A/N: The premise behind this fic has been haunting me for the last few months, and I hope that I executed it properly. I know it's not perfect, and feedback would be appreciated. I hope you enjoy!
"A Fond Farewell"
Paradox appeared on the dusty, grey asteroid ahead of schedule. He used those precious seconds to take in the dying star before him. Metallic rings, and what could only be described as giant plates, orbited freely in layers, occasionally spreading out to disrupt the natural flow of light.
From where he stood, the red dwarf blinked like a lighthouse on a dark and stormy night.
The solar system, a vastness he once found incomprehensible, hummed with the activity of countless starship. It was at that dreaded moment Paradox wondered the contingency plan of those several hundred-billion souls. How many will take their lives than suffocate in the darkness? How many generations would suckle on their ship's dying reactor before system degradation took them.
"Paradox?" A voice echoed from behind. Though a faint whisper, he recognized the voice from the young redhead he encountered just hours ago.
He looked at her to find that she was but a faint miasma of her former self, and gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Hello, Gwendolen. I pray that the years have been kind to you. Forgive my accusations, but I thought you would be late. Tardiness tends to run in the Tennyson bloodline."
"Tennyson," She savored the word as she floated by his side. "I haven't heard that name in such a long time."
"Really?" Paradox said, checking his pocket watch. They didn't have long. "Never took you as the kind to remain on a first name basis, especially with the respect you accumulated at such a young age. If not Miss Tennyson, or any other variation of that title, then what do you go by these days."
"Mrs. Levin, of course," Gwen giggled, sounding like a chime swaying in a gentle, summer breeze. "But I by my first name otherwise" A moment passed before she too on much more of a serious tone. "I mean, you do remember my wedding right, right?"
"I'm afraid that time isn't so straight forward for me," He said, pocketing the clockwork device. "I had a feeling you'd end up with the boy. Usually tend to avoid spoilers when it comes to such personal matters." He straightened his coat before turning back to the dying star. "But now I'm curious on the toast young Benjamin would make."
"You never sees to amaze me," Gwen said, but her attention seemed to have drifted from the topic. Swirls formed in her cloud as she shifted her position in agitation. "A question for a question?"
Paradox saw this coming, more out of intuition than taking a peek. He had to carefully choose his words. A single slip up would cause waves of trouble counting on whichever higher being might be listening in. Yet, could he deny a friend, a compatriot in his many escapades, such a simple request in her final moments?
"I don't see the harm."
A wisp of magenta took his hand, and gave him a light squeeze. "What lies beyond?"
He could feel her grip wane as her form flickered. Despite what may be the last congregation of life, the vast array of high level technology sealed away whatever mana those vessels were harboring. Any natural source had been drawn to the star and into the desolate landscape by sheer happenstance, making the last remnant of the Anodite race share scraps of energy.
A once proud people reduced to leeching off the exhaust of a dying reality. Knowing her, it was safe to assume she was taking less to offer more to her kin.
"I don't know," Paradox said, a simple answer to an age old question that even he pondered from time to time. His father, a philosophy professor that once graced the halls of Oxford, would reprimand him for being so curt. "Even with my…intimate study of time itself, my observations of the omniverse have left me with more unanswerable question than I would like. Either certain planes of existence are inaccessible to me, or I'm still limited by my human reach to some capacity."
He noted her silence. "My apologize, Gwendolyn."
"No, its fine." Gwen said, her gaseous form expanding before condensing. There was a shimmer of light and the young women he was used to seeing appeared before him. "An illusion," She clarified. "Quite strenuous with what I have at hand, but it's not like I'll be needing the energy later."
"Forgive me," He said, snapping his fingers. She nearly crumpled to the ground as the artificial gravity field took her. She gave him a shocked look before taking allowing him to pull her up. "But a little time distortion won't interfere. I promise, but it's the least I can d-ooff!"
Gwen slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you," She said, grabbing his hand as she stepped away. A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "I don't want to die alone," Her voice cracked.
It must have been millennia since she took organic form. So many years disconnected from human turmoil left her as she sobbed. Paradox wondered how long ago she decided not to return to earth.
He pulled her in for another hug, "No one does, but I'll be here, by your side, till the very last moment."
The red dwarf stopped its rhythmic blinking, and its light slowly faded. Paradox pulled away and emulated her gesture by taking her hand in his own. They stood side by side, and watched the light flicker and fade.
The star had long since reached its expiration date thousands of years ago, but it was the dyson sphere that prolonged its unnatural life. It was once described to Paradox that it was like fixing up a rust bucket of a car that has reached its numbered days. Sure, get a few more years at of the old girl, but degradation would eventually take out either the engine or the various components that kept it running.
In the terms of stars, he preferred the firefly comparison. Catching one in a jar, providing it food and shelter, only to watch its light fade with age. It was a sad truth, but the universe won't end in a bang, but a whimper.
The various rings and plating of the dyson sphere grinded to a halt.
"It won't be long," Paradox said, feeling the gentle rays of light loose warmth against his skin. Despite not seeing it, he knew that all those ships have just started to drift, cut off from their connection to the dyson sphere. Larger cruisers could recover with their back up reactors, but smaller vessels couldn't hold their charge for long.
Gwen nodded, scanning the distant expanse of space. "It's stripping the solar system of its mana. We're going out, one by one, just like all the other stars that used to light up the night sky."
"Question for a question. Why didn't you leave?" He had to know, even though a part of him did. "An Anodite skilled in spell craft has nearly all of the omniverse at their disposal. Why, when so few lights told of this age of darkness, did you not leave before you had the chance?"
"Everything comes to an end," She sighed, tightening her grip as her image flickered once more. Mana was tied to the very fabric of the universe, but what was a universe without stars? "I've lived my life, and now I cast my spark to the void. There's nothing for me out there, nothing I want more than to see my husband and goofy cousin again."
The light dimmed, and Paradox had to squint to see her fading form. He didn't know what to say. Goodbye didn't seem to fit. Sorry, but for what? A compliment didn't feel appropriate, because she deserved more than what mere words could offer her.
It was like being at his father's death bed all over again.
Paradox realized he didn't truly know her. A thousand encounters lay before him, yet thus last moment had to be one of the first. He could have waited, but destiny largely led his travels. It was one universe ending event after another with a time war sprinkled in for flavor.
He opened his mouth to say something, anything to comfort her, but she cut him off.
"Thank you," Gwen said, fingers running through his like sand. Her voice was but a whisper in his ear, and when he turned to face her, she was gone. "For keeping your promise."
What was the left of the light dimmed to darkness as the age old star fizzled out, leaving him alone in the dark. He didn't know when, but he had a promise to make. With a flick of his wrist, he was off to his next appointment.