of light remains.
But, no one else notices it. No one notices it starts to move either. No one sees as the small light moves to right in front of her face, making a path through both solid objects and other students. It’s right in front of her now…
Oh no… I must be… hallucinating…
Shaula freezes. Her vision constricts until she can see nothing else but this light transforming and revealing itself to her in its true form. Her eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly in shock. She wishes that this thing isn’t real. She wishes with her whole heart that this thing is nothing but a hallucination. A vivid, horrifying, hallucination…
This eye appears three feet in front from her face. This unmoving, pitch-black eye floating in front of her face… Blacker than empty space… Blacker than the heart of the devil… Light cannot escape it, or so she initially believes. Within the darkness of the eye is a spotless, shadeless, white iris with a crimson pupil.
Shaula looks closer at it and she can see pure-white capillaries snaking the pitch blackness of the eye, just like the capillaries on a human eye. The eye is twitching just like a real eye too. This entity doesn’t merely resemble an eye. Something is actually looking at her.
Shaula gasps.
Hm?
Ajax hears an audible gasp, coming from his left where Shaula is sitting. He lifts his eyes from his test paper and looks toward Shaula. He sees her face in dread, eyes wide with tension and panic. This is when he sees it too. Ajax looks to where Shaula is staring with her astonished and fearful expression. The thing turns to look at him and Shaula notices its new target.
...Ajax?
The pupil of the eye, now staring directly at Ajax, turns from crimson to sky blue, abruptly dilating to cover almost the entire iris. The capillaries of bright white become thicker and more defined as if it is becoming bloodshot.
What-- what is...
The eye is continuously staring at Ajax and Shaula, the bright white capillaries pulsating while the pupil dilates and constricts over and over again in a rhythmic manner. Shaula stands up, her chair falling over. One by one, their classmates turn to look at the two of them. Ajax and Shaula are both blankly staring at something… that the rest of them cannot perceive…
“Ajax… Ajax, can you see it?”
“...What the fuck is that? Shaula, what is that?”
Ajax steps back from his seat, knocking it over; he steps over his fallen seat, almost tripping, trying to back himself into the corner of the classroom. Shaula moves to protect Ajax, shielding him with her body. He’s panicking right now, this is unlike anything he’s ever seen before in real life. Furthermore, he’s not used to crisis situations such as this.
Yet even for the more composed Shaula, trepidation starts to color her face pale.
“Shaula... what... what is that!?”
“I-I don’t–”
Ajax and Shaula hear Ms. Rowfield and some of the other students call out to them but the sound of a static white noise starts to drown them out. Ajax and Shaula can hear each other but nothing else can reach them anymore.
“Ajax, listen to me carefully. Be calm. I’m right here with you.”
“Shaula– I-I can’t...”
“Ajax!! Stay quiet and obey me right now. Listen to what I fucking say, right n–”
Shaula sees Ajax’s face. She can tell that he’s not even looking at her, let alone listening to what she’s saying to him. He’s going to go into shock. Even she can tell that the fear being generated in response to this creature isn’t normal. It’s presence produces an instinctual dread. Shaula raises her right hand. She smacks Ajax across his face; his nose starts bleeding.
“Ajax! LOOK at that fucking thing!! Something like that WILL kill us with a thought. Fucking calm down, you little bitch! If it kills you for being a pussy, I’m going to find you in hell and rip off your fucking balls!! Please… I need you to be calm… please…”
Tears fall from Shaula’s face as she makes her frantic plea to him. She was forced to strike him in order to snap him out of his panic attack, something she didn’t even picture herself being capable of. The drops of blood fall to the ground and disappear as the overpowering light of the eye masks it away. Ajax receives the message. He is snapped back to reality.
He cannot afford to be weak right now. He cannot afford to let Shaula get hurt because he didn’t help protect her. He holds Shaula next to him rather than hiding behind her. Shaula feels Ajax's will strengthen. Soon, the majesty of this entity forces them to forget all other thoughts and concerns, as they stare into its brilliance.
The deity before them is now as bright as it can possibly be. Everything has disappeared from their sight. The classroom, their classmates, even their own physical bodies no longer exist to them. Right now, only this entity exists, only its nova-like brilliance. Until…
~
“AJAX LEONID AND SHAULA SEIKENNITH.”
Ajax hears it. The holy entity before him is speaking with two distinct voices. The first one is deep, a voice with gravitas. He can feel the tone of this voice vibrate in his very bones. The second “voice” is not exactly a voice; rather, this voice is like a transmission of thought, like a second internal monolog. It can be heard alongside his own internal monolog rather than over it.
It feels creepy, this telepathy. Shaula is beside Ajax, hearing these voices as well; she slowly shifts her attention to her surroundings. She looks around the area where she, Ajax and the being who brought them here are standing. The intense light has disappeared. The area they are in is like a pure white canvas in all directions, even above them.
She can see her body again. Her clothes are clear to her as are the details of her hands, her feet and Ajax beside her. She looks over at Ajax hesitatingly; Shaula feels shame at having struck him and Ajax feels pathetic for falling apart in this crisis. Their collective self-hatred recedes as they turn their focus back to the creature before them.
The eye floats 7 feet in the air before them, about the size and diameter of a small saucer at a distance of a few feet in front of them. It stares at them, their souls, their hearts, their minds, never blinking. Shaula and Ajax both think about where everything else is. Where are Ms. Rowfield, their classmates, the tables and chairs in their classroom, the windows, the chalkboard? Where is here?
All that Shaula can tell with a high degree of probability is that both she and Ajax are not de–
“I AM SENDING YOU TWO AWAY. YOUR EXISTENCE IS INTERFERING WITH MY WORK. PREPARE YOURSELVES AS YOU WILL BE SENT THERE SOON WITH THE OTHERS. IF YOU MUST BLAME ANYONE, BLAME ME.”
“...what? Send us...”
“TIME IS LIMITED SO KNOW THAT YOU WILL LEARN ALL ABOUT THIS PLACE ONCE YOU ARRIVE. DO NOT DESPAIR, YOUR FAMILY WILL AWAIT YOUR RETURN.”
“Wait... wait, no, hold on. W-what are you talking about? You’re moving too q-quickly–”
“I AM SENDING YOU TO AN ALIEN WORLD CALLED OMICRON. YOU TWO ARE HINDRANCES TO MY DESIGN. YOU MUST BE PURGED IN PREPARATION FOR THE NEW WORLD I WISH TO CREATE.”
“...Wh-what’s going to happen to my family? What’s going to... what’s going to happen to my mom and dad, to my sister Rita?”
Ajax and Shaula carefully listen to what God has to say about their departure. He gives them his name: Oromasdes, or Ahura Mazda, of the earthly faith of Zoroastrianism, the supreme deity of Earth. He explains to them that they will be gone for multiple decades.
When they ask why, the deity skirts around the topic and explains that he doesn’t know why they’re the way they are. Why the two of them were picked out of all of humanity. He cannot answer that. He gave them a hint though.
“YOU TWO ARE BLESSED, THE MOST BLESSED OF HUMANS. IT IS ALMOST UNFATHOMABLE THAT YOU TWO WERE BORN TO MERE MORTAL FAMILIES.”
He continues to explain to Ajax about the fate of his family, how they will be protected from suffering, death and pain until he returns. Ajax, coming to terms with the reality of leaving his parents and sister behind, begs God to let him stay, Shaula also appeals to him to guarantee Ajax’s family safety.
He easily guarantees the safety and longevity of his family but still they cannot remain here. Shaula has no family left, none she would wish to protect so she doesn’t need such guarantees of her own. All she has is Ajax and his family.
Ajax is crestfallen. He’s losing decades with his family. He’ll miss everything. When he returns, he’ll be a stranger to his sister, to his parents. He will have changed and they will have changed. Their relationship will be fundamentally different than before. Ajax starts hyperventilating and falls unconscious after Oromasdes uses his power.
Further talk would only make his mind break. Shaula is left speaking to Oromasdes.
“Are... are you really God?”
“OF THIS WORLD, YES...”
“Can you really not explain to us more about why you’re sending us away? What do you mean, we’re blessed?”
“IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW THEN IT WOULD BE BEST FOR YOU TWO TO REALIZE IT ON YOUR OWN.”
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This is the last thing that it allows them to ask. The eye of Oromasdes before them starts pulsating. The white capillaries expand and contract in waves from the outer perimeter of the eye to the iris. The pulsations increase in frequency slowly.
“I WILL GRANT YOU BOTH THE HEROIC DIVINE PROTECTION AND MY OWN DIVINE PROTECTION. THESE WILL GRANT YOU THE ABILITY TO SURVIVE IN THAT WORLD AND LIVE TO RETURN TO THIS ONE.”
The white iris of Oromasdes’ eye turns black and the white capillaries extend over it, snaking and merging into the red pupil like various streams converging into a single lake. The capillaries reach the red pupil, and as they do, the pupil turns white, emitting a light as intensely bright as the sun on the brightest day of summer. Yet somehow, Shaula can still look directly at it.
“Wh-what are…”
“BY THE JURISDICTION OF THE SUPREME GOD, I, OROMASDES, GRANT YOU, SHAULA SEIKENNITH AND AJAX LEONID, THE DIVINE PROTECTION OF FIRE AND WATER.”
The pupil of Oromasdes’ eye emits a wide area light against both Ajax and Shaula’s bodies. Shaula feels herself being enveloped by the light. She feels it permeate her body as if it wasn’t merely light but... a pure water flowing over her body, into her skin and through her organs, muscles, blood vessels, bones and heart. She feels herself being remade, slowly and softly.
It feels holy… for a brief moment.
Crack.
“Wh—”
“THIS… WAIT, NO--”
CRACK.
Shaula flinches at the sharp noise. She places her body over Ajax’s unconscious face to guard him from the sound of a mountain shattering. As soon as she opens them again, she sees that Ahura Mazda has disappeared.
“Huh?”
Shaula looks down in front of her. She sees, on the ground before her, many bright objects disturbing the uniformity of its white color. It is pieces of something. She notices where the objects separate at some places, they can be reattached to form something else. Pieces from… a statue?
The bright white sides of the objects are the inside of the solid human statue while the shining gold sides of the object are the hair, nails and skin of the person who the statue represents. It is beautiful but where did all of it come from? Some of the pieces are like muscle, torso, golden feathers… and the statue is not to scale, it is much bigger than a normal human body.
Wait... feathers? Is this a human? A massive golden angel statue–
Suddenly, a spark. The pieces of the statue start to catch fire, disappearing one after another. Shaula again instinctually protects Ajax’s head and body as she cautiously watches. The flames reach their climax as the last of the pieces disappear from her view. Once again, the surrounding space is white. Until, the eye reappears.
“REJECTED…"
“...”
“THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. ALL LIVING CREATURES ARE CAPABLE OF RECEIVING DIVINE PROTECTION. I HAVE GRANTED THEM NUMEROUS TIMES OVER THE MILLENNIA, TO MANY. YOU TWO, YOUR SOULS, ARE QUITE SPECIAL INDEED.”
What God said to her doesn’t exactly register because Shaula isn’t used to the scale of divinity. But, it seems that both Ajax and her are so outside of the norm that they cannot receive something any other living creature would be able receive? That last remark about her soul however… It is interesting to her.
Shaula has gone through her life believing that she is little more than a highly complex biological automaton produced through billions of years of evolutionary processes. In a universe without a God, it would be more likely that her body, mind and consciousness worked according to a series of physical laws after all.
The existence of a soul, a cycle of reincarnation, a heaven or hell, purgatory, limbo… it was all nonsensical to her. But in this world, there is a God. As a result, it makes perfect sense that she… has a soul. A real, tangible soul, perhaps an immortal soul. She is more than she once thought she was. In fact, it seems both her and Ajax are much more than even that.
“W-wha... what is so... so different about the two of us?”
“I DON’T THINK IT WOULD BE SAFE FOR ME TO SPEAK OF IT. I HAD UNDERESTIMATED YOU TWO. WHAT JUST HAPPENED SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A CONSEQUENCE OF ATTEMPTING TO GRANT STRENGTH TO YOUR SOULS. YOUR SOULS CANNOT BE HARMED OR BLESSED BY SOMEONE LIKE ME.”
“...”
“WHAT YOU JUST SAW WAS MY BODY IN PIECES. THIS EYE BEFORE YOU IS ONLY A PIECE OF ME BECAUSE EVEN THE TWO OF YOU CANNOT WITNESS MY COMPLETE FORM. WHEN I GRANTED MY DIVINE PROTECTION, I WAS REJECTED BY YOUR SOULS AND THE ‘RECOIL’ CAUSED MY COMPLETE FORM TO SHATTER AND MANIFEST. ”
“So then, what does that mean for… our protection in that world?”
“IT IS TIME TO MOVE TO MY ALTERNATE PLAN. ABOUT 10% OF MY TOTAL POWER HAS BEEN CONSUMED THROUGH THE REJECTION. THIS… THIS IS WHY I CAN’T KEEP UNKNOWNS LIKE YOU TWO ON MY WORLD… I SHOULDN’T BE SO SURPRISED…”
“Wh–”
“YOUR SOULS ARE INCAPABLE OF RECEIVING DIVINE PROTECTIONS. IF I SEND YOU NOW WITHOUT EITHER MY DIVINE PROTECTION OR THE DIVINE PROTECTION OF THE HERO GRANTED TO YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES, YOU WILL BE AS STRONG AS THE AVERAGE HUMAN THERE.”
“Then… then just keep us here! We’re not going to cause any problems for you… We’re going to live quietly, we can do that! Please… leave Ajax here at least… just take me… not… not him… he’s… going to lose everyone dear to him.”
Shaula makes her plea for herself, but more importantly for the Ajax sleeping before her, who can’t make the plea. As she continues speaking, tears spring forth once again.
“THAT IS NOT AN OPTION. IT IS CLEARER TO ME THAN EVER. I CAN STILL GRANT YOU MY POWER... I JUST HAVE TO USE A CRUDER METHOD...”
The tone of Oromasdes’ voice grows more intense. The intensity in his eye increases as well. The red pupil of Ahura Mazda constricts. The white light in the space Ajax and Shaula are in disappears. Ajax and Shaula are now in a space of pitch black. Yet, Shaula can still see Oromasdes in front of her clearly as well as Ajax lying next to her as well.
“Wh-what are you– W-Wake up, Ajax!”
From Shaula’s cry to him, Ajax gets up and notices the darkness around him. He looks around his surroundings, terrified at the tartarus they find themselves in. There isn’t any source of light either. No sun. No lamp. No fire. Even though all of the light disappeared from their surroundings, the two of them are still here, visible to each other.
He brings himself to full consciousness as Oromasdes speaks to him again. Shaula holds him tightly and he reciprocates.
“FOR YOU CHILDREN, I WILL GRANT YOU MY BLOOD. WITH THIS, YOU TWO WILL BE ABLE TO REACH AN APEX OF POWER ON OMICRON NOT RESERVED FOR MORTALS.”
Tears start to fall from the eye of the supreme God. Tears of blood. The tears don’t disappear into darkness. Shaula can see the tears land on the ground and pool, pools of shimmering red. Ajax and Shaula feel their hearts being held in the grasp of this being. Fear grips them. The deepest terror they have ever felt strikes their minds.
They understand instinctually. The blood they are about to receive… they understand its power. Somehow, upon witnessing his sacred blood, Ajax and Shaula perceive their place as mortals. To accept such a gift, the ramifications of this… But it’s too late. The eye moves over Ajax still being held in Shaula’s grasp.
W-wait... Shaula!
Solely by reflex, Ajax pushes Shaula with all of his might away from him to his left. He feels his instincts screaming for them to avoid the sanguine tears. He doesn’t know if he can trust his instincts right now but they have never been clearer. It would bring solace to him if at least Shaula avoids them.
Shaula feels her shoulder dislocate as she lands away from the two of them, the crying Oromasdes and her Ajax. She grips her arm in pain and looks over at Ajax. She sees the effects of the blood of the supreme God. The tears land on Ajax... He doesn’t yell. He can only accept the sensation on his body.
It feels like… like corrosion without pain… as if parts of his body are becoming numb. The parts that meet the blood of Oromasdes can no longer be felt to him.
“Ajax! Ajax, are you ok? Ajax!!”
Ajax cannot answer Shaula. Shaula cannot move closer as fear is still gripping her mind, an unnatural terror clawing at her soul. She is not meant to witness God bleed. Ajax feels his body melt away. He looks at his body and sees his left hand fall off. What is left of it lands on the darkened ground into a pool of blood.
The flesh is stripped from the bones of his hand and dissolves into Ahura Mazda’s sacred blood. The bones dissolve into nothing in the same way. His left arm disappears in the next second as the skin melts, the muscles disintegrate, the tendons snap and the bones vanish. As he witnesses it happen, he cannot bring voice to his surroundings. He is in shock.
Shaula looks in horror, her eyes growing wide as a nightmare unfolds before her.
“This... this isn't--”
Shaula realizes that this cannot be the real world or any existing physical space. The way this place behaves is too unnatural. When the space was white, their bodies left no shadow at all. There is no horizon, no sky, no ceiling, no separation between the white floor and the air around them. When there is no light, like right now, they can still see each other.
The fact that they didn't smell smoke when Oromasdes' body was on fire. This place has no smell at all. This isn't reality. So, right now, whatever Ajax is experiencing… it’s not real. It’s not really happening. This is not really happening. It couldn’t be happening. But… it was no less horrifying ot witness
Tears continue to fall and land on Ajax. His right arm falls into nothingness in the pool of blood below him. His ribs fall apart as well. His heart and lungs are exposed to the air of this space. His lungs still expand and contract. His heart still beats. The arteries connecting to his heart fall apart like torn pieces of wet paper. Ajax's heart shines for a moment before disappearing.
Shaula cannot help him. She is at the complete mercy of this being before her. She has to watch as Ajax is broken down, as his body is turned into meat before her eyes. She cannot confront almighty God… But, she doesn't wish to see Ajax… in this state. Not him… Not him…
Insanity fills her heart. She has to save him. She has to save him. She has to save him. Her soul burns brightly. She starts to move and–
"STAY STILL."
Shaula freezes in place. She is facing Ajax, continuing to witness the horror, but unable to do anything. Her madness softens.
"Let– Let go of me!! Let go of me!!! Ajax! AJAX!!"
As she witnesses Ajax dissolving, she considers… Why does God wish for their survival? Could it be care for them? A God who cares about mortals? It’s possible. But… what if it’s something... something more sinister an intention… Shaula considers the possibility for the first time.
She considers Ajax as he continues to disintegrate. She considers the world the two of them will be arriving at soon. Ajax's left eye is open and looking at Shaula, tears flowing from it. On Omicron, no matter what there is in store for the two of them, she will never let him suffer like this. She will protect him. She will save him this time. Never will he suffer.
Never letting him suffer; she fails to consider the unreachable goal she is setting for herself. But it doesn't matter now. Her madness will make it a reality. She will never let him suffer.
“Ajax! I-I’m going to protect you, Ajax!! J-just you wait!! I’m never going to leave you alone… I love you, Ajax!”
“I love y–”
Ajax loses consciousness.
Ajax’s head falls to the ground, dissolving into the pool of his and Oromasdes’ blood, collecting on the ground. His belly falls away like dross and his stomach and intestines fall into the puddle of blood. Soon the skin and muscle on his hips falls away and his legs corrode and collapse. This is her worst nightmare.
Why did she have to see him like this?
“I love you, Ajax… I’m never going to leave you… I’m going to protect you… I’m going to save you… I’m going to be with you... I’m going to make sure you return to them… I’m going to make sure they get to see the wonderful person you become… I promise… I… promise…”
All that remains is a pool of blood. The pool of blood starts to grow smaller and smaller. It shrinks to the diameter of a pancake. There is something shining within… A crystal. A crystal of light. It has as many facets as a well-made engagement diamond, shining with unique brilliance.
That’s him… that’s his soul… it has to be…
Oromasdes looks at Shaula who is before him without Ajax. She can speak freely to him. But she is crying. She is crying at seeing the desolation of her most beloved. She feels anger towards the one who made her witness his gruesome disintegration. He feels no remorse at forcing her to see it. No pain or regret.
What really does Oromasdes see Ajax and Shaula as? Mere animals too stupid to ignore their emotions? How else can this creator trample over their dignity so easily? Oromasdes says one more thing.
“SHAULA, I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE NOW. I’VE SEEN YOUR FURY.”
“Huh? What the fuck do you–”
Shaula freezes. Her tears stop flowing. Something can be felt clawing at the back of her head. Something she wishes to keep hidden from herself. It whispers to her about the past and tries to surface. It will escape its prison by any means necessary. It will scratch out her sanity as it does so. Another thing to scratch at her sanity.
As it surfaces, Shaula feels pleasure. Unholy pleasure.
She remembers. She gasps in shock and awe. She remembers what she has done. Actions for which she feels no guilt. Actions for which she believes she was and is in the right. Actions not in sin but in virtue. However, actions that could be viewed as heinous, especially in the eyes of God. Shaula feels fire snake her right leg and arm.
Happiness. Joy. Ecstasy. She remembers those she hates.
She shakes off such thoughts and looks over to Ahura Mazda. Her face is filled with trepidation and… jubilation. She cannot control how she feels right now. She never thought her hidden feelings would resurface here. That she would be forced to recollect her proudest, happiest transgression…
“YOUR FURY WAS RIGHTEOUS.”
“...what?”
“SHAULA, I’M THE SUPREME GOD, OROMASDES. I AM THE PINNACLE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE DEPTH OF CRUELTY. YOUR FURY IS RIGHTEOUS AND LET NO AUTHORITY ON THIS WORLD CONDEMN IT. YOU WILL NEVER MEET PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR ACTIONS, EVEN UPON YOUR RETURN.”
“...”
“YOU ARE A RIGHTEOUS CHILD AND YOU HAVE ACTED RIGHTEOUSLY. I HOPE YOU REMAIN RIGHTEOUS. YOUR LIFE OF JOY WILL COME ONCE AGAIN WHEN YOU RETURN. I PROMISE YOU IT WILL.”
Shaula pauses to consider his words… Then, she smiles softly. Has a weight been lifted from her heart? Has she gained forgiveness for her actions? Can she forgive herself? No. There is nothing to forgive. She disregards her past. She will return to Ajax soon. All else is irrelevant now. She will be with Ajax again. He is still alive. He will never die.
“Anywhere I’m with Ajax is where I will be happy. Anywhere with Ajax is a life of joy...”
Blood resumes flowing from Ahura Mazda’s holy eye. She feels the blood drip onto her face and–
~
Ajax and Shaula remain together in the forest. Currently, Shaula has clothes, a dress with a long skirt covering most of her body and Ajax is completely nude. His clothes had actually shattered off. He stands embarrassed, trying to sort through the details of what he remembers. He comes to terms with his family… His life has changed so dramatically.
In exchange, he’s been given ridiculous powers and resistance to both heat and cold as Shaula had just informed him. He and Shaula are left in this world now to fend for themselves. They cannot rely on the governments of humanity, although the individual people are a different story.
“So, what do we do now, Shaula?”
“Well, at the very least, now that you’re awake, you can run too, right? The first thing we need to do is get as far away from the direction of that place we were held as possible. Any other concerns can wait. I can generate fire so if we catch some food, we should be able to eat it… although, I really don’t know what’s safe to eat here of all places… really, we’ll have to make things up as we go along.”
“...”
“What?”
“Well…”
“...”
“No, I just… I didn’t get to say it before I fell apart but… I love you too.”
“...”
“I-I know, it’s corny but… really you’re my only friend, Shaula, if I lost you too… I don’t know what I would do… Thanks for saving me, Shaula. Thanks for saving the both of us.”
“...You’re welcome, Ajax. Honestly… you’re my only friend too. You’re everything I have right now and… I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Shaula reaches out her hand to Ajax. He holds it in his and feels warmth. More warmth than even her fire could provide. As he breathes in air, he exhales with all of its heat drained. Energy slowly fills his body even further. Shaula receives it, this time making sure not to take so much that he would fall unconscious.
They start to walk. Step after step, their pace picks up. Their walk turns into a run and then into a sprint. They run, in order to get away from the place they are in right now. The place they were held captive is far behind them now. Onwards to greater plains.