The world crumbled around them. Chunks of sky fell in big clouds of dust, showing alternate universes behind it or just blank space with no air, stars or planets. Reality shattered before their very eyes, causing dimensions to collide and everything to break. The end of the world. It was happening.
They sat on a hill in the middle of nowhere, watching it all happen. Some things became frozen; some birds were stuck in the air, in mid-flight, while others were caught in time warps that caused them to go backwards and repeat what they had been doing just a bit ago. Wormholes opened and closed suddenly and randomly, and you didn't know if you'd get sucked in, or stay exactly where you were. The sun had burnt out; but strangely, things were still lit, perhaps from the other dimensions' suns. The moon had cracked, but not yet been broken totally, leaving Princess Luna, one of the two, still hanging on to her sanity by a thread. Most had lost it when the universe began cracking and dying right before their very eyes.
The other was busy not caring about the world's end, too caught up in thought about what would happen when it was over, and any survivors up to that point died. What it would be like to see his friends again, who had died countless years before, mostly of old age. Not only that, but he'd get to see HER again, the one he'd always longed to see, even after he claimed to be over her. It was finally happening. Shadow would be reunited with Maria.
"You don't seem to care much," Luna said, quiet enough to not be shouting but still loud enough to be heard over the ruckus being made as the universe fell apart.
"That's because I don't," the hedgehog answered. Luna didn't seem to understand why he didn't care.
"Why don't you care? Don't you wish it would stop and go back to the way it was?" Luna asked. She longed for her moon back, it was her source of energy, her source of peacefulness. Whenever she would feel sad, the soft light of the moon would always comfort her, like a blanket with no warmth.
"I wish it would all end already," Shadow answered vaguely. The end was near, of course, and there was no way out of it. Why wish it wasn't happening? When it will still happen when you open your eyes, no matter how hard you wish?
"But why? Don't you want to keep living?" The moon princess asked, still bewildered. Shadow shook his head, confused as to why someone would want to reverse what was happening right then. Why someone would want to go back to a world where pain and sickness and death exist, when there was a better place waiting after you endured the pain and death?
"No, I've had enough of reality."
"But why?"
How could Shadow answer this question without sounding totally melancholy? Not in any way, really. No matter how he answered, he'd just sound like some depressed guy who longs for nothing but to die.
"Because I'll get to see everyone again."
"Friends of yours?" Luna asked. Shadow nodded.
"I haven't seen them in forever. Because I cannot die of natural causes and they can."
"So you want it all to end because you miss your friends?" Luna asked. Shadow nodded again. "I can understand that. I'd understand it better if I ever had any real friends."
"Hmm?" Shadow looked at Luna, who's face was beginning to sadden more so than before as she stared up at the moon, which was on the brink of splitting into a million pieces.
"This may sound silly . . . but the only real friend I suppose I ever had was the moon," Luna admitted, closing her eyes and imagining the moon in its full glory. "What were your friends like? Were they fun? Happy?"
"Yes, which often annoyed me," Shadow said. Luna looked at him with a quite confused expression.
"Why would fun and happiness annoy you?" The clueless princess asked.
"Because I'm not fun or happy."
"But why not? Why not just go along with the fun and happiness and not be so sad-looking all the time?"
Now Shadow was beginning to regret all the years where he was the anti-social one. What would it have been like if he had become more . . . more happy? Different? How much?
"I guess you're right," Shadow admitted, sighing. Luna smiled at her triumph. "But I can't take it back. There's no use in wishing that I could, because it won't happen."
"You are right also," Luna said. "I cannot go back to how it was. But maybe that's what it will be like, in that better place after death. How it was before."
"I hope not," Shadow commented. Luna was again confused. "How it was before had suffering and death and pain. I'm hoping this place will have none of that." Luna lightly smiled.
"You're right again," she said. "So let's embrace the end of the universe. It could happen any second, or any day."
The two demon-like creatures watched as the pieces of the sky fell.
And at last, the moon burst.
For Luna, there was momentary shock, then she crumpled down in weakness, trying to hide tears.
Everything began crumbling at a faster rate after that.
And soon, the last chunk of the sky fell.
The universe had broken.
Everything had ended.
And Shadow and Luna both met up again . . .
. . . In what is known as the afterlife.
